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Weapons Systems
The weapons are controllable from both the gunner and pilot's positions. With the exception of the Tiger, the Fire Control Radar can be used for targeting in addition to the TADS/IHADDS. LOBL and LOAL sub-modes are available for some ATGM's, as is OPWIRE and IRFF. In FCR mode, up to four targets can be locked and simultaneously engaged with ripple fire. The Tiger probably has the most interesting anti-tank guided missiles: The Hot 3 and the Trigat. The Hot 3 is an older weapon, and it can be steered by the gunner without being locked on a target. This comes in extremely handy when a target ducks being cover; you simply break lock, move the targeting reticule over to a target that is still in the open, lock it up, and watch as the missile diverts its course to the new target. The Trigat is a fire-and-forget missile, and once it is off the rail, it is going after the IR target that was locked when it was fired.
Fig. 2. Tiger executing a pop-upThe guns on the various aircraft have varying degrees of penetration based on their ammunition, and we've found that the gun is quite effective against soft and medium armored targets. Main Battle Tanks can at times be destroyed with flank, rear, and top hits depending on range and which ammo is in use.
AvionicsThe rockets perform as would be expected. The MPSM rounds have a great visual effect, and against Infantry Fighting Vehicles and prepared positions/bunkers, rockets can be quite effective. Flechette rounds work great against enemy aircraft, however since the infantry is not visible in our current build, we couldn't try these nasty rockets on them. The infantry is going to be in the release version of Gunship!, and we know that they are there, since shoulder launched SAM's have been fired at us from open spaces that have no units. According to the developers, this has already been rectified.
There are two issues that most simmers are concerned with regarding Gunship!. Avionics is one of them. The lack of interactivity in the avionics is something we disliked in Gunship!. When we brought this up to the development guys, their response was that although every button may not be in the correct place, most of the MFD's work according to real specifications. The radar in the Apache works in the sim just as it does in the real D model in ground tracking mode, as does the RAWS and weapon system MFDs. Damage to these systems is modified a bit to work with Gunship!'s damage structure. The development team is adamant that the realism is in the battlefield, and not so much in every button in the cockpit.
