What have they specifically said it wont have from a PoBIT though? Smin just says if it’s not mention in the devblog it doesn’t currently have it. He’s just avoiding committing to features that aren’t yet live.
The CPDU? The cockpit hasn’t been shown at all. Model might simply not be finished so it can’t be said the model currently has it - but from what I’ve seen, BVVD said in the Russian stream that it will have a new cockpit.
JHMCS/Scorpion? Devblog says it has a HMD without specifying what system it’s modelled after
Other parts of PoBIT are the SLEP, which isn’t anything that will concern War Thunder, and the new IVEWS system which isn’t even on operational USAF aircraft yet.
Perhaps a major thing that’s missing is an IRST21 pod. But even for the F/A-18F they haven’t shown if/how it works in the devstream, and never even mentioned it in the original devblog - it just happened to be there in the renders, and we assume it will be there and working by the time of the update.
So the same applies to the Aus Super Bug - it’s not really written about in the devblog or talked about the streams because it doesn’t currently have IRST21. Smin wont confirm or deny it will come with IRST21
And how the new F-16 currently still hasn’t been shown to have PIDS/PIDSU which would be a helpful addition. But that’s not a PoBIT or Block thing - it’s an ad-hoc operational fit that goes back to Block 30.
PIDS should be on the plain F-16C too - there’s a ticketed suggestion for it on the regular F-16C. If PIDS is under consideration for the vanilla F-16C then it’s wouldn’t be worth mentioning in a dev blog for the Block 52/PoBIT as a specific new feature of that plane anyway.
None the less, the current lack of it is a concern.
So so far, the new F16 has a worse engine, an AESA with the worst gimble, and 6 120Ds which are so far copy paste C5s and its placed at 14.3. The only way this is viable is if Gaijin massively buffs the 120D to have insane range and have better HOBS.
How to save Block52 from DOA: Short Term:
1.AIM-120D HOBS
2.ALR-69A correctly modeled (PoBIT completion)
3.PIDSU Smart Pylon
4.F100-PW-229 Thrust Buff
Long Term:
1.ALQ-257 IVEWS
2.AIM-9X
3.GBU-53/B StormBreaker
4.LEGION Pod
5.AGM-88B/C and ASQ-213HTS (ARM To Be Added)
6.TMLA (Low Possibility)
7.ALE-50 Towed Decoy (Awaiting New Mechanism)
8.ALQ-131/ALQ-184 ECM
(Awaiting New Mechanism)
Optional:
1.Electro-Optic Maverick-AGM-65H/K
2.BOL For F-16
3.AGM-154 JSOW
4.AGM-158 JASSM
5.CBU-103/105 WCMD
6.Smart Weapons on Station4/6
7.HaveGlass
F-16 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite (IVEWS) | Northrop Grumman
IVEWS incorporates a next-generation digital radar warning receiver, an advanced processor designed specifically for EW applications, and high-powered transmitters with antennas optimized for the size, weight, and power requirements of the F-16.
It’s a centralised EW suite. Both ESM (threat receiver and processing) and ECM (electronic attack and deception). It might use some of the same antennas and hardware ALR-69A, but the radar warning processing and response is done by ALQ-257. Having both ALQ-69A processors and the new ALQ-257 processors on board would be redundant.
Budget justification says:
IVEWS is a Section 804 Middle Tier Acquisition program providing improved Digital Radar Warning Receiver performance
in parallel to the mainline DRWR program (ALR-69A)
So as far as I know, not ALL PoBiT F-16s will get IVEWS, and some will remain with simpler DRWRs like ALR-69A.
ALR-69A is more or less just a drop-in digital hardware swap for the old ALR-69 to replace components that are no longer in production and avoid obsolescence. But offers some extra bandwidth to cover potential new threats, more coverage and spatial resolution that allows it to replace ALR-56M’s performance on Block 40/50/52 as well as analogue ALR-69 that is on Block 30
Like, is there even a reason to play the new F-16C when the F-18E exists at the same BR with 12 AIM-120D + 2 AIM-9?
Gaijin hyped this as the savior of US air and we’re getting something worse than the F-15C GE even was lmfao. Not even annoyed anymore, just amused at how much they’re doing to willingly make US underperform.
