That’s what they did with a Phantom FGR.2, gave us a heavily gimped version and added stuff to it (flares, chaff, better IR missiles, better pulse radar, new pulse doppler radar, Skyflash) over the next couple of years. And the end result was people complaining about how Britain hasn’t had a new top tier aircraft for three years.
Can you not see how exactly the same situation you are complaining about would play out again if they gave us a super-gimped Typhoon earlier than the typhoon should be added?
I’ve honestly given up with the top tier stuff, tried my luck with the EAP, tried it with DA.2 (Eurogimp Typhoon). What they give us is what they give us. If we get a harrier or tonka i’ll skip it, if we get a Gripen of CF-18 i’ll probably grind it.
What I do want is our vehicles fixed properly. Red-tops, chally’s rebalancing the APDS carriers at mid tier etc. As well as older stuff that simply got skipped (warriors, gnat, type 545) and new ships to make us firmly the top of naval (where we should be).
Yeah, top tier wouldn’t suck half as much if the stuff we had below it was good. I’d be fine in the Sea Vixen or Lightning for a while. If red tops were usable. Or they could give us some interesting stuff like the Jaguar Gr3A or TSR2 but nope. Nothing. Even just finishing the Tornado Gr1 with its bells and whistles would be awesome.
As much as I’d love something usable at top tier. And I’d personally be happy with FA2. We don’t even necessarily need a new jet if they just finished what we had.
Some of it I understand, some of it I look and think… what is the thought process there. No Jag Gr3A: sure it had asraam it would have 2 guaranteed kills. But no Gnat or Type 545 or Hawk, I look over and go, ‘do the soviets really need another squished objekt tank when the UK doesn’t have a viable rank 6 fighter’. No TSR, sure they don;t want to encourage supersonic bombers.
Historically its understandable that we are where we are for the new generation of top tier, we do not export vehicles like France, US and USSR, we do not get everything domestic with modification like Israel or Sweden. And we have stuck with challenger much past its relevancy and the Tornado ADV was meant to be a short term fix but ended up spanning 3 decades.
But the gaps that can be filled are killing me. Tracked Rapier, Warrior ADATS simply so its a British tree, any warrior IFV variant not in-game, Gnat/Hawk/Superswift for rank 6.
When it comes to the Prototypes, I’d say its best to treat them all as essentially the same aircraft.
When it comes to production models, then I think its worth thinking about, but for the most part, what one can carry, they all could. Brimstones for example would in theory be only RAF Typhoons, but I think they should still go to the Italian and German ones.
Prehaps, but with no BL775s, that would leave German and British Typhoons with nothing at all and I’d prefer to have at least something in A2G. Even if that was just a handful of unguided weapons.
yeah the italian one will be the only with cluster bombs. at the same time the british one (alarm) will be the only with an harm capability. We will se how the devs will make theyr choice on those obscure weapons on the EFA.
In Storm Shadows case. There are other options, Like German and I think Italian ones could run Taurus cruise missiles instead. But they’d perform the same role
