Mega-FAQ

Welcome to the Command: Modern Operations Mega-FAQ. This is a collection of common questions and answers from the various Command forums and the beta group. No credits have been given below as multiple questions and answers have been merged into one, so naming each contributor would be difficult if not impossible. We’d like to use the opportunity to thank everyone (whose forum posts, private messages and mails we have used) once again for their contributions to the FAQ and to Command’s continuing success.

General

What is ‘Command: Modern Operations’?
Command: Modern Operations, also known as CMO, is a tactical-operational level wargame/simulation of joint all-domain operations, from post-WW2 to the near future.
Let’s unpack this a bit:

• Tactical-operational level: The simulation begins from individual platforms (ships, aircraft, ground vehicles, buildings etc.), each of them composed of individual components (guns, launchers, sensors, comms & datalinks, powerplants & engines, facilities for aircraft etc.) operating at the tactical level, performing their assigned tasks. The tactical scale and level of detail mean that technical nuances (sensor & environmental models, physics etc.) matter a great deal, and soft factors like human behavior (driven by proficiency levels, various RoE/doctrine settings etc.) are crucial.
  It then scales up to the operational/theater level, where different considerations dominate: logistics, turn-around cycles, intelligence, force allocation, mission tasking etc. As the player/user, you have to keep an eye on the tactical picture (are you fighting the battle well?) while also remembering of the operational context (Is this the right battle to fight? Is the enemy perhaps pulling your nose over here while kicking your pants somewhere else? Perhaps there is a more efficient way to achieve the same result?).
• Wargame/simulation: Command purposefully straddles the line between a traditional wargame and a professional military simulation. As a wargame, it presents conflict through rules, scenarios, and player decisions, with clear but varied objectives and outcomes. As a simulation, it models real-world military systems and behavior in detail: sensors, weapons, platforms, doctrine, physics, and command-and-control are represented using open-source data and analytical models combined with abstract mechanics where this makes sense. Player success depends not on reflexes or “gameplay balance”, but on understanding real capabilities, limitations, and operational trade-offs, making it a tool for exploration, analysis, and learning as much as for entertainment.
• Joint, all-domain operations: You may be familiar with numerous ground-centered games where air power is just another form of artillery, and naval power is the supply restock or reinforcements you receive at the beginning of turn 4. Command eschews this for true all-domain operations. It demonstrates (often brutally) how land, sea, air, space, strategic and cyber forces work together rather than in isolation. Scenarios routinely involve the coordination of multiple services and nations, where actions in one domain directly affect outcomes in others—for example, space-based sensors enabling air strikes, naval forces providing land-attack fires or enabling theater mobility and logistics, or cyber operations degrading enemy command networks. The player’s role is less that of a single unit commander and more that of an grand-tactical/operational level decision-maker, synchronizing disparate forces across domains and time to achieve tactical and operational objectives. Command addresses the whole spectrum of military operations, from peacetime vigilance and monitoring through variable states of crisis escalation all the way to unrestricted warfare.
• Post-WW2 to the near future: Command covers a huge swath of time and military operations within it, from the post-WW2 colonial drawdown and beginning of the 1st Cold War all the way to today’s hotspots and the foreseen battlefields of tomorrow. While it can be used to model WW2-era engagements (more on this below), its real forte is in modelling the unique challenges and complexities of “missile age” and onwards operations, roughly from the 1970s to the near future. Anyone expecting modern warfare to be “like WW2 but with better weapons” is shocked at discovering how little the paradigms of the two World Wars apply.

Do I need to be a military analyst to play Command? Will it suit regular Joes like me?

Many Command players have military backgrounds, but the game is also played by regular guys with a fascination for all-domain warfare. The developmental efforts have been on making the game easy to operate, and we’ve included a rich variety of tutorial scenarios that help players learn basic concepts of modern warfare as well as the user interface.
It is important to point out that Command is not an arcade game with visually stunning explosions and all that. This game requires a significant investment of intellectual and temporal capital, and is not for everyone. It is a niche wargame, and in many ways the poster child for “you’ll get out of it what you put into it.” However, if you really want to understand modern integrated warfare, this is your first (according to many, your only) choice.

This looks like an old-style top-down 2D game. How does it compare to other games out there that play out in 3D?

Let’s get something critical out of the way: Command is a full 3D simulated environment. In fact, its usage of true 3D space when it originally released was unprecedented: Whereas many games & sims out there boasting “3D simulation” actually use a chessboard-like flat surface of X*Y dimensions (you know who you are), Command always uses the same standard 3D planet globe.

This is an example screenshot from an example scenario, “Air Sea Battle”:

Standard top-down 2D, right? Now let’s see what happens when we pull the camera back up (literally raise the camera viewpoint altitude):

Getting the picture yet?

(BTW yes, the satellites [and all other aerospace units] are depicted at their correct altitudes with the help of dashed “beanstalks”. This can be exceptionally useful in cases where vertical altitude is important.)

Where can I obtain a copy?
Command and its various DLC packs are available on Steam. It can also be purchased as a standalone product (offline installer with serial key etc.) at Matrix Games. Buying at MG also provides you with a free Steam key.

Do I need an internet connection to activate or play? 

Command does not require an internet connection to activate or play. However, if you want to upgrade the game to the latest version (which is highly recommended), you will need an internet connection.

This game looks very expensive. Is it really worth the high price?
Let’s break this down to the two parts, price and value.
1) Price: Let’s have a look at IsThereAnyDeal: Current deals on it and its price history. Not quite “sticker price”, eh?
2) Value: This is very subjective, and everyone has a different opinion. There are many people out there who paid the full price for CMO, no discount of any kind, and look back at it as the best purchase they’ve ever made. Military and government customers throughout the world pay a lot more for the professional edition and not bat an eyelid. At the other end, you will surely find players who tried it and bounced off it. And a whole lot of players in the spectrum in-between, playing it and using it to both entertain and educate themselves.

Is there a demo available? 

There is no demo available at the moment, sorry! The only way to get an initial understanding of how the game works is to watch video tutorials or streams, such as Phil Gatcomb’s excellent long-running tutorial series.

What are the system requirements? 

The recommended requirements are as follows.

• OS: Windows 10/11.
• Processor: Quad-core, 4th-generation Intel or equivalent.
• Memory: 8 GB RAM.
• Graphics: (64-bit) DX11 compatible GeForce GT 1030+ or equivalent (some iGPUs work very well, for example AMD Ryzen
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 40-50GB available space

Specs aside, Command is first and foremost a CPU-hungry beast. The simulation engine is multithreaded, numerous CPU-intensive operations are handed off to helper threads, and generally it scales well up to 8 cores but not more. (There are exceptions to this: Specific simulation events like multiple concurrent ABM engagements can easily peg even server-class CPUs to 100% utilization). Given this scaling limit, processors with few-but-powerful cores have an advantage over many-but-less-powerful cores.

Does Command run on Mac or Linux?
Command does not run natively on any Mac operating system, but you can use virtualization software like Parallels or VMWare Fusion to run it inside a VM on top of the host operating system.
Linux compatibility is a tricky beast. Officially, there is currently no support for running on Linux. However, numerous users have succeeded in running Command on Linux and shared their experience. We have pinned the relevant thread on Steam to help anyone interested in trying this out.

What is the game performance like?
Command is by far and away the most performant and most scalable simulator of its kind, bar none. It can run scenarios with thousands of units in greatly accelerated time. That said, both UI/maps and simulation performance greatly depends on context: Enabling range-rings for thousands of units or having a heavy BMD scenario with thousands of incoming ballistic missiles or RVs being engaged by ABM systems will probably reduce performance even on the most powerful hardware.

Will Command scale correctly on triple monitors, 3072×768 resolution? 

Yes, and even more. We would like to thank Robin J Lee for sending us a photo showing Command running on four monitors:

This is 3 x ASUS 24″ 1920×1080 monitors driven as a single display surface using AMD Eyefinity, plus a fourth Planar 22″ 1920×1080 touch screen monitor below. All very ordinary off-the-shelf stuff. It was set up for flight simulators, but works well for Command too.

Are there any known incompatibilities?
Some motherboard utilities and screencasting programs (particularly those working with DirectX overlays) can interfere with Command’s execution and distort some of its data windows. Frequent culprits are: RivaTuner, Nahimic, Nvidia Share, MSI Afterburner but also Discord’s “Game Overlays” mode. See the Tech Support forum on Matrix Games for a detailed rundown of known issues.

Is there a printed manual included with the boxed set?
Yes. And if you want to print the manual yourself you can download a more printer-friendly (and some would argue, also eyes-friendly) version of the manual here. The manual refers to the original version v1.00 of the game, and the updates released since have added a plethora of new features and improvements. A more up-to-date version of the manual can be found here.

Does Command have multiplayer?
Real-time and WEGO-style multiplayer modes are currently available only in Command-PE. For CMO there is an unofficial third-party mod which offers PBEM-style multiplayer and reportedly works well. Real-time multiplayer for CMO is under development. (If you are wondering why it’s taking so long, this may help.)

How does Command compare to earlier games like Dangerous Waters and the like?
Dangerous Waters, Sub Command etc. are more low-level tactical, “levers and buttons” simulations, so the actual actions of driving a platform are certainly more detailed (go to sonar station, see water fall display on sonar, turn wheel, open/close torpedo tubes etc. etc.). Command assumes that the AI crew handles many of the housekeeping tasks that are explicitly modeled in DW (for example, resolving the bearing ambiguity of passive sonar, performing TMA etc.) so you can focus on the tactical picture, much like in Microprose’s classic “Red Storm Rising”.
Command’s scope is from that of a grand tactical/operational commander. So you manage forces and many of the tactical functions will be handled by the AI although you can take manual control and do things like plot courses, set speeds/depths and fire weapons if you want to. This higher-level modeling allows Command to scale to much greater theaters and unit numbers than what is practical in “study” sims. In terms of the physics, sensors & weapons simulation Command holds its own against such detailed sims with the probable exception of some sonar details (e.g. no explicit DEMON mode, no manual tweaking of sonobuoy depth etc.).

Are WW2 scenarios possible, like Battle of Midway?
Yes, with certain limitations.
Many of the technologies developed or perfected during WW2 also saw use in the Cold War era, so Command has them. There are have depth charges, straight-running torps, mines, a wide variety of unguided munitions, etc. Many of the platforms that served during WW2 are available in the Cold War Database (CWDB, 1946-1979) since they also operated post-war, and at the request of players we’ve even added some units that did not survive WW2 (e.g. Japanese fleet carriers). This has allowed players to recreate some historical & hypothetical battles of WW2, as well as, ermm… see for yourself.
On the other hand, some things that mattered a lot in WW1/2 but became increasingly irrelevant post-war are not yet modelled. Plunging shell fire easily comes to mind. Another is that the tactical AI (Artificial Intelligence) is unaware of “crossing the T”. Diesel subs are always assumed to have a snorkel, which was true only to a limited extend towards the end of the war. Plus some other things.
If these details don’t distract you much, you can have a lot of fun. On water splashes, take a look at this screenshot. This from a scenario depicting the “Battle of Chumonchin Chan” (a historical engagement during the Korean War), and shows HMS Jamaica amid a hail of water splashes as a result of being targeted by multiple North Korean coastal artillery batteries.

Getting Started

How can I upgrade to the latest official version of Command?

There are two ways to upgrade:

1) If you are using the standalone version (ie. purchased from Matrix Games), use the “Update” button from the game launcher applet. This button will not appear on the same applet if you are using the Steam version (which updates automatically).

2) If the updater does not work for any reason, or if you prefer to have the update files available offline, you can download them manually from the Matrix Games’ Product Download Page

Update files are cumulative, so you only need to download the most recent version.

In addition to the official updates, the Command development team regularly releases “unofficial” updates. These are typically listed on the main forum, in a thread titled “Build XXX is available”. These releases offer the latest fixes, improvements, new functionality etc. and are fully supported by the development team. There is also an even more frequent series of internal beta releases but these are available only to the beta group. Very frequently the solution to an issue encountered in the official version is found in the unofficial public releases. For this reason we highly recommend to always use the latest publicly available “unofficial” update.

Where can I download more scenarios to play?
Command has 43 tutorials and 57 standalone scenarios included, but many more have been developed by the user community. These commonly shared on the MG “Mods and Scenarios” subforum, and many are also available on the Steam Workshop.
An anthology of community scenarios, called the “Community Scenario Pack”, is regularly updated and release. You can find announcements on the CSP here, and if you are using the Steam version you can subscribe on it on the Workshop.

Where can I find playing tips & misc. support?

• For general questions: The official CMO Discord server, or the general CMO forum.
• To submit a report of a possible issue/bug: The dedicated Tech Support forum. For efficient troubleshooting, it is essential to follow the tech support guidelines.
• Tutorials & guides to get you started

Oops… I think I’ve found a bug. How can I report it?
You can submit reports on any problem/issue encountered on the Tech Support forum. But first we ask that you read the guidelines for submitting a bug report.

Bah… Command crashed. And I haven’t saved the scenario. What happens now?
Command automatically saves your scenario every 20 seconds, on a rotating series of “Autosave_XXX” files. You can find them on [CMO install folder]\Scenarios\Autosaves\[Scenario Name]\Autosave_XXX.scen.
Alternatively, you can quickly load the most recent autosave file by restarting Command and clicking on “Resume from autosave” in the start screen.

Is there anything else I should know?
Share your war stories and gameplay tips with other players on the After Action Reports and the War Room pages. Get a taste of new & upcoming scenarios on the Mods & Scenarios forum. You will find the community a kind & friendly place to be, and members of the dev team are regularly present to solicit feedback from users, discuss future development and in general move the game forward.

Are there any small and simple scenarios you can recommend to beginners?

• “Stand Up, 2011” is often mentioned as a good starter scenario.
• “Brother Against Brother, 2011” is not the easiest one, but it is excellent at demonstrating the “win the war, not the battle” principle. When you finish it successfully, you will have understood the difference between “hotshot pilot” and “effective theater commander”.
• Other frequently recommended examples: Wooden Leg, 1985 (aka “air refueling primer”); The Shark, 1971 – Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW); Operation Trident, 1971 – Surface ops

Can you recommend books for information on platforms, weapons and tactics?

• As far as the best all around modern naval tactics book, look at CAPT Wayne Hughes’ Fleet Tactics and Coastal Combat, 2nd ed (1999).
• Milan Vego’s Soviet Naval Tactics and Naval Strategy and Operations in Narrow Seas are also very good.
• Admiral Sandy Woodward’s One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falkland Battle Group Commander, 2012 ed is an excellent case study of the operational level of modern naval warfare.
• The classic techno thrillers by Clancy, Dale Brown, Larry Bond et al. might be good introduction. Red Storm Rising overall manages to explain modern naval and air tactics pretty well, especially the whole concept of EMCON.
• Michael A. Palmer’s book The War That Never Was: A Novel is in many ways far better than Red Storm Rising.
• You should probably also read Barret Tillman’s The Sixth Battle. Salty as heck and the ultimate reading of a What-If between Russian and US CVs. Tillman is a former Chief Editor at Tailhook Magazine – this man knows naval aviation. Is not in print anymore but there are a lot of used books for a few dollars in Amazon.
• Can also recommend Red Army by Ralph Peters. Describes a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Germany, but from the Soviet perspective.
• Another great book from the Soviet POV, with discussions after each chapter, is Red Thrust by Steven Zaloga. It’s completely tactical (at least the vignettes are) with some discussion of strategic concerns in the summaries after each chapter. Written in 1989, it’s obviously a little dated, but it’s impressive how much he managed to get right. Highly recommended if you can find it!
• A few other books are: The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon Systems, 5th Edition (2005) by Norman Friedman Conway’s all the World Fighting Ships The Naval Institute Press series of “US Battleships (or Aircraft Carriers, or Destroyers, or Submarines, or Small Combatants), an Illustrated Design History” by Norman Friedman
• The Jane’s series of books The Guide to the Soviet Navy by Norman Pomlar Modern Submarine Warfare (Salamander Books, 1987) Modern Naval Combat (Salamander Books, 1987) by D.M.O.and C. Miller
• Beyond the General Belgrano and Sheffield: Lessons in Undersea and Surface Warfare from the Falkland Islands Conflict (1998) by Luke Swartz
• A few websites are: Principles of Naval Weapon Systems Sierra Hotel – Flying Air Force Fighters in the Decade After Vietnam
• And lastly, but hard to find, is the Harpoon II: The Official Strategy guide (1993) by Ed Dille and T. Basham.

Steam

The Unit Status panel gets corrupted when I mouse over it. Why?
This may happen when some application attempts to overlay itself on top of Command. Check if overlays are enabled on the Steam client (they should not be). If you have any application running that attempts impose its overlay, like NVidia Share, MSI Afterburner, MSI Nahimic etc. be sure to shut it down. If you are running Discord together with Command, make sure to disable game overlays for either Command specifically or for all games.

Configuration

How can I make Command run faster?
Go to Game -> Game Options. Turn off the following two: High-fidelity mode No-pulse time mode Turning off these will make the game run much smoother as Command makes far fewer calculations per second, running at 1 second resolution rather than 1/10 second resolution. Next, turn off as many range rings as you can. This can be a bummer but you can manage if you leave most important range rings on (depending on your force) and show them for Selected Unit Only. The range rings will then only be shown for the currently highlighted unit. Process Lasso , a free utility, has been noted by many users to provide a substantial speed improvement for Command.

How can I change altitude from metric to imperial/USM (feet)?
To view altitude and depth in feet rather than meters, to go Game -> Game Options, and check ‘Show Altitude in Feet’.

User Interface & Maps

What kind of maps does Command use?

When explaining the maps that Command uses, it is important to differentiate between the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (ie. the “terrain database” used for land elevations, bathymetry etc.) and the raster overlays used to display the same information (and more, such as terrain type) to the user.

• For the DEM, Command uses a modified version of the SRTM30PLUS dataset, a global elevation + bathymetry grid with a resolution of 30 arc-seconds (or approx. 900m/cell, ie. DTED Level 0). In the Professional Edition, there is the option of using a global SRTM3 + GLOBE20 terrain, offering 3 arc-second resolution (90m/cell, ie. DTED Level 1).
• For the raster overlays, Command uses a number of different layers, each optimized for a different use case. These are described in detail here.

Most of the maps seem to lose their detail (blur or pixellate) when I zoom-in close. This is much worse than what I am used with on Google Maps / Bing maps / Apple Maps e.g. Why is that?
Google, Apple etc. get their super-high resolution maps by making very expensive (and often exclusive) deals with imaging providers. Who pays for this? Ultimately, you yourself.
Command currently uses the best commercially-available, global-scale imagery set (Sentinel-2 Cloudless), plus the best freely-available topographic layer (OpenTopoMap). If you are aware of better layers than these at a reasonable price, feel free to contact the dev team to suggest that they be integrated into Command.

How do I edit a plotted course?
To create a new plotted course, press the F3 hotkey and click on the tactical map to place the waypoints. When you’re done press Esc or F3 key. Alternatively, double-click when placing the last waypoint to exit Path Plotting mode. To move a waypoint, click and drag the waypoint with the mouse pointer. To create a new waypoint, hold down the Ctrl key, click and drag an existing waypoint with the mouse pointer. The mouse pointer must move at least four pixels for a new waypoint to be created. To delete a waypoint, click on it and press the Delete key. To delete a whole plot select the unit and press F3 twice. If you want to re-plot a course from a waypoint in the middle of an existing plot (say, starting at waypoint 3 out of 6), select the waypoint (#3) and press F3. All waypoints beyond the selected waypoint (#3) are deleted and you can plot a new course from this point onwards.

How can I specify throttle and altitude settings for individual waypoints?
Select the waypoint and press the F2 hotkey. Alternatively, right-click on the waypoint and select Throttle – Altitude/Depth.

How can I specify EMCON settings for individual waypoints?
Select the waypoint and press the F9 hotkey. Alternatively, right-click on the waypoint and select Sensors.

The rightmost Unit Status menu is truncated. How can I resolve that?
Set your desktop font size to 100% instead of 125% or 150%.

The message log window is gone, how can I get it back?
If you’ve selected to show the message log in a separate window it could be that you moved it somewhere awkward and exited Command. Next time Command is run it may not be able to be rendered from where you moved it. There is a ‘Reset positions of secondary windows’ button in the Options window to address this. Go to Game -> Game Options -> Reset position of secondary windows.

Why are some windows lacking OK and Cancel buttons? 

If a window does not have the standard OK/Cancel buttons it means the orders/settings you are generating through it are applied immediately. Usually there is a sound technical reason for it. Some of the actions, when made in windows, cannot be cancelled, and thus are always OK. All windows can be closed with the Escape (Esc) hot key. Windows that were opened with a function key (F1, F2…F11) can be closed using the same key.

Is there a way to make the tactical map stick to a unit? 

To keep a unit centred on the tactical map, select the unit to track and press the T hotkey. Alternatively, go to Map Settings -> Track Selected Unit. To stop tracking the unit, press the T hotkey or the menu item again.

How can I make mouse scroll zoom in at the cursor location, rather than at centre of screen?
Go to Game -> Game Options -> General, and select ‘Map zooms on mouse cursor’.

I get too many / not enough messages about what’s happening. Can I change this?
You can configure which message types will appear by going to Game -> Game Options -> Messages. You can also configure which message types will cause a pop-up to appear, freezing the clock. This is very useful for new weapon contacts.

Can I have the time compression revert to 1:1 under certain conditions?
Go to Game Options -> Message Log and then select events you like to raise pop-up. Once you get the popup window, you can hit the keypad enter key which drops the time to 1:1 even while it is still on pause and the popup is still open. Then press Close + Resume. Alternatively, press Close which pauses the game.

Is there a “ruler and compass” tool so you can know distances and headings?
To activate the Range / Bearing Tool, press Ctrl + D or go to View -> Range / Bearing Tool. It is also available through the context (right-click) menu. The tool allows you to draw a temporary line between two points and displays the distance and bearing between those two points. To de-activate the Range / Bearing Tool, either double-click on the map, press Ctrl + D, or go to -> Range / Bearing Tool again.

Is there a way to know cloud height/base and does the weather engine consider it?
The mouse pointer ‘black tag’ gives information about the weather, including sea state, temperature, cloud cover and rain. The weather affects sensor effectiveness, and is configurable in the scenario editor.

Why is the Radar Illuminator text in red in the Emissions list?
Radar Illuminators are really dangerous radars. They are used with Semi Active Radar Homing (SARH) guided missiles. Most medium and long-range Air-to-Air Missiles (AAMs) and Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM) use SARH guidance, where the missiles home in on radar energy reflected from the illuminated target. Once an illuminator goes active there is most likely a missile in the air

Can I manually designate contacts as Hostile? Neutral? Friendly?
Yes. Select the contact(s) and press the H key to mark as Hostile, N key to mark as Neutral and F key to mark as Friendly. Alternatively, go to ‘Contacts’ and select the desired option.

I have dual monitors. How can I move the message log to a separate monitor?
To have the message log in a separate window, go to Game -> Game Options, and tick ‘Message Log in Separate Window’. You can then move the message window to the second monitor.

What does the ‘Reload Priority’ button in the Weapons window do?
Reload priority instructs your crew to give priority in loading a specific weapon on a mount. This is not obvious on mounts of a single weapon type, but in multiple-type weapon launchers this can be very useful. You can, for example, direct the crew on one of your subs to always keep Mk48 torpedoes loaded on two of the torpedo tubes and Harpoon missiles loaded on the other two. Effectively you are overriding the built-in crew AI routines for determining which weapon to load on a given mount. The AI routines are quite sophisticated, but the player may have ideas of his own.

What does this mean: Weapon (40mm/70 Single Breda Burst [4 rnds]) airbursted off K 21 by 103m?
That’s a burst (4 shells fired at once in a salvo) from a 40mm/70 Single Breda gun mount, exploding in flight (not on impact) 103m off a unit named K21, and it’s happening at 22:56:33.

How can I make my own custom map overlays?
There is a great introduction to custom map overlays here and here.

How can I sort the scenario list by date, by difficulty, or complexity?
At the top of the scenario box, you can have scenarios ordered alphabetically, by date, by difficulty, or complexity. Keep in mind that the difficulty and complexity settings are totally arbitrary.

Gameplay tricks and tips

How do I select which side to play in a scenario?
When you load a scenario you will first see a window with the briefing for the default side. On top of that window you will see a “Side:” label and a drop-down list with all the playable side for that scenario. Some scenarios can only be played from one side, while others can be played from two or more sides.

Where can I find the hotkeys list?

Go to Help -> Hotkeys.

Are there any instructions to go along with the tutorial scenarios?
Just start the scenario to get all the necessary pop-up instructions. You can also open the scenario side briefings by going to Game -> Side Briefing.

How do I select multiple units on the map?
You can click and drag for multiple targets, or use Shift + mouse click.

How can I set ‘weapons tight’ (Hold Fire)?
To set weapons tight for the selected unit(s), press the ‘A’ hotkey or go to Unit Status -> Attack Options -> Toggle Hold Fire for selected units (no AI attacks). You can also set weapons tight for all units on your side by pressing ‘Ctrl + A’ or go to Unit Status -> Attack Options -> Toggle Hold Fire for all units on current side (no AI attacks). These options are also available through the mouse context (right-click) menu.

How do I control the amount of ordnance to shoot at a target?
To manually allocate weapons, select the firing unit and press ‘Shift + F1’. Alternatively, go to Unit Status -> Attack Options -> Engage Target(s) – Manual. This option is also available through the mouse context (right-click) menu. The cursor has now become a cross. Select the target(s) you want to shoot at, and that brings up the Weapon Allocation window where you can assign weapons to targets.

How can I disband a group?
To disband a group, select the group in Group View and press the Delete button. Alternatively, switch to Unit View, drag-select the units you want to disband, and press the ‘D’ (Detach) hotkey. To disband the whole group, select all units and press the ‘D’ hotkey.

How can I select specific sensors on a specific unit in a group?
Switch to Unit View and select the individual unit. Then press the F9 hotkey to bring up the Sensor hotkey.

Plotting a course for a unit that is ‘Engaged Offensive’ doesn’t work. Can I override this behavior?
To take control over a unit, press the ‘I’ hotkey or go to Unit Orders -> Attack Options and uncheck Ignore Plotted Course When Attacking – Selected Unit. Alternatively, right-click on the unit, select Attack Options, and uncheck Ignore Plotted Course When Attacking – Selected Unit. The unit will then revert to its plotted course.

What is the difference between postures Unfriendly and Hostile?
Unfriendly: manouver to intercept and localize/ID but do not engage unless the “Engage non-hostiles” doctrine option is activated, in which case all bets are off. Hostile: manouver to intercept and engage if part of mission. Aircraft and missile contacts are always automatically engaged, mission type be damned.

How can I make units on support or patrol missions only use active sensors inside the station area?
There’s a check box in the mission editor for this.

How does one deploy Mk55 Naval mines from B52 bombers?
The easiest (and certainly least tedious!) way to mass-deploy mines is to assign the laying platform(s) to a mine-laying mission. We did a video on this a while ago, have a look here. The more tedious but more “hands-on” way is to perform “BOL-launch” on every point where you want to lay a mine. This can work for a dozen or so but not really recommended if you want to lay hundreds or thousands. You can also lay “prefabricated” minefields, for scenarios where the laying action itself is not important. This is described in detail here.

How can I order Check Fire?
To disengage all targets, select the attacking unit and press ‘Ctrl + E’. Alternatively go to Unit Orders -> Attack Options -> Disengage (Drop All Targets). This option is also available through the mouse context (right-click) menu. If you want to drop a certain target before it has been destroyed (and has disappeared from the tactical map), select the attacking unit and press ‘E’. Alternatively go to Unit Orders -> Attack Options -> Drop Target(s). This option is also available through the mouse context (right-click) menu. Lastly select the target(s) to drop. To select multiple targets, hold down the Shift key when clicking.

What are Illumination Vectors (broken red line) and Targeting Vectors (broken green line)?
A targeting vector is telling you a unit has orders to engage a target, and is firing or preparing to fire. An illumination vector means the target is illuminated by some kind of sensor, i.e. a laser is used to illuminate a target for a laser-guided bomb (LGB). To view targeting and illumination vectors, go to Map Settings -> Targeting Vectors – Show All or Selected Unit.

Why do enemy radars still have their “range ring” when they are no longer active?
The enemy radar range rings are an estimation. Your crews cannot know for sure if the radar has been knocked out. That it’s not radiating right now is an indication, but an unreliable one. Particularly against a competent IADS operator like the Soviets, Egyptians or Serbs.

How can I make my units maneuver, unmask weapons and engage instead of automatically run and evade?
If you don’t want your units to automatically go defensive you can disable this behavior in the Doctrine / ROE window. Set Automatic Evasion to No.

Is there a way to simulate Search and Rescue (SAR)?
Yes, through scripting. Several community scenarios feature detailed SAR operations, so you can employ the same method on your scenario under construction.

When I drop a contact, it comes back a second later. Why?
If the contact is a ground facility set to ‘auto detect’ it will be re-detected immediately. Also, if your side is allied with another side that sees the contact, the contact will automatically be transferred to your side.

Can I re-target datalinked weapons like Tactical Tomahawk?
Yes. Select the weapon, press F1, and select the new target.

What is the best way to employ the ITALD and TALD loadouts?
The TALD and ITALD air-launched decoys are just extra targets for SAM and radar sites, so just fire them along with other ASMs or ahead of your strike aircraft. The hotkey to fire air-launched decoys is Ctrl + F1 (the same key is also used for BOL-attacks). The AI can use such decoys as part of a strike or SEAD mission.

How do I fire naval Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) against surface ships?
Many ship-based SAMs with Semi-Active Radar Homing (SARH) have an anti-surface mode. To fire the weapon successfully you need to get closer till your ship can literally see the other ship to point your illuminators at it. And then you have to go into the doctrine window (Ctrl + F9) and turn the Use SAMs in anti-surface mode to Yes. That option restricts your ships from using SAM against other surface targets.

Can I assign ARMs to specific radars on a target?
You cannot do this when targeting single units with multiple sensors, although we’d like to add this in the future. Command will automatically prioritize the detected radars and spread its ARM fire among those: weapon illuminators first, then fire control radars, and lastly target indicator radars and air-search radars. Surface search radars, navigation radars, etc, are ignored.

WINCHESTER and SHOTGUN weapon state, BINGO and JOKER fuel state? What does it all mean?

The WINCHESTER and SHOTGUN states are paired much like BINGO and JOKER. BINGO is a multiservice tactical brevity code for a low fuel state, i.e. the fuel to return to base plus reserves. Reserves are typically 5% of original fuel plus 20 minutes loiter at sea level. JOKER is the pre-briefed fuel state at which separation/bugout/event termination should begin. JOKER is reached before BINGO. WINCHESTER means that no ordnance is remaining, i.e. the aircraft is down to the gun or harsh language. SHOTGUN is the pre-briefed weapons state at which separation should begin. For more information, please see the Multiservice tactical brevity code article on Wikipedia.

Why are my land-based SSM not firing?
Units will only do what you explicitly tell them to, or allow them to. To get your SSM batteries to fire, you need to assign them to either an ASuW Strike or Patrol, a Sea Control Patrol, or change their Rules of Engagement (ROE) to allow them to “Engage Opportunity Targets”. Also the AI won’t fire at unidentified targets, unless you set the ROE to allow them to, as stated above. You would either need to be sure the AI had confirmed the ships were hostile or set up an exclusion zone so that any ships within area “X” are legitimate targets.

Can I manually fire chaff and flares?
Defensive chaff clouds and flares are fired automatically. You can see their results in your logs. If you try the Battle of Latakia scenario from the 1973 Yom Kippur war you’ll see the older SS-N-2s are pretty useless against Israeli chaff and jammers.

What is the difference between a Patrol Area and a Prosecution Area?
A basic way of looking at the two types of area would be:

• Patrol Area – the area your units move within.
• Prosecution Area – the area in which targets are considered a threat and engaged. If someone enters a prosecution area, units will ignore the patrol area to engage it.

If a mission is set up without a Prosecution Area, the assinged units will only engage contacts that enter the Patrol Area. By enabling Prosecution Area you can have the CAP stay in the patrol area fairly close to the carrier but still rush for the unidentified contact entering the larger prosecution area, and also ignore contacts that are too far away to be of any threat. Enabling ‘Investigate contacts outside the patrol area’ will make the assigned units run off and investigate any and all unidentified contacts on the map.

How can I make an air intercept mission that launches when a contact enteres an area?
You can make fighters scramble and intercept contacts entering a certain area the following way:

• Set up Intercept Missions as desired but keep them deactivated.
• Set up an exclusion zone where you want the intercept to happen.
• Set up an event to activate the intercept missions when the enemy aircraft enters the exclusion zone.

Platforms and Weapons

Why do the databases have multiple entries for the same platform?
There are multiple database entries for the same platform to represent all operators, main versions, subversions and weapon configurations over time.

Why are later S-3 Viking variants not carrying ASW weapons?
The Viking’s ASW role was removed in 1999. US aircraft carriers then deployed with six S-3 Vikings; some for the tanker role, and two aircraft dedicated to ASuW armed with iron bombs, Harpoons and Mavericks. The ASW mission was taken over by Seahawks and Orions. The Viking was retired from frontline service in 2009.

Why do many guns have such a low PoK against aerial targets?
Many air targets like anti-ship cruise missiles are extremely difficult to shoot down. And even if destroyed in mid-air, the missile may still cause serious damage if the warhead detonates at ranges closer than 500m from the target, or if the ship is hit by debris from a disabled missile. In the Falklands War, only one of six Exocet missiles fired at British ships was shot down, and this kill is not even 100% certain. PoK (Probability of Kill) for guns is the chance of hitting a target with a burst of fire – this can either be a single round (for larger guns) or up to several hundred (for Mk15, AK-630 etc).

Why do Aegis ships (and others) have empty Mk41 VLS cells in the database?

There are not enough weapons around to fill all VLS cells, so ships deploy with empty cells. Typical loadout for a Tico, for instance, is 96x SM-2s, 48 per VLS. The ‘heavy’ AAW loadout for Burkes is 72x SM-2. The ships also carry a handful Tomahawks and VLAs.

Why do newer USN Arleigh Burke Flight IIA ships not carry any SM-2MR missiles by default?
ESSM replaces both the SM-2 and CIWS on newer Burkes, although a single CIWS has been re-installed on some ships. You can reconfigure the Burkes from land-attack role (which is the default loadout used in the database) to AAW manually in the scenario editor. The standard AAW loadout on the Burkes comprise 72 SM-2MRs (96 SM-2MRs on the Ticonderogas), a handful Tomahawks (probably 8-10) and some VLAs. 24x SAMs used to be (and still is?) the ‘standard destroyer loadout’ of anti-air missiles. Whether it’s SM-2 or ESSM. This is also the same number of SAMs that the Spruance carried, however the Burke can fire them all at once. So 24x anti-air missiles is a pretty potent loadout in most environments. Aircraft carriers used to have 24x ready-fire Sea Sparrows (see a pattern?), however this has now been changed to 16x + 42x RAM. So the default missile loadouts in the database are ‘typical loadouts’ and, like it or not, are realistic. The good thing about Command, though, is that you are free to configure the VLS the way you want in the scenario editor.

Why do USN Arleigh Burke ships not carry any SM-3 missiles by default?
The USN is upgrading its AEGIS cruisers (CGs) and destroyers (DDGs) with Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) capabilities, which includes upgraded radars and the new SM-3 Standard missile. However, few missiles are available and are only carried by a handful ships. Because of this, all BMD-capable ships have room for SM-3 missiles in their Mk41 Vertical Launch Systems (VLS’s) however the default quantity in the Command database is 0. The only ship in the database that actually have any SM-3s loaded by default is the ‘CG 70 Lake Erie’ sub-class. If you want your BMD-capable ship to carry these weapons you can load them manually in the scenario editor. This is a pretty straightforward job and is described in detail in the Command manual.

Some aircraft are missing loadouts with weapons that I know for a fact they could carry, for example F-111s don’t have any loadouts with AGM-65 Maverick missiles. Why is that ?
Just because an aircraft is able to physically carry a given weapon does not mean the pilots train to use it operationally. For example, while A-10A Thunderbolt IIs are authorized to employ laser-guided bombs, they never do because Mavericks, iron bombs and cluster bombs are their weapons of choice. The F-111Fs are authorized to deliver Maverick missiles but they never train with this weapon, preferring their trusty LGBs instead. (Fun fact: The greatest tank-killer of Desert Storm was not A-10s with either gun or Mavericks, but [by far!] F-111Fs with GBU-12 LGBs).

Why is there no 10-AMRAAM loadout for the F/A-18 Hornet?
The short answer is weight & drag, and weapon availability. Plus there’s a psychological aspect; when fighters carry more missiles, pilots tend to ‘hang around’ longer which dramatically increases the chance of getting killed. Shoot your missiles and get outa there!

Why is there no 6-Phoenix loadout for the F-14 Tomcat?
Except for Crazy Bob’s CVW-11, the F-14 Tomcat never trained to use the 6-Phoenix operationally. Most photos of the 6-Phoenix loadout that you find on the interweb were taken of aircraft flying from land bases or during the first fleet qualification trials back in 1972. Slamming a fully loaded 50,000lb & 140kt monster into the deck of a carrier was found to be unpractical since fuel levels had to be dangerously low for it to be safe. In fact, even the 4-Phoenix loadout on the F-14 was considered draggy by the pilots and was rarely used. Another fact of life was that there weren’t enough AIM-54s around to arm all 24/20/14/10 aircraft on a carrier with six AIM-54s each. A carrier would typically carry 96 rounds back in the golden years – sometimes fewer and sometimes more. There were rumors that a carrier (USS John F. Kennedy?) once carried 300 AIM-54s when going north to provoke the Soviets off Kola in the 1980s, but this information has never been confirmed by other (reliable) sources. So instead of having aircraft flying with unrealistically heavy loadouts, the Command developer has added lighter loadouts that were indeed used operationally. These loadouts offer a number of advantages such as speed and range / endurance. For instance, it was common for F-14s to carry only four missiles on CAP, i.e. 2x AIM-7s and 2x AIM-9s or one AIM-54s, one AIM-7 and a pair of AIM-9s. The player will therefore have to consider the trade-offs between endurance and punch as it is done in real life.

What is so special about the ‘F-14A Tomcat [Crazy Bob]’ database entry?
F-14s didn’t use the 6-Phoenix loadout operationally, except for a few years (1982-1986) when “Crazy Bob” (aka Capt. R. L. Leuschner) was Commanding Officer of USS Enterprise with Carrier Air Wing Eleven (CVW-11) embarked. He was legendary for elaborate and highly realistic combat-drills. Here is some creative copy-paste from a discussion on Airliners.net:

In early ’80s CVW-11 F-14 Tomcats regularly flew exercise missions with 6-0-2 loads [6xAIM54, 0xAIM7, 2xAIM9]. As combat training exercises, the missiles were all dummies, but at full size and weight. F-14A’s had to be pretty low on the fuel when returning,but since we were simulating real combat scenarios the objective was to exercise the equipment & crew as you would during real combat missions. As to weight vs. drag issue, the weight always became the real issue since the AIM54 was about 1,000 lbs. The more you load, the higher the fuel burn, less manouverable the plane and lighter the fuel load required for CV landing. A 6-0-2 load would be for a pretty “strategic” mission. The standard “tactical” load was 1-1-1 or 2-2-2 (or some combination of same). Since the F14 was designed with the pallet system, the pallets did not create much aerodynamic issues for the F14. You can not compare the pallet issue with other aircraft though as no other fighter was designed to use the pallets… no other fighter used the AIM-54 either. CVW-11/BG-F was the first battle group to actually count the weapons used during OpEval exercises, probability-of-kill (PK) for all missile shots [both surface-to-air and air-to-air] and realistic “turnaround” times for returning planes to be used again [required actual downloading of weapons and uploading of new (different) weapons]. We were even trying to simulate missile time-of-flight to impact. Plus a whole host of other stuff was just “swag’d” before then. CVBG magazine mix was significantly changed when the pentagon planners started to see actual weapon use levels. The more Phoenix one carried, the more “strategic” the mission… and the less manouverability/speed required. When carrying a lot of AIM-54’s, you’re going after bombers so range is more important to start with. Therefore, the range reduction was “worse” but could be countered with effective tanker practices. It became pretty much SOP for CVW-11 F-14s to operate 1,000 nm missions with 6-0-2 loads. Big headache for the Hummer Moles (E-2C Hawkeye radar operators) [who had to coordinate all the real-time support for such missions] and I don’t want to know what the “lucky” guys who flew them were thinking. There are many sea-tales about Capt. Bob, most of which are based in significant fact. Yes, he had a hand in the “realism” but CVW-11’s “Burner Bob” Hickey was the one who started the counting of actual weapons used. When compared to what the ship’s magazines stored, the discrepancies were “enlightening” to say the least. Once the ball got rolling, we kept getting more and more “realistic.” SecNav Lehman flew aboard once during OpEval and the Hummer’s reply to his check-in was “turn right 40 degrees, descend & maintain XXXXX, welcome to the Big-E’s world Navy-1, by the way… you’re dead.” I kept the tape of that for almost 6 months. Lehman was a USN Reserve A-6 Bomber-Navigator flying during his “active duty assignment.” They did not do ANY of the appropriate “friendly ID” things they were supposed to do so… they became just one of the 486 “enemy” targets shot down that day [Orange Forces launched 485 planes so we were pretty busy and he just got caught up in all the missile firings]. He was just a bit “upset” and I guess his pilot (supposedly that squadron’s “top hook”) making 4 bolters before successfully trapping aboard Big-E didn’t help his attitude [the square island makes for an ugly “burble” behind the ship]. IIRC, it was Leuschner who squeezed him into the back-end of an E-2C sitting on the flight deck (only working CIC available on the ship due to simulated “battle damage”) to show him the progress of the “war.” His spirits were much improved by the time he met us after we landed some 4+ hours later. Improved even more the next day as he got to watch/listen to the early morning 900+nm 45-aircraft “Alpha Strike” on NAS Miramar, NAS North Island, and NALF San Clemente (the “orange force” airfields). So much so he had Orange Forces “stand down” for the day [unheard of in exercises] since they supposedly had no useable runways anymore. That worked out much better than it was planned. That was but one day. OpEval lasted 3 full weeks.

Why is the AN/AWG-9 radar on the F-14 Tomcat limited to a 40 deg search arc?
Although the AN/AWG-9 has a +/- 65 degrees frontal scan sector, the aircraft doesn’t search arcs larger than 40 deg / 2 bars or 20 deg / 4 bars at a time. This is so that tracks can be updated every 2 seconds. A full 130 deg / 8 bar sweep may take as much as 30 seconds and has limited tactical use. As such, it has a 40 degree frontal arc in Command.

My F-16C Falcon with the Sniper pod can ID targets at ranges up to 70nm. How is that possible?
Please check out this link. The Sniper pod can magnify up to 30 times. Similar pods like ATFLIR have really impressive ranges too. However, scanning for targets using these systems is like looking through a straw and is difficult. They do not have an auto-scan mode either. As such, the pods are primarily slaved to the radar when used in the air-to-air role, and are used to ID targets already detected.

Why won’t my fighter jets fly faster than 925/950kt (Mach 1.6/1.65)?
Ah yes, that old chestnut. Warplanes never fly at their theoretic maximum speeds operationally. Over a fighter aircraft’s 6000-8000hrs life span, less than 10% is spent at supersonic speeds. Most airframes will never even go beyond Mach 2, and certainly not while flying a combat sortie. Aircraft use a lot of fuel accelerating and maintaining those speeds, and going beyond 925kt (Mach 1.6) offers no real tactical advantages and may even be impossible simply due to the long time it takes to accelerate to those speeds and the insane amounts of fuel needed to get there.
Furthermore, in many cases getting to those speeds will be physically impossible due to weapon and drop tank drag, weapon release envelope limitations, and the possibility of damaging or even detonating external stores. For instance, the special 500kg bombs carried by the MiG-25 recon/bomber variant were given a thermal protection coating to prevent the explosives from over-heating at Mach 2.35.
And let us not forget that ejection at high speeds is extremely dangerous. For most ejection seats, the chance of survival drops dramatically above 600kt or ca Mach 1.0. Even if the pilot survives he is likely seriously injured and may be grounded for good. So although the airframe and engines can push it to Mach 2.0 and beyond, the pilot simply won’t. Especially not in a shooting war.
Command takes aim at simulating a modern battlefield and therefore uses practical operational aircraft speed limitations. Theoretical specs are left out. That means most modern combat aircraft will not fly faster than Mach 1.6 in Command. The fuel burn rates are adjusted accordingly, and for example the F-14D Tomcat can fly 230nm Deck Launched Intercept (DLI) missions at Mach 1.6 dash. There are of course numerous exceptions and fighters like F-22A Raptor, MiG-25 Foxbat and MiG-31 Foxhound can easily fly faster. The same goes for aircraft like the SR-71 which can cruise at Mach 3.2. The MiG-25/31 series can perform intercepts at speeds up to Mach 2.35 in Command, and F-111s can do an amazing 800kt dash on target at sea level for delivering iron bombs. F-104 Starfighters and English Electric Lightnings have a 1150kt TAS (Mach 2.0) maximum speed to reflect their unique capabilities.

Below are a few Standard Aircraft Characteristics (SAC’s) from the Alternate Wars website with some great examples of maximum operational combat speeds:

• F-16 Falcon, minimum time intercept, Mach 1.6 and 40k feet… This is as fast F-16s go during combat operations.
• F-14A Tomcat, Mach 1.35 intercept speed.
• F-14D Tomcat, Mach 1.5 intercept speed.
• F-4B Phantom and F-4J Phantom, acceleration to Mach 1.5 for weapon release. Fighter escort missions are not expected to exceed Mach 1.0. Typical CAP max speed is Mach 1.35.
• The mighty A-5 Vigilante (A-5A, A-5B, A-5C) with its high speed, large fuel load and 1300nm+ strike radius (in effect no fuel limitations) would typically do Mach 1.5 sprints on target.
• The F-104B Starfighter, F-104C Starfighter, and the other members of the Starfighter manned rocket family are outliers similar to MiG-25/31 series and have a Mach 2.0 intercept speed in Command.

If you still think these speed limitations are unreasonable please grab a flight simulator like Falcon 4.0 or DCS World and attempt to fly combat sorties at 1400kt, 1200kt or even just 1000kt true air speed (TAS). Make sense now?

NOTE #1: Based on feedback from currently serving and retired fighter pilots flying such aircraft, we reduced the typical top speed for 3rd and 4th generation fighters from Mach 1.65 (950kt) to Mach 1.60 (925kt) in version v1.08. It turns out that even our own estimates were too optimistic…
NOTE #2: We have repeatedly solicited real-life data pointing to fighter aircraft achieving higher speeds in actual operations than the ones we derived. No such info has been put forward so far.
NOTE #3: It seems that John Tiller and the late, great Gary C. Morgan agree with us. Here is a screenshot from “Modern Air Power – War over the Middle East” displaying info for various modern fighters. Notice the max speeds! NOTE #4: Another example, this time by a retired F-15A/C pilot: “[…] in normal training or combat configuration, I doubt anyone has gotten an Eagle much over Mach 1.8 in level flight”. This is actually higher than off-the-record quotes to us by other former pilots.
NOTE #5: Another example with the Rafale, a fighter often quoted as having a M1.8-2.0 top speed. This slide is from Dassault’s presentation to the Hellenic Air Force. Why M1.6 intercept is assumed, instead of not 1.8 or even Mach 2? Because that’s how fast fighters can _realistically_ fly, even at flat-out intercept conditions.
NOTE#6: F-15A again: Mach 1.8 with a standard AAW load (4x AIM-7, 4x AIM-9, no drop tanks).
NOTE #7: F-35: Mach 1.6 redline
NOTE #8: Eurofighter Typhoon, Mach 1.6 with 4x BVRAAM, 2x SRAAM, no drop tanks (Source).
NOTE #9: F/A-18E, Mach 1.6 with 2x AIM-120 + 2x AIM-9, Mach 1.47 with same + belly tank, Mach 1.32 with 5x AIM-120 + 2x AIM-9 + TFLIR, Mach 1.22 with same + belly tank.
NOTE #10: F-14B, Mach 1.7 max (F-14A less powerful engines so probably lower than that).   

Why doesn’t the F-22A Raptor have a separate Afterburner throttle setting?
Please see the screenshot from the database editor. It gives some clues about what’s going on under the hood. The reason the afterburner (AB) setting is missing is because the F-22 doesn’t use AB for cruise, only acceleration/climb/dogfighting. When that’s said, the F-22 will fly at 1000kt using Military power so fuel consumption is quite good. No afterburner-style ‘dry in 15 minutes’ burn rates.

Why does the F-22A Raptor have a 480kt cruise speed like most 4th generation fighters?
Physical laws apply to the F-22, even at $200 million a copy. So although we’re lacking a lot of stats on engines and airframe capabilities, we can still make some (painfully?) realistic assumptions about the aircraft’s capabilities. Having a fixed and inefficient ‘stealth’ jet intake and duct has a nasty effect on the F-22’s thrust/SFC. Static military thrust at sea level (SL) for the F119-PW-100 is supposedly 25000lb and Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC) is probably 0.76. Which is slightly higher than for the latest F100 engines on the F-15C/E Eagle. The static thrust figure is for an engine installed on a test rig. When installed on the aircraft the thrust drops due to inefficient inlets. Adjusting for altitude and Mach speed (yes, we actually do that in Command!) the thrust for each F119-PW-100 engine on a F-22 flying at military throttle (650kt) at sea level, is 16764lb. SFC is 1.04. The SFC is calculated as follows: Thrust / (1 + Constant * Mach) * Density. Public sources suggest that the F-22 is only capable of doing relatively short ‘sprints’ at full military throttle (supercruise) in real life. The military thrust in Command is 10083lb and SFC is 1.32 at 36k ft and Mach 1.75. Fuel consumption at full military throttle for the F-22 is quite high. 100083lb * 1.32 SFC * 2 engines = 26500lb of fuel burned per hour. Which is 6000lb more fuel than the F-22 carries. So the “800nm combat radius at Mach 1.6” capability is a myth. A typical combat sortie is flown mostly at subsonic speeds. A cruise speed of around 480-500kt (Mach 0.85) is the most economical as the engines are working efficiently and drag is relatively low. Transonic drag is very (very!) high, but drops sharply beyond Mach 1. However beyond Mach 1 drag is still higher than at Mach 0.85 so fuel consumption goes up and range suffers. This is true for all aircraft, F-22 included. So everything points towards 480kt as a realistic cruise speed. And you can always hit ‘Military Throttle’ and go to 1000kt supercruise (ca Mach 1.75) with relatively economical fuel consumption.

The F-35A Lightning II supposedly has a Mach 0.9 cruise speed but in Command it is ‘only’ 480kts. Why?
A Mach 0.9 cruise speed at 36k feet is ca 515 knots. In other words a 35kt difference between the stated speed and the one used in Command. But will the F-35 really cruise faster than 4th generation fighters? While normally “Because I can” is a 100% valid argument, in this case it is not so certain. Higher speeds and supercruise is great to use in tactical scenarios, but just while cruising it is more common to see various participants in a mission choose the same ingress speed, so that you can talk in timings easily as well. Luckily though, in Command you can manually set the desired speed. So feel free to increase speed to 515kt or 535kt. Fuel consumption goes up, of course.

Radar types: FCR, target indicator, weapon director, radar illuminator? What does it all mean?
FCR – Fire control Radar is a radar which is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and velocity) to a fire-control system in order to calculate a firing solution (i.e. information on how to direct weapons such that they hit the target(s)). Target Indicator – A radar of lesser range capabilities but of greater inherent accuracy than that of surveillance radar, whose normal function is to acquire aerial targets either by independent search or on direction of the surveillance radar, and to transfer these targets to tracking radars. Weapon director – An anti-aircraft artillery radar that directs gunfire. Radar illuminator – An anti-aircraft radar that illuminates targets for Semi-Active Radar Homing (SARH) weapons. Let’s look at the radars for a SA-5b (S-200V) Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) system: Square Pair (5N62) – FCR-radar. This will be used to guide missiles to target. No need to manually active them. Odd Pair A HF (PRV-13) – Heigh-Finder. Older 2D radars are unable to obtain height of the target. Also they had blind spot for low flying aircraft/helicopter. A second radar was used to overcome these weaknesses. Tall King – 2D Long Range. Main radar for detection.

Why does the Mk214 Sea Gnat Chaff have “surface ships” as valid target?
For decoys, the “valid target” value represents the type of contact they will represent to enemy sensors.

Why do torpedoes have such a short range?
Simulating technical limitations is one thing, taking into account practical ‘field limitations’ is another. In order to have a realistic simulator we need to take into account both. For instance, Soviet doctrine stated that torpedoes should not be fired at targets beyond 13k yards. The chance of actually hitting the target drops dramatically beyond that range while at the same time you notify the target about your presence and possibly even give away your (approximate) position. This also goes for the super-heavy 650mm torpedoes, which would use their speed and range to catch up with a fleeing US CVN. As such, the practical firing range in Command is limited to ca 8nm, even for high-end torpedoes. It makes sure that both the player and the AI adhere to the same real life technical/tactical/doctrine/field limitations. The ADCAP still has enough fuel to make it out to 20nm at 55kt, or 27nm at 40kt. We can easily lift the practical firing range limitations and let the AI shoot at any target within kinematic range. In fact that’s how Command handled it for a while. So the functionality is already there – we do on-the-fly Dynamic Launch Zone (DLZ) calculations for SAM/AAMs to allow weapons to be fired ‘early’ to hit a fast closing target like an ASBM. But for relatively slow tops and fast ships this leads to a lot of stupid shots as the weapons are usually detected early and the defender has lots of time to move out of the way. It is still possible to BOL-launch torpedoes if you want to fire the weapon at long ranges. You can then manually steer them to their target at max range – granted the weapons have wire guidance and you don’t fire more torpedoes than you have wire guidance channels. We actually tried a more advanced method for determining max firing range based on torpedo speed and target speed & heading. This resulted in a lot of stupid shots while the AI was building a firing resolution. If you have contact at 20nm but no speed info, do you shoot? No? But if the same contact is at 4nm? Etc, etc. The end result was that the targets fled as soon as the submarine fired a torpedo, and helicopters scrambled to locate and sink the ship. The submarine-fired torpedoes were outrun one hundred percent of the time. A diesel sub in this situation is in pretty deep poo-poo since it doesn’t have the speed to catch up with the fleeing SAG or fast convoy, and also lacks the speed and diving depth to get the hell outa here before the helos start dipping their sonars. This situation got even worse when the opening long-range shot was against one of the outer screen ASW escorts. The SAG/convoy would automatically turn around and run, and there was no way an AI-controlled submarine would ever get into position for a shot on the HVUs. As such, limiting the firing range from ‘max theoretical’ to ‘max practical’ the AI was much more successful. It would wait for the targets to get real close before shooting off torpedoes and sinking ships in quick succession. As for fighting other submarines, sub-vs-sub is like a knife fight in a phone booth. Torpedo launch usually takes place at around 1nm. So the firing range limit is pretty much a non-issue there.

What advantage do the New Threat Update (NTU) ships have over pre-NTU ships? 

New Threat Upgrade (NTU) was a United States Navy program to improve the capability of ships equipped with Terrier and Tartar anti-aircraft systems. The system allows the ships to which it was fitted to time share illumination radars for multiple missile interceptions in a manner similar to the Aegis Combat System. For details, see the NTU article on Wikipedia. Pre-NTU upgrade ships have pure-SARH Terrier/Tartar, SM-1ER or SM-2ER missiles that fly a direct pursuit flight profile. Post-upgrade ships have upgraded missiles, time-shared SARH illumination, and AEGIS-style weapon datalink which means the ship is communicating with the weapons and directs them to a “kill box”. The missiles fly a lead pursuit and a highly economical lofted profile, and can also be re-targeted in-flight. Command does all of this, including automatic re-targeting. The difference in efficiency between pre-NTU direct pursuit and NTU lead pursuit profiles is best demonstrated against fast crossing targets such as SS-N-12 Sandbox or SS-N-19 Shipwreck anti-ship missiles. The old Standard, Terrier and Tartar missiles will in most cases end up in an ineffective tail chase and in many cases be unable to overtake the target or lose guidance due to illumination issues (illuminator/SAM/target geometry). The newer SM-2ERs on the other hand are actually quite effective. You can test the difference yourself, by inserting pre-NTU and NTU variants for the CG 16 Leahy class cruisers, and have them defend a HVU against SS-N-12s.

The radar ’Rock Cake HF [PRV-10M] does not seem to be working. Why? 

This is a height-finding radar (HF), which provides height information on contacts detected by search radars.

Air Operations

Why do most combat aircraft have a 40 000 feet (12192 m) ceiling?
Combat aircraft rarely go higher than 40k ft. In special cases 45k ft but not higher than that.

What is the yellow “L0” or “L1” under aircraft symbols?
This is the landing priority number. Aircraft at the marshal point are automatically prioritized based on remaining endurance. Aircraft L0 gets to land first.

How can I get aircraft to egress from target on a plotted path instead of calling Winchester?
If the aircraft are assigned to a mission, make sure the RTB When Winchester option in the Doctrine / ROE / EMCON window is set to off. Then check the ‘Use Auto Planner’ in the Mission Editor. The mission logics will then automatically create randomly placed ingress and egress routes from the target based on the mission’s default profile. Alternatively, you can unassign the aircraft from the mission, plot a course manually, make sure that either the the RTB When Winchester option in the Doctrine / ROE / EMCON window is set to off for the air group, and manually allocate weapons through the Manual Allocation (Shift + F1) window.

Is the grounding of aircraft simulated because of bad weather or night-time conditions?
Yes.

How can I get ground units to illuminate targets for air-dropped Laser-Guided Bombs (LGBs)?
Ground units illuminate targets automatically if the aircraft do not have an onboard laser illuminator, once the aircraft releases the bomb.

Is it possible to jettison drop tanks and ordnance on aircraft?
Not at the moment. For this to work in a simulator like Command there are a few concerns that would need to be worked out, particularly on the AI side as well as calculating pre/post jettison endurance, etc. But it will likely be added in the future since we like the idea of ‘soft kills’ on strike aircraft because your anti-air missiles, while they didn’t hit, did cause the enemy to jettison stores and abort their mission.

Is it possible to land one’s aircraft at an airbase or airport belonging to an allied side?
Yes, allied air bases work the same way as any own-side air bases.

Is it possible to drop ordnance at a given location irrespective of any enemy units being there?
Dropping bombs on a coordinate is not possible in Command v1.04 but is planned for the Advanced Strike Mission Editor. Currently you can only drop bombs on contacts.

What is the deal with the “Maintenance (Unavailable)” loadout?
The aircraft fitted with the Maintenance (Unavailable) loadout are a representation of the typical situation in an airbase. You have a number of aircraft that you cannot use, but they are there nevertheless, and they take up space and resources. The fact that you cannot use them doesn’t make them invisible. Not having them at all would make your entire airbase’s resources available to the player e.g. 10 out of 10 usable aircraft. Which of the two is more realistic? As such, you can have 60 aircraft on an air base but only 4 available for operations. Unfortunately for the player that happens in real life and is (painfully) realistic. Since it happens in real life, it also happens in Command. Plus they make great targets. Don’t you just love scrubbing a airbase clean of aircraft with cluster bombs.

What is the difference between ‘Reserve’ and ‘Unavailable’ loadouts?
If the scenario author wants aircraft to be unavailable at the start of a scenario but become ready for operations later on he would give them the ‘Reserve’ loadout rather than the ‘Unavailable’ loadout. ‘Unavailable’ means unavailable for the duration of the scenario. Alternatively, the scenario author can arm the aircraft with the intended combat loadout and manually give them a delayed ‘ready time’.

Is there a way to activate aircraft set to Maintenance (Unavailable)?

No, aircraft set to Maintenance (Unavailable) can not be used in the scenario. If you are designing a scenario and want the aircraft to become ready later on, you can load them with a weapon loadout or Reserve loadout, and specify a Ready Time.

Why does it take 6 hours to prepare my strike aircraft for a sortie?
The short answer is we look at everything involved in launching a mission including arming, planning etc. and not just the physical act of loading weapons on to the aircraft. For a quick introduction to this complex subject, please read the following article on Aircraft Sortie Rates.

I do not want aircraft to be down for maintenance or use realistic ready times, how can that be done?
You can do a couple things to solve this, by using the scenario editor:

a) Unavailable aircraft: Open the scenario in the scenario editor and change the loadout from ‘maintenance’ to a mission loadout.

b) Aircraft ready times: Play the scenario in the scenario editor, and reload the aircraft using the ‘Ready Immediately’ option.

Can I manually move aircraft from hangar to flight deck on aircraft carriers?
It is not possible to manually move aircraft between flight deck and hangar ATM. However, readied aircraft are automatically moved to the flight deck, and landing aircraft move to the hangar. The size of the flight deck of a Nimitz-class carrier is 80 F/A-18A/C (medium aircraft) spots. The maximum combined hangar and flight deck spot capacity is 130. When loaded to the maximum no sorties can be generated since there is no room to operate, and the deck is considered ‘locked’. In the mid-1970s the operating capacity was set to 75 percent, with 80 percent as a maximum upper bound. In Command it is possible to put a maximum of 60 large aircraft (which roughly equals 80 medium aircraft) on the flight deck of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Four parking spots are reserved for returning aircraft to avoid congestion in case the elevators are busy, so a total of 56 large aircraft will be moved from the hangar to the flight deck when readied. In practice the player or scenario designer would rarely be able to put this many aircraft on the deck unless he does something really weird / unrealistic / stupid, like making too many aircraft available for operations or adding too many aircraft to the ship. A minimum of 25% and typically 35-50% of the aircraft will be permanently under maintenance, in the air, or not scheduled for flying at any given time. So even with a 85-aircraft wing it would be rare to see a full deck in Command. In the photo to the right there are at least 52 aircraft on the deck. If you move 1x aircraft you can launch from two cats, and if you move 5-6 aircraft you’d also be able to recover aircraft.

Do UAVs behave differently from manned aircraft?
Yes, UAVs do not apply their agility bonus on the weapon endgame calculations. As a result they are terribly vulnerable to anti-air fire. Remote human operators must rely on their sensor information instead of their own eyes. As a consequence they might have having less situation awareness (looking through an EO/IR sensor is always compared to “looking through a straw”) and might be unable to respond or evade ground fire as quickly.

The loadout selection window has “time-of-day” and “weather” columns. Are these in use?
Yes, they determine whether the aircraft can operate at night or in bad weather.

Can I reload my aircraft without air-to-air weapons in air-to-ground loadouts?
Yes, you can ready aircraft using the ‘Exclude Optional Weapons’ option. This will load the aircraft without self-defence air-to-air missiles, or with a reduced number of self-defence missiles.

Why do my aircraft fly at 350kt on patrol, 480kt when Bingo and 520kt on manual RTB?
350 knots is loiter throttle. Great for maximum endurance (hence for e.g patrolling an area), not ideal for maximum distance covered per fuel unit. 480 knots is cruise throttle. Not so good endurance, but maximum range for given fuel. When the aircraft reaches Bingo fuel that’s what it needs. 520 knots is full military throttle. If you order a manual Return to Base (RTB) or the aircraft go Winchester they will try to get outa there as fast as possible, granted there is enough fuel to do a fast sprint.

What is the best way to disable an airbase?
The simple answer is that it varies a lot. Depending on the airfield configuration, the runway or the access points may well be the best targets, but if its an open airfield with only tarmac parking instead of hangars/revetments, then a single strike has a chance of getting rid of a significant portion of the aircraft based there. It is also dependant on what you have available for weapons – some of the high penetration cruise missiles or bombs are ideal for getting rid of ammo bunkers, whereas regular iron bombs or JDAMs are more suited for runway and parking area removal.

A general approach is to assess airfields based on 3 criteria:
1. Number of access points vs number of runways/taxiways
2. Type of aircraft parking – open vs protected (hangar) vs hardened (HAS or underground)
3. Concentration of ammo storage

The first often lets you filter out those airfields that are fairly easy to shut down – if for example there is 1 runway with 3 access points, the access points are the obvious and easier targets, and will completely neutralize the airfield. Larger airfields become progressively harder to do this to, as they can have 4-8 access points per runway, as well as several runways/runway-capable taxiways. In these cases, it may be more sensible to strike the runways instead, or look at other ways to disable the base. The second criteria is important because it lets you neutralize the airfield by destroying the aircraft based there. A lot of large civilian airports have many access points and runways, but typically very unprotected parking spaces, so if faced with this kind of facility, then the logical target is the aircraft themselves, often arranged in fairly dense parking areas, and vulnerable to strikes. Military bases will often have revetments or hangars which will limit damage (particularly blast damage to the surroundings), and so it will be harder to eliminate the aircraft, though in some cases only fighters will be protected by hangars, with larger aircraft like AWACS/Tankers/etc. left in the open. The worst targets are those with underground aircraft storage, as these take either specialized munitions or a lot of bombardment to crack open. Lastly, looking at how ammo is stored can provide a third approach to neutralizing a base. Most bases will have several ammo depots/bunkers, but some will only have one, and if this is only a surface depot then it presents a clear vulnerability. Even a single ammo bunker may be the easiest target in a hardened base, especially if you have the correct weapons. This last one is also of course dependent on if you are using the ‘unlimited weapons at bases’ realism option.

Submarine & Anti-Submarine Operations

My submarine’s batteries are drained. How do I recharge?
Go to periscope depth. The submarine will automatically raise the snorkel, start the diesel generators, and begin recharging batteries. If you want to recharge batteries faster, set throttle to creep so that you don’t drain the batteries while you recharge.

How do I deploy towed array sonar?
Towed array sonar is automatically deployed and used in deep enough water. If you can see the faint Convergence Zone (CZ) rings around your ship/sub then you have a towed array operational.

How is submarine communications handled?
All platform-to-platform communication is instantaneous. So you’re allowed to actively control units and share information between them even in situations when it would be impossible in real life. However, Command has a fairly complex platform-to-weapon datalink model including one and two-way communication. Two-way communication allows the weapon to pass data to the operator, e.g. Walleye, SLAM-ER and Tactical Tomahawk, where as one-way communication only sends target position updates to the weapon. Command also handles wire-guidance (for both torpedoes and missiles) and command guidance. If you feel there is too much communications between units, you can choose to add surface units and the submarines (or each submarine) to separate sides. You can control how much information they share, without making them hostile to one another, by setting side postures as either friendly (shares location and treats anyone attacking you as hostile) or neutral (is not hostile but does not share information, etc.). You get some interesting results by setting side A as friendly to side B but setting side B as neutral to side A. Command supports communications disruption and an integrated communications jamming model. Among other things, this allows you to simulate submarines and other platforms (e.g. film satellites) being isolated from their parent side. Read about this feature and the new simulation opportunities it offers HERE.

How do I get helicopters (or aircraft) to search for submarines?
To set up ASW patrols define an area using reference points. Create a mission “Patrol/ ASW” and assign the vessels and/or helicopters and/or aircraft to that mission.

I’m trying to change the depth of my submarine but my orders are ignored. Why??
If you’re on an ASW or Sea Control mission the logic will dictate speed and depth. You can use the Unassign (U) hotkey to remove the unit from the mission. If you’d like more manual control, turn off the automatic evasion ROE as this controls the engaged defensive logic.

My ASW aircraft have localized a submarine target but are not dropping a torpedo on it until they’re virtually on top of it, even though the torp has several miles range. Why?
Real-life ASW tactics, dictated by physics. If you drop the torpedo from further away, it takes some time (and much of its fuel) to get at the pre-drop target position, and if the sub captain is not deaf he has cleared datum at high speed. The only way to give the torpedo a good chance of catching up with the submarine is to drop it as close to its estimated position as possible.

Simulator Mechanics

Command is missing a feature that I’d really like to see implemented. What can I do?
Please go to the Gameplay Features thread. If your feature is already on the list and wish it to receive higher priority bump it with your vote. If not, write a post with your request and it might be added to the list.

Are High Off-Boresight (HOB) Air-to-Air Missiles (AAMs) simulated? 

There’s both a HOB flag for weapons and a Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) flag for aircraft. The two can but don’t always combine. Command is modelling each of these factors as having a cumulative effect. So: – Standard missile, guided weapon, or torpedo: 40 degrees firing arc – HOB missile: +20 deg. – HMD: +30 deg. So for example an early MiG-29 Fulcrum A with AA-8 Aphid [R-60TM] (HMD, no HOB) has 70-deg capability. An F-16C Fighting Falcon with AIM-9X Sidewinder (HOB) but no HMD can shoot up to 60 deg. And a Su-27 Flanker with AA-11 Archer [R-73] or F-15I Eagle with Python 4 (HOB + HMD) can go all the way to 90 deg.

Do anti-air missiles have their base hit probabilities adjusted for range?
To reflect their reduced manoeuvrability at extended range, rocket-powered weapons (most missiles) have their PHs maximized at 50% of maximum range and gradually reduced up to 50% of the base-PH at full range. Ramjet-powered weapons (Sea Dart, SA-6, Meteor etc.) are less affected; they maintain their full base-PHs up to 75% of maximum range and their max PH reduction is 25% of original.

Does the aircraft bombsight affect bombing accuracy? 

Yes, the bombsight affects the Circular Error Probability (CEP) for ballistic weapons (bombs and rockets) as follows. Basic: No reduction Ballistic Computing: 25% reduction Advanced Computing: 50% reduction Advanced Navigation (INS/GPS): 75% reduction

How does the sim treat periscopes?
Periscopes are automatically raised when the submarine gets to periscope depth.

Can flying boats land on water?
Not at the moment. You can simulate this through scripting, and we would like to add this in the future as a built-in feature.

Do you take Daylight Saving Time (DST) into account?
Command relies primarily on Zulu time, which is the military name for Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This is almost the same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), but not exactly. In addition, Command displays local time without Daylight Saving Time, also known as Summer Time or DST. Many countries in the northern hemisphere (north of the equator) have decided to make better use of the natural daylight by setting the clock forward one hour during the summer months, and back again in the fall. Daylight saving time is in use between March and April and ends between September and November, and the exact dates varies with country and year. In order to match local times with sunrise and sunset (important when planning air strikes), Command supports the use of DST. But since there are great variations in dates, the scenario designer will have to manually enter the start and end date for DST in his scenario. This is done with the Editor => Scenario Date and Duration dialog window. Command always assumes that daylight saving is one hour, although historically there have been (rare) examples of countries using two hours, 20 minutes, 30 minutes or 40 minutes DST.

Is the cloud cover spread throughout the whole world evenly, or localized in areas?
By default the weather settings apply globally. You can, however, override them locally using Custom Environment Zones (CEZs).

A group of infantry platoons moves but they are travelling at a really slow speed, why?
Land units move very slowly in harsh mountainous terrain. You can use the Relief map layer to visualize this, or the “Slope %” text on the map cursor for precise info. Once they get to flatter terrain they’ll pick up speed.

Is water depth taken into account?
Yes. Shallow waters increase reverberation for both active and passive sonars, can limit the deployment of towed arrays and variable-depth sonars (VDS) and can even block the transmission path of convergence zones (CZs). The local bottom depth is also a crucial factor for the bottom and ceiling of the thermocline layer, if one forms there. If the bottom is shallow enough, submarines even have to surface in order to transit narrow straits (e.g. Bosporus).

What is the communications model like?
All platform-to-platform communication is instantaneous. So you’re allowed to actively control units and share information between them even in situations when it would be impossible in real life. Beginning with v1.12 Command now supports communication disruption and (in the Professional Edition only) an integrated communications jamming model. Read about this feature and the new simulation opportunities it offers HERE. Command has a fairly complex platform-to-weapon datalink model including one and two-way communication. Two-way communication allows the weapon to pass data to the operator, e.g. Walleye, SLAM-ER and Tactical Tomahawk, where as one-way communication only sends target position updates to the weapon. Command also handles wire-guidance (for both torpedoes and missiles) and command guidance.

Do you simulate COMINT and communications jamming?
No COMINT yet (although this can be roughly modelled via Lua scripting). Command supports communication disruption and an integrated communications jamming model. Read about this feature and the new simulation opportunities it offers HERE.

What is the land warfare model like?

Do you model the midnight sun and the polar night to the north/south of the arctic circles?
Yes, Command accurately adjust day/night conditions to simulate the midnight sun and the eternal darkness of the polar night:

What kinds of warhead types and explosives types are modeled?
In Command, one Damage Point (DP) equals 1kg of TNT. This is different from earlier simulators like Harpoon where 1DP = 5kg of TNT. Command also automatically converts various explosives types to TNT equivalents. I.e. the Mk84 2000lb GPB [429kg/945lb Tritonal] has 429kg of HE [kg] Tritonal explosives, which automatically becomes 643.5 DP in Command since 1kg Tritonal = 1.5kg of TNT. The Command damage model is being systematically improved and expanded. Command offers the following warhead types:

• High Explosive (HE) Blast / Frag
• Armor-Piercing (AP)
• High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) Shaped Charge
• Incendiary (Napalm, WP)
• Fragmentation Semi Armor-Piercing (SAP)
• High Explosive Splash Head (HESH)
• Continuous Rod Hard Target Penetrator (HTP)
• Fuel-Air Explosive (FAE / Thermobaric)
• Torpedo
• Depth Charge
• Nuclear
• Chemical
• Bacteriological
• Cluster Bomb, Anti-Personnel (Fragmentation)
• Cluster Bomb, Anti-Tank (Shaped Charge)
• Cluster Bomb, Anti-Runway (Penetrator)
• Cluster Bomb, Guided Submunitions, Anti-Tank (Shaped Charge)
• Mine, Anti-Personnel (Fragmentation)
• Mine, Anti-Tank (Shaped Charge)
• Long Rod Penetrator (APDS / APFSDS)
• Anti-Electrical Leaflet Dispensing
• Laser Energy
• EMP – Directed EMP – Omnidirectional

Explosives types (that are converted to TNT equivalents):

• HE [kg], TNT (Trinitrotoluene)
• HE [kg], HMX HE [kg], PETN (Pentrite)
• HE [kg], RDX (Cyclonite / Hexogen / C4)
• HE [kg], C4 HE [kg], Tritonal
• HE [kg], Ammonium Nitrate (Ammonite)
• HE [kg], Picric
• Acid / Trinitrophenol / Type 97 (Pertit / Pikrinit / Melinit / Ekrasit / Shimose)
• HE [kg], Torpex
• HE [kg], Dynamite
• HE [kg], PBXN-1XX
• HE [kg], AFX-757
• HE [kg], Minol-2
• HE [kg], H-6
• HE [kg], Destex
• HE [kg], Minol-1
• HE [kg], HBX-1
• HE [kg], HBX-3
• HE [kg], Hexanite
• HE [kg], Dipicrylamine / Hexyl (Hexamine / Hexite / Hexanitrodiphenylamine)
• HE [kg], Minol-3
• HE [kg], Minol-4
• HE [kg], PBX
• Incendiary [kg], Napalm
• Incendiary [kg], WP
• Incendiary [kg], FAE
• HEAT Shaped Charge, Light Armor (41-90mm)
• HEAT Shaped Charge, Medium Armor (91-140mm)
• HEAT Shaped Charge, Heavy Armor (141-200mm)
• HEAT Shaped Charge, Special Armor (201-500mm)
• Fragmentation [kg], Prefragmented Continuous Rod [kg]
• Nuclear [kT]
• Chemical [kg]
• Bacteriological [kg]
• Submunitions [kg], Anti-Personnel (Fragmentation)
• Submunitions [kg], Anti-Tank, Light Armor (41-90mm)
• Submunitions [kg], Anti-Tank, Medium Armor (91-140mm)
• Submunitions [kg], Anti-Tank, Heavy Armor (141-200mm)
• Submunitions [kg], Anti-Tank, Special Armor (201-500mm)
• Submunitions [kg], Anti-Runway (Penetrator)
• Mine [kg], Anti-Personnel (Fragmentation)
• Mine [kg], Anti-Tank, Light Armor (41-90mm)
• Mine [kg], Anti-Tank, Medium Armor (91-140mm)
• Mine [kg], Anti-Tank, Heavy Armor (141-200mm)
• Mine [kg], Anti-Tank, Special Armor (201-500mm)
• Long Rod Penetrator, Light Armor (41-90mm)
• Long Rod Penetrator, Medium Armor (91-140mm)
• Long Rod Penetrator, Heavy Armor (141-200mm)
• Long Rod Penetrator, Special Armor (201-500mm)
• Anti-Electrical (Conductive Fiber) Leaflets
• Laser Energy [kW]
• Kinetic Energy

Sensor Modelling

How are sensors modeled in Command?
Sensors work according to their RL counterparts. Radars are affected by factors such as weather, clutter, jamming (true radar equation, incl. propagation loss), line of sight, horizon (incl. surface effect) and others. Likewise for sonar (passive, active, ping intercept), visual and IR sensors, electronic warfare (ESM/ECM) and so on. Some types of sensors like laser designators/rangers and MAD have simpler models. The radar model takes a great number of factors into account, like frequencies, horizontal and vertical beamwidth, System Noise Level, Processing Gain/Loss, Peak Power, Pulse Width, Blind Time (yes we simulate pulse compression!), PRF, min & max range, min & max altitude, scan interval, range/height/angle resolution, various capabilities such as air/surface/ground/periscope & range/altitude/speed/heading (RASH) info, OTH-B/OTH-SW, pulse-only & early/later doppler with limited/full LDSD, MTI, NCTR, Phased Array continuous target tracking, CW and CWI capability.

Does the weather affect sensors?
Yes, it affects most sensors. Particularly visual & IR but also radar at certain frequencies. Command’s predecessors, Harpoon 2 and Harpoon 3, had an excellent “random weather generator” with believable variable weather fronts. The problem was that the different weather conditions didn’t really affect sensors/weapons much (e.g. you could drop an LGB in the middle of a tropical storm no problem). The Command 1.04 weather model is simpler in terms of generation/variability but its effects actually impact you. And wait till you see what happens when we activate air-operations being limited by night & bad weather… You will wish you hadn’t asked for weather effects in Command!

Does weather affect underwater acoustics as well, or just surface and above? 

It affects sonar performance in the surface duct (e.g. shallow sub vs ship or shallow sub vs shallow sub). Once you go below below shallow the weather does not affect you except from the local temperature which affect the strength of the thermal layer.

How detailed is your radar model? 

Click on the screenshots to the right for a full view. They are taken from the Radar Calc MS/Excel sheets that we’ve used to balance out the radar sensors in Command, and should give some clues about the input parameters that we use and also the model’s complexity. Note that stats from public sources are in black, our guessimations are in red. There is only one operating mode per radar set, which is the most typical operating mode. The radar model also has range capping (see Max Rng column) to simulate PRF cutoff and scope limitations.

The 1980-2015+ database for Command 1.04 contains 1917 (finished) radars and they’ve all been balanced out like this. The 1946-1979 database has a load of earlier sets extinct by 1980. The database editor uses the same sensor code as Command and the MS/Excel spreadsheet, and also does a bunch of sample calcs in the database editor itself to make sure the input stats aren’t out of whack.

How do your ESM / RWR sets work? 

There are 698 ESM/RWR systems in the Command 1.04 database. To the right is a screenshot showing range estimations for some ESM sets against five typical radar sets. You can click on the screenshots for a full view. Black stats are from public sources, red are our guesses. As you can see, high-end ESM/ELINT sets produce some pretty ridiculous range estimates against powerful radars.

What is the electronic warfare (ECM) model like?
To the right are some ECM vs radar examples. You can click on the screenshots for a full view. As you can see it is pretty complex. Black stats come from declassified sources, red stats are our guessimations. The effects assume the target radar antenna points directly at the jammer beam. Sidelobe jamming (which Command also simulates) has less effect. We even developed our very own radar and electronic warfare simulator while building the radar and electronic warfare models for Command. We are considering releasing it to the public so that the players can look at the models in detail, but haven’t had the time to ‘productify’ it yet.

How does stealth work with F-117A Nighthawk, B-2A Spirit, and other stealth aircraft?
Stealth and low-observable aircraft and ships in the database have smaller radar, visual and IR signatures than other units. Command uses several different generations of radar stealth and various signature modifiers to produce realistic detection ranges. We also simulate the fact that A to D-band radars are far better at detecting stealth aircraft than E to K-band radars. The AN/FPS-130 is a D-band long-range air search radar which means it is quite effective against stealth aircraft since the wave length is equal to the aircraft or big fuselage components such as wings or tails. This produces resonance effects which give good radar returns. This is not the case for E to K-band radars, and the effect of LO shaping is much, much higher.

How do Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) radars work?
In Command, LPI radars use their real-life power output (0.1W or 1W) and pulse lengths but have much lower System Noise Levels and better Processing Gain/Loss than conventional sets. We do not simulate the ‘ESM-style analysis techniques’ used by these radars in real life, we adjust the processing gain. As such LPI radars work just like any other radar set except they are counter-detected at much shorter ranges. RWRs have much smaller antennas than the LPI radars, and thus the LPI has an advantage as it uses signal analysis methods similar to that of ESM gear. That means modern LPIs are often detecting stuff before being counter-detected, and this is also the case in Command. For more advanced RWRs and ESM sets the LPI will be picked up at longer ranges

What are your visual and infrared (IR) models like?
Command distinguishes between Detection, Classification, and Identification. Visual detection and classification/identification signatures are based on physical size and various Visual/IR modifiers such as High-Viz, Retro Camo, Low-Viz Camo, etc. However the aircraft’s color only has limited impact on detection range except fluorcent colors. Typical classification ranges for high-viz civilian aircraft is ca 8nm while for low-viz aircraft it is ca 5nm. For visual sensors it is actually the _length_ of the aircraft has the largest impact on detection range. In contrast to earlier games, anti-air missiles and small ASM/AGMs can not be visually classified by type in Command. So there are no more ‘Incoming AIM-9M-5 Mod 4 Build 3 Block A-2/63’ messages. There is much talk about using IRST sensors to counter stealth. But in reality IRST sensors have relatively short range due to the fact that IR radiation is absorbed very quickly by the atmosphere. As such it is a great tool to help improve short/medium-range situational awareness as it has a much wider FOV than the radar, but it certainly isn’t a long-range anti-stealth sensor! This fact is of course also reflected in Command. Command also handles contrails. The effects of these can be demonstrated through the following example: Three A-4M Skyhawks are overflying a ground observer using Mk1 Eyeball as search sensor. One Skyhawk is at 1000ft, one at 25000ft and one at 36000ft.

• The lowest is detected at ca 2.1-1.8nm slant range and classified as a A-4 Skyhawk at ca 0.8-1.0nm slant range.
• The middle aircraft is not detected as it is too far away / too small.
• The highest Skyhawk creates a contrail and is detected at a considerable distance, and thus is the first of the three to be detected.

The ground observer can determine the size of the contrail (small/medium/large) but can never see the actual aircraft nor classify it as an A-4 Skyhawk. TECHNICAL DETAILS: Contrails will only form at altitudes greater than 8000m, and at temperatures below -40 deg C. Command has a ‘standard atmosphere’ model that checks if the temperature is lower than 233 deg Kelvin at the aircraft’s current altitude. Command uses the aircraft’s ‘Visual Size Class’ to determine the size of the contrail, and thus detection range. The detection range also depends on time-of-day and cloud cover. – Very Large: 50nm – Large: 30nm – Medium: 20nm – Small: 10nm

Are snorkelling subs visible to radar?
Yes, the periscope can be detected by radars that have the ability to search for periscopes (not many of them).

What weapon guidance types are modelled in Command?
Command has a comprehensive set of weapon guidance logics. There are numerous types, each with specialized handling. These are:

• Semi-Active (SARH, SALH)
• Inertial Plus Semi-Active (INS + SARH, INS + SALH)
• Datalink Plus Semi-Active (DL + SARH)
• Passive (ARM, IR)
• Inertial Plus Passive (INS + ARM, INS + IR)
• Datalink Plus Passive (DL + ARM)
• Active (ARH)
• Inertial Plus Active (INS + ARH)
• Datalink Plus Active (DL + ARH)
• Command-Guided / Datalinked Track-Via-Missile (TVM)
• Beam Riding Inertial (INS, INS + GPS)
• Semi-Active Plus Active (SARH + ARH)
• Timeshared Semi-Active Plus Active (TSARH + ARH)

In addition, Command has complex activation point/target overshoot/illumination geometry issues/redetection/retargeting logics & associated target prioritizing. Some weapons combine guidance types. For example, the SM-2MR Blk IIIB is datalinked with semi-active terminal illumination and a backup IR seeker. The missile is fired at a non-cooperative fighter target. The weapon flies lead-pursuit to the kill box and will request target illumination from an AN/SPG-62 ca 5 sec from impact. In extreme cases the fighter may be able to maneouver enough to make the SARH seeker go blind due to target-missile-illuminator geometry issues. In this case the AEGIS system will order the missile to switch to IR seeker and go autonomous – freeing up a an illuminator and a datalink channel, and allowing the system to fire another weapon. The SM-2MR is now a pure-IR homing weapon.

A SARH-guided missile flew to the target and hit, but the target was outside the radar’s search arc. Why?
The radar “wedge” being displayed on the map represents the _search_ scan limits of the shooter’s radar. The _illumination_ angle limits of the radar are actually a bit wider than that (this is not a game cheat, it’s RL practice), to allow the shooter to jink while guiding the missile and thus mess up the kinematic calculations of a counter-shot. (Yes, our AAW expert is a real stickler for detail.). Hence the jinking that you observed. If the shooter is forced to “flinch” and breakaway out of the azimuth limits in order to evade an attack, you will notice a time value (in seconds) next to the weapon(s) being guided. This indicates that the weapon is “blind”. Once a pure-SARH weapon like the Sparrow goes blind for 5 seconds or more, it self-destructs.

How do you calculate horizon limitations? 

We’re not using 3.57*(sqrt(h1)+sqrt(h2)) or 4.12*Sqrt(h) textbook approximations. We use earth radius, tangent angle, etc to calculate surface angle etc etc. The radar/ESM and infra-red horizons are also different than the visual one, as each EM wavelength has different refraction properties (ie. following the Earth’s curvature to a different degree).

How do you simulate Look-Down/Shoot-Down (LD/SD) limitations on older aircraft radars?
Older radar sets without LD/SD capabilities can detect targets at a downwards angle of 5 degrees. Radars with limited LD/SD have a 15 degree limitation, and modern radars have no limitations at all. The AN/APQ-120 radar fitted to F-4E Phantoms have limited LD/SD capabilities. A F-4E patrolling at 40 000 feet (ca 12 km) will therefore be able to detect a MiG-23 flying Nap-of-Earth (NoE) at a distance of 35nm since the downwards angle is roughly 12 degrees. This is within the 15 degree limitation of the radar.

How do you model ‘looking through a straw’ limitations for long-range TCS?
In earlier naval/aerial warfare sims such as Harpoon, aircraft like the F-14 Tomcat with its TCS (TV Camera Set) would detect, classify and identify ANY aircraft at ranges up to ca 70nm. This doesn’t make much sense but was a result of both severe sensor model limitations and AI limitations, with the AI refusing to fire at unidentified targets and thus nulling the AIM-54’s range advantage. The TCS retained its 70nm range even with the radar turned off, and so the F-14 could fire AIM-54s silently at stealthy F-22s from 70nm out! And the wide 90-deg FOV of the TCS didn’t exactly help improve realism. This, in turn, meant that playing the opposing side was often very frustrating since there was nowhere to hide, resulting in less experienced players resorting to ridiculous ‘cheatos’ tactics.

Thankfully, Command has configurable doctrines that allows the AI to automatically engage unknown contacts (FREE FIRE!) which in turn would allow Command to simulate visual detections far more realistically.

But how should air-to-air detection & classification in Command be handled? Let’s start with some facts:

BASIC FACT 1: Binoculars and high-magnification TV camera sets can help identify aircraft at long ranges. However, searching for air contacts with these sets is like “looking through a straw”, and RL experience shows that this kind of search produces long scan times due to the narrow field of view. In turn, this means that that detection ranges with high-magnification visual sensors are very close (and in some cases even shorter!) than what the human Mk1 Eyeball can produce. In fact, a ground observer with a binocular with a 2x zoom would, depending on source, detect the target at 0.9 to 1.1 times the range of the naked eye. And even the best systems would very rarely produce detection ranges greater than two times the human eye.

BASIC FACT 2: Many IR/Visual sensors/turrets are not used for target search due to their narrow FOV. These are typically used with fire control systems. Other sensors have wide FOVs and are used exclusively for situational awareness and early warning, and not for fire control. Most sets also have multiple FOVs with high/low magnification levels; typically low magnification for target acquisition, and high for target classification, identification and tracking. These facts are also covered by the Command sensor models.

All visual sensors and imaging IR sensors have two magnification (zoom) levels, one for general target search and one for classification of already detected targets. As such there is a clear split of roles between dual-role search/fire-control sensors, general search-only sensors, and fire-control-only sensors. The visual Search Magnification is typically 1x to 2x, with 2.3x being the highest search magnification level in Command. This means that, if a plane is detectable at 3nm with the naked eye, it will never be detected at more than 6nm using a TCS. The Classification Magnification is typically 2x to 40x, with 43x being the highest magnification level in the Command database. Some sensors like space object classification cameras have higher zoom levels, ditto for the special 80x detailed target classification & identification camera on the AC-130U, and a handful others. Special rules apply for imaging IRST sets, which will detect targets at longer ranges but identify them (granted they have imaging IR capabilities) at relatively short ranges. In addition, IR sets like early-gen IRSTs and Line Scanners are not imaging and thus have no Classification zoom as they cannot classify targets.

So, how does Command compare to RL observed behavior? Lets take a look at a handful sensors, their stats, and the expected detection & classification ranges against small and large contacts. Typical magnification levels:

• F-14 TCS: 10x
• Original LANTIRN: 8x
• Modernized LANTIRN: 20x (as such, from 1998 onwards the F-14 Bombcat crews actually used their LANTIRN pod to identify air targets rather than the 15-20 year old TCS as the LANTIRN was a day & night sensor, had twice the range, and offered a clearer picture of the target!)
• Sniper: 30x (very impressive!)
• ATFLIR: 30x
• Original Maverick missile seeker: 2x

From declassified sources we know the typical detection ranges for the Mk1 Eyeball against a given targets at a given aspects. Say 3nm head-on vs MiG-23, 12nm vs B-52, etc. We also know the Classification ranges against the same types: 1.5nm for MiG-23 and 4nm for B-52. The F-14’s TCS classification range against the MiG-23 is 14nm and B-52 40nm.

When we put an F-14, B-52 and MiG-23 into a Command scenario and run it, the following will happen:
* SCENARIO 1: The F-14’s radar is turned off and the aircraft is 30 deg off-angle from the contacts. The contacts are outside the TCS’s search arc and are detected and classified by the Mk1 Eyeball at normal ranges: ca 3nm / 1.5nm for MiG-23 and ca 12nm / 4nm for the B-52.
* SCENARIO 2: The F-14’s radar is turned off and the contacts are within the TCS’s search arc. The contacts are detected at up to twice their normal range. Once detected, the F-14 automatically switches the TCS to high magnification mode and immediately identify the contacts. As such, detection and classification ranges are identical: ca 6nm / 6nm for the MiG-23 and ca 24 nm / 24nm for the B-52.
* SCENARIO 3: The F-14 operates as normal, using its radar. The MiG-23 is detected by the radar at ca 125nm and the B-52 at ca 180nm. The TCS is slaved to the radar and uses max magnification. The TCS sensor will classify the MiG-23 at ca 14nm and the B-52 at ca 40nm.

What is a semi-active seeker, and how do they work in Command?
Semi-active seekers home in on radar or laser energy reflected from the target. An illuminator is a type of radar or laser that paints a target with energy for the weapons to home in on. Basically an illuminator is a big bright light that other weapons know to track. Illuminators require line-of-sight to the target and are limited by the horizon, so if planet earth is between you and it, you cannot fire your weapon. Worse, laser illuminators cannot see through fog or clouds, which makes Laser Guided Bombs (LGBs) useless in these conditions. Illuminators are automatically turned on in Command when Semi-Active Radar Homing (SARH) or Semi-Active Laser Homing (SALH) weapons are fired. Illuminator beams are displayed as a broken red line leading from shooter to target. To display these, go to Map Settings -> Illumination Vectors, and set them to be displayed for the selected unit, all units or none by clicking on your choice in the menu. The option is set to None by default to reduce the clutter on the display. For further information, please visit the Missile Guidance article on Wikipedia.

Scenario Editing

How do you determine Complexity and Difficulty?
The complexity and difficulty level for a scenario is subjective. Difficulty is how hard a given scenario is. Complexity is how many units are in the scenario and the nuances of the victory conditions.

What are the ‘Single Unit Airfields’ in the database, and how do I use them?
The Single Unit Airfields are “all in one” units. You would normally use them for air bases that are not targets and are generally the preferred unit to use as the number of active units in a scenario does impact game speed. If you’d like to build an airbase from scratch you must have at least 1 runway unit, 1 access point or taxiway, 1 unit A/C holding unit (tarmac, A/C revetment, open parking space, hanger etc), 1 Ammo holding unit (ammo dump, ammo revetment, ammo pad) and at least one fuel facility (AvGas, not really active as per Command v1.04 but should be there). The manual covers airbase construction and deconstruction in detail.

Is there an upper limit to the number of units I can have in a scenario?
The number of units that Command engine can handle is almost unlimited (a few billions), however the core calcs aren’t cheating as much as in earlier games and/or simulators so the more stuff you add the more calcs need to be done. Performance is also affected by units plotting complex nav paths, a lot of long-range sensors, lots of jammers, etc, etc.

Why should I include ‘unavailable’ aircraft in my scenario?
Aircraft stuck on the ground are part of the unit compliment and portray real life operations, and should always be included in scenarios. Aircraft that are grounded for extended maintenance or have stood down due to pilot availability or doctrine will still take up valuable hangar/revetment space. They also often pose valuable assets for protection or, from the enemy’s point of view, for destruction. If the ‘unavailable’ aircraft were not included in a scenario because they were “useless”, three things would happen:
1) The aircraft management scren would de-clutter somewhat (not significantly though, when you’re carefully managing air assets).
2) Your operational aircraft would have unrealistic availability of air facilities.
3) The grounded aircraft would not be able to be used as scenario targets. So in effect, setting aircraft to ‘unavailable’ is a way of occupying hangar capacity without providing all aircraft for operations (which never happens in real life) as well as providing the other side targets.

I selected a carrier group and added aircraft, and some were distributed to destroyers. Why?
If you select to add multiple ships then Command will spread the aircraft among them. The solution is to switch to Unit View, select the aircraft carrier, and add the aircraft on a per-ship basis.

Do I need to fill aviation magazines with drop tanks, sonobuoys and gun ammo?
No. Drop tanks, sonobuoys and gun ammo are ‘free’, i.e. in unlimited supply. You do not have to worry about their quantities, and here is no point in adding them to aviation magazines.

How can I find out what a particular aircraft carrier type’s normal complement of aircraft is?
There are many web sites where this info is at. For US Navy carriers we can strongly recommend the Go Navy site.

What about CVBG ship composition? Any good suggestions for that?
Often, ships would join and leave a battlegroup during a work-up and cruise, so the ships that started a deployment may not necessarily be the same that completed the deployment. For a general idea of what deployed with a battlegroup, one creative idea is to look up the cruise book of the carrier in question. Usually, there is a battlegroup photo near the front of the book. You can ID the type and number of ships from the photo (although not the name). In 1985-87 Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group 8 was the embarked flag on USS SARATOGA, so you could also research what the assigned ships were for Cruiser-Destroyer Group 8 at that particular time. Today, CVBGs typically deploy with a CG and 3-4 DDGs. Probably an SSN attached to it, too. The trick is that if there’s no real or perceived threat, only the CG will typically stick with the CVN. The DDGs and SSNs might be scattered all across the place. Ditto with PHIBRONs – the LHD might be 2000 miles away from the LSD and 1000 miles away from the LPD that it sailed with. They typically only come together for contingency ops and collective MEU training. I’m not even sure if an ARG deploys with a DDG anymore. The battlegroup photo is normally early in the cruise book. For instance, the image below is from the USS Saratoga 1987 cruisebook. Also, try googling “Command History” with the ship name or the embarked flag’s command, for instance “COMGRUDESGRU EIGHT” “COMMAND HISTORY” The Naval History Command website may also be useful. Good links: Cruise Books BatGru Nomenclature

If I add sensor, mount, etc to a unit in a scenario, will those modifications survive a database update?
Command lets you tweak individual platforms by adding and deleting weapons and sensors. Like, filling up ammo dumps on airfields, changing the VLS loadouts on ships, or updating submarine torpedo magazines. But because these changes will be erased when you update the scenario to a new version of the database, Command lets you save any changes you have made to a special .ini file (using the Editor -> SBR -> Generate Delta Template command). This file contains all deviation from the database including any change in magazines. When applied to a scenario, the file will restore the changes you made even after the updated scenario has been scrubbed by the new version of the database. This is covered in detail in the manual. So every time you create a scenario you should also create an .ini file. Then add that to the scenario zip file so people can rebuild the scenario if they have to.

Is there a way show cities on the map?
You can insert a facility called ‘Marker (City)’ and rename as needed.

How much aircraft ordnance should I put in a typical ammunition shelter?
Ammunition is typically stored by explosive class and type, at least in the West. So for a simple example seperate-loaded artillery projectiles (usually 150 mm or larger) are stored separately from propellants and both are in different locations than the fuzes. Big exception for fixed or semi-fixed ammunition which is packaged in single-round units but may also have several complete rounds to a box and multiple boxes per pallet. The big delimiter is NEQ or Net Explosive Quantity, a value that varies between nations and is based on explosive type and weight. NEQ governs how much can be stored in a single space and the distance between storage platforms or buildings. The aim is to prevent sympathetic detonation should one space detonate high-order due to accident or attack. Bombs and fuzes are stored in separate buildings or bunkers and any guidance units or fins are stored separately as non-explosive components. So the question is a bit like asking “How big is a balloon?” and the answer is always “It depends”. The NEQ storage rules apply to NATO or are at least NATO standard and are generally rigidly enforced in fixed installations, at least in theory. So pretty much any outlay you want can be “accurate” as CMANO allows your ammo bunkers to be whatever you want them to be without messing about with explosive classes, NEQ’s and safe distances.

To the right is a satellite image from Google Earth of a moderate-sized ammunition depot storing all types of non-nuclear munitions. Click for full-size view. It measures about 5-km north-south and is about half that from east-west. Each building or structure will hold a specific explosive class (or compatible mix of classes according to storage regulations) and are frequently separated from their neighbour by a berm to deflect the shock wave of a high-order blast. A building should only hold an NEQ that will prevent sympathetic detonation of the magazine next door in the event of accident or attack. Rail lines run down the east side and the ammunition assembly buildings are off the screen to the south. Note to that there are bunkers and above-ground shelters on the northern part of the magazine area and that the individual building tend to be long and narrow as another aid to limit catastrophic propagation of a detonation. For example, before you can determine how many Mk-83 bombs can be placed into a single magazine you need to know many details that the game cannot provide such as:

• Type of magazine – Above ground concrete or open storage or earthen bunker or underground bunker or hardened shelter etc.
• Berms or no berms separating the individual magazine structures
• Safety distance from – similar or nearby magazines, civilian structures, POL, military facilities etc.

Only with this information does it become possible to determine the NEQ (also known as NEW for Net Explosive Weight) that can be stored in the structure. The calculation of NEQ that can be stored always comes before the item to be stored so suppose that we calculate that the single magazine can store an NEQ of 4000 lbs. A single Mk-83 Mod 4 bomb has an NEQ of 445 so our hypothetical magazine can safely store 8-bombs (4000/445= 8.989 rounded down to 8). For a Mk-82 Mod 4 the NEQ is 180 and so instead of 8 x Mk-83s, the same magazine can store 22 x Mk-82 bombs (4000/180=22.22 rounded down to 22) or for that matter 195 x Hellfire rocket motors waiting to be mated to their warhead and guidance components. Ammo storage is a logistical problem rather than an operational one requiring literally thousands of pages of rules and regulations covering a vast number of ammunition items and contingencies that only the most fanatical of rivet-counters would want more details than CMANO already provides. Particularly since any scenario would really not benefit from additional complexity in the way ammo storage is already modelled. The above figures come from a 1990 ammo catalogue but it is unlikely that the values have changed too much in the intervening decades. You can also lower the NEQ by cladding to provide insulation in the event of fire, something the USN learned well before the 1967 Forrestal disaster but somehow managed to forget. This is the principle reason why some naval ordnance will have a lower NEQ than its Air Force equivalent.

Is there some sort of “standard” aircraft complements for different ships in the database?
Not at the moment. However if you feel like taking on the task of compiling the necessary data we can provide you with a list of all the ships in the database in an XLS sheet. Then you can add the ‘standard’ or ‘typical’ helicopter/aircraft to each, and once finished we can add these to the database and update the sim GUI. Should be a pretty straightforward job really, but need to check that the helicopter torpedo/missile magazines match up with those on the ship. I.e. a 2008 version of a Burke carries a correct version of the Seahawk, etc.

How do I put pictures in the scenario summary or briefing?
In Command 1.04 the simplest way to add a picture in the briefing is to have it fetched from a web-public address. We are working on a better system but it may take a while. Alternatively, you can use a data URI instead of a link in the href field. Go to here, upload your image, run the process, and then take the base64 result and put it into the href field in the editor.

How can I convert Google Earth Placemarks to Installation (INST) files in Command?
You can use the KML-to-INST tool. For more information please go here. The subject is also covered in the manual.

How can I fit a ship with future weapons loadout like NSM or SLCM-N?
In the Weapons window, add 0/29, 0/32, 0/61 or 0/64 weapon records to the mounts, depending on the number of VLS cells. Then load the number of weapons you want.

Can I add laser guns to my futuristic Arleigh Burke?

Yes you can, there are several laser cannons in the database already. Add the mount(s) through the Weapons window.

How were Soviet Red Banner Naval Aviation naval bomber regiments organized?
There were usually 3 squadrons per regiment; two bomber squadrons of 10-11 aircraft each, and one electronic attack squadron of 6-10 aircraft each.

How should I name aircraft?
Aircraft in Command are handled on an individual level, with each unit having its own callsign. It is recommended to use the squadron/regiment’s name and aircraft number / tail code as callsign. It is also recommended to use the RL number/code. In cases where the number/code is not available, use generic numbering, i.e. #01, #02. The standard naming convention is as follows:

• F-14A Tomcat on USS Ranger, Carrier Air Wing Nineteen CVW-2, tail code ‘NE’, squadron VF–1 Wolfpack, aircraft number 101: VF–1 Wolfpack, NE-101
• RF-8G Crusader on USS Oriskany, Carrier Air Wing Nineteen CVW-19, tail code ‘NM’, squadron VFP-63 Eyes of the Fleet, detachment 10, aircraft number 601: VFP-63 Eyes of the Fleet, Det 10, NM-601
• SH-2F Seasprite on USS Cook, a helicopter detachment from HSL-37 Easy Riders, aircraft number 31 (the aircraft number is known, so use ’31’ rather than ‘#01’: HSL-37 Easy Riders, Det, 31
• P-3C Orion from VP-48 Boomers, aircraft #01 (no number/tailcode is known, so use generic ‘#01’): VP-48 Boomers #01
• F-15C Eagle from 43rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, aircraft #05 (no number/tailcode is known, so use generic ‘#05’): 43rd TFS #05
• Su-27 Flanker B from the first squadron of the 611 Fighter Regiment (IAP) of the Soviet air defence force (PVO), aircraft number 10: 611 IAP PVO, 1 Sqn #10
• Tu-16K-10-26P Badger C Mod from the second squadron of the 987 Naval Missile-Carrying Regiment at Severomorsk-1, aircraft number 4: 987 MRAP, 2 Sqn #04
• Ka-27PL Helix A on Udaloy, of the Soviet Northern Fleet’s 830 Independent Anti-submarine Helicopter Regiment, Detachment A, aircraft number 01: 830 OKPLVP, Det A #01
• Sea Harrier FRS.1 on HMS Invincible, No. 801 Naval Air Squadron (NAS), aircraft #04 (note ‘No.’ prefix): No. 801 NAS #04
• Lynx HAS.3 on HMS Battleaxe, No. 849 Naval Air Squadron (NAS), Detachment B, aircraft #01 (note ‘No.’ prefix): No. 849 NAS, Det B #01
• Nimrod MR.2P on RAF Kinloss, No. 120 Squadron, aircraft #04 (note ‘No.’ prefix): No. 120 Sqn #04
• Norwegian F-104G from Bodø Air Base, 334 Sqn, aircraft #05: 334 Sqn #05
• Norwegian NH90 NFH helicopter on HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen, 334 Squadron, Detachment A, aircraft #01: 334 Sqn, Det A #01

How many sides can I create?
A scenario can have an almost unlimited number of sides. However, since each side needs to maintain separate contact lists, exchange data with allies (if any), etc, each additional side will have a significant impact on game speed. It is therefore recommended to use as few sides as possible to ensure highest possible game speed. For neutral / civilian sides that take no active part in the scenario (i.e. shoot stuff up), make sure to set the awareness level to ‘Blind’ to skip sensor calculations and targeting logics. It is also recommended to uncheck ‘Collective Responsibility’ for these sides so that the action of one civilian unit (e.g. a pirate) will not unleash a barrage of missiles on the other civilian units.

Database Editing

Does Command come with a database editor?
Only in the Professional Edition.

There are pros and cons in supporting third-party databases for a simulator that is being actively maintained by the developer. Our current view is that the disadvantages are more profound. So Command does not come with a database editor. The ability to modify a database has been taken from a stand-alone programs and integrated into the Scenario Editor. You can customise platforms in the scenarios by adding/removing mounts, magazines, sensors and comms gear as well as changing weapon types and quantities, but you aren’t able to add units or otherwise edit the database. This gives you the ability to do some new nifty things e.g. stick a Club-K container on an innocent merchant ship. And there is nothing stopping you (well, except common sense) to equip a Perry-class frigate with the SS-N-19 complement normally reserved for a Kirov. The scenario design section of the manual explains how you can do this either through the editor or via templates. There are many reasons why databases in Command are not directly editable. First and foremost we did not want to repeat the database mess/confusion observed in Harpoon. The scenario authors handled more than their fair share of support mails on database/scenario mismatches for that game.

So, for Command we wanted to shift all focus to scenarios. Command is pretty much a ‘scenario sandbox’ that started out as a scenario editor and evolved into a simulator. Everyone on the Command development team have a long history of scenario design behind them, mainly for Harpoon 2/3, and we wanted to make the ultimate scenario editor for ourselves and other naval war gaming fans out there – without the noisy database element. As such, in Command there is no need to copy/overwrite database files or edit configuration files, followed by odd behaviour and crashes if database and scenarios don’t match one hundred percent. Command scenarios know exactly what database they were built with based on the database’s checksum (!), and a scenario will pick the right database upon load. We have received much positive feedback on this solution, as the players only have to care about what scenario to play rather than worrying about whether the scenario will crash with the currently installed database or not.

Second, the database for Command is very complex. Anyone who has spent time in the Harpoon 2/3 database editor will immediately notice the increased number of parameters when they look in the Command DB Viewer. Editing or leaving out the wrong parameter could have rather negative impact on gameplay, generating a ton of unnecessary support tickets for the developer. Third, having multiple user-created databases makes continued expansion of Command far more difficult. Any schema changes would also have to be applied (correctly!) to any 3rd party databases, each of which may or may not have been abandoned by its author at that point in time. There would also be the risk of making associated material (scenarios) unusable. The Command database schema & enum tables are updated regularly and keeping all database hobbyists up-to-date would be a monstrous task, both on the dev end and on the 3rd party end. It would not take many weeks (or days!) before a new DB author simply would give up.

Where can I submit my request for a new platform (aircraft, ship, submarine, facility, weapon, etc)?
The databases contains thousands of platforms and systems, but if you still need a new platform for a scenario that you’re working on feel free to give us a pling. Preferably with links to information from reliable sources. You can request new platforms and systems here. Please note that in order to add a new platform we need adequate data to model them with. There’s a lot of pull from the community for access to emerging systems to play with as well as an expectation for technical accuracy. Having both (early access and full fidelity) is a knife edge to negotiate, and fancy new toys will often go through several complete rebuilds as more information gradually becomes avaiable. We are also quite selective about which hypothetical platforms we add.

There is an error in the platforms database. What can I do about it?
If you think you’ve found an error in the databases, please report it here.

Where are the Colonial Wars Database (CWDB) and the DB3000 Database?
The databases are already installed on your system. Updated databases are released with the regular game upgrades.

Why was 1979 selected for the end of the Cold War Database rather than 1989?
1979 was in many ways a watershed year with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian Revolution beginning to change superpower dynamics and the Cold War’s end game unknowingly commenced. 1980 would see the Reagan era and the biggest peacetime military build up in history unfolding. By the time the Cold War ended, much of the hardware was technologically mature and the current setup demonstrates this nicely. Each covers roughly thirty-years, about as long as a professional career in the armed forces of the given periods. Also there is platform overlap built into both databases, so from a user standpoint when one database ends and the other begins is pretty much irrelevant.

How can I add more images to the database and write platform descriptions?
The top line of each database entry in the Database Viewer has a number at the beginning (#1234). This is the platforms’ unique identification number. Now an example for the chilean PCFG LM 30 Casma. The Number for this ship is #1701, so you have to put a image of it in the database image folder as follows: [Path_to_COMMAND_game_folder]\DB\Images\DB3000\Ship_1701.jpg The Database Viewer will support up to seven photos: one main photo that scales with the size of the window, and two rows of three smaller photos. The Database Viewer will auto-detect the number of photos available and position them accordingly. It will look for files named as follows: [type]_[id].jpg (main photo) [type]_[id]_t1.jpg (thumbnail 1, optional) [type]_[id]_t2.jpg (ditto) [type]_[id]_t3.jpg (etc) [type]_[id]_t4.jpg [type]_[id]_t5.jpg [type]_[id]_t6.jpg For the description you create a .txt file with the description in it and save it to [Path_to_COMMAND_game_folder]\DB\Descriptions\DB3000\Ship_1701.txt Now you have image and description for this ship in your DB3000 database. For the other types use: Aircraft_[number].jpg / Aircraft_[number].txt, Submarine_[number].jpg / Submarine_[number].txt and Facility_[number].jpg / Facility_[number].txt Lastly, most other players out there would love to have the same photos and descriptions you have added. And since there are tens of thousands of objects in the database it makes sense to share this with the community. But for this one had to respect the copyrights of the images and description texts. On Wikipedia the most images are applicable by mentioning the creator. There is some info about the conditions for using them under the images.

Main Menu

• What is 'Command'?
• Professional Edition
• Awards & Press
• Customer Testimonials
• Scenario & Add-On Downloads
• Mega-FAQ
• Official Forum
• Contact Us
• Links
 

Webshop

BUY at MatrixGames
BUY on Steam
BUY on Humble store



 

Trailer Video

Command: Modern Operations
 

Old Harpoon Material

• What is 'Harpoon'?
• Waypoint Magazine
• Harpoon3.6 1937-1949
  (WW2)
  Database & Scenarios
• Harpoon3.6 1950-1964
  (Colonial Wars)
  Database & Scenarios
• Harpoon3.6 1965-1979
  (Missile Age)
  Database & Scenarios
• Harpoon3.6 1980-2015
  (DB2000)
  Database & Scenarios
 

• Archives

  • March 2026
  • December 2025
  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • April 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • July 2024
  • May 2024
  • February 2024
  • December 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • May 2023
  • March 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • March 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • October 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • May 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • April 2012
  • January 2012
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • July 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • August 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • February 2009
  • December 2008
 

• Recent Posts

  • “Tides Of War” and v1.09 update now available!
  • Companion to Tides Of War: The Command v1.09 update
  • End-of-year bonus: Command PE v2.4.3 released
  • Home of Wargamers 2025: “Tides Of War” DLC announced – Project Hannibal (revised ground combat) early hints
  • Dank u Brussel!: A roundup of the 12th Command User Event