I have been practicing with low tier British rockets recently, and have been desperate to find a use for the AP rockets over RP-3s in some scenarios.
This is because I am the kind of person who likes to use all the different ordnance options on their aircraft for different things, but I have been struggling with the AP rockets, particularly when mounted on higher tier props with the rockets far out on the wings which makes it nearly impossible to score direct hits as is necessary to do damage.
A good example of one of these aircraft is the Hornet (not the F/A-18). The rocket accuracy is so problematic for this aircraft that even the RP-3s have basically no chance of killing enclosed vehicles as a direct hit in the right place to pen or overpressure is incredibly unlikely. As a result, I have set aside the RP-3s as makeshift he rockets to overpressure open topped AAs and to grief ships from a range as they don’t need to pen ships to do significant damage. The AP’s however, have no explosive filler and have a tendency to get volumetriced or ricocheted even by armour the protection analysis says they should pen, and then they do arguably less damage than solid shot when they do pen.
And as for ships - their intended targets - (though primarily for use against U-boats which are unfortunately not in the game, surface vessels were also on the menu); against armoured ships they either non pen and do nothing or pass through the ship doing next to no damage.
As a result, I thought I would ask the wider community for their insights on the weapon, to see if I could find a niche that they are effective and enjoyable to use in.
Oh, and one last thing: if anyone knows if there is any difference between how the Mk1 and Mk2 AP rockets are modelled in game (apart from aesthetic of course) I would be curious to know as in life the Mk2s had better ballistics and hydrodynamics than the Mk1s. As such the Mk1s were supposedly used at dive angles of greater than 15 degrees, and the Mk2s at dive angles of less than 15 degrees.
Thank you for any ides you are able to provide.
there is zero use for them over the RP-3 its a fools errand to even try
Then why were they even included in the game when the HE and HEAT warheads for the British 3in rocket where not included?
And why couldn’t Gaijin buff their damage to a realistic level: the fact that they almost guaranteed fires because of the residual propellant combusting on impact, and them doing more spall damage (particularly to ships as they pass from compartment to compartment) in order to make them useful?
i dont even know why they exist or are even in game, at least in the current state they are in. The ROS-82 rocket on early soviet props are better than this thing, despite having less explosive filler and pen than your average 76mm HE shell. At least they can kill open tops and coastal boats, unlike these things… but how would you even balance them?
RP3 spread was heavily nerfed and never buffed back. Dunno what’s the historic spread but for game balance it’s too much
Because they are a historical loadout options. I’m of the opinion that just because a weapon is niche, shouldn’t mean it isn’t included, there might be a rare reason for you to need them or want to use them (I have no idea for those rockets, but at top tier the 540lb bombs for example are really good for certain targets even though there are 1000lb bombs available for most situations
I can imagine the smaller bombs are better for danger close drops.
They were anti submarine rockets irl, meant to be able to go through water and penetrate crash diving subs, and they didn’t need HE filler since one hole in a submarine’s pressure vessel was enough to sink it or force it to stay surfaced where it would be vulnerable. So they have no use in the game at all, especially with their horrendous accuracy.
It’s ok in a barrage on most planes, because even if they are spaced too far out on the wings you can still use them as an improvised HE rocket against open tops. The AP rockets however are only a little better in terms of accuracy and don’t have the flexibility of HE filler.
By modelling their intended purpose of scoring wet hits on ships, which they can’t do in game because they despawn on contact with the water as if they are HE rockets that detonate on impact.
Is there even a difference in in game performance between the Mk1s and 2s?
Potentially. The main reason I took the 540s was because the naval convoys in SB didn’t need a 1000lb to be sunk and so hauling that extra weight was just unnecessary
Fair enough. But can you think of any uses for APs?
Maybe in NRB against PT boats, frigates and maybe destroyers
But not a weapon type I use all that often.
Is there any reason to use the APs for this role over the RPs? I know from my practice that the RP-3s are devastating against larger vessels.
Do you think it might be easier to sink heavily armoured but mobile Corvettes/Frigates/motor boats with the higher velocity, more accurate APs when the RP-3s can’t overpressure the reinforced hulls of later motorboats? I suppose the APs are technically longer range so maybe provide standoff against Friggates and Corvettes which are small enough to be susceptible to meaningful damage from them but have enough air defence that getting close enough to hit them accurately with RP-3s is risky especially while they are manoeuvring and harder to hit with lower velocity weapons due to the constantly changing lead vector?
I genuinely don’t know. Only that the AP rockets might be better for hitting internal modules. But I really don’t know. On the rare occasions I take a CAS into NRB, I usually use 1000lb bombs or the really big rockets on the wyvern
Of the rockets a available in real life only the 60lb RP-3 is viable in War Thunder. The 60lb HE-F has a smaller explosive content and is designed to kill by fragmentation, which in game makes it less useful.
The 25lb AP rockets can kill if they hit, but you’d have to be a much better shot with them than I am.
Oh yes, the red angels are awesome for low level side on attack runs on Destroyers. I take a 500lb SAP bomb centreline with them as I find the combination is effective at liquidating the internals of Destroyers.
I’ve never seen the HE version of the 3in rocket in game? Is it hidden on a particular aircraft or something?