If you waste time accelerating you will run head-on into missiles. Better tactics are to use the advanced RWR and other sensors to sneak attack people from lower altitudes below contrail height. The F-18 is a menace and can absolutely dominate middle altitudes.
F404
- F404-GE-402 8020 kgf=17822 lbs
16039 lbs Thrust taking into account losses in the air intake
is gaijin going to add the f18a without aim120’s after the big update where all the other airplanes at 13.0 have aim120s? even if it gets put at 12.3 or 12.7 there is still other aircraft at that BR with ARH missiles, and it would be very very disappointing if it was put at 12.0 and the us navy air tree didn’t get any higher BR aircraft
Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about this.
1 Like
AIM-7P with datalink and lofting wouldn’t be too bad, and if fitted with a large amount of air to ground ordnance would fit the real world role of a sorta strike fighter with defensive capabilities. The F-18C with the 402’s and other enhancements will definitely be a 13.0 addition more than likely.
This requires the F/A-18A Plus, a F/A-18A with an avionics equivalent to the F/A-18C. Earlier F/A-18A cannot use most of guided weaponry on its own, except two AGM-62.
This hasn’t stopped gaijin, somehow I doubt it will matter anyway
It should have access to similar guided A2G ordnance as the A-7E (-65B, -D & -E , AGM-62A &-B & -84E via the AWW-9 Advanced Secure Datalink Pod, also used by the ERDL. And early AGM-88), and be incapable of self-designation since only the later Nitehawk (AN/AAS-38, aka. ATFLIR) variants received laser designator capabilities. And even then, USMC F/A-18A+ & -Cs weren’t allowed to use it as such due to poor FoV in comparison to the LITENING pod (ADA498288) carried by the land based -18Ds.
The “-A+” added the AGM-65F & Non SLAM AGM-84 carriage.
2 Likes
The F-18 is not a pure air to air fighter, if you want that we have the F-15 already
In fact, some F/A-18A/Bs were capable of using Harpoon before the plus upgrade. This is probably related to a change in mission computer software.
2 Likes
I don’t want the f15, I want the f18, there’s a difference
8 Likes
I think the F-18A will get the AIM-7.
thats what i was asking earlier, seems kind of stupid to add an aircraft with aim-7’s after you release a big update where every country gets fox 3’s
1 Like
It depends on what BR Gaijin wants the aircraft to be at. A Legacy Hornet with only 9Ls and 7F/Ms is like 12.0 material, tops
That would be disappointing considering the F14B is already 12.0
Uhhhhh
No?
The F-18A still has quite powerful turn rate and better AoA / handling than anything else in the game below 12.3/12.7 … It also has AIM-7’s with lofting and datalink. Equipping it with such ordnance would mean placing it at 12.3 minimum and even then, it will remain competitive.
Considering its going to be seeing Fox-3s and IRCCM, on top of the reduction to multipath heights without access to its own active radar missile and so doesn’t have a way to reliably force its way into the merge, where it could use its edge in flight performance to get the nose on if flown well.
limited countermeasures (and lacking their implemented alternates e.g. Air-Launched Decoy, Towed array, DECM, Podded, etc.), no HMD, lackluster guided ordnance options and a substandard top end acceleration profile when compared to other airframes. Limit its offensive / defensive options, the AV-8B+ / F-4F ICE share many systems so my be useful to get an idea of how they perform in the post BVR / AMRAAM environment of top tier.
Though to some degree its going to be better off since it’s not being introduced this patch so the meta likely will have settled and tactics to counter BVR or revisions to multipathing height(s) will likely to have occurred.
Realistically the only thing an F/A-18A has over the F-14A is access to the IR missile (& Air to ground ordnance, still waiting on the AGM-53), I which I do think it would complement well at around 11.7~12.0, with the F/A-18A+ or -C and an introductory config -18E being one or two steps up in BR from their predecessor respectively.
1 Like
F-18 has more useful flight performance, significantly improved sparrows, and better time on station than the F-14A for full afterburner and imo is akin to the F-15A or slightly better than it for air RB meta.
Similar to the difference between MiG-17 and Mig-19. One takes the fight in the turn, the other in rate/energy.
No, the issue is a bit different. The F-18 can also carry 10x AIM-9M if it wants rather than just 4+4, or 6 Sparrows and 2 Sidewinders.
This means the F-18 is at least on par or better equipped than most 12.3’s and also has better SARH than any of them besides the aircraft equipped with R-27ER… but has significantly more of said SARH.
The effectiveness of a data linked and lofted sparrow is being understated.
Additionally, the F-18 is an absolute menace WVR and is more than a fight even for F-15’s.