Weapons Delivery Principles and Procedures
Weapons
Correction for Pipper Position
The position of your pipper at release is probably the most important single factor in determining
where your weapon will hit. If you release with the correct altitude, airspeed, dive angle, etc. (no
wind), the weapon will impact where the pipper was positioned at release. If the pipper was 300 ft
past the target, that is where your hit will be, even though you did everything else right. Experience
will help you recognize early in the run that the pipper is not going to arrive at the final aimpoint by
release altitude, and to make early corrections. Sometimes it is an improper roll-in that leads to
improper pipper position. For example, if you start a straight-path tracking run with the proper dive
angle, but you find that you have to shallow your run to make the pipper reach the target by release
altitude, then the problem could be that you have rolled in too far from the target, or that you have
allowed your nose to drop during the initial part of the roll-in. Sometimes, however, even though you
may have the proper dive angle and airspeed, you will find that the pipper is not where you want it to
be as you approach your release point. The pipper may be reaching the aimpoint too early or too
late, or it may be deflected to one side or the other.
Corrections for Early Sight Picture
If your pipper arrives at the aimpoint before you reach the normal release altitude, then you have an
"early sight picture." In such a case, assuming all parameters correct and no wind, if you were to
pickle with the early sight picture, your hit would be short because of your altitude error. On the other
hand, if you were to pickle at normal release altitude, your hit would be long because the pipper would
be past the target. If you were to try to hold the pipper on the target until release altitude, your dive
angle would increase and you would release with insufficient g. The proper correction is to notice the
altitude at which you get the early sight picture and to split the difference between that altitude and
release altitude. For example, suppose that in a 30-degree bomb run, your pipper arrived at the
aimpoint at 3,400 AGL. With proper airspeed, dive angle, etc., you could compensate by continuing to
hold your 30-degree dive and pickling at 3,200 AGL. However, remember that improper pipper position
can often be traced to an improper roll-in. If you find that you are consistently getting an early sight
picture, and your dive angles are correct at release, then the problem may be that you are rolling in too
close to the target or have too much noseup trim. In contrast to an early sight picture, a late sight
picture cannot be corrected at release.
Corrections for Late Sight Picture
If you reach release altitude and the pipper is still slightly short of the aimpoint (late sight picture), you
must realize that continuing to track until the pipper reaches the target will do two things. First, a low
release with the pipper on the target will cause a long hit. More importantly, however, you are eating
into your safety margin.
Never release below the minimum release altitude to correct for a late sight picture or for any other
reason!
A good rule of thumb is if the pipper is more than 150 ft short of the aimpoint at planned release
altitude, abort the run. If the pipper is closer to the aimpoint than 150 ft, let it track halfway from this
point to the aimpoint and release. This should take less than one second. If you recognize early
enough in your tracking run that you are going to have a late sight picture, you can also correct by
adding power to increase airspeed at release. Resist the tendency to pull the nose up, as this just
makes you shallow and has the same net effect on your hit. In any case, you should try to analyze the
reason for the late sight picture. It usually happens because of rolling in too far from the target or
allowing the nose to slice down instead of maintaining altitude during the initial part of the roll-in.
(4-03) Original
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