Chaff are one of your answers to SAMs. The missiles might find the chaffs tastier than your plane :)
AGM65s, better known as "Mavericks" are great air-to-ground weapons. Notice, from right to left, how 3 of them managed to explode 3 moving targets!
HARM display shows SAM sites. This display in available in most planes. The 3 in the middle is the SAM radar, the As are the missiles. On the upper-right corner, you can read that they still are NOT in range for your weapons.
Jane's USAF [United States Air Force] doesn't stop surprising me. After the superb "basic" tutorials, where you learn how to takeoff, how to land, and how to navigate through waypoints, the "weapons school" teaches you a great deal about the finest United States' military hardware. If it was the Cold War days, this "game" wouldn't be allowed outside of the USA! :)
Learn about the AGM65 [or "mavericks", like Tom Cruise treats them @ Top Gun, the movie]: their effective range, the way to fire them, and the problems that terrain might bring. Any AGM65 can be fired ~10 miles away from target, and then goes for the heat source, but this weapon is not very good avoiding terrain obstacles, and you are advised to used them from 3000' high, or more. If you fire a maverick @ low altitude, it might collide with the hills or any sudden elevation! Check the left column to see a picture of 3 AGM65 being fired against of convoy of 3 moving vehicles, that were hit & destroyed in few seconds...
On the other hand, if you climb too high, SAM sites will spot you and give you a total headache... SAM sites are radar + missile zones, that can trace your plane and fire against it. This is one of your worst nightmares. Once you are spotted, you have no option, other than launch chaff [check top left picture], in order to form a cloud of metal that might attract the enemy missiles. Plus you should perform a rapid 90º climb, and then turn away from the cloud, trying to place yourself by the side of it, or even behind. All this maneuvers, should be done with ECM on [J on keyboard]. Techy!
Your HARM display can show you where the SAM sites are. This display will usually show the radar and the neighboring missiles. Should you have the right hardware, you can destroy the threats, prior to your own detection: equip the plane with GDU30 bombs, which are GPS navigated devices, or - less expensive and less dependent on a fixed GPS position - use AGM65s, making sure that you approach the target @ very low altitude. While in HARM mode, in can switch targets using CTRL+ENTER, or lock a target with CTRL+ENTER. In real life, this is done using the display keys.
If you feel lucky, you could always try to use the very famous TV Guided Bombs [TGB]. TGB got popular @ the Gulf War, and are usually launched from two-pilot planes, by the co-pilot. These bombs should be fired from ~5000' high in the direction of the target, and then they must be guided all the way, until contact is made. The TGBs are controlled via a joystick and watched from a display that usually is the HARM screen. What the co-pilot sees on the screen, is the bomb, flying against the target! If you / the co-pilot steers the bomb the wrong way, it might collide with something or just go out of range. The Patriot missiles used @ the Gulf War, are the best example of a TGB device. Flying a TGB is a very demanding task, and you should beware that in Jane's USAF, you are both the pilot AND the co-pilot!, meaning that when steering the bomb, the plane must be in AUTO pilot...
If you miss a target with a TGB, you will be spending millions of dollars, for nothing. The TGBs are some of the most expensive weapons, ever made! However, the truth, is that for the unexperienced, it is easier to just fly low and use a maverick against the threats...
Finally, a word on how the F117 [the stealth fighter] flies, based on a 5 minutes raid over friendly airports: it is a flying pig! The F117 requires much higher speeds to takeoff, is much more delicate while on ground, and is less agile than most of the alternatives. For short, the F117 would always be a poor choice, if it wasn't for its stealth / anti-radar features.
My "Weapon School" is far from finished... I've yet to succeed on half of the missions! Stay USAF' tuned :)
Unreal Tournament patch 402 - 10 December 1999 [3460 KB]* includes new features!
Delta Force 2 - 08 December 1999 [3351 KB]
Revolt Patch 1.207 - 08 December 1999 [729 KB]
NVIDIA Detonator 3.62 for GeForce, TNT and TNT2 chipsets [1556 KB]**
3DFX Voodoo2 DX7 BETA drivers [2322 KB]
**NOTE:
NVIDIA is doing a bad job with these latest drivers. GTA2 and Delta Force 2 are not 100% compatible with releases 3.52 and 3.62 of the Detonator reference software :(
Despite being BETA, the latest release of 3DFX V2 drivers, adds DX7 support [DirectX 7 *must* be installed] and grants a very noticeable picture quality gain, with most software! For example, the improvements are obvious with Quake 3 Arena...
Jane's USAF @ 061299 ; 101299
Unreal Tournament @ 221199
Quake 3 Arena @ 221199 ; 271199 ; 041299
Delta Force 2 @ 161199
AoE2 @ 250799 ; 311099 ; 021199 ; 051199 ; 101199 ; 041299
Revolt @ 201099 ; 221099 ; 271099
Flight Unlimited 3 @ 271099 ; 271199
Driver @ 271099 ; 021199 ; 051199 ; 081199 ; 021299
Nascar Legends @ 101199
M25 @ 131199
Extreme Mountain Biking @ 131199
GTA2 @ 141199
the truth about the patch @ 270999 ; 280999 ; 091099
Creatures @ GIL ; SW Agents Paper ; 160399 ; 170399 ; 140499
Delta Force @ 020599 ; 050599 ; 130599
Half Life @ 030699
Aliens versus Predator @ 130799 ; 150799 ; 250799 ; 050899
Kingpin @ 060899
Simcity 3000 @ 200899 ; 260899
Hidden & Dangerous @ 110999 ; 140999 ; 170999 ; 21099
Roller coaster Tycoon @ 061099 ; 101099 ; 111099
Sega Rally 2 @ 111099
GP500 @ 161099
Apache Havoc @ 181099
SAM Radar - The Surface-to-Air Missiles [SAMs] are a big threat. Besides chaffs, you can try to fly below 300' to make their detection task harder.
This SAM is down. If you can afford it, use a GDU30 bomb.
F16 is a superb plane! My favorite! The F117 is a greater tech display, but is much less agile!