The Basics : How Do I Fly and Fight in Su-25T Pt I - Cockpit, Systems and Ordnance
Hi Folks!
Welcome to the inaugural article of "The Basics" line of entries I will publish here. I will be starting with Su-25T, the free combat aircraft that comes with free DCS world installation. It serves as a taste of flight model and combat in DCS world, with a solid flight model, ground handling, but with a bit more relaxed systems and damage modeling a'la Flaming Cliffs modules.
First part of Basics : Su-25T will touch on ordnance and how to use them. As well as basic cockpit symbology and navigation. Second installation, I hope, will touch flight performance tips and more advanced weaponry "tricks" to best of my knowledge. Another line I plan on The Basics series will be BMS : F-16C Block 50. Moving on, I hope I will add others as my schedule allow and interest in articles demand so. Most likely I would go like MiG-21Bis, F-86F and A-10C. As the name suggests, series will not be about advanced stuff, rather about covering basics of operation and combat in each platform to be featured, so that people can pick them up and get running, path and effort of improvement into and advanced form is, then theirs from there.
Now surely, most of potential readers here would be pretty familiar with Su-25T. But a refresher could always be useful, and there may always be a thing or two to learn. Better yet, since it is the free gateway into DCS World, it can help some friends you may be trying to introduce into DCS.
I will not be starting with take off and landing, since they are fairly simple. A notch of flaps does help with takeoff, especially when you are heavily loaded. Landings can be tricky at times, but I consider Su-25 and Su-25T to be among the easier aircraft to land in DCS, as long as you keep your airspeed around 270-350 km/h during touchdown. One peciluarity the Grach variants share both in the air and ground : they are slow to accelerate, but once fast, they can also be difficult to slow down! Be mindful of that during taxiing, landing and in combat.
Lets talk a bit about Su-25T itself. It is (or rather was) a project to improve combat efficiency of Su-25 attack aircraft, prototypes were built in 80s and in 1990 only about 8 production aircraft was built. Aircraft has seen operational testing over Chechenya, so it did see combat use. Project was cacelled in 2000, Su-25SM program was chosen instead.
Su-25T was built on two seater Su-25 airframe (NATO name : Frogfoot), though back cocpit is faired over, and it's space is occupied by additional fuel and avionics. Aircraft incorporates (like the Ka-50), Shkval optical targeting system in the nose, there fore space formerly occupied by GSh-30-2 is now full with targeting equipment, the cannon, instead, is moved back and is in a semi conformal position under the fuselage. Like the Su-25, it is a heavily protected flying tank of sorts. But is quite heavier, and can be a handful to fly when loaded up with lots of weapons and fuel. Su-25 could be agile enough, but T is perceptably lazier in the air. Although, like Su-25A too was, Su-25T can be deceptively fast for it's looks. Unlike the A-10, Su-25 can rely on it's speed in low altitude attack runs or while evading distant missile shots. Although, as the Mach number approach around 1, significant buffeting will start.
The aircraft has 5 hardpoints under each wing, and one centerline. Of 5 wing hardpoints, outermost can only be loaded with R-60 air to air missiles or MPS-410 jamming pods. Innermost ones are the only ones that can load heavier guided weaponry like KAB-500, Kh-29 and Kh-58. Centre hardpoint is only used for either one of two optional targeting pods : Merkuriy for low light capable, IR version of Shkval, and Phantasmagoria for SEAD operations, detecting and targeting hostile ground based radar emitters. If additional air to air missiles are needed, second from outer position hardpoints can mount R-73 (known as AA-11 in NATO) missiles. Last of the "special interest" pylons are the second innermost ones, which are the only ones that can mount Vikhr missiles in 8 pack APU-8 pods. Innermost and middle hardpoints under each wing can mount a 800 liter fuel tank.
Having talked a bit about aircraft itself, let's get on with our look on DCS version itself.
Now, first things first, the controls :
As with other FC 3 level aircraft (which are : A-10A, Su-25, Su-27, Su-33, MiG-29 and F-15C), systems modeling is rather simplified, along with method of manipulating those systems. Although, flight model itself is pretty advanced and realistic, infact, back in the Flaming Cliffs days, this was the first (and only) aircraft to feature AFM (advanced flight model).
Number keys over the keyboard from 1 to 7 set a master mode of sorts.
1 :
- First press goes to navigation mode, HSI and datum on the HUD will point to chosen waypoint, which can be toggled by lctrl + tilde key.
- Second pressing change to RTB mode, instead of waypoints, HSI and HUD datum will point to airbases.
- Third one activates ILS landing mode
2-3-4 and 5 are unused for Su-25
6 :
- Air to air missile longitidunal aiming : A targeting cue will appear at the center of HUD, if you have R-73 and / or R-60M air to air IR guided missiles, putting an aircraft under this cue will trigger a lock sound. You can release the missile while this sound is heard and, hopefully score a hit. If you press Cannon key (default : C), hud will switch to an air to air funnel sight for using 30mm GSh-30-2 gun. Pressing same key again will return to missile mode
7 :
- Air to ground master mode. This where you primarily will be with the Su-25T. You can switch you weapons with Weapon Change key, and according to weapon you choose, your HUD will show different targeting cues. Though, most weapons will require you to utilize TV screen slaved to Shkval targeting system (or it's alternative, podded Merkuriy for low light situations). Shkval is turned on default with O key, and laser rangefinder / designator is turned on with RShift + O. We will get deeper into these mechanics as we get to individual weapons and sensors. Again, like air to air mode, C will toggle gun strafing mode, for ground targets.
8 :
- A submode that can be turned on anywhere, it will overlay the fixed net back up sight on the HUD. While I really like utilizing the fixed net in MiG-21Bis and to a degree Su-25, I tend to keep it off on Su-25T, it clutters the HUD rather than providing much use.
In FC3 Su-25 and Su-25T, there is no seperate Weapon Fire / Weapon Release controls. Fire is the one that is used both for gun and other ordnance.
Now, let's have a short look into the cockpit :
- HUD is pretty prominent, it displays differently according to master mode chosen. But in all of the modes, top left corner is occupied by speed and acceleration info, while the top right is occupied by altimeter. When low enough to use radar altimeter, R symbol will be visible next to it. In air to ground, it will display locked target, or the sensor's cursor.
- Lower left corner in front panel, right under the gear lever is a back panel with two large knobs. This is the ripple control panel. For bombs and rockets, LCtrl + Space will change ripple quantity, while V will change ripple frequency. With these settings you can achieve effective carpet bombing or area saturation on lined or bunched up targets like convoys or airfield park areas. Seriously, this is good stuff... especially for tossing or level bombing runs against area targets.
- To the right of ripple controls, you can see an octagonal panel with an aircraft symbol and lighted some green lights. This is gear / flap / airbrake indicator.
- Going one more column to the right, there is this big column of 4 large steam gauges. From bottom to top they are :
- To the right of ADI is the Turn / Slip / Climb indicator. Yellow vertical needles is turn indicator with slip ball under it. Horizontal needle is Climb / Dive indicator
- Again to the right, combined engine RPM gauge.
- Under that are twin engine temperature gauges.
- At thier right, tall display of Fuel Gauge
- Bottom that panel is armament display
- Around lower right corner is display of SPO-15 Beryoza RWR system with a MiG-21 symbol inside it.
- Of course, huge TV screen on upper right corner, the IT-23M, display for Shkval and Merkuriy systems.
How to use the IT-23M TV screen in Su-25T :
Press O to power the screen up. If you also press RShift + O, you will also turn laser range finder on. You can look around with slew up, down, left and right key. In the middle of the screen, there is a line forming a bank indicator to aid you when you are concentrated on screen rather than flying. At the bottom, when you have the rangefinder on and where you point the sensor is within it's ranging capability, you will see the range in kilometers. There are two field of view (zoom) settings available, wide and zoomed. You can switch between these using "Display Zoom In"and "Display Zoom Out" controls. When you press "Target Lock" (default : Enter) once, screen will become ground stabilized, and slewing rate will slow a bit for fine tuning. When you have your desired target withing your targeting gate (middle of screen) press lock button again, and Shkval will start automatically tracking it. Speaking of target gate, you can change that with "Target Size / Gunpod Elevation" increase and decrease controls. If you want to attack a huge building or a ship, increase the target gate size, for a smaller tank or aircraft, decrease it. Unlike Litening targeting pod in DCS : A-10C or the Sniper XR from BMS F-16C, Su-25T's Shkval is nose mounted, and limited in depression and azimuth, so keep this in mind.
Now... on to the weapons themselves :
First off, lets start with fixed armament, the gun :
GSh-30-2
The two barreled autocannon uses 30 x 165mm shells, and lob them with about 870 m/s. Rate of fire is about 3000 rpm. In our Su-25T, it has some recoil but nothing too bad really, with a good aim,and steady flight you can spray a pretty long burst, and most of the rounds will land on target. Gun is pretty long ranged and powerful, only A-10's monstrous GAU-8 Avenger gun surpasses it. While it really isn't ideal for that job, you can even use it against tanks with some success. By default, there is a burst cut off implemented that will cease firing in about 1 second. If you want, you can disable this cut off and go ttrrrrrrrrrrt 'till it goes click as long as you keep the trigger pressed. Deafult control for toggling this cut off is LShift + C. If you can hit aircraft with the gun, needless to say, it will leave quite an impression on recipient.
Air to air missiles :
R-60M
Short range IR guided missile. Not much to say, maneuver your aircraft so the target is in the middle of HUD, when you hear the lock tone fire and hope for the best. Can be loaded on wingtip pylons, which only take jammers or R-60.
R-73
Same but longer range, better maneuvrability and speed, more effective warhead and higher flare resistance, and more reliable all aspect targeting ability. Can be mounted only on the pylons right next to R-60 pylons. So, if you want, you can carry 4 all aspect IR missiles on Su-25T. So even though it doesn't fly fighter-like at all, you can still have some sting on un suspecting aircraft.
Air to ground rockets :
Both Su-25 and Su-25T are very good at at rocket runs since they are both relatively fast yet still very stable. Russian value this type of armament since they develop lots of them in various calibers and warheads.
Most people tend to dissmiss and underestimate rockets when guided weaponry are available, but, rockets can still be highly effective weapons. Convoys or groups of soft targets can be saturated for high damage in aerial artillery role, or single hard targets can be sniped in a rocket strafing run. A diving attack from medium altitude and high speed can be highly accurate and difficult for AAA to retaliate. Conversely, you stay low and fast, avoid missile attacks from most SAMs, and can even, at times take them out before they fire (not a recommended tactic to be honest :)).
While it is less pronounced in Su-25T than it is Su-25, one overlooked advantage of unguided rockets over majority of guided weaponry available to Grach is, rockets are fire and forget. Some variants have fairly decent range when employed from high speed & relatively high altitudes, and unlike laser guided missiles, you turn back as soon as you launch them.
S-5 :
First of the rockets we will look, dimunitive, 55mm caliber S-5 rockets. These come in very draggy pods which holds a whopping 32 of these rockets. Eight of these pods will give you a ridiculous amount of rockets, 256 of them to be precise. But, these rockets are only slightly more potent than a shell of your 30mm gun, so they take many direct hits to do meaningful damage to armored targets. And I am not even talking about heavily armored ones here, just forget S-5 against heavy tanks.
S-8 :
These are 80mm rockets that come in 20 pack B-8V20 pods. Pods are fairly draggy and heavy. S-8 hits a nice balance of fire power and ammunition count. They can put some pretty good hurt in all vehicles with a decent burst. S-8TsM needs special mention : it doesn't have a warhead but instead it will release orange smoke wherever it hits. So this is your marking rocket, with you can mark targets for other pilots. S-8KOM is, shaped charge / fragmentation combined effect rocket which is supposed work better on armored vehicles than the rest, but to be honest, in my experience S-8OFP2 is the that work best on all target types in DCS. On most targets, while direct hits obviously are better, near misses will also do tangible damage on the recipient. Overall, my first choice when I want to have many ammo, but not so much when I want to absolutely destroy something.
S-13 :
122mm rocket, carried in 5 shot pods, fired in very rapid succession. With 8 pods, a total of 40 S-13s can be carried. These have good range and accuracy, and are highly powerful. Slender pods aren't as draggy as S-8 pods.
S-24 :
240mm rocket that carried under the pylon without a launcher, so 1 rocket for each hardpoint. 124kg warhead and fairly decent range and accuracy makes this weapon highly powerful against just about any kind of target.
S-25 :
Again, a big rocket that is carried one per hardpoint. Unlike S-24, S-25 comes with a container, or a single shot pod if you will... so even after launch they will leave some weight and drag unless you jettison the pods. It seems to veer off course a tiny bit more than S-24 but still this is accurate as well and also has long range for an unguided munition. What sets it apart though, is, the fact that it's warhead is more than twice heavier than S-24s already formidable one. There is also the guided version, S-24L with laser homing head, which we will see later.
Bombs
Su-25T, as is the Su-25, is a formidable bomber that can do CCRP, CCIP and some toss bombing too. Also thanks to it's screen, T model can use TV guided fire and forget KAB-500Kr. FAB-100, 100 kg general purpose bombs can be loaded on multiple ejector racks that allow you to carry 4 of them per hardpoint, which allow you to carry a whopping maximum of 32 bombs for some serious carpet bombing, which work better than cluster bombs. Speaking of them, there are also various cluster type options, RBK-250 and RBK-500 with various bomblet types. Finally, there is KMGU submunition dispensers which hold 96 bomblets each. Unlike cluster bombs of RBK type, KMGU will not leave your hardpoints and will remain with the aircraft, instead they will open their doors to release their payload. General purpose iron bombs include FAB-100, FAB-250 and venerable, powerful FAB-500. While there also are BetAB penetration bombs, unfortunately in DCS they serve more as decorations than meaningful ordnance.
Although bombs aren't nearly as easy to use as rockets or guided missiles, when employed properly they can provide good results on both area and point targets. Using CCRP from high altitudes where mobile SAM and AAA can't reach can also be a much safer (however less accurate) way to dispatch them than tempting fate with rocket runs which will need you to be closer.
I can not commet if that is the case in real aircraft but, in FC3 level simulation we have, it is the aircraft who decide whether the release is going to be CCIP or CCRP. If you are close to ground or diving etc, and point of impact is visible in the HUD, system will switch to CCIP mode, you tell this by drop line extending from middle of HUD to pipper. Otherwise, you maneuver the pipper over target, press and hold fire button, when you are in range a beep will alarm you release is imminent, keep holding the button and bomb will be released at the point from which targeting system predicts that bomb will hit the point we originally chosen to attack. Of course, you need to keep the aircraft very steady and level during this.
For cluster type of bombs, employing them similar to regular bombs will yield disappointing results and general purpose bombs are better that way. Clusters and KMGU are much better when you can land an accurate linear pattern on a convoy or similar concentration of targets. CCRP release is a must with them, preferable from around 1000-1500 meters and at high speed. PTAB submunitions are anti-tank shaped charge warheads, OA are fragmentation for use against softer targets. Although, I have to admit a full load of 32 FAB-100s are a more reliable source of destruction than cluster bombs for most cases.
Pulling a 4G climb during CCRP attack will let you toss your bombs for greater range.
Bombs I personally find useful are : FAB-100, FAB-500, KAB-500Kr and to a degree RBK-500.
KAB-500Kr is, as mentioned, presicion guiden and fire and forget BUT with two important caveats ; it can't be used in low light situations, and it isn't useful against moving targets. You can lock it on a target using Shkval.
Final note I have regarding the bombs is another "bomb" available : SAB-100. It releases parachute equipped flares that float down slowly and lets out huge brightness of light, for illuminating the targets during pitch black night.
SPPU-22-1 Depressable Gunpod :
An interesting concept, this pod houses the 23mm twin barreled GSh-23 gun in a depressable mount, so you can tilt the guns down var, and strafe down with a level flight attitude, or you can leave them boresighted to your flight axis and strafe as with normal guns.
Guided Missiles :
This is where we set Su-25T apart from Su-25. T-Frog can use a wide array of guided missiles, and can utilize them using it's Shkval system. While Su-25 can also use laser guided S-25L, Kh-25ML and Kh-29L missiles, their utilization on Su-25 isn't too much better than Kh-66 and MiG-21 duo, and is fairly difficult.
We can divide the missile arsenal into 3 sub categories :
- Laser guided : Vikhr-M, Kh-25ML, S-25L, Kh-29L. These are all semi active laser homing missiles, apart from the Vikhr, which, instead is a laser beam riding weapon with it's seeker on it's back. All of the require you to stay locked on target until the impact (and therefore keep flying somewhat towards it). They all can be used against moving targets as well as stationary ones.
- TV Guided : Only TV guided missile available is Kh-29T. You lock a target on screen, fire and forget.
- Anti Radiation Missiles : Kh-58U and Kh-25MPU are SEAD weapons available to Su-25T, and frankly, only SEAD option in all DCS stable currently. They require Phantasmagoria pod to be loaded on center line. In air to ground mode, pressing "I" will enable Phantasmagoria and it will display any radar contacts it detect on HUD as diamonds. You can move the square target designator on them and lock them. SEAD can take a whole another article, and frankly there are excellent guides on Su-25T and SEAD by community all around the web and some threads on the ED Forums themselves.
First category (LASER) :
S-25L : Basic missile, with shortest range and not much speed. It is the S-25 rocket mated to a semi active laser seeker. It hits pretty hard, but isn't far reaching, and takes awhile to reach it's maximum range. This is the only guided missile that can be loaded on second hardpoint from the wingtip.
Kh-25ML : While it depends on launch speed and altitude and atmospheric conditions, it has about 8-10 km range and is a pretty fast missile (faster than Maverick for example, although not fire and forget like the Maverick). Warhead is pretty big as well. Overall, a good all around missile that can make short work of even the thoughest tanks.
Kh-29L : Huge missile that can only be carried under innermost hardpoints, and hits like a few 19 wheelers combined. It has a huge warhead and fairly decent range but the missile isn't very fast leading to a loooong flight time, rendering it almost useless against SAM threats that will fire back on you. In fact, some of the SAM units like Tunguska and OSA which normally can't attack incoming missiles are able to shoot this one down just fine. It also isn't a particularly maneuvrable missile, so it's minimum range is longer than likes of Kh-25 and Vikhr. While it obviously is intended more against stationary hard targets like hardened hangers / buildings / ships, it can still be used on moving targets.
Vikhr-M : This is where Su-25T gets interesting. Vikhr missiles developed for Ka-50 series attack helicopters, loaded on your Su-25T, with massive 8 pack launchers instead of Ka-50's 6 tube ones. They can only be mounted on second innermost stations. APU-8 launch tubes are VERY draggy, and onset of high mach flutter will be much, much earlier and harsher with these on. I recommend not taking too many other armament when you have Vikhrs, since 16 guided missiles is already quite plenty. Vikhr is powerful enough for most vehicles apart from main battle tanks. If you hit frontal armor of more modern MBT targets, one missile will most likely not be enough. But from other angles, and against other vehicles they are one hit kills. Vikhr has about 8-9 km range when fired from a fast frogfoot. Missile itself is quite fast, which is important when dealing with it's guidance method that require you to stay locked ton target until impact.
Second category (TV) :
Kh-29T : The only TV guided fire and forget missile available to Su-25T. Same missile as the above, but with a TV seeker, therefore it shares the strengths and weaknesses of Kh-29L do a degree. Where it differs is, you can just lock and fire it and turn away, or lock and fire on another target in rapid succession. Though, it can not be locked on a moving target, unfortunately. If you lock it on a stationary vehicle, and it moves while the missile is in flight, it is very likely that the missile will lose track. Although, even a near(ish) miss from the monster will still damage the target.
Third category (ARM) :
Kh-25MPU : Kh-25 missile with a passive radar seeker instead of laser homing one. Due to more streamlined nose cone, this has a much longer range than Kh-25ML. It flies a lofting profile.
Kh-58U : Faster, bigger warhead and longer range than Kh-25MPU, and it doesn't loft as high.
Alright folks... this concludes our look at the weaponry and basic characteristics of the Su-25T, I hope it will be helpful to somebody and hope you had enjoyed the read!
Cheers and safe virtual flights!
I'll be leaving you with a few more T-Frog screenshots :
Welcome to the inaugural article of "The Basics" line of entries I will publish here. I will be starting with Su-25T, the free combat aircraft that comes with free DCS world installation. It serves as a taste of flight model and combat in DCS world, with a solid flight model, ground handling, but with a bit more relaxed systems and damage modeling a'la Flaming Cliffs modules.
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| This bird means business... |
First part of Basics : Su-25T will touch on ordnance and how to use them. As well as basic cockpit symbology and navigation. Second installation, I hope, will touch flight performance tips and more advanced weaponry "tricks" to best of my knowledge. Another line I plan on The Basics series will be BMS : F-16C Block 50. Moving on, I hope I will add others as my schedule allow and interest in articles demand so. Most likely I would go like MiG-21Bis, F-86F and A-10C. As the name suggests, series will not be about advanced stuff, rather about covering basics of operation and combat in each platform to be featured, so that people can pick them up and get running, path and effort of improvement into and advanced form is, then theirs from there.
Now surely, most of potential readers here would be pretty familiar with Su-25T. But a refresher could always be useful, and there may always be a thing or two to learn. Better yet, since it is the free gateway into DCS World, it can help some friends you may be trying to introduce into DCS.
I will not be starting with take off and landing, since they are fairly simple. A notch of flaps does help with takeoff, especially when you are heavily loaded. Landings can be tricky at times, but I consider Su-25 and Su-25T to be among the easier aircraft to land in DCS, as long as you keep your airspeed around 270-350 km/h during touchdown. One peciluarity the Grach variants share both in the air and ground : they are slow to accelerate, but once fast, they can also be difficult to slow down! Be mindful of that during taxiing, landing and in combat.
Lets talk a bit about Su-25T itself. It is (or rather was) a project to improve combat efficiency of Su-25 attack aircraft, prototypes were built in 80s and in 1990 only about 8 production aircraft was built. Aircraft has seen operational testing over Chechenya, so it did see combat use. Project was cacelled in 2000, Su-25SM program was chosen instead.
Su-25T was built on two seater Su-25 airframe (NATO name : Frogfoot), though back cocpit is faired over, and it's space is occupied by additional fuel and avionics. Aircraft incorporates (like the Ka-50), Shkval optical targeting system in the nose, there fore space formerly occupied by GSh-30-2 is now full with targeting equipment, the cannon, instead, is moved back and is in a semi conformal position under the fuselage. Like the Su-25, it is a heavily protected flying tank of sorts. But is quite heavier, and can be a handful to fly when loaded up with lots of weapons and fuel. Su-25 could be agile enough, but T is perceptably lazier in the air. Although, like Su-25A too was, Su-25T can be deceptively fast for it's looks. Unlike the A-10, Su-25 can rely on it's speed in low altitude attack runs or while evading distant missile shots. Although, as the Mach number approach around 1, significant buffeting will start.
The aircraft has 5 hardpoints under each wing, and one centerline. Of 5 wing hardpoints, outermost can only be loaded with R-60 air to air missiles or MPS-410 jamming pods. Innermost ones are the only ones that can load heavier guided weaponry like KAB-500, Kh-29 and Kh-58. Centre hardpoint is only used for either one of two optional targeting pods : Merkuriy for low light capable, IR version of Shkval, and Phantasmagoria for SEAD operations, detecting and targeting hostile ground based radar emitters. If additional air to air missiles are needed, second from outer position hardpoints can mount R-73 (known as AA-11 in NATO) missiles. Last of the "special interest" pylons are the second innermost ones, which are the only ones that can mount Vikhr missiles in 8 pack APU-8 pods. Innermost and middle hardpoints under each wing can mount a 800 liter fuel tank.
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| Over the Batumi, with a pretty heavy load. Another multiplayer flight |
Now, first things first, the controls :
As with other FC 3 level aircraft (which are : A-10A, Su-25, Su-27, Su-33, MiG-29 and F-15C), systems modeling is rather simplified, along with method of manipulating those systems. Although, flight model itself is pretty advanced and realistic, infact, back in the Flaming Cliffs days, this was the first (and only) aircraft to feature AFM (advanced flight model).
Number keys over the keyboard from 1 to 7 set a master mode of sorts.
1 :
- First press goes to navigation mode, HSI and datum on the HUD will point to chosen waypoint, which can be toggled by lctrl + tilde key.
- Second pressing change to RTB mode, instead of waypoints, HSI and HUD datum will point to airbases.
- Third one activates ILS landing mode
2-3-4 and 5 are unused for Su-25
6 :
- Air to air missile longitidunal aiming : A targeting cue will appear at the center of HUD, if you have R-73 and / or R-60M air to air IR guided missiles, putting an aircraft under this cue will trigger a lock sound. You can release the missile while this sound is heard and, hopefully score a hit. If you press Cannon key (default : C), hud will switch to an air to air funnel sight for using 30mm GSh-30-2 gun. Pressing same key again will return to missile mode
7 :
- Air to ground master mode. This where you primarily will be with the Su-25T. You can switch you weapons with Weapon Change key, and according to weapon you choose, your HUD will show different targeting cues. Though, most weapons will require you to utilize TV screen slaved to Shkval targeting system (or it's alternative, podded Merkuriy for low light situations). Shkval is turned on default with O key, and laser rangefinder / designator is turned on with RShift + O. We will get deeper into these mechanics as we get to individual weapons and sensors. Again, like air to air mode, C will toggle gun strafing mode, for ground targets.
8 :
- A submode that can be turned on anywhere, it will overlay the fixed net back up sight on the HUD. While I really like utilizing the fixed net in MiG-21Bis and to a degree Su-25, I tend to keep it off on Su-25T, it clutters the HUD rather than providing much use.
In FC3 Su-25 and Su-25T, there is no seperate Weapon Fire / Weapon Release controls. Fire is the one that is used both for gun and other ordnance.
Now, let's have a short look into the cockpit :
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| The nice looking 6DoF cockpit |
- Lower left corner in front panel, right under the gear lever is a back panel with two large knobs. This is the ripple control panel. For bombs and rockets, LCtrl + Space will change ripple quantity, while V will change ripple frequency. With these settings you can achieve effective carpet bombing or area saturation on lined or bunched up targets like convoys or airfield park areas. Seriously, this is good stuff... especially for tossing or level bombing runs against area targets.
- To the right of ripple controls, you can see an octagonal panel with an aircraft symbol and lighted some green lights. This is gear / flap / airbrake indicator.
- Going one more column to the right, there is this big column of 4 large steam gauges. From bottom to top they are :
- Barometric Altimeter
- Radar Altimeter
- Speed gauge
- Combined Angle of Attack and Accelerometer : Left side = AoA, Right Side : G
- To the right of ADI is the Turn / Slip / Climb indicator. Yellow vertical needles is turn indicator with slip ball under it. Horizontal needle is Climb / Dive indicator
- Again to the right, combined engine RPM gauge.
- Under that are twin engine temperature gauges.
- At thier right, tall display of Fuel Gauge
- Bottom that panel is armament display
- Around lower right corner is display of SPO-15 Beryoza RWR system with a MiG-21 symbol inside it.
- Of course, huge TV screen on upper right corner, the IT-23M, display for Shkval and Merkuriy systems.
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| Rising with the Sun |
How to use the IT-23M TV screen in Su-25T :
Press O to power the screen up. If you also press RShift + O, you will also turn laser range finder on. You can look around with slew up, down, left and right key. In the middle of the screen, there is a line forming a bank indicator to aid you when you are concentrated on screen rather than flying. At the bottom, when you have the rangefinder on and where you point the sensor is within it's ranging capability, you will see the range in kilometers. There are two field of view (zoom) settings available, wide and zoomed. You can switch between these using "Display Zoom In"and "Display Zoom Out" controls. When you press "Target Lock" (default : Enter) once, screen will become ground stabilized, and slewing rate will slow a bit for fine tuning. When you have your desired target withing your targeting gate (middle of screen) press lock button again, and Shkval will start automatically tracking it. Speaking of target gate, you can change that with "Target Size / Gunpod Elevation" increase and decrease controls. If you want to attack a huge building or a ship, increase the target gate size, for a smaller tank or aircraft, decrease it. Unlike Litening targeting pod in DCS : A-10C or the Sniper XR from BMS F-16C, Su-25T's Shkval is nose mounted, and limited in depression and azimuth, so keep this in mind.
Now... on to the weapons themselves :
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| Weapons, yes, lots of them indeed... |
First off, lets start with fixed armament, the gun :
GSh-30-2
The two barreled autocannon uses 30 x 165mm shells, and lob them with about 870 m/s. Rate of fire is about 3000 rpm. In our Su-25T, it has some recoil but nothing too bad really, with a good aim,and steady flight you can spray a pretty long burst, and most of the rounds will land on target. Gun is pretty long ranged and powerful, only A-10's monstrous GAU-8 Avenger gun surpasses it. While it really isn't ideal for that job, you can even use it against tanks with some success. By default, there is a burst cut off implemented that will cease firing in about 1 second. If you want, you can disable this cut off and go ttrrrrrrrrrrt 'till it goes click as long as you keep the trigger pressed. Deafult control for toggling this cut off is LShift + C. If you can hit aircraft with the gun, needless to say, it will leave quite an impression on recipient.
Air to air missiles :
R-60M
Short range IR guided missile. Not much to say, maneuver your aircraft so the target is in the middle of HUD, when you hear the lock tone fire and hope for the best. Can be loaded on wingtip pylons, which only take jammers or R-60.
R-73
Same but longer range, better maneuvrability and speed, more effective warhead and higher flare resistance, and more reliable all aspect targeting ability. Can be mounted only on the pylons right next to R-60 pylons. So, if you want, you can carry 4 all aspect IR missiles on Su-25T. So even though it doesn't fly fighter-like at all, you can still have some sting on un suspecting aircraft.
Air to ground rockets :
Both Su-25 and Su-25T are very good at at rocket runs since they are both relatively fast yet still very stable. Russian value this type of armament since they develop lots of them in various calibers and warheads.
Most people tend to dissmiss and underestimate rockets when guided weaponry are available, but, rockets can still be highly effective weapons. Convoys or groups of soft targets can be saturated for high damage in aerial artillery role, or single hard targets can be sniped in a rocket strafing run. A diving attack from medium altitude and high speed can be highly accurate and difficult for AAA to retaliate. Conversely, you stay low and fast, avoid missile attacks from most SAMs, and can even, at times take them out before they fire (not a recommended tactic to be honest :)).
While it is less pronounced in Su-25T than it is Su-25, one overlooked advantage of unguided rockets over majority of guided weaponry available to Grach is, rockets are fire and forget. Some variants have fairly decent range when employed from high speed & relatively high altitudes, and unlike laser guided missiles, you turn back as soon as you launch them.
S-5 :
First of the rockets we will look, dimunitive, 55mm caliber S-5 rockets. These come in very draggy pods which holds a whopping 32 of these rockets. Eight of these pods will give you a ridiculous amount of rockets, 256 of them to be precise. But, these rockets are only slightly more potent than a shell of your 30mm gun, so they take many direct hits to do meaningful damage to armored targets. And I am not even talking about heavily armored ones here, just forget S-5 against heavy tanks.
S-8 :
These are 80mm rockets that come in 20 pack B-8V20 pods. Pods are fairly draggy and heavy. S-8 hits a nice balance of fire power and ammunition count. They can put some pretty good hurt in all vehicles with a decent burst. S-8TsM needs special mention : it doesn't have a warhead but instead it will release orange smoke wherever it hits. So this is your marking rocket, with you can mark targets for other pilots. S-8KOM is, shaped charge / fragmentation combined effect rocket which is supposed work better on armored vehicles than the rest, but to be honest, in my experience S-8OFP2 is the that work best on all target types in DCS. On most targets, while direct hits obviously are better, near misses will also do tangible damage on the recipient. Overall, my first choice when I want to have many ammo, but not so much when I want to absolutely destroy something.
S-13 :
122mm rocket, carried in 5 shot pods, fired in very rapid succession. With 8 pods, a total of 40 S-13s can be carried. These have good range and accuracy, and are highly powerful. Slender pods aren't as draggy as S-8 pods.
S-24 :
240mm rocket that carried under the pylon without a launcher, so 1 rocket for each hardpoint. 124kg warhead and fairly decent range and accuracy makes this weapon highly powerful against just about any kind of target.
S-25 :
Again, a big rocket that is carried one per hardpoint. Unlike S-24, S-25 comes with a container, or a single shot pod if you will... so even after launch they will leave some weight and drag unless you jettison the pods. It seems to veer off course a tiny bit more than S-24 but still this is accurate as well and also has long range for an unguided munition. What sets it apart though, is, the fact that it's warhead is more than twice heavier than S-24s already formidable one. There is also the guided version, S-24L with laser homing head, which we will see later.
Bombs
Su-25T, as is the Su-25, is a formidable bomber that can do CCRP, CCIP and some toss bombing too. Also thanks to it's screen, T model can use TV guided fire and forget KAB-500Kr. FAB-100, 100 kg general purpose bombs can be loaded on multiple ejector racks that allow you to carry 4 of them per hardpoint, which allow you to carry a whopping maximum of 32 bombs for some serious carpet bombing, which work better than cluster bombs. Speaking of them, there are also various cluster type options, RBK-250 and RBK-500 with various bomblet types. Finally, there is KMGU submunition dispensers which hold 96 bomblets each. Unlike cluster bombs of RBK type, KMGU will not leave your hardpoints and will remain with the aircraft, instead they will open their doors to release their payload. General purpose iron bombs include FAB-100, FAB-250 and venerable, powerful FAB-500. While there also are BetAB penetration bombs, unfortunately in DCS they serve more as decorations than meaningful ordnance.
Although bombs aren't nearly as easy to use as rockets or guided missiles, when employed properly they can provide good results on both area and point targets. Using CCRP from high altitudes where mobile SAM and AAA can't reach can also be a much safer (however less accurate) way to dispatch them than tempting fate with rocket runs which will need you to be closer.
I can not commet if that is the case in real aircraft but, in FC3 level simulation we have, it is the aircraft who decide whether the release is going to be CCIP or CCRP. If you are close to ground or diving etc, and point of impact is visible in the HUD, system will switch to CCIP mode, you tell this by drop line extending from middle of HUD to pipper. Otherwise, you maneuver the pipper over target, press and hold fire button, when you are in range a beep will alarm you release is imminent, keep holding the button and bomb will be released at the point from which targeting system predicts that bomb will hit the point we originally chosen to attack. Of course, you need to keep the aircraft very steady and level during this.
For cluster type of bombs, employing them similar to regular bombs will yield disappointing results and general purpose bombs are better that way. Clusters and KMGU are much better when you can land an accurate linear pattern on a convoy or similar concentration of targets. CCRP release is a must with them, preferable from around 1000-1500 meters and at high speed. PTAB submunitions are anti-tank shaped charge warheads, OA are fragmentation for use against softer targets. Although, I have to admit a full load of 32 FAB-100s are a more reliable source of destruction than cluster bombs for most cases.
Pulling a 4G climb during CCRP attack will let you toss your bombs for greater range.
Bombs I personally find useful are : FAB-100, FAB-500, KAB-500Kr and to a degree RBK-500.
KAB-500Kr is, as mentioned, presicion guiden and fire and forget BUT with two important caveats ; it can't be used in low light situations, and it isn't useful against moving targets. You can lock it on a target using Shkval.
Final note I have regarding the bombs is another "bomb" available : SAB-100. It releases parachute equipped flares that float down slowly and lets out huge brightness of light, for illuminating the targets during pitch black night.
SPPU-22-1 Depressable Gunpod :
An interesting concept, this pod houses the 23mm twin barreled GSh-23 gun in a depressable mount, so you can tilt the guns down var, and strafe down with a level flight attitude, or you can leave them boresighted to your flight axis and strafe as with normal guns.
Guided Missiles :
This is where we set Su-25T apart from Su-25. T-Frog can use a wide array of guided missiles, and can utilize them using it's Shkval system. While Su-25 can also use laser guided S-25L, Kh-25ML and Kh-29L missiles, their utilization on Su-25 isn't too much better than Kh-66 and MiG-21 duo, and is fairly difficult.
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| Two ship by the night : a multiplayer sortie |
We can divide the missile arsenal into 3 sub categories :
- Laser guided : Vikhr-M, Kh-25ML, S-25L, Kh-29L. These are all semi active laser homing missiles, apart from the Vikhr, which, instead is a laser beam riding weapon with it's seeker on it's back. All of the require you to stay locked on target until the impact (and therefore keep flying somewhat towards it). They all can be used against moving targets as well as stationary ones.
- TV Guided : Only TV guided missile available is Kh-29T. You lock a target on screen, fire and forget.
- Anti Radiation Missiles : Kh-58U and Kh-25MPU are SEAD weapons available to Su-25T, and frankly, only SEAD option in all DCS stable currently. They require Phantasmagoria pod to be loaded on center line. In air to ground mode, pressing "I" will enable Phantasmagoria and it will display any radar contacts it detect on HUD as diamonds. You can move the square target designator on them and lock them. SEAD can take a whole another article, and frankly there are excellent guides on Su-25T and SEAD by community all around the web and some threads on the ED Forums themselves.
First category (LASER) :
S-25L : Basic missile, with shortest range and not much speed. It is the S-25 rocket mated to a semi active laser seeker. It hits pretty hard, but isn't far reaching, and takes awhile to reach it's maximum range. This is the only guided missile that can be loaded on second hardpoint from the wingtip.
Kh-25ML : While it depends on launch speed and altitude and atmospheric conditions, it has about 8-10 km range and is a pretty fast missile (faster than Maverick for example, although not fire and forget like the Maverick). Warhead is pretty big as well. Overall, a good all around missile that can make short work of even the thoughest tanks.
Kh-29L : Huge missile that can only be carried under innermost hardpoints, and hits like a few 19 wheelers combined. It has a huge warhead and fairly decent range but the missile isn't very fast leading to a loooong flight time, rendering it almost useless against SAM threats that will fire back on you. In fact, some of the SAM units like Tunguska and OSA which normally can't attack incoming missiles are able to shoot this one down just fine. It also isn't a particularly maneuvrable missile, so it's minimum range is longer than likes of Kh-25 and Vikhr. While it obviously is intended more against stationary hard targets like hardened hangers / buildings / ships, it can still be used on moving targets.
Vikhr-M : This is where Su-25T gets interesting. Vikhr missiles developed for Ka-50 series attack helicopters, loaded on your Su-25T, with massive 8 pack launchers instead of Ka-50's 6 tube ones. They can only be mounted on second innermost stations. APU-8 launch tubes are VERY draggy, and onset of high mach flutter will be much, much earlier and harsher with these on. I recommend not taking too many other armament when you have Vikhrs, since 16 guided missiles is already quite plenty. Vikhr is powerful enough for most vehicles apart from main battle tanks. If you hit frontal armor of more modern MBT targets, one missile will most likely not be enough. But from other angles, and against other vehicles they are one hit kills. Vikhr has about 8-9 km range when fired from a fast frogfoot. Missile itself is quite fast, which is important when dealing with it's guidance method that require you to stay locked ton target until impact.
Second category (TV) :
Kh-29T : The only TV guided fire and forget missile available to Su-25T. Same missile as the above, but with a TV seeker, therefore it shares the strengths and weaknesses of Kh-29L do a degree. Where it differs is, you can just lock and fire it and turn away, or lock and fire on another target in rapid succession. Though, it can not be locked on a moving target, unfortunately. If you lock it on a stationary vehicle, and it moves while the missile is in flight, it is very likely that the missile will lose track. Although, even a near(ish) miss from the monster will still damage the target.
Third category (ARM) :
Kh-25MPU : Kh-25 missile with a passive radar seeker instead of laser homing one. Due to more streamlined nose cone, this has a much longer range than Kh-25ML. It flies a lofting profile.
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| Loaded up Phantasmagoria and Kh-58U. Also showing off Vikhr, S-25L, and the Shkval window on the nose |
Kh-58U : Faster, bigger warhead and longer range than Kh-25MPU, and it doesn't loft as high.
Alright folks... this concludes our look at the weaponry and basic characteristics of the Su-25T, I hope it will be helpful to somebody and hope you had enjoyed the read!
Cheers and safe virtual flights!
I'll be leaving you with a few more T-Frog screenshots :
Great blog and very enjoyable articles!! thank you!
ReplyDeleteNice read. Thanks for a very good piece.
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