In-game loadouts drag is incredibly bad implemented, probably way lower than it should be on most weapons.
Currently, most AA missile have similar drag.
A huge external fuel tank has a ridiculous low drag penalty, lower than any missile.
A bunch of mavericks have less parasitic drag than a single aim-9 somehow
I am further researching the F404 engine as it intrigued me why this engine may have been chosen to be upgraded over time into the F414 and later iterations - it seems to be one of the few engines over time that have actually realized the growth potential goals originally set for it.
Additionally, it is curious to me that the F404 engine allowed the Gripen to supercruise. It seems as early as the early 1970’s the precursor to the F404 (YJ101) was going to be utilized for America’s first experimental supercruise aircraft. They had hoped to realize supercruise speeds up to mach 1.8 with this engine. This of course did not pan out, but later the result of this type of research led to the F-22A (which CAN supercruise at mach 1.7+).
No, the early Gripen variants can not supercruise.
One of the requirements for supercruise is to have a useful paylod for the role and mission. The Gripen A/C/D could not go supersonic with any kind of payload without using afterburner. As such, it fails to be able to supercruise.
Even then, the Gripen NG and E variants can only supercruise at mach 1.1 with a basic air to air loadout or mach 1.2 in a clean configuration.
The F414 GE is just not optimised for high speed flight.
The Gripen being unable to supercruise at higher airspeeds is more a function of the intake design than anything else. They focus on low aerodynamic drag and it is optimized for airspeeds below 1.8 mach generally. The F414 is not limited to this airspeed, and in fact should be more than capable of supercruise up to 1.6+ mach, it is a limitation of the mass flow through the core that prevents this. The intakes are simply too small.
The F-18C with the GE-402 engines is capable of mach 1.8+ in clean configuration as it is less limited by the intakes. The Gripen’s RM12 configuration of the engine actually utilizes a higher flow fan for improved low speed performance compared to the GE-400/402 models which are better optimized for transonic and supersonic flight performance. Had the Gripen been a twin engine design similar to the other EuroCanards, it would have far less difficulty supporting the thrust requirement to supercruise in the efficiency envelope.
The Hornet just doesn’t have the airframe conducive to supercruise.
I’ve been saying the F-18 is a monster WVR and I think Gaijin agrees - hence the lack of F-18 content. It’s not going to be flying around high and fast like an F-15 but the raw amount of ordnance it carries puts it in a weird spot. Especially if we get the F-18C.
The F-18A might be able to come, but without HMD and with the air to ground options it will just be in a weird spot. The fact that they skipped early Rafale makes me think they’ll do the same for F-18.