A couple of years ago, I sadly bought the premium Harrier (Gr1) from rank VI of the British tech tree, and oh god, was that a mistake, and still to this day, it’s unplayable. Other Harriers around that Br have countermeasures, such as the Harrier GR3 with countermeasures and even better missiles in the AIM-9Gs. For another example, the recently added AV-8S Matador, which is essentially a Harrier, has AIM-9Ps and also 240 countermeasures consisting of flares and chaff and is still placed at the reoccurring 9.7 Br. To sum up what I have stated, there is a clear disadvantage for players flying the Harrier GR1, as they are placed at a Br where many have countermeasures and much better missiles, making the GR1 unplayable, and also as a premium vehicle, if people research about it before buying it, they will definitely avoid it. To balance it, I would suggest lowering the br of the Harrier GR1 to around 9.3, as it would be in a similar boat to other planes in that br bracket.
After the SRAAM buffs, it now has a much better missile loadout than any plane below 10.0 or even 10.3, so I think a BR reduction to 9.3 would not be fair.
The Yak-38 is 9.3 and worse in every way except top speed too.
I would have agreed prior to the SRAAM overhaul, but now, its pretty good and would be too strong, even at 9.3.
What is needed is a decompression of that entire BR range, that way Harrier GR1 is relatively further away from the all-aspect slingers at 10.3/10.7.
As a stop gap. you can use rocket pods as flares, fire off a few rockets when someone shoots a missile at you. Will usually defeat most missiles.
Though it is kinda BS that the Harrier GR1 doesn’t get the AV-8S/AV-8A flare pod with “technical compatability” standard that gaijin uses elsewhere.
Edit:
Harrier’s are also really really not in a healthy state at the moment:
Spoiler
| Harrier 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attribute | In-game Figure | Expected IRL Figure | Associated Bug Report | Additional comment |
| ITR (with 60% nozzle) (Deg/sec) | 15.3 | 19 | Community Bug Reporting System | |
| STR (Deg/sec) | 11 | 14.6 | Community Bug Reporting System | |
| TWR (At Mach 0.8)* | 0.61 | 0.9 | Community Bug Reporting System | |
| Combat Climb (Ft/min) | 16,000 | 24,000 | Community Bug Reporting System | |
| Max AOA at low speed (Deg) | 40 | 50+ | Community Bug Reporting System | Report only Partially fixed. Some sources indicate 70-90 degree AOA is possible |
| Coefficient of lift (at 200kts) | 0.95 | 1.5 | Community Bug Reporting System | |
| Top Speed at 84% Throttle @ 30k ft (Mach) | 0.94 | 0.98 | Community Bug Reporting System | |
| Pegasus Overheat (°C) | 730 | 794 | Community Bug Reporting System | Source is currently under dispute. So Report may not be possible at this time. |
| Fuel Flow at 84% throttle (Lb/min) | 110 | 210 | Community Bug Reporting System | |
| Breaking stop decelration by100 knots (Seconds) | 22.8 | 3.3 | Community Bug Reporting System | VIFF currently provides no breaking force at all |
| VIFF RCS (Knots) | 120 | 400+ | Community Bug Reporting System | |
| G at Buffet (@ M0.7) | 5.55 | 6.75 | Community Bug Reporting System | |
| Wing Loading (kg/m²) | 582.96 | 388.64 | same as above | F-104 is around 600 |
| * Estimated from Harrier 2 sources | ||||
| Misc Issues | ||||
| Harrier (All) Reduced IR Signature | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| Sooty Exhaust | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| (FRS1/FA2) Missing CCRP Symbology | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| (FRS1) Missing radar gunsight | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| (FA2) Missing twin Stores Carrier | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| (FRS1) Wrong HUD | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| (FA2) BOL & Twin Sidewinders | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| Incorrect fuel dump Minimum | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| Landing gear travel time | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| AN/ALE-40 Single fire | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| Extreme Flap Drag | Community Bug Reporting System | |||
| Incorect Flap Deployment | Community Bug Reporting System |
If it was accurate i think its BR would be fine.
However its missing a couple hundred kg of wing lift, Thrust vector isnt working properly at all, youre far too hot and energy retention is a marketing lie.
Btw bring rocket pods as makeshift countermeasures, it works really well
Yeah that too… Harriers are a mess interms of FM as well.
What loadouts would you recommend for grinding then?
For A2A, give 4x SRAAM + 4x rocket pods a try (you can slap a bomb on the belly too if you wanted)
For mixed, you can try 4x SRAAM + 2x Napalm + 2x Rocket pods. Does make your FM a little unbalanced, but usually works fine
For A2G, 4x SRAAM + 3x Napam and focus on base bombing.
Id also suggest Air Sim maybe, quite good fun in that as a base bomber, but quite a bit of learning curve
three napalms blow a base but youre sacrificing rocket pod flares
for hunting planes take one or two rocket pods (i take two for wing balance) alongside the SRAAM
I also have a rocket pods with 1000lb bomb (with SRAAM ofc) loadout so my GRB CAP loadout can also smack a tank on occasion
You shall fear the asymmetry
Yeah, thank you for the loadouts they look great!
not the worst hes done.
no, he flickshotted my wyvern in a battleship when we were playing naval once… git
this is so dumb on so many levels its incredible
malayan su30 can apparently get kh38mt (a missile that may as well not exist), but the harriers are different somehow??? the f-100 suffers the same - the french one is just shafted with 9b instead of 9e
there is no logic to any of this at all
Yup…
F-4J(UK) not getting Napalm is the one that really really annoys me.