I am writing to express my deep frustration regarding the current state of Simulator Battles. As it stands, forcing 12.7 aircraft which lack Fox-3 capabilities to face 13.3 aircraft armed with ARH missiles is fundamentally broken.
I already raised this issue last year regarding the Su-27. Back then, it was forced by the matchmaking to face ARH missiles without any real way to counter them. To make matters worse, the Su-27 was further disadvantaged by its poor radar performance compared to its adversaries. Now, in 2026, history is repeating itself with the F-18 at 12.7, which is constantly forced to fight against Fox-3s at 13.3.
I am a laborer by profession, not a programmer, but common sense dictates that this is anything but balanced. In Sim mode, the tactical advantage of a Fox-3 is insurmountable for these airframes:
Launch-and-Leave Advantage: While 13.3 jets can fire and immediately maneuver to defensive positions, 12.7 jets are forced to maintain a continuous radar lock, making them sitting ducks.
Kinematic and Technological Inferiority: We are effectively being outranged and out-teched in a way that skill cannot compensate for.
Engagement Envelope: The situational awareness required in Sim makes the gap between SARH and ARH missiles even wider than in Realistic Battles.
For a game as established and popular as War Thunder, this level of compression is unacceptable. We need an immediate decompression of Battle Ratings or a strict separation of missile generations in Sim matchmaking. Please fix this mess once and for all.
Unfortunately they don’t care about sim battle anymore if the economy changes haven’t been a clue. If you have a nice sim setup DCS is nice if you are willing to learn it. if you want a sim-lite Nuclear Option is also a fantastic game with an extremely enjoyable gameplay loop.
Apart from MFDs, I have a full VKB flight setup, so I could easily switch to DCS or Nuclear Option. However, I’ve invested too much money in WT to just walk away, and frankly, SIM is the only mode worth playing for aircraft. ARB has become ridiculous and unplayable at high tiers.
You could also try Falcon BMS if you want to switch to other games. As for war thunder sim, they would rarely change anything and BR changes might take another year
I know it’s a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I’m not a huge fan of the F-16. Maybe it’s just because I see them every day xD, but I do know that Falcon is an excellent simulator.
Understandable, I also used to cope that sim would eventually get fixed but its only gotten worse over the years and my patience has run out. I’ll still hop in the odd sim battle but I can only take so much of the iron dome meta before I quit out. Whenever I have the sim itch Nuclear Option has been my go to, easy to learn and probably the most fun PVP I’ve experienced with a sim setup.
The issue with BR decompression is that to take it to its logical conclusion means to create multiple “walled off” battle ratings in order to keep planes from being power crept.
Look at the whole entire concerted opposition to moving the Su-27 from 13.3 to 13.0. Everyone that is opposed to that move is opposed to it because they view the planes SARH capabilities to be overpowered compared to F-15A, F-18, etc.
It’s extremely unlikely that Gaijin would wall off 12.7 to effectively play a permanent down-tier. If they did they would effectively kill the whole entire 13.0 and 13.3 brackets that their new premiums occupy.