How do I launch and reposition an E-3D AWACS?

Launch from ASSETS

1. Open ASSETS with R and find an available E-3D Sentry at its base.
2. Select TASK on that row. You still need to choose where it will work; pressing TASK alone does not finish the order.
3. On the visible map, click an aircraft’s position symbol or identity label to choose that contact for radar support. To choose a place instead, click clear map space away from aircraft symbols and labels.
4. Read the result in ASMA. AWACS TASKED names the chosen contact. AWACS LOITER confirms a place where the E-3D should stay flying nearby. Check the callsign so you know which E-3D received the order.
5. Find that callsign in ACTIVE OPS. Follow its departure status, then its actual movement towards the working area. An accepted order does not mean it is already airborne or providing coverage there.

Am I choosing an aircraft or a place?

Why has it not taken off yet?

The departure message can say Queued for takeoff; four-minute taxi countdown begins after departure clearance. This means it must first be allowed to depart, then complete the countdown. Do not start a four-minute timer from your TASK click. Follow the departure status and actual take-off. If you see AWACS UNAVAILABLE, read the explanation and check the aircraft and fuel at its base before trying again.

How do I cancel before choosing the map point?

While the map selection is waiting, use CANCEL TASK in the ASSETS header. Open ASSETS with R if it is hidden. This cancels the waiting selection; it does not recall an E-3D that already accepted an order. To bring an aircraft home, use RTB and check its return.

How do I move an E-3D or correct the wrong choice?

1. Find the E-3D by its callsign and E identity. The Nimrod uses K, so check before opening the menu.
2. Right-click the E-3D and select RETASK. AWACS RETASK asks for another contact or place; that prompt alone has not changed the assignment.
3. Make the new map selection as above. Read AWACS TASKED (ASMA) or AWACS LOITER (ASMA), match the callsign and selected contact or place, then follow the aircraft. Choosing a contact removes its previous AEW place label.
4. For a place near the departure base, check the aircraft’s movement especially carefully: the game can move its working area farther from the base. The AEW label marks your requested point, so use the aircraft’s actual position when judging coverage.

Make the contribution useful

Tasking tells the aircraft where to work. L11 and the sensor contribution determine whether its reports help your displayed picture. RINGS only controls the visual rings; it is not the Link-11 switch.

If the track picture does not improve

Check position, task and the contribution controls. Do not assume an AWACS order guarantees every low aircraft will become visible immediately.

Manage how much longer the aircraft can stay in the air

Use REFUEL to request tanker support and RTB to return and land. Recheck the picture when the aircraft leaves its working position.

Changing the working position during a fuel attempt stops that attempt. Check the aircraft’s fuel first; see the support-refuelling steps before completing a new map choice. Support-aircraft refuelling →

If the right-click menu is disabled

Open the selected aircraft’s AC Control tab and use ENABLE RIGHT CLICK MENU. The tab also offers the main task controls directly.

Bring the aircraft home and use it again

Before bringing the E-3D home, check who will cover its area. Follow RTB and coverage checks, then the base-fuel checks before its next flight.

If TASK does nothing after a base transfer

1. Check whether the aircraft has actually reached its new base. A transfer order is not the same as arrival. Use ACTIVE OPS and the aircraft’s messages to follow its current state.
2. If AWACS UNAVAILABLE says the aircraft is queued for redeployment, it is still committed to its base transfer. Follow it to the destination and check availability there. Repeated RETASK clicks or map clicks will not turn that queued transfer into a new task.
3. At the base, complete the TASK selection above and read the resulting message. If it says the aircraft is queued for take-off, follow the departure status; repeating TASK is not evidence that the queue has cleared.
4. If it is already airborne, use RETASK and check the changed assignment. If the assignment is accepted but tracks are missing, use the radar-reporting checks rather than treating it as a launch problem.
5. If the aircraft has arrived but still does not accept the task, keep the save and a short clip. Include old/new base, callsign, transfer and TASK sequence, selected destination, ASMA messages and version in the report.

Cancel an AWACS selection opened from AC Control

After RETASK, if you want to stop before choosing a new contact or place, open ASSETS with R and use its header’s CANCEL TASK. Do not rely on the AWACS CANCEL button in AC Control to stop that map selection. Check that the selection prompt has ended. If the new assignment was already accepted, use RTB to bring the E-3D home, or RETASK to choose its next working area.

Why did my map choice not do what I expected?

Practise cancelling before a launch

1. In an ordinary session with no map choice already waiting, open ASSETS and find an available aircraft of the type described in this guide. Note its base and available count.
2. Choose TASK once. Do not click the map. Find CANCEL TASK in the ASSETS header; this is the waiting choice, before you have selected a destination.
3. Click CANCEL TASK. Check that the waiting choice ends, then check the same base and aircraft row again.
4. You have practised starting and cancelling the choice before launch. For an aircraft that already received an order, use RTB or the task-change steps above instead.
5. If the choice remains active or an aircraft launches during these exact steps, keep the version, base/type, screenshots and a short clip for a problem report. Say whether you clicked the map at any point.