I am just curious, for some of you experienced BR 13 on up pilots, I have several “uptier planes”.
The plane I seem to very well in is, believe it or not, the JF 17. I think this is because, while its underpowered, this turns into an advantage.
Everybody wants to go as fast as the plane will allow them. However, thats not always the optimum handling range for the plane. My JF 17 handles well, because it loses speed quick, and so I always find myself at its optimum handling speed,
And there you are, I can immediately get into a notch.
Also, it has very good Chinese missiles, which seem to be doing well right now in game lol (right now being the key word). The S10s, yes, they are good 95% of the time, despite the fact it doesnt have HMD, but ACM.
And so Im wondering, I have F16C, F16C, Su27sm…but I have a choice on which path to go down.
Eurofighter, Rafaele, Gripen, or J11.
I like a plane that handles well and turns on a dime.
For a boom and zoomer, I liked the Me109s rather than a P51…then Im a good Zero Pilot
Im leaning towards the French Micas, they pull like a r73.
But my main question is…the Gripen used to be a Beast, Is it still so?
Thats the one Im closest to, should I devote my effort to get that, or the French Rafaele I really want?
And so for you experienced pilots, with an eye for detail, knowing what I like, Ive never flown these planes, whats a good fit?
Is the Gripen still good, it looks like it handles well, Swedish missiles are good…
Whats Up?
Let me add this mates. I still get excited when that plane is rolling down the runway, as I did in the Beta days when I started, yeah I really like it, and I am a friend of Larry Bird, man its prob not right, but I talk straight smack in a battle. LOL…do you mates still excited?
go for the J-11
no. Not when their BR does not reflect it’s weapon suite and their key defensive suite got nerfed so hard it’s basically nonexistent now. Gripen C might be good at 13.3 where it fill the same space as Jeff 17, but rn this plane is just gimped 101.
Personally I think its still fun and should stay at 13.7 you just have to play more defensively and drop 2 or 3x the countermeasures you would for anything else
The Gripen A is really good as knife fighter. Sure, your only radar missile is the dogfight Skyflash but you have the avionics to make up for it - a good RWR and a practically unlimited amount of countermeasures enables you to actually get into the close range fight.
Six AIM-9Ms can be quite dangerous on the second-best flight model in the game.
I absolutely love the Grippen. It is definitely the greatest 1v1 short range fighter right now, and is my personal favourite to do them in. However, in BVR and Pubs it is nothing compared to the F-15Es or Su-30 missile spam. What I do in the Grippen is hug low to the ground and go far left and then cut back in towards the map and eliminate them from behind.
So for Sinai, I go across the water and turn back in where the ground troops are spawned.
Denmark I go far left and cut back in where the ground troops are.
Afghanistan I fly into the mountains, hugging the mountains until I am near their bases.
Rocky Pillars I go left until I reach their ground troops and I side shot in that little valley.
That’s basically the only way to play the Grippen in Pubs, because no one will dogfight you (sorry, 90% of people won’t dogfight you, you can settle down, “actually I always dogfight” people). They are hurling AIM 120s, MICAs, and R-77s at you 90% of the time or are flying back to base. Your best bet is to get them when they’re vulnerable and fly back to base unnoticed.
TLDR
Grippen Dos:
Hug ground
Flank
Be annoying and harass other players
Grippen don’ts:
Fly high into the stratosphere
Engage in BVR fights
Think that your 4 AIM 120 (or counterparts) will be good (hint, you have less missiles than most 12.0s, you are not beating the F-15E/I, Eurofighter, or Su-series jets)
Nope, at 13.7 having only 4 FOX-3 is underwhelming to say the least, you face people with 14 missiles and way better airframes.
Also no, top tier is really unbalanced at the moment