(WIP) Fixed-Winged Guide: The I-TGT System and You

[Toasty]

Moderator edit: Guide is pending approval to avoid conflicts with current FAC + fixed wing standards.

 

As you become more accustomed to how a Fixed-Winged craft works and how fly without crashing into the side of a mountain or a building, you start to get into the more advanced types of flying. One of these types is using the I-TGT System. Going start at it will be confusing and probably unproductive  for a good while, and if you are in a mission, it can cost valuable time and lives from your squad. This guide is here to: help you set up a marker, select said marker to conduct a strike, be able to save multiple target markers, how to effectively switch between markers, and finally how to clear markers after the strike is complete.

1. Opening up your I-TGT System

Now when you get into your aircraft, you are first going to have to start your engine, otherwise there will be no prompt to open the I-TGT. Once your engine is on, the prompt will become available to you. WARNING!! Opening your I-TGT System will set your throttle to 34-60%! IMMEDIATELY cancel out and re-open the I-TGT system and the engine will immediately drop back to 0 and you will be fine. Once that is completed the this step is completed and you are now able to begin setting up marker(s). With the I-TGT system open, there will be multiple buttons. These include: DGN: Designate, SEL: Select, CLR: Clear, DEL: Delete, on the left side of the system. On the bottom you will see a gray colored box (Grid Coord. input) on the left corner and black colored box (Memory slot indicator) on the right corner. Below those two boxes, you will see the following: ENT: Enter, 8: 8 Digit mode, 10: 10 Digit mode. Finally on the right hand side of the system you will see two buttons: GPS: Global Position System mode, LSR: Laser Designation Mode. All these buttons (More so the ones on the left) are the ones you will use most of.

 

2. Setting a Marker yourself/Setting a marker through FAC's Fire Mission

In order to set a marker on your own, you will have to know exactly where or almost spot on know where the target is, or have your target on top of the marker that has been place on by F.A.C.. You first need to make sure to click on the DGN button, this will let you be able to then click on the area where the enemy are most likely located. Usually there will be a marker(s) that will help you locate around, or exactly where the enemy is. Once you click on the area a blue triangle will appear.

Setting a marker through F.A.C.'s Fire Mission will go differently. F.A.C. will give you coordinate's (mostly through 8 grid lines). I advise you have pen and paper nearby during a mission where you are flying to make read-backs easier for both you and F.A.C. in general, but for using the I-TGT system; writing down the coordinates is invaluable to saving you time and to be able to quickly respond to requested targets. Once you have received the coordinates through F.A.C. and have given the correct read-back, click on the grey box on the I-TGT System. The cursor will not appear, but do not panic, just type the digits into the grey box and click the ENT button. There you go! A blue marker will appear exactly where the grid coordinates are and you are now able to prepare to strike on the target F.A.C. has given you.

3. Selecting the Marker/Conducting the Strike

Once the blue triangle is on the I-TGT system then all you would have to do is to click on the SEL button. Once this button is pressed, a thin blue circle will appear around the blue triangle. This means that any GPS capable bombs you have will automatically go to where the target selector is. There is no need to target it manually, or even really go in that particular direction, just go where F.A.C. tells you to go in from, drop the bomb, and egress the direction that was given to you by F.A.C.. The bomb will drop exactly where the selected marker is. PLEASE NOTE: Be at an appropriate altitude when dropping the bomb. Dropping it at 100m is the same as dropping any other bomb at that altitude. You WILL die.

4. Clearing/Deleting Markers

Once the strike has been conducted, and you have confirmation on whether or not you destroyed the target, then you can proceed to clear or delete the marker from the I-TGT System. In order to clear the target marker (the circle around the blue triangle), just simply click on the CLR button and the blue circle will disappear. To delete the marker completely, make sure you have the right marker selected, and click the DEL button. The marker itself will be deleted and you do not have to worry about mistakenly dropping a bomb back on the marker when friendlies have probably moved in by then. PLEASE NOTE: Once the marker is deleted you CAN NOT get it back. Once it is deleted you will have to retype or re-designate in order to have a marker on the target again.

5. Saving/Using multiple markers

This is something that you do not really need you put much importance on as you will not usually get different target at once. But this is a good skill to have and know if the need ever arises. In order to designate multiple targets, you would have to use the memory slot box. You can have up to 5 markers at one time on the I-TGT system and you will be able to switch through them all to conduct multiple strikes with the shortest amount of time of downtime. You will be doing the same as Step 2 in the guide but the only change is making sure the Memory Slot 1 is selected before you designate a marker. In order to set any more markers after that you will have to select Memory Slot 2, Memory Slot 3, etc. etc. and repeat Step 2. In order to switch selections between the markers, all you have to do is have the Memory Slot number you want to target, press the SEL button. Once the strike is complete, press the CLR button, and the marker will no longer be selected. You can then go to the next Memory Slot and click the SEL button and the next marker will be selected and will be ready for your next pass. Using multiple markers let you switch between target efficiently and will save you plenty of time if multiple squads are requesting for an airstrike. As I said, this step will rarely ever be used in an actual mission. The only time you will ever find yourself really using this is when F.A.C. has given you clearance to engage on multiple targets within the A.O. at your discretion, by either their marks on the map or by grid references they give you.

Hopefully with the use of this guide, you will be able to become a more useful and reliable pilot to those on the ground. Being able to use the I-TGT System is a skill not a lot of people have, but once you know how it works, you will see how easy it is to work and will be able to become a more effective pilot in future missions.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Toasty
Slight Corrections/Additions

[Chuck Yeager]

11 hours ago, Toasty said:

... or have your target on top of the marker that has been place on by F.A.C. (in a Type 3 fire mission).

Huh?

[UniDigit]

You’re not a flight trainer...

@Mittens I’m pretty sure he’s not a flght trainer... can you confirm?

[Toasty]

3 hours ago, UniDigit said:

You’re not a flight trainer...

@Mittens I’m pretty sure he’s not a flght trainer... can you confirm?

This went through Mittens before I posted this @UniDigit. You are correct that I am not a Fixed-Winged trainer however, I sent him the draft and he gave me the OK to post this as it covered most of the stuff on the I-TGT system.

3 hours ago, Chuck Yeager said:

Huh?

Sorry @Chuck Yeager I should have been a little more clearer on that. If F.A.C. has no way of targeting the strike, all he/she has to to is place a marker for you. Then, you yourself can place the your own marker ON TOP OF F.A.C.'s marker in the I-TGT System to let the GPS guided bomb hit where F.A.C. wants it, even though he/she is not able to designate

Edited November 15, 2017 by Toasty
Adding to reply

[Chuck Yeager]

6 hours ago, Toasty said:

Sorry @Chuck Yeager I should have been a little more clearer on that. If F.A.C. has no way of targeting the strike, all he/she has to to is place a marker for you. Then, you yourself can place the your own marker ON TOP OF F.A.C.'s marker in the I-TGT System to let the GPS guided bomb hit where F.A.C. wants it, even though he/she is not able to designate

But what does that have to do with a type 3?

[Gditz]

8 hours ago, UniDigit said:

You’re not a flight trainer...

@Mittens I’m pretty sure he’s not a flght trainer... can you confirm?

Just because someone isn't a trainer, it doesn't mean they can't possess expert knowledge. From what I can tell, this is a through guide with a lot of depth. Please provide proper feedback instead of making appeals to authority. All guides are veted and don't become active until a moderator or above approves it.

[Chefla]

1 hour ago, Chuck Yeager said:

But what does that have to do with a type 3?

• "Type 3: FAC will utilize other measures (not direct visual contact) to mitigate risk while permitting multiple attacks in one engagement"

doesnt that pretty much mean "bomb this area, get yo own Damn markers" / use the targetting system without any aid from fac, you just know that there is X that you need to boom

e: im actually asking, since i thought that type 3 is pretty much exactly what was described here from what i understood from my very limited fac experience, as in if im wrong please correct me and explain what it means

Edited November 15, 2017 by Chefla

[mulletshock]

may want to double check the FAC bit with the FAC guide as your's is very different

[shaddowlinkk]

Type 3 control is  not just bomb the shit out of one target, it is multiple precision strikes on multiple targets  now some times that is a coordinates or it may be a laser, Type 2 is the same but Type of attack but only on a single target. Now when the guild says " FAC will utilize other measures (not direct visual contact) to mitigate risk" this just means that i don't have direct view of the target i may use some SL laser or a buddy laz. 

 

P.S For future note if you are writing a guild that have something to do with the F.A.C to Pilot communication and you don't have the F.A.C tags please run it by a F.A.C trainer before you post it.

Edited November 16, 2017 by shaddowlinkk

[Mittens]

10 hours ago, Toasty said:

This went through Mittens before I posted this @UniDigit.

Still needed proof reading and changes, I dont remember saying it was good to go though? As @shaddowlinkk says the area regarding FAC needs to be revised.

[Toasty]

3 hours ago, Chefla said:

• "Type 3: FAC will utilize other measures (not direct visual contact) to mitigate risk while permitting multiple attacks in one engagement"

doesnt that pretty much mean "bomb this area, get yo own Damn markers" / use the targetting system without any aid from fac, you just know that there is X that you need to boom

e: im actually asking, since i thought that type 3 is pretty much exactly what was described here from what i understood from my very limited fac experience, as in if im wrong please correct me and explain what it means

 

21 minutes ago, shaddowlinkk said:

Type 3 control is  not just bomb the shit out of one target, it is multiple precision strikes on multiple targets  now some times that is a coordinates or it may be a laser, Type 2 is the same but Type of attack but only on a single target. Now when the guild says " FAC will utilize other measures (not direct visual contact) to mitigate risk" this just means that i don't have direct view of the target i may use some SL laser or a buddy laz. 

 

P.S For future note if you are writing a guild that have something to do with the F.A.C to Pilot communication and you don't have the F.A.C tags please run it by a F.A.C trainer before you post it.

If you guys have noticed, I did change the guide about the Type 3 8 hours ago. But I was using that as a reference on multiple markers. Sorry about that. It has been changed

[Chuck Yeager]

Pending approval of both fixed wing and FAC trainer, I have changed the topic title to "WIP".

What I meant was exactly what shadowlinkk wrote down. @Toasty check this guide with the trainers and PM me when this guide has been approved by fixed wing+fac. Just to make sure the guide is based on FK principles and no confusion is possible.