Skip to content

veafCasMission — CAS Training Generator

Module ID: CASMISSION | File: veafCasMission.lua

See it in game: step 03 “Generated missions: CAS and transport” of the demo mission.

Purpose

Generates on-demand Close Air Support training zones with configurable size, armour, and air defence threat packages. Players can create, mark, skip, and clean up CAS targets from the F10 menu or via map marker commands.

Dependencies

  • veafMarkers — marker command handling
  • veafRadio — F10 menu
  • veafSpawn — unit spawning backend

Enable

veafCasMission.initialize()

Enabled by default in the shipped mission.yaml. It is marker-driven (_cas) and needs no configuration — just place a _cas marker. The block below is only needed to tune it.

Configuration (mission.yaml)

veafCasMission has no configurable YAML fields of its own: it is enabled like the other modules.

modules:
  CASMISSION:
    enabled: true          # default: true
    logLevel: info         # optional log-level override

CAP missions and combat missions are not configured here. The cap_missions: and combat_missions: sections belong to the COMBATMISSION module, which is a separate module: see veafCombatMission. They used to be documented on this page, which sent readers looking for one module's fields in another module's page.

Key Configuration Constants

Constant Default Description
veafCasMission.Keyphrase "_cas" Marker trigger text
veafCasMission.SecondsBetweenWatchdogChecks 15 Watchdog interval (s)
veafCasMission.SecondsBetweenSmokeRequests 180 Smoke cooldown (s)
veafCasMission.SecondsBetweenFlareRequests 120 Flare cooldown (s)
veafCasMission.RedCasGroupName "Red CAS Group" DCS group name for red CAS units
veafCasMission.BlueCasGroupName "Blue CAS Group" DCS group name for blue CAS units
veafCasMission.RadioMenuName "CAS MISSION" F10 submenu label

Marker Commands (Player-Facing)

_cas
_cas, size 3, defense 2, armor 3
_cas, side blue

Options:

Option Range Default Description
size 1–5 1 Number of target units
defense 0–5 1 Air-defense level of the escort, rolled ±1 — see what a level places
armor 0–5 1 Armour level (0=infantry, 5=heavy MBT) — see what a tier holds
spacing 1–5 1 Spacing between the group's units
side blue/red (marker coalition) Coalition of targets
disperse seconds — Targets disperse when attacked; a bare disperse = 15 seconds
password text — Security password (see veafSecurity)

What an armour tier holds

Each tier draws at random from a list of vehicle types, picked by coalition and by the mission's era. Those lists are maintained by hand: a tier expresses relative power, which the DCS database does not carry — it states neither a vehicle's period nor its place on any scale.

Since 6.15.25 the modern armour DCS has added is in them: the T-84 Oplot-M and Stryker CV on the blue side, the T-90M and BMPT Terminator on the red one, among others. An automated check now verifies that every type named in those lists actually exists in the database — before it, an entry gone stale simply spawned nothing, and never said so.

What a defense level places

The defense level drives two things: the escort of a section (one or two air-defense vehicles added to the armour, infantry or trucks of _cas, -armor, -convoy…) and the complete air-defense group that -sam, -samSR, -samLR and -aaa place (_spawn samgroup). For a real long-range battery, use -samVLR (_spawn longrangesam), which depends on no level: see the alias list.

The level is rolled, not guaranteed. For a requested level above 0: 60 % chance of getting it, 20 % of getting the level below, 20 % the level above. The air-defense group is then clamped to 0–5; the escort has a tier 6, reached only by a 5 rolled upwards. The aliases also draw the requested level from a range: -sam 1–5, -samLR 4–5, -samSR 2–3, -aaa 1–2. list_shortcuts (MCP) returns those ranges for each alias.

The level follows the mission's era (mission.era):

  • MODERN (default): the groups below.
  • COLD_WAR: the types that entered service after 1980 — the armour lists' reference — are replaced: Avenger → Vulcan, Linebacker → Chaparral, Tor → Osa, Tunguska → Shilka, HQ-7 → Strela-10, Igla-S → Igla. Service dates are estimates, not sourced.
  • WW2: flak only for the air-defense groups (Bofors, M45, 3.7-inch on the blue side; Flak 30/36/37/38/41 on the red one), and no escort.

Air-defense groups in MODERN:

Level Blue Red
0 AAV7, trucks (no air defense) ZU-23, S-60 (0–1 each)
1 Vulcan, Avenger (0–1) Shilka, ZSU-57-2
2 Vulcan, Avenger SA-9, Shilka, ZSU-57-2, S-60
3 Gepard, Linebacker, Avenger SA-13, SA-9, Shilka, ZSU-57-2
4 Roland, Chaparral, Gepard SA-8, SA-13, Shilka, ZSU-57-2
5 Hawk, Chaparral, Gepard SA-15, SA-8, SA-13, SA-19, ZSU-57-2, S-60

F10 Radio Menu

The CAS MISSION submenu is created as soon as the module initialises, with a HELP entry. Once a mission has been generated (via the _cas marker), it additionally exposes:

  • Target information — display target position, composition, and status
  • Skip current objective — abandon the current zone and generate a new one (secured command)
  • Target markers → Request smoke on target area — mark the zone with smoke (3-minute cooldown)
  • Target markers → Request illumination flare over target area — mark the zone with an illumination flare (2-minute cooldown)

Difficulty Reference

Level Typical units Air-defense escort (red, MODERN)
0 Infantry, jeeps None
1 APCs, trucks ZU-23 or ZSU-57-2
2 BMPs, BTRs Shilka or ZSU-57-2, ×2
3 IFVs, light tanks SA-9 or SA-13, Shilka or ZSU-57-2
4 MBTs Shilka or ZSU-57-2, HQ-7
5 Heavy MBT mix SA-8 or SA-19, Shilka or SA-13

The level is rolled ±1 and follows the era: see what a defense level places.

See Also