SOMEHOW, the F14A’s Phoenix missile locks the chaff of the F14 right before it hits the F14D. For example, the inexperienced F14D player isn’t even chaffing properly, and SOMEHOW, the missile is notched perfectly, but it isn’t the same case for the F14D’s missile. Number 2, again, multiple times I went down to multipath, and while multipathing, somehow the missile still hit me, EVEN THOUGH I was below 50ft (30 whatever it is for others). Number 3, for some reason, even with TWS, the phoenix’s (at least mine ig cuz maybe im just a skill issue) lose lock and can’t track. Now, I don’t know if the SuperTomcat has some sort of radar disruption or actually incoroperates what the E/A F18G doesn’t have, but someHOW these F14D inexperienced players are just better ig.
60m.
Multipathing is not a magically shield that makes you immune to any SARH or ARH missile.
Think of it like the ground is a mirror, and you are creating a reflection in that mirror. When the missile approaches, it gets confused by the reflection and targets it instead if you are flying below 60m
This is what multipathing is.
But if a missile is coming down from a high angle, then it will go for the reflection, but you will be between the missile and the reflection and it will hit you enroute. Additionally, Aim-54s have a large warhead, even if the missile misses you and goes for the reflection, if you are flying too low (and at 50ft that is definetly the case) then the warhead will still damage you, maybe even kill you.
Multipathing is most effective when the launch aircraft is also down very low, but if the target is above you, then it is not a reliable defence, and should not be relied upon to defeat the threat. Aim-54s are kinematically quite weak missiles, so you can tax them quite easily by flying perpendicular to them, and then there is always notch and chaff.
No such thing exists in live currently.
Make sure you understand the radar panel and everything its telling you.
Without seeing a replay or clip, im going to assume is that you are firing too far away and the missiles are being kinematically defeated.
for multipathing, the players are 40,000ft in the air, and even if lets say they were at 10k maybe i was still below them and the missile fell even though they weren’t in a proper notch, not a single f14D that I have seen has ever gone multipathing
Also i am firing the missile from 30-60>km away any closer wouldn’t work and nor farther
I would need to see a replay to tell you why the missile missed.
Then its highly possible the missile is being kinematically defeated.
They only have so much energy to expend on turning to keep onto target, the further away the target is, the less energy they have to use for that too.
In all likelyhood, they are failing to hit the target because the missile simply ran out of energy.
but I would need to see a replay to confirm
sorry i am getting one rn
2026-06-25 09-36-51.mov.zip (59.8 MB)
I haven’t checked to see if this is viewable. I recorded the part where it happened. Don’t mind everything else, I’m still new to OBS, and this is on a Mac, so it’s a bit laggy.
Can you also link the relevant replay too please
https://warthunder.com/en/tournament/replay
Because I can tell absolutely nothing from the clip, it doesnt even have any UI
Thank you, I’ll have a look
Okay.
Reviewing the replay:
First things first.
Launch. Your height is good and the loft angle is good, but your launch speed is a bit low. Subsonic actually.
Missiles, especially those that you want to travel far, work better the faster you fire them. I would have leveled out about 5k ft earlier and then built a bit of speed up before firing. Even Mach 1.1-1.2 would have greatly improved your missiels performance.
Firing strong is the first step.
Mid flight, your missiles appear to stop getting radar updates and switch to IOG guidance as they are not in range of their on-board radars to take over. There are several reasons for this, but likely the M-Scan just lost track of the targets. Read the aforementioned guide for now when your radar is providing DL updates.
It might be worth while for you to hard lock the target, rather than relying upon TWS to guide the shots in. Does limit you to one at a time, but greatly increases the chances of killing with said missile.
Your first missile, being on IOG, fails to locate the target. The target is simply too far away from its last known IOG position and looks like the IOG kicked in when the target was turning slightly. Only way to prevent this is by providing DL to the missile all the way until it goes active at a minimum, but ideally later still if you can.
Second missile got notched and chaffed. It was defended against correctly which is why it was defeated, but otherwise tracked strong. Between the launch conditions and the 40km travel distance though, the target was given extra time to defend, a few seconds doesnt sound like much, but can make a huge difference.
So:
- Fire faster if you can.
- Maintain the DL until the missile has gone active, even if you have to hard lock the target to do so
I also want to note that firing into that early game mass of players rarely results in kills unless they are very green. Most fire and then defend. Personal tactic is to rarely fire at that furball, and instead flank slightly to the left, maintaing speed and height, and then turn in once people start to recommit for the second wave. Also keeping an eye out for anyone flying low or trying to be sneaky themselves.
This way, when you do fire, you’ve built up a lot of speed, closed the distance a bit and firing from a strong position. Ideally, from a bit of an off angle that the target isnt expecting.