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Originally Posted by TerminatorSub
I Googled some info on optimal submarine search patterns and chose the following papers: 
It seems the choices to sweep an area are spiral in, zig-zag, or random. I tried these different approaches. |
That's really outside the scope of the ACTUV. The name of the game here is continuous trail. If you need to resort to area searches, you've already "lost." (Mission 1 notwithstanding)
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In trailing the target, one can be aggressive (perhaps too much) or lay back a bit. In some of the platforms and scenarios, it is hard to get close enough to acquire a HF lock. That blind spot in the Triton that you mentioned in another post, and the speed limited HF in some cases are factors.
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In the real life operations of the ACTUV, this may very well be true. And that's part of the frustration I'm expressing. I really can't fathom why SCS is effectively telling us that it's better to burn tons of gas sprinting around to maintain 300yd range on a contact that's constantly making radical course changes at 20 knots, backing off to reestablish MF contact once every 5 minutes, and sprinting like a madman to get HF back, when you could sit back at 1000yd maintaining MF contact running the diesels at 20 knots or less... probably much less if the target is maneuvering.
But the way this sim is set up, maintaining both MF and HF contact at all times is the tactically correct move, regardless of fuel consumption. And if you absolutely have to lose contact on one (which is how I feel about Triton mission 3, if you're interested), be aggressive and stay with the HF, because you're penalized 50% more for losing HF contact compared to MF.