Electronic Intelligence (ELINT)
Panther Den features a custom ELINT module that shows up right on the Command Map, and understanding how the triangulation behind it works — plus how to actually use it in the cockpit — will make you far more effective, even though you’re not the one running the collection.
Most of the picture comes from two sources: our E-3 AWACS orbiting on station, and the static comms tower network on the ground. Neither triangulates a position alone. It takes two or more of them picking up a bearing to the same radar from different angles for the system to cross those bearings and locate it. The comms towers act as a fixed baseline scattered around the map, and the E-3s add moving, wide-angle coverage on top of that, so between the two, most contested areas get at least some coverage without anyone having to fly a dedicated ELINT mission.
Contacts show up as map markers, with red text next to them showing the time the emission was detected and the emission type. That’s your cue for how current and how identified the contact is — a marker with a recent timestamp and a known emitter type is one you can act on with confidence, while an older timestamp means the site may have moved, gone dark, or already been worked, so treat it as dated info rather than a live picture.
A brand new contact takes a few hours of continued collection before you should plan a strike off it. Contacts also age out if the radar goes quiet, so if the timestamp on a marker is old, assume the picture is stale and cross-check before committing.
| Platform | C Band / H Band Accuracy | Min. Band | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TV Tower | 0.10° / 0.01° | A | Best overall accuracy |
| Comms Tower M | 0.21° / 0.02° | A | Excellent, very tall |
| Command Center | 0.37° / 0.04° | A | Building, high accuracy |
| SAM Patriot CR | 1.53° / 0.16° | A | Control room, mobile |
| C-130J | 0.65° / 0.07° | A | |
| S-3B Viking | 1.59° / 0.17° | A | Carrier-based ASW, good ELINT |
| E-2D Hawkeye | 6.54° / 0.70° | C | Minimum Band C limits low-freq |
| E-3A Sentry | 5.09° / 0.55° | C | Better than E-2D but still C-band min |
This is where the ELINT channel comes in. It’s a single frequency on your comms card. Tune it and you’ll get live, automated calls on tracked SAM sites — new contacts, updates as they refine, and launch warnings — all referenced off bullseye, exactly like a real-world ELINT/SIGINT feed. No GCI or controller has to be sitting at a keyboard for this to work; it broadcasts on its own the moment the data’s there.
You’re not just listening either. Pull up the F10 menu and you’ll find a nested radio menu for the ELINT channel — from there you can select the specific threat you want to hunt, rather than waiting for it to come up in the broadcast rotation. Use it to pull the latest bullseye reference on a site before you commit a strike, especially if the last thing you heard broadcast on it is starting to feel dated.
Not every area gets equal coverage. Areas well within range of multiple comms towers and regularly worked by an E-3 orbit will get fresh markers and regular calls on the ELINT channel. Areas out on the edge of that coverage, or ones the E-3 hasn’t swept in a while, will show older timestamps, or nothing at all.
This is still an asset-based system even though you’re not flying it yourself. If an E-3 gets shot down or pulled off station, or a comms tower gets knocked out, that contribution to the network disappears and coverage degrades. If a SAM site you’re tracking actually launches on someone, expect an immediate refresh on its marker and a corresponding launch call on the channel. Firing forces a fast re-look, so a site that gets cute and shoots will often hand you a fresher timestamp than it had hours earlier. Good news for the strike package, bad news for the SAM crew.