12.7 - 13.7 is near unplayable with the current planes in game. This is the BR range where planes with SARHM constantly fight planes with ARHM. The first 13.0 with ARHM was the harrier and it was fair and balanced because the harrier still a subsonic at the end of the day , reducing the effective range of the aim120A.
Nowadays at 13.0 you have planes like
- the premium JA37DI with the aim120A
- KfirC10 with the Derby
- J8F with the PL12
- F-5TH-TCU with the Derby
- Tornado F.3 Late with the aim120B
- F4F KWS with aim120A
- F14A IRAF with fakour90
To make it worse , at 13.3 you have
- The premium su30mk AMV with RVVAE (R77)
- Mig29 SMT with r77
- F16A ADF with aim120A
- Mig29N with R77
- J11A with PL12
- Jf17 with SD10A
- premium su30MKK with RVVAE
There are so many 12.0 - 13.0 planes that still use SARHM such as
- AIM7 Sparrow
- Super530D
- Super 530F
- R27R
- R27ER
You could make the argument about the R27ER as it’s the best SARHM in the game , however the same does not apply to everything else and it still needs to be guided in till impact at the end of the day.
Why does the F15A/J get to be moved to 12.7 while it has
- A good airframe
- x4 AIM7F
- X4 AIM9M or AAM3
While the others are left and forgotten at 13.0?
In no world is it “fair” and “balanced” to have to fight anyone with ARHM such as the AIM120 and R77 while you’re stuck with something like the super530D or aim7 sparrow.
You can be the first to fire in an engagement and all it takes is for them to shoot their ARHM and turn around while you have to fly in their direction to keep guiding your missile. Its Suicidal because their missile is faster , tracks better and doesn’t need a constant radar lock from the launching aircraft till impact.
With the current matchmaker and how poplar 13.7 , if you’re playing 12.7 - 13.0 , 9/10 you will see a 13.7 uptier and its unbearable to play.
What is my solution?
Move all planes with ARHM to 13.3 and place a soft lock on the BR so that planes with SARHM from 13.0 - 12.3 are never allowed to fight planes with ARHM from 13.3 to 14.0 in air RB
With the new 14.7 max battle rating the top tier aircraft will see a minimum of 13.7 and at that BR with similar loadouts though different radars and flight performance , the difference in capability is still more close to each other rather than these planes making late SARHM or IR only planes unplayable in the current state of Air RB.
Counter arguments and my Response
Wont this increase cue times?
Response: 13.3 - 14.7 is already very populated with a large amount of the player base there due to the concentration of top tier planes.
Separating SARH and ARH aircraft would not fragment the playerbase — instead, it would restore participation in the 12.0–13.0 bracket by making it playable again, which in turn stabilizes queue times rather than increasing them.
Not all ARHM airframes are equal
Response: Yes this is true. For example the tornado F.3 late is a brick , however the time needed to guide a aim120 into a range where you can turn around and defend is still shorter than the time it takes the enemy to guide a SARHM towards you till impact depending on the range of the engagement.
The R27ER balances early ARHM
Response: Not every nation has the R27ER. At the end of the day you can only fire and guide 1 at a time and it requires you to fly in the general direction of the enemy until impact.
That means 12.0 will see 13.0 each match
Response: We have 14.7 and more often than not 13.7 does not face 14.7 each match. This argument still falls short as regardless of the soft lock , 14.7 is till a BR which never gets uptiered so this already exists in the game.
If I left anything out or you disagree with my suggestion please share how you think this issue could be solved because it gets worse with each patch adding new 13.0-13.3 planes with ARHM.