Forum: General F-16 forum

When air forces engage in mock combat, how do they stimulate missiles? If a lock is achieved is a kill granted? Is there any scope for outmaneuvering or decoying a radar-guided or IR-guided missile? I'm guessing the "practice missiles" use the same seeker heads as the real missiles and then some sort of software calculates the probability of kill? Is that correct?

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I only know about Hellfire missiles on the Apache. However, it sounds like you've made a pretty well educated guess, which would be my own guess as well. I've noticed aggressor aircraft using various pods in place of missiles. It would be really interesting to know how mock dogfights occur now that we're in the age of helmet mounted sights and the AIM-9X. Is it as easy as just looking at an aggressor, waiting for a lock, and pulling the trigger? I've been part of large scale "air defense vs Apache" exercises and I will say the realism is up there because of the various platforms used have training kits they can add and software that allows training modes. I'm sure probability and statistical data comes into play to a large extent. I wonder how quickly this topic will approach the OPSEC asymptote. LOL!

There are many things that are obviously needed to take into account, without getting into OPSEC:

From the launching fighter's point of view.
1. Did the missile obtain a lock prior to launch (more important for the Aim-9x than the AMRAAM)?
2. For updates, how well can the fighter geolocate the target and from what aspect?
3. Can updates be sent from any allied fighter in the area?
4. How much energy can the fighter impart upon the missile and from what altitude & launch aspect?

From the missile's point of view:
1. What is the final range, velocity, and approach vector of the missile when the motor bruns out?
2. What kind of ECCM functions do I have?
3. What type pf seeker options do I have (EW, HOJ, HARM, IIR, etc)?
4. What type of proximity fuse and warhead (directional means greater likelihood of lethal damage) do I have?
5. How accurate is my INS?
6. Do I have a two-way datalink (or any at all)?
7. What kind of end-game maneuvering can I do (large fins, restart-able motor, bank-to-turn, etc)?

From the target's point of view
1. Did I detect the missile launch and did I get a fix on, a bearing, or just a warning?
2. Can I track to the missile or just detect it's launch?
3. Is the missile headed my way or is someone else the target?
4. Did I not see the missile until it went active?
5. Do I have a jammer, decoys, or DIRCM and what are their capabilities vs this missile?
6. What passive defensive measures can I take and are they effective (flare/chaff)?
7. What maneuvering can I do, how much time do I have to do it, and how effective will it be (see #1/2/3)?

I'm sure I missed a few, but I think that covers it.

Forum: General F-16 forum

How are missiles simulated?