If that is actual definition of “two way datalink” then I stand corrected. Whether it will be modeled by Gaijin and in what capacity, remains to be seen. 9X block 2 already exists and battlefield datalink isn’t a thing, though missile itself has datalink capability.
Missile has high drag, yes. However as I’m fiddling with statshark, not the best tool but at least consistently not the best, setting loft angle from 22,5 to 27,5 (Derby value) for 120C5 usually result in speed loss compared to unmodified missile, despite climbing higher. Derby with 22,5 loft angle also arrives sooner and with significantly higher impact speed than regular Derby, for “BVR” scenarios like 11km alt, 1800kmh TAS, 50km launch distance. R-77-1 with loft angle of 24->29 also suffers in energy retention. Stupid values like 22,5-> 52,5 usually results in missile falling out of the sky during or shortly after climb.
Speed loss is smaller for low altitude launches, in some cases there was even small speed gain. So, for low air drag missiles like AMRAAMs extra loft is “it depends”, while for others you usually don’t want more loft. Another consideration, lofting extends time to impact, and here MICA in high alt, high speed within 30km shots reigns supreme, as it doesn’t bother with lofting, despite otherwise crippling air drag.
So… current values provided by the snail are actually probably decent middle ground, with Derby likely wanting to loft less. At the same time, when there’s significant altitude difference between attacker and target (4km or more?) lofting logic bricks itself and missile flies straight, resulting in drastically worse energy retention than missile launched at lower alt, but properly lofting.
To make things funnier, manual lofting by hitting ±45 degree climb of “broken loft” missiles seems to outperform intended loft trajectory.
-level flight, 9.1km alt, 1100kmh IAS (dunno about TAS as replay shat itself), about 3km altitude over target
-about 45 degree climb, 11.4km alt, 950kmh IAS for launch conditions
“normally lofting” missile leveled off around 15km alt, comparing to aircraft flying tad above 14km, other is still journeying into space
shortly before impact on non evading target
With this trajectory being kinda spicy, possibly entering RWR blindspots on Flankers
