J-35d
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The AJ37 is better than the F-5C, but it isn’t bad at all. I think there are issues in the USA tech tree that is reasonable for US mains to complain about, but I don’t think the F-5E or F-5C is one of them. They both are really good for their BRs, and are also very good in GRB too.
F-104G (China) doesn’t get any flares.
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Main issue with the J35s is Gaijn gutting their flight model lol
J35D can win against any 10.3 in a dogfight, so I don’t think it’s particularly bad.
It got gutted a while back so people wouldnt flatspin.
I am very unhappy about this.
It’s still really good.
Wanted to reply to this sooner but well, didn’t have time to…
The issue with this line of thought is that front pair of nozzles are referred to as “cold nozzles” because they direct air from low pressure compressor. Rear pair of nozzles are referred to as “hot nozzles” because they direct jet exhaust (from the core of turbofan)
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F-5C lives or dies by flares.
In an uptier to 11.3 it’s a free target, flares or no flares to PD BVR, better airframes and better missiles.
In it’s BR range it’s adequate. It only seems overpowered because the average WT pilot is middlin’ at best. Other than the issues with the heat sig and sometimes wonky DM, it’s a middlin’ aircraft.
In a downtier is where it’s a problem.
The issue other than it’s DM and heat sig is the BR compression. You fix that, and one of the main crux gripes about it goes away. Naturally though, fixing the DM and heat signature should come first.
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Some aircrafts in red team that can be good counterpart of F-5C…
Germany
- MiG-21M : Basically MiG-21MF airframe with MIG-21PFM engine. It can carry R-13/R-13Ms.
Russia
- MiG-21SM : Basically same as MiG-21MF but, should have same loadouts with MiG-21M for makes difference from MiG-21SMT
China
- F-6C : Export version of Shenyang J-6C(license build of MiG-19S). As far as I know, they had CMs and sidewinders.
Thank the existence of premium timmies. Draken was basically a kite before the J35XS got added.
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I know what you’re trying to say but anybody who plays this BR very well and knows the planes in and out I think will agree the F-5 is extremely strong in fights, is incredibly easy to use, and there are many issues with it.
At the bare minimum it needs to have a fragile DM (as it should) and a hot IR signature like everybody else. We agree at least on that.
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Oky-doke - I’m going to disagree but provide my logic for doing so.
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Alas, the F-5 was employed as a dedicated aggressor aircraft for a reason - it was a very good airframe that could mimic some of the Soviet designs in terms of agility, etc. The flight model being a fantastic knife-fighter is pretty on-point for the lightweight fighter design it is supposed to be - not strictly a WT problem to be honest.
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Agree - IR signatures are totally out of whack. No argument.
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If you removed the flares you’d have to lower the BR if Gaijin do their usual thing - lower tiers DO NOT NEED the F-5C running amok (even flareless) in their brackets. Fix option 2 and you can probably let it still keep them as a nod to the fact that it faces early all-aspects.
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Not really the F-5C’s fault though is it? Air RB is a crapshoot of Gaijin’s making and some planes do better than others in the resulting 5 minute melee. Fixing Air RB would not only reduce the impact of planes like the F-5C but also enable many other really stuffed up planes like the F-4C actually do their thing.
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The real Skoshi Tiger was built up to take more punishment than a ‘normal’ F-5. As in nearly 100 lbs of underside armour protection for one thing plus additional redundancies to make it a cheap CAS option.
In WT often a hit will not necessarily kill it instantly - but it will effectively remove it from the match (either by eventually crashing the now-crippled brick the pilot finds themselves trying to fly or having to gingerly limp back to base with half the plane missing). Ka-50s and SU-25s are far worse contenders for daft damage models (e.g. tanking a couple of missiles to the face and managing to rock on like nothing has happened).
Full disclosure - I spent years battling F-5Cs and considering them to be a pox upon any match they were in. I then used some ill-gotten gains on the GJN market to actually buy one. It IS very strong and now I see (and experience) why - I won’t even attempt to argue otherwise. It’s a brilliant little plane and lots of fun in an old-school ‘I’m a gunfighter’ kind of way. Stick someone in one who plays it a lot and you have one of the most dangerous planes in it’s BR bracket, end of.
However it has notable weaknesses and it is now arguably up against much better opposition than was the case when it first dropped. I would rather they fix the whacky IR signature and see how it changes the situation, then maybe some of the more radical solutions.
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The problem is that an improved IR model with more fidelity wouldn’t necessarily do much of anything, and it would need involve reworking / rebalancing Flares and IR seekers as well, and preferentially requires the handling of specific edge cases where there is a lack of data, potentially extrapolated from similar engines.
Pretty sure the existing model at very least takes engine temperature(as is arbitrarily marked in the cockpit, which produces an artificial discrepancy between those airframes that use Inlet temperature (comparatively warm, but also give a more true indication of activity) and those that use intake temperature), and the fuel flow rate of the engine.
Hi, quick correction on how IR signatures function for aircraft in this game. It’s primarily based off of thrust and possibly modified by engine temp.
Some helicopter turboshafts run hotter than early jet engines, yet even looking directly down their exhaust pipes without IRCM additions will not give a lock at the same distance for a fixed wing aircraft.
This indeed means that the F-5C and E benefit from their extremely light weight and small engines with low thrust.
In theory, two identical turboprop aircraft in this game can also have different IR signatures if one has the exhaust pointed forward and the other has it pointed backward.
The fact that IR signature is primarily based off of thrust is the reason why many helicopters are incredibly difficult to lock with IR SAMs, even if they are against a freezing cold background.
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I believe fixing engine temperature on the F-5s should be enough, no other changes are needed. Although F-5E could move to 11.0 with AIM-9P4.
I don’t see how the current state of 10.3 is fine with the F-5C being spammed and performing the way it is. I don’t see how it would do poorly at 10.7 with 9Js either
F-5C has to be one of the most overrated aircraft holy shit
like yeah it retains speed well above Mach and can turn well for a little bit but it also accelerates very poorly and has a poor top speed
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It also fits the meta to a T, has incredibly strong DM, has incredibly hard to lock onto engines for no reason, and is incredibly easy to play…
Oh and its the most common aircraft at the BR and the next most common is like 5x less common lmao
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