SA-5 NCTR Issue

[Coiler12]

The SA-5's Square Pair radar was stated as having an NCTR capability. Unfortunately, when I put an easy target near an "Ace"-ranked SA-5, the radar failed to identify it. Manually turning on the Square Pairs that normally stay off until the launchers prepare to fire didn't help. Save attached.

[mikmykWS]

Thanks Coiler. We'll take a look.

Mike

[Coiler12]

Good news and bad news.
Good news: The NCTR mode works, meaning that there isn't an issue that prevents it from coming up at all.
Bad news: The NCTR mode for the Square Pair only works against targets the SA-5 site is already shooting at.

Basically, it goes like this, which I found after much testing:
-Other NCTR systems are either search radars or always-on (for lack of a better word, think Aegis) FCRs.
-The Square Pair isn't automatically on until it's time to fire, like other SAM FCRs, especially of that time period.
-Manually turning it on, or even setting targets to "unfriendly" doesn't mean it tracks the target, it means that the radar just emits uselessly.
-What consistently works is marking the target hostile (either through engage non-hostiles or manually marking it), which means the Square Pair does target them-and thanks to the long range of the missiles, means that in almost all cases, the NCTR mode doesn't activate until the target is being fired upon.

[kneecaps]

I hope the NCTR "facillities" on the Square Pair are extremely poor at identifying anything other than large 1950s-1970s props?