The AMX A-1A does not belong in 11.3 BR. It is severely underperforming in all aspects of the vehicles placed in the BR bracket and struggles in a full 1.0 downtier as well. I have used every variant possible on this plane to achieve any form of success and it is not possible. The vehicle is subsonic (does not go mach 1.0 or above), has 2 missiles without IRCCM, loses all energy during the second turn, has no radar function, and is very easily defeated by any plane it encounters. The vehicle currently faces matches on a very consistent basis against planes such as the MiG-23ML, MiG-23 MLD, F4S Phantom II, and Mirage F1C. All of the vehicles this plane encounters carry more air to air armament, are capable of traveling past mach 1.0, very easily capable of maneuvering in a degree substantially higher than that of the AMX, and possess radar guided munitions.
There are also other vehicles in the 11.0 BR bracket that are performing at a better standing compared to the AMX A-1A. We have vehicles such as the MiG-21, F-104S, F-104S-TAF, F-104G, etc that carry multiple air to air munitions alongside ground munitions that travel at speeds above Mach 1.0.
I propose the plane be moved down to 10.7 alongside the tech tree variant due to the following factors.
*Similar armament capabilities
*Identical flight performance
*identical countermeasure yield
*Both vehicles lacking radar
*Both vehicles are subsonic (Unable to travel at Mach 1.0 or above)
*Lacking effective air to air ordnance (Both planes can carry a maximum of 2 IR missiles)
*Both vehicles do not possess radar guided air to air munitions (Plane is limited to IR missiles only)
*AMX A-1A is unable to perform the roles of a strike craft even in a semi effective manner
The crux of the AMX A-1A vs AMX is that they do have different AAMs, But are the MAA-1 good enough to justify the BR increase?
(The MAA-1s are faster off the rails, so you have less time to react to them being fired, but poorer in a dogfight as they dont pull as hard, they also have slightly greater guidance delay iirc. They also have a short burn, so they become smokeless pretty quick, so psuedo aim-9Ms.)
So maybe, but at the absolute most, 11.0. But more likely no increase at all if we consider aircraft like A-10A at 10.7 with 4x Aim-9L or Sea Harrier FRS1 at 11.0 with 4x Aim-9L.
I imagine that the reason it’s up at 11.3 whereas the TT AMX is 10.7 is because of the MAA-1 missiles it has. They have much higher manoeuvrability but have a far worse seeker head with it being on par with a 9B in terms of being flared.
Honestly it absolutely should be the same BR as the TT AMX.
In fairness, the AMX A-1A has got a rather stupid BR.
Given its TT equivalent is 10.7 and the only meaningful difference is the AAMs it carries which are a minor upgrade at most, but overall, id consider them a sidegrade more than anything. Especially when you consider other aircraft as well, like the A-10A Late or SHar with 4x 9Ls at lower BRs.
its really wierd the AMX A-1A is at that the BR it is.
Subsonic attacker with missiles that eats flares like its a AIM9B. I actually feel sorry for its users.
Decent in ground RB if there is no SPAA, but thats about it.
My suggestion: give the AMX A-1A two more option for aa missile on wingtip rails, A-darter and stay at 11.3. OR give the MAR-1 missile for ground attack and stay at 11.3.
I agree that at this time the setup is not enough to be at 11.3. If the armament setup stay, it should be at 10.7, not higher.
A-Darter if im not mistaken is a “Gen 5” IR missile at which point the AMX A-1A would be more like 12.3, if not maybe higher. (note MAA-1 is tenatively already better than a lot of ground attackers at either 10.7)
MAR-1 is mostly an ARM which arent modeled in game yet but could come in the future. But I find it fine for ground attack. At least in GSB.
AMX A-1A would be perfectly fine with a BR comprable to the AMX, aka 10.7. It doesnt need radical loadout upgrades for the sake of it. ARB is a BAD gamemode for anything meant for Ground attack, but in Air Sim, where you can use these aircraft properly. its usable even at 11.3.
A-Darter is a HMD lock based IR missile, a very good one actually. Yes of course it would be (maybe) overpowered at 11.3, if the HMD paired, but without, it would be fine on my opinion. MAA-1 is not better as any ground attackers at 10.7, basically just behavior as aim9L-s. Was just a idea.
MAR-1 would be great, and has multiple seeker, so not only the ARM version (that would come later, but soon I hope so, because western aa are really bad at this time).
At the end, I highly agree that in air realistic it needed to be at 10.7. In air sim, I think 11. would be the correct one.
Nah, if anything, it’s stronger in RB than SB when it comes to A2A combat, which is how aircraft should be balanced. The lack of radar highly limits your ability to ID targets at greater distances and so mitigate the all-aspect nature of any AAM. Even running a tpod doesn’t always mitigate this because of extra time and effort that requires and doesn’t help when you have the same aircraft on both teams.