Air To Air Gunnery – Theory and Application, Part Three Page 18

By SimHQ on February 11, 2000 in _air9, hide

Director Sight Snap Shot

Let’s dispense with the rocket science, and just say that the director sight is designed for a tracking solution. Its reliance on a radar or IR/laser lock on and predictable target behavior all conspire to make snap shots difficult. Remember, the pipper is not an indication of bullet position…it is a direction steering symbol only. It is saying that if the shooter can place the pipper over the target and fire, then he will get a hit. That’s just fine…for a disturbed reticle LCOSS where the pipper indicates bullet position. But for a director sight, in a snap shot situation, the position of the pipper becomes very unpredictable. And, because the target is in the gun line for such a small amount of time, settling time and tracking errors are common place. This is not to say that a snap shot cannot be done using the director sight…it’s just much, much harder! Here are some tips for how to do this with the Flanker and F/A-18 director sights.

Flanker 2 Snap Shot
Pull the nose out in lead as you would with any sight. If possible, try to level your wings with the target’s flight path…this makes the solution easier to see. Select a view that will allow you to see in the direction of the target. Padlock will work well. You can also use the forward view and slew your look angle towards the target.

In your view, you will have three items to work with…the target, the aiming circle and the reticle. Initially, the reticle may not be in view until you reduce your range. Project the target’s flight path forward across your HUD. Raise or lower your nose to line up the reticle with the aiming circle.

Adjust your heading to close your range. Be ready to see the target move rapidly across your nose. Fine tune your nose position to align the target flight path, aiming circle, and reticle. Open fire as the target approaches the aiming circle and continue to fire until the target flies through the reticle.

Janes F/A-18 Snap Shot
Pull your nose out and fine tune your nose position as described in the Flanker section. You will again have three references…the target, the reticle, and the approximate gun line. The ^ symbol immediately above the gun cross symbol is the approximate gun line.

Open fire as the target approaches the reticle.

You do have an alternative. Disregard the LCOSS symbols and use a fixed sight technique. For Flanker 2, return your sight to the funnel display by breaking your radar lock. For F/A-18, use the ^ symbol as your gun line.

Conclusion

This has been long and involved, but I hope you understand gunsights better now than you did before. Nothing has changed since the Red Baron took to the air. Get in close, steady your aim, and fire a good burst.

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