Drozd effectiveness?

[Kuderian]

A few questions about the Drozd on the T-64's and T-55's. Just testing them out.

When they fire are they abstracted visually as I can see no animation?

The wiki entry says they are only effective in a 60 degrees frontal arc, is this correct?

Also, are there a set amount of projectiles or do the have unlimited ammo in the game as it appears?

Thanks in advance.

[MikeyD]

I was hoping someone would address this question too. Drozd is such a rare bird in the game that you can't really get a 'seat-of-the-pants' feel for its capabilities during gameplay, you need to do some dedicated testing on purpose-built test maps.

[stikkypixie]

I made a small test scenario for that. The problem is that because there is no slow motion replay or hit texts in CMA, it is impossible to see if Drodz is being used or not.

[black_prince]

I havn't really tested this exhaustively, just messed around a bit when I first bought the game but I can tell you:

1 There is no Drozd firing animation-you won't see Drozd rockets being fired. However, you can see the affects-RPGs will explode in mid air a couple of metres or so in front of the tank.

2 Yes, Drozd will only protec a narrow arc in front of where the turret is pointing.

3 I don't think the Drozd rockets are unlimited as I seem to remember it 'greying out' in the subsystems list after intercepting a number of RPGs. I'll have a look to see if I still have the test scenario later on and see if I can come up with some numbers.

[John Kettler]

Kuderian,

Here's some info on the real deal. Its real purpose is to kill ATGMs. And, yes, it does have limited capacity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drozd

http://fofanov.armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/EQP/drozd.html

Regards,

John Kettler

[Sakai007]

Wow, I never really considered the danger of operating close to one of these as an infantryman when it engaged an incoming RPG. That, that would certainly ruin your day.

[John Kettler]

Sakai007,

I'd imagine the early Tiger I self defense configuration with S mine dischargers was loads of fun, too.

Regards,

John Kettler

[MikeyD]

I'd imagine for both Drodz and Arena you could substitute the word 'radar' for 'radio beacon.' Even a moderately advanced opponent should be able to track the microwave (radio) signal with some precision from miles off.

[John Kettler]

MikeyD,

That would depend on the ERP (Effective Radiated Power) of the radar and the atmospheric attenuation curve at the operating frequency of the radar. Let's see...http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/viirpt/images/fig5_1.gif 24.5 GHz isn't the greatest, but it isn't bad, either, and the radar doesn't have to be able to "see" very far. Offhand, I'd say there's probably not a whole lot to work with, but I could be wrong.

Regards,

John Kettler