The F/A-18C is being added next update, better late than never. Unfortunately, it’s ground attack armament is quite limited in its current state on the dev server in comparison to real life. Being limited to only four AGM-65’s or four to eight GPS/laser guided bombs, its smart weaponry is quite limiting. I propose that the F/A-18C Late receives two new weapons, being the AGM-84E SLAM, and the AGM-154C JSOW.
The AGM-84E SLAM, not to be confused with the similar AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER, is simply put, a modified Harpoon anti-ship missile with an AGM-65D seeker put on the nose instead of the usual radar seeker, intended for hitting high value targets. The F/A-18C can carry four of them on the inboard pylons. It utilizes the GPS guidance of the AGM-84 for the first stages of flight, then switches to IR guidance for the terminal phase. If no target is found with the IR seeker, it will continue flying straight towards where it was fired, using GPS. In real life, the AGM-84E could utilize man-in-the-loop guidance with datalink, however Gaijin has stated that they do not intend on ever adding this feature to currently in game weapon systems that could utilize it, so I will not consider this a balancing factor.
One concern with this weapon system being added is its ridiculous maximum range of well over 100km. This could be addressed in two ways, similar to how the brimstone was handled:
- Removing the GPS capability from the missile, so it only uses the IR seeker for guidance, requiring you to be within 20km of the target, basically making it a slower Kh-38MT
- Limiting its guidance time so shots from over 20km wouldn’t be possible
A case could be made that the AGM-84E would be somewhat balanced around the fact that it is turbojet powered, making it slow compared to other missiles, only reaching around 850km/h. This would make it quite easy to shoot down by SAM systems, however it wouldn’t have an obvious missile trail.
AGM-154C JSOW is a large GPS/IR guided glide bomb, nothing we haven’t seen in game already. The F/A-18C can carry four on single racks on the inboard pylons, with capability for potentially eight mounted on BRU-55 twin racks. I will only consider the AGM-154C fit to be added currently, as the A and B variants utilize cluster munitions/submunitions, which Gaijin hasn’t added yet. The AGM-154C uses a BROACH warhead, which has a first stage HEAT warhead and a follow up HE warhead, to ensure target destruction. The seeker choice would require a direct or near hit to kill the target, as the WDU-45 HE warhead is only around 100kg. The IR seeker is apparently derived from an AGM-65 seeker, so a 20km IR lock range would likely be chosen for it, like most other IR AGM’s.
These weapon systems would give the F/A-18C a unique step above the F-15E, allowing for extended range standoff munitions, in turn for carrying less air to ground armament, and, in my opinion, would leave a net positive to the game. Especially considering the Su-30SM is being added with six Kh-38MT’s, without the downsides that the Su-34 carries with it to combat, and with a thermal targeting pod to boot.
