The AIM-54C is currently a pretty sad missile, being far too slow, not pulling hard enough, having a poor seeker, etc. However, it should be much better in all of these areas. (Thanks to @MythicPi for doing most of the work I used here: )
- All other ARH missiles outperform it in impact velocity below ~25km
- All other ARH missiles outperform it in time-to-impact ~40km
- R-27ER outperforms it in impact velocity below ~27km
- R-27ER outperforms it in time-to-impact below ~50km
- R-27ER with a 30° manual loft outperforms it in impact velocity at 65km
In the files, the AIM-54 has a max speed of 1,800m/s, but can never hit this, almost in ideal conditions.
Launch conditions:
My speed - 1524kph (~423.33m/s)
Closure rate near launch: 1013.4m/s
Launch aircraft speed - ~588.08m/s (M2.0)
Launch aircraft altitude - ~12000m
Kinematics at max closure rate:
My speed - 1600kph (~444.44m/s)
Closure rate - 1748.4m/s
AIM-54C peak speed - ~1303.96m/s (M4.42)
AIM-54C dV - ~715.88m/s
Kinematics on impact:
Closure rate = 1575m/s
Aircraft speed = 1563kph (~434.17m/s)
AIM-54C speed = 1140.83m/s (M3.87)
At nearly perfect conditions, the missile still cannot hit Mach 5+ speeds like IRL, and only equates to dV of ~715.88m/s, still nearly 500m/s slower than it should be.(The US Navy -- Fact File: AIM-54 Phoenix Missile)
The AIM-54C, launched from M2.0(~588.08m/s) at 12km altitude in WT will NEVER reach the top speed of the R-27ER, launched from M1.5(480m/s) at 5km altitude in real life. (This is not saying the R-27ER is too fast, this is saying the AIM-54C is too slow.) (graph below)
This is despite the drag at 5,000m being roughly 2.4x higher than at 12,000m altitude, and the fact that the rocket motor of the 54C should benefit from thinner air. (Although not modeled in WT.)
This is likely because Gaijin doesn’t model the extra thrust rocket motors have at higher alt.
Thanks for reading! Please correct me if needed in the replies.
