I dont think it would be their “main” weapon even if they did integrate SPEAR 3 (and thats still a hypothetical based on a bad artist rendition).
I said this before, and I’ll say it again, Brimstone, SPEAR 3, and AASM are just outright completely different weapon classes. They have different intended roles, and different advantages.
Brimstone is tailor made for striking fast mobile targets and large armored convoys.
SPEAR 3 has similar capabilities (due to seaker/warhead) but is intended to fly much MUCH further. Its more likely to be targeting multiple soft HVT’s in heavily contested airspaces.
AASM allows the conversion of old “dumb” munitions to “smart” ones. It has significantly more bang to it, allowing for much better anti-building role but can also be flexed to be used vs mobile threats in uncontested airspaces (insurgencies) and to strike mostly static targets such as GBAD sites (though id honestly be rather surprised if an AASM ever actually managed to be used vs a real theater level GBAD site)
Brimstone/SPEAR 3 would just add an additional capability to Rafale in more contested battlespaces where it cant afford to baby the munition all the way to the target but still needs to strike potentially mobile threats.
TLDR: Brimstone/SPEAR 3/AASM/SCALP dont replace each other, they just offer different capabilities.
That’s not how it works though. The AASM IR actually works a bit similar in principle to SCALP/Storm Shadow in where it uses GPS/INS to travel majority of the distance and then using an IR seeker to then lock onto the target afterwards which means LOAL capability, the IR sensor is then turned on 1.5km above the projected target coordinates yes.
This should mean that in principle it would be a buff as you could fire to the general location of enemy spawn points without ever having to risk putting yourself in danger. Currently you’re required to get within 10km of a Pantsir for example in order to neutralize him. A change in LOAL capability would mean being able to fire outside of that distance safely.
I’m not gonna argue whether that means it is better than Brimstone or whatever since it also is supposed to have LOAL capability afaik.
Those capabilities are already implemented in the game.
Thats exactly how the penguin missle works in the game.
It interacts works cause it will go for debris etc as well. It can be smoked much earlier as well.
And generaly will be much less useful against general a lot of targets on the map.
Its most use will be against spaas or realy freshly new spawns
There was a decent bit of discussion about how it could “properly” be implemented when the info came to light tbh.
Technically speaking, AASM IR should just be removed from the game if it was modelled accurately, or it could stay but be relegated for large target strikes, such as ships, making it a hyper niche weapon. The IIR system is just meant to do final course correction and terminal POI determination based on pre-loaded information. It should not be able to lock onto tank sized threats according to the currently available information.
That being said, its unlikely gaijin will take that approach (if they make any changes at all), and will instead make it LOAL at 15km. The question then becomes how large will the search area be when the AASM enters the basket. A large search area to match its IRL wide FOV to hit buildings could make it really easy to hit something by just launching it at a spawn, but you increase the risk of locking on to the wrong target as well, which could make them sorta useless. A smaller FOV would make it much better at striking the intended target, but only if they remained stationary.
I’m personally of the camp AASM IR should be relegated to basically just being a slightly more specialized AASM GPS with the capability to hit moving ships, which is super niche (though not unheard of), but allows the munition to stay in the game. Allowing it to strike tanks unrealistically is just a ticket to a balancing nightmare imo.
If bugs exist when this change is implemented then those can always be reported and worked on, I don’t have the penguin missile so I’ll just have to wait and see how they implement this. IR AGMs are also supposed to go to the center of the smoke deployed so that can be reported as well.
Dont think thats a general thing in the game yet.
Currently it just goes to IOG/GPS right now.
You propably will have as much success withbthat report as us trying to get gajin to implement multispectral smokes with chaff to counter mmws
There are sources showing it can target tanks, more specifically the Rafale can download images to the AASM of specific targets that it wants the AASM IR to look for. Typically though firing AASM from 50-80km away IRL would mean that by the time the IR variant gets there, a moving target is far from the given GPS coordinates. And these GPS coordinates cannot be updated mid-flight while laser AASM can update position of targets.
Static tanks for sure. From the available material the scene would just be matched with the target point where the tank is. But it’s not tracking the tank persay, it’s seems it uses the edges of the scene to inform the guidance. That way you can still hit your target point even if the scene is slightly different.
But it doesn’t really track things in the traditional sense.
IIR Hammer is clearly a very accurate weapon system. As has now been documentated in video over recent years. Just doesn’t work at all in game like it should. And largely would only come into it’s own if GPS/GNSS accuracy gets modeled.
That is a thing Agm 65F is not in the game. And the agm 65g is apparantly baseg on the D. So those just might lack that.
And for the likes of KH38 the IOG seems to always work
This is for Taurus, and I think Taurus is different in that it actually operates an imaging head the whole flight for guidance using known terrain features being matched to what the KEPD can “see” and where its GPS/INS system say it should be, but this is a video of the actual terminal stage of the Taurus KEPD from the seeker POV, so it can maybe give a better idea of what these seekers are “seeing”.
I knew id seen this video before, I just had a really freaking hard time remembering where. Taurus also has a 2 way datalink tho, and can be retasked or strike moving targets afaik, though the only moving target that would warrant a KEPD would also be a ship.
SCALP definitely isnt meant for moving targets except maybe ships, likely similarly to the AASM
Matches the seen area to the pre programmed area, and once it confirms it is the correct place, it corrects itself ono the designated target in said area.
As far as I know Storm Shadow / SCALP has no moving target capability. To my knowledge It has never been advertised as having an anti-ship capability, and in Ukraine the only ships it has hit have been ones that are in dry dock or otherwise moored / stationary.
