Weapons training comprises twelve missions:

• BVR AMRAAM
• Dogfight Sidewinder
• Maverick Mobile Attack
• Cannon CAS
• Harpoon Ship Kill
• Rocket Attack
• Bomb BAI
• Bomb CAS
• Cluster CAS
• HARM SEAD
• JDAM Interdiction
• Cluster Airfield

The BVR AMRAAM mission begins with thirty fighters crossing the Yemeni border. You are tasked with your wingman to deter as many as possible. You will have support from other F22 flights. Obviously you will need to utilize stealth as well as guerilla tactics here. If you enter this hornets nest you won't survive the mission!

Its in the weapons training missions that some of the less pleasant aspects of the simulation in its first incarnation begin to surface. Obviously, there is a LOT here. Maybe too much. Digital Image Design has a great deal of creative talent and some lofty design goals. Their reason for splitting this simulation into two pieces, ADF and TAW was because they KNEW that they were setting their sights very high. Inevitably, some things have been pushed too quickly or have slipped through the nets of "realism" or "practicability."

Some of the frustrating items I'm referring to are these:

• Time between lock and launch of a SAM: 2 seconds
• Blast radius of heavy ordinance: 0 feet
• Shoot list generation: 360 degrees
• IRST detection ability: 360 degrees
• Separate radar and IRST detection ability: none
• Ability to query wingman status: none
• Ability to edit weapons loadout: none

Obviously, there are some weaknesses in the simulation. On the plus side, DiD has never been hesitant to patch their releases and my GOLD version has not crashed once. We've come a long way from EF2 in its first release!

But these are bothersome details. In order to destroy a target with cluster bombs you need to score a direct hit. But this weapons was designed so you wouldn't HAVE to! And when your shoot list places priority on a bandit ten miles to the rear rather than the one coming straight at you... its time to get nasty.

Meanwhile, on the ground attack missions, having no realistic distinction between lock and launch of a surface to air missile means your reaction/response time is lost. As an example I was flying in the first Red Sea Tour mission last night and was near the final waypoint in enemy territory. A SAM locked me up as I pulled too sharp a turn past the waypoint. I relaxed the stick but the SAM launched a second later. In reality he probably should have lost lock over the next ten seconds or so, but this doesn't happen in the present version.

Inability to edit my own or my wingmans loadout is another tip of the hat to the coming TAW. This component is intricately wedded to TAW and did not find its way into ADF. Unfortunately, this means we have a stealth fighter which is sometimes not very stealthy. You can jettison external weapons and tanks if you like but your wingman may still give you away. And this also carries over into the AWACS component. You just don't have all the control you would like to have. If this ability could find its way to the coming Tours expansion disk it would add a great deal to the sim until we have TAW.

As for the radar and IRST connection not much needs to be said. There is no reason that we should lose IRST ability when radar goes down or vice versa. Hopefully this will be remedied in the first patch.

Inability to query wingman status is a bit of a mystery. Why this wasn't designed into ADF from the ground up is inexcusable. JSF actually allows FIVE separate queries to wingmen (and either collectively or individually!) including fuel, action, ammo, damage or FULL (which brings a report on all four areas). Trust a newbie to the field to show the way!

The next section of training missions involves A2A and instructs you with regard to targeting systems and tactics. Air to Air Tactics training has nine missions:

• Using EMCON
• Using IRST
• Eyeball and Shooter
• Drag Left
• Offensive Split
• Sd Left
• Defensive Split
• The Grinder
• Stealth Attack

EMCON ONE I think it is safe to say that this is the most advanced trainer ever designed for a jet combat sim. The only thing lacking is diagrams and voice instruction (as in FA18 Korea), though you can find some diagrams in the online help in WIN95. In these training missions you have opportunity to thoroughly interact with weapons and wingmen in a large variety of situations. The odds in some of the missions are a bit overwhelming, but even in those you still have options.. I worked my way through the first series of training missions, bypassing only the odd mission prior to tackling the EMCON mission. This is a report based on that experience. Any details included in the report represent actual experience in the sim... I found myself at around 18,000 feet cruising just below mach one. My three wingmen were in an arrow formation. Two was close enough on my nine oclock that I could hear the rumble of his engines. I was gazing out the cockpit at the scenery, which from this altitude seemed singularly beautiful. The sky was fairly clear although we were high enough to be into some light cloud. I noticed a road following a ridge line down below, heading more or less south, which was also our direction. This mission was a CAP. About the time I was starting to relax and enjoy the ride we had two bandits at eleven oclock at sixty miles, and bogies at 2 oclock also. As I was deciding to split my force to investigate I got the AWACS call to identify the bogies at 2 oclock. I immediately ordered wing three to engage the bandits who were now at fifty miles and wing four remained in formation for our identification of assumed hostiles at 2 oclock. We descended to 16,000 feet, which was four thousand feet lower than the incoming bogies in an effort to take advantage of and deficiency in the look down capabilities of their radar. This was probably an unnecessary precaution since we were not carrying any external armament and were therefore almost invisible to most radars. We maintained our speed below mach one to ensure a minimal IR signature. At thirty miles we had an ID of MiG 21s, a four ship formation that we would now engage. I called a wide sweep formation and then a moment later ordered my wing to drag right. He complied by turning on his radar (becoming a nice large beacon) and pulling off to my three oclock, increasing his speed to mach 1.2 or therabouts. The MiGs took careful note and began to vector on his six. I armed my AMRAAMs and prepared to launch, but at this lower altitude I would not be in range for another few seconds. No matter, the MiGs were not carrying any very sophisticated hardware and it was unlikely that they would detect me. Meanwhile in the background I was also listening to the progress of Two and Three. They had launched on the bandits a few moments after calling out the IDs (fog of war, I can't recall if MiGs or Su 27s...) Two had just dodged a missile when Three called "Splash One." A moment later Two called "Splash Two" but then, "I'm hit!" Damn, I thought, not a thing I could do about it but hope he could limp home.... I was now in range and switched to EMCON 3, launching four missiles at four bandits. I saw one of the missiles ignite down to my left and flash out in front of me, billowing its misty trail. Following good form the four startled MiGs swiftly split into groups of two while my wing turned to engage any remaining bandits. I went to EMCON ONE and prepared to engage with AIM9x if necessary. Two launched on one MiG just as two others were hit. I could see the distant explosions at roughly fifteen miles. I chose to climb to 25,000 feet to engage the remaining two bandits who coincidentally were in one group. I armed my AIMs and when I had a lock launched on both bandits. One of the MiGs took Twos missile and went spirally earthward out of control. The AIM9x found its mark and I saw a parachute erupt moments before impact. However, I was busy with the second MiG who was beginning to dance around me after my missile passed him by. With Two waiting for an opening we began the dance. He was a good pilot in a manouverable aircraft. At one moment he had radar lock and I was twisting and turning through the sky. I broke lock and regained sight of him at my three oclock high. Now the off boresight technology of the AIM9x came into play as I received lock via my HMD and launched. The bandit dodged and dropped flares and escaped again! Out of short range missiles I was considering calling for help when the MiG made a poor choice and I was able to get a snap shot. I took a piece out of him and saw flames erupt from his left wingtank. Amazingly, he still had good control and we made one more turn before my cannon tore into his airframe again. I saw the chute pop open and the aircraft shattered into pieces. It wasn't a completely lucky day for me, however. I was less than half a mile from the MiG when it broke up and took a couple of hits from shrapnel, losing radar AND my nose gear! Furthermore, my right MFD was flickering on and off. I double checked my SYS MFD to be sure I hadn't also taken damage to hydraulics. It turned out my luck held in that area, and I limped back to base and landed on main gear only, finally scraping to a stop with a mangled nose....

FreeFlight has simple goals like take off at Abu something-or-other and land at Hafi something-else. However, you can also join an in progress CAP on some of these flights if you would like to do so... In fact, most of the single missions feature ongoing environments and if you are in good shape you can land and rearm and refuel and take to the air again and take on some more work or get a vector to another intercept.

Next on the list is Wingmen Training which comprises four missions:

• Pickle
• Engage My Target
• Engage Bandits
• Engage Hostiles

Following the wingmen training missions you will be well prepared for the Tours of Duty.

Go to F22: ADF Review Part IV