idk I just scored a player kill with all six in my first match with the F-14A
4th generation fighter aircraft from USN & USMC armed AIM-7P
- F-14D
- F/A-18A+
- F/A-18C
- F/A-18E Super Hornet (Block I)
For USAF 4th generation fighter aircraft
- F-15C
- F-16C Block 25
- F-16C Block 30
F-15E and F/A-18A/B Hornet mounted AIM-7MH ?
The suggestion for such missile outright states that the B and D can employ the 7P, after all, F-14Bs were serving alongside Ds until the F-14 exited service in 2006.
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Think it got overridden, but basically just got lucky with enemy positioning so could TWS guide all the way into target for each
Also has anyone else experienced an issue where after you fire your missiles off, if you turn away while still in TWS mode all of your missiles in flight will turn the same way you turned away?
I had the same issue before the patch dropped
I think I did too but I never really noticed it since only the F-14 had it and I wasn’t really playing.
I bet it has something to do with the gimbal edge memory the radar’s have, it thinks the target is moving faster than it should because the radar is trying to aquire the target at the edge of the gimbal but the target is no longer there and it transmits the data wrong
Yeah its a known issue with TWS ingame. If you turn passed your gimbal limit the radar will create a false TWS lock along its edge for a bit afterwards, and the midcourse nav will pull all thr missiles that way. The more you turn away, the worse it gets for your missiles, sending them all to a “target” that never existed and is far away from what you actually fired on. Always turn TWS off before your target leaves the gimbal limit if you were cranking/going cold
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It’s a shame this wasn’t fixed with all the ARH/radar changes they made
Has it been bug reported?
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Not that i know of. I dont make bug reports anymore, though a few ppl recently seem to have also “discovered” the issue so maybe one of them did.
It only effected the F-14 until now, and most of the community hates the F-14, so nobody really bothers bug reporting it unless its to get it nerfed.
Maybe now that theres more fox 3’s ingame someone will do something about it, but i doubt that as well since most of the fox 3’s are better used at ranges where their seekers lock off the rail anyways.
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It’s actually kind of nice now that the newest top-tier jets with AMRAAMs are around 13.0 which specifically lets the F-14A have some breathing room and some fun to play again with the AIM-54As, especially with the multipath changes.
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Have you determined what are the best parameters in game to achieve max Pk ? I mean with the current shitty code
- Launch from a good altitude relative to target (probs ballpark 6000-8000m considering in-game flight trends)
- Launch from above M1.0, try to be as fast as possible
- Launch from 35-45km if possible, peak velocity is usually achieved from around 30km launch but you’d want the motor burned out before it gets there to make it harder to see, 45km is roughly when the missile starts to really go downhill cuz of the garbage loft code gaijin gave it
- try to launch against targets that either look like theyre going to fly in a straight line for a long time, or pick mostly targets at a similar altitude
- Try to have TWS passing over all targets you’ve launched against for as long as possible
- As weird as this sounds, might not be a good idea to target people at a similar alt as you. With the removal of MP, the good players are mostly flying high again, the bad players are still mowing the lawn, or are flying “too high”. You have a higher chance to kill them.
- DO NOT exceed your gimbal limit while guiding with TWS, it has a high chance of trashing the missile by creating a temporary false contact way off target and sending the missile into some random field!!!
35-45km appears to be the “sweetspot” for the AIM-54 as currently implemented in-game:
Imo, anything under an impact velocity of M2.0 in-game might as well be considered a dead missile vs a semi competent target due to the amount of warning they get and how poorly the missile maneuvers. An adjustment to the guidance code/loft profile could vastly improve that higher pK% zone without significant impact to TTI and no other changes to the missile.
Heres a few more charts to get a rough idea of IV and TTI for the AIM-54C at different alts:
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You have put a great deal of work into this, im honestly surprised that the devs have ignored this… In any case, thank you vm, I 'll apply what you suggest and see how it goes.
In all honesty, when people were calling the 54 useless and all that a couple of patches ago, I had no issues with scoring 2-3 kills per match with 4 phoenixes. Then something changed and I dropped to 1kill per game on average and havent improved that since. The TWS jumping all over the place and chacing ghost signals doesnt help either…
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No problem, its pretty unfortunate the devs have chosen to implement the AIM-54C the way they have, not much we can do about it though unfortunately.
Regarding the “useless” comment; the AIM-54 was objectively useless in the context of “meta”. Skilled players almost never die to them. I myself, as well as many player I play with can literally count our deaths to one on one hand. That does not mean its impossible to get kills with though, as the AIM-54 is a great tool for killing ppl who dont know what theyre doing. Effectiveness of a missile such as the AIM-54 tends to drop as people learn and adapt to its existence. In the past, this was with the proliferation of multipath as a common evasion tactic in-game.
Its also important to say that, like you’ve noticed, there are still ways to improve the pK% of an AIM-54, and therefore there are objectively players that are “better” at using them, general due to having a better understanding of the missiles in-game characteristics and doing a better job at target selection.
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I’m going to add to what Mythic said since the tactics are basically the same.
Start with 25 minutes of fuel, climb at a speed of ~0.9M until reaching approximately 30,000ft, then start increasing speed.
Concurred, follow this advice.
Fire at no more than 35km, this is the sweet spot to give it maximum terminal velocity.
On the contrary, firing at targets closer to the ground nearly guarantees they won’t turn. People at your altitude will more than likely turn around and evade the missile. Relative experience of course, but for me firing at lower flying targets has a higher rate of success.
Most important detail! I used to have to soft lock everyone for 5 seconds each before finally breaking off. You want the missile to have the best trajectory before it aquires the target.
I answered this by accident, whoops.
Hoenstly, after 10-15 seconds of supporting the missiles, just kill the radar. That TWS bug is awful.
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Sorry, have to specify, i meant “similar altitude” relative to eachother, not relative to you. The AWG-9’s TWS elevation is very very narrow, so if the targets arent at relatively similar altitudes, you wont be able to TWS guide against all of them.
Good point I missed, the longer you support missiles, the better their odds to kill, if the targets are flying at different altitudes, 5-10 seconds of support minimum should be given.
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All good, I completely agree with that statement.
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