Bullseye

Learning objectives

1. Understand bullseye
2. Understand how to calculate the relative position and distance between two bullseye references

BRAA

BRAA stands for Bearing, Range, Altitude, and Attitude. It is the easiest method to communicate the position of a contact on your radar to your flight members.

To give a BRAA position you’ll simply read off the direction you see the target in, its range and altitude (from the radar), and what direction it’s going.

Example BRAA bandit call: “Bandit, 030, 35 miles, angels 15, hot!”. In this situation there’s a hostile aircraft at bearing 030 degrees 35 nmi away that’s flying at 15000 feet coming towards you.

Bullseye

While BRAA is well and good for telling your flight members where something is, if you need to communicate the position of a bandit to another flight in your package your BRAA call won’t work. The target won’t be at the same bearing and range to the other flight as it is to you.

In order to solve this, we use a system called a bullseye reference. The bullseye is a fixed point on the map that is known to all flights. A position is then referenced like a BRAA, but relative to the bullseye instead of any plane.

For example, a call of “Bandit, BULLSEYE 235, 95 miles, angels 22” means that there’s a bandit 95 miles southwest of the bullseye, flying at 22000 feet. Where this position is relative to your plane depends on where you are relative to the bullseye. When giving a bullseye position you should always use the BULLSEYE proword in your message.

Getting used to the bullseye system can be difficult, but it's just a matter of experience. For help see this video by Fluffer.