How do I read ASMA messages and use ATC identity choices?

Read a message

1. Open ASMA and choose the category for the report you need. Newest messages appear at the top.
2. Read the heading and text. Match the callsign, track number or base to the contact or task you are checking.
3. Clicking a message heading selects that message. It does not send an aircraft order or apply an identity choice.
4. If an ATC reply has letter buttons beside SET, those buttons belong to the track named in that reply. Check that track number before choosing one.

Message selection and SET choices

Get a current ATC report

1. Open the relevant controller conversation and ask about the track using TRACK 012, replacing 012 with its current track serial, not its squawk code.
2. Read the returned report and match its track serial and callsign. The reply can include identity choices beside SET.
3. Use the identity guide to decide whether the available information supports a change. A reply giving flight details does not, by itself, establish every flight as friendly.

Change an identity from the report

1. Find the ATC report for the intended track. You do not need to select its heading before using its letter buttons.
2. Click the appropriate identity letter beside SET. For example, choose A only when the information supports Assumed Friendly.
3. Check the identity letter on that track on the scope. Changing a contact from a non-threat identity to a threat identity, such as S or H, can also open QRA Launch Options. Check the named target before choosing a base and launch size. At Critical tension, choosing H can also make an eligible fighter already identifying that target switch to Engage. Check its task in ACTIVE OPS.
4. If the reply says IDENT FAILED, read its reason and check whether the track is still present. A protected friendly military identity can instead refuse the change with a warning tone and no reply. Check the current identity before trying again; do not keep clicking an old report.
5. For aircraft in the same raid, the classification can also be applied to the other members. Check the group as well as the track you queried.

Use the labelled choice on the intended report

In a busy message window, use the letter button beside the correct report’s SET label. When you are not typing, number keys can activate choices on the selected report. An old message selection or a different track selected on the map is not a substitute for checking which contact the report names.

A report can describe an earlier state

An old “launched” or “tasked” message is not proof that an aircraft has arrived, finished its job or still has that task. Compare it with the current operation and later messages. Use the intercept checks if the flight appears stuck.

Find an intelligence report

Open INTEL and look for the report’s heading or track reference. Use the intelligence-report guide to check the full message and affected contact before acting.

Read missile warnings and outcomes together

MISSILE LOCK describes your fighter acquiring its own target. INBOUND MISSILE reports a threat to a fighter. DEFENDING describes its defensive turn and whether chaff was released, exhausted or not fitted. CHAFF EXHAUSTED means it has no chaff left. None of those messages is a confirmed escape. Read the later outcome, such as MISSILE EVADED, and follow the named aircraft and other missiles. See the missile-launch guide for the full sequence.

Why have the SET choices disappeared after loading?

In v0.8.16.0, a saved ASMA report restores its text without its old action buttons. Missing buttons do not establish that an earlier aircraft task was cancelled. Check the flight in ACTIVE OPS and compare the current track.

For a fresh ATC identity choice, open the controller line and send TRACK 012, replacing 012 with the current track serial. Read the new reply before choosing an identity.