Counter Battery Radar System

Counter-Battery Radar System (CBR detection, radius tiers, AI threat)

Source-verified 2026-06-21 against master 0139a346. Paths relative to Missions/[55-2hc]warfarev2_073v48co.chernarus/ unless noted. Arma 2 OA 1.64.

The Counter-Battery Radar (CBR) detects enemy artillery the moment it fires, drops a timed "CB CONTACT" marker on the firing position for the owning side, and arms the AI commander's artillery-threat response. It is a config-gated WEST/EAST endgame structure (WFBE_C_STRUCTURES_COUNTERBATTERY) with its own research track, detection-radius tiers, per-gun rate limiting, and a parallel static "airfield CBR" variant. This page documents the end-to-end runtime; the build entry itself is catalogued in Faction Base Structures Catalog.

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Enable Gate and Eligibility

The whole system is behind one parameter, defaulted on:

Constant	Default	Source
WFBE_C_STRUCTURES_COUNTERBATTERY	1 (enabled)	Common/Init/Init_CommonConstants.sqf:993
WFBE_C_CBR_FIRE_MISSION_WINDOW	30 s (read with fallback; not set in constants)	Server/Functions/Server_CounterBattery.sqf:41

Every entry point exits immediately when the gate is 0: the detection function (Server_CounterBattery.sqf:22), the PVF handler (Server/PVFunctions/CounterBatteryFired.sqf:9), the registry init (Server/Init/Init_Server.sqf:113), and the artillery Fired-EH install (Common/Functions/Common_FireArtillery.sqf:45).

The buildable CB Radar structure ($2,400, SmallSite) exists only in the WEST and EAST structure files (Structures_CO_US.sqf:99-108, Structures_CO_RU.sqf:99-108); the GUER/CDF/INS files stop at AA Radar, so resistance has no CBR (Server/FSM/server_town.sqf:520 comment: "resistance has no CBR registry").

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Per-Side CBR Registry

The server keeps one CBR array per side and scans it on every enemy artillery shot.

Step	Behaviour	Source
Init	WFBE_CBR_WEST / WFBE_CBR_EAST set to [] (gated)	Server/Init/Init_Server.sqf:119-121
Register on build	A constructed CBRadar SmallSite is appended to its side's registry and gets composition dressing	Server/Construction/Construction_SmallSite.sqf:111-121
Auto-walls skipped	CBRadar and AARadar are excluded from auto-wall construction	Server/Construction/Construction_SmallSite.sqf:123-130
Prune	Dead/null CBRs are filtered out of the registry at the end of each detection scan	Server/Functions/Server_CounterBattery.sqf:100-104

Pruning uses an explicit filter loop, not select {…} — the source notes that the select command form is Arma 3-only (Server_CounterBattery.sqf:101).

Airfield static CBRs

Some maps place a static CBR at an airfield. When such a location changes hands, server_town.sqf removes the old radar from both side registries and deletes it, then — only for WEST/EAST — spawns a fresh radar, registers it under the new owner, and pins its detection radius to a fixed 2000 m via wfbe_cbr_radius (broadcast so clients draw the fixed circle rather than an upgrade tier):

• De-register + delete old radar: Server/FSM/server_town.sqf:582-593
• Spawn, fixed-radius set, dressing, client circle init, re-register: Server/FSM/server_town.sqf:595-639

The per-object wfbe_cbr_radius override is read first in detection (Server_CounterBattery.sqf:69), so airfield CBRs ignore the upgrade-tier radius below.

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Detection Flow

enemy artillery fires
        │  ('Fired' EH installed by Common_FireArtillery.sqf when gate on)
        ▼
 server-local AI gun ──► WFBE_SE_FNC_CounterBatteryCheck   (AI arty is server-local)
 non-server AI gun  ─► "CounterBatteryFired" SendToServer ─► CounterBatteryFired.sqf ─► same check
 (player-crewed gun — NOT detected; Common_FireArtillery.sqf exits at line 14 for human gunners)
        ▼
 Server_CounterBattery.sqf: rate-limit ► count fire missions ► scan opposing CBR registry ► notify

The Fired event handler is installed only when the gate is on and only for AI-driven artillery (Common/Functions/Common_FireArtillery.sqf:45-53). The function exits immediately when isPlayer _gunner is true (line 14), so player-crewed guns do not trigger CBR detection. Line 8 also ejects any player crew before the check runs. AI artillery that is server-local calls WFBE_SE_FNC_CounterBatteryCheck directly via the EH; AI artillery not local to the server routes through WFBE_CO_FNC_SendToServer → the CounterBatteryFired PVF (Server/PVFunctions/CounterBatteryFired.sqf:15). Both AI paths converge on WFBE_SE_FNC_CounterBatteryCheck, which always runs server-side (Server/Functions/Server_CounterBattery.sqf).

What the check does

Stage	Logic	Source
Rate limit	Skip if this gun pinged a CBR within the last 10 s (wfbe_cbr_lastping)	Server_CounterBattery.sqf:31-32
Fire-mission count	Once per WFBE_C_CBR_FIRE_MISSION_WINDOW (30 s) per side, increment wfbe_aicom_enemy_arty_fire_count on the opposing side's logic	Server_CounterBattery.sqf:41-48
Arm threat (cond-b)	At >= 3 fire missions, set wfbe_aicom_arty_threat = true on the opposing logic	Server_CounterBattery.sqf:50-54
Scan	For each CBR on the opposing side, compare firing distance to the CBR's radius	Server_CounterBattery.sqf:58-98
Notify	On a hit, mark the gun's rate limit and send a side-targeted CounterBatteryContact PVF with [markerPos, "HH:MM"]	Server_CounterBattery.sqf:80-95

The opposing-side registry is chosen by the firing side: a WEST gun is scanned against WFBE_CBR_EAST and vice-versa (Server_CounterBattery.sqf:58).

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Detection Radius and the CBRADAR Upgrade

Unless a per-object override is set, the detection radius scales with the detecting side's Counter-Battery Radar research level (WFBE_UP_CBRADAR = 22, Common/Init/Init_CommonConstants.sqf:59):

Research level	Detection radius	Source
0	750 m	Server/Functions/Server_CounterBattery.sqf:76
1	1,500 m	Server/Functions/Server_CounterBattery.sqf:76
2 (max)	2,000 m	Server/Functions/Server_CounterBattery.sqf:76

The level is read from the side logic's wfbe_upgrades array at index WFBE_UP_CBRADAR and clamped to 2 (Server_CounterBattery.sqf:72-76). The CBRADAR research itself (from the WEST reference Upgrades_CO_US.sqf):

Property	Value	Source
Levels	2	Upgrades_CO_US.sqf:84
Cost (funds, supply)	L1 [3500,0], L2 [6500,0]	Upgrades_CO_US.sqf:56
Research time	60 s / 90 s	Upgrades_CO_US.sqf:148
Prerequisite	L1 requires AA Radar research L1; L2 requires AA Radar research L2	Upgrades_CO_US.sqf:120
Availability	gated on WFBE_C_STRUCTURES_COUNTERBATTERY > 0	Upgrades_CO_US.sqf:28

So the CB Radar research is gated behind the AA Radar research, matching the design note "requires own AAR" (Init_CommonConstants.sqf:576). The buildable structure itself gates only on the COUNTERBATTERY parameter. Upgrade-array column semantics are owned by Upgrade Research (cross-faction).

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Client Contact Marker

CounterBatteryContact is addressed to a specific side, so only clients on the detecting side receive it (Server_CounterBattery.sqf:92-93). The handler draws a local, timed map marker:

Property	Value	Source
Marker type	mil_destroy, colour ColorRed, size [0.8, 0.8]	Client/PVFunctions/CounterBatteryContact.sqf:22-25
Text	"CB CONTACT" + " HH:MM" (STR_WF_CBR_Contact = "CB CONTACT", stringtable.xml:9527-9528)	Client/PVFunctions/CounterBatteryContact.sqf:19
Lifetime	auto-deleted after 75 s	Client/PVFunctions/CounterBatteryContact.sqf:28
Guard	no-op if WFBE_Client_SideID is nil (uninitialised client)	Client/PVFunctions/CounterBatteryContact.sqf:13

The marker is local (createMarkerLocal), so it is per-client and JIP-safe by construction — late joiners simply never see expired contacts.

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AI Commander Threat Response

The CBR detection path is one of three inputs that arm the AI commander's artillery-threat flag, wfbe_aicom_arty_threat, on a side's logic. This is AI scaffold only — human commanders are unaffected (Server/AI/Commander/AI_Commander_Base.sqf:218-223).

Condition	Trigger	Threshold	Source
(a)	Friendly units killed by enemy artillery	>= 2 arty kills	Server/PVFunctions/RequestOnUnitKilled.sqf:71
(b)	Enemy fire missions observed via CBR path	>= 3 fire missions	Server/Functions/Server_CounterBattery.sqf:50
(c)	Enemy has a built artillery piece and round time > 60 min	first qualifying scan	Server/AI/Commander/AI_Commander_Base.sqf:234-244

Once armed, the AI scaffold lets CBRadar enter its build order — further gated by round time >= WFBE_C_AICOM_CBR_MIN_TIME (default 2,700 s / 45 min) and supply >= CBR cost + WFBE_C_AICOM_SUPPLY_RESERVE (default 500) (AI_Commander_Base.sqf:251-259) — and appends CBR research reactively (Server/AI/Commander/AI_Commander.sqf:240). Each arming logs an AICOMSTAT|v1|EVENT|…|ARTY_THREAT_ARMED|cond-a/b/c telemetry line (Server_CounterBattery.sqf:53, RequestOnUnitKilled.sqf:74, AI_Commander_Base.sqf:244).

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Continue Reading

• Faction Base Structures Catalog — the CB Radar build entry, cost and classname alongside the other base structures
• Upgrade Research (cross-faction) — the CBRADAR research track and the AA Radar prerequisite chain
• AI Commander Autonomy Audit — how the wfbe_aicom_arty_threat flag drives the AI commander's reactive build/research
• Construction and CoIn Systems Atlas — the SmallSite construction worker that builds and registers the CB Radar
• Networking and Public Variables — the SendToServer / SendToClients PVF routing used by the fired-EH and contact-marker paths