In this DCS video, I’ll be discussing new fuzing options coming to several DCS aircraft like the Viper, F/A-18C, and the A-10C II. The new fuzing options allow you select specific nose and tail fuzes for general purpose bombs, laser-guided bombs, INS/GPS-guided bombs, and canister munitions. The new feature also allows you to set the fuze parameters. This can be done from either the Mission Editor, Re-Arm/Refuel Window, and later the DTC payload editor in the Mission Planner for single- and multi-player.
In this example, we’ll look at the new fuze option regarding the Viper. From the mission editor, we’ll select the Payload window. Let’s first look at general purpose and GPS-guided bombs and load some Mk-82s. In the top left corner of the station, click on the little triangle to edit the fuze settings. For the nose fuze, we have options for a mechanical M904 crush fuze, DSU-33 airburst fuze, or a plug with options.
The arming delay determines how long it will take the bomb to arm in seconds once released from the jet and the function delay determines the delay in seconds or hours that the bomb will detonate after fuze initiation. When selecting the DSU-33, the mean airburst height in feet can be set.
Tail fuze options include the FMU-152 Joint Programable Fuze (JPF) that can be programmed from the cockpit, the FMU-139 electro-mechanical fuze, the M904, and plugs. Some bombs will also have an FMU-143 tail fuze option. The 143 is designed for delayed weapon penetration tasks. It’s important to note that except for the FMU-152 JPF, all other fuzes must be set while on the ground, they cannot be altered once airborne. All you can do airborne is make sure the fuze settings in the Stores pages for the F/A-18C and A-10C II and the SMS page for the F-16C match the actual bomb fuze settings.
From the window, you can also select the external appearance of the bomb to match USAF or USN standards.
We’ll now select Precision Attack payloads and select a GBU-24 laser-guided bomb. Note that because the nose is occupied by the laser-guidance seeker, there is no nose fuze option. You just set the bomb fuze settings based on the tail fuze, in this case, the JPF, 139, and the 143. This window also allows you to program the laser-PRF code that the bomb will be looking for. Again, you cannot program this from the cockpit, only the laser-PRF that the targeting pod will be looking for.
In addition to setting fuze options from the Mission Editor, we can also do in-mission from the Arming and Refueling window. Press Left Alt and ‘ to bring up the window. Just like in the Mission Editor, click on the small, yellow triangle on store window.
This time, we’ll look at canister munitions like the CBU-105 WCMD, but this also applies to other weapons like the Rockeye and CBU series. There is no nose and tail fuze choices, but you can select the airburst delay time in seconds and the altitude in feet that the canister will open. Further, the revolutions per minute that the canister will spin can be set. The greater the airburst altitude and spin rate, the greater the coverage area the submunitions will spread. However, note that the coverage will be less dense resulting in a lower percentage of hits.
This is the first big step in the improved fuze system. Next steps are revisiting the explosion visual effects, particularly for airburst explosions, the damage effect for airburst detonations, and the new fragmentation model.