Thermal Imaging

[Truppenfuhrung]

In the CMSF "Field Manual" they say that the Strykers are equip with thermal imaging, therefore they can fire trough smoke screen.

Well, personally I never saw that.

It's a bug or I'm missing something?

[Mishga]

No I have seen it. All US forces can and will shoot thru smoke and at night. Compared to very few Syrian forces who can.

Special Forces command squads seem to be NVG equipped along with BMP2's. That is about as many Red units I have found with any NV sensory equipment, barring the tanks ofc, all Red tanks can and will do the same.

Just my personal observations.

[Truppenfuhrung]

Being able to fire trough smoke could make a huge difference.

I thinking about the "ATGM Ambush" or "Abu Susha" scenarios.

Being able to create to create a smoke screen and take out the Syrian ATGM would be nice !

[OG_Gleep]

I just tried it in one of the training missions in 1.3. I popped smoke with my strykers, and tried to pick a target. It said no LOS. It was the same target that I had previously, the only thing different was the smoke.

Is it supposed to be No LOS but they will fire anyway? Or is it supposed to show LOS?

[Exel]

Do the US vehicles use IR smoke? It blocks thermals.

[gunnersman]

Yes, IR smoke is modeled, and used by US vehicles. And it works both ways. So US vehicles cannot see out and Syrian vehicle cannot see in.

I am not so sure the regular APC type Stryker with a standard .50cal or 40mm mounted weapon is equipped with IR cameras. I believe they are regular Day TV cameras.

[Truppenfuhrung]

The instruction manual say that Stryker could fire trough smoke.

[Cameroon]

Truppenfuhrung, they can - just not smoke designed to block Thermal cameras. Since Strykers use that kind of smoke, they can't shoot out of their own smoke screens.

Get a Syrian unit to pop smoke, though, and the Stryker should be able to fire through it.

[Truppenfuhrung]

Originally posted by Cameroon:

Get a Syrian unit to pop smoke, though, and the Stryker should be able to fire through it.

I will try to test that.

I'm no military specialist but could it be better for the US Army to use regular smoke ?

Sure the Syrian could have IR imaging but I think that the use of regular smoke would have more advantage than inconvenient for the US force.

Anyway, here's a cut and paste from the manual:

"Smoke grenade launchers attached to the RWS can be fired to interfere with various enemy threats. The thermal imager allows the Stryker crew to see through the smoke it generates."

[Cameroon]

Huh, nice catch on what the discrepancy between manual and game I know that there are a variety of errata in the manual, perhaps that's one? If not, then it sounds like a potential bug (or at least the need for clarification both in the manual and in game).

[Huntarr]

Well Stryker smoke is really intended as a defensive measure so that is why anti thermal smoke is used. When the US uses smoke as an "offensive" it's usely deployed by Arty. Sadly CMSF has not yet given us that feature, YET.

[Truppenfuhrung]

Did syrian ATGM have some kind of thermal imaging ?

[Erwin.Rommel]

It seems that the bradley can fire through their own smoke ,but the stryker can't,so I think:

1.the smoke that the US uses is the regular smoke not the IR smoke,and the stryker don't have the thermal sight

2.the smoke that the bradley used is different from the stryker's

I prefer the first~

[Exel]

Got it confirmed: The US standard issue smoke grenades for Abrams, Stryker and Bradley are infra-red smokes. So they will block the vehicles' own thermals. If some of the US vehicles can fire through their own smoke it should be counted as a bug.

Whether the Syrians use IR smoke or not is a different matter though, however I vaguely recall reading that the TURMS-T upgrade for T-72 would have included IR screening smokes.

[SlowMotion]

Then again in manual p.157 it reads:

"The thermal imager allows the Stryker crew to

see through the smoke it generates."

So how should this be?

[Exel]

Originally posted by SlowMotion:

Then again in manual p.157 it reads:

"The thermal imager allows the Stryker crew to

see through the smoke it generates."

So how should this be?

Well it's simply wrong.

[Truppenfuhrung]

From a doctrinal point of view...

Given the fact that the US will rarely encounter enemies with IR imaging...

Maybe using standard smoke would be better.

I mean, when you spot those nasty ATGM, pop smoke and from the smoke cover, you can kill the ATGM.

[Exel]

Originally posted by Truppenfuhrung:

From a doctrinal point of view...

Given the fact that the US will rarely encounter enemies with IR imaging...

Maybe using standard smoke would be better.

I mean, when you spot those nasty ATGM, pop smoke and from the smoke cover, you can kill the ATGM.

Except that TI is pretty standard today even in many 3rd world countries. Syrian T-72s have TI or at least IR imaging (depending on the model which). Newest ATGMs have TI imaging.

Popping smoke is an extreme defensive measure in any case. If you are launching the smokes, you darn well want them to blind whatever threat you launched them for. You can worry about shooting back once you've gotten yourself out of the immediate danger under the cover of the smokes.

Tactical smokes are another thing - such as with Russian-made tanks in Syrian use or artillery fired smoke shells. Their purpose is to blind the enemy and not yourself. But defensive smokes on the Abrams, Bradley and Stryker are not for that purpose.

[Hev]

Ive seen syrian atgm units (unkown type sry) target and hit a stryker through its smoke screen. The stryker couldnt see through its own smoke.

The manual says the stryker may have a thermal sight but wiki says that the rws HAS a day/night camara and thermal imaging.

So which is it?

The spotting for the Blue vehicles is awfull considering the kit they should have.

[Splinty]

Originally posted by Erwin.Rommel:

It seems that the bradley can fire through their own smoke ,but the stryker can't,so I think:

1.the smoke that the US uses is the regular smoke not the IR smoke,and the stryker don't have the thermal sight

2.the smoke that the bradley used is different from the stryker's

I prefer the first~

It's not the smoke that's different, it's the IR systems that are different. The Bradleys use the TTS thermal imaging system and Strykers use an IR camera.

[Exel]

Originally posted by Splinty:

It's not the smoke that's different, it's the IR systems that are different. The Bradleys use the TTS thermal imaging system and Strykers use an IR camera.

Which should make no difference to your ability to see through IR smoke.