USAF F-16Cs are also receiving Thales Scorpion. I’m sure if we get a F-16C PoBIT it will have Scorpion HMD.
That won’t even be needed it WILL perform poorly purely because rafale exists
i like this plane too much to intentionally do bad in it
We keep that tiny hope in the face of disappointment time and again
Thats true, the new Golden Eagle will hardly outperform the Strike Eagle in most combat scenarios.
So its fair to say the plane will come to live as it is now, with BOL and nothing else. Not 14.3 material whatsoever.
Which makes me wonder how the logic even works (if theres any, lol)
13.7 15C + great engines = 14.0 15E, ok, understandable.
13.7 15C + good radar = 14.3??? And its not like you are running out of CM’s even pre-BOLs, either.
I will not advocate for 9X, but 10-12 missile hardpoints would be rather reasonable, given the current 14.3 landscape and very much possible arrival of rank 9 stuff in the nearest future.
AND even with that, it still is rafale food. Without that? Lol, imagine.
While EFT and Rafale have sphere coverage RWRs, our golden eagle is likely to be stuck with the AN/ALR-56C, which not only doesn’t possess sphere coverage, but also lacks band coverage, only from E thru J.
(The same goes for F-16s with AN/ALR-56M)
I mean, even F/A-18 or SU-30SM’s got a better RWR with wider band coverage on high and low bands which helps a lot when defending SPAAs operating on specific bands (e.g. Pantsir, Roland, otomatic).
Without sphere coverage, the Golden Eagle loses part of situation awareness when notching missiles compared to jets with sphere covering RWRs.
Especially when it’s fighting Rafale and EFT most of the time.
That’s a HUGE DISADVANTAGE
Unless EPAWSS is installed on the Golden Eagle there is nothing to justify for its 14.3 BR.
Since Gaijin has clarified their attitude on MRML racks.
Also it’s so ridiculous that a 14.3 jet with AESA can’t do detailed NCTR at all.
Wdym?
you lose C,D and K,L,M band
C/D is provided by a blade antenna, a single one at that, which is insufficient for determining the direction of radiation. ALR-56M have two-blade antenna, and if we believe one report - it should provide direction.
And… We have C/D band radars in game?
I DIDNT state that ALR-56C should get C/D, it just lacks it
Roland’s Search radar
it gets even funnier when you consider F15JM
which has much better missiles, but is the same br as f15c MSIP
And I will gladly play that with great pleasure, rather than even think about GE, even if it somehow were 14.0.
atleast with 12 missiles itd be a slight upgrade to su30sm considering the superior airframe and radar but much worse missiles, but if it comes to the game as is its going to be pathetic.
Our first DOA 14.3
I think one of Seek’s newest video put it best, everything will be DOA with the rafale in the game or if the meta doesn’t ever grow, i.e. new modes that force more BVR the WVR.
like we will most definitely watch as the major update for this year will probably just be completely DOA for top tier air at least, until the introduction of the next overpower vehicle which will probably be all the stealth fighters sadly, there will simply be no change.
golden eagle will probably be DOA, but the modernized 4.5 Gen’s like su35, aesa euro, 15ex, gripen e, j16 etc will all be able to compete or even beat it. its just that rafale was added super early without a proper counterpart.
I can def see the su35 being competitive PESA or AESA, high hobs performing missiles and good nose authority/top speeds, but we have to take into account the meta forced upon us by gaijin. simply things like the F15EX and Gripen E will be on par with the current rafale, radar, RWR, and situational awareness, but they simply either don’t have the acceleration/number of missiles or maneuverability.
Not to mention missiles they have, simply unless gaijin finally alters game modes, increases the map size, or cuts the player count in lobbies nothing will change especially if they introduce later weaponry to the current rafale or next one like the MICA-NG I think its called.
AESA euro will definitely be a great counter part, it would probably destroy the rafale the problem though is again the current missile despite the AMRAAM being one of the best missiles in the world their simply not designed for War Thunder and a few of them are just heavily botched.
To be fair if they introduce these newer 4.5 with there ECM or their radar jammers especially for the f15EX and Gripen E IIRC then they would be fine.
I wouldn’t say the rafale itself was to early its more that the rafale and MICA together is what makes it OP, like currently thanks to the MICA the mirage 2000-5F is weirdly competitive against even the Eurofighter and F-15E, they really didn’t need to add the rafale considering the META.
“Cutting down player count and larger maps” you already have in Sim and Rafale demolishes there even harder than it is in ARB.
MICA NG likely would be moot upgrade, as likely it will be “just” range extension, something already of limited value given how easy notching is with room to do so. MICA IR on other hand, probably coming this winter alongside other “next gen IR” missiles is contender for the best IR missile due to extra range, compared to 9X or IRIS-T, unless it gets hit with drastic air drag values so it does NOT have any range advantage compared to weakest/shortest ranged missiles.