Italian F-104s are severely over-BR'd

F-104S TAF - Is anyone currently playing with this plane? I don’t see it very often in matches, and I’m tempted to grab it in the May sale for half price—if only it had AIM-7E-2 DFs instead of the standard AIM-7Es. the standard “E” doesn’t start tracking the target until 1.8 seconds after launch, which, combined with an ACM with a range of only 4 km, is a bad combination; the E-2 version, “dogfight sparrow” starts tracking just 0.7 seconds after launch. An ACM with a short range of 4 km would make more sense when flying head-on against an opponent.

In general, looking at this aircraft’s specs, I see it as more of a BR 10.7 than a 11.3, ok, maybe 11.0 if it had the AIM-7E-2.

F-4E Phantom II is at BR 11.3 and seems superior in almost every aspect (it only has weaker engines).

AJS37 at 11.0 too.

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Is there anywhere we, as players, can suggest to Gaijin that they reconsider the battle ranking for the F-104S? This aircraft is really struggling at BR 11.3; even at BR 11.0, it won’t be anything special, but at least it’ll have a better chance in ARB battles.

No, Gaijin doesn’t care; besides, this forum definitely isn’t helping – otherwise, given the constant reports from Italian players, they would have lowered the BR years ago

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isnt that the thing with the napalm bombs that invalidates any bomber at its br?

I recently discovered the JA37C, which is currently rated at BR 11.3, and I have to say it’s great! It’s hard to understand how the F-104S/TAF is still at the same BR—after all, even a new player would notice that the F-104S/TAF doesn’t fit into BR 11.3 and is actually closer to ~10. 7–11.0, especially since it has a rather unfavorable flight model…

The JA37C, F-4E, J-8B, etc.—these planes CRUSH the F-104S/TAF, yet they’re on the same BR. It’s crazy.

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