Skip to content

1.2.4 ECM configuration & stealth

Jump to bottom Edit New page
TheDog edited this page Oct 9, 2017 · 2 revisions

ECM Jammer configuration

This page is intended to give you an overview of how to configure ECM jammers. ECM jammers can be configured for two somewhat different purposes:

  1. As "traditional" ECM jammers which jam enemy radar systems and try to break radar locks
  2. As "stealth" parts which provide a low observability bonus (think stealth coating / radar absorbent material) for the whole craft.

(1) Configuration of traditional ECM jammers

All ECM jammers are configured with the following parameters:

MODULE
{
name = ModuleECMJammer

// Jammer capabilities:
alwaysOn = false		// can be enabled/disabled, or is always on
				// Set this to true for "stealth" jammers that are integrated into Cockpits and serve
				// to reduce only the radar cross section, but without providing another jamming effect!

resourceDrain = 5		// EC/sec. Set this higher for more capabale jammers.

jammerStrength = 1200		// this is a factor (in relation to a vessels base radar cross section) how much the crafts DETECTABILITY is INCREASED(!) when the jammer is active
                                    // it also determines how far large the "garbling" distance vs enemy radar screens is

lockBreaker = true		// true: jammer serves to break radar locks (default: true)
lockBreakerStrength = 500	// factor (in relation to a vessels base radar cross section) how strong the lockbreaking effect is

rcsReduction = false		// jammer reduces a crafts radar cross section, simulating 2nd generation stealth (radar obsorbent coating)
rcsReductionFactor = 0		// factor for radar cross section: from 0 (craft is invisible) to 1 (no effect)
}

For traditional ECM jammers you usually set the following parameters:

  1. jammerStrength to a value >0.
  2. lockBreaker = true and lockBreakerStrength to a value >0
  3. rcsReduction = false
  4. It is advised to set alwaysOn = false, so that the jammer can be toggled on/off in flight.
  5. For balancing, the more capable your jammer the higher its energy consumption in EC/sec (resourceDrain ) should be...

Thus your jammer is behaving like an ECM jammer, emitting signals with power jammerStrength and trying to break radar locks with power lockBreakerStrength.

ECM jammer effects

There are 3 effects of ECM jammers:

  1. Increases detectability proportional to jammerStrength and a craft's base radar cross section. Yes, I said increases, so it is actually a negative effect of using a jammer - announcing one's presence.

Formula is: RCS_INCREASE_FACTOR = jammerStrength / 100 / craft_base_rcs + 1.0

Example:
a) craft with 10 m^2 rcs and jammerStrength 1200: 1200 / 100 / 10 + 1.0 = 2.2  => detectable rcs increases to 22 m^2 !
b) craft with 20 m^2 rcs and jammerStrength 1200: 1200 / 100 / 20 + 1.0 = 1.6  => detectable rcs increases to 32 m^2 !

'

  1. Breaking radar locks with lockBreakerStrength. How strong the lock is depends on the radar's radarLockTrackCurve. Usually a radar lock is stronger the closer the distance to the radar, and the weaker the further away from the radar. Thus, breaking a radar lock works best at far range, and the lockbreaker ceases to have any effect below a certain distance to the radar (which exact distance is not static, but depends on the craft's rcs, the lockBreakerStrength and the radar's radarLockTrackCurve.

Formula is: LB_FACTOR = (1 - (lockBreakStrength / craft_base_rcs / 100))

Example:
a) craft with 10 m^2 rcs and lockBreakStrength 500: 1 - (500 / 10 / 100) = 0.5  => reduces a craft's rcs to 5.0 m^2  against the enemy radar's lockTrackCurve !
b) craft with 20 m^2 rcs and lockBreakStrength 500: 1 - (500 / 20 / 100) = 0.75  => reduces a craft's rcs to 15.0 m^2  against the enemy radar's lockTrackCurve !

'

  1. ECM signal overload / display garbling at close range, relative to jammerStrength and a craft's base radar cross section. At very close range to the enemy radar, although the lockBreaker no longer has any effect, the powerful jamming signals can overload the radar, leading to the radar no longer being able to display precise position and bearing information on the radar screen, instead the signal jumps around wildly (radar display appears "garbled"/"jammed"). Note that this affects only detection - if the radar already has a tracking lock, this is not affected (it is not a lockbreaker effect).

Formula is: GARBLE_RANGE = (jammerStrength / 100 / craft_base_rcs + 1.0) x jammerStrength

Example:
a) craft with 10 m^2 rcs and jammerStrength 1200: 2.2 x 1200 = 2640m
b) craft with 20 m^2 rcs and jammerStrength 1200: 1.6 x 1200 = 1920m

'

Summary ECM jammer effects

For a demonstration of these ECM jammer effects in-game refer to this video: BDA ECM Jammer demonstration

Note on stacking effectiveness of multiple jammers on the same craft: While multiple ECM jammers can be stacked on the same craft, there is no linear increase in effectiveness. There is a deminishing return for each additional jammer added! Thus, a single powerful jammer yields better effects than multiple less powerful ones.

(2) Configuration of stealth coating / radar absorbent material

This is basically using a feature of the ecm jammer module to add an overall "rcs reduction" capability to a craft. Think of this as if you are painting the whole craft with a stealth coating / radar absorbent material. It affects the whole craft, not only the part with this module defined!

Hence it is strongly discouraged to add multiple with this stealth effect defined to a single craft! See how-to/advice section below.

For a stealth coating module you set the following parameters:

  1. jammerStrength to zero (0).
  2. lockBreaker = false and lockBreakerStrength to zero (0)
  3. rcsReduction = true and rcsReductionFactor to a value between 0 and 1. This is to be interpreted as a factor DOWN TO which you want to reduce a craft's base rcs, hence rcsReductionFactor = 0.3 means that the stealth coating reduces a craft's rcs by 70% !
  4. It is advised to set alwaysOn = true, since it is a coating and not something that can be switched on/off
  5. resourceDrain to zero (0), since it is simulating a coating/paint, and not a romulan cloaking device...

Example configuration of the BDA Mk22 (F-22 raptor) cockpit (done via ModuleManager patch):

@PART[bahaMk22LightningCockpit]
{
@description = This is a two-man fighter cockpit with a Mk2 cross section. Inspired by the F-22, the module has built-in air intakes, a fully loaded IVA and a huge glass canopy. You'll be able to clearly see all around you. Just hope it can withstand the vacuum of space. Accessible through the MFDs are several external cameras. This cockpit is coated with radar absorbent material (RAM) and significantly reduces the radar cross section of the plane.
@cost = 10500   // yeah, stealth coating is expensive!
@maxTemp = 1000  //stealth coating is fragile, hence values lowered!
@skinMaxTemp = 1500  //stealth coating is fragile, hence values lowered!

  MODULE
  {
    name = ModuleECMJammer

    // Jammer capabilities:
    alwaysOn = true		// can be enabled/disabled, or is always on
                    // Set this to true for "stealth" jammers that are integrated into Cockpits and serve
                    // to reduce only the radar cross section, but without providing another jamming effect!

    resourceDrain = 0		// EC/sec. Set this higher for more capabale jammers.

    jammerStrength = 0		// this is a factor (in relation to a vessels base radar cross section) how much the crafts DETECTABILITY is INCREASED(!) when the jammer is active

    lockBreaker = false		// true: jammer serves to break radar locks (default: true)
    lockBreakerStrength = 0	// factor (in relation to a vessels base radar cross section) how strong the lockbreaking effect is

    rcsReduction = true		// jammer reduces a crafts radar cross section, simulating 2nd generation stealth (radar obsorbent coating)
    rcsReductionFactor = 0.65		// factor for radar cross section: from 0 (craft is invisible) to 1 (no effect)
  }
}

Adding this cockpit to an existing craft with a base rcs of 15 m^2 will reduce its final rcs down to 15 x 0.65 = 9.75 m^2.

How-to / advice section

As you can see from this patch, for balancing purpose this cockpit has been drastically increased in cost (relevant for career mode only) and been given lowered values in durability (maxTemp and skinMaxTemp values). We advise you to also consider making stealth coated parts suffer some disadvantages in other areas, and not be flat out superior to non-coated parts.

Urgent advice: This stealth factor applies to the whole craft overall. There should only ever be one (1) stealth coated module present on a craft.

Thus, DO NOT EVER add such a stealth ecm module to structural or utility parts! We advise you to add them only to parts which will be present on a craft only once. Good candidates are:

  • Fighter cockpits (such as the BDA Mk22)
  • Hulls (for maritime parts)
Add a custom footer
Add a custom sidebar
Clone this wiki locally