BRs of many aircraft in the upper tiers of Simulator mode feel illogical and somewhat neglected.
One example is the Netz being lowered to 12.3 and the F-15A being lowered to 12.7. The Netz—essentially an F-16 with Python missiles—has no business being at a lower BR than the F-16A Block 5 and Block 10. They should share the same BR; otherwise, there is little reason to use the latter.
You might ask: why is that such a problem? Let’s look at other aircraft rated at 12.7:
- Belgian F-16A Block 15, carrying AIM-9Ms and additional countermeasure pods
- F/A-18C Early, carrying six AIM-7Ps (the best Sparrow missile currently in the game) with an excellent radar
- F-15J, with arguably the best IR missiles in the game, the AAM-3
There are more examples, but these stand out the most. Even the F/A-18A Early (12.3) is a more formidable aircraft than many 12.7-rated aircraft.
In addition to this questionable BR balancing, REDFOR has no effective answer to some of these strong aircraft:
- MiG-29 variants, able to carry only two R-27ER/ETs along with four weak R-60Ms and a subpar radar
- Yak-141, also limited to two R-27ER/ETs, only two weak R-60Ms, and a low top speed
- Swiss F/A-18C, being the only competitive answer to BLUFOR’s dominance at 12.7
Finally, giving the MiG-29 its long-awaited R-73s but raising the BR to 13.0 almost sounds like a joke. Additionally, bringing the F-15s down to 12.7 feels like rubbing salt in the wound.