I kinda suspect both to be fair, but the dev claims were hinting more at IIR stuff, since they mentioned MAWs for everyone was nedeed.
I mean, they opened this can of worms a few times lately, so if even some little stats for the NG are available, I could see them being added.
But that’s a dev decision ofc and the rule doesn’t seem to apply well often lol.
Yes, considering the semi ahistorical additions recently (not in service equipment), the MICA NG which has been test fired on the rafale is definitely up for grabs. Especially since we’d likely see it Q2-Q3 of 2026, so around the time of Eurosatory 2026 which will definitely bring some more information
Just a small clarification though, it was the MICA NG IR that was test-fired, not yet the MICA NG EM (afaik publicly).
Successful first MICA NG shot from Rafale | MBDA
Not really familiar with the numbers for the NG, but I think it could be a possible step before Meteors are added, and other super long range missiles of such.
For example I could see an NG being added with R-77M’s, PL-15’s and Aim-120D’s, these already bring a significant performance boost over what we have now, guess only time will tell.
It makes sense for the MICA NG EM to be added alongside the 120D and etc.
It also makes sense for MICA IR to be added alongside the AIM-9X, ASRAAM, IRIS-T…
When should the MICA NG IR be added?
It should honestly be added when 5th gen are added to make rafale as much on par with those, mica ir with everyone getting their ir missiles and ng ir when 5th gen are added but that won’t be the case 100%.
Hard to say really, because I can’t think of another IR equivalent with an extended range like the NG IR would have.
Maybe they plan to add some early block IIR variants first, and progress with newer and more recent variants for everyone later, then I guess the NG IR would rightfully need to be added too.
Yeah that is the problem, even the upgrade for iris-t will not feature much at least for the game, it’s only datalink and it’s not getting more range.
It’s the same problem as the mica em with everyone being annoyed at how it works and comparing it to their ir variants instead of radar ones because of the weird doctrine of France that lead to it.
That might be sooner than expected then haha, since the 5th gens may not be that far actually.
I meant that mica ng ir won’t be added with the arrival of the 5th gen aircraft, preventing of having rafale as much on par with them, 5th gen will dominate and 4th gen aircraft will suffer for a while i would guess.
imaging seekerhead r-27et (though no datalink…)
Atleast if Rafale gets Meteor first, then there’s good chances of it getting buffed and fixed first. We wouldn’t want the german air curse on it would we? /s
Ah, I mixed up the words there.
Fair
Isn’t that a Ukranian modification?
yeah, but depending on how far gaijin wants to go with “technical compatibility” it’s definitely fair game
Ah the MTE move haha
Wdym no datalink ? The MICA IR does have datalink. Or did you mean that the R27ET doesn’t have datalink ?
Also, the MICA IR would have a significantly better NEZ compared to the R27ET, while having worse time to target, thanks to the controllable dual pulse.
He means R27 there
It’s basically an IIR 27ET but without datalink. (similar range to something like an NG IR)
