Munition:sgm-3-atlatl

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SGM-H-3 Atlatl
Type	Hybrid
Size	3
Integrity	60 HP
Wall Thickness	0.05 cm
Socket Weight	1.8x
Programming Time	16 sec
Available Warheads	HEI/HEKP/BF/BFEL
Component Slots	W, G, Supp, Supp/Seek, Seek
Body Cost	3+2 pt
Faction

The SGM-H-3 Atlatl, commonly referred to as an "S3H", is the most common missile in most ANS missile fleet archetypes. They provide very good PD penetration, which more than makes up for their increased cost over the non-hybrid SGM-2.

Like it's smaller cousin the [[[munition:SGM-H-2 Cyclone|SGM-H-200 Cyclone]], the S3H has access to several unique designs enabled by the extremely high speed of hybrids, particularly the HEKP warhead and TTGI tunings. Compared to the S2H, the S3H can be carried at a lower cost per warhead, meaning a VLS-3 fully loaded with S3H is easier to fit out (for an accordingly lower mag depth) than the same mount equipped with a VLS-2 loaded with S2H. This leads most ANS missile archetypes to use high investment S3H paired with medium investment S2H, though some fleet archetypes do go all-in on either S2H or S3H.

Design Considerations

The S3H is the most generalist missile in ANS's arsenal. They generally cost between 15-50 points apiece, though lower and higher investment S3H are used. Seekers vary widely to meet the desired price. Terminal maneuvers are typically either no terminals or weave; HEKP missiles almost always use no terminals to get consistent hits down the length of the ship.

Warhead

Anti-ship warheads can be HE Shaped or HEKP depending on desired price. HE Shaped is more points efficient, while HEKP is able to DT break and can deliver large amounts of damage much quicker. This incentivizes initial salvos of HE Shaped missiles to bring components down to low HP, followed by HEKP missiles to grey the components. The warhead mix across an entire fleet is generally at most 1 HEKP for every 1 HE Shaped, and most cruise missile fleets run closer to 1 HEKP for every 2 HE Shaped.

Anti-craft warheads are almost always HE-frag. HE shaped is almost never used because the limited cell count and greater cost per missile significantly impact ones ability to trade one missile for one craft.

Stages

As a hybrid, the S3H has a slow first stage (the "cruise" stage) and a fast second stage (the "sprint" stage). The staging is triggered when ANY of the following occur:

• A range-capable seeker (e.g. ACT, EO, CMD) sees a target AND the missile is within staging range of the target AND no higher priority seeker sees a target
• A direction-only seeker (e.g. ARAD, HOJ, SAH, WAKE) sees a target AND no higher priority seeker sees a target
• A direction-only seeker (e.g. ARAD, HOJ, SAH, WAKE) is jammed or a non-reject range-capable seeker (e.g. ACT, CMD) whose 1 km veer-off point is inside the main stage's staging range. A reject seeker such as ACTr/[CMD] aims at a 50 km veer-off point and does not stage from jamming even if every validator is jammed

Staging behavior can be tuned to cause the missile to wobble after staging, generally called the "min-angle trick" due to using quirks with the minimum angle setting on direct missiles. This allows direct hybrids to get the effects of weave terminals without needing to pay for it.

The cruise stage on S3H is generally tuned to have minimum maneuverability, with the fastest speed that attains the desired range. Cruise S3H typically have 20+km range, while direct S3H typically use max speed as the xxxxkm range is more than enough for any direct missile.

The sprint stage on S3H has a wide variety of tunings, though generally they bias towards speed/range and away from maneuver. Speed on the sprint stage costs points. Note that direction-only seekers force a minimum range (e.g. ARAD forces the sprint stage to have at least 3km range, preferably more).

The high speed of the sprint stage allows for "TTGI" missile tunings where a speed above ~680 m/s with a Fixed ACT seeker causes the missile to lock the first target it sees and never switch. This effectively allows an "inverse WAKE" effect where TTGI missiles are able to ignore chaff when a target is coming towards the missile. See the main missile page for a description of the TTGI mechanic.

Common Missile Designs

Missile designs for S3H are not very standardized. As speed in the sprint stage costs points, there is rarely an optimal tuning, and instead you can increase or decrease speed to accordingly increase/decrease PD penetration and cost.

Cruise Missile Designs

TTGI Types

These designs use a sprint stage above ~680 m/s to cause a Fixed ACT seeker to home on the first target it sees. ACT is the basic design, and cheap backups/validators are often added to improve performance in niche cases. TTGI tunings are much more expensive on the S3H body than the S2H body, running the same cost as the above two types. As such they are not preferred.

• ACT - Basic and cheap.
• ACT/WAKE - WAKE backup improves jam resistance.
• ACT/[WAKE] - WAKE validator improves performance in side- or rear-aspect shots.
• ACT/HOJ - HOJ backup improves stand-in jamming resistance but worsens stand-off jamming resistance.
• (Rarely) ACT/[CMD] - The Warbler has 2.5km range, so a missile with ~900m/s speed can TTGI before getting comms jammed.

Cap Yub Types

These designs are intended to be launched at the enemy natural objectives (called "cap yub") to kill the shuttle attempting to capture it. Uncommon due to the very slow cruise speed, but sometimes show up on frontline backpacks due to their lower cost than S2H. Remember that map sizes differ, so one missile design may not have the range to work on every map.

• ACT/[EO] - SEACT is preferred due to the missile's slow cruise speed.
• (Rarely) EO/backup - Expensive compared to TTGI or FACT/[EO], but more jam resistant than SEACT/[EO]

Generalist Cruise Types

• ACT/[EO] - Best performance for cost, straighrunner.
• ARAD/ACT - Particularly good for punishing Lyrebird and Bellbird usage.
• ACT/[ARAD] - Very effective since people are frequently greedy with EMCON. Vulnerable to jamming.
• ACT/[EO] Expensive premium option.
• Any TTGI type - TTGI tunings are much more expensive on the S3H body than the S2H body, running the same cost as the above two types. As such they are not preferred. Good pathing (e.g. seeker sweeps) can work on most shot geometries.
• Non-TTGI ACT/[WAKE] - Cheapest viable cruise missile.

Direct Missile Designs

Generalist Direct Types

• CMD/backup - Standard straightrunning missiles. Requires a lock.
• ACTr/[CMD] - Straightrunning missile that doesn't require a lock.
• (Rarely) ACT/[CMD] TTGI - Much more expensive than standard ACT/[CMD] but with better jam resistance
• EO/backup - Premium counterpart to CMD/backup that works more often, as people usually don't bring EO jamming
• ACT/[EO] - Cheaper version of EO/backup but with greater vulnerability to jamming.
• ACT/[ARAD] - Very common on sprinter bombers for picking off radar scouts.

Defensive Missiles

HE-Frag S3H ACMs can reliably multi-kill even bombers using ablative foam.

Common S3H Fleet Archetypes

• Frontline backpacks
• Esper (Hemlock-likes) - cruise + beam CH
• Yub frigates
• Direct frigates
• Sprinter bombers - direct sprinters

Detailed Stats This is place-holder copied from S2H page

Main Speed	Thruster Speed	Range	Acceleration	Top Speed In	Turn Rate	Radar box, m (width × height × length)	Side-on	Nose-on	45° off nose, level	Peak, banked 45° (angle off nose)
200-350 m/s Cruise 500-1000 m/s Sprint	30-40 m/s Cruise 500-1000 m/s Sprint	7875-25750 m Cruise 438-10375 m Sprint	8.2-16.3 G Cruise 120.0-204.1 G Sprint	1.3-4.4 sec Cruise 0.3-1.0 sec Sprint	0.8-3.2 G Cruise 31.9 G Sprint	25 × 25 × 38	950	625	1,114	1,482 (65°)

Engine/Warhead Size	HE Shaped Damage	HEKP Damage	BF/BFEL Damage	Min Range	Max Range
1/7	1344	2240	134.57	438 m	1,375 m
2/6	1152	1920	124.59	938 m	2,875 m
3/5	960	1600	113.74	1,438 m	4,375 m
4/4	768	1280	101.73	1,938 m	5,875 m
5/3	576	960	88.10	2,438 m	7,375 m
6/2	384	640	71.93	2,938 m	8,875 m
7/1	192	320	50.86	3,438 m	10,375 m