Games PC JANE S-USAF User Manual

1

INTERFACE

Previous page: USAF photo by Senior Master Sgt. Rose Reynolds

Chapter 1

General Instructions ......1.1

Getting Started ..........................1.1

Drop-Down Pilot Window..........1.2

Menu Button..............................1.2

Main Menu Screen ........1.3

Show Main Menu Option ...........1.3

Information Window ..................1.3

Fly Now .....................................1.4

Links to Other Screens ...............1.4

Flight Screens..................1.5

Quick Mission Editor Screen ......1.5

Mission Settings......................1.6

Revivals ..............................1.7

Mission Forces ........................1.7

Training Screen...........................1.8

Choosing a Course..................1.8

Flying a Mission ......................1.8

Single Missions Screen................1.9

Listing Available Missions........1.9

Choosing a Mission.................1.10

Campaign Screen........................1.10

Starting or Rejoining

a Historical Campaign...........1.11

Winning Historical

Campaigns .....................1.11

Starting or Rejoining

a Future Campaign ...............1.12

Campaign Info Box ................1.12

About Mission Box ................1.12

Campaign Control Window ....1.13

Winning a Futuristic

Campaign.......................1.14

Jane’s USAF

Mission Screens .............1.15

Tactical Display Screen...............1.15

Before a Mission .....................1.16

Map and Map Tools ...........1.16

Briefing Window .................1.16

Map Navigator Window......1.19

Map Icon Buttons...............1.19

Flight/Aircraft Buttons ........1.20

Record Mission Button .......1.20

In-Flight..................................1.20

Real-Time Map Display .......1.20

Visit....................................1.21

Switching Aircraft/ Flights ...1.21

Loadout Screen ..........................1.22

Customizing a Loadout ...........1.23

Choosing a Flight................1.23

Viewing Available

Weapons/Equipment .........1.23

Loading and Unloading.......1.24

Debrief Screen............................1.25

Tools Screens ..................1.26

Pilot Records Screen...................1.26

Pilot Dossier ...........................1.26

Changing Your Current Pilot.1.26

Creating a New Pilot ...........1.26

Deleting a Pilot ...................1.26

Current Pilot Information ....1.27

Mission Status ........................1.27

Kill Tally, USAF Losses.............1.28

Pilot, Weapon Statistics ..........1.29

Mission Statistics ....................1.30

Rank ......................................1.31

Medals ...................................1.32

Mission Recorder Screen ............1.33

Recorder Control Panel ...........1.33

Playback and

Tactical Display Tabs.............1.34

Visiting ...................................1.34

Reference Screen ........................1.35

Object List, Viewing Box......1.35

Web Screen................................1.36

INTERFACE

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

This chapter provides an overview of the USAF interface. This section gets
you started and explains a few general features. The other major sections
cover the following:

Main Menu Screen (p. 1.3) details all of the features of the Main Menu screen,
including Fly Now.

Flight Screens (p. 1.5) covers all of the screens where you can choose or cre­ate a mission to fly immediately.

Mission Screens (p. 1.15) describes all of the interface screens you see after
you have loaded a mission.

Tools Screens (p. 1.26) talks about the Pilot Records, Mission Recorder,
Reference and Web screens.

For information on setting up multiplayer games, see Multiplayer, p. 5.1.

For Preference screen options, see Appendix D: Preferences Window, p. 8.8.

Note: Jane’s USAF®has a primarily cursor-driven interface. Unless specified other-
wise, “click” always refers to left-clicking the mouse.

Getting Started

There are two ways to begin playing Jane’s USAF, once you’ve installed the
game. (For installation instructions, please see your Jane’s USAF Install Guide.)

Jump directly into flight. If you want to jump directly into a random, com­puter-generated air-to-air battle, you will want to choose the Fly Now option.

• Click the USAF Fly Now icon on your desktop.

• You will begin the mission in the cockpit. (For more information on Fly

Now, see Fly Now, p. 1.4.)

Begin at an interface screen. If you want to begin at an interface screen,

where you can choose missions, view your pilot records, etc. before you fly,
you will want to choose the Jane’s USAF option.

• Double-click the Jane’s USAF shortcut icon on your desktop to start the game.

— OR —

• Click Start on the Windows 95/98 taskbar menu and then select Programs
> Jane’s Combat Simulations > USAF > Play USAF to start the game.

• You can bypass the introduction by pressing any key.

• You begin every USAF game from a Main Menu screen. You can disable the

Main Menu by de-selecting the
you do so, the opening screen defaults to the last screen you visited.

SHOW MAIN MENU checkbox on that screen. If

1. INTERFACE

1.1

Drop-Down Pilot Window

In the top right-hand corner of each screen is a button
for a drop-down pilot window. The name displayed
on the button is your currently selected pilot. Click on
the button to view this pilot’s current stats. Click
again to close the window.

Go to the Pilot Records screen to view more in-depth
information about the currently selected pilot, change
his photo, select a different saved pilot or create a new
pilot. See Pilot Records Screen, p. 1.26.

Menu Button

At the bottom of nearly every screen is a MENU button
which gives you access to all of the interface screens.
Click on an option to go to that screen.

Instant Action

Fly Now Jump straight into flight. See p. 1.4.

Flights

Quick Mission Create and fly a customized mission. See p. 1.5.

Training Fly a training mission. See p. 1. 8.

Single Mission Fly a pre-scripted, single mission, a mission you created, or

a future campaign mission you’ve already won. See p. 1.9.

Campaigns Start or rejoin a campaign. See p. 1.10.

Multiplayer Start a multiplayer game. See 5: Multiplayer, p. 5.1.

Tools

Pilot Records View pilot statistics and change pilots. See p. 1.26.

Mission Recorder Review recorded missions. See p. 1.33.

Reference Prepare with Jane’s reference information. See p. 1.35.

Web Check out relevant web sites. See p. 1.36.

Preferences

Set graphics, sound, game controls, keyboard, and gameplay options. See
Appendix D: Preferences, p.8.8, for full documentation of these features.

Jane’s USAF

Main Menu

Return to the Main Menu. See p. 1.3.

Quit

Exit the game.

1.2

MAIN MENU SCREEN

From the Main Menu screen, you can access all other interface screens and
view data for your currently selected pilot.

To return to this menu from any other interface screen, click on the
button at the bottom of the screen and choose MAIN MENU. Or, click the link
at the top of any pre-flight screen.

Link back to this screen
(appears in all screens)

MENU

1. INTERFACE

Fly Now,
p. 1.4

Information

window

Show main

menu option

Drop-down
pilot window,
p. 1.2

Links to
other
screens,
p. 1.4

Show Main Menu Option

When the box marked SHOW MAIN MENU WHEN STARTING USAF at the bottom of
the Main Menu screen is checked, you will begin at the Main Menu screen. This
happens whenever you start the game using the Jane’s USAF shortcut or
choose Play USAF from the Windows 95/98 Start menu. If this box is
unchecked and you enter in one of the ways listed above, you will begin the
game where you left off. (You will always begin the game in the cockpit of a
randomly generated mission when you click the Fly Now shortcut icon on
your desktop.)

Information Window

When you run Jane’s USAF for the first time, a customized welcome message
appears in this box in the lower center of the screen. It recommends an initial
mission type based on the gameplay level you selected during installation.
When you subsequently return to this screen, your current pilot’s stats
appear in this window.

Whenever you position the cursor over a link on the screen, information
about that link replaces the information in this window.

1.3

Fly Now

The large FLY NOW button in the center of the Main Menu screen takes you
directly to the cockpit of one of the eight flyable aircraft, in the middle of an
air-to-air scramble.

To get an idea of your situation, you can of course use all of the instruments
normally available to you in the cockpit — such as your radar, RWR, etc. For
a brush-up on instrumentation, see the Cockpit chapter, p. 2.1-2.48.

You can also take a look at the real-time Tactical Display screen by pressing q.
This screen shows the movement of all friendly and enemy aircraft in each area,
as well as relevant ground objects. You can zoom in on areas, object and
flights, and click
Display screen, p. 1.15, for more details.

Note: Fly Now missions do not count toward your currently selected pilot’s kill tally,
statistics, score and rank (see Pilot Records Screen, p. 1.26).

VISIT for a camera’s-eye view of some objects. See Tactical

Links to Other Screens

Move the mouse over a link to highlight it. A short description of the link
appears in the information window in the lower center of the screen. Left­click on the link to go to the corresponding screen.

The page references below indicate where to turn in this manual for more
information on each link.

Quick Mission p. 1.5

FLIGHT

SCREENS

TOOL

SCREENS

Jane’s USAF

Training p. 1.8

Single Missions p. 1.9

Campaigns p. 1.10

Multiplayer Multiplayer, p. 5.1

Pilot Records p. 1.26

Mission Recorder p. 1.33

Reference p. 1.35

Web p. 1.36

Preferences Appendix D,p. 8.8

Quit Exit the game.

1.4

FLIGHT SCREENS

The flight screens allow you to choose or create a mission to load and fly. All
are available from both the Main Menu screen and the
bottom of all preflight screens (see Main Menu Screen, p. 1.3 and MENU
Button, p. 1.2). Flight screens include:

Quick Mission Editor Set basic mission parameters to create a custom

mission that you can fly immediately.

Training (p. 1.8) Fly a pre-scripted mission designed to teach you

flight skills, weapons use or combat tactics.

Single Missions (p. 1.9) Fly a pre-scripted, single mission, a mission you creat-

ed, or a future campaign mission you’ve already won.

Campaigns (p. 1.10) Fly a series of related missions.

You can also jump directly into a randomly generated air-to-air battle by click-

FLY NOW button on the Main Menu Screen. See Fly Now, p. 1.4.

ing the

Quick Mission Editor Screen

The Quick Mission Editor allows
you to quickly design a customized
mission. You determine what goes
into the mission, and the computer
places all of the objects for you.
Quick Missions will not count
toward your currently selected
pilot’s kill tally, statistics, score, and
rank (see Pilot Records Screen, p.

1.26).

Open a Quick Mission that you have previously created and saved
using the Quick Mission Editor.

Save the current Quick Mission. You can later open this mission.
Quick Mission files are saved by default in Program Files\Jane’s
Combat Simulations\USAF\Resource\Missions\Qme. (You can
move these missions to any other computer, as long you copy them
into this same directory.) Finally, you can access your Quick
Mission by selecting My Missions from the Single Mission screen.

Have the computer generate Quick Mission Editor settings for you.

Load the Quick Mission you have created. A pop-up window
appears, tracking the progress of the load; if you wish to cancel,
click the
screen. Once the mission is loaded, you will begin it from the
Tactical Display screen (see p. 1.15).

Go back to the previous screen.

CANCEL button to go back to the Quick Mission Editor

MENU button at the

1. INTERFACE

1.5

Mission Settings

You will set general parameters for your mission in the
box on the left side of the screen. Note that Quick
Missions are modeled on USAF Red Flag missions in that
USAF pilots fly against each other on “red” and “blue”
sides. You always start out on the blue side, leading the
Austin flight.

Note: In multiplayer games, you can switch sides before you fly by jumping into a red
side flight. (Click the CORVETTE or DODGE flight button at the bottom Tactical
Display screen — see Switching Aircraft/Flights, p. 1.21, for details.) Once you
are in flight, however, you can’t switch sides.

Mission Name Type in a name for the mission. This name will appear

under My Missions in the Single Mission screen.

For the following options, choose a setting from the pull-down menu:

Area

Time of Day DAWN

Starting Position HEAD-ON (both sides begin the mission facing each other)

Starting Range

Weapons GUNS ONLY (loadouts limited to guns)

VIETNAM, IRAQ, GRAND CANYON or GERMANY

(determines the terrain you will fly over)

, DAY, DUSK or NIGHT

TAIL-ON-BLUE (red begins the mission on blue’s tail)
TAIL-ON-RED (blue begins the mission on red’s tail)

5

MILES,10MILES, 20MILES, OR30MILES

(Determines how far apart the red and blue forces are)

AA (default loadout consists of air-to-air weapons)
AG (default loadout consists of air-to-ground weapons)
AA & AG (default loadouts consist of air-to-air and air-

to-ground weapons)

Note: Guns are available in every loadout selection. Additionally, you can always use
guns for either air-to-air or air-to-ground attacks. The options above limit only the
missile and bomb ordnance loaded on aircraft.

USAF A/G Target

Jane’s USAF

Enemy SAMs

CONVOY, SAM SITE, RUNWAYS or NONE

(Establishes a ground target for the blue side)

0, 1, 2or3

(Sets the number of SAM sites on the red side)

Enemy AAAs

0, 1, 2or3

(Sets the number of AAA sites on the red side)

1.6

Revivals

This sets the number of times aircraft on both the red and blue sides can
regenerate. If you fly the blue side, the settings below apply to the red side.
If you jump to the red side, the settings below apply to blue.

No. of Revivals

Revival Delay

0, 1, 2, 3

0, 10

, or UNLIMITED

SECONDS, 20SECONDS or1MINUTE

Weapon Reload CURRENT LOAD (plane regenerates with whatever weapons

it had left when it was destroyed)

RELOAD ALL

(plane regenerates with full, original loadout)

Mission Forces

In the box on the right side of the screen you
will configure the flights for the blue and red
sides. Each side has a maximum of two flights
— Austin and Buick flights are always blue and
Corvette and Dodge are always red.

You can set the following for each flight:

0 / 1

No. of Planes Click the menu to select the number of aircraft —

2/ 3/4

. The Austin flight must contain at least 1 air-

craft. All other flights have a minimum of 0.

Aircraft F-16, F-

16

C, F-15C, F-15E, F-

F-105D and MIG-16 through MIG-

117

A, F-4E, F-22A, A-10A,

29

.
(Scroll down the menu to see all available options. The
blue side can fly any player-controllable aircraft, while
the red side can fly any aircraft.)

, CAS or STRIKE

Task

CAP

(See Tasking Section, p. 1.18, for definitions.)

Starting Altitude RUNWAY,

1000

FT. AGL,

5000

FT. AGL, or

15000

FT. AGL.

/

1. INTERFACE

1.7

Training Screen

Jane’s USAF has a variety of training missions covering the basics of flying, air­to-air combat and air-to-ground combat. Training missions count toward
your currently selected pilot’s kill tally, statistics, score, and rank (see Pilot
Records Screen, p. 1.26).

Choose a

course

Choose a

mission

Choosing a Course

The training series is made up of three courses: Basic, Weapons School and Red
Flag. Click on a training course in the upper right corner of the screen to

select it. The currently selected course is highlighted.

BASIC. Covers basic flight skills — taking off, landing, refueling, and training.

WEAPONS SCHOOL. Provides hands-on experience with various weapons sys-

tems in different environments. These missions are based on the actual USAF
Weapons School curriculum, and have been enhanced for this game.

RED FLAG. Red Flag is the Air Force’s air combat training program. These train-

ing missions feature more advanced scenarios designed to prepare fighter pilots
for grueling air-to-air combat. They are only available to pilots who have
reached the rank of 1st Lieutenant. For more information on USAF’s Red Flag
program and its history, see Background: Operation Red Arrow, p. 6.24.

Flying a Mission

The Missions box on the left of the Training screen lists the missions available
in the currently selected course. Click on a mission to select it. Information
about the mission — including the mission objective, the flights participat­ing in the mission and a map of the mission area — appears in the About
Mission window in the center of the screen.

Jane’s USAF

The Planes box on the right of the screen lists the aircraft that you can fly for
the selected mission. Click on an aircraft to select it.

Once you have selected your mission and plane, click
the mission and display the Tactical Display Screen (see p. 1. 15).

Go back to the previous screen.

Choose an

aircraft

Load the

mission

LOAD to load

1.8

Single Missions Screen

Single missions include:

• Several pre-scripted single missions that are not part of any campaign

• Missions you have already completed in one of the futuristic campaigns

(Operation Red Arrow and Operation Sleeping Giant)

• Missions you’ve created and saved with the Quick Mission Editor

( p. 1.5) or User Mission Editor (UME). (See Start > Program > User
Mission Editor (UME) Manual.)

Listing Available Missions

The text options in the top right corner of the screen control which missions
are displayed in the Missions box on the left. The currently selected option
is highlighted in light blue.

ALL. List all available single missions. (None count toward campaign out-

comes, some count toward currently selected pilot’s record — see SINGLE
below.)

SINGLE. List single missions that are not part of any campaign. These are the

only missions that count toward your currently selected pilot’s record (i.e.,
kill tally, statistics, score and rank).

OPERATION RED ARROW. As you complete missions in this campaign, they

become available on this screen so that you can refly them. (None count
toward campaign outcome or pilot’s record.)

OPERATION SLEEPING GIANT. As you complete missions in this campaign, they

become available on this screen so that you can refly them. (None count
toward campaign outcome or pilot’s record.)

MY MISSIONS. List of missions you designed and saved using the Quick

Mission Editor (see p 1.5) or User Mission Editor (see Start > Program >
User Mission Editor (UME) Manual). None count toward pilot’s record.

1. INTERFACE

Important Note: Most single missions flown from this screen do not count toward
your currently selected pilot’s record (i.e., kill tally, statistics, score and rank). The
exceptions are standalone single missions that are not also a part of any campaign
(see notes above). Likewise, missions that are also part of campaigns do not count
toward the outcome of the campaign when flown from this screen as single missions.
Missions you’ve created with the Quick Mission Editor or User Mission Editor will not
affect pilot statistics.

For more information on what counts toward a pilot’s record, see Pilot Records
Screen, p. 1.26.

1.9

List
available
missions

Choose a

mission

Load the
mission

Choosing a Mission

Click on a mission in the Missions box on the left side of the screen to select
it. (Use the scroll bar on the right edge to scroll the list.) The currently select­ed mission is yellow. Information about that mission appears in the About
Mission box on the right.

Load the currently selected mission. A pop-up window will show
the progress of the load; click the
you want to stop loading and return to the Single Missions screen.

Go back to the previous screen.

Note: Once you click FLY at the bottom of the Tactical Display screen, you’ve begun the
mission. If you quit without successfully completing your mission objectives, you will have
failed the mission. (You can refly missions as often as you like.)

CANCEL button on this pop-up if

Once the mission has loaded, you will begin the mission pre-flight, at the
Tactical Display screen (see Tactical Display Screen, p. 1.15).

Campaign Screen

Jane’s USAF offers four campaigns. Two historical campaigns are taken
directly from the conflict in Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm. One
futuristic campaign (Sleeping Giant) is a fictional conflict set in Germany.
The other futuristic campaign (Red Arrow) consists of dogfighting with MiG
fighters, air-to-air operations, and air-to-ground operations in the continen­tal US.

Jane’s USAF

In the historical campaigns you can access all missions at any time. In the
future campaigns, you must successfully complete each mission to advance
to the next. Campaign missions count toward your currently selected pilot’s
kill tally, statistics, score, and rank (see Pilot Records Screen, p. 1.26).

For background reference information on the campaign scenarios, see the
Background: Campaigns, pp 6.10-6.28.

1.10

Starting or Rejoining a Historical Campaign

The text options in the top right corner of the screen control which missions
are displayed in the Missions box on the left side of the screen. The currently
selected option is highlighted in gold.

HISTORY Display the DESERT STORM

DESERT STORM Display Desert Storm campaign missions in the Missions box.

VIETNAM Display Vietnam campaign missions in the Missions box.

Choose a

mission

Click on a mission in the Missions box on the left side of the screen to select it.
(The currently selected mission is yellow.) Information about that mission
appears in the About Mission box on the right. All missions are available at all
times, and you can fly missions in any order.

Load the currently selected mission. A pop-up window will show
the progress of the load; click the
you want to stop loading and return to the Campaigns screen.

Go back to the previous screen.

You begin the mission pre-flight, at the Tactical Display screen (see p. 1.15.)

and VIETNAM tabs.

Select
campaign

Load
mission

CANCEL button on this pop-up if

1. INTERFACE

Winning Historical Campaigns

To win the campaign, you must successfully complete every mission in that cam­paign. When you do, you will be awarded the Vietnam Service Medal (for Vietnam
campaign) and the Kuwait Liberation Medal (for Desert Storm campaign).

• To pass a mission, you must achieve all of your mission objectives and either
quit when prompted, or (if you choose to continue flying) land safely.

• If you quit out before completing your objectives, you will fail the mission.
This won’t affect your pilot’s score, but the mission’s status will be “Failed.”

• You can re-fly historical campaign missions as often as you like from the
Campaign screen. You can win the campaign by passing missions that
you’ve previously failed.

• Once you have passed a mission, its status will remain “Passed.” This is
true even if you fly it later and fail it.

1.11

Starting or Rejoining a Future Campaign

The text options in the top right corner of the screen control what is dis­played in the box on the left side of the screen. The currently selected option
is highlighted in gold.

FUTURE Display SLEEPING GIANT and RED ARROW tabs.

OPERATION
RED ARROW

OPERATION
SLEEPING
GIANT

Campaign

Info box

In both futuristic campaigns, you must closely manage your pilots, aircraft
and weapons. At least one time (possibly two times) during each campaign,
you’ll need to fly weapon and supply missions (see facing page).

Display information about the current state of the futuristic
Grand Canyon campaign.

Display information about the current state of the futuristic
Germany campaign.

Select
campaign

About
Mission box

Campaign Info Box

The Campaign Info box on the left side of the screen displays information about
the overall state of the campaign. A text box explains overall goals and sum­marizes the situation; use the scroll bar to the right to scroll through this text.

About Mission Box

The About Mission box displays information about
the mission you are about to undertake, including a
brief textual explanation of the situation, a list of the
flights assigned to the mission, and a map of the
overall mission area.

Jane’s USAF

Go back to the previous screen.

1.12

Campaign Control Window

When you start a future campaign, a small window appears onscreen. The
Campaign Control window has four buttons that let you view information
about your remaining aircraft and weapon resources.

RESOURCE Open the Resource Status window.

WEAPON
SUPPLY
MISSION

DEPLOY
AIRCRAFT

QUIT
CAMPAIGN

The
you’re running low on aircraft, pilots or weapons and can’t finish the cam­paign without restocking. You can fly up to two missions of each type. If either
option is grayed-out, you’ve either used up all available missions of that type,
or you’re not running low yet.

Click to fly a Supply mission. Becomes available when you do
not have enough ordnance to complete the campaign. The num­ber remaining is the number of Supply missions you have left.

Click to fly a Deploy mission. Becomes available when you do
not have enough planes and pilots to complete the campaign.
The number remaining is the number of Deploy missions you
have left.

Quit the campaign and return to the Main Menu screen.

WEAPON SUPPLY MISSION and DEPLOY AIRCRAFT options are only available if

1. INTERFACE

Deploy Aircraft/Weapon Supply Mission

Over the course of the campaign, your resources will dwindle as you expend
ordnance, lose aircraft and possibly lose pilots. When your resource levels
are too limiting, you may need to fly a Deploy Aircraft or Weapons Supply
mission.

You can fly each of these missions only twice. (This is true for both the futur­istic Sleeping Giant and Red Arrow campaigns.)

1.13

Resource Status Window

This window charts the resources available to you at the current state of the
campaign. Click on the tabs at the top of the window to view the current sta­tus of the corresponding resource(s):
nance) and AA(air-to-air ordnance).

For each resource, the following is listed:

Type. Breaks down resources by designation (i.e., AGM-65, MK-82, etc. for
AG ordnance)

Amount. Lists the number of this resource type currently available to you.
The green bar beside the number illustrates the amount remaining as a per­centage of the amount you started with.

PILOTS, AIRCRAFT, AG (air-to-ground ord-

Winning a Futuristic Campaign

You will win a futuristic campaign when you have successfully completed all
of the missions in that campaign.

• You must successfully complete each mission to advance to next one.

• To pass a mission, you must achieve all of your mission objectives and either

quit when prompted, or (if you choose to continue flying) land safely.

• If you quit out of a mission before completing your mission objectives, you
will fail the mission. This won’t affect your pilot’s score, but you will have
to refly the mission successfully before you can advance to the next one.

• Once you’ve passed a mission, it will be available from the Single Missions
screen. When flown as single missions, they will not count toward the out­come of the campaign.

Jane’s USAF

1.14

MISSION SCREENS

Tactical Display Screen

The Tactical Display screen is available within every mission — both before the
mission, when it displays your mission briefing and the target area, and dur­ing the mission, when it displays a real-time aerial view of mission events. All
functionality described in this chapter is available both before and during
flight unless otherwise indicated.

Briefing,

p. 1.16

Map
Navigator,

p. 1.19

Map icon

buttons,

p. 1.19

Record
button,

p. 1.33

MENU Click the gray MENU button at the bottom of the screen to return

Flight/aircraft buttons, p. 1.20

to any other screen.

(If you are in flight, you will see a prompt asking if you want to end
the mission. Click NO if you want to continue your current mission.

YES to end the mission and continue to the interface screen

Click
you’ve selected.)

LOADOUT (Not available during flight.) Click the blue LOADOUT button to go

to the Loadout screen. Use this screen to adjust your weapons load.
See Loadout Screen, p. 1.22.

VISIT (Not available before flight.) Click this button to jump to a close-

up camera view of a selected object. See Visit, p. 1.21 for details.

FLY When you are ready to fly (or return to the cockpit view if you are in

flight) click the FLY button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

BACK Click this button to return to the previous screen (the last one you

visited).

Map tools,
p. 1.16

1. INTERFACE

1.15

Before a Mission

After your Quick, Single, Campaign or special Multiplayer mission has loaded,
the Tactical Display screen displays your briefing for that mission, including a mis-
sion area map and information about waypoints, threats and flight selection.

Map and Map Tools

The largest frame on the Tactical
Display Window displays a map of the

mission area, along with the name of
the mission and the mission time.
You can scroll the map using the
scroll bars on the bottom and right
edges of the map. You can also move
the map with the Map Tools.
By default these tools appear at the right of the map; however, you can click
and drag them anywhere on the screen.

Toggle map display. (Map is visible by default.)

Changes your cursor back to normal function (an arrow-shaped cursor)

Click this icon to zoom the map out

Click this icon to zoom the map in

Click this icon to change the cursor to a cross hair with a box
attached. Use the cursor to draw a box around an area of the map to
zoom in to that area.

Click this icon to change the cursor to a hand. Use the hand cursor
to click and drag the map, moving it around.

Click this icon to change the cursor to a cross hair. Click on the map
with the cross hair to center the map where you’ve clicked.

Briefing Window

The briefing lists the mission name and type, with a brief
description of the situation, weather, available intelligence,
flight tasking, objectives, safety concerns and helpful tips.
You will want to pay particular attention to the
Intelligence, Flight Tasking and Mission Objectives sec­tions.

Click the

Jane’s USAF

• Click the

• Click the X button at the top of the window to close the window.

the Tactical Display Screen to open a gray Briefing
window on top of the map.

1.16

BRIEFING button in the top left corner of

PRINT button at the bottom of the window to print your briefing.

Intelligence Section

This section of your briefing lists your targets and all known threats in the
area. (The threats listed may not be the only threats!). Light-blue, underlined
text indicates a hotlink to additional reference windows.

Object View windows. Pop-up Object View
windows display a 3D model of the threat or
target and list specifications from Jane’s
Information Group, Ltd.

• Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to

rotate the model.

• Use the scroll bar at the left edge of the window to scroll through the

Jane’s text.

• Click the

Target Photo windows. For some targets, a
link to pop-up Target Photo window may be
provided. These photos give an overall view
of the target area with exact location coor­dinates. An enlarged view of the target area
may also be provided, with structures called
out to help you recognize you specific target
elements once you reach the area.

• Click-and-drag this window to resize or

move it.

X button at the top of the window to close it.

1. INTERFACE

Target View windows. These windows dis-
play live footage of the target area (and
therefore cannot be printed out). Use the
buttons at the bottom of the window to
change views.

SATELLITE VIEW Switch to an overhead view

of the target area from an
intelligence satellite.

ZOOM VIEW Switch to a zoomed-in

version of the above view. Rotate the view using A and S.

UAV VIEW Switch to a rotating, 3D view of the target from the camera

on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flying over the target
area. UAVs are small, remotely controlled airplanes used for
surveillance, target tracking and bomb damage assessment.

• Click the

X button at the top of the window to close it.

1.17

Tasking Section

List each flight in the mission, along with the number and type of aircraft in
each flight, and each flight’s task and targets. As in the intelligence section,
light-blue, underlined text marks hotlinks to additional reference windows.
A brief overview of tasks is listed below.

CAP. (Combat Air Patrol) Fly around a specified waypoint or along a speci­fied path in search of aircraft threats. Often performed in support of anoth­er mission element that is executing a ground strike.

CAS. (Combat Air Support) Fly to the specified target area and strike tanks,
ground artillery, troops and other enemy ground force elements. This task is
always performed in support of friendly ground force elements operating
within or near the target area.

Escort. Defend a specified friendly unit(s) from enemy attack as it travels
through its waypoints. Escort missions are generally performed in support of
friendly air elements that are executing the main mission objective. The
objective of the mission is to keep the escorted aircraft out of harm’s way.

Intercept. Neutralize an attack by enemy aircraft, such as fighters that are
attempting to interfere with a mission, or bombers that have targeted a
friendly ground installation.

SEAD. (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) Destroy enemy AAA and SAM
sites, and perhaps ground control radar installations to clear a path for
another strike force. Target types include surface-to-air missile sites, anti-air­craft artillery batteries and any associated radar systems.

Strike. Fly to the specified target area and strike specified targets. Targets
might include anti-air sites, storage or production facilities, radar installa­tions, and other strategic structures. Sometimes strike operations are per­formed in support of another air element — for example, to destroy enemy
AAA and SAM sites to clear a path for another strike force. Sometimes they
are the mission’s main strategic objective.

Note: In Jane’s USAF, you are responsible for completing every flight’s task (see
Flight/Aircraft Buttons, p. 1.20). Make sure you note which flight is responsible

for which task — the aircraft assigned to it and their weapons loadout will probably
be best suited to the task it has been given. For example, if two F-15Cs are assigned
to fly a CAP for A-10s on a ground strike, the slow low-flying A-10s would have
extreme difficulty taking over the air-to-air role and the F-15Cs probably wouldn’t
have the loadout for the ground work.

Jane’s USAF

Mission Objectives

Pay very close attention to the information listed in this section. Here you
will be told exactly what you are responsible for in the mission.

1.18

Map Navigator Window

This window displays an overview map of the mission area. The
portion of the map currently displayed in the main window of
the Tactical Display screen is marked by a red box. You can click
and drag this red box inside the Map Navigator window to con­trol which portion of the map is displayed in the larger window.
Click the
also press the

X button at the top of the window to close it. (You can

MAP NAVIGATOR button to close it.)

Click the map navigator button (second button on the left) in the
Tactical Display screen to open and close the Map Navigator window.

Map Icon Buttons

The rest of the buttons to the left of the map control what mission elements
are displayed on the map. Each button (except
consists of red and blue icon buttons (that can be lit or dark) and a gray text
button (that can be raised or depressed).

(red) Click the red icon buttons to display/hide only enemy objects

of this type.

(blue) Click the blue icon buttons to display/hide only friendly

objects of this type.

When the icon buttons are lit, the objects are displayed; when they are dark,
the objects are hidden.

Click the text buttons listed below to hide/display all objects of that type.
When a button is depressed, the corresponding objects are displayed. When
a button is raised, the objects are hidden.

WAYPOINTS and INTELLIGENCE)

1. INTERFACE

Display/hide aircraft, including fighters , support
aircraft , and helicopters .

Display/hide vehicles, including tanks ,
trucks , and armored vehicles .

Display/hide SAM sites .

Display/hide AAA sites .

Display/hide runways

Display/hide structures and radar .

Display/hide SAM kill radii. These circles indicate
the effective range of each SAM site.

Display/hide your waypoints.

Superimpose a window with troop locations and
arrows indicating troop movement over the map.

1.19

Flight/Aircraft Buttons

The flight and aircraft buttons at the bottom of the screen allow you to cen­ter the map on different friendly flights or aircraft. In missions flown by more
than one flight, you can also use these buttons to jump from flight to flight.

Click on a flight text button (
control of that flight. The map will re-center on the flight’s current
location, and the flight button turns yellow.

Click on the numbered aircraft icon buttons to re-center the map
on that aircraft. (This does not affect which flight you are in.) The
button for your aircraft is green, all other aircraft buttons are blue.

Human pilots will always lead a flight of computer wingmen. Aircraft 1 is
always the flight leader.

Note: You cannot change flights in basic or weapons training missions.

AUSTIN, BUICK, CORVETTE, etc.) to take

Record Mission Button

Use the Record Mission feature if you’d like to record the mission you are
about to fly and view it later in the Mission Recorder screen (see Mission
Recorder Screen, p. 1.33). When the red, circular button is depressed and the
red light is illuminated, you are recording. You can stop recording at any time
by clicking the button again. You can’t turn mission recording on/off once the
mission has begun, however. Only in-flight actions will be recorded — your
Tactical Display screen actions, for instance, won’t show up on the final tape.

Toggle the mission recorder on/off

In-Flight

You can also access the Tactical Display screen while flying by pressing q.

• The game keeps running while you are viewing the Tactical Display screen.

• The Loadout screen is unavailable in-flight.

• To switch to another flight, click the center button of that flight, then click

• If you want to end the mission while in flight, press cQ. You can also

go to the Tactical Display screen, the click the
of the screen and choose any option.

Note: If you end a mission before you have successfully completed your mission objec­tives you will fail that mission.

Jane’s USAF

Real-Time Map Display

While in-flight, the map window displays the movement of all mission ele­ments in real time. The map tools and map icon buttons function exactly as
they do when you are on the ground, allowing you to move and zoom the
map and hide or display different mission elements (see Map and Map
Tools, p. 1.16 and Map Icon Buttons, p. 1.19).

1.20

MENU button at the bottom

FLY.

Visit

Use the VISIT button to view any mission element — including ground forces,
target structures and both enemy and friendly planes. Alternatively, double­click on any icon.

To visit an object:

• Click on an icon to select the object you want to look at.

Click the

K Move the mouse to rotate the view around the object.

- /+ Zoom view in and out.

q Return to Tactical Display screen.

VISIT button at the bottom of the screen.

Switching Aircraft/Flights

During a mission, you can use the flight and aircraft buttons at the bottom
of the Tactical Display screen to jump into different aircraft or flights. You must
finish the objectives for all flights, not just the one you fly initially. For this reason, you
may want to spend time fine-tuning loadouts for each flight before you take
off — that way, you’ll be prepared for whatever the mission holds in store.

Press a flight button to jump to a different flight, if one is avail­able. You must always fly the lead aircraft (aircraft 1) unless it is
destroyed during a mission. Then you will fly lead in the next avail­able aircraft (aircraft 2, then 3, then 4).

Press an aircraft button to center the map around that aircraft.

• If your aircraft is destroyed during a mission and you are flying with at

least one other friendly, you will automatically jump to the Tactical Display
screen, where you can choose a new aircraft.

• You must complete the mission objectives for all flights to win a mission.

As soon as you successfully complete one flight’s objectives, you can con­tinue in either your aircraft or select another flight and take over its mis­sion. The mission won’t end until all flights’ mission objectives have been
completed or all mission aircraft have been destroyed.

1. INTERFACE

• Press s1, 2, 3, or 4 to switch to Flights 1, 2, 3 or 4 without using

the Tactical Display screen. The mission won’t end until all flights’ mission
objectives have been completed or all mission aircraft have been
destroyed.

• To manually end a mission, press cQ. Or, click the

bottom of the Tactical Display screen and choose any option. You will fail
the mission if you end it before completing your objectives.

MENU button at the

1.21

Loadout Screen

Click the LOADOUT button at the bottom of the Tactical Display screen to go to
the Loadout screen and customize weapons load for all flights in your mission.

Available

Current mission

weapons/
equipment

Hardpoint

Current

aircraft

Maximum

take-off

weight

Current

weight

Description

of item

currently

under cursor

DEFAULT Return to the default loadout for the currently selected flight (see

Flight/Aircraft Buttons, p. 1.20).

SAVE Save the current loadout to your hard drive in order to use it later.

You may want to set up a custom loadout for use against a specif­ic target type, or a loadout that best utilizes your weapon delivery
skills. Another advantage to saving custom loadouts is that it con­siderably speeds up the process of setting up a multiplayer game.

Loadout files (*.ldt) are specific to the type of aircraft for which
they were created (F-22, F-15, etc.). By default, loadouts are saved
under Program Files\Jane’s Combat Simulations\USAF\
Resource\Loadouts\<name of aircraft>. (This path will be differ­ent if you did not install the game to the default location.)

OPEN Open a saved loadout. Loadouts are specific to a type of aircraft —

the game will automatically point you to the folder in which load­outs for your currently selected aircraft type are stored by default.

TACTICAL Return to the Tactical Display screen. If you have made any changes
DISPLAY to a loadout, you will be prompted, “Use Loadout?” Click YES to

keep the changes or

FLY Enter flight. If you have made any changes to a loadout, you will

Jane’s USAF

be prompted, “Use Loadout?” Click YES to keep the changes or NO

NO to lose the changes.

to return to the Tactical Display screen.

BACK Click this button to return to the Tactical Display screen.

Flight/

aircraft

buttons

1.22

Customizing a Loadout

Choosing a Flight

All aircraft in a flight carry the same weapons and equipment: when you
reconfigure this plane’s loadout, you are reconfiguring the loadout for all
aircraft in the currently selected flight.

Select the flight for which you want to view a loadout.
The currently selected flight’s button is yellow.

Viewing Available Weapons/Equipment

The box on the left side of the screen displays all weapons available to the
currently selected aircraft. Weapons availability is limited by the type of air­craft you are flying (not all weapons can be loaded on all aircraft) and in
some missions — particularly campaign missions — the number and types of
stores available at the current stage of battle.

Six buttons across the top of this box control which type of stores are dis­played in the box:

AA Display available air-to-air weapons (e.g., AIM-120)

GP Display available unguided, general purpose bombs (e.g., Mk-82)

LGB Display available laser-guided bombs (e.g., GBU-10)

TV Display available TV-guided bombs (e.g., AGM-65)

HARM Display available HARM weapons (e.g., AGM-88)

MISC Display available guidance and ECM pods and fuel tanks (e.g., ALQ-119)

When you place your cursor over a displayed weapon or equipment pod, a
brief description of that item appears in the text box at the lower left corner
of the screen.

For more information on the different weapons, see Combat: Using

Weapons, p. 4.28. For more information on different targeting systems, see
Combat: Targeting, p. 4.23.

1. INTERFACE

1.23

Loading and Unloading Equipment

The box on the right side of the screen contains a picture of the currently
selected flight’s aircraft with all hardpoints called out. The aircraft designa­tion (e.g., F-15C, F-22) is listed at the top of the box.

Weapons that appear inside the hardpoint boxes are currently
loaded on the aircraft. The number of weapons loaded onto that
hardpoint and their total weight are listed beneath the weapon.
Blank hardpoint boxes denote empty hardpoints.

Tactical Considerations

Many tactical considerations affect your loadout. You will need to review your
briefing, determine which kinds of targets and/or threats you are likely to face,
and load effective weapons. For ground strike missions, the level of precision
required for the strike should also influence your weapon choice. Weather con­ditions may also affect your choice of weapons — IR-seeking missiles are more
effective at night, but TV-guided weapons may be useless. You may also need
to load additional targeting and sensor pods to use certain types of weapons.

See Combat: Using Weapons, p. 4.28, for more information on weapons.

Load and Unload Equipment

• To load, click an item in the available weapons/equipment box and drag it to

a hardpoint. This loads the maximum number you can carry on the hardpoint.

• You can load an item onto a hardpoint that is already loaded — the new

item will replace the old one.

• To unload, right-click on a hardpoint (or click on the item on the hard-

point and drag it off). Each right-click unloads a single weapon.

• If you have a weapon loaded onto a hardpoint, you can left-click on the

hardpoint to add another weapon of the same kind, up to the maximum
number that the hardpoint will hold.

• Hardpoints are generally designed to carry certain types of weapons or

equipment. You won’t be able to successfully mount an item to a hard­point that cannot carry it. Try dragging the item to a different hardpoint.
Usable hardpoints have yellow outlines that appear when you select a cer­tain weapon, while unusable hardpoints have white outlines.

Weight and Balance

When you are customizing a loadout, pay attention to weight and balance.

• The current aircraft’s Max T.O.W. (maximum takeoff weight) and Current

Jane’s USAF

Weight are listed above the aircraft. The current weight must be less than
the max T.O.W. weight, or the flight will never make it off the runway.

• If your load is not evenly balanced on both wings (i.e., heavier on one wing

than the other), a red warning light appears at the top center of the screen.
Equalize the weight by adding or removing weight from the opposite wing.

1.24

Debrief Screen

Once you have completed a mission (successfully or unsuccessfully) you will
see the Debrief screen. The Debrief screen gives a summary and statistics for
your performance during the mission. Click the text buttons on the left side
of the screen to display the corresponding information on the right.

SUMMARY. Sums up the results of the mission.

MISSION LOG

green contributed positively (or neutrally) to the mission; events listed in red

contributed negatively.

KILL TALLY

task force, along with a tally of your personal kills. The total points for the
task force kills are tallied on the right.

USAF LOSSES. For aircraft, lists total losses and number of friendly kills (i.e.,

aircraft killed by friendly fire). For ground forces and structures, lists those
killed by friendly fire, and total losses. Points deducted for friendly losses are
tallied on the right.

MISSION STATISTICS. Summarizes your performance in each plane that you flew

— your total flight hours, number of kills and kill/loss ratio in those planes
— and then list your totals in these categories. Click on the buttons beneath
the table to view:

Once you have finished viewing your stats, click REPLAY MISSION to fly the mis­sion over or
mission (Single, Quick Mission, etc.).

If you recorded the mission, a RECORDED MISSION button also appears. Click
this to go to the Mission Recorder screen and review your mission.

. Gives a chronological log of mission events. Events listed in

. Lists all enemy aircraft, ground forces and structures killed by the

PERFORMANCE PER PLANE CHART

. Graphs the kill/loss ratio for each air-

craft in this mission. Each bar represents a single aircraft. The height of
the bar reflects the kill/loss ratio, which is equal to the total number of
kills divided by the number of times that aircraft was destroyed.

LOSS ANALYSIS CHART. Displays a pie chart that shows the cause of your

loss during the mission — a crash, enemy air-to-air missile, SAM, etc.

CONTINUE to return to the screen where you selected/created the

1. INTERFACE

1.25

TOOLS SCREENS

Pilot Records Screen

From the Pilot Records screen, you can view the stats of your current pilot,
load a saved pilot and create and delete pilots. Click the text buttons in the
box to the left of the screen to call up the corresponding window. (The cur­rently selected button is yellow.)

Go back to the previous screen.

Pilot Dossier

The Pilot Dossier window displays basic statistics for your currently selected
pilot. You can also use this area to change your current pilot, create new
pilots and delete those you no longer need from this window.

Changing Your Current Pilot

To select a pilot, choose the pilot’s name from the drop-down menu. The
currently selected pilot will be available to fly when you leave the Pilot Records
screen. (He won’t appear in the drop-down pilot window until you leave this
screen — see Drop-Down Pilot Window, p. 1.2.)

Creating a New Pilot

NEW PILOT Create a new pilot. Type the pilot’s name and callsign in the

Jane’s USAF

pop-up window that appears and click OK.

Deleting a Pilot

REMOVE PILOT Delete currently selected pilot.

1.26

Current Pilot Information

The following statistics are displayed in the Pilot Dossier window.

Callsign/Name. Display current pilot’s name and callsign.

Photo. Displays a picture of your current pilot. A default photo is provided

for you.

IMPORT If you would like to replace the default photo with another image,

click the

IMPORT button, then locate the image on your hard drive

and click OPEN. The image must be in bitmap (.bmp) format.

Rank. Shows your pilot’s current rank insignia. The current rank reflects all Single,
Campaign and Training missions that this pilot has flown. See Rank, p. 1.31.

Pilot score, Number of missions flown and Total flight hours. The totals
for your current pilot, tallied from all pre-scripted missions the pilot has
flown (i.e., Single, Training and Campaign missions).

Your current pilot’s performance in Quick Mission and Fly Now missions
does not affect these statistics. The only exception occurs when you host a
multiplayer game using this pilot in a cooperative mission (but not in any
other type of multiplayer game).

Mission Status

The Mission Status window charts the
currently selected pilot’s success and
failure in pre-scripted missions on a
mission-by-mission basis. Mission
series are listed on the left; mission
numbers are listed across the top.
Mission 1 is the first mission in a
series, mission 2 the second, and so
forth.

The series are as follows:

BASIC TRAINING, WEAPON SCHOOL and RED FLAG = training mission series

•

VIETNAM WAR, DESERT STORM, RED ARROW and SLEEPING GIANT = campaign

•

mission series

• SINGLE = single missions that aren’t also part of a campaign.

FAILED status indicates you quit the mission or lost all friendly force aircraft

A red
before successfully completing all of your mission objectives. A green PASSED sta-
tus indicates you successfully completed all of your mission objectives.

1. INTERFACE

1.27

Kill Tally

The Kill Tally window lists the enemy
aircraft, ground forces and struc­tures you have destroyed, broken
down by object type. The kills listed
are for all pre-scripted missions the
current pilot has flown (i.e., Single,
Training and Campaign missions).

Your current pilot’s performance in
Quick Mission and Fly Now missions
does not affect these statistics. The
only exception occurs when you host a multiplayer game using this pilot in a
cooperative mission (but not in any other type of multiplayer game).

(red) Represents objects destroyed by friendly forces. The desig-

nation and number of objects are listed beneath the icon.

TOTALTASKFORCE Lists the number of aircraft, ground forces or structures

destroyed by friendly sides.

PERSONAL Lists the number of aircraft, ground forces or structures

destroyed by your current pilot.

USAF Losses

The USAF Losses window is similar in
format to the Kill Tally window. It lists
the friendly aircraft, ground forces
and structures destroyed during all
pre-scripted missions flown by your
current pilot (i.e., Single, Training and
Campaign missions).

Your current pilot’s performance in
Quick Mission and Fly Now missions
does not affect these statistics. The
only exception occurs when you host a multiplayer game using this pilot in a
cooperative mission (but not in any other type of multiplayer game).

(blue) Represents objects destroyed by friendly forces. The desig-

nation and number of objects are listed beneath the icon.

FRIENDLY KILLS Lists the number of friendly aircraft, ground forces or

structures destroyed by other friendly forces.

Jane’s USAF

TOTAL LOSSES Lists the total number of friendly aircraft, ground forces

or structures.

1.28