Guides
DCS Bullseye Explained (BRAA vs Bullseye)
Bullseye is a shared coalition reference point in DCS World. A typical call is a bearing and range from that point, not from your jet. Set it in DCS Planner by importing a .miz or by right-clicking the map, then export it back into DCS.
This page is the bullseye detail for the step-by-step DCS mission planning workflow.
What bullseye is and why DCS uses it
DCS World stores one bullseye per coalition, blue and red. It is a fixed point on the map that the package, GCI, and AWACS share as a common origin. A call such as "bullseye 090 for 45" means the same place to every friendly, even when the jets are miles apart.
Bullseye is not a waypoint on the route. The route is the list of points you fly. Bullseye is the grid those points, contacts, and threats are talked about against. On a wide theater such as Syria, put that point where the package will actually talk, not in a distant corner of the map.
Reading a bullseye call
A bullseye call is a three-digit bearing and a range in nautical miles from the reference point to the contact. Range is how far the contact sits from that point.
DCS Planner formats that pair as 090°/45 NM on the briefing map readout. Map search can show the same call as 090/45 (bearing, then range) for a selected unit. Search defaults to the active blue bullseye when one exists. Choosing another stored bullseye there changes only that readout.
Bullseye vs. BRAA
BRAA is Bearing, Range, Altitude, and Aspect. A BRAA call is from an observing aircraft (or a fighter) to the contact: where it is relative to that jet, how high it is, and how it is pointing. A bullseye call is from the shared reference and is usually only bearing and range.
Use bullseye when the whole package needs one picture. Use BRAA when a fighter is talking about a contact relative to itself. DCS Planner's search and briefing readout show bearing and range from bullseye. They do not compute altitude or aspect.
Bullseye per aircraft
The mission still has one blue bullseye and one red bullseye. Aircraft differ in how they use that point in the cockpit, not in how many bullseyes the mission file holds.
On the F/A-18C, DCS Planner's DTC NAV settings include an AA WP toggle and a waypoint number. That marks one of the Hornet's waypoints as the air-to-air waypoint written into the cartridge. In the jet, that selected waypoint is the Hornet's air-to-air reference, often the point loaded so the HSI can show bearing and range from it. The planner writes those DTC fields. It does not simulate the HSI.
Many DCS aircraft also show bullseye as bearing and range on the HSI or equivalent. Enter the same coordinates the planner displays. Procedures differ by airframe.
MGRS and Lat/Long primer
The planner stores latitude and longitude as decimal degrees and converts them for display. You can switch among four formats: decimal degrees (DD), degrees decimal minutes (DM), degrees minutes seconds (DMS), and Military Grid Reference System (MGRS). MGRS is a single grid string, not a lat/lon pair.
In MGRS, digit count sets precision: two digits are about 10 km, four about 1 km, six about 100 m, eight about 10 m, and ten about 1 m. The planner displays MGRS at 1 m (five-digit easting and northing). DD uses six decimal places. These are display formats. The stored point is still decimal degrees.
Setting and reading bullseye in the planner
Import a .miz to load the coalition bullseyes onto the map. DCS Planner names those points "Imported bullseye" and arms them. CombatFlite .cf import also carries bullseye.
The Bullseye tool stores several points per coalition. Name them and edit coordinates in the current format. Only the active point per coalition draws on the map and is written to DCS. Right-click the map and choose Set bullseye here, then Blue or Red, to place or move the active point. You can also click the map after adding a new entry, or type coordinates. On the Persian Gulf map, put that point near the water the package will talk about, often the Strait of Hormuz.
The map draws a star and concentric rings at 30, 60, and 90 kilometres around the active blue and red points. Map search adds a Bull fact, bearing/range from the chosen bullseye to the selected site.
The kneeboard spider card is centered on a selected bullseye: blue from the mission, red from the mission, or a manual point. Its header can print coordinates as DD, DM, DMS, or MGRS. Range rings on that card are in nautical miles. The same card can draw SAM and AAA threat rings; see DCS SAM Threat Rings & Route Planning.
Export a .miz with units, drawings, and bullseye, or a CombatFlite .cf. The .miz export can include blue, red, or both. DCS itself still stores one bullseye per coalition: the active point.