It also seems like, contrary to the bigger brothers, the MANPADS don't run out of ammo.
Being organic in nature, maybe they have access to
Hammerspace (warning, TVTropes link) and use it for ammo storage?
---------- Post added 10-19-13 at 00:52 ---------- Previous post was 10-18-13 at 12:01 ----------
Successfully finished the first sortie of the campaign. Currently sitting on the ramp waiting for repairs to finish so I can head out again.
Method of dealing with MANPADS: Kh-29T. The MANPADs (usually) came in groups with a truck; lock on the truck with the Kh-29T, fire, head the other direction. Deal with the weight imbalance while you find the next one, repeat. Downside of this method is that you can't lock up the truck with the Shkval from the Kh-29T's max range. I suspect a Kh-29L would be better, so you could laser-designate from farther away, but since you have to stay on course for the laser I'm not sure if that will require you to get closer before impact. Will need to test. Once you're out of Kh-29Ts, Vikhrs seem to be the way to go--it won't lock the infantry, but you can spot them on the Shkval when you're zoomed in and trigger the laser manually.
Vikhrs work fine for AAA and light armor, but they seem to suck pretty hard against tanks. One of the tanks in this mission has taken at least three direct hits and is still going string. S-25Ls take them out in one hit, but it seems like overkill and kind of a waste.
Also, Vikhrs launched from the left pylon don't seem to work 80% of the time--it'll intercept the beam, but then fly off to the side and be worthless. Right pylon didn't seem to have the same issue. The left pylon's targeting reticle seemed to be a lot farther off center than the right's, so I guess that's related?
Also, firing a Vikhr seems to trigger a rather longer-than-necessary delay before you can fire the next one. Turning off the laser allows you to fire again (laser turns on automatically when you fire one).
Wingman followed me back to base, landed, and spent five minutes taxiing to the absolute-farthest hangar. While I was sitting here repairing, I took a look at him...he hasn't fired a single weapon. Apparently you have to order your wingman to engage, otherwise he just derps around and does nothing?
Sounds like he's refueling right now, so I'll see if I can coax him to follow me back into the air in a couple minutes. Not sure if he'll be able to get back out of that hangar...
---------- Post added at 01:09 ---------- Previous post was at 00:52 ----------
Oops.
Started takeoff from the wrong runway, didn't realize it until it was too late. Couldn't get speed to take off, couldn't slow down in time.
Guess I'll try again...
And no, the wingman never did come out of the hangar. Useless.
---------- Post added at 01:46 ---------- Previous post was at 01:09 ----------
Kh-29L has a notably shorter range than the Kh-29T, and you have to stay aligned the whole time, so I suspect the Kh-29T is still superior. Plus, you might be able to fire it without actually needing to lock the truck...
The Kh-25ML has a theoretically longer range, but I'm not sure it has the blast radius to take out the MANPADs from the truck, and it also only seems to have a longer range if you're at high altitude (which doesn't apply in this first mission since there's clouds).
Most recent attempt, wingman got himself shot down strafing a SAM site (wtf? but hey, at least he tried) and I managed to fly into a mountain while I was watching him get himself killed...
Also, I've gotten a lot better with the Vikhr. The "trick" is to make sure that your target, your missile, and your plane all stay roughly collinear, otherwise the missile won't be able to follow the beam anymore. This thread has some diagrams that might help the understanding:
http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=101574