Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Lensman
I'll stick to RedBook information. It does in fact suggest course changes every 10 minutes accompanied with Speed changes to screw up the opponents TMA (especially AutoTMA). Now, if you use those same course changes to keep your course relatively perpendicular to the target LOS, then you will also help your own TMA gather better raw data since you are maximizing speed "across the LOS".
Another thing the RedBook points out is that if you have a bearing on a target, he almost always will have one on you, even AutoTMA, or you should at least assume so.
This being a pretty good assumption, you really don't want to purposefully place your ownship in a LEAD situation in regards to your target. due to the advantage it gives his Torp weapons if he decides to solution fire or snapshot your bearing. Basically, it will take you much longer to evade/turn out of the torps' lead targeting course since you are heading into it already.
Besides, attempting TMA on a LEAD LOS on a "single array" is generally useless, read the RedBook to understand why.
Dual array is different. Once converted to a master contact it represents "truth" on the enemy solution, no matter LEAD or LAG. It only takes 2 such readings to determine a reasonably accurate solution, if the target does not change course or speed of course. Basically, the last two tick marks of the ruler placed on the intersecting dual/master "hits" gives you a pretty good solution without all the other dots lining up. A third "hit" (using the last 3 ticks of the ruler) pretty well eliminates "eyeball" error on the TMA display.
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The red book is good, just trust me on this: I've had more real world experience with TMA (both underway and in attack trainers) than most folks would find rational or even sane.
TMA is tricky. You need to understand the theory, the geometry, and the math. You also have to realize that TMA is
ALWAYS in the past. At best, it will always be an approximation to what's really going on. It doesn't really matter if you have a really expensive state-of-the-art sonar dome and processors when you're using them in a highly imperfect medium like an ocean.
At some point, you have to drop the textbooks and the theory and go with the "zen".
Let me try a quick example to prove what I'm saying. Let's say you could plot a TMA solution that's so good you can dial in your contact to within 10 yards of where they really are, within one degree of their true course and within one knot of their true speed. Let's call that a perfect solution.
What do you think is probably going to happen as soon as you launch that fish?
Yep, that perfect solution is no longer perfect and your target will be doing everything they can to stop being a target before your fish goes active.
That's why its important to know the theory and geometry BUT its also important to recognized things like "windage" "ballparks" and "guess work".
Yeah, yeah, yeah.. I know. What the heck does this have to do with turning the auto crew off or on?
Recall that DW was based off a training program for midshipmen ("Harpoon"). Part of what Harpoon taught was how to maneuver a ship and launch weps. There was also another sneaky lesson: learn when to trust the enlisted crew.
