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MBot -> RE: Air strike missions in poor weather (9/29/2015 6:52:53 PM)
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Interesting topic, I recently wondered about this myself.
As a rule of thumb I would expect the following behavior if the attacker aircraft does not track the target by its own on-board sensors (visual, radar, FLIR, laser spot tracker):
-Stationary or moving target: target not attacked
-Stationary target, target detected externally/known position: target not attacked
-Stationary target, target detected externally/known position, attacker has INS/GPS nav-attack system: target attacked (coordinates entered into INS/GPS)
-Moving target, target detected externally, attacker has INS/GPS nav-attack system: target not attacked (only usable against stationary targets)
-Moving target, target detected externally, datalink established: target attacked
I attached 3 simple scenarios where currently an attack takes place (even if sometimes multiple passes are required) where I think it should not. The setup is: target small boat, detected by SH-60, attacked by AV-8C (only visual sensor).
Variant 1: Day, thick ground fog (no visual contact established)
Variant 2: Night, clear (visual contact established)
Variant 3: Night, overcast (visual contact established)
Variant 2 might be debatable, as visibility in clear nights with moon light might be good (is this modeled?). On the other hand it might be questionable if aggressive combat maneuvers associated with dropping bombs can be performed safely at night even if basic VFR navigation is possible. Is there any anecdotal evidence for example from Vietnam? I think variant 3 should not produce a visual detection and subsequent attack. If an overcast night is not pitch black, then what else is?
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