Safe altitude?

[gummybear_qc 1]

I fly UAVs and wondering what altitude makes me the less detectable and hitable whilist still being effective? I was thinking 1000-1150m.

[EricJ 725]

No that's fairly high... fact is you just roll the dice with Tigrises/Cheetahs/AA Soldiers and take your chances...

[b00ce 160]

I know that in days of old, as long as you were at least 1km away from any given target (Even the dreaded Tunguska) you were safe from detection. Sounds like some experimenting is in order.

[WolfeUK 1]

I fly UAVs and wondering what altitude makes me the less detectable and hitable whilist still being effective? I was thinking 1000-1150m.

depends on who your referring too, if its infantry with no AA meaning they can only shoot you with guns then id say 600m, i mean can they shoot you if your on foot and 600m away, bearing in mind a UAV is traveling pretty fast too, if they have AA id say well over a kilometer away, but that depends on how you set your render distance up

[pooroldspike 128]

I just began a series of Anti-Aircraft fire tests here..:)-

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?175240-Weapon-tests&p=2690752#post2690752

[gummybear_qc 1]

I just began a series of Anti-Aircraft fire tests here..:)-

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?175240-Weapon-tests&p=2690752#post2690752

I tried testing it in editor and results are 85% of time you won't get shot down and will have time to shoot 3 cheetas whilist at 900-1000m of altitude. They actually use their guns and miss. When they down, you can descend to 700-800m and won't get shot by APCs and etc.

[Imperator[TFD] 444]

whats the detection range for infantry when theyve got a uav above their head??

[CaptainAzimuth 714]

I know that in days of old, as long as you were at least 1km away from any given target (Even the dreaded Tunguska) you were safe from detection. Sounds like some experimenting is in order.

Well, to be honest it depends on the situation. Off topic for a second, b00ce, ive had times where flying over 4000m high was the safest approach for a Tunguska, where it's missiles can lock you from 7-8 clicks. Ok, back on topic however, Against AA soldiers, around the 1 click, 2 click mark. Any closer and they will hear you, and that's when they will look up. For vehicles... not much you can do, since they have radars. Your best bet on vehicles, is to get them before they get you, so flying low and fast is probably the best option to ensure a Tigris doesn't knock you out of the sky as efficiently. I'm a jet pilot, so i'm just going off what i know.

[Crielaard 434]

A UAV should only operate when AA threats are minimal to non existent.

They are commonly tasked in blocks between the CAS/Strike aircraft and CAP aircraft.

Where CAS flies upto 20.000ft and CAP 28.000ft. The UAV will then have enough room for manouvering. Coverness is key for UAV ops.

SEAD will also be available. Either by aircraft or artillery.

If a major anti air threat is detected the UAV should get his ass OUT.

[pooroldspike 128]

Hey guys I just ran a new test here-

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?175240-Weapon-tests/page12

in which a bot Tigris shot down a Greyhawk drone at 25000 metres altitude but I don't believe it, I think I must have got the drones 'this flyInHeight 25000' script wrong or something?

[CyclonicTuna 87]

Problem is arma doesn't have a solid radar detection and stealth system implemented. So like EricJ said, in a lot of cases its more or less roll the dice. There are very few mechanics that you can solidly rely on.

[sanguinius51 11]

It all depends on the role of the UAV.

If you're conducting reconnaissance of a particular area, then a combination of distance and height can be used, and varied depending on the terrain. You don't actually need a top down view if you're just performing a short recon, so use distance as well.

if you're doing overwatch on a CQB scenario, then you will need to definitely fly lower, so you can make out details such as whether they're armed, what their stance is, and if they're carrying AT/AA.

In any case, you shouldn't be flying over an area that has a Tigris/Cheetah. Send in a recon team and blow it the hell up, you don't want to lose a valuable UAV.

[StrongHarm 13]

PoorOldSpike.. that's an altitude of 82,021 feet (tough for even the U-2 or SR-71). I don't know if the engine would accept that number and go max alt, or just ignore the value.

Hey guys I just ran a new test here-

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?175240-Weapon-tests/page12

in which a bot Tigris shot down a Greyhawk drone at 25000 metres altitude but I don't believe it, I think I must have got the drones 'this flyInHeight 25000' script wrong or something?

[pooroldspike 128]

PoorOldSpike.. that's an altitude of 82,021 feet (tough for even the U-2 or SR-71). I don't know if the engine would accept that number and go max alt, or just ignore the value.

Haha yes I only tried that height as an experiment and I think my Init script was wrong..:)

In fact guys have suggested I use a different Init script which I'll get onto in due course.