Command: Modern Air Naval Operations

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Command: Modern Air Naval Operations (C:MANO) is a wargaming simulation video game developed by Warfare Sims. Drawing on a history of similar titles, notably the Harpoon series, Command was developed under the project name of Red Pill, until it was released on 24 September 2013 with its current title.<ref name="publish" /><ref name="sugarfree">Template:Cite web</ref>

Gameplay

In C:MANO, players have operational control over units. Similar in scope to Harpoon, players can command their units using preset missions, or by giving direct instructions of the "Go here, do this" variety.<ref name="USNI" /><ref name="wargamer">Template:Cite web</ref> The size and scale of the engagements is dependent on the scenario, with the engine capable of performing small patrol boat battles right up to global warfare. Individual scenarios vary from a few hours to multiple days of real time, although time can be accelerated to allow for quiet time between actions.<ref name="USNI" /> At present, no multiplayer is available in the base game,<ref name="outof8" /> although the developers have stated a desire to include multiplayer in a future update. Additionally, a community mod exists which allows a turn based multiplayer mode.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Globe

The game world in command is the entire planet, from deep below the sea to geosynchronous orbit. Command’s built-in map layers include a global “Blue Marble NG” tileset and a custom relief layer derived from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission terrain elevation data. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) has a base resolution of 3 arc-seconds (~900m/cell at the equator), thus allowing for unprecedented terrain detail benefiting air, naval and land operations alike. The elevation data is used by the navigator, weapon logics, sensors logics (line of sight, LOS), etc.

Community addons exist that add global cities and real world airports to any Command scenario.

Development

C:MANO was developed by Warfare Sims in an attempt to overcome some of the limitations and technical problems of the Harpoon series. Its database grew out of their DB2000, a database for Harpoon 3, and was developed when it was determined that Harpoon 3 could not support the technical aspects of the game.<ref name="simhq">Template:Cite web</ref> Its most notable feature is this database of military units, planned to include all military ships, submarines, and aircraft between 1950 to the near future.<ref name="USNI">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="outof8">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="armch">Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, it solves a number of technical issues associated with some other simulations such as curvature of the earth's surface by using a 3D model of the earth employing SRTM data.<ref name="USNI" />

Reception & Awards

Command received an enthusiastic reception in the hardcore wargaming genre, being praised for its combination of scope, detail, realism, accuracy and user interface functionality<ref name="simhq" /><ref name="armch" /><ref>http://www.warfaresims.com/?page_id=1917</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It has been criticized for its relatively high launch price,<ref name="rps">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web[ SimHQ 1.01 review, page 7]</ref> and a number of bugs present in its original release. However, the developers have released a number of patches and updates addressing these bugs.<ref name="wargamer" /><ref name="rps" />

Command was picked as the Top PC Wargame of 2013 by 'War is Boring' <ref>https://medium.com/war-is-boring/3d188a597e47</ref> (together with FlashPoint Campaigns - Red Storm), and as Top Simulation of 2013 by Eurogamer.dk.<ref>http://www.eurogamer.dk/articles/2013-12-29-aarets-simulator-2013</ref> It also swept the popular vote-based wargaming awards, winning the Usenet (CSIPGWH) "Wargame of the Year 2013 Gold" award <ref>https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.war-historical/Q-CZcsu04DM/l_iuA2S-GD8J</ref> and the GrogHeads 2013 awards in the categories "Digital Wargame of the Year" and overall "Digital Game of the Year".<ref>http://grogheads.com/?p=3878</ref>


Globe

Command’s built-in map layers include a global “Blue Marble NG” tileset and a custom relief layer derived from our terrain elevation data. Blue Marble NG has a resolution of ca 500m and is the tileset used as standard.

The elevation data come from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and has a base resolution of 3 arc-seconds (~900m/cell at the equator), thus allowing for unprecedented terrain detail benefiting air, naval and land operations alike. The elevation data is used by the navigator, weapon logics, sensors logics (line of sight, LOS), etc.

Databases

Development and Release Timeline

Update Release

Scenarios

Scenario Editor

Mechanics

Sensors

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.

Radar

Sonar

Electronic Warfare

Visual / IR

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. The simulator has a ‘standard atmosphere’ model that checks if the temperature is lower than 233 deg Kelvin at the aircraft’s current altitude. The simulator 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

Stealth

Stealth and low-observable aircraft and ships in the database have smaller radar, visual and IR signatures than other units. The simulator 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.

Low Probability of Intercept

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 the simulator. For more advanced RWRs and ESM sets the LPI will be picked up at longer ranges

Graphics

UI

Refs

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