¶ Intro
JACKAL is a highly opinionated overseer script for DCS missions enabling CSG8 mission makers to efficiently create consistent quality and standardized missions with expected functionality for large-scale operations.
¶ Core Features
- Spawn tankers by placing trigger zones and naming them after tankers
- Tanks spawn with the correct:
- TACAN
- Radio Frequency
- Callsign
- Correct speed for Boom and Basket tankers
- At an appropriate altitude deconflicted with other nearby tankers
- Ensure the carrier has the correct TACAN, ICLS, ACLS, and Link4 channel up, as well as frequency
- Automatically create Recovery Tanker for multiple carriers
- Automatically create F10 spawn menu for Recovery Tanker
- Automatically create SH-60 SAR helo for multiple carriers
- Automatically create E-2D AWACS for multiple carriers
- Automatically create Recovery Tankers for multiple carriers
- Automatically create Recovery Tanker for multiple carriers
¶ In Progress
- Spawn and control AWACS
- Generate CSG escorts automatically
- Lint radios on client spawns for adherence to the CSG8 Comm Plan
- Seperate radios on tankers of the same type per https://victoria.vcsg8.com/en/missionmaking/comm-plan#additional-tankers
- Take control of and automatically task ISR units such as MQ-9s
¶ Known Issues
¶ Pre-Requisites
- mist.lua
¶ File
JDC is optional and must be loaded before jackal.lua
- Load this after mission and after dependencies.
¶ Spawning Tankers
Avoid spawning TEXACO via a trigger zone as these tankers are meant as recovery tankers
Place down a trigger zone and name it appropriately. For instance "ARCO11".
In this example, ARCO21 and SHELL21 will be spawned at these trigger zones:
Tanker that spawns is based off of the mission making standard for tankers. This is a full list of tankers that Jackal can spawn:
Here is the conversion of the given data to a Markdown table:
| unitName | type | callname | callnumber | frequency | tacanChannel | tacanCallsign |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARCO11 | KC135 | ARCO | 1 | 230.10 | 30 | AR1 |
| ARCO21 | KC135 | ARCO | 2 | 230.20 | 31 | AR2 |
| ARCO31 | KC135 | ARCO | 3 | 230.30 | 32 | AR3 |
| ARCO41 | KC135 | ARCO | 4 | 230.40 | 33 | AR4 |
| ARCO51 | KC135 | ARCO | 5 | 230.50 | 34 | AR5 |
| ARCO61 | KC135 | ARCO | 6 | 230.60 | 35 | AR6 |
| ARCO71 | KC135 | ARCO | 7 | 230.70 | 36 | AR7 |
| ARCO81 | KC135 | ARCO | 8 | 230.80 | 37 | AR8 |
| ARCO91 | KC135 | ARCO | 9 | 230.90 | 38 | AR9 |
| SHELL11 | KC135MPRS | SHELL | 1 | 240.10 | 40 | SH1 |
| SHELL21 | KC135MPRS | SHELL | 2 | 240.20 | 41 | SH2 |
| SHELL31 | KC135MPRS | SHELL | 3 | 240.30 | 42 | SH3 |
| SHELL41 | KC135MPRS | SHELL | 4 | 240.40 | 43 | SH4 |
| SHELL51 | KC135MPRS | SHELL | 5 | 240.50 | 44 | SH5 |
| SHELL61 | KC135MPRS | SHELL | 6 | 240.60 | 45 | SH6 |
| SHELL71 | KC135MPRS | SHELL | 7 | 240.70 | 46 | SH7 |
| SHELL81 | KC135MPRS | SHELL | 8 | 240.80 | 47 | SH8 |
| SHELL91 | KC135MPRS | SHELL | 9 | 240.90 | 48 | SH9 |
| TEXACO11 | KC130 | TEXACO | 1 | 285.10 | 85 | TX1 |
| TEXACO21 | KC130 | TEXACO | 2 | 285.20 | 86 | TX2 |
| TEXACO31 | KC130 | TEXACO | 3 | 285.30 | 87 | TX3 |
| TEXACO41 | KC130 | TEXACO | 4 | 285.40 | 88 | TX4 |
| TEXACO51 | KC130 | TEXACO | 5 | 285.50 | 89 | TX5 |
| TEXACO61 | KC130 | TEXACO | 6 | 285.60 | 90 | TX6 |
| TEXACO71 | KC130 | TEXACO | 7 | 285.70 | 91 | TX7 |
| TEXACO81 | KC130 | TEXACO | 8 | 285.80 | 92 | TX8 |
| TEXACO91 | KC130 | TEXACO | 9 | 285.90 | 93 | TX9 |
¶ Moving Tankers
To move a JACKAL managed tanker, simply open the F10 map and place down an F10 mark with the tanker's name in the text box. This will automatically trigger JACKAL to move the tanker's orbit down to the F10 mark.
¶ AWACS Datalink
AWACS datalink station is associated by the carrier the AWACS is generated for. Currently that is:
| AWACS | Carrier | DL Callsign | DL Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darkstar | Truman | DR11 | 07775 |
| Magic | Roosevelt | MC11 | 07771 |
| Overlord | Lincoln | OD11 | 07772 |
| Focus | Washington | FS11 | 07773 |
| Wizard | Stennis | WD11 | 07774 |
| Focus | Forrestal | FS11 | 07751 |
¶ Controlling Carriers
If Jackal detects a unit with the correct type it will apply the following settings:
| type | shortName | callsign | tacanChannel | iclsChannel | link4 | AWACS | TANKER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVN_75 | Truman | KU | 75 | 5 | 336.0 | jackal.db.awacs.Darkstar | TEXACO11 |
| CVN_71 | Roosevelt | TR | 71 | 1 | 334.0 | jackal.db.awacs.Magic | TEXACO12 |
| CVN_72 | Lincoln | TB | 72 | 2 | 332.0 | jackal.db.awacs.Overlord | TEXACO13 |
| CVN_73 | Washington | GW | 73 | 3 | 330.0 | jackal.db.awacs.Focus | TEXACO14 |
| Stennis | Stennis | JS | 74 | 4 | 328.0 | jackal.db.awacs.Wizard | TEXACO15 |
| Forrestal | Forrestal | FF | 59 | 7 | 340.0 | jackal.db.awacs.Focus | TEXACO16 |
Only 1 carrier of each type can be spawned in the mission. Only the first carrier of each type that JACKAL detects will be managed and will ignore subsequent units of the same unit type.
| AWACS | callname | tacanChannel | tacanCallsign | frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darkstar | DARKSTAR | 2 | DRK | 252.75 |
| Magic | MAGIC | 3 | MGC | 252.75 |
| Overlord | OVERLORD | 4 | OVL | 252.75 |
| Focus | FOCUS | 5 | FCS | 252.75 |
| Wizard | WIZARD | 6 | WIZ | 252.75 |
¶ Mission Linting
Jackal will check the miz file for common misconfiguration issues. Currently the following issues are checked for and reported in the dcs.log and to the message window in DCS:
- INS Stored Heading not set for F-14s
- No Fixed Point set for F-14s
- Fixed Point not conincident with bullseye for F-14s