What is the best station for carrier based AEW?

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What is the best station for carrier based AEW?

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What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/11/2018 8:48:03 PM

HalfLifeExpert

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Since I enjoy playing scenarios commanding CVBGs, what would be the best distance away from the carrier for a long range radar warning support station for an AEW aircraft?

Of course by far the most common aircraft for the role is the E-2 Hawkeye, so keep that aircraft's capabilities in mind.

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RE: What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/11/2018 10:40:52 PM

Rory Noonan

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Default response: It depends

I like to put my AEW assets between the expected threat vector and my CVBGs. If I'm not sure where to expect a threat from, then probably about 100nm ahead of the CVBG.

Against the AI your main concern is bogeys investigating the AEW aircraft via ESM or radar detection and then coming across your CVBG, so range should be dictated by that. I would aim for 1.25 - 1.5x the range of the best enemy surface search radar. Also to a certain extent the further your AEW assets are from your high value units, the earlier warning you will get for raids and incoming vampires.

Against a human opponent (so if you're designing a scenario and want to be tricky), they will most likely pick out motion of AEW assets and determine the CVBGs position relative to them if they're on relative reference points (which move with the CVBG), so putting up a stationary post that covers the right area and axis could be a way to counter-act that. A really wiley scenario designer might put up a second AEW station as a decoy or bait for a trap

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RE: What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/12/2018 1:37:23 AM

Cik

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i actually generally position my AEW behind or on top of my carriers.

for me the appeal of the AEW is 1. you can better deal with surface skimmers (ASHM and low flying things launching ASHM) without having to light up your surface group's radars (unless they are providing terminal illumination for something)

if you position them relatively close to each other, you get the best of both worlds- the E-2 can be under the SAM umbrella of the surface group while the surface group is protected from things exploiting horizon LOS and using the offboard sensors to guide weapons to target(s)

you can put them very far away in a forward position of course if and only if you have a reasonable assurance they will be safe. generally speaking in the scenarios i like to play though this is a very big gamble.

(in reply to Rory Noonan)

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RE: What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/12/2018 2:50:24 AM

Gunner98

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I like to put an AEW (E2) offset laterally by about 100nm and behind a little - and active only when on patrol so it does not activate and give the carrier location away. As a counterpoint, you should put an ELINT bird (ES-3) on an opposite offset and an ESM AC (EA-6B) along the likely threat axes. The ESM remains silent as long as possible and uses its ELINT sensors to augment the other two - but when an attack comes in it starts jamming.

Having the AEW along the threat axes vs a strong A2A opponent is risky.

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RE: What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/12/2018 3:47:44 PM

SeaQueen

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It depends.

Generally you want to place them somewhere in a protected place along the threat axis. Typically that's behind the fighters and maybe even inside your SAM range. The further forward you place them the more vulnerable they are, but the advantage is that you gain detection range. The further back they are, the better protected they are, but the less detection range they'll have from the fighters and surface ships they're supporting. Also, the further away they are, the less time they have on station which means you need more aircraft to fill that orbit.

In the Atlantic Convoy Duty, 1985 scenario, I try to put them far enough forward so that I can detect targets (in this case mostly Backfire, Bear and Badger bombers) before they enter the longest ranged ASCM in the scenario (~250NM if I remember correctly). That way they can cue my F-14s and A-7s to attack the incoming bombers and cruise missiles. Generally, when planning, I think about what I'm trying to defend against with them, and push them as far forward as I can without putting them in harm's way or pushing them out so far that I won't have enough aircraft to keep their patrol filled.

Does that give you a sense of the variables in play when you're planning?

quote:

ORIGINAL: HalfLifeExpert

Since I enjoy playing scenarios commanding CVBGs, what would be the best distance away from the carrier for a long range radar warning support station for an AEW aircraft?

Of course by far the most common aircraft for the role is the E-2 Hawkeye, so keep that aircraft's capabilities in mind.

< Message edited by SeaQueen -- 2/12/2018 4:24:42 PM >

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RE: What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/12/2018 4:00:27 PM

Luckschaden

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quote:

I like to put my AEW assets between the expected threat vector and my CVBGs. If I'm not sure where to expect a threat from, then probably about 100nm ahead of the CVBG.

Interesting. I would usually put them behind my CVBG (slightly of centre), and in a somewhat random zig zag pattern.

The reasoning for putting them behind the CVBG is that they can see pretty far, often far enough, even if a few dozen nm behind the CVBG, and they are not very survivable: easy to see and very slow.

(in reply to Rory Noonan)

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RE: What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/12/2018 4:21:30 PM

SeaQueen

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Luckschaden
The reasoning for putting them behind the CVBG is that they can see pretty far, often far enough, even if a few dozen nm behind the CVBG, and they are not very survivable: easy to see and very slow.

Because they can see a long way, they should have plenty of warning that enemy fighters are coming, so if you see that fighters are making it through their the CAPs, pull them back. If you can put ship-based SAMs between them and the fighters, you don't need to outrun the fighters.

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RE: What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/12/2018 4:50:52 PM

thewood1

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I played around with alternating missions and moving reference points around so as not to give up any clues on carrier positioning.

As Gunner98 mentioned, I keep about 100 km offset from the carrier.

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RE: What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/12/2018 5:01:25 PM

Wiz33

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Depends on what kind of threat you're up against. If you're up against Badger and Backfire with long range ASMs in open sea. I would put it at least a couple hundred miles out towards the threat vector (easily determined as there are only so many airfield that the Badger and Backfire can operate from). and I would station the BARCAP another 100 miles out. This will also give you a good chance to deter the Bear sniffing around. Threat against the AEW is going to be minimal as you'll be mostly out of land based fighter range.

< Message edited by Wiz33 -- 2/12/2018 5:03:12 PM >

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RE: What is the best station for carrier based AEW? - 2/13/2018 1:02:49 AM

ExNusquam

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As other's have said, my go to is usually 100-150NM along the threat axis (not PIM). Usually 2xE-2 can sustain a station, so if a 3rd is available I'll use it to setup a second station ~200NM offset from the first one, to provide at least intermittent coverage of secondary threat axes. The closer you are to the threats, the closer the station will need to be to the CVBG in order to ensure that threats can't bypass the AEW coverage.

In general, I use fixed reference points, active emissions on station only, and depending on the OPFOR radar coverage, I'll set transit altitudes to station at 300' to keep the platform out of radar coverage until it pops up on station. The last option significantly eats into the time on station and is generally micro-heavy to ensure persistent coverage, but can improve survivability of the CVBG when dealing with AAW assets with significant ASuW sensor ranges (Su-30, etc).

(in reply to Wiz33)

Post #: 10