How do I follow sortie communications?

Select the sortie you want to hear

1. If an ATC controller line is open, finish it with HANGUP and read DISCONNECTED FROM before choosing a COMMS tile.
2. Open ACTIVE COMMS on the main menu bar.
3. Find the tile with the sortie number and callsigns you want. Read both: a channel number is not the aircraft’s squawk or track serial.
4. Click the tile. It becomes the active channel and applies the corresponding ASMA sortie filter. The view moves to an associated aircraft when one is available; a flight still waiting to appear has no aircraft to centre on.
5. Follow the report in ASMA, then compare it with ACTIVE OPS (G) and the aircraft on the scope.

Switching channels changes what you follow

Selecting another tile activates that channel. Clicking the already active tile does not mute it. New sortie channels do not normally take over an existing selection automatically, so select the flight you intend to follow.

When the selected sortie ends and its tile is removed, ACTIVE COMMS can select another remaining channel automatically. Check the highlighted tile, number and callsigns before matching the next radio call to a flight. Click the tile of the flight you want to hear. If no tiles remain, check ACTIVE OPS.

What the tile labels mean

The prominent number identifies the sortie channel. A label such as BU WC1 combines the control-centre prefix and channel number; BU denotes Buchan and WC1 channel 1. Callsigns below it identify the associated aircraft. Use those callsigns when matching a report with the radar picture.

If it says No active sorties

There are no sortie-channel tiles to select at that moment. Check ACTIVE OPS and the launch status; the COMMS panel is not a list of every civilian aircraft. If a flight you expect is missing, capture its task, callsign and the panel rather than launching a duplicate just to create a tile.

If you cannot hear the selected flight

Check the selected channel, whether the simulation or voice is paused, and VOICE / RADIO plus MASTER in VOLUME settings. ASMA may have a narrower filter than you expect; clear the filter to look for the report. Repeated channel clicks are not a general replay button.

Are all on-screen words radio captions?

If you missed an on-screen message

First check the relevant ASMA category and the aircraft or base involved. A short event overlay is not a replayable transcript. Do not assume that every spoken line or event has the same caption controls or a matching log entry. If you cannot establish what happened, capture the callsign, task, event time and available messages for a useful problem report.

Understand the report before acting

Use TALLY, JUDY, POSID and MERGED explained to follow the intercept. The manual JUDY button requests an exchange, not a new attack task. For JOKER or BINGO, follow the fuel-planning guide.

Closing COMMS is different from muting a channel

1. In the COMMS title bar, choose x to close the panel or _ to minimise it. If its small COMMS bar is visible, choose □ to restore it. If you closed it, choose ACTIVE COMMS on the main game menu to reopen it. These controls also apply in fullscreen. See the panel controls.
2. The selected channel keeps its selection when you hide the panel. Closing COMMS does not cancel the sortie or silence it. To follow another sortie, reopen ACTIVE COMMS and select that sortie’s tile.
3. Reopening shows the full panel again. Check the current callsigns and number, because a sortie may have finished while the panel was hidden.
4. To change overall speech volume, use VOICE / RADIO in VOLUME settings. To change which messages you read, use ASMA filters. Those are separate controls.

Why did COMMS reopen or switch after a QRA launch?

When the game creates a new sortie channel, COMMS can appear again even if you closed it. If only its small bar appears, use □ to restore the panel. Close the Escape menu before checking it.

After you confirm LAUNCH QRA in QRA LAUNCH OPTIONS, the launch process can automatically select that sortie’s radio channel. Check the highlighted number and callsigns before matching the next radio call to a flight. To listen to an earlier sortie, finish any open ATC conversation, then click that sortie’s tile in ACTIVE COMMS. An automatic channel change does not necessarily change the ASMA message filters; check those separately and compare the flight with ACTIVE OPS.

Automatic civilian traffic warnings

An airborne QRA flight can receive automatic warnings about nearby civilian traffic, including on its return to base. The controller reports distance, a clock position relative to the fighter’s nose (twelve o’clock is ahead), the traffic’s height when available, and sometimes a crossing direction. The game supplies ‘copied, looking’ and the pilot’s visual or negative-visual reply. You do not need to call ATC or issue a new task to answer. When the aircraft move apart, the traffic warning can end without a closing call. A call already in progress may finish, but there may be no “visual” or “negative” reply.

Follow the flight in ACTIVE COMMS and read its TRAFFIC reports in ASMA. A negative-visual reply means the pilot has not seen that traffic; updated positions or a TRAFFIC - MERGED report may follow. TRAFFIC - MERGED means the two aircraft’s positions are very close on the map. They can still be at different heights; it does not confirm a collision. This warning concerns civilian traffic near the fighter; it does not identify the intercept target or authorise ENGAGE. If speech is missing, check the selected sortie channel and radio volume; if reports are hidden, check ASMA filters.