The F-111F/C were shown on the dev streams with their precision guided armaments being Paveways, GBU-15’s, and AGM-65’s (of which I am 90% sure the F-111 never carried, as these missiles do not fit its role and I cannot find any pictures of them being carried). The F-111F/C were capable of carrying longer range armaments, of which are VERY comparable to the Kh-38MT’s range, being the AGM-130 and the AGM-142 Popeye. Both options have TV and IR guided seeker variants. They both required a datalink pod to be carried, on the F-111F it was carried centerline and on the F-111C it was carried on the right wing, and both use the same datalink pod. Both of these weapons have man-in-the-loop capability, though are capable of being used without it (man-in-the-loop was stated to never be added by the devs previously with the Martel missile)
F-111F with 4x AGM-130
F-111F with 4x AGM-142
F-111C with 2x AGM-142, datalink pod visible on right wing
The F-111F can carry 4x of either the AGM-142 or AGM-130. The F-111C appears to be limited to only 2 AGM-142, due to carrying the datalink pod on the wing.
These options should be added, alongside a hefty BR increase in GRB, giving non REDFOR countries the same ability to outrange SAM systems that the Kh-38MT provides.
Kh-38 is stated of having a 70km range on Wikipedia so don’t expect any numbers to be accurate.
And the 75/78km stated range is only achievable with man in the loop, due to the limitation of the seeker, which won’t be added ever.
Considering the F-111F already get to use 4x GBU-15(V)2/Bs (IIR guided bombs), I think the AGM-130 is not necesarily much stronger as it trades off being invulnerable to proxy fuse (as it would be classed a missile and not a bomb anymore) for being faster/not being as reliant on launch speed.
Though I suppose since the GBU-15 is already quite strong, it’s not super necessary either. Though I do really like seeing those smoke trails.
I’d be fine with that tradeoff, though bombs and missiles should both trigger proximity fuses, and it is dumb that one does but not the other. I just want something with extended range for a non REDFOR country at this point. A buff to radars making it easier to pick up incoming missiles/bombs I wouldn’t be opposed to, if that is what needs to be done to balance it (even though the Kh-38MT is fine without this hypothetical buff because ???).
Regardless of whether you find pictures is irrelevant. We have the manuals showing carriage and reports on pylon modifications for L/M sidewinders that indicate successful fit checks with Mavericks
IMO I would not prefer that, as at least for GRB, the F-16C already fills the CAS role fine. Flying the 111F out, it has a some better performance than the A version, but the speed bleed is still really severe.
Not to mention, the RWR is just inadequate, I don’t know off the top of my head if the vark ever got an RWR upgrade, but not knowing Pantsirs are out there severely limits your ability to adapt to them. Though i can see a BR increase in GRB anyways as is, as the A2G loadout is quite insane for its BR. Though yes it already faces pantsirs, at 12.7 it would face them pretty much guaranteed in large numbers.
The F-111 is a strategic strike aircraft IRL, it should get the long range tactical options it had and get bumped up to top tier in GRB. The F-16C would still be better, as it has far more armament on its wings at a given time, more kill potential at the cost of not being able to outrange the Pantsir. Also not the mention the F-16C has the ability to defend itself, as the F-111F/C would basically be defenseless against a fighter. F-111F/C would have less kill potential, but the ability to standoff against SAM’s would give you a choice of kill potential vs (relative) safety.
