77th JSOC / Public Servers / Guides / UAV/ UAV Operations Manual
UAV Operations Manual
This guide will cover the use of UAVs on the 77th JSOC public servers, it mainly focused on the operation of Greyhawk but will touch on the use of Darters and Stompers as well. For further instructions on server rules regarding the UAV operator and rules of engagement please read the related rules and the wiki section for UAV operators. This guide will mainly be covering UAV/UGV controls, reconnaissance, target painting and how to drop bombs.
Keep in mind, all key bindings and player interfaces in this wiki is referring to a standard Arma 3 layout. If you have adjusted/tweaked any setting for your arma game, please take this into consideration when referring to this wiki page.
UAV Types:
First of all, there is 4 types of unmanned vehicles on the 77th JSOC servers. These are:
The MQ4A Greyhawk
This is a fixed-wing UAV available in two versions either armed with air-to-ground rockets or laser-guided precision bombs. The version available on the 77th JSOC servers is armed with 2 laser-guided precision bombs. It is equipped with a ventral-mounted gimballed camera capable of normal, thermal and night vision imagery. It's also capable of laser painting targets for precision bombing and rangefinding. This makes it ideal for reconnaissance and target acquisition. The Greyhawk can fly for long periods of time and cover a large area for reconnaissance purposes. The Greyhawk is a large target and prone to damage from surface-to-air weaponry and air-to-air fighters. The UAV operator is wise to keep the Greyhawk at an altitude of at least 2000m whenever they are close to the AO.
The man portable UAVs (AR-2 Darter)
The darter is a miniature quadcopter carried in a backpack, they are small and agile and ideal for reconnaissance and target acquisition. They come equipped with a gimbaled camera capable of normal, thermal and night vision imagery. They carry a rangefinder and a laser designator for target painting. The battery limitation and slow speed of the Darter necessitate that they are deployed close to the AO either by the UAV operator, a pilot or by a squad. Due to its small size, the Darter may operate closer to the ground than the other UAV systems, they can survive down to approx 200m of the ground in an AO depending on the type of enemy forces close by.
The MQ-12 Falcon
The Falcon is a rotary-wing type UAV. The standard Falcon is a gunship-type UAV equipped with a gimballed camera capable of normal, thermal, and night vision imagery. It carries a laser designator, dumb-fire, and lock-on missiles. On our servers the weapon systems are disabled and it will primarily be used for recon and target painting. The Falcon are a fantastic recon platform and can cover a significant amount of ground in a reasonable timeframe. In terms of speed and range, it will outperform the Darters but don't have the same performance as the Greyhawk. The size of the Falcon makes it easy for enemy ground AA systems, and aircraft to spot and engage it. Hence, it's important to stay vigilant when using the Falcon.
The Unmanned ground vehicles (UGV Stomper)
These come in two versions: armed and unarmed. The unarmed variant is available for recon and resupply purposes on the 77th JSOC servers. They are able to be loaded with equipment and airlifted by the Huron or Taru heavy lift helicopters. Keep in mind, the stomper has a tendency to drop when sling loaded and there is an increased risk of losing the UGV due to the buggy nature of sling loading in normal. The stomper is equipped with a normal and night vision camera for navigational purposes. The Stomper is prone to RPG fire, guided AT rocket fire as well as attacks from enemy rotary and fixed-wing CAS, it's wise to use it carefully and with protection from a squad, it's a support vehicle and not intended to be brought into direct confrontation with enemy forces.
Key bindings/Controls:
The key bindings listed below is the default Arma 3 key bindings, if you have changed any binding you have to take this into consideration when using the UAVs.
General Key bindings:
- By pressing Left-CTRL and clicking the Left-Mouse button on the map you will be able to add multiple waypoints. This is good if you want to have your UAV/UGV use a specific route or a specific ingress/egress direction.
- Left-SHIFT and clicking the Left-Mouse button on the map will add a single destination point.
- Right-clicking the destination or waypoint markers will bring up a list of options.
- CTRL-T will lock the camera onto a vehicle, building or area that's in view. If the camera is pointed onto a vehicle the camera will automatically track the vehicle for as long as it's physically possible.
- Press the N key to switch between normal, thermal or night vision cameras.
Key bindings for the Greyhawks/Darters:
When in the Gunner controls:
- Pressing F will switch between bomb controls or laser designator.
- Pressing T while looking at a laser-painted target will start the bomb-locking process.
- Pressing the Left-mouse button while using the laser designator will start the laser and paint whatever you are looking at. (This also applies to the Darter.)
- Pressing the Left-mouse button while using the bombs will drop a bomb.
Type /Behavior / Altitude:
When you are in the UAV terminal there are 3 options when you right clicking closely to the tip of the arrow/waypoints you set for your UAV/UGV. These are:
- Type
- Behaviour
- Altitude
Type:
The different types will determine the role the UAV will assume.
- Move: The UAV/UGV will move to the selected location.
- Destroy: Destroys a specific target. The target must always be seen by friendly's, Marked or seen by yourself. (Do not use this.)
- Seek and Destroy: It will attack Laser designated positions. (Do not use this. Since it will engage targets whenever someone is laser designating, many public players will not be aware of the fact that they have their lasers on, this will increase the risk of unwanted UAV behavior and uncontrolled engagements.)
- Hold: UGV/UAV will move to marker and hold.
- Sentry: Never use this unless it's the UGV.
- Sentry: Guard: Never use this unless it's the UGV.
- Sentry: Support: Do not use this behavior.
- Sentry: Cycle: Do not use this behavior.
- Sentry: Loiter: Takes a reconnaissance stance in a circular radius varying from 500m-1500m. (This stance is the best way of deploying the Greyhawks over an AO.)
- Sentry: Land: Just press autopilot land in the scroll menu and it'll land at the nearest airbase. This option is unreliable and there is a risk of losing the UAV if it's used. This option may cause a bug in with the Greyhawk will always try to land or fly to the corner of the map rendering them useless until they are destroyed. Hence, using this mode is related to great risks to the Greyhawks.
Behaviour:
Behaviour means how the UAV/UGV will act.
- Never Fire: Use when performing reconnaissance. (As a standard this behavior should always be used.)
- Hold Fire: Use when performing reconnaissance.
- Seek and Destroy: It will attack Laser designated positions. (Do not use this. Since it will engage targets whenever someone is laser designating, many public players will not be aware of the fact that they have their lasers on, this will increase the risk of unwanted UAV behavior and uncontrolled engagements.)
- Hold: UGV/UAV will move to marker and hold.
- Hold Fire, Engage at Will: Do not use this.
- Open Fire: Do not use this.
- Open Fire, Engage At will: Do not use this.
These behaviors are more applicable to the armed UAVs and UGVs, this means that they apply to the Greyhawks on the 77th JSOC servers. When it comes to the Ai performing bombing runs with the Greyhawk it will dive bomb the target, this will bring the Greyhawk out of high altitude and into the range of enemy AA. The likelihood of the Greyhawk hitting the side of a mountain is also increased. These factors combined make Ai controlled engagements virtually useless and it's advised to only use the behaviors: Never fire.
Always do a manual bomb drop on a laser-painted target. DO NOT let the UAV AI engage any targets.
Altitude:
Altitude means the altitude the UAV will operate in, it's only applicable to UAVs and not the UGVs.
The Greyhawks need to stay at an altitude of 2000m to be safe whenever it's close to enemy forces. The Darters can, depending on the treat level at the AO be as close to the ground as 200m. It is not recommended to bring a darter up to 2000m since it will take it a long time to reach the altitude and it's not necessary for the Darter to keep that altitude to be safe from enemy AA.
Controlling UGVs/UAVs from the Terminal:
As the UAV operator, you use the scroll menu and open the UAV terminal. From the UAV Terminal, you can control different UAVs.
In the menu at the L/H upper corner, you will find all UAVs/UGVs available to you.
On the R/H side of your screen, you will be able to see a live feed for the UAV/UGV you have selected, there are two feeds, one for the driver and one for the gunner/turret/camera.
For the Stomper there will only be one camera since there is no turret installed on it, the camera that is accessible is for the driver's view.
If you click on the video feed of the driver you will take control of the UAV making it possible to directly give inputs to the drive system or flight control systems depending on the type of UAV/UGV.
If you click on the video feed for the gunner you will be able to control the gunner camera, use the different imaging modes, range and laser paint targets.
You can set destinations for your UAVs. You do this by holding left shift and clicking left mouse button anywhere on the map. This will send the drone to either drive or fly to the selected location. The UGV(stomper) will plot its own course so you don't need to compensate with a complex system of waypoints for it to move from point to point. While this is the case, the Ai for the UAVs is unpredictable and might not pick the most logical and safe route. Therefore it's advised to control the UGV manually as long as it not going to follow a road, otherwise, the UGV is prone to crash against trees or rocks and immobilize itself.
You are able to set multiple waypoints for your UAVs/UGVs by holding Left CTRL and clicking left mouse button on the map.
Reconnaissance:
The primary function of the UAVs is reconnaissance, all the assets that are supplied to the UAV operator are able to provide some form of reconnaissance. To efficiently and precisely mark targets and enemies on the map for friendly squad leads is essential to the role of the UAV operator.
The three primary reconnaissance UAVs are the AR-2 Darter, the MQ-12 Falcon, and the MQ4A Greyhawk. They are all equipped with gimballed normal, thermal and night vision cameras. They also carry rangefinders and laser designators for target acquisition and laser painting.
The AR-2 Darter is a unarmed and small quad-copter drone, this makes it hard for enemies to detect and it's ideal to use as a squad support platform to find targets and warn nearby squads about enemy presence. The darter is easy to use and if one is lost it can quickly be re-deployed by going to the arsenal and grabbing a new darter in the backpack selection list. It is good practice to use the Darted as a designator platform and designate targets for the Greyhawks if there is no squad able to laze the targets for the UAVs. The biggest downfall of the Darters is its low speed and limited battery life, this means it will struggle to travel long distances and it's advised to deploy them close to the AO, either by the UAV operator, a pilot or a squad that's brought a darter with them. The darted will most likely have to operate at an altitude of 200 to 500m to be safe over an active AO. Lower than 200 meters and it's running the risk of being shot down and higher than 500m will take too long to reach and serves no real purpose.
The MQ-12 Falcon is an unarmed, large rotary-wing drone. It is about the size of a hummingbird helicopter and is therefore a large enough target to be easily spotted by enemies if it's flown too close to an AO. UAV operators are advised to be careful with the Falcon and keep it at a reasonable distance from any known enemy forces. The Falcon is large enough to be a prime target for enemy aircraft, and a UAV operator must take care whenever they are present. The Falcon's strengths lie in the platform's speed and range in comparison to a Darter. If a UAV operator wants a stable reconnaissance and targeting platform at a far away AO the Falcon is the best choice.
The MQ4A Greyhawk is a fixed-wing ground support UAV. It carries the same type of camera equipment as the darter and bombs for close air support purposes. Because of the nature of fixed-wing aircraft, the Greyhawk is able to cover a greater distance in a shorter amount of time compared to the darters. This makes the Greyhawk a valuable asset at the beginning of a new AO since it's able to move to a location and start providing reconnaissance at an early stage. The Greyhawk is ideal for spotting safe LZs for the transport helicopters as the troops are redeployed at the start of a new AO. The Greyhawk should never go lower than 2000m over an AO, this is to prevent it from being engaged by ground-to-air fire. Thus said, some AA units will and can engage a Greyhawk at 2000m, and to stay vigilant and safeguarding the UAVs with caution is always advised.
Target Painting:
The procedure for target painting is similar for both Darters, Falcons, and Greyhawk. When a target is located with the cameras of the Drones the easiest way of tracking them is to use the automated tracking system or camera lock, to do this you have to press: CTRL-T. This will lock the camera onto the vehicle, building of position you were looking at.
You can now start the target painting process:
For the Darter: simply press the Left mouse button and you will see a red icon indicating that you are lasing the target.
For the Falcon, and Greyhawk: start with verifying that you have the laser designator selected, to do this check in the top R/H corner, it should say Laser Marker. If not, press F until it shows Laser Marker in the top R/H dorner. When you have verified that you are using the Laser marker press Left mouse button and verify that you have the red laser designator icon on your screen.
Dropping bombs:
The MQ4A Greyhawk is armed with 2 GBU-12 laser-guided precision bombs. These are most effective when the target is stationary, laser designated by a friendly squad or another UAV. In a pinch it's possible to both laser designate and drop bombs with high precision from the same Greyhawk. It is not recommended to dumb drop the bombs if you are not a veteran UAV operator with good experience in how you do it. If you do a dive bomb run the risk of losing the UAV is increased and not recommended over an active AO. If you have a laser-designated target that you want to engage you are advised to follow a certain procedure to guarantee a good drop on the target. The bomb drop is divided into stages and it's important to follow them to guarantee an accurate drop.
Target acquisition:
First step: The easiest way to acquire your target is to set your Greyhawk to 2000m altitude over the target area in a loiter pattern of 1000m to 1500m. Start scanning the area and if possible ask for a marker on the map to speed up the target acquisition process. Select your bombs by pressing F, you will see a text saying GBU-12 in the top R/H corner when you have the bombs selected. When you have acquired your target press T to start the target computer and to see if there is an active laser painting the target. If there is a laser painter painting the target a square will appear. When you see the square on your target you know the target computer is feeding target information to the bombs, it's time to prepare for the bomb run. When you have acquired the target is good practice to lock the camera on your current target, do so by pressing CTRL-T.
Preparing for bomb run:
Second step: First of all you need to know what direction the target is being lazed from, for best precision bombing you have to fly in towards the target from the same general direction as the laser is coming from, this is to guarantee a good target lock and to minimize the risk of hitting the unit lasing the target. This means that if a target is lased from South facing north you have to do your bomb run from south, flying north. Bring your Greyhawk of its loiter pattern, heading towards the direction of the laser unit lasing the target. When you are behind the laser designator turn your UAV towards the target flying in the same direction as the laser painter is pointing. If you locked the camera at the target when you acquired the target it will automatically stay locked on the target even though the UAV starts to manoeuvre.
Bomb Run:
Third step: You should now have your target acquired and already done the preparation for your bomb run, the UAV should be lined up with the target, flying along roughly the same bearing as the laser is pointing to laser paint the target. When you are closing in on the target is important to let your UAV fly straight and steady, an uneven drop might result in a miss. As you get closer to the target a cross/X will appear, moving on the ground in the flight path of the UAV. When this cross is close to the target you press the Left mouse button to drop the bomb. It is important to drop the bomb when the cross is as close to the target as possible, the drop window is very short and if you miss it you will have to disengage and set up for a new bomb run.
Rearm / Repair / Refuel:
The stomper is serviced on the vehicle service pads that are in the base. To do this: drive the stomper to the service pad and leave it on the pad until you receive a message in the lower left-hand corner of your screen telling you that the Stomper is serviced. It's possible to refuel and repair the Stomper with the Bobcat. To do this: Have a pilot drive the Bobcat up close to the Stomper, sit in the Stomper passenger seat and look at the Bobcat. Use the scroll menu and select repair.
The Falcon and Greyhawk are rearmed, refueled, and repaired on the aircraft/UAV service pad at the base. To do this the UAV operator must land the UAV at the base, Taxi the UAV to the repair pad and leave it on the pad until a message in the lower L/H corner informs the operator that the Falcon or Greyhawk is serviced.
The Darters can be rearmed/refueled at the CAS/UAV service pad.
Airlift capability:
UGV Stomper:
The UGV Stomper can be sling-loaded by the Huron and Taru, but the sling load function is not reliable and it's not advised to sling load the UGV for longer durations of time/distances. It is highly advised never to sling load the UGV over water since the stomper will be irretrievable if it drops in the water. The Sling load is most effectively used as a recovery method if the UGV is somehow damaged/immobilized on land.
The best way of airlifting the stomper is by lifting it internally with the V-44 X Blackfish. This will prevent the Stomper from being disconnected whiles the sling is loaded. When lifting the Stomper with the V-44 X Blackfish you will be able to either land and unload or perform an aerial drop.
To load the stomper in the V-44 X Blackfish you have to drive the Stomper up to the back of the aircraft and use the scroll option to "load vehicle". To unload or air drop the Stomper from the V-44 X Blackfish you use the scroll option "unload vehicle".
MQ4A Greyhawk:
The Greyhawks can be sling loaded by the Ghost Hawk, Mohawk, Huron and Taru. The practice of sling-loading the Greyhawk is primarily to move or recover it if the UAV operator finds it in such a position that it is impossible to retrieve it in any other way.
Spawn Regulations:
There is one UGV Stomper, one Falcon, and two Greyhawks on our servers. They have a respawn timer of 15 min.
The Stomper will spawn at the base. The stomper will automatically be connected to the UAV terminal.
The Falcon will spawn at the base. The Falcon is not automatically connected to the UAV terminal. The UAV operator needs to manually connect it to the UAV terminal. This is done by walking up to the Falcon and using the scroll option "hack UAV".
The Greyhawks will spawn in the air, over water, in the lower L/H corner of the map. The Greyhawks will automatically be connected to the UAV terminal when they spawn.