So I have been thinking about Helicopters and how under utilized they are in War Thunder’s air and ground modes. Currently the way you unlock them is by reaching a specific rank in either Air or Ground, however Heli’s are only usable in exactly 1 mode group, Ground. This is a bit of an issue for me as why have one of the restrictions to unlocking Helicopters being aircraft if you cant use them in any of War Thunders aircraft modes? While yes they would be downright useless in both Air Arcade and Air Realistic, they would be perfectly functional in Air Simulator mode where for several nations can fill in holes where strike aircraft do not exist or do not offer up effective systems to use against ground targets.
Now i have heard many concerns regarding stuff like the TY-90 missile used on several Chinese Helicopters and how they would pose a massive threat to planes, however i would counter argue that they would not have as large of an impact as the reason why they are so strong in Ground Realistic for Anti Air duties is because like with everything else in GRB you are pretty heavily handheld with very controllable helicopters and 3rd person view, both which make it incredibly easy to find an enemy aircraft and set up a missile launch. In Simulator modes however it is extremely difficult to do this as your visibility is extremely hampered due to cockpit view and its far harder to control a Helicopter which makes it harder to line up a missile launch, since it will be difficult to even detect an enemy let alone tracking them quick enough to fire a shot off. Another issue is that MANPADS dont have a whole lotta range so if anyone is going supersonic you require the most precise window in order to actually hit them, which as explained earlier is far harder to do. Now one arguement one can make is that most top tier Heli’s also have a thermal targetting pod which would give the Heli player the ability to detect and set up a shot against an enemy aircraft. While yes this can easily be done it wont be effective unless its being used in extremely specific locations with constant vigilance, primarily being around a base and thermal pods do not always properly render enemy aircraft, and it is still locked to one viewing axis.
Another concern is these MANPAD flinging Heli’s being able to dunk on stuff like F-4 Phantoms and Mig-21’s, however there is flaw in this and the flaw is believing that the ground Sim battle ratings would be the exact same as the air sim battle ratings for Heli’s which they would not be, and would more than likely place these Heli’s at BR’s where jets are much more capable at fighting them
Now one pretty valid concern for Heli’s in Air Sim is travel time. Heli’s are overall very slow, with even the fastest only going as fast as some lowered powered piston aircraft. My proposal would be to have Helipads sitting further out away from aircraft runways perhaps 2 tiles away depending on the maps size in order to give Heli’s the ability to actually play
No. Helicopters are still not suitable for Sim at this point.
1.) their radar signatures are entirely missing their rotors returns, making essentially every helicopter a stealth helicopter. The reality is they should be screaming targets on PD radars.
2.) their flight models are wholly unsuitable for Sim gameplay. 1 button and you get fantasy flight mode which has no regard for physics or material strength. It’s the equivalent of aircraft that infinite G-load for their wing rip.
3.) the imbalance in ordnance will be further exacerbated, the same way it was in Heli PvP, given that only a “‘certain’” nation gets dual role Proximity Fused ordnance, despite the fact it should be available for every tech tree in-game. Couple this with the devs fabrication of facts for western MANPADs vs the capability of the TY-90
3.5) all helicopters have not yet received their advanced damage model. Until that is completed there is no reason to add them to another mode.
If you were to play Helicopters in GSB you would know how untrue this statement is.
I have infact used Heli’s in ground Sim mode. They are only a massive threat if no team has a competent SPAA player up. Heli’s in Ground Sim even with SAS flight stability are not a flick towards airplane and get a free kill because their movements are relatively sluggish and without SAS dampening the Heli is very easy to make spin uncontrollably
A good compromise anytime this topic is brought up is to have helicopters spawn at the bombing points that spawn, turning them into FARPs and giving them more importance.
It also means you trade reduced travel times for relative safety, which is a fair price given you can take off with 16+ ATGMs and kill multiple ground battles in a single sortie. If you want AAA to defend yourself then you spawn on the airfield, same as anyone else.
In the times iv used any plane in Ground Sim, iv had no deaths via a Heli sitting right at the edge of runway AA or outside the range of my teams. But i have had more issue with Fox 3 flingers killing me while still taking off. Also in ground sim aircraft typically fly at much lower altitude to primarily make it harder for them to be attacked by SPAA and other aircraft which puts them at the perfect altitude to actually be attacked by a Helicopter. In Air Sim however aircraft fly at a lot more different altitudes which makes them vastly harder to target, unless its someone base bombing with CCIP instead of CCRP with their brain turned off.
I have also test flown numerous Heli’s under Simulator settings and yes i can say that under SAS dampening Heli’s become alot more sluggish because SAS by design makes controls more rigid in order to induce more stability to the craft. With SAS Dampening off and having a successful takeoff Heli’s become quite alot more uncontrollable, and making too hard of a bank or turn on spot will result in a flat spin thats incredibly difficult to pull out of unless you turn on SAS dampening