Patriot Bty

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DWReese
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Patriot Bty

Post by DWReese »

I've noticed that the Patriot Battery seems to be a little different than most of the other SAM batteries in the game. Specifically, if the radar is turned on for other units, you see a 360 degree circle around the unit. But, with the Patriot, you see a 120 degree slice of radar. You can use the orientation slider to aim the direction of the radar, but I was wondering WHY this wasn't a 360 radar like the rest of the SAMs. Does anyone know? If so, will it ONLY pick things up in that specific slive?

Doug
Raptorx7_slith
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RE: Patriot Bty

Post by Raptorx7_slith »

Thats how the radar works in real life, and yes it only picks up targets within its radar cone.
DWReese
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RE: Patriot Bty

Post by DWReese »

Is the Patriot the ONLY SAM in the game that operates like that?



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SeaQueen
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RE: Patriot Bty

Post by SeaQueen »

No, there's others. The THAAD for instance. I think the main thing dictating radar arcs is less what "reality" is and more what they have data for. I'm sure that limitations on the sensor arc are widespread, depending on a myriad of technical details including things like gimble limits, radar scope display limitations, or the antenna array shape. In the absence of data, 360 coverage is sort of the default assumption. If you find data on the limitations of a specific system, I'm sure the guys would love to see a database update request which includes the data.
Raptorx7_slith
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RE: Patriot Bty

Post by Raptorx7_slith »

Image

I don't think this rotates so i'm pretty sure the devs have it right.
AndrewJ
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RE: Patriot Bty

Post by AndrewJ »

It can rotate slowly, at least in some versions of the mount.

Image

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQFeeGFBVbU


I'm not sure if turning it requires some sort of recalibration afterwards, or if you can just point it wherever you need to without further adjustment.

But it doesn't seem to spin continuously like some of the Russian phased array surveillance radars.
DWReese
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RE: Patriot Bty

Post by DWReese »

Thanks for the insight.

The directional arc just caught me off guard. I obviously haven't played with the Patriot before, and I had never seen a SAM that keeps the radar on all of the time, and was directional. I'm sure that it is accurate, there was never a question about that. It was just odd when you have seen many, but none with a directional arc before.

Doug
AndrewJ
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RE: Patriot Bty

Post by AndrewJ »

It turns out the FM for Patriot battalion operations is available online.

http://www.bits.de/NRANEU/others/amd-us-archive/fm3-01.85(02).pdf

It doesn't go into fine details about the equipment capabilities, but it provides some insights into how they set up the batteries in general.

It refers to orienting the radar along a primary target line, and also having the capability to train the radar in azimuth towards a secondary target line, so presumably the ability to slew the radar manually in the editor would be a realistic simulation of that capability.

It also raises some interesting points about radiation safety, which I had not considered. Apparently they don't want friendly personnel within 120 m of the front of the radar, lest they suffer radiation injuries. They also set up a zone where the radar will not be pointed, and they position the various electronics vans, etc. within that zone. Friendly aircraft are also kept out of a larger danger zone in front of the radar (which is 4 km long in the case of a THAAD radar), presumably to avoid EMI problems. It makes me wonder whether you could get a soft kill against close range aircraft if you focused all the radar energy on it at full power?

The other thing it brought to mind was launcher azimuth limits. You may be able to slew the radar reasonably quickly, but what if the launcher is pointed the wrong way? The launchers can slew +/- 110º in azimuth, but the manual mentions that the launcher "has to be precisely emplaced and aligned prior to launch". Does this mean you would need to realign each time you adjust the azimuth? Or just once when you park the trailer? I wonder if we are somewhat under-rating the advantage of the VLS system on the big Russian SAMs?

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Gunner98
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RE: Patriot Bty

Post by Gunner98 »

Does this mean you would need to realign each time you adjust the azimuth? Or just once when you park the trailer?

I'm sure that they would have to realign but it would probably be done very quickly. There are probably very slick drills for that sort of thing. If its anything like a howitzer, swinging outside the designated arcs and realigning is very quick, marginally longer than engaging within arcs but measured in seconds not minutes. Also, they can probably counter any issues by placement of the various launchers within a Bty to accommodate off axes firing.
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stilesw
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RE: Patriot Bty

Post by stilesw »

Andrew,

Thanks for this field manual reference. I've added it to CMANO's unofficial Dropbox reference library.

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