I think gaijin should add a different variant that can carry all aspects. Personally I vote for the F-7PG which could carry Aim-9Ls or Ms.
With just PL-5Cs, it would most likely be 11.7, possibly 12.0.
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if F-104S.ASA is 12.0… guess where J-7E with all aspects goes
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j7g with pl8bs?
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Considering F-16A sits at 12.3 with one of the best airframe at high tier, a J-7G even with IRCCM pl-8b shouldn’t go above 12.3.
That’s an 11.3 plane at 12.0, because I would consider it a side grade of the J-8B.
Most likely 12.0. with IRCCM it would be 12.3/12.7 depending on what it gets.
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My guess is 12.3 with PL5EII, cause unlike Bizon which also gets R27 and R73s are a lot more user friendly especially with HMS. It is more manoeuvrable but that doesn’t matter as much if u got HMS and R73.
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I’ve put some time into the J-7E recently and found that 11.3 itself is in a difficult spot; in a downtier it absolutely mauls the competition - and seeing only F-4E for the most part in terms of SARH find the DF Sparrows rather easy to notch or kinetically avoid.
It has some amazing thrust and energy retention, and the PL-5B consistently manages to kill anyone who flares late, or at least proxy detonate causing critical/severe. The thing basically eats mig-21 & F-5’s for breakfast.
Problems arise drastically in the uptier; with 11.7-12.3 lobbies being prevalent especially right now around the sales. The biggest issue is that I find the J-7 operates best when sneak attacking from a high rear aspect, but positioning in an uptier is far more perilous as R-24R can clap you out of the sky easily in the opening phases, with the AIM-7F being another threat albeit to a lesser degree.
I’ve tried a couple of different playstyles in uptiers and these include staying low, only to find you are spending the entire opener/furball phase multi-pathing and struggling to assassinate people with the pl-5 as you are often spotted a lot more from a close range low six aspect, and have to spend too much time defending from someone on your six yourself to catch people out. It also struggles to be effective in head-ons as of course, no all-aspect or radar missile and only one cannon.
The second and more passive yet I’d argue successful playstyle, is to take a wide flank early just under contrail height, either left or right depending on how spicy you’re feeling, and then pushing into the furball cautiously whilst hoping a mig-23 doesn’t decide to bvr or look up and single you out with an R-24R.
If it went any lower in br it would be a flying war crime, so I feel decompressing the br brackets more is probably the solution, as it often is. I could see it performing well with PL-8s at 12.0 or something.
Well the thing is, 12.0 with all aspect isn’t that good. I think J7G could do better at that BR as a future option.
The thing is I would have thought of F4SIIs as bigger threat not only that there are more of them but also HMS kinda encourages them to look up. Also likely more prone to launching since having 4 AIM7F.
I would normally try to go around a bit and then kind of like side climb into the middle to catch people.
You’re right, all SARH at 11.7+ are a threat really, as you have no offensive response to them. I find 11.3 jarring to play overall, as it encourages a very different playstyle depending on your placement. I considered all aspect at 11.7, but that leaves the issue of 10.7 aircraft in downtiers suffering, exarcebating the issue elsewhere.
Overall, I think the J-7E is a strong aircraft at 11.3 despite the limited armament compared to it’s competition in an uptier, as frankly anything it faces at 10.3-10.7 is at a disadvantage against the J-7E.
I agree, it would be nice to see other variants such as the J-7G to flesh out the tree a bit more :)
I would like to pan out a way for J7s and J10s separate from the Su27 line.
CAn take 6 if they are smart.
Be good to see the chinese tree with more chinese planes in it, the J7 Variants being some of them : D