With the upcoming update, many dedicated users have painstakingly researched and meticulously documented the capabilities for the F-2A… however, while plenty of well documented bug reports are being submitted, a majority of them are met with “not enough info” or “not a bug”, and I feel like a poll is in order to gauge what the community wants, and I hope the devs would put some of these suggestions into consideration, even if it does not meet the criteria for a strict “bug report”.
Here are the instances of researched suggestions that were thrown aside or stalled:
As we all know, the F-2A has several features lacking that might put it in the DoA (dead on arrival) category within the current top tier meta, wherein many of us (including myself) feel that in its current state, the aircraft SHOULD’VE been added a few major updates ago. Aircraft like the Rafale, Eurofighter, F/A-18C, Su-30SM, F-15E, and more have the F-2A outclassed in some regards to capability.
These are strictly gameplay suggestions with some historical or implied credence that Gaijin can DECIDE to implement for gameplay balancing, as Gaijin in the past have implemented vague or ahistorical features to round out aircraft for whatever criteria they decide at the moment. Examples include the Yak-141 getting IRST, the F-5C getting flares, Mig-29 getting R-27ER, and more. Adding some of these suggestions shouldn’t be gamebreakingーrather, it would put the F-2A in a good spot within the current meta and would allow Japan to remain competitive until the F-35 comes along.
Let’s see what the community wants from the F-2A, and see what everyone thinks!
(have this blurry picture of the F-2 that I took 9 years ago)
What do YOU want to see on the F-2A on release?
HMD/HMCS
Additional AAM loadouts (example: up to x6 ARH)
Additional AAM pylons (x10 AAM)
ASM-2 air to ground capability
AAM-4B
Other (comment below!)
Current F-2A (no HMD, pure ASM (no A2G), and x8 AAM loadout: x4 IR x4 ARH) is fine, no changes needed
While we do definitely need decompression at top tier, this isn’t a reason to give the F-2A anything ahistorical or unnecessary. If needed, the F-2A can go to 13.3, but for now we should wait and see how it does at 13.7.
The current F-2A definitely should not get HMD in my opinion. While we do know of a prototype HMD, we do not know that it is functional. We know the F-2 has provisions for JHMCS, but the designers explicitly rejected JHMCS in favor of developing their own HMD. Having a prototype HMD and provisions for JHMCS does not mean the HMD was fully functional.
The AAM-4B is also definitely not needed right now. I’m all for the AAM-4 being ungimped, but the AAM-4B is just unnecessary right now.
Well, it’d be kinda unfortunate that something as iconic as the F-2A basically came DoA in the grand scheme of things; even if it came out at 13.7 more often than not it’ll be fighting all those listed aircraft anyways. (also forgot to mention but Japan is definitely not getting anything after this until the F-35, unless Gaijin decides that the Thai Gripen E is appropriate despite not being shipped yet)
Personally I think it should’ve came around the time the Su-34 came out in its current state. I don’t think asking for an HMD is a stretch or gamebreaking either, as even that would put it on somewhat even grounds at 14.0.
I’m not too keen on the AAM-4B being added right now (definitely could be added later), and the current AAM-4 should definitely be buffed to historical precedence.
While I agree it should have come earlier, that does not mean we need to shoehorn it into a meta-defining vehicle by giving it unnecessary and ahistorical buffs.
Asking for HMD currently is a stretch due to the fact that no existing F-2 has a HMD.
Here is a counterpoint with the JAS39A. While it did not have HMD while in service, it was used to test various HMDs that eventually got implemented on the JAS39C. The HMDs used on the Gripen-A were tested, actually worked, and were realized on the later variants of the Gripen.
The F-2, on the other hand, has not done this. While a prototype does exist, it has not been realized either on a later F-2 variant or on current F-2s. May it come in the future? Possibly. But that does not mean it should have HMD in game right now. If the F-2 does get HMD in real life later on, then sure we could see it added in WT either as a later variant (with AAM-4Bs and AAM-5s) or on the current variant.
I think the biggest thing the F-2 needs, aside from ASM-2 ground attack capability, is AAM-4B so that it has a competitive edge against the newer AIM-120Cs. Not sure if that justifies a 14.0 BR, but I do think F-2 is more of a sidegrade and focused on WVR while the F-15J(M) is the BVR platform
This is true, but looking at Gaijin’s track record for doing so, it’s all up in the air at the whims of the devs. Knowing that, I think it’ll be fine and would give Japan a bit of longevity for their end of the tree line.
I think this is the point at which one can argue that Japan did consider upgrading the F-2A (iirc) with said features, they instead opted to purchase the F-35 instead. But from what’s being posted, it definitely seems like they had a working HMD/HMCS, just not issued much like the Gripen A. (I actually didn’t know the Gripen A never shipped with HMD, that’s a neat tidbit)
Now if they added a ADTW F-2A (Late?) where we know that aircraft was tested with HMD, that might fulfill your criteria for maintaining historic consistency.
That being said though, Japan isn’t getting anything for awhile after this, and if the F-2A ships to the live update as-is, they’ll be stuck in 13.7 purgatory as more advanced aircraft added will powercreep whatever they have now. Thinking about not just meta but also longevity-wise, I personally think that the F-2A should probably get a bit more bells and whistles to keep it relevant.
I might be misrembering but wasn’t the standard AAM-4 comparable to the AIM-120C-5 in capability? The AAM-4 ingame as we know was artificially nerfed to keep it in line with the AIM-120A and B last I heard.
On one hand, they could add the AAM-4B without HMD which would be kinda interesting - like give it no HMD but a cracked out ARH missile.
Yes, though it’s hard to know if Gaijin will prefer just adding a new missile for BR reasons or edit the current one. In theory the only aircraft this affects is the F-15J(M) and F-2A, both aircraft that could afford to be raised in BR without issue.
The biggest difference I’d imagine that the AAM-4B would offer is better chaff resistance and notch angles, but also in the world of War Thunder, maybe even better kinematic performance
The 4b model should be unnotchable because of AESA seeker due to instantaneous radar updates and no airplane is capable of flying perfectly 90 degrees vs AESA
You can notch the J/APG-2 current just fine (and same could presumably said for Rafale’s AESA radar). In other words, AESA is not unnotchable. All that would be different is the sensitivity to chaff and better angle gating
unfortunately i dont think gaijin will do anything about the F-2 , they should have added it with the F15C/F16C , now its just a sidegrade to the F15J. 4 fox3s are not even enough in air sim , its even worse in air rb.
An ‘ungimped’ AAM-4 would just be the current AAM-4 with the same range and less maneuverability. It already matches its range specifications, while exceeding it’s maneuvering performance.
An AAM-4B would have worse time to target in exchange for slightly greater range due to lofting, and a better seeker.
