Since it appears the Mirage G8 02 has been passed to the developpers (and since it is my favourite aircraft lol), I think it’s a nice occasion to talk about what it is, what it could have been if entered service and what it could be in game.
I made research on its flight performances and possible loadouts, for now i made a loadout recap, I would enjoy discussing on it.
Regarding the guided air-to-ground weaponry you mentioned (specifically the Exocet and AS-30L), I must admit I am quite skeptical that the aircraft would have been modified to fire them. Since the G8 02 was fundamentally an interceptor, I find it hard to imagine Dassault or the French government modifying it to carry and launch those missiles, something that wasn’t done with the Mirage III or Mirage F1, for instance, as the government preferred creating specific variants or entirely new aircraft to carry them. For the G8 01, for example, it wouldn’t strike me as odd, given that it’s a two-seater version designed primarily for low-altitude penetration to drop nuclear bombs and would be more effective in an air-to-ground role.
Regarding the other hardpoints, R530 missiles can certainly be mounted under the fuselage, but I have serious doubts about the Martels (which can, however, be mounted on the outerwings stations). As for other under-wing stations, I have to admit I have no idea if mounting weapons there is possible; the documentation mentions fuel tanks but nothing else.
Spoiler
However, this document mentions two under-wing tanks AND two tanks on the side hardpoints; does this mean the aircraft can carry four 2,000-liter tanks? And if so, in what configuration? Perhaps the outerwing stations can also carry tanks?
well, nothing mentions any of the armement presented here since it was never mounted, everything (except the Martels) is fictional. I made it primarly from a warthunder point of view
I dont find the exocet excessive since the only armement ever actually mounted on this plane was indeed the Martels, which are primarly air to sea missiles (then modified to be AR missiles) ; so i came to the conclusion that, with some time, it could carry and launch the Exocet.
I based my document on the following question : “What if the Mirage G8 entered production and the Mirage F1 had never been chosen by the government ?” It has limits, but when it comes to comparison between the Mirage G8 and the Mirage 3 / Mirage F1, those two are light planes while the G8 is heavier and more powerful. I prefer to compare it with the F-14 and the Mig-23 / Mig-27 ; both F-14 and Mig-23/27 cells were originally designed as interceptor and then modified / modernized to carry guided air to ground weaponery (Ex : guided bombs for the F-14, Kh-25 / Kh-29 for the Mig-27) ; so it doesnt appears that wrong to me.
I would certainly love to see both the 01 and the 02 coming to warthunder, but if only the 02 were added, I would like it to be good both for air to air and air to ground since it should be around 12.0 br. There is the reason i went generous on some armement (like not sticking to the “fuel tank only” on the 2nd and 4th hard points).
For the 4x2000L tank, i dont think the external harpoints could have supported such a load, maybe a smaller tank yes. You think I should add this ?
The AS 37 Martel is a missile equipped with either an anti-radiation seeker or a Man-In-The-Loop (MITL) guidance system for anti ship purpose (the game models it as TV guidance, but in real life, it is essentially MITL). These two guidance types are completely different; just because the aircraft can carry anti-radiation Martels (witch don’t really need any type of guidance by the aircraft) doesn’t mean it can carry Exocets—that is a massive leap in logic. To fire Exocets, the aircraft would need a radar with air-to-surface capabilities, which seems highly unlikely given the aircraft’s role and the era in which it was developed.
Furthermore, the assumption that two Martel or Exocet missiles can be carried under the fuselage is slightly unrealistic, given the size of these missiles.
That is a again massive oversimplification.
The F-14 variant that received guided weaponry wasn’t the base model (F-14A); it was an upgraded version that enteres service in 1987. The same applies to the MiG-27—which was, incidentally, a dedicated ground-attack variant, since modifying the MiG-23s of that era for ground-attack roles wouldn’t have been feasible at the time.
The problem (in my opinion) with your weapons list is that you’re assuming the Mirage G8 would have possessed the onboard electronics required to perform the full range of missions expected of a modern multi-role aircraft. Yet, we are talking about an aircraft from the very early 1970s. Even if it had been modified later to carry more advanced air-to-ground weaponry, that would likely have resulted in a new variant of the aircraft.
This is why i specified the years of each armement, to discuss if modernization could have lead the plane to carry it.
Technologically, you may be right, i surely will remove the exocets. But given the massive size of the plane, I still think simply carrying two of them could have been done (but i guess it depends on how the two harpoints are disposed under the fuselage, which i dont know)
I indeed assumed the Mirage G8 was going to be modernized, modified and get many variants as did the Mirage 3, the Mirage F1 and the Mirage 2000 (and the F-14 / Mig-23/27).
