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JTAC

A JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) is a ground or airborne unit that finds enemy targets and lases them for you and your flight — putting a laser spot and an IR pointer on whatever it sees. Once deployed, a CTLD JTAC works on its own: it scans for the nearest enemy in line of sight, fires the laser, and re-acquires when a target dies. Your job as a pilot is to get one on the ground (or in the air) where it can see the fight, then use its F10 menu to manage the lase and call for smoke or a 9-line.

Everything below lives under F10 → CTLD → JTAC. Which entries you see depends on your aircraft (it must be a transport), your position (landed in a logistics zone), and which JTACs are currently active for your coalition.

Request JTAC Equipment

Utility: Spawns a JTAC vehicle or drone directly at the logistics zone you are parked in, ready for you to load and carry. Use this when you want to ferry a JTAC to the front line yourself.

How it works: Land inside an active logistics zone, then open the submenu and pick a JTAC type. CTLD spawns that unit next to the zone; from there you load and transport it like any other cargo. It starts lasing automatically once it is unloaded and settled at its position.

Activation: F10 → CTLD → JTAC → Request JTAC Equipment → [type]

The Request JTAC Equipment submenu is dynamic. It only lists types while you are landed inside an active logistics zone; if you are airborne it shows Land near logistics to request equipment, and if you are on the ground but out of range it shows No logistics in range. The list refreshes on its own when you land, take off, or deploy a FOB.

The submenu appears only when JTAC drops are enabled (JTAC_dropEnabled), your aircraft is a transport, and at least one JTAC type is offered to your coalition. The available types come straight from the mission's crate catalogue — see JTAC crates for how a mission maker configures them.

Deploy a JTAC from a crate

Utility: Delivers a JTAC by carrying its crate to where you want it, then unpacking. Use this when you would rather sling or carry a crate than load the finished unit.

How it works: Request the JTAC crate from a logistics zone the same way you request any crate, fly it to the drop point, set it down, and unpack it. The JTAC unit appears at the unpack location and begins scanning for targets immediately.

Activation:

  1. F10 → CTLD → Request Equipment → [logistics zone] → [category] → [JTAC crate]
  2. Fly the crate to the target area and drop it (F10 → CTLD → Crate Commands → Drop Crate(s)).
  3. F10 → CTLD → Crate Commands → Unpack Crate

JTAC crates are offered here only when JTAC_dropEnabled is set. See Crates for the full crate workflow and JTAC crates for the crate and type definitions.

Operate a deployed JTAC

Utility: Manage each active JTAC — check its status, toggle its laser, refine the spot, ask for smoke on the target, or request a 9-line brief.

How it works: Every active JTAC of your coalition gets its own submenu named after its group, plus a shared JTAC Status command that lists each JTAC, its state, its current target, and its laser code. The per-JTAC entries are context-sensitive and only appear when the matching feature is enabled in the mission config.

Activation:

  • F10 → CTLD → JTAC → JTAC Status — list all active JTACs, targets and laser codes.
  • F10 → CTLD → JTAC → [group name] → Lasing [deactivate] / Lasing [activate] — turn the laser off (standby) or back on. Shown when JTAC_allowStandbyMode is enabled.
  • F10 → CTLD → JTAC → [group name] → Spot Corrections [activate] / Spot Corrections [deactivate] — toggle laser-spot corrections. Shown when JTAC_laseSpotCorrections is set.
  • F10 → CTLD → JTAC → [group name] → Request Smoke on Target — mark the lased target with smoke for visual pickup. Shown when JTAC_allowSmokeRequest is enabled.
  • F10 → CTLD → JTAC → [group name] → Request 9-Line — request the 9-line CAS brief. Shown when JTAC_allow9Line is enabled.

A deployed JTAC auto-lases without any action from you: it locks the nearest enemy within its line of sight and scan range, fires the laser, and re-acquires the next target when the current one is destroyed. The label on the Lasing entry flips to reflect the current state, so you can see at a glance whether a JTAC is actively lasing or in standby.