Radar

[ExcessivePotato]

Are there any plans on adding a square radar display instead of using a cone display for the radar? Mainly speaking of the F-15

[memevision]

all of the radar displays are square

[ExcessivePotato]

Originally posted by veme:

all of the radar displays are square

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kVrC-gqu_0

[Taidaan]

I'm no DCS expert, and I know you didn't ask for a comparison, but I'll give one that might explain why we don't have a square display (yet).

Radars are projecting in a cone-shape, which will either be triangular or circular depending on the profile, looking at the side or the bottom. The square display, as I understood from that video, is either cropping the edges of a circle or distorting them. The B-scope "square" display makes it much harder to understand the theory of the radar, hence why Cap had to make that video. For example, how do you interpret depth from a flat 2D image and no frame of reference? From this nose-of-the-plane perspective, you can see vertical and horizontal separation while losing perspective of distance. There are also the extra controls to elevate and pan the radar cone, but the feedback is abstracted to bars on the side and bottom of the square display. The F-15's B-scope is like shining a flashlight around; its powerful, but complicated to learn.

The A-scope display gives a better visualization of the radar cone, where we only have to worry about range control. We can rely on the HUD/HMCS for discerning vertical separation. I suspect this combination of easy theory and HMCS make the practical use of the radar and AIM120s easier, which is certainly a design goal for VTOL VR compared to DCS.

I can't speak to any plans, but I wouldn't mind seeing the boresight mode replaced with a B-scope display since B-scope is basically a souped-up boresight anyways. With the upcoming trainer aircraft, it would be much easier to teach the theory and radar operation for both A-scope and B-scope perspectives.