Project Reality Forums

Equip all choppers with a secondary warning for Anti tank Missiles

Times ive been hatted in cobra : over 50 times due to no warning system.

Maybe that's because you're sitting still in the air, hovering like a genius above the battlefield. It's close air support, not a tank. Wait for the lazes, pop flares & get in-get out asap = pwnage. We kept a cobra up for over an hour, racking up about 40 kills that way including firebases, APCs, full squads and the like, all the time with AA and ground pounders trying to down the chopper.

HATs do not lock on they have to be manually tracked by the weapon operator. So if you are getting shot out of the sky by a HAT you are either facing a very talented HAT operator or you sit and hover in one place for too long the result being someone with a HAT can actually shoot you down.

IRL most optically track anti-tank weapons do not give off any signal that would allow a vehicle, a helicopter in this situation, to notice it had been acquired by the weapons operator. In the same sense you have no idea if someone in a building is aiming a weapon at you if you can't physically see them.

I have used all CAS tactics on muttrah , From coming in at 500 Altitude, popping flares when i reach 250 all the way thru the CAS run , Which works out great just like you. But what im talkin bout is when you need to stay on station , Example When the whole MEC team is overrunning West City and your team needs multiple hit in a short amount of time. A good way to achieve this is to use the mountains on the east side of the map as cover. This is when the HAT problem arises . Even 20 seconds of hovering still so your gunner can scan will get you blown up by a HAT. This is why we need warning sirens.

I cordially disagree with your assertion that it is needed

Refer to posts #2 & 3 for reasoning

Your going to need to make a much better case than "your convenience" for a unrealistic warning system to be even considered.

What Thermis and Psyrus said. There's no reason to put a warning system. Just don't hover. vBF2 tactics don't work in PR. Flying around looking for 1337 kills doesn't make you win. Being patient, weary, and safe makes you a lethal killer.

In theory I think its highly possible that a launched HAT would be detected, unless its laser guided which would be easier.

Of course I don´t know, but its similar to launching an IR missile...

Tbh I think its a good idea, you should be moving to not get hit, but I can´t see any lack in realism through detecting it.

I belive it's fine as it is now.
I doubt that helicopters are equipped with some kind of warning system for non IR/Radar-guided missiles, though I'm not 100% sure.

Howabout because you don't get a warning irl?

It's almost impossible to detect a non-guided missile except through radar, and that'll be after it's fired and closing in fast - you'll die anyway. The reason AA missiles are detected is because of the IR lock on is detectable through Photo-transistors.

Tip: Don't sit still then the HAT won't be able to hit you

stealth420 wrote:Equip all choppers with a secondary warning for Anti tank Missiles

Times ive been hatted in cobra : over 50 times due to no warning system.

Thats because you were howering, I cant remember how many times iv'e taken down a cobra because a new pilot was howering it. I keep telling people stop howering the bloody cobra but they just keep doing it.

The best cobra tactic is hit and run lasers that you get from infantry or a spotter in you're squad

[R-MOD]Thermis wrote:

IRL most optically track anti-tank weapons do not give off any signal that would allow a vehicle, a helicopter in this situation, to notice it had been acquired by the weapons operator. In the same sense you have no idea if someone in a building is aiming a weapon at you if you can't physically see them.

technicly, Helo had flash detector, wich can detect the lunch of a missile/rocket to you....

Anyway. As said above... the stand steady for 45min dosent work anywhere else than Kashan lol, you should not die in cbt helo if you apply right tactics

Except for the US javelin in Direct Attack mode. It's a Fire and Forget missile... so yes I believe thats the only missile in PR that is a handheld lock on

and actually..... the Erynx and the US missile are wire-guided so..... technically you could not detect the launch of the missile without being fairly close to it. Now... maybe the gunships could have some sort of electronic jamming device. This would work for say, laser guided missiles

sylent/shooter wrote:Except for the US javelin in Direct Attack mode. It's a Fire and Forget missile... so yes I believe thats the only missile in PR that is a handheld lock on

Theres no Javelin in PR, and anti-air missiles are handheld and do lock-on right?

rampo93(FIN) wrote:anti-air missiles are handheld and do lock-on right?

Yep, but the Heli has a warning for them.

well i believe that the BF2 HAT for the US was supposed to be a Javelin. If I remember correctly they never completed the model and so left it as is..... and I didn't mean AA missiles. They are heat seeking.... but could probably still be jammed

how about decreasing the hat range?

I can´t think of any reason not to be able to detect ground launched missiles. Whether every helicopter uses it is another matter.


The book "Apache" details it somewhat, and there are other sources. It detects missile launches to the point that it detects false launches, can autodeply countermeasures depending on threat type and will direct the pilot.

Course not every heli will have this but its an example.

The fact is:

1) Its not unrealistic for the helicopter to detect it.

2) Don´t hover, it won´t work, you can´t fly realistically at the moment, just remember, hydras are your friend and speed is your best friend.

how about decreasing the hat range?

This is one thing that is needed, but is part of a huge change that makes things alot better, which is scaling ranges of weapons into the 4km map size, so you don´t get tanks or HATs that have a bigger effective range of ATGMs and other weapons. (Example of always, tank 4-5km range, hellfire = 8km range, stinger approx 3-4km, etc) all of which can be nicely scaled down for better results.

or maybe create an invisible barrier that limits the HAT from flying beyond a certain limit along the Y axel (say 300 feet).

hiberNative wrote:or maybe create an invisible barrier that limits the HAT from flying beyond a certain limit along the Y axel (say 300 feet).

OR just after 300 feet the rocket propelling it stops and it falls to the ground.