On this page
Unfamiliar word? Select a dotted-underlined term for its meaning.
Start with the message category
- Open ASMA from the main menu bar, or press M with the default bindings.
- Choose YOU, ATC, A/C, INTEL or SYS according to the information you need.
- Read the selected message’s callsign, sortie and context before acting. Filtering narrows the messages; it does not issue an aircraft task.
- To remove a top-level filter, select its active button again. If an aircraft subcategory is selected, A/C clears the aircraft filtering and returns to the unfiltered view.
Which filter should I use?
| Button | Messages to look for |
|---|---|
| YOU | Coaching messages relevant to the player. This is not a complete log of every event. |
| ATC | Air traffic control and liaison messages. |
| A/C | Aircraft tasking and operation messages; selecting it exposes the aircraft subcategories. |
| INTEL | Intelligence reports and situation updates. |
| SYS | System status and alerts. Also includes hotkey replies, unrecognised-command replies and USER entries showing text you sent. |
Narrow aircraft messages
| Under A/C | Use for |
|---|---|
| INTR | Interceptor and QRA sortie reports. Numbered sortie tabs appear when channels exist. |
| TNKR | Tanker and refuelling reports. |
| AEW | AWACS and airborne early-warning reports. |
| SIG | Nimrod and signals-intelligence reports. |
| SUP | Supply messages; HERCULES and CHINOOK provide a further type filter. |
Select a particular sortie
- Choose A/C → INTR, then select the numbered tab matching your sortie.
- Check the callsigns and summary as well as the number. Selecting a numbered sortie also activates its communications channel. If an associated aircraft is present, the view moves to it; a flight still waiting to spawn has no aircraft to centre.
- Read the messages alongside the aircraft’s current task. A historical acknowledgement does not prove the same task is still active.
- Select the same numbered tab again to remove that single-sortie selection. Select A/C if you want to clear the aircraft filters altogether.
Broaden a supply or aircraft view
Click the active HERCULES or CHINOOK button again to remove the type restriction. Clicking an active aircraft subcategory such as TNKR returns to the broader aircraft view; clicking A/C clears the aircraft filters. Check the highlighted buttons after each change.
End an ATC call before switching sorties
Before choosing a sortie in ACTIVE COMMS, finish the ATC call with HANGUP and check DISCONNECTED FROM. A COMMS tile can change the message view while that controller line remains open. If its replies are hidden, choose ATC only if that button is not already highlighted, then finish the call.
A quiet window does not prove nothing happened
Clear the filter, check the relevant callsign and compare ACTIVE COMMS with ACTIVE OPS. If the acknowledgement exists but the aircraft has not completed its action, investigate the task state instead of issuing repeated copies of the order.
Why do the sortie numbers have gaps?
A sortie is one aircraft mission or group flight. Its radio-channel number stays the same while that channel exists. If channels 01, 02 and 03 were present and 02 ends, the remaining tabs can be 01 and 03. That gap is not an aircraft you need to launch again. Match the number and callsigns with ACTIVE COMMS and ACTIVE OPS.
Bring missing messages back into view
- If one numbered INTR tab is highlighted, click it again to remove that single-sortie restriction. The numbered tabs come from the currently active channels; No active sorties means there is no channel tab to choose.
- Under SUP, click the highlighted HERCULES or CHINOOK button again to show both supply types. This changes the messages you see, not the aircraft doing the job.
- To return to all message categories, click A/C while an aircraft category is active, or click the active YOU, ATC, INTEL or SYS button again. To end an open controller line, use HANGUP and check DISCONNECTED FROM before choosing a COMMS tile.
- If SHOW ALL appears beside a sortie-filter heading, it removes the extra sortie restriction. Check the category buttons afterwards: SHOW ALL is not a radio-channel switch or an aircraft order.
Hide ASMA, then return to the same conversation
- Use x on the ASMA title bar to hide the panel. In v0.8.16.0, you can move ASMA in every screen mode. Hiding it does not acknowledge a message or cancel an aircraft task.
- To keep a small ASMA bar in a movable layout, use the title-bar minimise button instead. Use the bar’s restore button to reopen it. See moving and minimising panels.
- Reopen the full panel with ASMA on the main menu bar, or its default M shortcut while you are not typing. Check the highlighted message filters: hiding and reopening is not a way to clear them.
- If you want to end an ATC conversation, enter HANGUP and read the disconnection reply before hiding the panel. Hiding ASMA alone does not end that call. See ending a controller conversation.
Find a solo-mode confirmation
In v0.8.16.0, TRACK DATA SOLO ON and TRACK DATA SOLO OFF are stored with aircraft messages. Click A/C once before using Delete: this either opens the broad aircraft view or clears the active aircraft filter, and removes any single-sortie restriction. Read the new reply from that keypress. Switching away from ATC also leaves the current controller conversation; reopen it if needed.
Messages after locating a support flight
Clicking > for a tanker, AWACS, Nimrod or supply flight in ACTIVE OPS applies a filter using that flight’s identifying details. It can show matching messages from several categories while none of the category buttons is highlighted. To leave it, click the category you want, such as A/C or SYS. SHOW ALL, when displayed, also removes the extra flight restriction. The numbered INTR tabs belong to interceptor sorties; they are not the way to clear this support-flight filter. Switching away from ATC can end an open controller conversation, so finish that call first.