DCS Reference/Air Defenses

This resource is mainly for missions designers to set up fully-featured and functional SAM groups using the many various units available under the “Air defence” vehicle category in the DCS mission editor.

Each block describes the system as a whole, the ground units it consists of, the dependencies between these units, and some very rough performance figures (in-game and wiki-based). Note that maximum altitudes, in particular, can be a bit vague due to the interaction between maximum sensor elevation, sensor range, and missile flight capabilities. While the maximum altitude may seem sufficient on some systems, it is often a lot lower in practice because there is a rather narrow band between where the missile still has energy enough to climb, and where the (usually) radar is still able to track a target. For maximum airgod murderness, make sure the altitude capabilities are ridiculously above where the target is expected to fly.

Bluefor systems

Radar-guided

Hawk

Units	Function	Stores	Range	Notes
SAM Hawk CWAR AN/MPQ-55		—	Detection: 37nm
SAM Hawk LN M192	Launcher	3×	Engagement: 24nm
SAM Hawk PCP	Control post	—	—
SAM Hawk SR AN/MPQ-50	Search radar	—	Detection: 48nm
SAM Hawk TR AN/MPQ-46	Tracking radar	—	Detection: 48nm
Available to

M163 Vulcan

Units	Function	Stores	Range	Notes
AAA Vulcan M163	Radar-guided, self-propelled AAA	2280× 20mm	Detection: 2.7nm Engagement: 2,600m
Available to

IR-guided

M47 Chaparral

Units	Function	Stores	Range	Notes
SAM Chaparral M48	IR-guided, self-propelled SAM	4× MIM-72G	Detection: 5.4nm Engagement: 4.5nm Missile range: 400-4,800m
Available to

M1097 Avenger

Units	Function	Stores	Range	Notes
SAM Avenger M1097	IR-guided, self-propelled SAM	8× FIM-92 12.7mm	Detection: 2.75nm Engagement: 2.45nm Missile range: 300-7,000m
Available to

Optically guided

Bofors 40mm

Units	Function	Stores	Range	Notes
Bofors 40mm	Flak	620×	7,160m / 4nm	Requires WWII Asset pack. Not available in Combined Arms.
Available to