A-6E TRAM does not belong at 11.0 in Ground RB

Game Discussion General Discussion
1

I honestly do not understand the decision to move the A-6E TRAM to 11.0 in Ground RB.

Yes, the TRAM has good optics and guided weapons, but that does not automatically make it equal to every other strike aircraft around this BR. It is still a slow, heavy subsonic aircraft with no built-in gun. Everything has to be carried on its five hardpoints, including the gun pod, Sidewinders, countermeasures and ground ordnance. Taking anything for self-defence means giving up part of the useful CAS load.

The comparison with the J-22M1A also does not make much sense to me. The J-22 has built-in guns and AGM-65 Mavericks. It can launch a fire-and-forget missile and immediately turn away, get behind cover or start defending itself.

The A-6E cannot do that with its laser-guided weapons. It has to keep the target designated until impact, which forces it to remain exposed and fly in a predictable way. At 11.0, that is a serious disadvantage because of the SAMs and fighters it regularly faces.

And then there is the Su-25BM, which is somehow still at 10.7.

The Su-25BM has a built-in 30 mm gun, plenty of countermeasures, R-73 missiles and several types of guided air-to-ground weapons. It does not have to sacrifice its main strike load just to carry a gun, and it is far more capable of defending itself against enemy aircraft.

So the current situation looks like this:

A-6E TRAM: no built-in gun, no fire-and-forget air-to-ground missiles, poor flight performance and weapons that require continuous target designation — 11.0.

J-22M1A: built-in guns, AGM-65 Mavericks and much better flight performance — 11.0.

Su-25BM: built-in 30 mm gun, countermeasures, R-73s and a wide selection of guided weapons — 10.7.

Where is the consistency here?

I am not saying that the A-6E is useless. It can be effective when it is left alone and has enough time to set up an attack. The problem is that at 11.0 it regularly faces threats that it has very few ways to deal with.

The A-6E TRAM should be moved back to 10.7 in Ground RB. Its actual capabilities do not justify placing it above the Su-25BM or treating it as a direct equivalent to the J-22M1A.

6 Likes
2

I fully support you. The tram on 11.0 will be a frag courier. He needs to return 10.7

5 Likes
3

Nah.
If the AMX can be at 11.0 so can the TRAM.
Haven’t seen anyone complain about the AMX therefore the A-6E will be fine there.

4

That’s not really an argument. If the AMX is overtiered, that doesn’t automatically make the TRAM correctly tiered. And “I haven’t seen anyone complain” is not a balance argument.

The AMX also has an internal M61, internal countermeasures, much better flight performance, and can carry up to six guided bombs without giving up its gun. The TRAM has no internal weapons at all — its gun pod, Sidewinders and BOL countermeasures all compete with the CAS load for the same five pylons.

Two aircraft having laser-guided bombs does not make them equal. You have to compare the whole aircraft, not just one part of the loadout.

2 Likes
5

both TRAM and AMX being 11.0 and 11.3 is bs. Both of them don’t have a line-up for their BR so they have to be uptiered or played with previous BR lineups with huge disadvantage.

1 Like
6

The gun is not an argument here, neither is the countermeasures count. Flight performance is merely slightly different for the intended purpose.
We are still talking about ground RB right?
Hell if anything the TRAM has better range with Skippers.
Regardless. Yes, they are overtiered a little but asking for balance here and giving feedback to these devs? Nah. I myself am not going to entertain the idea anymore.

7

you can play it with 10.7 disadvantageous tanks or 11.3 IMP1 with bad jet against 12.0+ pantsirs and other scary spaas, either way you’re not going to be the player with the most kills. I don’t get why TRAM is on the same BR as J-22M1a which has much better line-up and ordinance.

1 Like