Add all-aspect AIM-9L missiles to the premium F-4S to make it competitive at its current Battle Rating.
At 12.0 BR, the F-4S is heavily outclassed by 13.0 fourth-generation jets slinging Fox-3s and flare resistant IR missiles. Keeping the F-4S locked to rear-aspect AIM-9Hs is no longer viable. Peer aircraft at the same BR, like the Tornado F.3 and F-4EJ Kai, already use Pulse-Doppler radar combined with AIM-9Ls. Giving the F-4S its 9Ls will allow it to act as a proper support fighter without breaking the bracket. The F-4S served deep into the 1980s, long after the AIM-9H was phased out. Official U.S. Navy and Marine Corps loading manuals confirm the F-4S was fully cleared for and routinely carried the AIM-9L Sidewinder.
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F-4EJ Kai isn’t 12.0BR.
Tornado F.3(12.0) is lot much sluggishier than F-4 fuselage.
Got it, so what Br is the F-4EJ Kai?
You can Google it, or turn your game on to check it.
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12.3, It also lacks the agile eagle upgrade that the F-4S has.
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Implying F-4S isnt by far the best 12.0 phantom sure is a choice.
Compression issue, F-4S isnt sole aicraft affected. Decompress and move FOX-3 slingers up
F-4S also has PD radar albeit headon only
EJ kai sits at 12.3 in ARB and Tornado, as others already said, turns like a brick
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With honorable mention : DECOMPRESSION ,
I don’t think that ANY Phantom that doesn’t have 9Li/M and AMRAAM should be over 12.0 anyway.
All 12.0s should have 9L at the very least.
If anything 9L gets one tap-flared like any other non IRCCM IR missile , all aspect or not doesn’t really matter as soon as the opponents has flares.
If 9L was by RL data , we could talk about it… it Doesn’t, so it doesn’t mean much (ok unless you are in a Harrier or F-14 that is, that 9L performs 100% according to data and as it should perform…).
it also lacks the HMD of the F4S and doesn’t get AIM-7M
Well F4S doesnt get 7M’s either , it got 7F’s.
I agree, but I think giving it AIM-9X would fix it for sure. Could finally take care of those Mirages with only 2x IRCCM IR missiles, or damn F-104S that bombs bases, and moreso F-4s with no PDs + proper SARHs at lower BRs…
Realisitcaly it makes sense to decompress BRs, but oh well
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Please get some experience in the br bracket before making such suggestions.
You bought your way from rank 3 to rank 7. Every plane is going to feel bad when you skip that much.
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The phantom with 9L is 12.3 and has double the KD of F16a’s
So you want the F4S at 12.3?
higher, F4S has a HMD unlike F4EJ Kai
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HMS does nothing for current F-4S misile kit and 9L would be marginal improvement as for most launches youd still need to get the nose close to the enemy aircraft.
F-4E also had 9Ls
HMS does a lot if you know how to utilise it correctly. you don’t need to point your nose at the enemy to launch fox-1 is already a big advantage in a platform like phantom.
the F-4J should get them too, and AE slats. premium bias should not be tolerated
EJ Kai should 100% be 12.0, it has nothing that makes it 12.3 (the radar is better than the 4J/4S, sure, but not by much, and it never got AE slats so it’s effectively useless in a dogfight)
and regardless, as much of a brick as the 12.0 Tornado is, it still outperforms the 12.0 Phantoms
Its KD shows its good where it is
I believe i have enough games in F-4S to know what I can expect from its HMS.
Except notice what I said
At long and mid range you want to lead the missile as much as possible to waste as little energy as possible = HMS is not that useful outside of selecting specific target quicker
And at close range, were talking about SARH missile (ie. target needs to be hardlocked and within your radar gimbal limit), and sparrow on top of it (it aint hitting any HOBS shots anyway), and IR missile thats rear aspect only and peaks at 18Gs of pull = HMS is entirely a gimmick