Markw

ReplacementDocs

THEF-14TOMCATSIMULATION

GAMEPLAY & INSTRUCTION MANUAL

The Ridge, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol BS17 6AY, UKTel: 0454 329510

Copyright © 1994 MicroProse Limited

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or photocopy orother means without permission, with the exception of quoting brief passages for the

purpose of reviews.

Made in the UKMP1XX176MA1R

DEFENDER

Producer : Scott SpanburgProgramming Design :

Scott SpanburgMike McDonaldScott ElsonNed WayChristopher ClarkGeorge WargoDetmar Peterke

Technical Consultant :Lt. Col. George P. WargoUSAF (ret.)Chris MartinKeith BrightwellMichael Dell

Lead Artist: Terrence HodgeArtists: Mike Reis

Murray Taylor3D Artist: Max Remington

Historian/Writer: Lawrence T. Russell

Marketing Representative:Carl Knoch

Music Composition: Michael BrossSound Department: Ken Lagace

Jim McConkeyRoland RizzoJack MillerMark Reis

Quality Assurance: Michael CraigheadVaughn ThomasDavid GinsburgQuentin ChaneyWalter CarterRussell ClarkAndy MazurekMatt ShowalterDestin StraderMike WiseScott ZlotakCharlie AndaloroBob Abe

Packaging Design: Sarah WarburtonManual Illustrations:

Mike ReisManual Graphics: Mike Reis

Joe MorelGeorge Gill

Manual Design & Layout:Sarah Kerr

Managing Editor: Alkis AlkiviadesEditor: Kristian Ramsay-

JonesPhotographs courtesy of:Mr Chuck Porter, Naval Imaging Centre, Washington DCMr "Zip" Rausa, Wings of Gold MagazineMr Chris Martin, Naval Air Warfare Centre(VF-33 "Starfighters")

CREDITS

AcknowledgementsStart-Up Instructions

INTRODUCTIONAbout the F-14 Tomcat

Historical BackgroundThe Fleet Defense Mission

About Fleet Defender

I. GETTING STARTEDStart-up Screens

The Main Menu ScreenThe Scramble ScreenThe Campaign ScreenThe Campaign Status ScreenThe Mission Briefing ScreenThe Difficulty ScreenThe Arming ScreenThe Squadron Roster

Scramble MissionsCampaign Missions

Beginning a CampaignYour Career

Beginning a CareerCareer Progression (Promotions)Awards and DecorationsEnding Your Career

II. SIMULATION CONTROLSFlight Controls Keys

Primary Flight ControlsSecondary Flight ControlsMiscellaneous Flight ControlsRadar ControlsWeapon/ECM ControlsHead-Up Display (HUD) ...........ControlsSimulation ViewsPilot/RIO View Controls

Hardware ControlsJoystick ConfigurationsThrustmaster FCS™v

FCS-Mark II WCSVirtual Pilot™

Flightstick Pro™

Foot Pedals

III. HOW TO FLYFlight Dynamics

The "Big Four"Basic ConceptsG Forces (Gravity)

Flying the F-14 TomcatFuel ManagementNavigationDamageEject...Eject...Eject! (Bailing Out)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Carrier OperationsThe Carrier Air WingFlight RulesCarrier Take-offs (Cat-Shots)Returning to the CarrierCarrier Landing PatternsMissed Approach Procedures

Your Wing-ManWing-Man Control KeysSection Formations

IV. F-14 COCKPITS & AVIONICSPilot (Front Seat) Cockpit

Head-Up Display (HUD)Vertical Display Indicator (VDI)Horizontal Situation Display ......(HSD)Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS) DisplayRight Instrumentation PanelLeft Instrumentation PanelRight ConsoleLeft Console

Radar Intercept Officer (Rear Seat)Cockpit

Standard Mode Detail Data Display (DDD)Moderate/Authentic Mode .........Detailed Data Display (DDD)Standard Mode Tactical ............Information Display (TID)Moderate/Authentic Mode .........Tactical Information Display (TID)Right ConsoleLeft Console9

The AWG-9 RadarStandard Mode RadarModerate Mode RadarAuthentic Mode Radar

Campaign MapsNorth Cape TheatreMediterranean TheatreOceana Training Theatre

The U.S.S. America (CV-66) performing a gentle turn tostarboard for the camera.

As you may have guessed from thepreceding credits, it takes many peopleworking long hours to produce a flightsimulation. There’s an adage among pilotswhich goes, “Never fly an aircraft designedby committee.” Well, in the case ofcomputer simulations, especially ours, thissaying simply isn’t true. No one personcould possibly hope to excel in all thedifferent disciplines needed to completeone of these projects. Flight simulationsare a collective effor t and FLEETDEFENDER is no exception.Those of you familiar with MicroProseproducts will undoubtedly recognize someof the names from past flight simulations.That’s because the same core group ofmen and women who designed F-15Strike Eagle III banded together onceagain to produce FLEET DEFENDER.Their mission was to integrate a flightsimulation based on the F-14B Tomcatwith a comprehensive air-sea campaignenvironment. Improving on F-15 Strike Eagle III wasn’tgoing to be easy. That simulation pushesthe edge of the envelope as far asrecreating air-to-ground attack action isconcerned. But the designers put togethera list of features that players most wantedto see in our next sim. These includedseamless play, state-of-the-art graphics, arealistic F-14 flight model, and improvedAI. The design team set out to implementa dream sheet of features and in theprocess, create a flight simulator that’s nottoo hard to learn, yet fun to play.Before all the programmers, artists, andgame designers got started, the principleteam members took a field trip to OceanaNaval Air Station, Virginia. Oceana NAS isthe readiness and training site for eastcoast F-14 squadrons and is located withinthe city limits of Virginia Beach. They didn’t

spend much time at thebeach though. Instead, the team wastreated to a week of direct hands-onexperience with the F-14 and its systemscourtesy of VF-103, better known as the“Sluggers.” We are deeply indebted to the men andwomen of VF-103 who welcomed us andmade us feel right at home. Unfortunately,space does not allow us to mentioneveryone who assisted because just aboutthe entire squadron would make the list.The “Sluggers” are just a superb bunch.Having said that, there were a fewindividuals deserving of special recognitionfor making the trip such a worthwhileventure. First, our thanks goes out to Lt.Sam “Splatt” Platt of VF-101 “GrimReapers” for orches-trating the tour atOceana and Lt. Eric “Opus” Higgins andhis RIO Lt. J G Paul “Skippy” McHenry ofVF-103 “Sluggers” for demonstrating theirF-14 and guiding us through an F-14simulator.While at Oceana the team was also able to“run wild” on the USS America (CV-66)courtesy of the America’s CommandingOfficer, CPT W W Copeland. We wouldalso like to thank our escorts; Ensign C JJenkins and Journalist First Class Albert JMcGilvray. Each of these gentlemencontributed to making FLEET DEFENDERa realistic and accurate simulation and weare sincerely grateful for their assistance.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the 1991 PersianGulf war, VF-103 wasassigned to the U.S.S

Saratoga (CV-60), aForrestal-class aircraft

carrier, on station in the RedSea. The Sluggers

conducted front-lineoperations over Iraq and

Kuwait with distinctionthroughout the war.

CONTENTSYour complete FLEET DEFENDER F-14simulation should contain, in addition to thisinstruction manual, a Campaign Notes &Commentary Manual, 4 x 1.44 MB 3.5” disks,a Reference Card and a registration card.

MINIMUM SYSTEMREQUIREMENTSFLEET DEFENDER requires thefollowing minimum system componentsand memory:• Computer: IBM, or fully compatible,80386 33 MHz (a 80486 33 MHz isrecommended)• System Memory: 4MB of RAM, with2208K EMS free • Hard Drive: with at least 14 MBavailable• Conventional Memory: at least 566Kfree• Graphics: VGA graphics card andVGA monitor• Floppy Drive: one 1.44MB 3 1/2”(required only for installation)• DOS: MS-DOS 5.0 or higher

INSTALLATION

FLEET DEFENDER includes aninstallation program that transfers thesoftware data from the or iginal(distribution) disks onto your hard drive.You must uti l ize the install programprovided to transfer this data. You cannotjust copy the distribution disks onto yourhard drive; if you do, FLEET DEFENDERwill not load.To run the Install Program, turn on yourcomputer, and then:

1. Place disk A in your floppy drive A or B2. Type A: or B: Now press the Enter Key3. Type Install, Press the Enter Key again.Follow the on-screen promptsThe installation program checks yoursystem for a number of conditions, andadvises you as to the status if yoursystem does not meet the conditions. Itdecompresses and copies the simulationfiles from the distribution disks onto yourhard drive. The install program also auto-detectsyour computer’s configuration andprovides recommendations for sound,speech, control device (joystick,keyboard, etc.).

INSTALLATION CONDITIONCHECKS1. If your hard drive has less than 14 MBavailable, the installation programterminates and immediately advises youthat adequate hard drive space is notavailable.2. If your system has less than 566K offree conventional memory, the installationprogram continues, but advises you thatadequate conventional memory is notavailable.3. If your system has less than 2208 K offree EMS, the installation programcontinues, but advises you that adequateEMS memory is not available. EMSmemory is required for loading.

LOADING In order to load FLEET DEFENDER youmust have first installed the program. Ifnot, return to the section on installationand follow the instructions found there.1. To load FLEET DEFENDER change

START-UP INSTRUCTIONS

INSTALLATION AND LOADING INSTRUCTIONS

over to the dr ive that contains thesimulation directory. For example, if youinstalled the program to your C drive,change your system by typing C:. Nowpress the Enter Key.2. Once you have accessed the properdrive, change over to the proper directory.If you selected the default MPS/F14directory, you can change to that directoryby typing cd MPS/F14. Now press theEnter Key.3. Type F14. Press the Enter Key to beginthe simulation.

HARD DRIVE REQUIREMENTSBefore installing FLEET DEFENDER ,make sure that you have at least 14 MBof available space on your hard drive. Youcan determine the amount of availablehard drive space through the use of theMS-DOS utility chkdsk. Run this utilityaccording to the instructions found in yourMS-DOS manual. The fifth line of thedisplay indicates the amount of hard drivespace available.

MAKING A BOOT DISKIf you feel uncomfortable about modifyingyour AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYSfiles, or you are unable to free upadequate conventional memory, your bestbet is to utilize a boot disk. A boot diskcreates a temporary configuration for yourcomputer that is compatible with FLEETDEFENDER .Use the boot disk to start your systemwhenever FLEET DEFENDER is to beloaded. That way, your normal systemconfiguration is unaffected. You must first install FLEET DEFENDERon to your computer before running theboot disk utility. Return to the “Installation”section and follow the instructions foundthere.

To Make A Boot Disk1. Insert a blank, formatted disk into yourcomputer’s A drive. (You must use yourcomputer’s A drive, since it cannot bootfrom the B drive.)2. Change your drive over to the directorycontaining the

simulation files.3. Type bootdisk and press the Enter Key.4. If you have a ProAudio Spectrumsound card installed, type bootdisk pasand press the Enter Key.The boot disk uti l i ty accesses yourexisting AUTOEXEC.BAT andCONFIG.SYS files for various pieces ofinformation. It also searches your harddrive for required information not found inthose two files. If it is unable to find anypar t of the required information, itprompts you to supply the information.For example, suppose you renamed thedirectory in which your mouse driverresides to MY_MOUSE and moved it tothe E drive. The boot disk utility would notknow to look in that location for yourmouse dr iver. You must supply thisinformation when prompted. In thisexample, the response would be:e:\my_mouse\mouse.com

Using the Boot DiskAfter making the boot disk, place it indrive A and reboot your computer. Theboot disk configures your system forFLEET DEFENDER , and automaticallystarts the program.

Restarting your SystemWhen you are f inished with FLEETDEFENDER , remove the boot disk fromyour computer’s A drive, and reboot yoursystem. Your system will restart with yournormal configuration.

ConfigurationAs part of the installation process, youare required to designate selections formusic, sound, digitized speech, and inputcontroller. Fortunately, the install programauto-detects the majority of the possibleoptions.This configuration process is also utilizedto change your selections if you add,delete or modify system equipment or justdecide to change the selections.

INTRODUCTION

THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER ANDCHANGING NAVAL DOCTRINEFollowing the successful conclusion ofWorld War II, the United States was soldon the concept of naval aviation. Theisland-hopping campaign in the Pacificagainst Japan would have beenimpossible without it. World War IIchanged naval strategy forever, not just inthe US but throughout the world. Airpower (and the aircraft carr ier) hadreplaced the big guns of the battleship.No longer would opposing fleets simplyline up in parallel columns and hammeraway at each other. Starting with Coral Sea in 1942, navalbattles could begin when the two sideswere still hundreds of miles apart. Aircraftcarriers lent mobility to air power, freeingit from the restr ictions imposed bystationary land bases. Taranto and PearlHarbour demonstrated the effectivenessof the surprise carrier strike. A fleet could run from battle but it couldn’thide. Ships could now be tracked down anddestroyed in their own bases. The aircraftcarrier, on the other hand, proved itsresiliency by withstanding wave after waveof Japanese pilots intent of committingsuicide. The legendary Kamikaze (“DivineWind” in Japanese) proved to be theultimate challenge.Clearly, naval strategy in future wars wasgoing to be dictated by the developmentof naval aviation, at least as far as theUnited States was concerned. The Navyhad over a hundred aircraft carriers leftover at the end of World War II and avested interest in promoting both theeffectiveness and survivability of itscarrier groups. With the war now over, theNavy had to start thinking about winningthe peace. The next battles would be

fought in the halls of Congress and onCapitol Hill over which branch of servicewould receive the most defense dollars. Constructing and maintaining even adozen modern aircraft carriers was goingto cost plenty. The start-up cost alonewould be enormous and that was just thebeginning. By the time fuel costs, trainingand personnel costs were factored in asingle carrier would ultimately requirebillions in defense outlays. Of course onemust not forget to add in the air wingconsisting of eighty to ninety aircraft andthe cost of training a new generation ofnaval aviators every twenty years or so.Big carriers meant the Navy Departmentcould ask for big money from Congressand get it. This is not to suggest that theNavy pursued carrier development out ofa desire to increase their share of thenation’s defense budget. Let’s just saythat things have a way of perpetuatingthemselves and that big budgets addedto the Navy’s prestige when dealing withthe other services.The Soviet Union, on the other hand,lacked the United States’ industr ialresources and practical experience incarrier warfare. What it did not lack was acommitment to become the pre-eminentmilitary power on the planet. When WW IIended, the Soviets found themselves inpossession of eastern Europe. Holdingonto this expanse of terr itory wouldrequire land armies and their componentair support. For many years the Soviet Union had noreal need to project its naval strengthoutside of Europe. Air and naval powerwas used to complement a Europeanground war only. So while the Army andAir force had lavish resources heapedupon them, the Soviet navy consisted ofa few coastal patrol craft and surplusdestroyers obtained from the US duringthe war.

ABOUT THE F-14 TOMCAT

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Each nation entered the Cold War withdifferent strategic objectives. The UnitedStates recognised that it could neverreturn to semi-isolationism and thatcontaining the spread of Communismwas going to require global involvement.To back this commitment, the US had tocreate a naval force able to respondquickly to potential trouble spots. Such aforce would have to be self-contained andprovide for its own air defense. The Soviet Union took a much moredefensive stance. Its biggest concern waskeeping US warships out of Sovietwaters. While the United States built upits fleet of aircraft carriers, the Sovietsjumped ahead in missile technology. TheSoviets planned to make the vaunted USsuper-carriers vulnerable to low costmissile attacks.In the 1950s, the US Navy recognisedthat Soviet progress in missile technologywould one day pose a serious threat to itscarrier battlegroups. Naval tacticianscould envision having to fend off waves ofattacking long-range bombers or nuclearcruise missiles. It was assumed thatsometime within the next decade theSoviets would manage to arm theirstrategic bombers with stand-off cruisemissiles. Once this happened, UScarr iers could be hunted down anddestroyed before they sailed withinstriking distance.To deal with this eventuality, the Navywanted to develop a carrier-based fighterable to engage Soviet bombers at rangesin excess of the stand-off range of theirmissiles. Engineers were quick to pointout that the Navy’s mission requirementswere at odds with the weight restrictionsnormally associated with carrier aircraft.A f ighter conforming to this set ofrequirements, would have to be largeenough to store tons of additional fuel yetremain l ight enough for carr ieroperations, an impossible task. The Navy’s answer was to design a fighter

with a powerful radar and complement oflong range air-to-air missiles. This solutionhad the advantage of increasing thecombat radius of the aircraft withoutincreasing its fuel load. The aircraft couldtake up a patrol station closer to thecarrier and let its missiles reach out andperform the mission. Unfortunately, thisconcept meant the fighter would beburdened by the weight of its own radarsystem and missiles, losing much of itsdogfighting capability in the process. The ability to dogfight was not supposedto matter. Under these designspecifications the aircraft would be aplatform for launching missiles, andnothing more. Once it had expended allits missiles it would immediately return tothe carrier. Labelled an interceptor, thisaircraft was never meant to engage theenemy up close and personal. After all,didn’t the Navy leave the guns off theirPhantom II design? They wouldn’t havedone that if they thought for a momentthat their pilots would be dogfighting withenemy pilots.

GENESIS OF THE F-14In late 1957, the Navy won a contract tobegin developing the XAAM-M-10 Eagle,a two-stage, solid fuel, radar-guided air-to-air missile with a range in excess of100 nm. The Douglas F6D Missileer wasthe aircraft selected to carry the Eagle.The Missileer design called for theinclusion of a track-while-scan pulse

A carrier battlegroup at sea.

Doppler radar with the ability to target,launch and control six Eagle missiles.This combination of aircraft and missilewas intended to perform the Fleet AirDefense role through the 1970s. Threeyears later, in late 1960, the entireprogram was scrapped. Enter theKennedy administration and a newSecretary of Defense Rober t SMcNamara.McNamara was a business man, movingfrom a successful business career in theprivate sector to head up the DefenseDept. It was his contention that themilitary could save billions of dollars inprocurement by collective purchasing.That is, buying equipment in bulk. Insteadof allowing each branch of service to buydifferent items to do the same job,McNamara stressed commonality. Hewanted all the services to buy the exactsame items to contain costs, includingeverything from tools to tanks, frying pansto fighters.As it happens, both the Air Force andNavy were shopping around for a newfighter aircraft. The Navy was looking fora replacement for its cancelled Missileerwhile the Air Force wanted a high speed,tactical strike fighter (the TFX program) toreplace the aging F-105 Thunderchief.McNamara saw this as an opportunity tosave money. He wanted the defenseindustry to build a single aircraft to suitthe needs of both services.In 1962, after much prodding byMcNamara, the two services finallyarrived at a compromise design. GeneralDynamics was awarded the Air Force’sTFX contract. Grumman was given thecontract to begin work on the Navy’sversion of the same aircraft. Bothvariants, the Air Force’s F-111A and theNavy’s F-111B, were designed withmaximum commonality in mind. The first F-111Bs were flying by 1965.From the very beginning pilots hadserious reservations about McNamara’s

“one fighter for all occasions” idea. Chiefamong the complaints was the aircraft’sweight, at 70,000 lbs., the aircraft was tooheavy to operate safely from an aircraftcarrier. Take-offs were risky, landingswere worse. Catapults and arrestorcables in service at the time were notstressed to handle this load. On finalapproach, the aircraft had to be flown atsuch a high angle of attack that the pilotcould no longer see the carrier deck.As a result of the F-111B set backs,Grumman proposed to rework the aircraftusing light weight titanium alloys. Thisreengineered design became known asthe VFX. In early 1967, the Navycommissioned a study comparing the twodesign proposals. Grumman’s VFXproject won hands down. Using the sameengines as the F-111B, the VFX turned ina consistently superior performance andCongress cancelled funds for the F-111Bin 1968. This cancellation proved to be the turningpoint in the F-14’s development. The waywas cleared for the Navy to make a RFP(Request for Proposals) outlining specificsfor a separate aircraft, apart from the AirForce’s F-111A. Some of the designfeatures mentioned were tandem seatingfor a two man crew, twin engines, a track-while-scan radar with multi-targetingcapability, and carrier suitability.

THE F-14AGrumman was one of five aerospacecompanies which initially bid on the VFX(F-14) contract. Because of its pastassociation with the Navy and experiencewith swing-wing technology, it wasawarded the contract in 1969. Out ofhundreds of different designs, prototype303E was the one chosen for initial testproduction. The first of 12 developmentalaircraft was flying two years later (21December 1970). Operational F-14s weredelivered to the Navy (VF-1, VF-2) inOctober 1972. These two squadrons were

subsequently deployed aboard the USSEnterprise (CV-65) in 1974.The F-14 took over the role of Fleet AirDefense from the venerable F-4 in themid 1970s. The Phantom had done anadmirable job in its day but the VietnamWar never seriously tested its ability as aFleet Defender. US aircraft carriers werenever threatened as they would be in afuture war by Soviet bombers. As more capable fighters entered servicein Third World air forces it became clearthat a number of modifications to thebasic F-14 design were needed. Forexample, early model F-14s were issuedwith the TF30 - P-412A turbofan engine.The TF30 - P-412A consumed far toomuch fuel for the amount of power itproduced. It was problematic and proneto compressor stall. The enginegenerated only 12,350 lbs of thrust(20,900 lbs. with afterburner). Clearly,even with two of these engines, thepower produced was inadequate to thetask of pushing a 70,000 lb. f ighteraround. The 412A was, however, the onlyengine available for use without anextensive delay period. The Navy decided to go ahead with the412A until a successor could be found.Starting in 1982, however, as F-14s camein for program maintenance and overhaulthey were fitted with the new TF-30-P-414 turbojet engine. Though the 414 was

slightly heavier than the 412A andproduced the same thrust, it was morereliable and used less fuel. Its biggestdrawback was that it produced smokyexhaust making the aircraft easy to spotin combat. (The F-4 suffered from thesame problem.) Realising that the 414was still only an interim solution, the Navydirected that work continue on finding amore powerful replacement.The USAF announced in 1984 that it wasaccepting a new engine, the F110-GE-100, for its F-16s. Several months later,Secretary of the Navy John Lehman tolda Congressional Appropriationssubcommittee that the F-14 and TFseries engine represented “probably theworst engine/airframe mismatch we havehad in many years. The TF30 is just aterrible engine and has accounted for28.2% of all F-14 crashes.” His testimonypaved the way for the Navy to beginpurchasing these engines along with theUSAF.

THE F-14BShor tly afterward, Grumman wasawarded a $984 mil l ion contract toupgrade the F-14’s avionics and engines.The upgraded F-14As, known as the F-14A(Plus), were given advanced avionics.Impressed with theU S A F ’ sF-110-GE-100s, theNavy redesignatedthese engines F110-GE-400 and placedthem on the F-14A(Plus). F-14s couldfinally make a catapultassisted take-offwithout theirafterburner engaged.(The 400 produces14,000 lbs. of drythrust, 23,100 lbs. of wet or afterburningthrust.)The F-14A(Plus) was first flown in 1986 anddelivered to VF 101 “Grim Reapers” at Naval

“Hey, buddy! Get the heck outta’ the way.” Aturkey-feathered F-14 prepares to take-off.

NNNNNThe Fightin’143, betterknown as the“Pukin’ Dogs“

Air Station Oceana, Virginia in 1988. Sincethen, F-14A(Plus) aircraft have also beendelivered to VF-24 “Renegades,” VF-74“Bedevilers,” VF-103 “Sluggers,” VF-142“Ghostriders,” VF-143 “Pukin’ Dogs,” and VF-211 “Fighting Checkmates.” On May 1st,1991, the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations)ordered that all F-14A(Plus) models beredesignated F-14B. To avoid confusion, allF-14s in FLEET DEFENDER retain the Bdesignation even in those scenarios prior to1991.Keep in mind, even when playing thosepre-1988 Mediterranean campaigngames, you are given a more powerfulversion of the F-14 that did nothistorically exist at the time. All F-14sflown in FLEET DEFENDER areassumed to be F-14B model aircraftregardless of the scenario being played. It should be noted that the MicroProsedesign team tested a flight model usingthe or iginal TF-30-P-412A enginesinstalled in F-14As. The result was aparticularly narrow flight envelope. Theaircraft was very unforgiving if one failedto stay within these parameters. Moreoften than not, inattentive pilots foundthemselves spinning in before everengaging the enemy. In short, it wasn’tmuch fun. For purposes of a commercialf l ight simulator, the F-14B with itsimproved turbofan engines, was a muchbetter choice.

Both the F-14 and the F-111 wereoriginally thought of as mere platforms,built to facilitate the delivery of specialisedordnance. In the case of the F-111, theUSAF saw this aircraft as a strategicbomber capable of low level, high speedpenetration of enemy airspace. The F-14,successor to the Missileer concept, wasintended to be a platform for launchingAAMs at incoming bombers. The Missileer program envisioned an

aircraft which after taking off, could orbit asignificant distance away from the carrier,for an extended period of time. From thispatrol station, the Missileer would fire itslong range missiles at any enemy aircraftventuring near. Once all its missiles weregone it would return to the carrier andanother aircraft would take its place. Despite the program’s cancellation, thisconcept of fleet defense remained. TheNavy was still in need of an aircraft ableto contend with Soviet advances in cruisemissile technology. The US Navy wasforced to consider the state of carriervulnerability 5-10 years down the road. Tomeet this future threat, any fighter chosento perform Fleet Air Defense would haveto be equipped with a powerful track-while-scan radar able to target multipleaircraft. The fighter would also have to bearmed with active radar missiles so that itcould have several of them in the air atone time. The mission, Fleet Air Defense, exposesboth the aircraft and crew to a veryspecial set of stressful situations. Afterlaunch, an F-14 must fly a CAP hundredsof miles away, loiter at slow speed forseveral hours, then return to make acarrier landing under all types of weatherconditions or at night. No wonder Navyflyers prefer to be known as aviatorsrather than pilots. Being a naval aviatorputs them in a class all their own.

An F-14 belonging to VF-33 "Starfighters", atrest.

THE FLEET DEFENSE MISSION

Flying an F-14 requires a certain mind-set. You are l i terally charged withprotecting the lives of thousands ofservice men and women. A single lapsein judgment could be enough to allow anenemy bomber or missile to get through.Luckily there are safeguards andoverlapping areas of responsibility built into a carrier’s air defense coverage. Evenso, failure can lead to horrific destruction. Keep in mind that the F-14 is a strategicinterceptor and not a pure f ighter.Although this distinction is somewhatsubtle it’s more than just a matter ofsemantics. There are profounddifferences in the way in whichinterceptors operate as compared tofighter aircraft.To fulfil the Fleet Air Defense role on astrategic level, a long range air-to-air-missile is necessary. Under the original1950’s concept, this missile was to havebeen the Eagle. With its cancellation,work on the AIM-54 Phoenix was begun.(It is said to have risen from the ashes ofthe earlier program.) This combination ofAWG-9 radar and Phoenix missile allowsthe F-14 to be such an effective aircraft. One problem with the Phoenix is thatthere are never enough of them. TheTomcat can only carry six. When they aregone, what’s next? As long as the F-14has these missiles remaining it can actas a launching platform, firing at targetsmany tens of miles away. Once all six areexpended, however, the F-14 has toclose in and tangle with enemy aircraft.Despite its size the F-14 manoeuvresquite well at slower speeds. It certainlydoesn’t handle like a nimble F-16 but itcan hold its own in a dogfight.The fact that the F-14 can make this roletransformation is a credit to its swingwing technology. Swing wings allow theF-14 to operate in more than one combatenvironment. With its wings swept back itis configured for high speed (supersonic)dash profi les. The wings go back

automatically (although there is a manualoverride) when you’re feeling the need forspeed. When the aircraft is in need ofenergy (or additional lift to maintain anAOA) the wings come forward. Think ofthe wings as reaching forward as ifgrasping for more air.

FLEET DEFENDER is a combat flightsimulation based upon the United StatesNavy’s principle carrier-based interceptor,the F-14B Tomcat. Since its deployment in1972, the F-14 has been entrusted with thedefense of the United States Navy’s aircraftcarrier battlegroups, its most valued militarypossession. More importantly, however, thisaircraft is charged with protecting the livesof 8,000-10,000 servicemen and womenthat serve aboard the ships of an averagebattlegroup (CVBG). They are the Navy’sshield. From Admiral to Ensign, Chief PettyOfficer to Recruit, the F-14 is truly our fleetdefender. Those of you already famil iar withMicroProse’s F-15 Strike Eagle III shouldfeel free to jump right in with a singlesortie. Notice that many of the controlkeys and features are common to bothsimulations. The programmers and gamedesigners made a conscious effort to limitthe functional differences between thetwo so that you could get started playingr ight away. But, i f this is your f irstMicroProse flight simulation get ready forthe ride of your life.Picture yourself on the deck of a modernaircraft carrier suspended 70 ft. off thesurface of the water. You and your RIO(Radar Intercept Officer) are strapped intoyour F-14 with over 30,000 lbs. of thrustspooling up behind you. “Greenshirts”swarm around your aircraft making sureeverything performs as adver tised.Underneath your aircraft, a steam catapultis building up pressure, it has to get your30 ton “Tomcat” airborne in less than 300feet. That doesn’t leave a big margin forerror. The blast deflectors are raised,signifying that the moment of take-off isfast approaching. You are about to bethrown off the flight deck with only onechance to get it right.After the obligatory “thumb’s up”exchange with the Cat Officer, it’s time to

go. With a deafening roar, your F-14 isthrust into the sky trailing a superheatedcolumn of air. There’s no turning backnow.... you’re airborne, you’re committed.You’ve become a FLEET DEFENDER.The rest is up to you.FLEET DEFENDER is specif icallydesigned to recreate carrier take-offs andlandings (TOLs) in realistic detail. In fact,carrier landings are such a challenge thatthey can easily become a game within agame. How many landings can you makebefore getting your first wave-off? Thestress of so many carrier approaches canget to be too much, especially at night. In order to relieve the tension, thissimulation combines carrier operationswith air combat in two all-new theatres ofwar. Each theatre of war contains threedistinct campaign scenarios for you topar ticipate in. If you’re not ready forcombat and just want to practice flying theTomcat, there is an entire theatre devotedsolely to training.Each of the campaign scenarios exposesyour carrier and its escorts to savageattacks. Enemy aircraft probe yourdefenses and test your CAPs. Cruisemissiles suddenly pop-up seemingly outof nowhere. Yes- there are numerouschallenges which await you, fromintercepting bomber formations at high

ABOUT FLEET DEFENDER

The Cat Officer (in the foreground) is secondsfrom sending this F-14 on its way.

altitudes to wave-hopping dogfights withsupersonic fighters. All in all, you’ll findyourself tangling with more than thirtydifferent aircraft and helicopters. You assume the role of flight leader oneach mission and as the flight leader, youare placed in command of a section oftwo F-14s. A two-ship is a collectiveeffort. You and your wing-man must worktogether as a team in order to get the jobdone. As the flight leader, you exercise agreat deal of tactical control over yourwing-man, keep him with you to coveryour “six” or send him off to perform onhis own. Use him but don’t lose him. Toomany players think of their wing-man ascannon fodder. That’s a habit you’ll wantto get out of because in FLEETDEFENDER your wing-man, as well asother members of your squadron,improve their skills with each mission theyfly. The more experienced your wing-manbecomes the better he’ll perform so it’s inyour best interest to look after him. With only twenty Tomcats on-board yourcarrier at the start of each campaign, youcan’t afford to lose a single oneunnecessari ly. If your squadron ishandled roughly by the enemy early on,later missions may prove difficult if notimpossible to complete. Remember thatin each of the campaigns defense of thecarrier is paramount. Lose the carrier-lose the campaign. FLEET DEFENDER features anassortment of friendly aircraft ready tohelp you out in a dogfight or deliver ashattering counter-blow. When you’re notout intercepting bandits, you may berequired to escor t str ike packages.Luckily, your two-ship is not alone outthere. Assisting you are additional two-ship CAPs and the full weight of amodern aircraft carrier battlegroup. Unless you are forced to eject due tobattle damage, you will be returning toyour carrier. Even undamaged, landingback aboard your carrier will probably be

the most stressful part of a mission, evenmore stressful than dogfighting or bravingtriple-A. For a naval aviator a good landing meanscatching the “three-wire” for a full stop.This type of landing is known as a trap.Miss all three wires and you had better beprepared to go to full throttle for a “goaround.” This is known as a bolter. If abolter doesn’t get your hear t racingmaybe you shouldn’t be flying jets for theNavy.If you find yourself having diff icultymaking carr ier landings, don’t getdiscouraged. One of the F-14s involved inthe downing of two Libyan Su-22s in 1981took three trys to get back on deck. Youshould expect to have your share ofbolters before carrier landings get easierto you. But while they may eventually geteasier, they will never get routine. Justremember that everyone has their off-days, that’s why extensive instructions onmaking carrier landings are included inthis manual. Even if you don’t get the hang of it rightaway, don’t give up. Points are deductedfrom your score if you end the missionwithout successfully landing back aboardthe carrier, so stick with it. You will neverget full credit for completing a missionuntil you can return safely to the carrier.To help you along, a complete statesidetraining theatre has been included. The

Comin’ in for a perfect three-wire trap. Thisaviator has returned home in one piece.

Training theatre revolves around OceanaNaval Air Station (NAS) located outside ofNorfolk, Virginia. It extends as far northas southern Pennsylvania and as farsouth as the Bahamas. While in trainingat Oceana you’ll be assigned to VF-101“Grim Reapers”, the east coast FleetReadiness Squadron (FRS). As a GrimReaper, you’ll be given an opportunity tosharpen your flying skills before enteringinto combat. Go ahead and practice allthose fancy manoeuvres you see in themovies. Just remember that once incombat this game is for real. You justmight want to discard all that hot-doggin’for some common sense ACM.The majority of the training takes placeover water. Somewhere out there is anaircraft carrier, provided it hasn’t beenswallowed up by the Bermuda triangle.This carrier is devoted to conductingtraining exercises with rookie aviatorsbefore classifying them as mission ready.Now is the time to practice take-offs andlandings (TOLs). If you’re going to makemistakes it’s best to make them duringtraining and not during combat.FLEET DEFENDER does not require youto spend time in training, however. Youmay choose to ignore this theatrealtogether. Air combat can be veryunforgiving to rookie pilots. It’s life anddeath out there with no such thing assecond best. You don’t score any pointsfor being a good loser. Chivalry in skywas tr ied in WW I. The idea that aircombat was a gentlemanly joust betweenknights in the sky didn’t last long oncemen started dying by the thousands.Therefore a little advance training prior tocombat can pay off big-time. If nothingelse, it’ll help you get a jump on thecompetition.Those of you died-in-the-wool f l ightfanatics with an eye for detail wil l

undoubtedly be sayingto yourselves; Hey- ifthe F-14B didn’t enterservice until the late1980s how comesome of thecampaigns take placebefore then? That’s afair question. The design teamchoose to model the F-14B because itrepresents a marked

improvement over the F-14A. The under-powered Tomcat-A wouldn’t haveperformed up to everyone’s expectationsunless we toyed with the data some andproduced an unrealistic flight model. Wewanted to recreate actual campaigns butgiven our choice of time periods andtheatres, this would have forced us tomodel the F-14A. It would not have beenfun to fly.As players, we all get a greater sense ofinvolvement when the simulation ispatterned after historical events. There’sa greater emotional attachment to one’scharacter (and one’s aircraft for thatmatter) when you can equate gamesituations to “real life.” So with this in mindthe design team decided to keep thehistorical flavour yet allow the player to flythe F-14B. If you believe this gives you too much ofan edge, you can always limit yourself toa maximum power setting of 80%. We’vetaken care of play balance problems byallowing the Soviets to deploy some oftheir contemporary fighters in these earlyscenarios. Enjoy! Don’t slow down forturns and may you always catch a three-wire on your way back home.

-----VF-101 “GrimReapers”squadron emblem

I . GETTINGSTARTED

If you’re a pilot with a lot of flight sim timeunder your belt, this chapter is designedto allow you to begin play almostimmediately. On the other hand, if you’renew to flight simulations, bear with it.Flight isn’t an easy thing to explain tonewcomers. Undoubtedly, you’ll come across manyterms and concepts that will be foreign toyou. FLEET DEFENDER, like the F-14 itpor trays, isn’t always user-fr iendly(especially the portions dealing withradar). Don’t become frustrated, though,we’re sure you’ll get the hang of it in notime. Just remember, the Navy spendsyears teaching its naval aviators thesame information that FLEETDEFENDER tries to teach in hours (anddays). By the way, if this is your first fl ightsimulator, we think you’ve picked a greatone to start off your flying career. The F-14is one of this country’s classic fighteraircraft. It combines just the right amountof high-tech wizardry with old fashionedstick-and-rudder work.Ideally, you should have the gamerunning in front of you while you studythis instruction manual. This way, you canrefer back and for th from game tomanual, and vice versa. The combinationof play and study should help you learneven the most difficult parts of this gamewith minimal confusion. If, after all this,you’re still stuck, feel free to call one ofour technical exper ts in the MPSCustomer Service Dept.There are two different ways to playFLEET DEFENDER : SCRAMBLE andCAMPAIGN. The SCRAMBLE method isa one shot affair, you take-off, engage incombat, then return to the carr ier.Because these missions represent only asingle sortie, you are spared having toworry about the “big picture” events of afull campaign. These missions allow you to jump right in

and begin flying with minimal preparation.Although there is a standard defaultmission, SCRAMBLE also gives you theability to create your own mini-combatsituations from scratch. This is thepreferred way to get familiar with the gamebefore you embark on a full campaign.Turn to the section entitled SCRAMBLE formore information on these missions.The second method of play isCAMPAIGN. A campaign is a series ofinter-connected missions which takeplace over an extended period of time.These missions differ from single sortiesin that there is a lot going on behind thescenes. You won’t always see it, but it’sthere. During testing, a furious battle eruptedbetween a pair of Swedish Viggens and agroup of MiG-23s that had wandered offcourse and crossed in Swedish (neutral)airspace. It was fascinating to watch. TheViggens had the Floggers for breakfastand prevented a major Soviet airstrikefrom reaching its target in Norway.In a campaign, you (and other membersof your squadron) are promoted based onyour performance in combat. How wellyou do on one mission directly affectsyour likelihood of success on the next.For example, if your squadron was toexperience heavy losses on a particularmission, it may not have enough aircraftleftover to carry out future assignments. Campaigns give you access to greaternumbers of friendly aircraft but with thisgreater force comes greaterresponsibilit ies. There are two F-14fighter squadrons normally assigned to acarrier. These twenty aircraft are all thatstands between the enemy and yourships. If these precious twenty airframesare ever bent, burnt, or lost at sea, they’regone for good. Chances are you’ll needevery one of these aircraft if you intend tolast through to the end of a campaign.Each campaign is made up of a variety of

air defense and escort missions. Not onlyare you tasked with protecting friendlystr ike groups sent to attack enemytargets, you are also charged withdefending your own ships from enemy airattack. If your aircraft carrier is ever sunk,the game is over. It doesn’t matter howwell you do as an individual pilot. Theraison d’être for the F-14 is to protect thecarrier, everything else is secondary. Turnto the section entitled CAMPAIGN for amore detailed explanation of thesemissions.

REFERENCE CARDNo matter which method of play youselect, continually flipping through thisinstruction manual detracts from theoverall simulation. For the first couple ofmissions you should keep the ReferenceCard next to your computer. This willenable to you to continue flying (andfighting) without having to pause eachtime you need to look up a particularcommand.The Reference Card contains a summaryof all the keyboard key commands youneed to play this simulation. Thecommands are arranged according totheir function so that after a few missions,you’l l f ind yourself rememberingcommands without having to refer to thecard any longer.

TERMINOLOGYKeyboard Keys: When a keyboard key isreferred to in this manual, its nameappears in italics followed by the keystroke (shown in uppercase and set inparentheses). For example, the key usedto turn the radar system On and Off isnoted as follows; Radar On/Off Toggle(R key).Selector: refers to the mouse, joystickbutton, or key controls. Selector #1 refersto either the left mouse button or EnterKey, Selector #2 refers to either the rightmouse button or Spacebar Key.

PAUSE OPTIONYou may halt this simulation at any timesimply by pressing the Pause (alt P key).Because the Pause feature is a luxurynot available to pilots in the real world,hard core “purists” are sometimesreluctant to use it. By not pausing thesimulation, however, you are giving youropponents an unfair advantage. Theycontinue to sneak up while you fl ipthrough the manual. Feel free to use the Pause feature anytime you need to refer to a section ofinstructions. It’s not considered cheating!

An F-14 in a high energy state with wings sweptback for speed.

To begin playing FLEET DEFENDER ,you must select one of the two playoptions found on the Main Menu Screen;SCRAMBLE or CAMPAIGN.

SCRAMBLE [S]Press the SCRAMBLE [S] Key to begin aSCRAMBLE mission. The SCRAMBLEoption is more than just a way to getflying in a hurry, it’s a mission generatoras well. After selecting this option, youare given an opportunity to create yourown scenario and then go fly it.

CAMPAIGN [C]Press the CAMPAIGN [C] Key to accessa full CAMPAIGN. The campaign optionputs you in the middle of an entireAir/Sea battle environment. In addition toflying combat missions, there are literallyhundreds of decisions you’re required tomake. Your hands will be full from thevery start.

TOP TEN [T]You may also access the FLEETDEFENDER Hall of Fame from the MainMenu screen by pressing the TOP TEN[T] Key. The Top Ten roster shows thetop ten highest scores (what else) yourpilots have achieved. If you are goodenough you may just find yourself at thetop of this list.

QUIT [Q]Change your mind? Pressing QUIT [Q]Key ends this session and exits you toDOS.As an alternative to using the keyboard,you may use your mouse cursor todepress any particular button.

START-UP SCREENS

THE MAIN MENU SCREEN

The Main Menu screen showing the twoprinciple play options; SCRAMBLE andCAMPAIGN.

The Hall of Fame screen shows the top tennaval aviators along with their callsigns and topscores.

SCRAMBLE missions are single sortiesthat you generate yourself. With theexception of the 1981 Libyan defaultoption, there are no canned SCRAMBLEmissions.

MAIN MENU [M]Pressing the Main Menu button [M] Keyreturns you to the Main Menu Screen.

DIFFICULTY [D]Pressing the DIFFICULTY [D] Key takesyou immediately to the Difficulty Screen.This screen is explained in more detailbelow. The same Difficulty screen is usedfor both SCRAMBLE and CAMPAIGNmissions.

ARMING [A]Pressing the ARMING [A] Key takes youimmediately to the Arming Screen. Thisscreen is explained in more detail below.The same Arming screen is used for bothSCRAMBLE and CAMPAIGN missions.

TAKE OFF [T]Pressing the TAKE OFF [T] Key puts youin the cockpit. At this point you’re ready togo. You begin your mission either on thecarrier deck or already in flight. If youstart on the carrier deck, you must pressthe Afterburner Engage [A] Key tobegin. Once your engine has “spooledup” to full RPMs, the catapult will fire.Your F-14 is hurled down the flight deck.In just seconds, you’ll be airborne, so beready for it.

Mission Generation buttonsThe blue lower case buttons on thisscreen are known as Mission Generationbuttons. They give you the ability toconstruct your own scenarios “on the fly”.Consult the SCRAMBLE section belowfor full details on how to generate thesemissions.

The SCRAMBLE Screen. These are quick andeasy missions that make for excellenttournament challenges.

THE SCRAMBLE SCREEN

A CAMPAIGN takes a little longer to setup than a SCRAMBLE mission as youmight imagine, but they are well worth theextra effort. Campaign missions are themost challenging way to play FLEETDEFENDER.

The CAMPAIGN Screen shows you thecurrent status of any on-going campaignyour squadron may be involved in.Included in this information are notesconcerning your current theatre, currentcampaign scenario, your pilot name andthat of your RIO. You are also given asummary of the number of missionsalready flown, your individual point score,your current campaign score anddiff iculty level. Finally, this screenindicates whether or not you are flyingmissions in Training mode. (Don’tconfuse this mode with missions flown inthe Oceana Training theatre).

Squadron [S]Pressing the SQUADRON [S] Key callsup the Squadron Roster board. Thisroster shows the available squadronsplus information about squadrons withcampaigns in progress. Consult theSquadron Roster section below for moredetails. Press the Enter key or use the

mouse cursor and press OK to return tothe CAMPAIGN Screen.

Medals [E] Pressing the MEDALS [E] Key grantsaccess to your personal collection ofawards and decorations. A Phoenixsymbol marks the number of times you’vehad to resurrect yourself. (This featurehas been added so that your friends cancheck up on you when you begin to tellwar stories). Press the Enter key or usethe mouse cursor and press OK to returnto the CAMPAIGN Screen.

MAIN MENU [M]Pressing the MAIN MENU [M] Keyreturns you to the Main Menu Screen.

DIFFICULTY [D] Pressing the DIFFICULTY [D] Key takesyou immediately to the Difficulty Screen.This screen is explained in more detailbelow. The same Difficulty screen is usedfor both SCRAMBLE and CAMPAIGNmissions.

BEGIN [B]Pressing the BEGIN [B] Key takes you tothe Campaign Status screen.

The Campaign Screen. Campaigns allows youto undertake missions within a full air/seaenvironment.

THE CAMPAIGN SCREEN

As the name implies, this screen givesyou information about the current statusof your on-going campaign. Inside thestatus box is the number of the nextmission to be flown as well as a shortmission briefing. To see how well thiscampaign is going, press the blue lowercase buttons to access first a mission logand then an individual pilot log.

Mission Log [M]Press the Mission Log [M] Key toaccess a complete log of all the missionsflown so far in this campaign. Themission log summarises each mission soyou can tell at a glance;1. whether the mission succeeded orfailed,2. how many F-14 aircraft/aircrews werelost by your squadron,3. how many enemy aircraft were shotdown by members of your squadron,4. and finally, your squadron’s combinedpoint score for this mission.

Pilot Log [P]Press the Pilot Log [P] Key to access acomplete log of all the missions you haveflown thus far in this campaign. The Pilotlog summarises each mission so you cantell at a glance;1. whether the mission succeeded orfailed,2. how many F-14 aircraft/aircrews werelost by your squadron,3. how many enemy aircraft you wereable to shoot down,4. your LSO rating (how well you landedback aboard the carrier),5. and finally, the point score you receivedfor completing this mission.Pressing the Status [T] Key returns youto the Campaign Status screen.

SQUADRON [S]Pressing the SQUADRON [S] KEYreturns you to the Campaign Screen.

BRIEFING [B]Pressing the Briefing [B] Key takes youto the Mission Briefing screen.

THE CAMPAIGN STATUS SCREEN

The Mission Briefing Screen contains atext briefing which outlines the nature ofthe mission along with the conditions forvictory.

STATUS [S]Pressing the STATUS [S] Key returns youto the Campaign Status screen.

WINGMAN [W]Pressing the WINGMAN [W] Key givesyou access to the Squadron AssignmentBoard.The Squadron Assignment Board containsa list of all F-14 crews (Pilot/RIOcombinations) in your squadron. It alsolists, among other things, their currentassignments for this particular mission.These assignments include CAP (CombatAir Patrol), Ready 5, and Standby.Crews assigned to CAP missions willpatrol predetermined areas around thecarrier according to the carrier’s standardair defense plan. You have no controlover their placement. Crews assigned toReady 5 positions are held in reserve onyour carrier’s flight deck until needed. Ifyou get in trouble, these are the guys that’llbe sent to help bail you out. Finally, aircrews that are not needed for this missionare placed on Standby. These guys, ineffect, have the day off.Should you choose to, you may spoil theirday off by requesting that a Standby crewbe reassigned to fly this mission as yourWing-man. New Wing-man crews mustbe selected from the ranks of those crewson Standby. You cannot reassign crewsthat are already par ticipating in thismission.To change Wing-man, use your mousepointer and press the left mouse buttonover the desired crew. Your old wing-manis now put on Standby.Crews gain experience as they fly moremissions and accumulate higher point

scores, so rotating your Wing-men isadvisable. Since there is always a chancethat crews will be lost during a mission,building up a single crew at the expenseof the others is risky. VF-alt [V]In addition to your own squadron, youmay check on the status of your sisterfighter squadron (VF alternate) bypressing VF-alt [V] Key. This roster ispresented for informational purposesonly. You may not select a wing-man fromthis squadron. ARMING [A]Pressing the ARMING [A] Key takes youimmediately to the Arming Screen. Thisscreen is explained in more detail below.The same Arming screen is used for bothSCRAMBLE and CAMPAIGN missions.TAKE OFF [T]Pressing the TAKE OFF [T] Key puts youin the cockpit. At this point you’re ready togo. You begin some missions on thecarrier deck awaiting your turn to take-off.Other missions start with your aircraftalready inflight and positioned at its CAPstation.

If you start a mission on the carrierdeck, you must press the AfterburnerEngage (A Key) to begin.

The Mission Briefing screen contains a briefoverview of the up-coming mission.

THE MISSION BRIEFING SCREEN

The Difficulty Screen allows you to set thedifficulty levels of ten or more gamefeatures. The three difficulty levels arereferred to as play Modes. They areStandard Mode (the easiest of the three),Moderate Mode (more complex thanStandard Mode), and finally the ultimatein realism, Authentic Mode (the mostchallenging of the three difficulty levels).

Difficulty LevelsTRAINING: Select this mode and you’llnever have to say you’re sorry. You can“get away” with mistakes in Training modethat would end a regular mission. Trainingmode turns your F-14 into an invinciblefighting machine. Enemy missiles (SAMsand AAMs) and gunfire cannot harm youraircraft but your weapons retain theirlethality. Training mode also allows you tocontinually resupply your aircraft (andyour wing-man’s aircraft) with fuel andweapons. Given time, you can clear theskies of enemy aircraft.Training mode also gives you the ability to“teleport” your F-14 (along with your wing-man) to any point on the map with a click ofyour mouse button. Press the Map View (/Key) to access the campaign

map. Now press the blue button markedMove [M] Key. You are now able toposition your mouse pointer anywhere onthe map you wish to go. Press the rightmouse button and your F-14 is instantlyteleported to this spot on the map. No fuelis used in this move.As much fun as Training mode is, it doeshave one drawback. You are never givena score for Training missions. Even if youswitch to Training mode for only part ofthe mission, you are given a score of zero(0). All points scored on a mission arelost if you switch to Training mode whilethe mission is in progress.

LEVEL 1 - 4 FLEET DEFENDER missions can beflown in various degrees of difficulty.There are four different levels; Level 1(easiest) to Level 4 (Impossible). As youmight imagine, more points are awardedfor missions flown at the higher difficultylevels. You determine the difficulty level ofeach mission by setting the missionoptions to one of the following modes ofplay; Standard, Moderate, and Authentic.STANDARD MODE is the easiest of thethree modes of play. It is very forgiving ofpilot error. Aircraft systems are simplifiedand abstracted for the player who justwants to fly and shoot without beingoverly concerned with realism.MODERATE MODE is an intermediatedifficulty level. It combines some of theeasier aspects of Standard Mode playwith the more realistic features ofAuthentic Mode. Many of the things thatwere performed automatically beforemust now be performed manually. Thebiggest change, however, comes in theoperation of the radar and its componentsystems. AUTHENTIC MODE represents thehighest level of diff iculty in FLEETDEFENDER. It is also the level at whichplayers score the most points. Of thethree, Authentic Mode places the greatest

THE DIFFICULTY SCREEN

The Difficulty screen is a handy way of settingup a mission according to your individual tastes.

work load on the player. Aircraft avionicsand weapons perform just as theircounterparts do in real life.As more mission options are set toharder modes of play, the overall level ofdifficulty goes up accordingly. You canwatch this happen by changing themission options back and forth.Difficulty OptionsThere are ten difficulty options that needto be set prior to the initiation of anycampaign. Consider these optionscarefully. Once a mission begins it’s toolate to change your mind.

WEAPON EFFECTIVENESSSTANDARD MODE: Your missiles arealways 100% effective. They always hitand they always kil l . I t ’s hardly achallenge really, just aim and shoot.MODERATE MODE: Your missiles stilldestroy a target when they hit it but hittinga target has been made more difficult.Enemy aircraft can now avoid yourmissiles by using electronic counter-measures (ECM) or by out manoeuvringthem, if given a chance.AUTHENTIC MODE: The lethality ofeach missile is determined usinginformation drawn from a carefullyconstructed data-base. Over thirty uniquecharacteristics are taken into account toensure that each missile performs inFLEET DEFENDER just as it does inreal-life. This mode accurately models thedifferences between individual air-to-airmissiles.

FLIGHT MODELSTANDARD MODE: Your F-14 almostflies itself in this mode, it’s very hard tomake a mistake. The aircraft performs thesame regardless of altitude. Roll inertiahas been removed from the flight modelin this mode. Adverse G effects have alsobeen taken out. The aircraft automaticallycalculates and inputs the proper amountof trim for you. The Automatic pilot is

equipped with a terrain-following featureto keep you hitt ing the ground byaccident.MODERATE MODE: Unlike StandardMode, this flight model incorporates theeffect of air density (alt i tude) onperformance. In addit ion, you maydamage the aircraft by exposing it tostress resulting from high G forces. Roll inertia has been removed from theflight model in this mode as well and theproper amount of trim is input for you.The Automatic pilot is equipped with aterrain-following feature to keep youhitting the ground by accident. AUTHENTIC MODE: This flight modelincorporates the effect of air density(altitude) on performance. You may damagethe aircraft by exposing it to stress resultingfrom high G forces. (The G force toleranceof the aircraft has been reduced from that inModerate Mode.) Flight controls may seem a bit sluggish.This is because roll inertia has beenadded. You are also required to trim theaircraft frequently to maximise itsperformance. (Unless you are anabsolute fanatic for realism, trimming theaircraft can get to be annoying. If you findthe trim feature bothersome, press theAuto Trim Bypass (shift ] Key). Theterrain-following feature of the Automaticpilot has been removed. It only keepsyour aircraft flying straight and level.

F-14 DAMAGESTANDARD MODE: Your F-14 can takean unbelievable amount of damage andcontinue to fly.MODERATE MODE: You can still take agood deal of damage but missiles shouldnot be ignored. Several hits are enoughto bring you down. Avionics and othercritical areas are assessed individually.AUTHENTIC MODE: Damage isassessed realistically according to thetype of hit your aircraft receives. For

example, radar-guided missiles generallycause more damage than heat-seekingmissiles because of their largerwarheads. Missile hits usually (but notalways) cause catastrophic failure to oneor more systems. Bursts of gunfire causeless damage per direct hit than missiles.As a rule, it takes many bursts of gunfireto bring down your aircraft.

CARRIER LANDINGSSTANDARD MODE: The Landing SignalsOfficer (LSO) is very lenient in this mode.You can mess up an approach and stillreceive a good rating. Your F-14 is alsoeager to forgive mistakes. Any landing youcan walk away from is a good landing andthis mode lets you walk away from most ofthem. The traffic pattern is filled withlanding gates which float in mid-air andhelp guide your aircraft through theapproach pattern.MODERATE MODE: Landings aresomewhat more difficult. Your airspeed,angle, and rate of descent must all bewithin critical tolerances in order to landsafely. The LSO is more critical of yourlandings than before but unless you putthe nose of the aircraft through the deck,you should do okay.AUTHENTIC MODE: The LSO is a SOB.He demands perfection and can’t wait togive you a bad rating. You must stay incomplete control of the aircraft throughoutyour approach or you’ll receive a wave-off.In this mode, it is better to go around thanrisk a bad landing. Bad landings areusually fatal. Authentic Mode approachesrequire a high degree of piloting skill. Ifyou are not sweating these landings thenyou just don’t understand the problem.

RIO ASSISTANCESTANDARD MODE: Your Radar InterceptOfficer (RIO) gives you a great deal ofassistance which allows you toconcentrate on flying, your pr imaryconcern as a pilot.

The RIO automatically locks the nearestenemy aircraft for you. Sometimes thishelps out and sometimes it doesn’t. As apilot, you must be the final arbitrator. YourRIO also alerts you to “bandits” (enemyaircraft) in the area by calling out theirclock position. For example, if your RIOcalls out “Bandit- 6 o’clock”, this indicatesthat an enemy is on your tail. In addition, your RIO is also responsiblefor deploying electronic counter-measures (ECM) when necessary. Evenso, as the pilot, you might want to keepyour finger near the Chaff/Flare switchesyourself, just in case.Finally, your RIO is responsible for callingout damage to your aircraft.MODERATE MODE: In this mode, yourback seater is a little more casual abouthis duties. He’s more than willing to letyou take over some of theresponsibilities. Your RIO still reports onbandits in the area, deployscountermeasures, and calls out damage,but you have to lock-up your own targets.AUTHENTIC MODE: In this mode, yourRIO is really just along for the ride. Ohsure, your RIO will still spot bandits andreport on damage, but other than that,you’re on your own.

BACKSEAT CONTROLSSTANDARD MODE: You may fly theaircraft from the back seat as you would ifyou were seated in the front. You justhave to peer over the DDD to do it, that’sall.MODERATE MODE: You cannot fly theaircraft from the back-seat. The aircraftmaintains the stick position (pitch, yaw,and roll input) it was in when you exitedthe front seat. AUTHENTIC MODE: You cannot fly theaircraft from the back-seat. The aircraftwill follow its natural tendency to levelitself, if possible.

GUN CAMERASTANDARD MODE: The Vertical DisplayIndicator (VDI) shows the camera imagein colour and labels the primary targetsfor you. The camera itself can pan 3600.MODERATE MODE: The VDI shows thecamera image in monochrome (green) andlabels the primary targets for you. As inStandard Mode, the camera can pan 3600.AUTHENTIC MODE: The VDI shows thecamera image in monochrome (green). Itdoes not label the primary targets for you.The camera has forward looking gimballimits of 200 left and right of centre and200 above and below the horizon.

RADARThe three Radar difficulty modes arecovered in the AWG-9 radar section ofChapter 4.

GROUND CRASH MODE STANDARD: The aircraft can hit groundobjects and terrain without being affected(i.e. you can crash into the ground andstill keep flying). Your aircraft is notdamaged in any way by contact with theground. Exception: If your aircraft hasbeen previously damaged by enemyaction, any contact with the ground endsyour mission (and your career).MODERATE AND AUTHENTIC: Anycontact with a ground object other than acarrier flight deck results in the immediatedestruction of your aircraft. If you happento be inside the aircraft when thisoccurs... see yah! ENEMY SKILL: Enemy pilots are ratedas follows; (1) Trainee, (2) Cadet, (3)Regular, (4) Veteran and (5) Ace.Choosing the higher levels just makesyour job all the more difficult. Highlyskilled pilots are simply able to fly andfight better than lesser trained pilots.Veteran pilots combine experience withtraining to produce superior performance.An Ace is a veteran pilot with exceptionalinstincts and superb judgment.

CARRIER CLASS: Select one of threedifferent classes of aircraft carr iersrepresented in the game; Forrestal, KittyHawk, or the giant nuclear-poweredNimitz class. The differences between thethree carr iers are largely cosmetic,however, the longer length of the Nimitzclass flight deck makes landings a littleeasier.

Joystick [J]Pressing the blue Joystick [J] Keybrings up an additional panel labelledCONTROL. This panel allows you to setup the simulation according to theavailability of your own hardware.JOYSTICK: Use your mouse pointer tomake a choice of controller devices (orcombination of devices). Note that youmay choose not to use a joystick at alland use keyboard controls instead.FLEET DEFENDER also allows forspecialised equipment such as throttlecontrollers or foot pedals as well.KEYBOARD SENSITIVITY: You mayadjust the sensitivity of your keyboardbetween High, Medium, and Low. Themore sensitive you make the keyboard,the more control input is generated eachtime you press a particular key.ROLL RATE: Select one of two differentroll rates: Standard or Authentic.Selecting Standard gives you a very fastroll which is unaffected by altitude orairspeed. An Authentic roll rate is morerealistic and takes into account all theaerodynamic factors which affect yourflight performance.Difficulty [D]Press this key to return to the previousDifficulty panel.Recalibrate [R]Press the Recalibrate [R] Key torecalibrate your joystick or controllerbetween flights. Follow the on-screeninstructions. When finished, pressEscape/Menu Options (Esc Key).

Sound Off [S]This key is a toggle which turns thesound On and Off. Since the [S] Key isused for this toggle, to press theSQUADRON button you must use yourmouse pointer.Music [M]This key is a toggle which turns thebackground music On and Off. Gamesound is unaffected.

There are six different weaponconfigurations for you to choose from onthe Arming Screen. Each mission has itsown peculiar set of ordnancerequirements so get to know them. Oncein the air, it’s too late to change weaponsif you find you’ve made a bad selection.

Fleet Defense ALPHA4 (AIM-54 Phoenix) + 2 (AIM-7 Sparrow)+ 2 (AIM-9 Sidewinder)

This load-out represents a good mix ofradar and heat-seeking missiles. Use thisload-out when going up against a groupof str ike-fighters. The four AIM-54sshould be used to pick off a few banditsat long range. The remaining missiles aregood for proximity dogfighting with thesurvivors.

Fleet Defense BRAVO6 (AIM-54 Phoenix) + 2 (AIM-9Sidewinder)This load-out best illustrates the Navy’sMissileer launch platform concept. Thesix Phoenix missiles allow you to sit backsafely out of range and shoot down theenemy with impunity. You pay a high price for this seeming invincibility, though.Note your top speed at sea level anddon’t even think about getting into adogfight.Fleet Defense CHARLIE2 (AIM-54 Phoenix) + 1 (AIM-7 Sparrow)+ 4 (AIM-9 Sidewinder)Like the FD Alpha load-out, this mix ofradar and heat-seeking missiles is greatfor multi-mission tasking. The two AIM-54s could be used against non-manoeuvring targets like reconnaissanceor ASW aircraft. The four “heaters” givesyou plenty of ammunition in case of aBFM engagement.

MiG CAP ALPHA4 (AIM-7 Sparrow) + 4 (AIM-9Sidewinder)This load-out is ideal for escort missions.The four Sparrows give you a medium-range capability while the Sidewindersallow you to break formation to dogfightwith interceptors. Your speed is such thatkeeping up with a strike package is not aproblem.MiG CAP BRAVO6 (AIM-7 Sparrow) + 2 (AIM-9Sidewinder)Every now and then you get lucky andcome across a flight of enemy helicoptersor better yet, troop transports. When thishappens there are never enough missilesaround. The six Sparrows allow you to“turkey-shoot” a half dozen or so. Thesemedium-range missiles let you stay outdanger while you pick the enemy off one-by-one.

The Arming Screen

THE ARMING SCREEN

MiG CAP CHARLIE 4 (AIM-54 Phoenix) + 4 (AIM-9Sidewinder)This load-out combines long-rangecapability with speed. The four AIM-54sare perfect for taking out reconnaissanceaircraft or tactical co-ordination platforms.Once the Phoenix missiles are gone,you’re left with a dramatic speedadvantage and a full complement of “fireand forget” missiles.STANDARD ARMAMENT: In addition tothe missiles, your F-14 always begins amission with one 20 mm M61A1 gun (675rounds) and two drop tanks of fuel eachcontaining 267 gallons.Detail [D]Press the Detail [D] Key for a close-upinspection of your weapon configuration.

Before you fly any mission, you must firstbe assigned to particular F-14 equippedfighter squadron. FLEET DEFENDERfeatures ten (10) F-14 squadronsnormally associated with the US eastcoast naval commands. By pressing theSQUADRON [S] Key, you are givenaccess to these squadrons and theircurrent campaign status. Pick any one ofthe squadrons you desire.

EDIT PILOT [E]Press the EDIT PILOT [E] Key to assignyourself to the squadron you’ve selected.A name plate labelled Pilot Nameappears. Use the non-key pad arrowkeys and backspace key to enter yourfirst name (top line), callsign (middle line)and last name (bottom line). For example,your entry might look like;

Edward“Killer”Crawford

Once you have finished entering or editingyour name, you must now do the same foryour RIO. Use your mouse cursor to pressEDIT RIO button. When you are satisfied,press the Enter key or use the mousecursor and press OK to return to theSquadron Roster Board.

Shown here, a F-14 loaded down with a fullcompliment of six Phoenix missiles

THE SQUADRON ROSTER

The Squadron Roster Board. There are noentrance exams to pass or initiations to endurebefore joining.

RESET [R]The RESET [R] Key takes you back to thevery beginning and allows you to start thecampaign over. Any points you may havescored during the course of the campaignare lost when you start over again.

CAMPAIGN [C]Press the CAMPAIGN [C] Key to maketheatre and scenario selections. Thereare three theatres to choose from; twoare combat theatres (North Cape andMediterranean). The third theatre is theOceana NAS theatre featuring trainingoperations off the east coast of the UnitedStates. Use the non-key pad arrow keysto select any one of the three. Yourselection is highlighted in yellow.Your choice of scenario depends entirelyupon your choice of theatre. Each of thecombat theatres has three differentscenarios to choose from. Use the non-key pad arrow keys to elect any one ofthe three. Your selection is againhighlighted in yellow. The Oceana theatrefeatures six different training options. Youmay select any one of the six.

STATUS [S]Press the STATUS [S] Key to access amore detailed summary of yourcampaign’s current status.

OK [O]Press the OK [O] Key when you aresatisfied with the information on theSquadron Roster board. This key returnsyou to the CAMPAIGN Screen. As youcan see, the CAMPAIGN Screen nowreflects any changes you may haveentered.

CANCEL [A]The CANCEL [A] Key negates anyconfiguration changes you may havemade to the current campaign. If youmake a set-up mistake, this key lets youcorrect it by starting over.

For those of you who just want to get inone last mission before heading off towork, school, etc, the SCRAMBLE playoption allows you to fly quick and easysingle sortie missions. Rather than present you with a host ofstock missions, this play option features amini-mission generator. By combining theSCRAMBLE mission generator with alittle imagination, you are able to create avariety of aerial encounters.

SCRAMBLE MISSION GENERATORUse your mouse pointer or press thecorresponding highlighted letters to selectSCRAMBLE mission options.

Type [Y]By pressing this button, you are givenaccess to the list of all available aircraft.Note that you are only allowed to selectone aircraft type per mission. Use yourmouse pointer and press the left mousebutton to make your selection.

Skill [S]Select the enemy skill level. Press thisbutton and the skil l level selectionsappear to the right. Choose from between

Trainee, Cadet, Regular, Veteran andAce. At the higher skill levels, enemypilots are able to use their radar better,fire missiles faster, and generally fly alittle smarter. An Ace is a real challenge,even in a Yak-38. Trainees are little betterthan sitting ducks, but even they get luckyfrom time to time.

Number [N]Select the number of friendly and enemyaircraft you wish to take par t in thismission. You may choose up to six (6)enemy and six (6) fr iendly aircraft.Warning: each additional aircraft you putin the sky practically doubles your workload. Imagine having to fight your way outof a furball consisting of twelve aircraft.

Formation [F] Select the type of enemy formation.There are four different formations; Box,Wall, Ladder, or Cruise. A three-dimensional representation of eachformation appears to the right of yourselection. Consult the Oceana trainingsection for more details concerningenemy formations. Enemy Alt [E]Select your enemy’s star ting altitudeusing the keyboard arrow keys. Analtimeter appears to the right allowing youto view your selection. You may place theenemy anywhere from 1000 ft. up to theSCRAMBLE ceiling of 40,000 feet.

Your Alt [O]Select your own starting altitude using thekeyboard arrow keys. An alt imeterappears to the right allowing you to viewyour selection. You may begin anywherefrom 1000 ft. up to the SCRAMBLEceiling of 40,000 feet.

SCRAMBLE MISSIONS

The SCRAMBLE screen displays all yourmission options. You can create all newmissions or accept the default setting.

Position [P]Select your starting position vis-a-vis theenemy formation. You may choose one ofthree star ting posit ions; Offensive(Advantaged), Neutral (Head-to-Head), orDefensive (Disadvantaged).

Time [I]Select the time using the keyboard arrowkeys. A clock appears to the allowing youto view your selection. The Day-to-Night(Dusk) transition begins at 1800 hrs andends at 2000 hrs. The Night-to-Day(Dawn) transition begins at 0500 hrs andends at 0700 hrs.

Weather [W]Choose between three different types ofweather conditions; Stormy, Clear, andOvercast. Stormy conditions are moresevere than mere overcast, the cloudlayer is thicker and the cloud ceiling islower to the ground.

Squadron [Q]You may choose to fly as a member ofone of eight (8) different F-14 squadrons.The squadron’s patch appears to ther ight as you cycle through yourselections.

Default Option: If you’re in a real hurrydon’t bother setting the mission options,just press TAKE OFF [T] and accept theSCRAMBLE mode default. This settingallows you to recreate the Tomcat’s 1981encounter with two Libyan Su-22s.Historically, both the “Fitters” were shotdown by a pair of F-14s belonging to VF-41 “Black Aces.” This was the famousNavy; 2, Libya; 0 incident.

Rather than limit players to individualSCRAMBLE sorties, FLEET DEFENDERallows you to take par t in an entirenaval/air campaign. A single campaignhas the potential to last anywhere fromseveral days to several weeks. Your rolewill be to fly missions in support of yourcarrier and its strike operations. Sinceyou have only one carrier per campaignscenario you must protect it. If it is eversunk or so severely damaged that it canno longer perform air operations, thecampaign is over. In addition to CAP (Combat Air Patrol)missions, you are also tasked withescorting friendly strike packages whileen-route to their targets. On thesemissions you are not accountable for howwell the strike package performs. As afighter “jock”, you don’t care if any ofthese aircraft hit their targets just as longas they all make it back home. Therefore,your performance is judged on thenumber of friendly aircraft that survive themission and not the level of destructioninflicted on the target.Campaign missions have been createdbased on actual air/sea tactics used bythe Soviet Union. They have not beenintentionally play balanced beforehand tomake them easy or even fair, for thatmatter. You’ll find that some missions aremilk runs, while others will be downrightimpossible.

You begin each campaign aboard asingle aircraft carrier being escorted byseveral Cruisers, Guided-missileDestroyers and Frigates. Onboard thecarrier are approximately 90 combataircraft and helicopters. Their strikingpower is awesome but it is mitigated to adegree by the enemy’s formidable airdefenses. The enemy has a host of ships

and planes determined to stop yourcarrier group and this is where you comein.You (and your RIO) represent one oftwenty-two F-14 aircrews that make upthe two fighter squadrons onboard thecarrier. Two of these crews are actuallyreplacements. There are only twenty F-14s onboard, and although this maysound like a lot, combat attrition will takeits toll. You can’t afford to press theenvelope too often.In order to begin a campaign, three

things are necessary. You must;1. choose one of the two combat

theatres (either North Cape or Mediterranean)

2. choose one of the three campaign scenarios, and

3. be assigned to an active squadron.Once you have accomplished these threethings, you are ready to begin your firstcampaign mission.

Flying a MissionNow, it’s time to prepare for your firstmission. Actually, individual campaignmissions are no different than the singlesor tie missions flown in SCRAMBLEoption. However, with all the manydecisions that need to be made beforetake-off, it’s probably a good idea tocheck everything once again.1. From the CAMPAIGN screen, checkthe Squadron Roster Board to makesure you have the right squadron and ther ight campaign. Now, press theDIFFICULTY button [D] Key.2. From the DIFFICULTY screen, set thedifficulty options on the panel as desired.You may also recalibrate your joystick atthis point if needed. Now, press theCAMPAIGN button [C] Key to returnbriefly to the CAMPAIGN screen.3. From the CAMPAIGN screen, press the

CAMPAIGN MISSIONS

BEGINNING A CAMPAIGN

BEGIN button [B] Key. This takes youdirectly to the pre-Mission briefing. 4. From the BRIEFING screen, press theBRIEFING button [B] Key to get yourmission briefing. Read the briefing textcarefully, it contains important operationalinformation and the mission conditions forvictory. Now that you have an idea what isexpected of you, press the ARMINGbutton [A] Key.5. From the ARMING screen, make yourordnance selections based upon the up-coming mission requirements. Now, pressthe WINGMAN [W] Key.6. From the WINGMAN screen, you mayassign yourself a new wing-man, if you sodesire. Take a minute to check the othercrew assignments so you are familiar withthe crews participating in this mission.Once you are satisfied with the crewassignments, there is only one thing leftto do; press the TAKE OFF button [T]Key and... take-off!

Ending a MissionHopefully, each of your missions will endwith you returning safely to anundamaged aircraft carrier. Ideally, this isthe way every mission should end. Sadly,the fortunes of war will dictate otherwiseon occasion.

BECOMING A CASUALTYThere is always a chance you will notsurvive a mission. If this happens, themission is over at the point of yourdemise. See Resurrection below.

EJECTINGBailing out of a crippled aircraft is anotherway to end the mission. If you survive theejection and are picked up, you are takendirectly to the mission debriefing.

ABORT [A]You may abort a mission in progress atany time. To abort a mission, press theEscape/Menu Options (Esc Key) to

access the Control Options screen. Now,press the ABORT button [A] Key locatedat the bottom of this screen. Ending amission in this manner causes you to losecredit for any points you may have scoredon this mission. You are taken to themission debrief.

EXIT TO DOS [X]Rather than aborting a mission, you mayalso leave the simulation altogether fromthe Control Option screen. Press the EXITTO DOS [X] Key. This key has the sameaffect as pressing the Quit (alt Q) Key.

Mission DebriefingYou receive a debriefing at the conclusionof each mission, whether you personallysurvive it or not. This debrief consists of areplay of the entire mission summarisingthe major events and placing them inchronological order. A summary of yourpoint score is also displayed along withany medals or awards you are to receive.Ending a CampaignYour carr ier group wil l continue itsoperations until it achieves its objectivesunless the campaign ends prematurely.There are two pr inciple ways for acampaign to end prematurely, if your pilotis Killed In Action (KIA), or if your aircraftcarrier is sunk or severely damaged.At the end of each campaign, your overallperformance is rated according to thenumber of successful missions you haveflown. You can lose a few missions andstill have a decent campaign record. InBaseball, a .500 percentage will get youin the World Series, so too, in FLEETDEFENDER. Win over half of themissions and you should feel pretty good,win 75% of them and you’re doing great.

YOUR CAREERFLEET DEFENDER allows you topersonalise your pilot and RIO by givingthem names of your own choosing. Mostplayers tend to name the pilot afterthemselves and name the RIO after theirbest friend. There’s no requirement to dothis, however. You may give the pilot andRIO any names you wish. Assuming you name the pilot afteryourself, we can also assume that younow have a vested interest in doing welland surviving. In this respect, you are nodifferent than any other naval aviator thatflies the Tomcat in real life. He has hiscareer to worry about, now you haveyours.

Your career as anaval aviatorbegins themoment you givea name to yourpilot. From thismoment on, yourcareer is simplythe sum total ofall the pointsscored during allthe missions youhave flown usingthis persona.(You may have adifferent pilotname for each

active squadron.)Your personalobjective is tosurvive the

campaign, all other considerations shouldbe secondary. Along the way, however,you wil l accumulate points foraccomplishing cer tain tasks anddestroying enemy aircraft. If you are

noticeably successfully, you arerecommended for various awards anddecorations.

Your ult imate career goal is to getpromoted up the ladder until you reachthe rank of Commodore. It won’t be easy.You will only attain this lofty grade afterflying many missions, in manycampaigns. After you attain this rank, youare retired. Enjoy your break fromcombat, you earned it.

Mission ScoringYou receive a point score dependingupon how well you performed as anindividual. You also receive points as amember of the squadron for participatingin a successful mission. These two sumsare totalled to produce your final missionscore.Failure to accomplish your missiongarners less points for you as anindividual and makes a campaign moredifficult to ultimately win. For example,you may be given a mission to preventenemy reconnaissance aircraft fromfinding your carrier group. If the enemy isallowed to locate your carrier, the nextmission may have you desperately tryingto shoot down a salvo of cruise missiles.

PromotionsPromotions are based upon youraccumulated point totals. They are noteasy to get, but they do come in time.Every naval aviator starts the game as aLieutenant JG (Junior Grade) with a pointscore of zero (0). In order to attain thenext highest rank, you only need toaccumulate the prerequisite number ofpoints. The higher the rank, the morepoints you must accumulate to attain it.

BEGINNING A CAREER

Feeling that need forspeed? This F-14 isshowing its stuff on a lowlevel pass.

CAREER PROGRESSION (PROMOTIONS)

Regardless of the number of points youreceive, you are never promoted morethan one rank after any one mission. Ifyou do really well on a particular mission,you must f ly another so that yourpromotions can catch up with youraccumulated point score.The following chart outlines the rankstructure in FLEET DEFENDER and thepoint scores needed to attain them;

Your Wing-man can never be more thanone rank above you. Any higher than thatand he’d be considered the flight leader.Likewise, your RIO is always kept at leastone rank lower than you. Sorry back-seaters, but that’s just the way it is in thissim.

In addition to promotions, you may alsoreceive various awards and decorationsfor outstanding performance. Like yourpoint score, these stay with the pilot whoearns them. They are not transferable.Besides giving you something nice towear on your uniform, awards anddecorations also help you get promoted.Each award is assigned a specific pointvalue. If you receive a decoration, itspoint value is subtracted from the totalnumber of points you need to attain thenext highest rank. In effect, yourCommanding Officer has recognised yoursterling performance and recommendsyou for early promotion.

Multiple awards of the same decorationare noted by the addition of a Gold Star.You receive points toward promotion foreach award. For example, if you currentlyhave two (2) Air Medals you wouldreceive 5,000 (2 x 2500) bonus pointstoward promotion.

RANK POINTS NEEDED

Lieutenant JG At StartLieutenant 6,000Lt. Commander 18,000Commander 40,000Captain 70,000Commodore 110,000

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

MEDAL AW ARDED PROMOTION BONUS

C M O H 7,000Navy Cross 5,500Silver Star 4,500Distinguished Flying Cross 3,500Air Medal 2,500Navy Commendation Medal 1,500Purple Heart NoneNational Defense Service Medal None

The Awards Screen

RetirementThe most pleasant way to end a servicecareer is through retirement after havingachieved a chest full of medals. As soonas you reach the rank of Commodore,you are retired. Once you achieve therank of Commodore your flying days areover. The Navy can’t have its seniorofficers out tooling around in fighters, nowcan it?

Roll of the Honoured DeadThe other way to end a career is not sopleasant. Every time you take to the skythere’s a chance you may not return. Atthe conclusion of each mission, a list ofthose who won’t be returning ispublished. This list is termed the Roll ofthe Honoured Dead. If your pilot’s nameis on it, your career is over.

Resurrect [R]All is not lost. Because being a fleetdefender is such a hazardous occupation,the designers have included a universalsafeguard against premature retirement.If you are ever KIA for any reason, youare given a second chance. To resurrectyourself, press the Resurrect [R] Key. Ifonly it was this easy in real life!Resurrected pilots are immediatelyreturned to active service and allowed tokeep the points they scored prior to theirdemise. The drawback to resurrection isthat you are considered to have failed themission. All things considered, it’s a smallprice to pay.

Perish [P]If you are unwilling to toy with destiny,press the Perish [P] Key. The pilot isirrevocably gone and the campaign isended.

Fly Over [F]The Fly Over option is essentially thesame as resurrection except that the pilotmust start the same mission again. Pressthe Fly Over [F] Key to try again.

The PhoenixA Phoenix, a mythological bird whichr ises from the ashes of i ts owndestruction, is used to symboliseresurrection. One of these icons is placedwith your medals each time your pilot isresurrected. There is no limit to thenumber of times a pilot may be broughtback.

ENDING YOUR CAREER

The Roll of the Honoured Dead.

I I . SIMULATIONCONTROLS

Because of the complexity of the F-14’sweapon and flight control systems thereare well over a hundred different keycommands. Each command performs aunique function and is activated by thetouch of a certain key or combination ofkeys on your keyboard. Originally, the game designersconsidered including an overlay templateshowing all the distinct key combinations.Quickly we realised it would be unusabledue to the overwhelming number ofcommands. So instead, a complete list ofall the key commands used in FLEETDEFENDER is provided on theReference Card included with yourgame. Keep the card handy for useduring flight. This chapter is intended to provide you witha detailed summary of all the variouscommand functions used during thenormal course of play. Each function isreferred to by its name as it appears on theReference Card followed by the actualkeystroke in parenthesises. The keys havebeen grouped into appropriate sections forquick reference. These include primary andsecondary flight controls, simulation views,radar, weapons, and general simulationcontrols, etc.There is an additional list of Wing-mancontrols which appear on the ReferenceCard but do not appear in this chapter.Details concerning wing-man control keyscan be found in the Wing-man section ofChapter Four.

ZOOM COMMANDS: Thesecommands expand or retract variousfields of view as noted in the keysummaries. They also increase ordecrease the range of your radar, TCS,or other systems which havetelescoping areas of coverage.Zoom In (Z Key): This view moves yourperspective/range inward (closer) to theobject or area.Zoom Out (X Key): This view movesyour view perspective outward (fartheraway) from the object or area.

Primary flight controls are usually non-combat related keys deemed mostimportant to your ability to fly the aircraft.They represent keys that are frequentlyused during the course of a mission. Assuch they are easily remembered after afew sorties.Front/Back Seat Toggle (‘ Key): Thistoggle allows you to instantly movebetween the front (pilot) seat and back(RIO) seat. Your view perspective defaultsto a Look Ahead view as a result of thismove.Accelerate (= Key): Pressing this keyincreases the throttle setting of youraircraft in increments of 10%. You areable to watch this incremental increase inpower on the RpM gauge located directlyunder the pilot’s alt imeter. Notice asignificant increase in fuel consumptionas well. Full Military Power (shift= Key) :Pressing this key immediately increasesyour throttle to 100% RpMs (Full MilitaryPower).Throttle Back (- Key): Pressing this keydecreases the throttle setting of youraircraft in increments of 10%. Notice howyour fuel flow rate decreases as youthrottle back.Cut Throttle (shift- Key): Pressing thiskey immediately shuts down both enginescompletely. You’d better have a landingspot already picked out. Gliding is not oneof the F-14’s strong-points.Speed Brake Toggle (B Key): If youraircraft is on the deck, toggling this keyturns your wheelbrakes On and Off whileyou taxi. If your aircraft is airborne, thiskey toggles between the speedbrake’stwo positions, retracted (in) and extended(out). Extending your speedbrakes inflight is known as “popping the boards”.

Afterburner Engage (A Key): Pressingthis key kicks in the afterburner. Yourafterburner boosts your thrust well over100% but consumes fuel at a prohibitiverate. Use the afterburner sparingly.Note that this key is not a toggle. Youcannot use it to turn off the afterburner.To turn off the afterburner, press theThrottle Back (- Key) once.Automatic Pilot (P Key): By toggling thiskey, you may engage and disengage youraircraft’s Automatic Pilot. When theAutomatic Pilot is engaged, it maintainsyour heading and altitude. You are able tomake minor course corrections withoutdisengaging the Automatic Pilot.Automatic Pilot is most useful when youare busy attending to other chores (likeworking the radar systems in the backseat).Stick Trim Up ([ Key): Each press of thiskey adjusts (trims) the pitch of the aircraftupward without putting back pressure onthe joystick.Stick Trim Down (] Key): Each press ofthis key adjusts (trims) the pitch of theaircraft downward without putting forwardpressure on the joystick.Auto Trim (shift ] Key): Pressing this keyautomatically adjusts (tr ims) youraircraft’s pitch for you.Rudder Left (, Key): Pressing this keycauses the aircraft to yaw (turn w/obanking the wings) to the left.Rudder Right (. Key): Pressing this keycauses the aircraft to yaw (turn w/obanking the wings) to the right.Directional Controls (Arrow Keys): Thekeyboard arrow keys act as the Controllerwhen the simulation is not being playedwith a joystick. These four keys are ableto manoeuvre the aircraft, up, down, leftand right, just as if you were using ajoystick.

FLIGHT CONTROL KEYS

PRIMARY FLIGHT CONTROLS

Eject (shift E Key): When your aircraft isdamaged by enemy fire and is no longerairworthy, it’s time to bail out. Press Eject(shift E Key) to bail out but remember,there are no second chances. If you“punch Elvis” (hit the Eject key) bymistake, you are not given an opportunityto take it back. IMPORTANT SAFETYTIP- You cannot successfully eject if youraircraft is inverted or travelling over 350knots, so avoid premature ejections.NAV mode (5 Key): This key causes theHUD to begin displaying navigation aidssuch as a velocity vector and 50

incremental pitch ladder. A CourseDeviation Indicator appears on theVertical Display Indicator to assist you inlining up for a carrier approach. Waypoint Toggle (S Key): This keytoggles through all your assignedwaypoint locations for the current mission.A br ief descr iption of the waypointappears along the bottom edge of thescreen as you cycle through the settings.The waypoint’s relative bearing is alsodisplayed on the HUD by means of aheading caret on your heading indicator.

Secondary f l ight controls are alsoimportant though they are less often usedthan those previously described. Thesecontrols are usually associated with non-critical tasks.

External Lights Toggle (shift L Key):This key toggles your external formationlights (including landing lights) On andOff. External lights are only important foridentification purposes or close formationflying at night. Otherwise, turn them off orthey assist the enemy in spotting youraircraft.Jettison External Tanks (shift J Key):Press this key to jettison external fueltanks. Since external fuel is used up first,it is a good idea to jettison your tanksonce you have used up the first 3,600 lbs.(or when your fuel state goes below16,000 lbs). Even empty fuel tanks addweight to the aircraft.Landing Gear Toggle (G Key): Thistoggle raises and lowers your landinggear UP and DOWN. This should be thefirst key you press after leaving the flightdeck on take-off. Flying with your landinggear extended r isks damaging theaircraft. It also creates an unbelievableamount of drag resistance and slows youdown. You cannot lower the landing gearif you are travelling faster than 300 knots.Use the speed brake to slow to 300 knotsor less before lowering the landing gear.Landing Hook Toggle (H Key): Thistoggle raises and lowers your aircraft’slanding hook. Arrestor cables on deckcannot stop your aircraft unless thelanding hook is lowered. Trying to landwith the hook raised means an automaticbolter.Hawkeye Picture (shift P Key): Pressthis key to request that the E-2C Hawkeyeupdate you with tactical information(bogey-dope). The Hawkeye is youraircraft carrier’s seeing-eye dog, so tospeak. Consult the section on the E-2CHawkeye in Chapter 3 for completeinformation.HSD/TID Toggle (shift R Key): Togglingthis key alternates the HSD monitorbetween displaying standard HSDnavigational information and TID repeaterdata. A TID repeater is just a way for thepilot to view on his HSD (in the front seat)what the RIO is seeing on his TID (in the

Vampire... Vampire... Vampire..! A Sea-Sparrowmissile is launched at in-coming anti-shipmissiles just over the horizon.

SECONDARY FLIGHT CONTROLS

back seat). Consult the HSD and TIDsections in Chapter 4 for moreinformation.VDI/TCS Toggle (V Key): Pressing thistoggle allows you to alternate the VerticalDisplay Indicator monitor betweenstandard VDI information and imagesproduced by the Television CameraSystem (TCS). Consult the VDI and TCSsections in Chapter 4 for moreinformation. Request Landing Clearance (alt LKey): Press this key to request landinginstructions from the Air Boss whenreturning to your carrier after a mission.You must be within 20 nm of your carrierbefore the Air Boss will acknowledge yourrequest. Consult the section on Carrierlandings for more complete details.TOMCAT Ball (alt B Key): Press this keyin response to a “Call the Ball” queryfrom the LSO. By pressing this key youare acknowledging that you have a visualcontact with the “meatball”- a landingdevice on the port side of the carrierdeck. Consult the section on Carrierlandings for complete instructions.These controls represent miscellaneouskeys that are occasionally used duringflight.

Escape/Menu Selection (Escape Key):Pressing this key while in flight gives youimmediate access to a number ofsimulation control options. These optionsinclude changing your joystick/hardwareconfigurations, keyboard sensitivity, soundoptions, messages and detail levels. Youmay also recalibrate your joystick from thismenu if necessary. The simulation ispaused while you make your selections. Quit (alt Q Key) : Pressing this keyimmediately ends the simulation andreturns you to DOS. It does not saveinformation to disk. Quitting a mission inthis manner does not give you credit for

any points you may have scored prior toleaving. You may as well have pulled theplug. Like cutting the power, this optionmay be exercised at any time during play.Pause (alt P Key): Press this key to haltthe simulation in its tracks. The game isfrozen indefinitely until you resume play.This feature is perfect in case the phonerings or your Boss should happen to walkin during a frantic “furball”. Play isresumed by pressing any key.Accelerate Time (shift T Key) :Accelerated time is useful when flyinglong distances and the chance ofencountering hostile aircraft is low. Thereare eight (8x) levels of accelerated time.Your current time acceleration multiplier(if greater than 1x) is displayed in theupper left corner of the pilot’s forwardview screen. You are immediately kickedout of accelerated time if any enemyaction takes place, otherwise press theNormal Time (T Key) to exit Acceleratedtime mode. Normal Time (T Key): Normal Timereturns the simulation to a non-accelerated time rate (1x).Training Mode (alt T Key): TrainingMode means never having to say you’resorry. While in Training Mode, you areimmediately rendered invulnerable,enemy gunfire and missiles cannot hurtyou and contact with the ground does notend your mission. You are also eligible toperform other “cheat” options l ikeResupply.Training mode may be toggled On or Offas many times as you like during thecourse of a mission. However, if anyportion of your mission is flown in Trainingmode (even if it’s only for a couple ofseconds) you will not receive any pointsfor completing the mission.Resupply (alt R Key): Each time you tapResupply, your fuel tank is filled and yourordnance stores (missiles and gunammo) are replenished. Resupply alsoautomatically repairs all damage to youraircraft at the same time. You may use

MISCELLANEOUS FLIGHT CONTROLS

this key only in conjunction with TrainingMode.Clock Advance (alt = Key): Each timethis key is pressed, game time isadvanced by five minutes. This featurecan only be used in conjunction withTraining Mode. Clock Reverse (alt - Key): Each time thiskey is pressed, game time is reversed byfive minutes. This feature can only beused in conjunction with Training Mode.

Landing Cheat Toggle (E Key): This keyallows you to automatically advance youraircraft through the various stages of anapproach pattern. By toggling this keyrepeatedly, you are able to move youraircraft through the entire landingprocedure right down to the deck. Thiskey is only functional while in Trainingmode or when your carr ier landingdifficulty level is set to Standard.

Learning how to use the radar properlywill be the most challenging aspect ofFLEET DEFENDER . There are three (3)different radar difficulty levels; (Standard,Moderate, and Authentic Modes). Withineach difficulty level there are three (3)search modes (SEARCH, PDSRCH, andRWS) and three (3) attack modes(PDSTT, TWS-A, TWS-M). Certain keycommands are only applicable whenplaying at certain difficulty levels or when

the radar is keyed to a particular mode.These cases are noted by asterisks (*).Radar On/Off Toggle (R Key): This keytoggles your AWG-9 radar ON and OFF.A message appears at the bottom of yourscreen indicating whether the radar isActive or Inactive when you toggle thiskey. Consult the section on the AWG-9 formore details.Change Radar Mode (Delete Key): Thiskey allows you to cycle through all thevarious radar search and attack modesthat are available; PDSRCH, TWS-A,TWS-M, and RWS. Your current mode isindicated to the right of the DDD locatedin the back (RIO) seat. You can watch theradar mode indicator lights change as youcycle through the modes.Identification; Friend or Foe, IFF (I Key):Before you shoot at a target it is a goodidea to determine its identity. You maydestroy a friendly, neutral, or civilian aircraftby mistake and lose big-time points in theprocess. Special electronic systems areused to “interrogate” a target to determineits nature. Press the IFF (I Key) tointerrogate a locked target (IFF is onlyeffective with a locked target). Consult thesection detailing the AWG-9 radar for moreinformation concerning the IFF function. Lock/Cycle Targets (Backspace Key):Press this key to lock a target when theradar is in SEARCH mode. The radarinstantly changes to PDSTT when thetarget is locked. By repeatedly pressingthis key you are able to cycle through alleligible targets appearing on your radardisplay. (Standard Mode radar only)Break Lock (K Key): This keyimmediately breaks any radar “lock” youcurrently have on a target. Note that yourRIO may immediately re-“lock” the targetunder certain circumstances. Boresight/VSL Toggle (End Key): Thiskey toggles your radar between Boresightmode and Vertical Scan Lock-On. (Usedin Moderate and Authentic Mode difficultylevels)Beam Elevation Up 20(Pageup Key):

Flight leader and wing-man returning home froman uneventful CAP.

RADAR CONTROLS

Each time this key is pressed, the radarbeam elevation is raised 20. The elevationsetting can be checked on the indicatorlocated to the left of the DDD. (Used inModerate and Authentic Mode difficultylevels)Beam Elevation Down 20(PagedownKey): Each time this key is pressed, theradar beam elevation is lowered 20. Theelevation setting can be checked on theindicator located to the left of the DDD.(Used in Moderate and Authentic Modedifficulty levels)Adjust Bars (Home Key) : This keychanges the number of bars currentlybeing scanned by the radar. As more barsare selected the vertical area covered byyour beam is increased. See the AWG-9radar section for more information on barsettings. (Used in Authentic Modedifficulty level only)Adjust Azimuth (Insert Key): This keychanges the width (azimuth) of your radarbeam. The greater the azimuth setting,the greater the horizontal coverage ofyour radar beam. This key is only used inModerate and Authentic Modes. InModerate Mode, this key toggles betweenWide, Medium, and Narrow settings. InAuthentic Mode, the settings aremeasured in degrees. See the AWG-9radar section for more information onazimuth settings.

Next to your primary and secondary flightcontrols, your weapon commands are themost important keys to remember. It’s toolate, once you’re in a dogfight, to beginfumbling around trying to select theproper missile. Get to know the weaponcommands ahead of t ime, this waycockpit confusion won’t lead to a panicsituation.These keys allow you to call up threedifferent missiles or place your 20 mmgun in priority for real close-in work. YourECM controls allow you to escape from

in-coming missiles by deceiving theirinfrared seekers or clouding their radarreturns.Master Arm Switch Toggle (M Key):This key toggles your Master Arm switchOn and Off. The Master Arm switch actsas a safety device. You can not launchmissiles or fire your guns unless theMaster Arm switch is On. The MasterArm switch indicator illuminates when theswitch is On. When the switch is Off, an Xsymbol is superimposed over your HUDweapon indicator. Guns (1 Key): Pressing this key placesyour 20 mm Vulcan M61A1 gun intopr ior ity. A f loating gunsight pipperappears in the centre of your HUD. TheHUD weapon indicator reads G alongwith the number of rounds remaining on-board.Sidewinder Missile (2 Key): Pressingthis key puts a short range, heat-seekingAIM-9 missile in pr ior ity. The HUDweapon indicator reads SW along withthe number of missiles remaining on-board.Sparrow Missile (3 Key): Pressing thiskey puts a medium range, radar-guidedAIM-7M missile in priority. The HUDweapon indicator reads SP along with thenumber of missiles remaining on-board.Phoenix Missile (4 Key): Pressing thiskey puts a long range, “fire and forget”AIM-54 missile in pr ior ity. The HUDweapon indicator reads PH along with thenumber of missiles remaining on-board.Fire Guns (Enter Key): Each time thiskey is pressed one burst of 20 mm rounds is fired from your M61A1gun. Tracers rounds are visible so thatyou are able to accurately track your fire.Pickle Button (Spacebar Key): Onemissile of the type currently in priority isfired each time this key is pressed. Thenumber of missiles currently on-board isnoted on your HUD. Each time is key ispressed, this number is reducedaccordingly.

WEAPON/ECM CONTROLS

TEWS Jammer Toggle (J Key): Pressthis key to toggle the TEWS Jammer Onand Off. Although the TEWS jammerautomatically activates when it detectsenemy radars, it must first be turned Onby toggling this key. The word JAMMERappears across the TEWS display whenthe jammer is turned On. When active,the word JAMMER flashes on the TEWSdisplay.Release Chaff (C Key): Pressing this keyreleases a bundle of radar-distorting chaff.You are initially given twenty-four (24)bundles. When this key is pressed amessage appears on the HUD indicatingthat you have released a bundle of chaffand how many you have remaining. Incertain modes, your RIO is authorised toautomatically deploy chaff bundles for you.Release Flare (F Key): Pressing this keyreleases a f lare designed to decoyincoming heat-seeking missiles. You areinitially given twelve (12) flares. When thiskey is pressed a message appears on theHUD indicating that you have released aflare and how many you have remaining.In certain modes, your RIO is authorisedto automatically deploy flares for you.

Most of your cockpit time is spent lookingthrough the Head-Up Display (or HUD).The following commands allow you totailor the HUD to suit your particularneeds.Increase HUD Brightness (ctrl H Key):This key gradually increases thebrightness of your HUD symbology eachtime it is pressed.Decrease HUD Brightness (shift HKey): This key gradually decreases thebrightness of your HUD symbology eachtime it is pressed.HUD Glare Filter Toggle (alt H Key):Press this toggle to raise and lower theHUD glare filter. The symbology on theHUD changes to an orange hue when theglare filter is raised.

HUD Declutter Toggle (D Key): Pressthis toggle when the amount of HUDsymbology begins to clutter (overcrowd)the display. With the HUD Declutteractivated only your heading symbologyremains.

One aspect of FLEET DEFENDER thatwe’re most proud of is the art work anddetailed 3-D modeling that went intocreating the aircraft you encounter. Manyof these aircraft have never before beenseen in a commercial flight simulator. Thefollowing key controls give you access toa wide range of simulation views. Theseperspectives allow you to enjoy all ourhard work (right before you blow it up!)Forward View (F1 Key): This perspectivegives you a forward (inside the cockpit)view. It can be used from both front andrear cockpits. The front cockpit forwardview gives you visual access to the HUDand all front seat instrumentation. Therear cockpit forward view gives you theRIO’s perspective and visual access tothe DDD and TID.Full Front View (F2 Key) : Thisperspective gives you an unobstructedview out the front of the aircraft (outsidethe cockpit). This view is accessible fromboth front and rear seats.LSO View (F3 Key): This perspective isviewed from the Landing Signals Officer’s(LSO) station on board the carrier. It is areverse angle view from the carrier usedto judge your landing approaches. Youraircraft automatically remains centered inthe LSO’s field of vision as you move. Air Boss View (F4 Key): Thisperspective is viewed from the controltower above the carr ier deck and isknown as the Air Boss view. Your aircraftautomatically remains centered in the AirBoss’ field of vision as you move. Remote View (F5 Key) : This is anexternal perspective which init ial lydefaults to a rear view of your aircraft.

HEAD-UP DISPLAY (HUD) CONTROLS

SIMULATION VIEWS

You are able to PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) thisview. It automatically keeps your aircraftcentered in your field of vision.Full Motion Pilot View (F6 Key): Thisview gives you the perspective from thepilot’s field of vision. It is called full motionbecause it can moved wherever a pilot isnormally able to swivel his head and look.To move this view, use the key padnumbers; 2- down, 4- left, 6- right, and 8-up. Pressing the 5 Key (in the middle ofthe Keypad) automatically brings the viewback to a straight ahead perspective.Missile View (F7 Key) : This viewpositions your perspective directly behinda missile as it flies to its target. If morethan one missile is in flight, you arepositioned behind the one most recentlylaunched. If no ordnance is in flight, youare posit ioned behind your aircraft.Multiple presses of this key cycles youthrough all in-flight ordnance includingenemy ordnance launched at youraircraft. You are able to PTZ (pan, tilt,zoom) this perspective. It automaticallykeeps the missile centered in your field ofview.Padlock View (F8 Key): This view issimilar to the Full Motion Pilot View withone exception, this view does all the workfor you. Padlock view automatically“locks” on a specific air target and keepsit centered in your field of view. Multiplekey presses allows you to cycle throughall aircraft, both friendly and enemy, thatyou would normally be able to see.

Tactical View (F9 Key) : This viewpositions your perspective so that you arelooking past your aircraft at a target. Itautomatically rotates to keep the targetcentered in your field of view. You areable to PTZ (pan, t i l t , zoom) thisperspective. It is invaluable whendogfighting by letting you “see” yourmanoeuvres in relation to those of yourenemy’s. Multiple presses of this keycycles through eligible aircraft.Reverse Tactical View (F10 Key): Thisview is the same as the Tactical View (F9Key) except that you are seeing thesituation from the enemy’s perspective. Itautomatically rotates to keep your aircraftcentered in the field of view. You may useZoom In/Out commands in conjunctionwith this view. Multiple presses of this keycycles through eligible aircraft.Map View (/ Key): This key brings up alarge scale theatre map which gives youthe ability to spot the location of variousfriendly objects (i.e. your F-14, your wing-man, other F-14s, your carrier, etc.) Thelocation of your mission waypoints arealso noted on the map. You are also ableto review your mission briefing in caseyou’ve forgotten. In the Training Mode the Map view allowsyou to “move” the position of your aircraftto any posit ion on the mapinstantaneously. Press the Move button[M Key] and follow the on-screeninstructions.

In addition to the normal simulation views,FLEET DEFENDER gives you quick anduncomplicated access to a variety of pilotand RIO perspectives. These keys allowyou to change your field of vision in orderto better operate and monitor youraircraft’s avionics. You can also sight-seeoutside the aircraft as well. Occasionalglances outside do wonders for yoursituational awareness. All numeric keys used in changing these

Imagine the spectacular view this pilot must haveas he soars high above the clouds.

PILOT/RIO VIEW CONTROLS

view perspectives are found on thekeypad. Each of these perspectives maybe used by both the pilot and RIO.Look Ahead (5 Key): Press this key toaccess a forward (straight ahead) view.Look Up (8 Key): Press this key to returnto a normal forward per-spective from aLook Down view.Look Down (2 Key): Certain cockpitinstrumentation may only be accessed bylooking down. Press this key to lookdown.Look Left (4 Key): Press this key to lookleft.Look Right (6 Key): Press this key tolook right.Look Rear Left (1 Key): Press this key tolook behind the aircraft. The viewperspective is oriented at 225

0.

Look Rear Right (3 Key): Press this keyto look behind the aircraft. The viewperspective is oriented at 1350.

This Tomcat, flying slow with wings out-stretchedfor the camera, belongs to the famous VF-143“Pukin’ Dogs.” Actually the emblem is not a dogat all, but rather a mythological beast known asa Griffin.

/789+4561230.The keypad numerickeys are used tochange your viewperspective. Use theFront Seat/Back SeatToggle (‘ Key) inconjunction with thesekeys to get both pilotand RIO fields ofvision.

Due to the immediacy of modern aircombat, it is worth the time to familiariseyourself with the cockpit and controlsbefore you take to the air. A good airplanecan never compensate for a poor pilot.So, before you attempt to master the artof combat, you must first master youraircraft. Flying a supersonic aircraft isdifficult enough without having to worryabout being detected and shot down.To configure your hardware, press theEscape/Menu Options (Esc Key). AControl Options menu appears with yourhardware configurations.

NONEEven if you do notpossess a joystick,you can sti l l play

FLEET DEFENDER using keyboardcontrol keys. Select NONE . (Werecommend, however, that you play thissimulation with at least one joystick.)

ONEIf you intend to play the simulation withonly one joystick (in conjunction withkeyboard controls), use your mousepointer and left mouse button to selectONE.The joystick simulates the actual controlstick in the aircraft. Pull back to go UP,push forward to go DOWN. Banking theaircraft left and right is done by movingthe joystick to the LEFT and RIGHT. Thedegree of joystick input controls theextent to which the aircraft responds.

The uppermost button (Selector #1)emulates the Pickle Button (SpacebarKey). It is used to fire missiles. The lowerbutton (Selector #2) emulates the FireGuns (Enter Key).

TWOIf one was good, two ought to be better,right! FLEET DEFENDER can be playedusing two standard joysticks. The secondjoystick emulates the throttle control keysfound on your keyboard. Pushing forwardhas the affect of increasing your thrust(Accelerate Key). Pulling back has theopposite affect (Throttle Back Key).

W/ThrottleIf your joystick includes a separate throttlecontrol, select the W/THROTTLE option.The software automatically knows to lookfor this control on your joystick.

FLEET DEFENDER isentirely compatible withany standard joystickinterface.

HARDWARE CONTROLS

JOYSTICK CONFIGURATIONS

BTN UBPickle Button- Spacebar

BTN MBLock/Cycle Targets -Backspace

BTN HUWcs II Rocker Switch UIp -Padlock View - F8Wcs II Rocker Switch Middle -Padlock View - F8Wcs II Rocker Switch Down -Padlock View - 8BTN HRRight View - 1st Press 6Right Rear View - 2nd Press 3BTN HLLeft View - 1st Press 4Left Rear View - 2nd Press 1BTN HOWcs II Rocker Switch Up -Lower View - 1st Press 2Wcs II Rocker Switch Middle -Lower View - 1st Press2Cockpit View - 2nd Press 5Wcs II Rocker Switch Down -Lower View - 2

BTN TGFire Guns - Enter

BTN LBWcs II Rocker Switch Up - Break View - KWcs II Rocker Switch Middle - Break View - KWcs II Rocker Switch Down - IFF - I

THRUSTMASTER FCSTM

The THRUSTMASTER Flight Control SystemTM is compatible withFLEET DEFENDER. It consists of three main components, a pistol-grip flight stick, a four-position hat controller, and four control buttons.These controls (or combination of control buttons) emulate keyboardfunctions as shown in the diagram.

BTN 3- Wcs II Rocker Switch Up -Change Radar Search Mode -Delete- Wcs II Rocker Switch Middle- Change Radar Search Mode -Delete- Wcs II Rocker Switch Down -Boresight and VSL Mode toggle- End

BTN 2- Wcs II Rocker Switch Up -Select Phoenix - 1st Press 4,Sparrow - 2nd Press 3- Wcs II Rocker SwitchMiddle - Select Sidewinder -1st Press 2, Guns - 2ndPress 1

BTN 1- Wcs II Rocker Switch Up -Chaff and Flare - C/F- Wcs II Rocker Switch MiddleChaff and Flare - C/F- Wcs II Rocker Switch Down -Extend Landing Gear -GTailhook - HGo to Nav/ILSHud - S

BTN 4Wcs II Rocker Switch Up -

Radar Zoom In - ZWcs II Rocker Switch Middle -

Radar Zoom Out - XWcs II Rocker Switch Down -

Elevate Radar Beam - PGUP

BTN 5- Wcs II Rocker SwitchUp -Change Radar BarSetting - HOME- Wcs II Rocker Switch Middle - Change RadarAzimuth - INS- Wcs II Rocker SwitchDown -Lower RadarBeam - PGDN

RKR UPNo Function

RKR UPNo Function

RKR UPNo Function

BTN 6- Wcs II Rocker Switch Up - Speed Brake - B- Wcs II Rocker Switch Middle - Speed Brake - B- Wcs II Rocker Switch Down - Back Seat - "

FCS-MARK II WCS

The FCS Mark II WCS can be used as an analog throttle control. Set thetop switch to ANALOG and set the hat controller switch to DIGITAL.WCS Mark II drivers are included in a FLEET DEFENDER sub-directory. If you wish to devise your own control settings, you maydownload this code for yourself

FireGuns

FireMissiles

View Controls

Throttle

Up

Down

RightLeft

VIRTUAL PILOTTM

consists of four maincomponents; a steering wheel device, afour-position hat controller, a bar throttlecontrol and four control buttons/switches.The control functions emulate FLEETDEFENDER control keys according to theabove diagram.

FLIGHTSTICK PROTM

consists of fourmain components; a standard pistol gripjoystick, a four-position hat controller, awheel type thrott le control and fourcontrol buttons/switches.The control functions emulate FLEETDEFENDER control keys according to theabove diagram.

VIRTUAL PILOTTM FLIGHTSTICK PROTM

VIRTUAL PILOT™ FLIGHTSTICK PRO™

Pickle FireMissile -Spacebar

Throttle - -/+

BreakLock - K

Fire Guns - Enter

Lock/CycleTargets -Backspace

View Controls

Up

Down

RightLeft

FOOT PEDALS

The THRUSTMASTER RCS™ (Rudder ControlSystem)

THRUSTMASTER RCS (RudderControl System)The THRUSTMASTER RCS

TM(Rudder

Control System) consists of two linkedfoot pedals which operate the aircraft’srudders. Moving the foot pedals, forwardand back, emulates the Rudder Left (,Key) and Rudder Right (. Key)

I I I . HOW TO FLY

The most intensely scrutinised portion ofany commercial flight simulator is its flightmodel. Comparing flight models seems tobe an industry pastime these days.Whenever a new sim is released the firsttopic of discussion is inevitably- its flightmodel. What’s a flight model, you ask? Aflight model is simply the set ofmathematical formulae that your computeruses to approximate the performance of areal aircraft. Flight models vary according tothe aircraft being simulated. While flight models can get close to thereal thing, (and this is entirely subjective)nothing you can do on a computer sittingat home can compare to the sensation ofactual flight. There’s nothing like it. Flightis the hardest thing in the world todescr ibe to people who have neverexperienced it. Let the game designers andprogrammers argue amongst themselves,you and I will just have fun. There areplenty of bandits to hunt down and there’salways another bad weather approachwaiting to give you “white knuckles”.The following section shows you how tomake the flight model work for you. It’llalso teach you the finer points ofcontrolling your aircraft while in flightbecause you can’t be expected to maxperform your aircraft without first beingfamiliar with how an aircraft operates.Flight Dynamics covers the art of flying inits most general (and useful) terms.

There are four basic forces which affecteach and every object as it movesthrough the air; Lift, Thrust, Drag, andGravity. We call these forces; the BigFour.Controlled flight is the art of managing

these universal forces in order to travelthrough the air and reach a desireddestination safely. The same forces whichact upon a football to determine how far ittravels also affect huge civilian airlinerswith hundreds of people aboard.

LiftLift is perhaps the most misunderstood ofall the four forces. When an aircraft is inflight, air strikes the leading (forward)edge of its wing surface. As air strikes

FLIGHT DYNAMICS

THE “BIG FOUR”

THEAs you can see by the above diagram the lawsof physics act and counter-act upon an aircraft.Controlled flight is merely the art of jugglingthese four forces.

The Four Forces

AERLift is created by the greater pressure exerted onthe bottom of a wing surface by virtue of theslower moving air.

Aerodynamic Lift

this edge, its flow is disrupted and re-routed to go over, under, and around thewing surface. Deflected air changesspeed as it is forced past the wing. Airmoving over top of a wing surface movesat a greater speed than the air movingbelow. Since slow moving air has a higherair pressure, the higher pressure underthe wing surface pushes on the bottom ofthe surface causing it to rise. This, in anutshell, is the basic secret to heavier-than-air flight.Forward motion is very impor tant inproducing Lift. The faster a wing surfacemoves, the greater the volume of air thatforced past it. As the volume of airincreases, the volume of air beingdeflected downward increases as well.This results in a greater pressuredifferential between the air above and theair below the wing.Confused yet? Let’s simplify matters andstate that Lift is the force which directlycounter-acts an aircraft’s weight duringflight. For example, if your F-14 weighs80,000 lbs. then your wings must produceexactly 80,000 lbs. of Lift to maintain levelflight, not 79,999 or 80,001. Any Liftproduced above or below this number willcause the aircraft to change altitude.Gravity (Weight)“Whatever goes up, must come down.” Allobjects (animal, vegetable, and mineral)fall toward the centre of this planet at aconstant rate of roughly 32 ft. /second2.As a practical matter, gravity holds thingsdown and keeps them from flying off intospace. In fact if it wasn’t for gravity, life aswe know it wouldn’t exist. Gravity works at cross purposes to Lift. Itmust constantly be overcome by Lift inorder for anything to remain airborne forvery long. In level flight, Lift forces ouraircraft away from the Earth’s surface justas gravity pulls it downward. If the force ofGravity becomes greater than the Lift

being exerted, the object will be drawntoward the ground, eventually ending theflight. So, while we all must appreciate thebeneficial effects of gravity, i t surepresents problems for those of us whowant to fly.See the section on G Forces for moreinformation on the affects of gravity.

ThrustModern fighters have fantasticperformance envelopes due to thetremendous amount of power their jetengines can produce. This power isknown as Thrust.Thrust is the aerodynamic force whichpropels an object through the air. Itmakes no difference if the object is pulledthrough air by a propeller or pushed frombehind by a jet engine. The purpose ofThrust is to force air across the aircraft’swing surface in order to create Lift. Aslong as the aircraft maintains a level flightattitude increasing the amount of Thrustresults in a corresponding increase in Lift.

G-Forces when banking. As you can see theflight attitude (bank angle) that an aircraftassumes while turning has a direct relationshipto the number of G s inflicted on the aircraftand pilot.

Pilots often discuss the relative merits oftheir aircraft in terms of thrust-to-weightratios. A Thrust-to-weight (T/W) ratio is anumerical calculation which compares theamount of Thrust being produced versusthe weight of the aircraft. Ideally, aeronautical design engineerswould like to build every aircraft with aT/W ratio greater than 1:1. Such aircraftwould then produce more thrust than theirweight and allow them to maintain verticalclimbs almost indefinitely. Unfortunately,greater thrust requires larger engineswhich drives the weight of the aircraft upwhich then requires more thrust—well,you get the idea.Many players have expressed themisconception that the Tomcat’s twin jetengines should allow it to makeaccelerated vertical climbs. Sorry to saybut there aren’t any front line fighteraircraft that can perform such a climboutside of Hollywood. This type of climb isreserved for ICBMs and the national debt. Each of the F-14B’s two General ElectricF110-GE-400 turbofans are able toproduce approximately 16,100 lbs. of drythrust or 27,000 lbs. of wet (afterburning)thrust each. That is a huge amount ofpower being generated but given theTomcat’s combat weight of almost 80,000lbs. it’s not nearly enough to sustain avertical climb. Nuff said!

DragAerodynamic resistance to the forwardmovement of the aircraft is known asDrag. Just as Lift and Weight counteracteach other in the vertical plane, Thrustand Drag counteract each other in thehorizontal plane. To grasp the concept, it is first necessaryto separate Drag from the idea of weight.Weight is only an impediment to the extentthat it counteracts Lift. Therefore, weight iscounter-acted by increasing Lift whileDrag can be counter-acted by altering the

aircraft (in simple terms). IncreasingThrust does not overcome the effect ofDrag.Drag is a function of a particular aircraft’ssize and shape (design). All aircraftcreate a cer tain amount of Drag nomatter how aerodynamically wellconstructed they may be. For example, anaircraft which exposes a large frontal areato the direction of flight creates a lot ofDrag. This type of Drag is known asParasit ic. It can be reduced byaerodynamic streamlining such asminimising the exposed frontal area of theaircraft.Parasitic Drag is a major concern toaircraft designers. The size of an aircraftis usually dictated by the avionics carried,the size of the radar, and the amount ofpayload (including crew members)required. These factors cannot bechanged to any great degree once anaircraft is in flight. Therefore, the amountof Parasitic Drag is generally fixed.Some aircraft, like the F-14, are capableof changing the sweep of their wings from90 degrees to something almost flushwith the fuselage. These var iable-geometry fighters are able to cut down onthe effects of Parasitic Drag by adjustingtheir wings thereby exposing less criticalsurface to the direction of flight. As ageneral rule, variable sweep wings areextended forward for low energymanoeuvrability and retracted for speed.

Airspeed Your airspeed is given in knots or nauticalmiles per hour. Since a nautical mile is2,000 yards in length (longer than a regularmile), an aircraft travelling at a speed of200 knots is going considerably faster thanone going 200 miles per hour. Keep this inmind when you are flying, especially at

BASIC CONCEPTS

slow speeds. Think in terms of knots andnot mph.Airspeed is the velocity of an aircraftrelative to the surrounding air mass. It isnot an absolute indication of the aircraft’sspeed over ground. A reading of 450knots does not necessarily mean that theaircraft is travelling 450 nautical miles anhour between points on the ground.Your speed is displayed in KIAS (KnotsIndicated Air Speed). The pr imarydifference between IAS (indicatedairspeed) and TAS (true airspeed) is airdensity. Pilots use indicated airspeedbecause it is a constant as opposed totrue airspeed which is affected by bothambient temperature and alt i tudevariations. Because air density at higheraltitudes is less than that found at sealevel, an aircraft’s indicated airspeed willdecrease as alt i tude increases.Therefore, an aircraft flying at 30,000 feetwith an indicated airspeed of 350 knots istravelling much faster than an aircraft at5,000 feet with the same indicatedairspeed.A mach number is the speed of youraircraft in relation to the speed of sound.An aircraft flying at the speed of sound issaid to be travelling at mach 1. The sameaircraft flying at twice the speed of soundwould be travelling at mach 2. Above30,000 feet, pilots manoeuvre their aircraftusing mach numbers instead of indicatedairspeed.As you can see by the following chart, theindicated airspeed of an aircraft travellingat mach 1 varies considerably due toaltitude. An aircraft flying at sea level hasto be doing 661 KIAS to break the soundbarrier. The same aircraft at 60,000 feet,however, would only show an indicatedairspeed of 198 KIAS.You can also use the mach number to geta rough idea of your aircraft’s groundspeed. Simply multiply the mach number

by 10. This is the approximate distanceyour aircraft is travelling in nautical milesper minute. For example, at mach 1 theaircraft is travelling 1 x 10 or 10 nauticalmiles per minute. At mach 2, this distancewould be doubled (2 x 10= 20).

Angle of Attack (AOA)Angle of Attack is one of those conceptsthat flight instructors can describe, define,and demonstrate for hours. But a studentpilot will either grasp the concept withinthe first few minutes or he won’t get it nomatter how long his instructor raves. Thedefinition of Angle of Attack in its mostsimplistic form is: the angle (measured indegrees) at which the wing surface of anaircraft cuts into the relative wind. That’sall there is to it and yet it is one of themost difficult concepts for novice pilots tounderstand.Basically, AOA is the difference betweenthe aircraft’s flight path and the “chordline” of the wing. In level flight, the “chordline” of the wing is facing directly into theairflow. When climbing, the “chord line” ofthe wing is pitched upward relative to theairflow. With its nose and wing pitched up,the aircraft is said to have increased itsangle of attack. The reverse is true whendiving.Angle of Attack is not the same thing aspointing the nose at a certain tick mark onthe climb ladder and it has nothing to dowith the position of the horizon. (Pointingthe nose of the aircraft up or down iscalled aircraft attitude.) Aircraft attitude

ALTITUDE KIAS AT MACH 1

at 0 ft: 661 KIASat 10,000 ft: 548 KIASat 20,000 ft: 450 KIASat 30,000 ft: 360 KIASat 40,000 ft: 312 KIASat 50,000 ft: 251 KIASat 60,000 ft: 198 KIAS

and Angle of Attack are two differentthings. For instance, let’s say you areperforming a Zoom climb in order toshake a bandit off your tail. Your aircraftwould have a very nose-high attitude(pointed straight up) and yet have a verylow Angle of Attack.

Stalling the AircraftIt is a common misconception among thenon-flying public that stalling meanstrouble with the engines. They instantlypicture a stall in terms rooted in theirground based existence; a sputtering,coughing motor in the family car. Actually,use of the word stall in the context offlying has nothing to do with the engines.Certain aircraft, specifically gliders, flyvery well without any engines at all. Andwhile these aircraft are certainly subjectto stalls, the lack of an engine is not toblame.A stall is caused by an actual separationof the air flow from the upper surface ofthe wing. The air flow over the top of thewing surface ends in an area of disturbedair extending forward from the trailingedge. This condition causes the aircraft to“depart from controlled flight” or stall.Note that this condition may occur withthe engines going full tilt. Speed has littleto do with the onset of a stall. Stalls occurwhen the aircraft’s AOA is too great toproduce the necessary amount of Lift tokeep it flying. Trying to fly the aircraft attoo great an Angle of Attack is the onesure way to cause a stall.It is important to note that speed, pitchattitude, and bank inclination are allfactors in determining whether a plane isabout to stall. An aircraft in level flightmay stall if it attempts too sharp a turnwithout increasing its speed. This is dueto insufficient lift being generated by thewing in direct opposition to gravity’s effecton the aircraft.The effects of a stall are different

depending on the aircraft. Some aircraftsimply assume a mild nose-down attitudeuntil returning to level flight. Other aircraftmay enter a sudden and potential lydangerous spin. On low level missions apilot may not have time to recover beforestriking the ground. This is especially trueif one wing stalls before the other. In FLEET DEFENDER the most likelytime for stall condit ion to occur isimmediately after take-off or while tryingto land. Despite having a catapult toliterally throw you into the air, you areinitially flying at just above stall speed.Therefore, on take-off, avoid sharp climbsuntil you are certain not to stall. Long slow-flight landing approaches bringyour airspeed down to dangerous levels.You must constantly be on guard. Intrying to land you will be flying at near-stall speed for an extended period oft ime. If you stall somewhere in thelanding pattern, you will not have enoughaltitude to affect a recovery before hittingthe water.

Gravity is measured in Gs (i.e. one Gequals the normal force of gravity, 3 Gswould be a force equal to three times thenormal force of gravity). The pilot andaircraft experience 1 G in straight andlevel flight. If that same pilot pulls a hardturn, centrifugal force will “load” additionalgravity on his wings. Modern fighter aircraft are constructed towithstand many times the force of gravity.It is actually the pilot that places limits onthe manoeuvrability of an aircraft. Aircraftare quite capable of performingmanoeuvres that would instantlyincapacitate any pilot that tried them.Gravity governs every move we make onthis planet. We are so used to the effectof gravity that we are usually not even

G FORCES (GRAVITY)

conscious of it as a matter of course. Withfew exceptions, human beings experiencea constant 1 G (the force of normalgravity) on a daily basis. We take forgranted that our leg muscles wil lovercome this force. We also take forgranted that if we place this instructionmanual next to our computer, gravity willkeep it there until the next time we needit.Think for a moment if the force of gravitywas suddenly multiplied several times.Walking would become quite a chore. At2 Gs our bodies would weigh twice whatthey weighed at 1 G. If the force of gravitycontinued to increase eventually it wouldexceed our muscle’s ability to raise ourfeet.Pilots routinely expose their aircraft (andthemselves) to repeated periods ofsevere G-induced stress. During combat,these periods of stress can be quiteprolonged. Sometimes it’s the ability of apilot to withstand that extra G whichmakes all the difference in combat. Forexample, when flying high performanceaircraft, a 200 lb. pilot can easily be madeto weigh over half a ton. A normal human head weighsapproximately 25 to 30 lbs. but whensubjected to a relatively mild 5 G turn, itwould now weigh 125 to 150 lbs. Imaginehaving to support such a load. That kindof weight places a tremendous strain on apilot’s neck. The pilot can’t just brace thisweight against the back of his seat, hehas to be constantly turning his headabout looking for bandits. Operating anaircraft under these condit ions isextremely difficult. Every action becomesa major test of strength and endurance. Aside from making pilots weigh a greatdeal, gravity has cer tain otherphysiological affects. When the humanbody is subjected to high positive Gs,blood is forced away from the brain andbegins pooling in the feet. When too much

blood leaves the upper extremities, a pilotwill lose consciousness because his brainis starved for oxygen. This loss ofconsciousness is known as a G-inducedblack-out. Pilots just call it “taking a nap.”

Positive Gs and Black-OutsA pilot subjects himself to positive Gswhenever he pulls back on the stick. Asyou might imagine, this happens fairlyfrequently. Even when inverted, once thatstick comes back positive G forces arethe result. Smart pilots will keep their eyeon the G count. When the G forces reacharound 8 Gs, it ’s t ime to considerunloading the aircraft. Expose yourself toanything over 8 Gs and you run the risk ofgoing to sleep. When a black-out does occur the screenfades to black. It remains entirely blackfor the duration of the event. As yourecover from the black-out, the screenfades back in. The length of time that thescreen stays black is entirely a function ofthe amount of Gs you experience overhow long a period of time. While the screen is black, the simulationcontinues at its regular pace. (The worlddoes not stop just because you’reasleep.) In fact, by blacking-out you havebecome a perfect 1 G strafe target,perfectly helpless. Any enemy pilot in thevicinity has an open invitation to makesure your nap is permanent.

Negative Gs and Red-outsNegative G forces, like positive Gs, act ona pilot and aircraft as well.Understandably, it may be confusing atfirst to think in terms of negative Gs. Inour earlier example, positive gravity iswhat kept this manual resting firmly nextto our computer. Negative gravity wouldcause the manual to be pulled from thetable.Negative Gs are caused when a pilotpushes the stick forward (away from

himself). In normal flight the aircraft wouldrespond to this control input by droppingthe nose or diving. If the aircraft wasinverted, pushing the stick forward wouldcause the nose to rise. In either case,negative Gs are created which, l ikepositive Gs, have certain physiologicaleffects.Instead of pooling in the feet, blood ispulled from the lower extremities and intothe head. The arterial network of thebrain is swelled by the force of thisadditional fluid. In particular, the smallblood vessels within the eyes (capillaries)are stretched and sometimes burst. Thiscondition causes what is known as Red-out. The effects of Red-out are verypronounced and can lead to a pilot beingtemporarily blinded.Negative G forces greater than 3.0 causethe onset of Red-out. When this happensthe screen will fade to red. The effects ofRed-out are somewhat different than thatof Black-outs. Instead of losingconsciousness, a player is temporarilyblinded. The screen remains red(indicating a Red-out condition) until suchtime as the negative G stress is removed.There is a simple way around Red-outs.Rather than push the nose of your aircraftdown and create negative Gs, roll 180degrees inver ted. Now that you areinverted you can pull back on the stick todrop your nose. You are now creatingpositive Gs which are much easier to dealwith. Once you have reached the desirednose down attitude just roll 1800 again.Now you are right side up and in theproper dive angle. Remember, negativeGs are easy to avoid by rolling invertedand creating positive Gs in their place.

This pilot is pulling some heavy G’s in this 900

left bank. With his wings swept full aft, you canget some indication of his energy state.

Your success in FLEET DEFENDERdepends almost entirely upon your abilityto fly the F-14 Tomcat. All the high techgadgetry in the world can’t save you ifyou can’t fly the plane. In fact, it’s the skillyou display at manoeuvring your aircraftthat ultimately decides the majority ofyour battles. This section covers some of the finerpoints of becoming a Tomcat driver.Obviously, this manual can’t covereverything. There are certain things youmust find out for yourself.

Fuel LoadIn addition to enemy action or inadvertentcontact with the ground, the only thingthat can force an early end to a mission isrunning out of fuel. An empty fuel tank willstop your mission with the same finalityas an enemy missile. Therefore, it isimportant that you remain cognisant ofyour fuel state at all times.Rather than being measured in gallons,aviation fuel is measured in thousands ofpounds (lbs.). One gallon of JP 4 (fuel)weighs approximately 6.5 lbs. Fullyfuelled, your F-14 carries almost 20,000lbs. of fuel. This figure reflects internaltanks containing 16,200 lbs. plus twoexternal tanks with an additional 3,600lbs.The F-14 fuel gauge, located to the rightof the HSD (Horizontal Situation Display)states the total amount of fuel remainingonboard. Your total fuel load, indicated atthe top of the gauge, is divided into equalportions, signifying the fuel available toeach engine. A reading of 5600 wouldindicate that five thousand six hundredpounds of fuel remain onboard.

Dry Thrust(Normal, non-afterburning operation)Dry Thrust is the nickname given topower produced by the engines withoutengaging the afterburner. The highestthrottle setting (100%) using Dry Thrust isknown as Full Military Power. At lowerpower settings you consume less fuel.You fly slower but your endurance time israised significantly.Practising fuel economy while in-flight is animportant part of your mission. Fuel ispower, but it is also weight. The heavier anaircraft is, the more fuel is burned uppushing it around. You arrive at the break-even point very quickly. During the courseof normal patrol operations, use Dry Thrustexcept in case of emergencies. It savesgas.

Wet Thrust (The Afterburner)Afterburning engines give the pilot accessto enormous additional power. This poweris known as wet thrust because raw liquidfuel is literally dumped directly into theengine’s flaming exhaust. When you’refeeling the need for speed, kicking in theafterburner will do the trick but all thisextra power comes at a heavy price infuel.There are really only two times that youshould engage the afterburner, on take-off and when conducting BFM.The need to use the afterburner whentaking-off is obvious. Getting safely off thedeck takes precedence over fuelconservation. BFM engagements put your aircraftthrough its paces. They often require youto fight with the afterburner engaged justto sustain the rapid energy consumptionthat occurs. A few minutes of afterburneris all it takes to drain a tank, so watch it.

FLYING THE F-14 TOMCAT

FUEL MANAGEMENT

There’s no sense using all your fuel up incombat just to be forced into ejecting lateron. A plane down is a plane down. Itdoesn’t matter whether you are shotdown or crash after running out of gas.

Fuel ConservationThe F-14 was meant to be a strategicinterceptor able to cover long distances.You can’t fulfil this role very well if you’realways having to return home on Bingofuel. The secret to being a strategicinterceptor is letting your radar andmissiles do the work for you.

The AWG-9 radar is very powerful. Use itto check out areas that are far awayrather than wasting fuel flying over tothem.The Phoenix missile gives you the ability toreach out and touch someone nearly 100 nmaway. Sure beats having to travel that 100miles just to pop off a Sidewinder, doesn’t it?Think of the fuel you’re saving.Setting your engines to cruising speed(80% RpM) gives your aircraft its best mixof power versus fuel consumption. Thissetting should be used when you areflying long distances. Avoid using highpower settings, especially the afterburner,except in emergencies.You should remain at cruise speed formost of each flight. What’s your hurry?

The Navy’s launching platform conceptdoesn’t require speed, it requiresendurance. Complete each mission evenif it means flying at 240 knots to and fromthe target. Make no mistake about it, when the fuelis gone- it’s game over. You had betterhave a landing spot in mind ‘cause the F-14B has a glide path like a brick.

Getting lost has always been a problemfor pilots as far back as the Wrightbrothers. For tunately, the F-14 hassophisticated navigation equipmentonboard to help you to find your wayhome. In fact, your NAV gear enables youto f ly back to the carr ier in any lowvisibility weather condition, including pitchdarkness.

WaypointsYour F-14 has a navigation computerwhich contains a pre-programmed set ofco-ordinates known as Waypoints. Thesepoints help you navigate by insertingreference carets on the HUD MagneticHeading Indicator.Each mission you fly has its own uniquewaypoints. Examples of waypoints for aparticular mission might be: your carrier,your mission objective, a CAP location,and even the str ike package yoursupposed to being escorting. Waypointsare not necessarily fixed points in space.In the case of your carr ier or str ikepackage, the waypoint moves as they do.Once in f l ight, press the WaypointToggle (S Key) to toggle through thismission’s l ist of waypoints. A br iefdescription of the waypoint appears alongthe bottom of the screen. For eachwaypoint there is a corresponding bearingcaret. This caret is located on the HUDMagnetic Heading Indicator which runsacross the top of the HUD.

This thirsty “Cat” takes a drink from a KA-6Refueling tanker.

NAVIGATION

To reach a particular waypoint, along youneed do is toggle the Waypoint Toggle(S Key) until you have selected this point.With that accomplished, turn the aircraftso that you are flying directly toward thebearing caret. (It will be positioned in thecentre of the HUD Magnetic HeadingIndicator).

RIO Campaign MapAnother means of navigation is havingyour RIO pull out his campaign map. Thecampaign map shows a wealth ofinformation including your presentlocation and that of your carrier. The mapis oriented so that the top edge is north(or 3600). Use the map in conjunction withthe front cockpit magnetic compass(located directly to the right of the VDI).The RIO map also allows you to pinpointthe location of other friendly aircraft aswell. Press the blue buttons to make yourselection.

Horizontal Situation DisplayThe HSD provides you with your mostefficient means of navigation. This displaycontains a NAV compass which indicatesyour current heading. A bearing indicatoron the NAV compass ring shows how toreach your next waypoint. Distanceinformation concerning that waypoint isalso displayed. Finally, you are givenairspeed data in both TAS and GSformats. See the section on the HSD inChapter 4.

This section deals with a subject that noone wishes to talk about- damage.Unless you spend your entire career inTraining mode, no matter how good youare, at some point your F-14 will sufferbattle damage.In Standard Mode, you can withstandnumerous hits (missiles seem to just

bounce off your aircraft’s fuselage). Asthe level of difficulty is increased, theamount of damage you can withstandbefore being shot down is decreased. AtAuthentic Mode, any hit is a potentialshow stopper.

Non-specific Structural Damage Each time your aircraft is hit by enemyfire, either missile or gunfire, it is liable tosuffer two different types of damage. Thefirst type is non-specif ic structuraldamage. This is general damageresulting from shell hits (or near-missmissile detonations) which puncture thefuselage but fail to hit vital areas. Arunning total of this sort of damage iskept throughout your mission. When theaccumulative effect of damage in this“pool” reaches a certain level, it can forcean early end to your flight.

Critical Systems DamageThe second type of damage is known ascritical systems damage. While you areless likely to sustain this type of damage,the result is far more serious. Criticaldamage is not cumulative, its effect isassessed against you immediately. You are able to determine the extent ofthis damage by looking at the MasterCaution-Advisory Panel on both the pilotand RIO’s right hand console. Use theLook Right (6 Key) from either seat. Theareas of your F-14 affected by criticalsystems damage are;

GEAR: Damage to the landing gearprevents it from being extended orretracted. If your landing gear cannotbe extended (for landing purposes) youmay as well return to the carrier group,slow down to 200 knots, and “punchElvis” next to an escort vessel.HOOK: Once your arrestor hook is shotaway or damaged, you cannot use it toland safely. You are said to suffer fromPBS (permanent bolter syndrome). You

DAMAGE

may as well return to the carrier group,slow down to 200 knots, and “punchElvis” next to an escort vessel.BINGO: While not actual damage, theBingo fuel lamp illuminates when youhave reached a critical fuel state. Youraircraft only has enough fuel onboardto return home. If you don’t turn backimmediately, you are almostguaranteed to go for a swim.BRAKES: Damage to yourspeedbrakes prevents you from usingthem in flight. Your wheel-brakes willstill function. This type of damage isn’ttoo bad, unless you have to slow downin a hurry.HYDRAULIC PRESSURE: If you losehydraulic pressure, the aircraftbecomes very difficult to fly. All of yourflight controls are liable to give out onyou at any moment. You are anaccident waiting to happen, so RTBright away before you are forced to“punch Elvis”.LEFT/RIGHT ENGINES: Engine hitsare very serious. While the Tomcat canfly on only one engine, it wasn’t meantto. You lose half your thrust and halfyour fuel when an engine is hit. Ofcourse, if both engines are hit...LEFT/RIGHT FUEL LOW: When yourfuel state is within several thousandpounds of reaching Bingo, these lampswill illuminate. Fuel tanks are alwaysvulnerable to being pierced by shellfragments. If your aircraft suffers fromthis type of hit, leakage will cause youto lose much of your fuel supply. WING SWEEP: Critical damage to thewings keeps them from being able tosweep forward and back. They becomejammed in their current position. Youare therefore restricted to only certainportions of your flight envelope.DATA LINK: Damage to your Data Linksystem prevents outside data from

being fed into your targeting system.Data-linked information is no longershown on your TID.AWG-9: Damage to the AWG-9 knockson your radar. You are no longer able tosearch or use your radar to f iremissiles. Note however, that this doesnot prevent you from using heat-seeking Sidewinder missiles.AWG-15: This is your aircraft’s fire controlcentre. Damage to the AWG-15 preventsyou from launching any missiles or firingyour guns.NAV: Damage to your NAV systemprevents you from using waypointinformation to navigate.

Since the last section talked aboutdamage, perhaps now is a good time todiscuss ejecting (i.e. bailing out). Both pilot and RIO are equipped withrocket-assisted GRU-7A Martin-BakerZero-zero Ejection seats. The zero-zerorating means that the seat is designed toperform at zero knots and at zero altitude(standing still on the ground). Hey, if itever fails, you can always take it back tothe manufacturer.When your aircraft suffers a fatal hit, it willnose over and go into what’s known as a“graveyard spiral”. The aircraft isessentially uncontrollable at this point.You cannot recover from this downhillspin so don’t waste time trying. You haveonly one task left and that is to get outbefore the aircraft hits something hard. Inother words, it’s time to “punch Elvis” (i.e.-yank the ejection handles). In order to bail out of a crippled Tomcat,press the Eject (shift E Key). There aretwo things which have an effect onwhether or not you get out safely. The firstis airspeed. Punching out at too high a

EJECT... EJECT... EJECT! (BAILING OUT)

speed is fatal. In fact, anything over 350knots is a show stopper. Stay in theaircraft until your airspeed drops belowthis number. Patience is a virtue. You mayhave to “ride it in” for awhile.Unfortunately, once your aircraft beginsits terminal dive it tends to pick upairspeed, not lose it. If you’re going to getout it’s sometimes best to decide early. The second thing which affects bailing outis attitude. We’re not talking about yourattitude here- we’re talking about theaircraft’s. You cannot eject while theaircraft is inverted (i.e. upside down).Again, timing is everything. Once theaircraft begins spiralling down you mustwait until it’s right-side up before ejecting.If you eject downward, chances are youwill not survive.Once you have ejected, your mission isover. There’s nothing left to do but wait forthe rescue helicopters to come and fishyou out of the water. Although the view instantly changes to adescending exterior perspective uponejection, this is not meant to be aparachute view. If i t was, you’d bespending a good deal of computer timefloating to the ground. As it is, the exteriorview follows your aircraft until it “augers

in.” Both the view and the aircraft reachthe ground simultaneously. The missionends and your final score for the missionis tabulated.

“Green Shirts” getting the next aircraft ready fortake-off. It’s not a glamourous job, but these arethe guys that make it happen on the flight deck.

In a way, FLEET DEFENDER is as mucha simulation about air/sea combat as it isabout air-to-air dogfighting. The centrepiece of this campaign environment is theaircraft carrier. It is in your best interest tohelp protect the carrier because aftereach mission, you are required to returnto the ship and land, whether you win,lose, or draw.FLEET DEFENDER revolves around yourability to successfully operate off anaircraft carrier at sea. You can be the topgun in your squadron, averaging three orfour kills per sortie. You can be the bestaviator aboard ship, always catching a“three-wire”. None of that matters if yourcarrier is sunk. It doesn’t matter howgood you are, nobody really cares. If amulti-billion dollar ship is destroyed takingthousands of servicemen to the bottom inthe process, don’t expect people to shedtears over your career coming to an end.Fortunately, every precaution is taken toensure the carrier remains in one piece.Your and your wing-man are just one partof these precautions. A minimum of six F-14s are stationed around the carrier at allt imes. Known as CAPs (Combat AirPatrols), pairs of F-14s are positionedaround the carrier so that they are able tointercept enemy aircraft approaching fromany direction. An additional pair of Tomcats is kept onthe deck of the carrier in case a CAPwould need immediate assistance.Known as the Ready-Five, these aircraftare ready and waiting to go. They can belaunched in well under f ive minutesshould the need arise. In addition to F-14s, all manner of friendly aircraft arecontinuously taking-off and landing.

E-2C “HAWKEYE”Next to the F-14, the E-2C “Hawkeye” isperhaps the most impor tant aircraftaboard ship. It is an Airborne EarlyWarning (AEW) aircraft, distinguishableby a large radome which houses apowerful radar used to scan the sky. Itthis respect it is much like its land-basedcousin- the AWACS. Despite itsimportance, there are only a few of theseaircraft on board a carrier. They arejealously guarded by at least one CAP atall times.

THE HAWKEYE “PICTURE”In FLEET DEFENDER, the E-2CHawkeye orbits the carrier keeping aconstant close watch on anything movingwithin 200 miles. It sends out frequenttactical reports to the various F-14 CAPsso that nothing sneaks up on the carrier.These reports are known as Hawkeye“pictures”. You may request a Hawkeye“picture” at any time during a mission bypressing the Hawkeye Picture (shift PKey).The Hawkeye controller responds byreporting on the enemy aircraft nearest to

CARRIER OPERATIONS

THE CARRIER AIR WING

The E-2C Hawkeye is the Navy’s principle eye-in-the-sky.

you that it has detected. Its responsealways follows the same pattern ofinformation. If enemy aircraft are detected, theHawkeye repor ts; CONTACTS- (thebearing from your aircraft) and (the rangefrom your aircraft). If no enemy aircraft have been detected,the Hawkeye reports; CLEAN.

HAWKEYE DATA-LINKIn addition to providing you with a verbal“picture”, the Hawkeye is able to send youtactical information direct via a data-linksystem. You are able to actually targetand engage enemy aircraft that theHawkeye “sees” but your radar does not.Data-l inked targeting information isdisplayed (where else) on your RIO’sTactical Information Display (TID). Seethe section in Chapter 4 concerning theTID for more information on the data-linkfeature.

STRIKE AIRCRAFTNot all of a carrier’s aircraft are devoted todefense. A modern carrier packs anawesome offensive punch. After all, it’sthe reason your carrier is at sea in thefirst place. Accordingly, strike packagesare continually being assembled, readied,and launched with clockwork precision. Because FLEET DEFENDER containsscenarios which cover a period of 20+years, str ike aircraft can range fromvenerable A-7 Corsairs to A-6 Intruderand F/A-18 Hornets. These aircraft carrya wide variety of bombs, rockets, anti-shipmissiles, and even mines.

Anti-Submarine Warfare AircraftWhile the “Hawkeye” watches above thewaves, ASW (Anti-submarine warfare)like the S-3 Viking keep watch below.These aircraft, along with LAMPShelicopters, are constantly rotating to and

from missions. Their ordnance rangesfrom standard depth charges to sono-buoys and homing torpedoes.

Search and Rescue (SAR) HelicoptersFinally, SAR (Search and Rescue)helicopters are always on alert statusshould somebody go down. Whenever afriendly aircraft is hit and forced to ditch atsea, these helos are immediatelydispatched to pick up survivors. Theremay be times when you are called uponto escort these angels of mercy.

Just like the flow of automobile traffic isregulated to keep cars from crashing intoone another, so too is air traffic. In fact,it’s even more important for pilots to followcertain established flight rules. If aircraftare involved in a mid-air collision thepilots just can’t get out an exchangelicenses. Certain flight regulations are ineffect during the entire time you areairborne, but by far the most critical timefor traffic control is during take-offs andlandings (TOLs). There’s one man on board a carr ierwhose job it is to enforce the rules. Thisman is known as the Air Boss. You canaccess his view perspective by pressing

This SH-2 Seasprite is on route to anotherpickup. The response time on these missions iscritical.

FLIGHT RULES

the Air Boss (F4 Key). Break even thesmallest regulation and he’l l take apersonal interest in seeing that you staybelow deck for the rest of the time you’reat sea. If you don’t want to end up “flying”a desk, play by the rules!The Air Boss is responsible forchoreographing all aircraft movementboth on the flight deck and in the air. Hisword is law when it comes to trafficcontrol. Nothing moves above deck orbelow without his express approval. AirTraffic Controllers (ATCs) work directly forthe Air Boss. They are on duty at all timesto assist pilots and help the Air Bossensure that nobody breaks the rules.Even with all these safeguardsmomentary lapses can occur and theresult can be disaster.FLEET DEFENDER makes things a littleeasier for you by always having thecarrier turn to a heading of 3600 (directlynor th) when someone is landing ortaking-off. This makes lining up on thecarrier so much easier, especially duringbad weather or night OPs. To makeeveryone’s job easier, particularly theLSO’s, read the following section oncarrier flight operations.

The Carrier Flight DeckThe fl ight deck of a modern aircraftcarrier is a busy place to say the least. Airoperations are maintained 24 hours aday, seven days a week. It’s a placewhere even small mistakes can have abig impact. This frantic pace must bemaintained in order to get aircraft into theair in a timely fashion. With all four of itscatapults in operation, a modern carriercan launch one aircraft every twentyseconds. There’s not an airport in theworld that even comes close to thissustained level of activity on a daily basis.Because the fl ight deck is such adeafening place to work, hearingprotection is mandatory. Most

communication is conducted visuallythrough a series of intricate gestures.These often comedic-looking signalsmust be understood by everyone withaccess to the fl ight deck. Anymisinterpretation could cause apotentially fatal accident or loss of anaircraft.

Carr ier take-offs are pretty straight-forward (no pun intended- well maybe justa little one) but they are also somewhatdangerous. Loaded with fuel andweapons, your aircraft is the heaviest itwill ever get during the mission at take-off.All take-offs from the carrier are assistedby a steam-powered catapult. You won’tsee it, but it’s there. With the catapult’sassistance your 80,000 lb. aircraft will behurled into the air in less than 400 ft.Even with the help of the catapult, youraircraft will be flying just above stallspeed. It will also be travelling extremelyclose to the ground with no reservemomentum or energy to call upon ifneeded. You are unable to trade altitudefor airspeed in case of a stall so don’t playaround.Although use of the aircraft’s afterburneris not mandatory for take-offs, werecommend that you use it. Your aircraftshould begin every take-off at FullMilitary Power (shift= Key) as aminimum. But to be on the safe side,press the Afterburner Engage (A key) tobegin the mission. It ’ l l take severalseconds for your engines to “spool up” tofull RpMs. Once they reach the necessarythrust, the catapult will fire and your F-14will start down the flight deck. By the timeyou reach the end of the flight deck, youwill have gathered up enough airspeed(hopefully) to get airborne.From the moment the aircraft begins

CARRIER TAKE-OFFS (CAT-SHOTS)

rolling, you had better be on your toes.Take-offs can be very unforgiving if youare not 100% in control. Striking an objecton the deck or careening off the side ofthe carrier and into the water can be fatal.If you see that this is going to happen, byall means, hit the Eject (shift E Key).As soon as you are clear of the carrier,raise your landing gear by pressing theLanding Gear (G Key). Notice yourairspeed jump up as the drag created byhaving your gear extended disappears.Keep the nose of the aircraft pointedslightly above the horizon while yourairspeed continues to build. Extra speed(energy) will be necessary when you pullback on the stick to gain altitude.One thing you don’t want to do whiletaking-off is lose either energy orairspeed. A stall at low altitude is usuallyfatal. There just isn’t time to regain controlbefore hitting the ground. Examples ofenergy-losing manoeuvres would be highG turns (i.e. wings banked at 90 degrees)or sharp increases in your aircraftattitude. Avoid anything that might costyou forward airspeed when you’re thisclose to the ground.If the aircraft is moving fast enough, it willstart to climb. Try to maintain a 50 to 100

angle of attack but keep an eye on yourairspeed. As you climb your airspeed willdrop. If it dips below 150 knots you are in

danger of stalling the aircraft. Play aroundwith the Remote View (F5 Key) in orderto get familiar with take-offs.Continue your initial climb to an altitude of2000 ft. and then level off. At this point, itis probably safe to shut down theafterburner. Press the Throttle Back (-Key) once. The less fuel you consume ontake-off, the longer you can remain atyour patrol station.Now that you are clear of the trafficpattern you can relax for a moment.Press the Automatic Pilot (P Key). Withthe Auto Pilot engaged, take this time tolook about the two cockpits (yours andthe RIO’s).Repeat this Take-Off checklist beforeproceeding with the mission;

Take-Off Checklist1.Check the position of your landinggear to insure that it has been retracted(raised). Landing Gear Toggle (GKey)2.Make sure the Afterburner isdisengaged. Throttle Back (- Key).3.Turn the Master Arm Switch to Onposition. Master Arm Switch Toggle(M Key).4.Activate the AWG-9 radar. RadarOn/Off Toggle (R Key).5.Set your NAV equipment to your firstwaypoint. Waypoint Toggle (S Key)5.Contact your Wing-man. Direct him tobegin flying in formation with you.Formation (alt F3 Key)6.Turn to the proper waypoint heading(you may have to disengage theAutomatic Pilot) and begin yourmission.

Congratulations. You’ve survived yourfirst “cat-shot”. Now you and your RIO areabout to take on your very first mission.But don’t get too smug. Now that you’re

Another heart-pounding, adrenaline pumpingcat-shot off the deck for this lucky naval aviator.

up there, sooner or later you’ve got to getback down.You’ve only got about 2-3 hours worth offuel on board. That’s just enough time tolet the butterflies loose in your stomachand read this next section on how to land.Good luck!

If there’s one thing which separates navalaviators from regular pilots, it’s the factthat they have to shoot a carrier landingin order to get home. All F-14 pilots mustbe qualified to land aboard a carrier atsea before they’re any good to the Navy. Next to actual combat, carrier landings or“traps” as they are called, are the mostfrightening part of a mission. You can bethe “Top Gun” of your squadron, even flyrings around MiG-29s, but it all meansnothing unless you can get back downsafely.Carr ier landings are extremelycomplicated affairs. They are the mostindividually challenging aspect ofbecoming a naval aviator. Ask any Navyflyer and he’ll tell you that coming hometo a carrier is worse than air combat,especially at night or in bad weather. Landing on a carrier deck requires totalconcentration, a bit of luck, and a wholelot of skill. You can’t fake an approach.You’re either “on the ball” or you willreceive a wave-off from the LSO. If youget a wave-off, count on going aroundagain and starting your approach over. Acarrier cannot afford to have a missedapproach result in a crash on deck. Thereare just too many people and too muchequipment aboard to allow that tohappen.Every approach will end one of three ways.You will either score a “trap” meaning thatyou caught an arrestor cable and landedsuccessfully or you will score a “bolter”

meaning that you missed the wires and hadto go around and try again. It’s probably bestnot to think about the third alternative,namely- crashing. Crashing into the flightdeck, or any other part of the ship for thatmatter, is fatal. Game over.Being able to make safe carrier landingsis crucial to your success in thissimulation. If you can’t master carrierlandings, break out F-15 Strike Eagle IIIand play that for awhile. We’re confidenthowever, that given time, you will be ableto perfect your landing techniques.Therefore, the following section isdevoted entirely to helping you get backdown safely.

The Air Boss and Air Traffic ControlYour missions do not take place in avacuum. The airspace around your carrieris very likely to be crowded with otheraircraft, taking-off or returning home justlike you. This is the reason for having anAir Boss and air traffic controllers. It’s theirjob to make sure everything runs smoothlyand that everyone stays between thelines.The whole point of air traffic control ismaking sure that aircraft don’t bump intoeach other while in fl ight (or on theground either!). This is often easier saidthan done. There are no paved roadwaysin the sky with nicely painted lanemarkers to keep pilots from straying intothe other guy’s flight path.There is, however, an invisible oval(racetrack) shaped traffic pattern whichsurrounds the carrier and regulates all airmovement in the vicinity. All pilots arerequired to stay within the flow of thistraffic pattern unless given an expressdirective not to do so by the Air Boss orATCs.As aircraft return from their missions, theAir Boss directs them into pre-determinedroutes so that he knows where they are atall times. His ATCs keep the aircraft at

RETURNING TO THE CARRIER

safe separation distances so that theydon’t run into each other. Moreimportantly, however, aircraft are spacedso that only one aircraft tries land on thedeck at a time.Certain aircraft will have landing priorityover others. Aircraft that are low on fuelneed to get down in a hurry. They areobviously given top priority. The rest of theaircraft in a package are brought downnext.Damaged aircraft often have to wait untillast. Why? Because damaged aircraft runthe risk of fouling the deck should theirapproach go poorly. Of course if there arewounded crew members aboard adamaged aircraft the priority may changeaccording to the severity of the wound.No one is allowed to approach the carriertraffic pattern unless given clearance to doso. This is why each returning pilot,including you, must request landinginstructions from the control tower.

Landing Instructions Each time you attempt to land backaboard the carrier, you are required torequest landing instructions beforeproceeding. In FLEET DEFENDER, thisis done by pressing the RequestLanding Clearance (alt L Key) whenyou have reached a point within twenty(20) nm of the carrier. The ATCs in the “control tower” will eithergive you clearance to land immediately ordelay your landing by redirecting you tosome marshal point away from thecarrier.CLEARANCE TO LAND: If the flight deckis clear and the traffic pattern is not toocongested, the TOWER will give youimmediate clearance to land. You shouldalready have the HUD in Navigation(NAV) mode at this time, if not, switch theHUD over to NAV Mode by pressing theNAV mode (5 Key).

Toggle the Vertical Direction Indicator(VDI) to VDI mode by pressing theVDI/TCS (V Key) i f the monitor isshowing TCS imagery. Pick up theCourse Deviation Indicator (CDI) on theVDI and manoeuvre your aircraft so that itis centred. You are now on a directcourse toward the carrier, though notnecessarily lined up properly with theflight deck.Continue to fly down this heading untilyou are approximately ten (10) nm fromthe carrier. Check your distance from thewaypoint (your carrier) on the HSD. Atthis time, you must begin your transitioninto the traffic pattern. Because the carrier will be pointing northand into the wind, you want to beapproaching it from the south. All carrierlandings are conducted from the rear ofthe ship. If you are approaching thecarrier from astern, the CDI should becentred on the VDI while you fly amagnetic heading near 3600.Although the TOWER has given youclearance to land, there still may be othersahead of you in the pattern. Caution mustbe exercised when entering the trafficpattern. You should stay 2-3 nm away fromany traffic ahead of you. This gives themtime to land safely and get clear of therunway before you star t your finalapproach.MARSHAL POINTS: Sometimes it isnecessary for the TOWER to delay yourlanding. This can be due to a number ofdifferent reasons such as; too manyaircraft already in the pattern, downequipment, or even a “fouled deck”situation.In these cases, your request for landinginstructions is met with a directiveordering you to go to a holding areaknown as a “MARSHAL POINT”. AMarshal Point is nothing more than a pre-set location in space where the ATCs can

send you while they wait for the trafficsituation to clear.If you receive a Marshal Point directive,the TOWER will also assign you a certainattitude. You must stay at this altitude orrisk running into other aircraft. The ATCsmay have “stacked” a number of aircraftat this Marshal point, each one holding ata different altitude.During Good Weather (Daytime)operations, a carrier will have threeMarshal Points labelled A, B, and C.These three holding areas are located asdepicted in the diagram, some 10-20 nmastern of the carrier. You will be sent toone of the three until it’s your turn to land.During periods of low visibil ity (badweather or night), only the Marshal Pointlocated directly behind the carrier (B) isever used. This allows the pilots totransition from the Marshal Point to astraight approach with minimal coursecorrections.

To assist you in locating the MarshalPoint, your waypoint navigation system isautomatically updated. Simply toggle theWaypoint (S Key) until the message barreads “Marshal Point”. Use the HSD to fly a racetrack patternaround the Marshal Point unti l theTOWER gives you clearance to land. Thisusually takes several minutes, so cut yourthrottle back to 50% RpM to conserve fuelwhile waiting.When the pattern clears, the TOWER willsend you a message indicating that it’syour turn to land. You do not need to keeprequesting landing instructions. The AirBoss knows you’re out there.

There are two basic landing patterns youare expected to recognise and adhere to;good weather patterns and low visibility(bad weather or nighttime) patterns.

Good Weather (Daytime) ApproachesThe standard good weather (daytime)approach requires that the pilot fly aprescribed racetrack pattern consisting offour distinct “legs.” As you can see by theGood Weather (Daytime) Approachdiagram, your initial entry into the trafficpattern begins astern of (behind) thecarrier. This is called the Upwind Legbecause here you are flying directly intothe wind.UPWIND LEG: As you fly the UpwindLeg, maintain a separation distance ofapproximately one mile from the carrier.Your speed should be dropping to 350knots. Use the Automatic Pilot (P Key)to hold your altitude steady at no lessthan 800 ft. You want excess energy andairspeed to “bleed” off so keep the noseof your aircraft pointed level with, orslightly above, the horizon. It’s a goodidea to lower your landing hook while

When your landing is delayed the ATC will sendyou to a holding area known as a Marshal Point.

Marshal PointsDaytimeApproaches

CARRIER LANDING PATTERNS

10 NM

10 NM

10 NM

10 NM

A

B

C

flying the Upwind leg. Press the LandingHook Toggle (H Key).When you reach a point approximatelyone mile in front of the carrier, it’s time toturn into the second leg of the approach-the Crosswind Leg. Turn into theCrosswind Leg at a 450 to 600 left bankangle. CROSSWIND LEG: The Crosswind leg isso named because you are now flyingwith the wind at a perpendicular angle.Level off from the turn and extend yourspeed brake br iefly by pressing theBrake Toggle (B Key). Keep it on longenough to bring your airspeed down tojust below 300 knots. At the same time,you should be gradually descending to600 ft. altitude. Hold at 600 ft. using theAutomatic Pilot (P Key).When you reach a point approximatelyone mile west of the carrier, it’s time toturn into the third leg of the approach- theDownwind Leg.DOWNWIND LEG: The Downwind Leg isso named because you are now flyingwith the wind at your back (down the winddirection). Level off from the turn andlower your landing gear by pressing theLanding Gear (G Key).Your airspeed will immediately drop assoon as the drag effects of having yourwheels down takes hold of the aircraft.Add power as necessary to maintain anairspeed of at least 225 knots. Continuedescending to an altitude of no less than500 ft.Upon reaching a point approximately 3/4to 1 nm astern of (behind) the carriermake a 900 left turn onto the Base Leg ofthe landing pattern.BASE LEG: The Base Leg is your lastchance to make corrections beforeturning “on final”. Your airspeed shouldcontinue to gradually bleed off to 160knots with your landing gear extended.Your altitude should be no greater than

400 ft. You must hold this altitude yourselfbecause the Automatic Pilot has difficultybeing precise below 500 ft.Once you are satisfied that you have theaircraft under proper control, steal a quickglance out the left side. Look for thecarrier. When you see that it is lined updirectly perpendicular to your flight path,it’s time to turn on final.FINAL APPROACH: From this point on,until your wheels touch on the deck,nothing you do will seem fast enough.You’ll always be playing “catch-up”, onestep behind the pace of events.You’l l intercept the glideslopeapproximately 3/4 of a mile from thecarrier. At this point you should be flyingat no more than 145 knots and no higherthan 360 ft.

In good weather (daytime) approaches, pilotsare required to follow a racetrack approachpattern consisting of four basic “legs”. Each leggradually has you flying just a little bit lower anda little bit slower.

Landing PatternGood Weather (Daytime) Approach

Base Leg 200-150 KIAS450-400 ft alt

Crosswind Leg 300 KIAS 600ft alt

DownwindLeg

250-200KIAS500ft alt

Gearlowered

UpwindLeg

400-350KIAS800 ft alt

Hooklowered

WINDTakeoffBolterPatternfullthrottle

CarrierGroupmaintains course"into thewind"

"Final"135KIAS360-300ft alt

Call the "Ball"

Line up your general approach with thevertical stripe painted on the stern of thecarrier. It corresponds with the centrelineof the flight deck. When you are this closeto the carr ier- never bank your wings. You want to touch down with yourwings level. Therefore, always use therudder keys, Rudder Left (, Key) andRudder Right (. Key) to make minorcourse adjustments.“CALLING THE BALL”: The “meatball” isa tiny light array located on the port (left)side of the carrier, approximately halfwaydown the flight deck. It is difficult to makeout with all the other lights lining the deck.You generally cannot see the “ball” if youare more than a mile from the ship. Donot mistake the red light atop the “islandmast” (to the right of the deck) with theball.As soon as you level off from the Base toFinal Leg turn, the Landing SignalsOfficer (LSO) takes over. The first thinghe will ask you, if you are on the properglideslope, is to “CALL THE BALL”. Yourresponse will either be “TOMCAT- BALL”,if you see it or “CLARA”, if you don’t.

If you have visual contact with the ball,press the TOMCAT- Ball (alt B Key).This lets the LSO know that you arereceiving visual reference cues fromthe ball.

If you are too low in the glidepath, theball wil l appear as a dull reddishcoloured light.If you are too high in the glidepath, theball will appear as a bright yellowcoloured light.If you are maintaining the proper 30

glideslope, the ball will appear as greencoloured light. This indicates that youare on slope.

APPROACH INDEXERS: In addition tothe “meatball”, your F-14 is equipped witha tiny square light located on the left HUDbrace (just below the Stall Warningindicator) This light is known as theApproach Indexer. It is designed to helpyou maintain the proper airspeed whileflying down the final glideslope approach.

If you are flying too fast, the indexerlamp turns a bright yellow colour. If you are flying too slow, the indexerlamp turns a dull reddish colour.If you are in the glideslope andproceeding at the proper speed, theindexer lamp turns a br ight greencolour. This indicates that you are onspeed.

THE LANDING SIGNALS OFFICER(LSO): Every take-off and landing iscarefully scrutinised by the Air Trafficcontrollers in the Tower and a LandingSignals Officer (LSO) stationed on theflight deck. It is the LSO’s job to talk youthrough each and every landing.As you proceed down the final approachglide path, the LSO asks you to CALLTHE BALL. Your response lets him knowwhether or not you are able to see the“meatball”.Either way, his responsibility is to get youdown in one piece. He will give youlanding guidance such as ADD POWER,COME LEFT, or WAVE OFF. Do notignore his instructions. He is actually in abetter position to judge your approach

The “meatball” is a visual landing aid whichhelps pilots assume the proper 30 glideslopeduring the final approach leg of the trafficpattern.

than you are.LSO RATING: Once you have beensuccessfully brought back aboard ship,the LSO must rate your approach. He islooking at things like approach speed,proper descent rate, AOA, and wingposition on touchdown.He will give each one of your landings ascore between one (1) and four (4). Ascore of (1) means you have someserious work to do on your landings. Afour (4) rating means you could probablyland on the back of a postage stamp.The Carrier Landing difficulty setting(Standard, Moderate, or Authentic Mode)has a lot to do with how severely yourlandings are critiqued.“TRAPPING A WIRE”: The end result ofthis highly regulated approach pattern isto have your wheels touch down on thedeck right where you (and the LSO) wantthem to. If you follow the prescribedglideslope, your landing hook will catchthe third arrestor cable (second to lastwire). This is known as “catchin’ a 3-wire”.It signifies a perfect landing.Trapping the first or second wire meansyour aircraft was a l i t t le low in theglidepath and hit the deck early. Trappingthe 4-wire means you waited a little toolong to touch down. Even so, hooking the4-wire is better than a bolter (missing thewires altogether).OPTIMUM LANDING CONDITION: Toreceive the best possible LSO rating, youshould attempt to achieve the followingoptimum landing conditions;

1. Wings Level2. Airspeed: 135 knots maximum ontouch down3. Glideslope: 3

0descent on final

approach4. Nose-high Flare: rear wheels shouldmake contact first5. Landing Hook: should snag the #3

wire (second from the last arrestor cable)

Wasn’t that easy! Good weather anddaytime landings are a snap. Now let’s trya few Low Visibility approaches - landingsthat take place during periods of badweather or total darkness.

Low Visibility ApproachesNot every mission you are assigned isflown in good weather. Sometimes it canget downright nasty out there, especiallyin the North Cape. Marginal weatherconditions make just flying rather dicey,never mind trying to shoot a goodlanding. There are times when the carrierwill be socked-in by low lying clouds thatobscure the flight deck. When low visibility conditions exist, thenormal approach pattern is not used.Instead, pilots are given clearance tomake straight in approaches. Rather thanfly a racetrack pattern around the carrier,pilots line up with the stern of the carrierand are brought down immediately.Because you won’t have the luxury ofbeing able to see the carr ier, theseapproaches require you to place aninordinate amount of trust in yourinstruments. Without visual cues to guideyourself, you will be at the mercy of yourHSD and VDI‘s Course DeviationIndicator.LOW VISIBILITY MARSHAL POINT:Things take longer during periods of lowvisibility because aircraft are movedaround more cautiously. The Air Boss andATCs demand greater separationdistances between aircraft for safetypurposes. Therefore, poor visibi l i tyincreases the likelihood that you will besent to a Marshal point prior to landing. Marshal Point B, the holding area directlybehind the ship, is the only one of thethree points used during low visibility OPs.It is positioned at least 15 nm behind theship. An additional mile is added for 1,000

ft. of altitudeyou areassigned. Forexample, if youare told to go toAngels 5 (5,000ft.), the centreof the MarshalPoint wil l bepositioned 20nm from theship. The reason foronly using thecentral MarshalPoint dur ingperiods of lowvisibil i ty issimple. Thisp r o c e d u r eallows you totransition fromthe holdingarea directlyinto the landingapproach by

simply flying a heading of 3600.Once you are given clearance to landfrom the TOWER, you will be flying a“straight in” approach aimed at the sternof the carrier. You can fly this approachlooking through the HUD, but werecommend that you change your viewperspective. Press the Look Down View(2 Key) so that you’re able to see both theVDI and HSD on the screen at the sametime. Now that you have both of these monitorsin front of you, your view to the outsideworld is limited. It’s unsettling, isn’t it- kindof gives you the willies. Welcome to thereal world of low visibility flight. Youshould be getting some appreciation ofwhat the real pilots must go through. There’s a reason for having you do this,however. In the first place, there’s nothingto see outside, everything you need to

look at is located inside the cockpit. Whynot have it all in front of you at one time?Having both the VDI and HSD monitors atyour disposal allows you to shoot yourapproach much more precisely. STRAIGHT IN APPROACH PATTERN:The farther away you are from the carrierwhen you begin lining up the more timeyou have to assume the proper glide-slope. This is why low visibility MarshalPoints are placed far away from the ship. Assuming you have remained within yourholding area, turn to a heading of 3600.You are now heading on a nor therlycourse toward the stern of the carrier.Perfect! The Course Deviation Indicator (CDI) barshould be centred on the Vertical DisplayIndicator (VDI). If it is not, put your aircrafton a heading that centres the bar.Because the CDI bar only points in thedirection of the carrier, you want to fly aheading that also lines you up with theflight deck.Since the carrier’s flight deck always runsdirectly north-south (3600-1800), you wantto fly a heading aimed at the carrier asclose to 3600 as possible. The closer youare to a heading of 3600, the fewer coursecorrections you will have to make later on. Press the Automatic Pilot (P Key) tokeep you on the proper heading. Fromthis point on you are required to trust yourinstrumentation and “fly the needles.” Now it’s time to check your approximatedistance from the flight deck. Look at theHorizontal Situation Display (HSD) to getyour waypoint distance (WPD). Yourwaypoint should remain toggled toCARRIER throughout your approach.Toggle off the Automatic Pilot (P Key)and begin a gentle descent. At a distanceof ten (10) nm, you should be flying levelat an altitude no greater than 1,200 ft.Maintain an airspeed of 350 knots andstay at this altitude until you reach a point

Low Visibility ApproachBad Weather (Nighttime)Approach

WIND

1 Mile135 KIAS460 FT ALT

3 MileCommenceglide slope200 knots

10 Mile250 KIAS1200 ft alt

B

three (3) nmfrom thecarr ier. Lowv i s i b i l i t yoperations arei n h e r e n t l ymore risky soyou shouldkeep yourspeed a l i t t lehigher thanusual in caseof emergency.An extra 10knots ofa i r s p e e dshould do thetrick. At three miles,tap the Brake(B Key) so thatyour airspeeddrops below300 knots.Extend yourLanding Gear(G Key). Don’tforget to retractyour airbrakes.During the nexttwo miles,

gradually descend so that at one (1) milefrom the carrier your altitude falls to 460 ftand slow your approach to 180 knots.At one mile you’re are considered to beon final approach. Continue slowing downuntil you are flying at approximately 150knots. Begin your final descent. The flightdeck should become visible at this point. Peg the Vertical Velocity Indicator (VVI) ata spot on the flight deck and keep it there.As you get nearer to the carrier, you canfine tune this aiming point. Throttle Back(- Key) so that you are flying just a fewknots above stall speed (135 knots).Once again, when you are this close tothe carrier- never bank your wings. You

want to touch down with your wings level.Therefore, always use the rudder keys,Rudder Left (, Key) and Rudder Right (.Key) to make minor course adjustments.Okay- great job! If you followed theseinstructions to the letter you should catchthe #3 wire without any trouble.Whooops! Nowhere in these instructionsdid it say anything about lowering yourLanding Hook (H Key). You went to allthat trouble just to bolter.Don’t panic. By sheer coincidence, thefollowing section covers exactly what youshould do in case of a bolter or missedapproach.

A “missed approach” is a landing attemptthat for whatever reason, has gonewrong. Missed approaches can occur asa result of excess landing speed, strayingfrom the glideslope, even forgetting to putdown your landing gear. But just becauseyou miss an approach doesn’t meanyou’re a bad pilot. It happens all the time.You must expect a few missed attempts.The point is that a pilot should know howto recover quickly and safely from abotched landing.The key to recovery is recognising amissed approach for what it is early on.It ’s no sin to have to go around foranother try. Just think of it as additionalpractice. Many pilots will continue to fighta bad landing past the point of no return.The problem is that in trying to correct abad approach you are l ikely to overcompensate. Small problems rapidlybecome big ones the closer you get to thecarrier.Rule #1: Never waste time trying tocorrect a good approach gone bad.

The Straight In approach isused during periods of Low(or No) Visibility because itplaces less strain on thepilot.

Straight in Approach

Marshal Point B

10 NM

B

MISSED APPROACH PROCEDURES

The LSO Wave-OffIf you fail to heed Rule #1 and continue abad approach, the Landing Signal Officer(LSO) will signal a wave-off. A wave-off isyour cue to forget about this landing andgo around for another try. As soon as youget a wave-off call from the LSO, youshould immediately begin following your“missed approach” procedures asdescribed below.If you ignore the wave-off and landanyway prepare to see your missionscore reduced. This is the Air Boss’ wayof chewing you out. Disregarding a wave-off is a very serious offense and will bedealt with accordingly. Unless you areflying on vapours, it’s not worth ignoring awave-off.

Rule # 2: Unless you are low on fuel, andthen only if you are down to fumes, neverdisregard a wave-off.FOULED DECK: Just as your F-14 is notthe only aircraft in the sky, it’s also not theonly aircraft on the flight deck. Aircraft areshuffled between the hangar deck andflight deck as quickly as possible butsometimes this just isn’t fast enough. Itcan take up to five minutes to taxi anaircraft, prep it for launch, then cat-shootit free of the flight deck. When the flightdeck is full of aircraft waiting to take-off,

other aircraft shouldn’t be trying to land.This situation is known as a fouled-deck.In fact, any time the fl ight deck isobstructed, it is considered fouled andlanding operations are suspended. If thedeck is fouled prior to you entering thetraffic pattern, you are sent to a MarshalPoint holding area until the situation iscleared.If the deck is fouled while you are at anypoint in the pattern, including finalapproach, you are to implement the“missed approach” procedure.BOLTER: Whenever your aircraft touchesdown but fails to hook any of the wires, itis known as a “bolter.” For example, anaircraft which attempts to land at too higha speed may “float” and touch downbeyond the last of the wires. Pilot error is another reason for bolters. Inthe excitement of the moment a novicemay forget to lower his hook. Don’t laugh,it’s happened to me. If you experience abolter, don’t panic. Treat a bolter thesame way you would any missedapproach and refer to the missedapproach procedures described below.MISSED APPROACH PROCEDURES:Missed Approaches are extremely hard torecover from. Why? Because inattempting to land you have configuredyour aircraft to descend until it touchesdown on something solid. Your wings,flaps, trim vanes, spoilers and everythingelse are positioned to set the aircraftdown. Now all of a sudden, you arerequired to move the aircraft in a differentdirection -up! It takes time to reconfigure,time you don’t have when flying low andslow.Obviously, the earlier you identify amissed approach, the easier it will be foryou to recover from. The closer you are tothe flight deck the more difficult yourrecovery will be. You’ll be flying a nearstall speed with a considerable downward

The LSO station. These guys are responsible forbringing you home safely. They also score eachone of your landing attempts and post them forall to see.

velocity. Halting the downward motion isgoing to consume energy (airspeed) andpotentially push you below your minimumstall speed.The following Missed Approach checklistof procedures should be followedwhenever a missed approach is declaredor wave-off received;

1. Power Up- immediately go toafterburner by pressing theAfterburner Engage (A Key). You aregoing need an immediate burst ofpower to arrest your descent and thenclimb out in order to re-enter the trafficpattern. 2. Gear Up: Retract your landing gearby pressing the Landing Gear (GKey). Do this second. If you are notquick enough to halt your descent youmay touch down on the flight deckanyway. With your wheels down youstill have a chance to take-off again. Ifyour wheels are up, contact with theflight deck usually results in a fatalcrash.3. Nose Up: keep the nose of theaircraft pointed no more than 100 abovethe horizon. Nurse the aircraft back intothe sky. An abrupt pitch change will killyour forward airspeed and cause astall.4. Wings Level: Keep your wingslevel. Perform a straight forward climbout. Do not bank your wings or you willkill off any excess Lift being produced.

The object of these missed approachprocedures is to reconfigure your aircraftfor normal flight as quickly as possible.We recommend that you climb out to aminimum of 1500 ft. and then rejoin thetraff ic pattern at a 450 angle to thecrosswind leg. Having to go around asecond (or even third) time sure beatshaving a crash landing end a promisingcareer.

Flight leader and wing-man being prepared fortheir mission.

As if flying the F-14 in combat wasn’tenough, FLEET DEFENDER gives youthe opportunity (responsibility) to controlthe actions of another F-14, that of yourwing-man’s. While this means addedwork for you, it also allows for an almostendless list of tactical possibilities. Usually, the minimum number of F-14ssent on any one particular mission is two(2). Known in the Navy as a section, aformation of two aircraft consists of aflight leader and wing-man. On eachmission you (as the active player)assume the role of flight leader. As afl ight leader, i t wil l be your job tocoordinate the actions of both aircraft.This is not easy. It will either double youreffectiveness in combat or half it throughmiscommunication and poor coordination. Although you are able to direct your wing-man’s responses in combat, if left alone,his own artificial intelligence will takeover. Otherwise, your wing-man willalways be right where you put him. You’llnever have to worry about him leaving afight early just to save himself at yourexpense.In fact, when controlled by the computer,your wing-man is every bit as capable asyou, sometimes, even more so.The more missions your wing-man hasunder his belt, the more skil led hebecomes. Actually, FLEET DEFENDERkeeps track of four separate areas ofwing-man development: general flyingskil l , use of the radar, weaponemployment and initiative.GENERAL FLYING ABILITY: Your wing-man’s expertise at performing ACM isbased upon his general ability to handlethe aircraft. This rating improves as hegains experience.RADAR USE: As your wing-man’s

pilot/RIO skill level improves, hostiletargets are located on radar faster. Inaddition, it takes less and less time foryour wing-man to sort and lock targets.WEAPON EMPLOYMENT: Your wing-man’s ability to use his weapons once atarget is found is judged according to hisskill level.INITIATIVE: Each time your wing-manengages an enemy aircraft his AI routineattempts to gain a position of advantage.The more initiative a wing-man takes thebetter able he is to achieve this position.If however, your wing-man is forced totake up a defensive posture, he will call“ENGAGED DEFENSIVE”. ENGAGEDDEFENSIVE is the equivalent of youpressing the alt F5 Key to requestassistance from your wing-man.

The addit ion of a second F-14significantly increases the combat powerat your disposal and gives you the abilityto perform multiple tasks simultaneously.But, having a wing-man along is only apositive thing if your are able to use himwisely, otherwise he’s something else toworry about and get in the way. Your wing-man has the ability to makereasoned decisions if left alone. (FLEETDEFENDER features stunninglycompetent AI routines.) However, you (asflight leader) are able to exercise a greatdegree of control. The following keysallow you to direct the actions of yourwing-man;Go Tactical (alt F1 Key): Pressing thiskey releases your wing-man to attacktargets independently. His response toyou is either; "Roger" (indicating he isafter a specif ic target) or “No Joy”,

YOUR WING-MAN

WING-MAN CONTROL KEYS

indicating he has no bogeys in sight. Inany case, by pressing this key you arereleasing him to go find targets. If noneare to be found, he will reform on yourwing.Target Directive (alt F2 Key): Thiscommand directs your wing-man to attackthe target that you currently have lockedon your radar. This key must be pressedafter your wing-man has received the GoTactical (alt F1 Key) command. Hisresponse to you wil l be BOGEYTARGETED when he has achieved aradar lock on your target. You are free tochoose a new target at this time.Formation (alt F3 Key): Directs yourwingman to assume one of three specificformations. Your options are: (1) Parade,(2) Cruise, or (3) Combat Spread. Pressthe appropriate number key. Your wing-man responds by acknowledging yourformation selection. Only Combat Spreadallows your wing-man to independentlytarget and engage enemy aircraft.Bracket (alt F4 Key): Directs your wing-man to perform a bracket in conjunctionwith your aircraft. The options are: (1)Bracket Left, (2) Bracket Right, (3) High, (4)Low, and (5) Straight. Press theappropriate number key to select an option.Your wing-man responds by acknowledgingthe selected option. If you select either (3)High or (4) Low, you must then select analtitude differential of up to 10,000 ft.Engaged Defensive (alt F5 Key): Directsyour wing-man to come to yourimmediate assistance. He wil l dropwhatever he happens to be doing at thetime to come to your aid. Such loyaltydeserves repayment in kind.Sanitise (alt F6 Key): Directs your wing-man to perform a radar sweep in thedirection selected. Your options are: (1)Left, (2) Right, (3) Front, and (4) Back. Ifyour wing-man makes contact with anobject in the area he responds with the

number of contacts he has sighted, theirrange, and finally their altitude.Sort (alt F7 Key): Directs your wing-manto report on the target he currently haslocked-up. His response is either: SortedNone, Sorted Lead, Sorted Trail, SortedLeft, Sorted Right or Unknown. A reportof UNKNOWN indicates that your wing-man is not sure of target’s location withinthe formation. It does not mean to imply aresponse to an IFF check.Alibi (alt F8 Key): Directs your wing-

man to report his current damage andweapon status.Rejoin (alt F9 Key): Directs your wing-man to rejoin with you. Watch for him toappear and saddle up along side youraircraft.Return to Base (alt F10 Key): Directsyour wing-man to return to the carrier(base). His response, “RTB”,acknowledges your command.Delouse (shift F1 Key) : Sends amessage to your E-2C controller (orcarrier) to send an F-14 two-ship to yourlocation. This two-ship will either comefrom the carrier (the Ready 5 aircraft) or itwill be drawn from another CAP stationnearby.

In order for your section to functionproperly, flight leader and wing-man mustfly and fight as a team. If you are onlyinterested in becoming a “Top Gun” youcan forget about forming an effective two-ship. In fact, if you don’t know how tocooperate with your wing-man you mightas well leave him back on the deck.One good thing you don’t have to worryabout is mid-air collisions, either with yourwing-man or the enemy. This allows forsome really tight formations as you maywell imagine. It also keeps pilots from

SECTION FORMATIONS

playing bumper cars or attempting to ramthe enemy as a final gesture before goingdown. Nobody does this intentionally-nobody. Even if unintentional, thechances of a mid-air collision with anenemy aircraft are very small indeed.Ramming is just not a viable tacticanymore.

Formations (alt F3 Key): There arethree basic formations that you and yourwing-man can assume; Parade, Cruise,and Combat Spread. You can changeyour formation at any time, just bypressing the Formation (alt F3 Key).Press the appropriate number key tomake your selection.PARADE FORMATION: When flying inparade formation, your wing-man takesup a position behind you, less than 100 ftaway. While flying in parade formationyour wing-man is unable to target or fireupon enemy aircraft. He is essentiallyunder a “weapons hold” restriction untilyou free him by pressing the Go Tactical(F1 Key) or by putting him into a CombatSpread (3 Key) formation.

CRUISE FORMATION: When flying incruise formation, your wing-man takes upa position behind you, less than 200 ftaway. While flying in cruise formation yourwing-man is unable to target or fire uponenemy aircraft unless you release aspreviously described.

COMBAT SPREAD FORMATION:When flying in a Combat Spreadformation your wing-man takes up alateral (line abreast) position off yourwing. From this position he may targetand fire upon enemy targets ofopportunity without your prior approval.

BRACKET FORMATION (alt F4 Key):The Bracket is more of a section tacticthan a travelling formation. It is labelled aformation and included here only becauseit deals with the tactical positioning ofyour wing-man. You may order your wing-man intoassuming a Bracket formation at any timeby pressing Bracket (alt F4 Key) .Pressing this key causes a secondary

PAROV

Parade

OVERHEAD VIEW

COT SCombat The CombatSpreadformation.

CRF-1OV

CruiseThe CruiseFormation

OVERHEAD VIEW

The paradeformation

menu to appear which lists your Bracketoptions. Press the corresponding numerickey to assign your wing-man one of thefollowing Bracket options: (1) BracketLeft, (2) Bracket Right, (3) High, (4) Low,and (5) Straight. Note that your own F-14 becomes the off-setting pivot point for the Bracket. Theoffset distance for a Bracket Left, BracketRight, or Bracket Straight is 5 nm. Whenordering a High or Low, you are requiredto select an altitude differential using thenumeric keys from one(1 ) to ten (0)thousand feet.Tactically, the Bracket attack resembles apincer movement, if conducted properly,enemy aircraft are sandwiched betweenyou and your wing-man. The enemy isapproached until he is forced to commiton either you or your wing-man. Once thiscommitment becomes apparent, theuncommitted (unengaged) friendly aircraftis then considered the “free” fighter. The free fighter should immediatelyassume an offensive posture and converton the enemy’s “six.” The committedfighter should break in a manner whichfacilitates the free fighter’s attack.If performed correctly the two-ship willhave caught the enemy between them.The enemy is vulnerable to the freefighter’s attack unless he disengages

from the committed fighter. If the enemydoes disengage, he has lost any initiativehe might have had and now faces a 1 v. 2situation.

Your wing-man assumes the various bracketpositions as shown here.

BRACBracket Left/Right

OVERHEAD VIEW

IV. F-14 COCKPITSAND AVIONICS

We recommend that first time flyers takethe time to read this chapter and do somepracticing in the Oceana Training theatre.This way newcomers can get the hang ofthings and not have to face hostile aircraftright away. Eventually all this “pilot stuff”will become second nature but for nowlet’s concentrate on the F-14’s flightinstrumentation. Each functioning gauge, dial, andindicator is described in detail so that youcan tell at a glance just how well youraircraft is doing. It is divided up into themajor instrumentation of both the frontand back seat cockpits. In addit ion, instrumentation on thepilot/RIO’s side panels and console isalso covered in separate sections.

Smiling under all that headgear, this “Tomcat”driver has just returned from a successfulmission.

Because you portray a F-14 pilot in thissimulation, most of your time will be spentin the front seat cockpit. All the necessaryflight controls are located here. While youoccupy the front seat you are incommand of the aircraft, you make thedecisions. The following sectiondescr ibes the var ious displays andinstrumentation you have at yourdisposal.

The Head-Up Display is actually atransparent pane of “plexi-glass” situateddirectly in front of your field of vision.When you look directly forward, you areactually looking through the Head-UpDisplay (HUD). As the name implies, thereason for a HUD is simple. Flight andweapon symbology is superimposed onthe “glass” so that you do not have to lookdown to read instruments. This allows youto keep your head upright when involvedin combat so you don’t lose sight of abandit at an inopportune moment.

STANDARD HUD INFORMATIONMuch of the symbology on the HUD isstandard information which shows upregardless of the weaponry or modeselected.

THE MAGNETIC HEADINGINDICATORStretching across the very top of the HUDis the Magnetic Heading Indicator. Thisindicator is divided into 100 compassheading increments which are thenfurther sub-divided into 20 increments.Your course is equal to the compassheading which occupies the centreposition of the indicator (directly abovethe tiny cross). You can check theaccuracy of the Magnetic HeadingIndicator with the analog compasslocated to the right of the Vertical DisplayIndicator (VDI).

Waypoint CaretLocated underneath of the MagneticHeading Indicator is a waypoint referencecue known as a caret (pronouncedcarrot). The caret resembles an invertedV and is posit ioned on the headingindicator according to the waypoint youhave selected.

Aircraft ReticleThe aircraft reticle depicts the position ofyour aircraft ’s wings (chord l ine). Itappears on the HUD as two L shapedcharacters that have been knocked overon their sides. This line indicates wherethe nose of the aircraft is pointing, relativeto the horizon. The position of the aircraftreticle on the pitch ladder indicates youraircraft’s relative pitch angle.

Pitch LadderThe pitch (up/down reference) angle ofyour aircraft is displayed by means of apitch ladder. The pitch ladder is the set ofhorizontal pitch lines in the centre of theHUD which are arranged like the rungs ofa ladder.The pitch lines of the ladder are divided

PILOT (FRONT SEAT) COCKPIT

HEAD-UP DISPLAY (HUD)

The basic Head-Up Display(HUD) showing pitch ladderand Phoenix missiles inpriority.

WaypointCaret

WeaponPriorityIndicator

into 100 increments, from 00 (level) to 800.The greater the pitch angle, the moreyour aircraft will be pointing up or down. Solid pitch lines indicate your aircraft ispointed upward. A small circle indicatesthat your aircraft is pointing straightupward in a sheer vertical climb. Dashedpitch lines indicate your aircraft is pointeddownward. A small circle with a X insideindicates that your aircraft is pointingstraight down.

Weapon Priority IndicatorCentred at the bottom of the HUD issymbology indicating which weaponsystem is currently in priority. (Being inpriority means which type of missilewould be launched if you were to fire amissile r ight now. Even though theM61A1 gun is always ready to fire, thereis a separate HUD mode for the gunsystem which displays a f loatinggunsight.)The letter codes which appear on theHUD are PH (Phoenix), SP (Sparrow),SW (Sidewinder) and G (Gun).Underneath the letter code is displayed anumber which equals the number ofthose missiles left onboard. If a zero (0)appears, none of that type of missileremains.If the Master Arm Switch is in the Offposition, an X is superimposed over theWeapon Priority Indicator.

HUD NAVIGATION MODESYMBOLOGYWhen you press the NAV Mode (5 Key),special navigation symbology appears onthe HUD to assist you. Notice that theWeapon Priority Indicator is removed. It isassumed that you will not be engaging incombat while flying in Navigation mode.

Pitch LadderThe pitch ladder has been changed from100 pitch increments to increments of 50.This allows you to fly the finer pitchangles required for precision navigation.

Vertical Velocity Indicator (VVI)A Vertical Velocity Indicator is placed onthe HUD to assist you in visuallydetermining your sink rate when landing.The VVI is the tiny circle with three tickmarks protruding from it. It is usuallylocated under the aircraft reticle.The VVI is normally used when makingcarrier approaches. It is an indication ofwhere your aircraft is actually going. Notethat this is sometimes different from theaircraft reticle, which only shows whereyour aircraft is pointing. For example, in acarrier approach, the nose of the aircraft iskept pointed slightly above the horizon tomaintain a glide-slope flare. The VVI,however, is located below the horizonindicating that the aircraft is descending(even though the nose angle indicates aclimb).On final approach, keep the VVI aimed atthe spot on the carrier deck where youwish to land. Use it as an aiming stake. Ifyou keep the VVI on the deck, you can

The pilot is able to useinformation shown on the HUDto assist in navigation andprecision landings. The HUDshown here in NAV mode, ishelping this pilot return home.

VerticalVelocityIndicator

MagneticHeadingIndicator

PitchLadder

glide the aircraft down for perfect landingsevery time.

COMBAT MODE SYMBOLOGYExcept for take-offs and landings (whenthe HUD should be placed in NAV mode),the majority of time your HUD should beset to display Combat mode symbology. ACombat mode is one in which a weaponsystem has been put in priority (Gun ormissile). Basically, the HUD is in Combatmode if it is not in Nav mode.

STANDARD COMBAT MODESYMBOLOGYSome Combat mode symbology isstandard on the HUD regardless of whatweapon is placed in priority.

Target Range ScaleWhen the HUD is placed in a Combatmode, a vertical Target Range Scaleappears on the right side of the display.The bottom of the scale always reflects arange of zero. The upper end of the scalevaries according to the range of thetarget.In order for a target to appear on thisscale, it must either be radar-locked (inPDSTT) or designated (in a TWS mode).A range caret (the V-shaped symbol lyingon its side) is located on the left side ofthe scale. As the name implies, this caretindicates the range of the principle target.Two tick marks extend from the right side of

the range scale. The upper tick markrepresents the weapon’s Rmax, themaximum effective range of the weapon inpriority. The bottom tick mark represents theweapon’s Rmin, the minimum effectiverange of the weapon in priority.

Closure ScaleWhen placed in a Combat mode, thevertical scale on the left side of the HUDshows the relative rate of closurebetween your aircraft and the target. Acaret (a V-shaped symbol tilted to oneside) is positioned on the right side of thevertical scale. This caret indicates yourrate of closure. This scale registersclosure rates of between -200 knots (atthe bottom of the scale) and +1000 knots(at the top). A positive value means youare closing in on the target at theindicated speed. A negative value meansthat the distance between the two aircraftis increasing by the indicated amount.A negative closure rate indicates that thetarget is actually pulling away from you.

Target Designator DiamondWhen a target has been radar-locked ordesignated, a Target Diamond appearson the HUD corresponding to the actualposition of the target. If the target goes offthe HUD, the diamond is pegged alongthe side nearest its point of exit.

Shoot CuesWhen a target is brought within the Rmaxand Rmin of the weapon system inpriority, HUD symbology begins to flash.This flashing symbology is your shoot cuetelling you it’s time to fire the weapon.

Break XWhen a target is within the Rmin range ofthe weapon system in priority, a large Xsymbol appears in the centre of the HUD.This X is known as the Break X indicatingthat you need to back off and increasethe range between you and the target.

The Head-Up Display (HUD)with a target locked and AIM-7Sparrows in priority.

ClosureScale

TargetDiamond

RangeScale

Note that the M61A1 gun has no Rmin.

GUN PRIORITY SYMBOLOGYBy pressing the Guns (1 Key), the HUDsymbology is changed to reflect that yourM61A1 has been placed in priority. When the M61A1 gun is in priority, afloating gunsight reticle appears on theHUD. This gunsight automaticallycomputes the amount of lead angleneeded to score a hit on a particulartarget. When firing the gun, you mustmanoeuvre the aircraft so that the floatinggunsight is placed on your intendedtarget.

AIM-9 SIDEWINDER PRIORITYSYMBOLOGY

By pressing the Sidewinder (2 Key), theHUD symbology is changed to reflect thatyour AIM-9 heat-seeking Sidewindermissiles have been placed in priority.When your Sidewinder missiles are inpriority, a floating seeker-head reticleappears on the HUD. This reticle floatsabout the HUD looking for a heat source tolock-on to (acquire). The seeker-headdetection range is approximately 6 nm,therefore, the Sidewinder will not acquire atarget on its own unless the target is withinthis distance.The seeker-head reticle will continue to

float about the HUD until it acquires atarget. Once a target is acquired, thereticle is superimposed on the TargetDiamond Designator. The symbology willflash, your shoot-cue to fire.Note that the Sidewinder missile does notrequire radar to engage a target. You caneven turn off the radar and acquire thetarget solely through the missile’s seeker-head.

AIM-7 SPARROW PRIORITYSYMBOLOGYBy pressing the Sparrow (3 Key), theHUD symbology is changed to reflect thatyour AIM-7 medium-ranged, radar-guided, Sparrow missiles have beenplaced in priority.Sparrow HUD symbology is exactly thesame as that of the Sidewinder with theexception that there is no floating seeker-head. The Sparrow missile requires theaircraft’s radar to engage a target anddoes not have a internal seeker like theSidewinder.

AIM-54 PHOENIX PRIORITYSYMBOLOGYBy pressing the Phoenix (4 Key), theHUD symbology is changed to reflect thatyour AIM-54 long-ranged, radar-guided,Phoenix missiles have been placed inpriority.Phoenix HUD symbology is exactly thesame as that of the Sparrow missile. Theupper range limit (Rmax) of the Phoenixmissile is considerably greater than thatof the Sparrow, however. This is reflectedon the vertical range scale.

The Head-Up Display (HUD)with the floating AIM-9Sidewinder seeker-headlooking for a target.

FloatingSeekerLocation

TargetDiamond

The Vertical Display Indicator (VDI) islocated in the front seat cockpit directlyunderneath the HUD. In its primary role,the VDI acts as a HUD repeater (a back-up) in case the real HUD is everdamaged in combat. In addition to actingas a substitute HUD, the VDI monitor canalso be toggled to display imagesproduced by the Television CameraSystem (TCS).Press the VDI/TCS Mode Toggle (V Key)to alternate between the two modes.

VDI NAVIGATION MODESYMBOLOGYPitch LadderThe pitch ladder on the VDI is a duplicateof the pitch ladder on the HUD. Solid pitchlines indicate your aircraft is pointedabove the horizon (i.e. upward). Dashedpitch lines indicate your aircraft is pointedbelow the horizon (i.e. downward).

Aircraft ReticleThe VDI aircraft reticle functions exactlyas the aircraft reticle on the HUD. The twoL shaped characters indicate where thenose of the aircraft is pointing relative tothe horizon. The position of the aircraft

reticle on the pitch ladder indicates youraircraft’s relative pitch angle.

Ground TextureGround texture appears on the VDI as apair of light tone patches that appear to becontinually revolving. (They look like thedashed lines on a highway as you aredriving past.) These patches remain inmotion even if your aircraft is stopped.They merely aid in making the visualdistinction between above and below thehorizon.Course Deviation IndicatorThe Course Deviation Indicator (CDI) is avertical bar which moves left or rightacross your VDI. The purpose of the CDIis to assist you in getting a more exactbearing on your aircraft carrier. It is notpart of an Instrument Landing Systemand should not be used for precisionapproaches. The CDI functions in the same manner asthe waypoint caret on the HUD’s MagneticHeading Indicator. It is a visual cue that youare heading toward your carrier. Althoughyou are aimed at your carrier, it does notmean that you are properly lined up with theflight deck. You could be flying directly at thecarrier and still be perpendicular to the flightdeck. In this instance, the CDI would still becentred on the VDI.

VDI COMBAT MODE SYMBOLOGYAzimuth Range BarThe vertical bar positioned on the left sideof the VDI is known as the AzimuthRange Bar. This bar is used to determinewhether or not a target is within range ofthe weapon system currently in priority. Itdoes not give you the exact range totarget, however. You must estimate targetdistance for yourself. Estimating target distance is done bynoting the scale of the bar and theposition of the Target Range Mark. The

VERTICAL DISPLAY INDICATOR (VDI)

The Vertical Display Indicator (VDI)in NAV mode showing the CDI.

number located on the VDI beneath theAzimuth Range bar represents it ’smaximum range (in nm). If a target is currently locked on radar, atick mark (known as the Target RangeMark) appears on the left side of the bar.Note its location, (i.e. 1/3rd of the way upthe bar, half the way up etc.) on the barand compare this to the maximum rangeof the bar as indicated. A Target RangeMark located halfway up a 100 nm barwould indicate that the target isapproximately 50 nm away.On the right side of the bar are two othertick marks. These are known as Rmaxand Rmin indicators. If the Target RangeMark falls between these two tick marks,the target is within range.Rather thanhaving a Target Diamond Designatorappear on the VDI, this display uses asymbol known as a steering tee. Thesteering tee is an inver ted T-shapedsymbol and functions exactly as a TargetDiamond Designator does on the HUD.Allowable Steering Error (ASE) CircleThe dashed line circle in the middle of theVDI is known as the Allowable SteeringError (ASE) circle. For best results, it isrecommended that you manoeuvre theaircraft so that the steering tee is inside theASE circle before you fire a missile. This isnot a requirement, though. It just means thatthe enemy will have a more difficult timeavoiding your missile because you havemade the effort to line up a cleaner shot.

TELEVIS ION CAMERA SYS TE M(TCS)The F-14 has an onboard televisioncamera system which is slaved to theAWG-9 radar. The camera automaticallyfocuses on locked targets and continuesto track them as long as the targetremains within the gimbal limits of theTCS. The camera image is broadcast onthe VDI and can be magnified up to 20times.

The TCS functions differently accordingto the difficulty level setting. For details,consult the difficulty level section ofChapter 1.

The Horizontal Situation Display (HSD)consists of a rotating compass dial withthree lines of navigational text informationinserted in the centre. Like the VDI, it ismulti-functional. This monitor canalternate between showing standard HSDnavigational information and being aTarget Information Display (TID) repeater.To alternate between the displays, pressthe HSD/TID Toggle (shift R Key).

HSD NAVIGATION INFORMATION Compass HeadingYour direction of flight is indicated by theCommand Course bar located at the top

The Vertical Display Indicator(VDI) in combat mode showinga locked target and target rangebar.

The VDI can also be used to viewtargets by way of the TelevisionCamera System (TCS).

HORIZONTAL SITUATION DISPLAY (HSD)

RangeBar Steering

Tee

ZoomMagnification

CameraImage

of the dial (12 o’clock position). Youraircraft’s heading is indicated by thecompass reading which appears underthe Command Course bar at any givenmoment.

Waypoint IndicatorAn small t ick mark is placed on thecompass heading indicating the directionof the waypoint you’ve selected.

Waypoint Distance (WPD)The top line of text located in the centreof the compass dial gives your currentdistance (in nm) from the selectedwaypoint.

True Airspeed (TAS)The middle line of text gives your trueairspeed (in knots). Since your airspeedindicator is calibrated to reflect yourairspeed at sea level, your actualairspeed at higher altitudes will vary. Trueairspeed (TAS) takes this variance intoaccount. To get a estimate of your trueairspeed through the air, increase yourKIAS reading by 2% per thousand feet ofaltitude.

Ground Speed (GS)The bottom line of text gives your actualover land ground speed (in knots). Notethat for the purposes of FLEETDEFENDER, it is the same reading asyour Indicated Air Speed (KIAS).

TARGET INFORMATION DISPLAY(TID) REPEATER By pressing the HSD/TID Toggle (shift RKey) the HSD monitor is turned into a TIDrepeater. This way, you can see all theinformation currently showing up on theRIO’s TID. The range (in nm) of thedisplay is shown in the upper right handcorner of the monitor.

The Tactical Electronic Warfare System(pronounced “Tooz”) is an integral part ofyour aircraft’s self-defense capability. Itconsists of an array of sophisticatedsensors and receivers located throughoutthe aircraft. The TEWS gives you theability to locate enemy aircraft by theenergy their radars emit. It also allowsyou to pinpoint the location of groundbased tracking radars. In fact, any radarthat is emitting energy, whether it befriend or foe, is detectable.The TEWS display appears on your consoleas a series of four concentric circles centredon a pair of horizontal and vertical lines. Youraircraft is located at the intersection of the xand y-axis lines (in the centre of the screen).The display itself is oriented so that the top ofthe screen always represents 12 o’clock (in

The Horizontal SituationDisplay (HSD) is your primarymeans of gatheringnavigational information.

The Horizontal SituationDisplay (HSD) can also act asa TID repeater. This letsparanoid pilots see exactlywhat their RIO is doing whiletheir back is turned.

HeadingIndicator

WaypointDistance

YourAircraft

DisplayRange

TACTICAL ELECTRONIC WARFARESYSTEM (TEWS) DISPLAY

front of your aircraft). The bottom of thedisplay is your aircraft’s 6 o’clock position (therear of your aircraft). The maximum display range of the TEWSis 40 nm. Each of the concentric circlesrepresents a radius increase of 10 nm.Targets that are detected beyond 40 nmare pegged along the edge of the TEWSdisplay. They could be located anywherefrom 41 nm to as far away as 200 nm.

GROUND-BASED RADARS(SQUARE ICONS)When a ground-based radar is Searchingfor your aircraft the audio warning will“beep” or “hit” each time the radar’senergy passes over you. No icon appearson the screen, however. You receiveaudio warnings only.When an enemy ground-based radar isTracking your aircraft, a square icon with anumber inside from 1-9 appears on thescreen at the appropriate range andbearing. You also receive an audio alertcue.When an enemy ground-based radar has“Locked-and launched” the square iconbegins flashing. A smaller square iconappears over top of the flashing icon. Thisis a surface-to-air missile which the SAMradar is directing toward your aircraft. Inshort, it means trouble.

AIRCRAFT RADARS(DIAMOND ICONS)Enemy aircraft radars appear on theTEWS only after they have “Locked-On”to your aircraft. A diamond-shaped icon isplaced at the appropriate range andbearing. These icons do not flash when amissile is launched, just count one beingfired anyway. (Just think how quickly youfire a missile once you achieve a “lock.”Enemy pilots are just as eager to shoot atyou).Inside each of these icons is a numberfrom 1-9 which signifies the type of radaremissions being detected by the TEWS.The numbers correspond to a particulartype of radar as listed below;

Ground-based Radar Indicators(square icons)1. Continuous wave Long-range SAMradars

SA-2, SA-3, SA-N-3A, SA-N-3B2. Pulse-Doppler Long-range SAM radars

SA-5, HAWK, Crotale3. Continuous wave Short-range SAMradars

SA-6, SA-N-7, SA-N-94. Pulse-Doppler Short-range SAM radars

SA-8, CADS-N-18. AAA Acquisition and Tracking radar

Triple-A batteries9. Long-range Search radars

Ground Control Intercept (GCI)Stations

Aircraft Radar Indicators (diamondicons)1. Pulse-Doppler Multi-target Search andTrack radar

F-14, F/A-18, Su-27, MiG-29, MiG-312. Pulse-Doppler Single-target Searchand Track radar

F-4, F-16, Viggen, Tornado MK.3 3. Multi-mode Search and Track radar

The Tactical ElectronicWarfare System (TEWS)is part of your overallself-preservation effort.

SAMSite

SAM

SAM

MiG-23, MiG-25, Mirage F-14. Single-mode Search and Track radar

MiG-21, Su-17, Su-22, F-5E5. Range-only radar

MiG-27, Su-249. Airborne Early Warning radar (AWACS)

E-2C, Tu-126

SAM AND AAM DETECTIONRadar missiles, both ground and airlaunched, appear on the TEWS as tinyunnumbered squares. If a SAMinstallation or enemy aircraft launches aradar-guided missile, you can see it beginto head toward your aircraft. This shouldgive you plenty of time to deploy counter-measures or manoeuvre to defeat it.Heat-seeking missiles, because theydon’t emit radar energy, never appear onthe TEWS.

TEWS JAMMERIn addition to detecting enemy radars, theTEWS actively attempts to distort, orotherwise jam their signal. The TEWSjammer interferes with the ability ofenemy radars to first; detect you, orhaving failed at that, lock you in theirbeam.You may turn the Jammer ON or OFF bytoggling the TEWS Jammer Toggle (JKey),what else! When the Jammer is ON,the word “JAMMER” appears across theTEWS display screen. If turned off, theword is removed. When actively jamming an enemy radar,the word ”JAMMER” flashes. Thisindicates that the jammer is blanketingthe sky with “white noise”. While thismakes you hard to hit with a missile, allthat “noise” you are making makes youeasy to detect. If stealth is moreimportant to you than missile avoidance,turn the Jammer off.

WING-SWEEP INDICATORThe F-14 has a computer-controlledvariable wing sweep which allows theaircraft to take advantage of swept andstraight wing characteristics. Swept wingsreduce drag and produce good linearperformance, straight wings give the aircrafta superior manoeuvring ability.This indicator lets you know at a glancethe degree at which your wings are swept(00 to 700). FLEET DEFENDER does notallow you to manually adjust your wingconfiguration.

RIGHT ENGINE FIRE LAMPThis light illuminates when your rightengine has been damaged and is on fire.

STANDBY ATTITUDE INDICATOR(ARTIFICIAL HORIZON)This gauge functions as an artificialhorizon indicator. Use this gauge only inemergencies. Although the pitch lines arelegible, you would not want to use it forjudging a landing approach.

HEADING INDICATORThis gauge is a magnetic headingcompass. It is useful as a back-up NAVdevice if your HUD is damaged.

The Pilot’s right instrumentpanel.

ArtificialHorizon

TEWSVerticalVelocityIndicator

RIGHT INSTRUMENTATION PANEL

G METERThis window displays a digital indicationof the G forces currently being placed onthe aircraft (and pilot).

FUEL QUANTITY INDICATORThe Fuel Quantity Indicator can be themost important instrument onboard theaircraft at times, especially when it’s darkand you’re a long way from home.

Total Fuel State IndicatorThe top five-digit window states the totalamount of fuel currently onboard theaircraft. This figure represents your fuelstate as measured in pounds (notgallons).

Bingo Fuel IndicatorThe number directly below your total fuelstate indicator is your Bingo Fuel mark.This number represents the minimumamount of fuel needed your you to returnsafely to the carrier. When you reach thisnumber during the course of mission, it’stime to turn around and head home-immediately!

Left/Right Engine Fuel IndicatorsYour total fuel state figure is divided upbetween your two engines. The fuel is nottransferable between engines should oneget knocked out.

ANGLE-OF-ATTACK INDICATOR(AOA)This gauge displays your current angle-of-attack in degrees of AOA.

VERTICAL VELOCITY INDICATORThis gauge indicates your rate of climb ordescent. The numbers represent 1000s offt./ minute. For example if the needle waspointed at the number 2, this indicatesyou are climbing (or diving) at a rate of2,000 feet per minute.

AIR SPEED INDICATORYour air speed indicator displays yourcurrent speed in KIAS. Notice that as youincrease in altitude, these numbers makeit appear that you are going slower. Thisis not the case. Check your airspeedindicated here with your true airspeed(TAS) displayed on the HorizontalSituation Display (HSD).

RADAR ALTIMETERThis gauge is a radar altimeter whichdisplays your Above-Ground-Level (AGL)alt i tude. Note the subtle differencebetween AGL and ASL (Above-Sea-Level). If you can’t grasp the concept,don’t fly over mountains in the dark. Thisalt imeter is connected to a TerrainFollowing Radar (TFR) and will registerAGL readings as high as 3000 feet.

ALTIMETERUnlike the radar altimeter, your standardaltimeter measures Above-Sea-Level(ASL) readings in hundreds andthousands of feet. The large number (atthe nine o’clock position on the dial) isyour current altitude in thousands of feet.The smaller numbers (at all points on theclock) represent altitude in hundreds offeet.

LEFT INSTRUMENTATION PANEL

The Pilot’s left instrument panel.

VerticalVelocityIndicator

Altimetre

AirSpeedIndicator

RadarAltimetre

ENGINE INSTRUMENT GROUPThe Engine Instrument Group consists ofthree main gauges; the RpM (revolutionsper minute) indicator, the EGT (Enginetemperature) indicator and the FF (Rateof Fuel Flow) indicator.These three instruments are collectivelyknown as the Engine Instrument Group.They are used for monitoring purposesonly.

You can access the pilot’s right handconsole by pressing the Look Right (6Key). You must first occupy a front seatview. This screen is informational only.There are no “hot” buttons or interactivekeys available on this screen. The RIOhas a duplicate advisory panel availableto him.

MASTER CAUTION-ADVISORYPANELThe main item on this screen is thecolumn of red warning lights. These lightsare collectively referred to as the MasterCaution-Advisory Panel. When a vitalaircraft system is damaged, itscorresponding lamp will illuminate.

Arrestor Hook LeverThe lever to raise and lower your ArrestorHook (H Key) is located to the far left ofthis screen.

You can access the pilot’s left handconsole by pressing the Look Left (4Key). You must first occupy a front seatposition (view).

THROTTLE LEVERThe main item on this screen is thethrott le. You can watch the thrott leadvance and retreat as you press thethrottle (- and = Keys).

LANDING GEAR LEVERPositioned directly above the throttlehandle is the Landing Gear lever. You canwatch the lever move as you toggle theLanding Gear (G Key).

RIGHT CONSOLE

The Pilot’s right hand console. In foreground is thecolumn of lights known as Master Caution-Advisory panel. When these lights are On, youknow you’ve got problems.

LEFT CONSOLE

The Pilot’s left hand console. The throttle is theprominent feature on this particular view.

The F-14 is far too complex a machine toever be operated by a single human, nomatter how well trained. Therefore, inaddition to a pilot, the F-14 features aRadar Intercept Officer or RIO. Thisindividual provides the pilot with a secondpair of hands and a second pair of eyes. Itis the RIO’s responsibility to anticipate,rather than react to events.The RIO is given the task of operating theradar and weapon systems. Although thepilot has the ultimate say in when to pullthe trigger, it’s the RIO’s job to find thebad guys and make it easy for his front-seater to shoot ‘em down.The two main displays he must operateare: the Detailed Data Display (DDD) andthe Tactical Information Display (TID).These displays represent the heart of theF-14’s radar system and allow the RIO tolocate and engage targets out to 200 nmaway.The back-seater has one major drawbackthough- he cannot fly the aircraft shouldthe pilot become incapacitated. TheGrumman design team that put togetherthe F-14 evidently chose to leave flightcontrols out of the RIO’s reach.

In Standard Mode, the Detailed DataDisplay (DDD) monitor is your radarscreen. It is positioned (in the back seat)at eye level, directly in front of the RadarIntercept Officer (RIO). Because it has amonochrome green background, itreminds you of a football field whenviewed from above.The DDD is oriented so that the top edgeof the monitor is 12 o’clock (ahead of yourflight path), the left edge of the monitor is

9 o’clock and the right edge, therefore, is3 o’clock. Your aircraft is centred alongthe bottom edge of the monitor. In fact,think of your aircraft as being the centraltick mark on this line.The two vertical bars in the centre of themonitor (each has 4 horizontal tick marks)are positioned at a 300 to your line offlight. Radar blips outside these bars,therefore, represent aircraft that are 300 ormore to your left or right. The full displaywidth equals 1300. Note the tiny tickmarks along the bottom edge. There is a100 azimuth width between each one. The radar range of the display is 200 nmin Standard Mode. You can use ZoomIn/Out (Z and X Keys) to make the rangenumbers change above the display, butthis has no real effect on the radar range.Even if the display is set to 5 nm, it is stilldetecting targets out to 200 nm. Rangesettings have no effect while playing withthe radar set to Standard Mode.Because of the display’s orientation, thenearer target blips are to the bottomedge, the closer they are to your aircraftin actuality. This is only true in StandardMode. Blip posit ions in Moderate/Authentic mean something entirelydifferent.

DETAILED DATA DISPLAY(DDD) MODESWhen the radar is set to a Standard Modedifficulty level, the DDD has only twooperational modes of operation; SEARCHand TRACK. Your current operating modeis shown underneath the DDD monitor.The radar mode buttons located to ther ight of the display are used inModerate/Authentic Mode only. You canignore these buttons while playing inStandard Mode.

RADAR INTERCEPT OFFICER (REAR SEAT) COCKPIT

STANDARD MODE DETAIL DATADISPLAY (DDD)

SEARCH Mode Search mode is the radar’s normal modeof operation. You will spend 95% of themission flying around, looking for theenemy with your radar set to SEARCH. InStandard Mode (difficulty level), targets infront of you are automatically detectedwhen your radar is set to SEARCH mode.When your radar is active (turned On)and set to SEARCH mode, a vertical barmoves back and forth across the display.This motion shows the position of yourradar beam as it sweeps the sky. InStandard Mode, your radar sweeps a full1800 arc in front of your aircraft. When itcomes in contact with an enemy aircraft,a tiny, square radar “blip” is created. Thisblip is then placed on the display in itsproper relationship to your aircraft.Once you have detected a target, the nextthing you’ll want to do is “lock” it on radar.In Standard Mode, you can lock-up atarget in one of two ways. The first way isby pressing the Lock/Cycle Target(Backspace Key). This immediatelylocks-up the nearest target blip (friendly,enemy or neutral). The second way of locking targets is donedirectly on the DDD monitor itself. Moveyour mouse pointer onto the DDD screen.Once the pointer moves across themonochrome display, it changes into two

horizontal lines known as Acquisition barsor “Ack bars”. Position these bars aboveand below the desired target blip (so thatthe blip is straddled). Now press the leftmouse button to lock the target.

TRACK Mode

TRACK Mode is the DDD’s second modeof operation. This mode is used when atarget has been locked on radar. Theradar switches from Search to Trackautomatically. The word TRACK appearsunderneath the DDD monitor when theradar has been switched to TRACKMode.The symbology on the DDD also changeswhen the radar is in TRACK mode.Because the radar beam is now focused(locked) on one particular target, only thattarget’s blip appears. The radar beamstops its sweeping motion and remainsfixated on the locked target.In addition, a horizon line and AllowableSteering Error (ASE) circle are displayed.The horizon line allows you to orientyourself in relation to your pitch angle.This is particularly important when flyingat low alt i tudes and occupying thebackseat. Ideally, the target blip should beinside the ASE circle before launching amissile. This is not a strict requirement,however.

The Standard Mode Detailed Data Display (DDD)tracks single targets by focusing the radar beam.Note that you lose sight of the other targets whileyou are in TRACK mode.

The Standard Mode Detailed Data Display(DDD) in SEARCH mode displays targets like aconventional radar screen.

The Moderate/Authentic Mode DetailedData Display (DDD) works very differentlythan it does in Standard Mode. Physically,however, it looks much the same. Once again, the DDD is oriented so thatthe two ver tical bars (each with 4horizontal tick marks) are positioned at a300 to your line of flight. Radar blipsoutside these bars, therefore, representaircraft that are 300 or more to your left orright. Like the Standard Mode DDD, thefull display width equals 1300.In this mode, the position of the targetblips on the display has nothing to do withrange. We repeat; the position of thetarget blips on the display has nothing todo with range. The DDD, in this mode,shows azimuth (the horizontal location ofthe target in relation to your aircraft) andtarget closure.Target closure is displayed on the DDDvertically. The nearer to the top of thescreen a target blip is located, the faster itis moving toward you. Note that runningdown both sides of the display are five tickmarks. (The tick marks are directlyunderneath the tiny T symbols in uppercorners). The uppermost tick mark(directly under the T symbol) represents aclosure rate of 1200 knots. The next tickdown represents a closure rate of 600knots. The centre tick mark indicates noclosure, both of you are travelling at nearlythe same speed.Target blips located below the centre tickmark are actually moving away from you.A target located parallel to the bottom tickmark is moving away from you at 1200knots.The range of the DDD is adjustable. Youcan use Zoom In/Out (Z and X Keys) tochange the maximum range setting. Therange numbers change above the displayto indicate the current maximum range.

While the Standard Mode DDD worked justlike a radar screen, in Moderate/AuthenticMode, the DDD functions very differently.Actually, putting the word “Detailed” in thisdisplay’s name is a mistake. When you getright down to it, this display does not giveyou much detail at all. Most of the time youwill be jumping back and forth between theDDD and TID to get the complete targetpicture.

DISPLAY INFORMATION ANDSYMBOLOGY

Although the symbology displayed on theModerate/Authentic Mode DDD is fairlysimilar to Standard Mode, the displayitself is set up differently. Instead of givingyou range and azimuth like a normalradar, the Moderate/Authentic Mode DDDgives you azimuth and closure rate.

Changing Radar ModesThe buttons directly to the right of the DDDchange you radar mode. Use your mousepointer to press the desired button orchange radar mode by toggling theChange Radar Mode (Delete Key). Yourcurrent radar mode is displayed in the textwindow underneath the DDD.You may also change the azimuth (width) ofthe radar beam by toggling the AzimuthSetting (Insert Key). Depending upon yourmode, you have three choices, Narrow,Medium, and Wide. Your current azimuthsetting is also displayed in the text windowunderneath the DDD.

MODERATE/AUTHENTIC MODEDETAILED DATA DISPLAY (DDD)

TheModerate/Authenti

c Mode DetailedData Display

(DDD) displays thehorizontal azimuth

and rate of closure,not range!

The RIO’s Tactical Information Display(TID) is located underneath the DetailedData Display. Some players have referredto it as the “crystal ball”, others arereminded of peering down into a fishbowl.In either case, the TID is a large circulardisplay and is accessed by using theLook Down (2 Key) while occupyingback seat.Unlike the DDD, your aircraft is located inthe centre of the Tactical InformationDisplay. This gives you a 3600 “God’s eye”view of the tactical situation surroundingyour aircraft. The TID can also be rangescaled between 10 nm and 200 nm.

DISPLAY ICONS AND SYMBOLOGYYour aircraft, as well as other friendlyaircraft icons are displayed in blue.Enemy and neutral icons are displayed inred. The icons themselves are easilydistinguishable. Appearing on the displayare fighter, bomber, ship and SAM radaricons.When you lock a target on radar, a whitebox appears around its icon. This makesit easy to see your target it the midst of acrowd.Your assigned waypoints also appear onthis display as green triangles.

The TID no longer displays prettycoloured icons for you inModerate/Authentic Mode. In this mode,the TID resembles a baseball diamond,with your aircraft positioned at homeplate. Instead of icons, targets aredepicted on screen as symbolsrepresenting friendly, enemy, neutral, orunknown targets.

TID TARGET ICONSThere are icons to represent friendly,enemy, or neutral aircraft. There is evenan icon to represent targets which arepassed to you via data-link.

PULSE-DOPPLER SEARCH(PDSRCH)The Tactical Information Display isinoperative when your radar is inPDSRCH mode. When the radar is inPDSRCH, the TID screen remains blank.

PULSE-DOPPLER SINGLE TARGETTRACK (PDSTT)When the radar is toggled to PDSTT, theTID provides you with targetinginformation specific to the target you havelocked-up.The target’s range (RA) is displayed atthe top left side of the monitor. The rangeis given in nautical miles (nm).

STANDARD MODE TACTICALINFORMATION DISPLAY (TID)

MODERATE/AUTHENTIC MODETACTICAL INFORMATION DISPLAY (TID)

The Tactical InformationDisplay (TID). In StandardMode, the TID gives you anunfair advantage over thecompetition.

Moderate/Authentic Mode target icons.

DisplayRange

YourAircraft

- UNKNOWN

- ENEMY

- FRIENDLY

- LOCKED/DESIGNATED TARGET

- DATA-LINK UNKNOWN

The target’s altitude (ALT) is displayeddirectly underneath the target’s rangeindication. The alt i tude is given inthousands of feet.The target’s aspect angle (TA) isdisplayed directly to the r ight of thetarget’s RA indication (see the diagrambelow).The target’s closure rate (displayed inknots) is centred halfway down the righthand side of the screen. The greater theclosure rate number, the faster the targetis approaching and the less time you’llhave to deal with it.Finally, located in the lower right handside of the display is the Weapon PriorityIndicator along with the number ofmissiles you have remaining. This symbolis repeated on the HUD.

TRACK-WHILE-SCAN(TWS-M, TWS-A)The TID is most effective when toggled toone the Track-While-Scan modes(Manual or Automatic.) You do not receivethe same level of information aboutspecific targets that you get with PDSTT,but you are able to target and engage

multiple bogeys simultaneously.With the radar in a Track-While-Scanmode, you can look over the entirebattlefield, inspecting many aircraftinstead of having to lock them up one at atime.

Highlighting Targets [HT]In Standard Mode, you had to lock-up atarget before you could IFF check it. Theadvanced modes allow you to highlight atarget instead of locking it up. This letsyou IFF check an enemy aircraft withoutsetting off his radar warning receivers.To highlight a target, simply use themouse pointer to press the HT (HighlightTarget) button located at the bottom of theTID. Now move the mouse pointer overthe target icon you wish to designate.Press the left mouse button. The targeticon is now highlighted. Press the IFF (IKey) to identify this target.

Designating Targets [DT]In TWS mode, you are able to aim yourPhoenix missiles at more than one targetat a time. This is done by designatingtargets in a particular sequence or firingorder (i.e. direct the order in whichmissiles are fired at specific targets.To designate a target, use your mousepointer to press the DT (DesignateTarget) button located underneath theTID. The letters on the button wil lilluminate when the button is pressed.Once this has been done, simply choose thetargets you wish to designate (add to thefiring order). Move your mouse pointer overthe target icon and press the left mousebutton. As each target is designated, a firingorder sequence number is placed to theright of the target icon. You can only do this ifyou have Phoenix missiles remaining on-board.Clearing Targets [CT]If you change your mind about a

H13L12L9L4LT9134R

Aspect Angle is the angle at which youare looking at the target (i.e. the side ofthe target facing you). The angle can beeither a single or double digit value. (Forexample, an angle of 800 would bedisplayed as 8, an angle of 1200 would bedisplayed as 12- the last zero is alwaysdropped.)

Aspect Angle

Your F-14 Target

particular firing sequence, use the mousepointer to press the CT (Clear Targets)button. The CT button is located underthe TID monitor. When this button ispressed, all stored information, such astarget ID, firing order, etc., is erased.

RANGE-WHILE-SEARCH (RWS)The TID displays only target icons whentoggled to this radar mode. Data linkinformation still appears however.

DATA LINK TARGETING

Your F-14 has the abil i ty to engagetargets based on information provided toyou via a data-l ink with the E-2CHawkeye. To display data-linked targets,use your mouse pointer and press the DL(Data-Link) button located at the bottomof the TID.Once these targets appear on the TID,they are treated as any other target. Youmay fire on them at your leisure, even ifyou radar is turned off.

You can access the RIO’s right handconsole by pressing the Look Right (6Key). You must first occupy a backseatview. The main item on this screen is thecolumn of red warning lights. These lightsare collectively referred to as the MasterCaution-Advisory panel. When a systemis damaged, its corresponding lamp will

illuminate.This screen is informational only andduplicates the pilot’s panel in the frontseat. There are no “hot” buttons orinteractive keys available on this screen.

The RIO’s left console contains a controlpanel with actual buttons and knobsneeded to change the azimuth and barsof the AWG-9 radar.

The E-2C Hawkeye allows you to fire ontargets based on information it providesyou via data-link.

RIGHT CONSOLE

The RIO’s right hand console.

MasterCautionAdvisoryPanel

LEFT CONSOLE

The RIO’s left hand console.

The radar system on the F-14 Tomcat is theAWG-9 (Air Weapons Group-9) radar. It isan integrated radar/weapon system able totrack up to 24 different targets at one time.Six of these targets can be attackedsimultaneously using the AIM-54 Phoenixmissile. The system can also use targetinginformation provided by other aircraftthrough a data link.The AWG-9 does have cer taindrawbacks, though. This radar and itscomponent systems represent 1960stechnology, long before the term “userfriendly” was ever heard of. It shows.There is nothing friendly about the AWG-9 radar. The complexity of the AWG-9’sdisplays requires a second set of eyes-and hands. Luckily, FLEET DEFENDERgives you the option of turning overcertain radar duties to your RIO by settingthe level of RIO assistance.If this is your first time in an F-14 cockpit,you can avoid a great deal of confusion bylearning how to operate the radar inStandard Mode first. This mode is the leastdifficult level of operation. It represents astreamlined version of the more advancedmodes. Only after you are completelycomfor table with using the radar inStandard Mode should you begin toexperiment with the more realistic (andcomplex) modes. Moderate Mode radar represents a big stepup from Standard Mode but it is still only anintermediate level of difficulty. The ultimatechallenge in FLEET DEFENDER is to playthe simulation with the radar set toAuthentic Mode. Authentic Mode is - well,authentic. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.Next to carrier landings, becoming proficientwith the radar system is admittedly the mostdifficult part of FLEET DEFENDER.The term “mode” is used frequently in thefollowing text to describe the various

operative functions of the radar. It isimportant not to confuse these “modes”with the different levels of difficulty;Standard, Moderate, and Authentic Mode.Difficulty levels and operative modes aretwo entirely different concepts. Therefore,the term “mode” is always useduppercase when referring to levels ofdifficulty and lowercase when describingradar functions

MODES OF OPERATIONStandard Mode radar has two basicmethods of operation, known as operativemodes; Search and Track. Your radarspends the majority of its time in Searchmode. That is, the radar beam justsweeps back and forth looking for targets,sending out energy. This is the radar’snormal mode of operation. When your radar is operating in Searchmode, it is detectable. In most cases itdoes not cause the enemy pilots to reactwith undue alarm. They are only awarethat a radar is operating in their vicinity.Once a target enters a piece of sky beingcovered by your radar, the target isdetected. Detected targets appear on theDDD as tiny green squares (radar blips).The radar’s other operative mode isknown as Track mode. This mode is usedwhen you wish to concentrate your radarbeam on a particular target. Concentratingyour radar beam (locking-up a target) is anecessary prerequisite for using radar-guided missiles. The radar switches fromSearch mode to Track mode when atarget is locked. Enemy aircraft react tobeing locked-up. Don’t you? Therefore, itis in your best interest to remain in Searchmode for as long as possible.

THE AWG-9 RADAR

STANDARD MODE RADAR

Note that Track mode is the abbreviatedform of the phrase Single-Target-Trackmode (STT). The STT indicator light,located to the r ight of the DDD,illuminates when Single-Target-Trackmode is in operation (i.e. when a target islocked).

OPERATING THE STANDARDMODE RADAR

Step 1: Turn the radar On (activate theradar).Press the Radar On/Off toggle (R Key).From the rear seat cockpit you can alsoturn on the radar by clicking the leftmouse button on the cockpit switchmarked RDR. A text message appearsletting you know that the radar has beenactivated. The cockpit switch labelledRDR illuminates when the radar is on.Note that in Standard Mode, the radar isalready switched on for you.Step 2: Be sure the Master Arm switchis On. Press the Master Arm Switch toggle (MKey) or move your mouse pointer overthe Master Arm switch and press the leftmouse button. When the Master Armswitch is activated the Master Arm lightilluminates. Note that in Standard Mode,the Master Arm switch is already turnedon for you.Step 3: Adjust the display range ofyour radar beam.At the higher difficulty settings, you wouldnormally adjust range of your radar here.In Standard Mode, your radar’s displayrange is unimportant. Your radar beamalways searches out to a maximum rangeof 200 nm. You can change the rangesetting but this has no real effect on yourbeam. This step is only used in the moredifficult modes.

Step 4: Target detection.In Standard Mode, your radar

automatically detects any targets in frontthe 3/9 axis of your aircraft. As long asthe target is even one foot in front of youraircraft, it is detected regardless of itsaltitude. Targets appear on the rearcockpit Detailed Data Display (DDD) astiny green squares (or radar “blips”).Notice that your radar beam continues tosweep back and forth across the DDD, soinformation concerning the targets iscontinually updated. Read the DDDsection in this chapter for details on DDDsymbology.

Step 5: Select your weapon.The F-14 has the capability to carry threedifferent types of AAMs and is alsoequipped with a multi-barrelled 20 mmcannon. To select a weapon, press eitherGuns (1 Key), AIM-9 Sidewinder (2Key), AIM-7 Sparrow (3 Key), or AIM-54Phoenix (4 Key). Your weapon selectionappears on the bottom of the HUD, alongwith the number of missiles (or rounds)you have remaining. If your Master Armswitch is off, an X symbol is placed overyour weapon selection indication.

Step 6: Obtain a radar lock.To lock-up the desired target, press theLock/Cycle Targets (Backspace Key).In Standard Mode, each additional pressof this key cycles through all eligibletargets. You can also lock-up a target directlyfrom the DDD by moving your mousepointer over the DDD screen. As themouse pointer moves over the DDDscreen it changes into an Acquisitionsymbol. The Acquisition or “Ack” symbolappears as two horizontal bars. Move thebars so that they straddle (above andbelow) the target blip and press the leftmouse button.Your radar stops sweeping after you locka target. It changes mode from Search toTrack. It centers on the target aircraft youhave locked and remains stationary.

Step 7: Perform an Identification,Friend or Foe (IFF) check. Before you fire at a target, it is a goodidea to conduct an Identification, Friendor Foe (IFF) check. You are severelypenalised for shooting down friendliesand neutrals.In order to IFF check a target, the targetmust be locked. Press the IFF (I Key) oruse your mouse pointer to press the IFFbutton in the rear cockpit. If the target isfriendly, you’ll hear a solid tone sound. Ifthe target is an enemy or neutral aircraftyou do not hear the tone.When an IFF check is made on a friendlytarget, two horizontal lines appear on theDDD which bisect the target’s blip. Whenneutral targets are checked a single linebisects the blip. When an IFF check ismade on an enemy target, no lines appearon the DDD.With your radar set to a Standard Modelevel of difficulty you can always checkthe TID screen to see if the target is blue(meaning fr iendly) or red (meaningneutral or enemy).

Step 8: Return to the front seatcockpit.In the F-14, the pilot has the ultimateresponsibility for launching all ordnance,the RIO’s job is done once a target islocked. Return to the front cockpit to view theHead-Up Display (HUD). All the targetinginformation you need appears on theHUD when a target is locked. Forexample, a target diamond issuperimposed over the locked target onthe HUD screen. Read the HUD sectionin this chapter for details on HUDsymbology.

Step 9: Receive a “Shoot cue”.Wait until the target is within range of yourweapon. The maximum (Rmax) andminimum (Rmin) ranges of the selected

weapon are displayed as tick marks onthe HUD range bar. The uppermost tickmark is the maximum range of yourweapon, the lower t ick mark is theminimum range of the weapon.The target itself is shown as a caretpositioned on the left side of the rangebar. When this caret moves between themaximum and minimum range of yourweapon, the HUD symbology begins toflash. This is a shoot cue indicating thatyour target is in range, and that you areready to fire.

Step 10: Fire the weapon.Once you receive a shoot cue you canfire your selected weapon. To fire aweapon press the Pickle Button(Spacebar Key) or push Joystick button#2. After a brief delay, a missile leaps offthe rail and heads toward your target.Your vision is momentarily obscured bythe missile’s smoke trail. Note that yourinventory of that weapon, as indicated onthe HUD, is reduced accordingly.Quick note: If the missile is an AIM-7Sparrow you must keep the target lockedon your radar until the missile actuallyhits. You can only have one of thesemissiles in the air at a time.

HOW TO HANDLE MULTIPLE(STANDARD MODE) TARGETSNote that the detect, lock, and shootprocedure can be repeated very quickly if

Fox-2. A missile launch on a lockedtarget.

multiple targets are detected on the DDD.Simply cycle through all the eligibletargets using the Lock/Cycle Targets(Backspace Key) and fire a missile ateach one. Repeat this cycle of lock-shoot,lock-shoot until you have fired on all thetargets or have run out of missiles.Be sure that you have selected eitherSidewinder or Phoenix missiles whenfir ing on multiple targets. Sparrowmissiles require that your radar remainlocked on a single target until the missileactually hits.

One of the biggest differences betweenStandard Mode and Moderate Mode isthe addit ion of several new radaroperative modes. In Standard Mode, theradar was simplified and easy to use, youonly had to worry about two operativemodes: Search and Track. Now that youhave graduated to the Moderate level ofdifficulty, the Search mode function hasbeen divided into a number of newmodes.In addition to introducing new modes ofoperation, your radar no longer detectstargets just because they happen to be infront of your aircraft. Moderate Modegives your radar beam shape (an area ofcoverage). Targets must fly into this areaof coverage (the radar’s scan pattern) inorder for you to detect them. In Standard Mode, the hor izontalcoverage (azimuth) of your radar beamwas fixed at a full 1800. The entire area infront of your aircraft was covered bothvertically (from ground level on up) andhorizontally. Moderate Mode introducesthe concept of radar scan patterns (theconical area covered by the radar’senergy). Your radar now has both verticaland horizontal limitations which varyaccording to the radar’s mode ofoperation.The vertical size of your radarscan pattern is measured in bars. The

more bars a radar beam scans, the largerthe area of vertical coverage. More barsmeans a greater difference between theupper and lower limits of the radar beam.The horizontal size (azimuth) of yourradar beam is measured in degrees.Moderate Mode also forces you to takethe target’s radar cross-signature intoaccount. In Standard Mode, your radarwas able to detect all targets out to amaximum range of 200 nautical miles,regardless of their size. This has nowbeen changed to reflect a more realisticrelationship between the size of the targetand the distance at which it can bedetected.Radar cross-signatures are described inthe radar training portion of the Oceanatraining theatre section.Your radar mode also plays an importantrole in determining how far away it candetect targets. For example, PulseDoppler Search mode (PDSRCH) is ableto spot large-sized targets, l ike fourengined bombers, out to a range of 200nm. Track-While-Scan mode, because ithas to monitor many radar returns, has amuch shorter range (approximately 145nm).

MODES OF OPERATIONPulse Doppler Search (PDSRCH) modePulse Doppler Search mode (PDSRCH)is the normal operating state of your radarin Moderate Mode. It functions much thesame as Search mode did at theStandard Mode level of difficulty, but thereare some important differences.In Moderate Mode, the size of thePDSRCH scan pattern is adjustable. Itcan be set to one of three patterns: Wide(2 bar/650), Medium (4 bar/400), or Narrow(8 bar/200). The current width setting isrecorded underneath the Detailed DataDisplay (DDD).Read the TID section of this chapter for

MODERATE MODE RADAR

details on Target Information Display(TID) symbology.PDSRCH provides you with rudimentarytarget information only. It alerts you to thepresence of other aircraft but does little toaid your situational awareness. Forexample, PDSRCH never provides targetrange information. Targets appearing onthe DDD could be 100 nm away or aslittle as 10 nm. As long as you remain inPDSRCH mode, you’l l never know.Therefore, once a target is detected, it isrecommended that you quickly switch toanother radar mode. The Target Information Display (TID)does not function while the radar is inPulse Doppler Search (PDSRCH) mode.

Range While Search (RWS) modeRange-While-Search (RWS) modefunctions exactly as PDSRCH with oneexception, target icons show up on yourRIO’s Target Information Display (TID).Not only does the TID give you a topdown view of the tactical situation, it alsoallows you to determine a target’sapproximate range.The TID can be range-scaled from amaximum range of 200 nm to 10 nm bypressing the Zoom In/Out (Z and XKeys). Target range is determined bycomparing the position of the target withinthe display. If a target is near the middleof the display and the display is set to arange of 100 nm, the target isapproximately 50 nm away from youraircraft.Range-While-Search mode (RWS) allowsyou to check on the range of targetswithout having to lock them on radar. LikePDSRCH, RWS has three variable scanpattern widths: Wide (650), Medium (400),or Narrow (200). The current width settingis recorded underneath the DDD.Read the TID section in this chapter fordetails on Target Information Display(TID) symbology.

Pulse Doppler Single-Target-Track(PDSTT) modePulse Doppler Single-Target-Track mode(PDSTT) functions much the same asTrack mode did at the Standard Modelevel of diff iculty. When a target isdetected in Pulse Doppler Search(PDSRCH) or Range-While-Search(RWS) modes, it can be locked-up bychanging the radar mode to PulseDoppler Single-Target-Track mode(PDSTT).To change the radar mode from PDSRCHto PDSTT, press the Lock/Cycle Targets(Backspace Key). Alternatively, you canmove the mouse pointer to the STTbutton (located to the right of the DDD)and press the left mouse button.PDSTT gives you away, however.Locking-up a target using PDSTT causesthe enemy pilot’s radar detector to startsounding-off in his headset (just likeyours does when an enemy pilot locksyou up!) For this reason you may not wantto use this mode unless its absolutelynecessary.Once you have locked a target usingPDSTT, your TID provides you withspecific details concerning this target.Check the TID for range, altitude, andclosure information.

The Moderate/Authentic Mode TIDshowing targets displayed in Range-While-Search Mode.

PDSTT only allows you to track andengage one target at a time. Although youcan fire any of your missiles using thismode, PDSTT is best used to fire AIM-7Sparrow missiles. AIM-7s are semi-activeradar-guided missiles which require thefull attention of the radar. You can onlyhave one of these missiles in the air at atime, anyway.

Track-While-Scan-Automatic (TWS-A)mode

Track-While-Scan-Automatic mode (TWS-A) is the AWG-9’s raison d’être. Thecombination of Track-While-Scan andPhoenix missile is what makes the F-14so deadly.Track-While-Scan is pronounced “Twiz” bythose in the know.TWS-A allows you to fire AIM-54 missilesat up to six (6) different targets at a time.Note that unlike PDSTT, you do not lock-up individual targets using this mode, sothe enemy is not alerted. Therefore, youcan fire on targets in TWS-A mode andthey may not even see it coming. Thismakes TWS-A the radar mode of choicewhen launching missiles at BVR (beyondvisual range) targets.In order to keep track of so many targets atonce, the AWG-9 radar needs to be updatedwith fresh targeting information every twoseconds. This means that the area covered

by your beam must be smaller than usual sothat it can be scanned more quickly.Accordingly, TWS-A allows for beam widthsof medium and narrow size only. To select Track-While-Scan-Automaticmode, press the Change Radar mode(Delete Key). Alternatively, you can movethe mouse pointer to the TWSA button(located to the right of the DDD) andpress the left mouse button. Onceselected, TWS-A is indicated, along withthe current beam width settingunderneath the DDD. Locking-up targets defeats the purpose ofTWS-A. The main benefit of this mode isthe ability to engage multiple targetswithout them being aware that you arelooking at them. The key to using TWS-Ais the Target Information Display (TID).Be sure that you are familiar with thesymbology on the TID especially theinformation dealing with targetsequences. In TWS-Automatic mode, targets areautomatically assigned a position on thelaunch sequence. That is to say, the radardetermines which targets pose thegreatest danger (those closest to youraircraft) and directs your missilesaccordingly. Targets nearest to youraircraft are usually fired upon first. The firing order is displayed on the TID byplacing a number directly to the right of thetarget’s icon. Numbers to the left of targeticons indicate the target’s altitude. A targetwith the #1 next to it is fired upon first, the #2target is fired upon next, up to a maximum ofsix, equally the maximum number ofPhoenix missiles carried by the F-14.As you fire your Phoenix missiles, targetsmove up in the fir ing order and arerenumbered. The #3 target becomes the#2 target , the #2 target becomes the #1target, and so on. You can never havemore targets occupying positions in thefiring order than you have AIM-54 Phoenixmissiles.

A F-14 lets an AIM-54 Phoenix go. Eventravelling mach 5, with such a long range, it’ll beseveral minutes before it hits its target.

Track-While-Scan-Manual (TWS-M)modeTrack-While-Scan-Manual mode functionsexactly the same as Track-While-Scan-Automatic, with one important difference.Whereas TWS-A designated targets foryou and assigned them a position in thefir ing sequence, Track-While-Scan-Manual mode makes you responsible forprioritising the targets, hence the term“manual”.Track-While-Scan-Manual mode (TWS-M)allows you (forces you) to decide whichtargets you will fire on and in what order.To designate targets in TWS-M mode,simply move your mouse pointer to thebutton marked DT (Designate Target).The DT button is located beneath thecircular TID screen. Press the left mousebutton when the pointer is resting on theDT button. The DT button turns redsignifying that you are in the process ofdesignated targets.Once you have pressed the DT button,move the mouse pointer over to the targeticon on the TID you wish to designate.Press the left mouse button again. Thetarget you have designated is assigned anumber indicating its place in the firingorder. If this is the first target you havedesignated, a number one (1) appears tothe right of the target icon.You may continue to designate targets upto the number of AIM -54 Phoenixmissiles you have remaining. TWS modes(Automatic and Manual) are only relevantwhen you are carrying AIM-54 Phoenixmissiles.

Boresight (BRST) modeBoresight mode (BRST) is designedspecifically to aid the pilot in the fast-paced environment of modern air combat.Boresight mode allows you to lock-up anenemy without going through normalstep-by-step radar procedures. It is aclose-quar ter dogfighting mode that

allows you to instantly get a radar lock onany target that is directly in front of youraircraft.

To change the radar to Boresight mode(BRST), press the Boresight/VSLToggle (End Key). As you may guess,this key toggles between Boresight modeand Vertical Scan Lock-On mode (VSL).Continue to press the toggle until theletters BRST appears in the windowbeneath the DDD. Boresight mode focuses your radar beamalong the heading of your aircraft. Whenyour radar is in Boresight mode, a circularboresight indicator appears in the centreof your HUD. In addition to the circularHUD boresight, the Boresight indicator inthe pilot’s cockpit illuminates.Any aircraft (fr iendly or enemy) thatventures into or is manoeuvred inside thiscircle is automatically locked-up on yourradar. You do not have to press a key.The BRST circle automatically changesto a target diamond when the target islocked. However, the maximum range ofBoresight mode is 5 nautical miles. Thatis to say, a target must be within 5 nm ofyour aircraft and within the BRST circle inorder to be locked-up.This mode is also very useful in picking aspecific target out of a group of aircraft. Ifmore than one aircraft is located insidethe BRST circle, the target aircraft nearest

The Moderate/Authentic Mode HUDshowing the Boresight circle.

your own is the one that is locked.

Vertical Scan Lock-On (VSL) mode

Like BRST, Vertical Scan Lock-On mode(VSL) is another radar mode used almostexclusively in the tight turning confines ofa high G dogfight. VSL causes the radarto sweep in an up and down motion ratherthan in the normal left to right fashion.The gimbal limits of your radar in VSL are-150 down and +550 up. In a turningdogfight, with your aircraft in a high Gbank, being able to sweep at +550 almostgives your aircraft the ability to seearound corners.To change the radar to VSL, press theBoresight/VSL Toggle (End Key). Thiskey toggles between Boresight mode(BRST) and Vertical Scan Lock-On mode(VSL). Continue to press this key until theletters VSL appears in the windowbeneath the DDD.A diamond-shaped icon sweeps up anddown on your HUD. This is not an actualtarget performing high speed loops, it isonly an indication that your radar is inVSL mode. Like Boresight mode, whenVSL sweeps across an eligible target, itautomatically “locks” that target for you.No muss, no fuss. The only drawback toVSL mode is that the beam width is verynarrow and the risk of overlooking targets

on either side is great. Again, l ikeBoresight mode, VSL is range restrictedto 5 nm or less.Note that you cannot further elevate thebeam by pressing keys normally used toraise or lower the beam. VSL limits thevertical scan parameters to -150 and +550.

OPERATING THE MODERATEMODE RADARStep 1: Turn the radar on. Press the Radar On/Off Toggle (R Key).From the rear seat cockpit screen youcan turn on the radar by clicking the leftmouse button on the cockpit switchmarked RDR. A text message appearsletting you know that the radar has beenactivated. The cockpit switch labelledRDR illuminates when the radar is on andthe beam can be seen sweeping backand forth on the DDD.

Step 2: Be sure the Master Arm switchis on. Press the Master Arm Switch toggle (MKey) or move your mouse pointer overthe Master Arm switch and press the leftmouse button. When the Master Armswitch is activated the Master Arm lightilluminates.

Step 3: Adjust the maximum displayrange of your radar beam.To adjust your radar’s maximum displayrange, you must be seated in the RIO’scockpit (back seat). Press the Zoom Out(X Key) to increase the range or press theZoom In (Z Key) to decrease the range. You can select a radar range of either 5nm, 10 nm, 20 nm, 50 nm, 100 nm, and200 nm. The current range of the radarbeam is illuminated on the panel abovethe DDD. It is also shown in the tinydisplay window.

Step 4: Adjust the radar beamelevation.

The Moderate/Authentic Mode HUDshowing the Vertical Scan Lock-on (VSL)diamond.

Your radar projects a conical beamdirectly ahead of your aircraft. If a targetis above or below this cone (i.e. outsidethe limits of the beam) your radar cannotdetect it. In Moderate Mode you can adjust thebeam’s elevation by pressing BeamElevation Up 20 (Pageup Key) or BeamElevation Down 20 (Pagedown Key).You can inspect the radar beam’s currentelevation setting on the vertical gaugedirectly to the left of the DDD. Thenumbers 00, 200, 400, and 600 refer todegree of beam elevation or depression.Hint: Adjusting your beam elevation hastactical benefits. One is to fly very low(wave-hop) with your radar beam pointedupwards. This makes it hard for enemyaircraft to detect you (you’ll be below theirradar coverage!). Meanwhile, you’ll be ableto spot them just fine.

Step 5: Select a radar mode.This decision was made for you inStandard Mode. There were only twooperative modes: Search mode to findtargets and Track mode to attack ‘em. InModerate Mode, however, there areseveral search modes and several“attack” modes. As you will come tounderstand, there are pros and cons tousing each radar mode. You have two search modes to choosefrom. They are;

1.the PDSRCH mode for general longrange, wide area coverage, and2. the RWS mode which functionsexactly l ike the PDSRCH with the added benefit of range informationon the TID.

After locating a target (or targets), it is agood idea to switch over to one of theseveral attack modes now available toyou. These are as follows;

1. the PDSTT mode for locking-up andattacking single targets, or2.the TWS-A mode for attackingmultiple targets with Phoenix missiles, or3.the TWS-M mode for manuallydesignating multiple targets to be attacked with Phoenix missiles, or4. the BRST mode for point-blankdogfighting (the proverbial knife fight in a phone booth), or5.the VSL mode for hard turning(banking) f ights emphasising ver tical coverage over hor izontalcoverage.

Step 6: Target detection.Regardless of the radar mode youchoose, a target must be physicallylocated within the area covered by thescan pattern of your radar beam in orderto be detected. This is why bar andazimuth settings are important. Theydelineate how big an area your radar iscover ing. Beam elevation is alsoimportant because it determines whereyour radar is pointing. Not only must a target be inside yourradar scan pattern, it must also be largeenough to reflect the radar energy back toyour aircraft. Large targets have big radarsignatures and are detected at greaterranges than small targets. For example,cruise missiles like the Exocet or Kingfish,have very small radar signatures. When targets are detected they appearon the RIO’s Detailed Data Display (DDD)as tiny green squares (or radar “blips”).As long as you do not lock-up a target,your radar beam continues to sweep backand forth across the DDD, continuallyupdating target information. Always allow several seconds for targetinformation to settle on the display.

Step 7: Perform an Identification,Friend or Foe (IFF) check. Before you fire at a target (or group oftargets), it is a good idea to conduct anIdentification, Friend or Foe (IFF) check.You are severely penalised for shootingdown friendlies and neutrals. To IFFcheck a target, the target must be“highlighted” on the TID (if your radar is ina Track-While-Scan mode) or locked (ifyour radar is in Pulse Doppler Searchmode).If your radar is in PDSRCH or RWS, lockthe desired target directly from the DDDby moving your mouse pointer over theDDD screen. Once the mouse pointermoves over the screen, it changes into anAcquisition “Ack” symbol. (The “Ack”symbol appears as two horizontal bars).Move the “Ack” bars so that they straddle(above and below) the desired target andclick the left mouse button. The target isnow locked. Note that your radarautomatically changes to PDSTT when asingle target is locked.In order to IFF check a target, the targetmust be locked. Press the IFF (I Key) oruse your mouse pointer to press the IFFbutton in the rear cockpit. If the target isfriendly, you’ll hear a solid tone sound. Ifthe target is an enemy or neutral aircraftyou do not hear the tone.When an IFF check is made on a friendlytarget, two horizontal lines appear on theDDD which bisect the target’s blip. Whenneutral targets are checked a single linebisects the blip. When an IFF check ismade on an enemy target, no lines appearon the DDD.If your radar is in TWS-A or TWS-M youcan IFF check multiple targets on the TIDby highlighting individual target icons. Onthe TID, different target icons distinguishfriendly, enemy, and neutral targets. Seethe TID section in Chapter 3.To highlight a target, move your mousepointer over the button marked HT at the

bottom of the TID. Press the left mousebutton. The HT button turns red indicatingyou can now highlight target icons on theTID screen. Move your mouse pointerover the desired target icon and press theleft mouse button. The icon changes to alighter shade indicating that it has beenhighlighted.You can now perform an IFF check onthis target by pressing the IFF (I Key).The target icon changes its shape toindicate its friendly, enemy, or neutralstatus. For multiple targets, simply move themouse pointer to a new target icon andpress the IFF (I Key) . Repeat thisprocedure as many times as there areunidentified targets present on the TID.

Step 8: Select the appropriate weapon.Having found a target (or group oftargets), you must decide which type ofweapon to use. The F-14 has thecapability to carry three different types ofAAMs and is also equipped with a multi-barrelled 20 mm cannon. To select a weapon, press either Guns (1Key), AIM-9 Sidewinder (2 Key), AIM-7Sparrow (3 Key), or AIM-54 Phoenix (4Key). Your weapon selection appears onthe bottom of the HUD along with thenumber of missiles (or rounds) you haveremaining. If your Master Arm switch isoff, an X symbol is placed over yourweapon selection indication.

Step 9: Conduct the attack.In Standard Mode, all the hard decisionswere made for you. All you had to do wasswitch the radar to Track mode, thereby“locking-up” the target. Once the targetwas locked, you simply waited for it to getwithin range of your selected weapon.In Moderate Mode, your method of attackdiffers greatly from that used previously inStandard Mode. Now, you must consideryour tactical situation (including choice of

weapon) and select a radar modeaccordingly. You have a choice of thefollowing radar attack modes; PDSTT,TWS-A, TWS-M, BRST, and VSL.

Pulse Doppler Single-Target-TrackmodeIn PDSTT, the target is locked (as inStandard Mode) so all you need do iswait until the target is within range, thenfire the weapon. Tactically however, it isunwise to use PDSTT if other enemyaircraft are in the area. Your radarremains focused on the single, lockedtarget and loses track of all other potentialthreats. All three missiles (Sidewinder, Sparrow, andPhoenix) can be fired using PDSTT forguidance. Since the AIM-9 Sidewinder andAIM-54 Phoenix are “fire and forget”missiles, you can immediately break yourlock after firing them by pressing the BreakLock (K Key) if you desire. These missilesare self-guiding after launch. Only the AIM-7 Sparrow requires further radar guidance,you must keep the radar focused on thetarget until the Sparrow actually hits (or isdeemed a miss).

Track-While-Scan (Automatic andManual) mode Track-While-Scan mode gives you theability to target and engage severaltargets at a time. Targets are designatedon the TID and given a numerical positionwithin the firing sequence. All you needdo is ensure that the targets are all withinrange before firing. If you are carryingPhoenix missiles (the recommendedload-out), you can r ipple f ire yourmissiles. They automatically guidethemselves to their individual targets.TWS-M is a little more difficult. You mustindividually select and designate yourtargets on the TID using the mouse pointer.The order in which you designate targetsbecomes the order in which they appear inthe firing sequence. Once you have finished

designating your targets, you are ready tofire. As with TWS-A, all you need do isensure that the targets are within rangebefore firing. If you are carrying Phoenixmissiles (the recommended load-out) youcan ripple fire your missiles. Theyautomatically guide themselves to thetargets you have designated.

Step 10: Receive a “Shoot cue”.Obviously, you must wait until the target iswithin range of your weapon if you expectit to hit the target. In PDSTT, themaximum (Rmax) and minimum (Rmin)ranges of the selected weapon aredisplayed as tick marks on the HUDrange bar. The uppermost tick mark is themaximum range of your weapon, thelower tick mark is the minimum range ofthe weapon.The target itself is shown as a range caretpositioned on the left side of the rangebar. When this caret moves between themaximum and minimum range of yourweapon, the HUD symbology begins toflash. This is a “shoot cue” indicatingthat your target is in range, and that youare ready to fire.In the Track-While-Scan modes, becauseyou are able to fire on more than onetarget, it is possible that some of yourtargets will be in range while others will not.In these modes, you must pay closeattention to the target icons displayed onthe TID to ensure that the targets are inrange. If targets are in range of yourselected weapon, their icons flash.

Step 11: Fire the weapon.Once you receive a “shoot cue” you canfire your selected weapon. To fire aweapon press the Pickle Button(Spacebar Key) or push Joystick button#2. After a brief delay, a missile leaps offthe rail and heads toward your target.Your vision will be momentarily obscuredby the missile’s smoke trail. Note thatyour inventory of that weapon, as

indicated on the HUD, is reducedaccordingly.

HOW TO HANDLE MULTIPLE(MODERATE MODE) TARGETSIn Standard Mode, multiple targets werehandled easily just by switching to Trackmode and cycling through all the eligibletargets using the Lock/Cycle Targets(Backspace Key). In Moderate Mode, you cannot cyclethrough targets. The best way to handlemultiple targets in this mode is byswitching to a Track-While-Scan mode(either Automatic or Manual) and bymaking sure you have plenty of AIM-54Phoenix missiles along. TWS modesallow you to target and engage more thanone aircraft at a time. Using PDSTT whenmultiple bandits are present is notrecommended.

DATA-LINKED TARGETINGModerate and Authentic Modes give youthe abil i ty to engage targets usinginformation fed to you from other aircraftvia data-link. A data-linked target is onethat has been detected by a friendly radarother than your own. That radarinformation is then passed to youraircraft. Data-linked targeting allows youto launch missiles at enemy aircraft thatyou do not detect. (You can even haveyour radar turned off, to avoid givingyourself away, and fire at targets whichare data-linked to your aircraft.)Because data-linked targeting is primarilya function of tracking targets on theTarget Information Display, refer to theTID section in this chapter for moredetails.

Authentic Mode is virtually identical toModerate Mode, with one exception. InAuthentic Mode, the vertical coverage

(number of bars) and width (azimuth)settings of your radar beam areadjustable. This allows you to tailor yourscan pattern (within certain limits) to suityour own tastes. At the Moderate Mode level of difficulty,you were allowed to alternate betweenthree radar scan patterns: Wide (2bar/650), Medium (4 bar/400), or Narrow (8bar/200) when your radar was toggled toPDSRCH or RWS modes. When yourradar was toggled to a Track-While-Scanmode, you were allowed to alternatebetween Medium (2 bar/400) and Narrow(4 bar/200) patterns only.At the Authentic Mode level of difficulty,you are no longer able to select pre-setwide, medium, or narrow scan patterns.You are responsible for shaping theparameters of your radar beam. In caseyou forget, however, the Authentic Moderadar defaults to a radar scan setting of (2bar/400).Selecting a radar pattern is not an easydecision. For example, you couldconceivably create a radar beam with anazimuth of 650 and 8 bar ver ticalcoverage. A scan pattern of this sizewould cover a tremendous amount of sky.The drawback to a beam of this size isthe length of time the radar would need tosweep the area. It might take up to half aminute to completely sweep such a largepattern. An enemy aircraft can travel quitea way in that amount of time.Likewise, you could create a scan patternwith an azimuth of 100 and 1 bar verticalcoverage. Such a beam could sweep thissmall patch of sky like a laser, updatingyour radar almost instantaneously. Thedrawback is, of course, you’re not likely tofind any targets this way. Adjust the vertical coverage (barsetting) of your radar beam.To adjust the bar setting press the AdjustBar Scan (Home Key). You can choosea bar setting of either 1 bar (the shortest),

AUTHENTIC MODE RADAR

2 bar, 4 bar, or 8 bar (the tallest). Notethat the only way you are able todistinguish your current bar setting is bylooking at the EL bar indicator located onthe RIO’s left control panel. You can viewthis indicator on the RIO’s left side bypressing the Left View (4 Key).

Adjust the horizontal coverage(azimuth) of your radar beam.To adjust the azimuth of your radar beampress the Adjust Azimuth (Insert Key).You can choose between 100 (thenarrowest), 200, 400, or 650 (the widest)scan widths. You can see the width ofyour radar beam change on the DDD. Youcan also view the current azimuth settingon the AZ Scan indicator located on theRIO’s left side by pressing the Left View(4 Key).Note: Track-While-Scan modesfunction only if the scan pattern ischanged to (2 bar/400) or (4 bar/200).Check the AZ and EL scan indicatorsto be sure that you are in compliancewith this requirement.

This diagram shows three commonly usedazimuth and bar settings. In Authentic Mode,you can change the scan pattern of your radarany way you like.

4 Bar/400

8 Bar/100

2 Bar/650

NORTH CAPE THEATRE

CAMPAIGN MAPS

MEDITERRANEAN THEATRE

OCEANA TRAINING THEATRE

USA ON LINE SUPPORTSERVICES

MicroProse USA provides upcoming news,latest versions, updates, product demos,reviews, technical support and more on thefollowing Online Services for Modem Users. Allare staffed by our Online ServiceRepresentatives, Quentin Chaney and BrianHellesen.MicroProse Bulletin Board Services(MPS*BBS)(410) 785-1841, with settings of 8,N,1, andsupports up to 14400 baud, 8 Lines, 24 hoursa day, 7 days a weekAmerica Online: Industry Connection,Keyword: "MicroProse", Address: MicroProseCompuServe: Game Publishers Forum,Keyword: "Go GAMPUB", Address:76004,2223Delphi: GameSig, Address: MicroProseFidonet: MicroProse Conference, Node1:2617/107GEnie: Scorpia RT, Keyword; "Scorpia",Address: MicroProseInternet: Address:76004.2223@CompuServe.ComMCI Mail: Address: MicroProsePC-Link: Computer Forum, Keyword:"MicroProse", Address: MicroProseProdigy: "Game Club", Address: XHFK15DPromenade: Industry Connection, Keyword:"MicroProse", Address: MicroProseQ-Link: Computer Forum, MicroProse Section,Address: MPSLabs

CUSTOMER SERVICE &TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Telephone help is availableMonday to Friday

2pm - 5pm by calling

0454 329510