I think it really depends what you consider the “meta” to be. I’m not sure how it’s looking in RB, I can imagine the 39C is getting pretty overwhelmed by the other missile carriers, and the 39A gets no Fox 3’s. They’re both excellent in survivability though, especially the 39A at 13.0 and is at least in Simulator considered pretty meta for that full downtier. But I don’t consider any Gripen to be very good in BVR, its climb/acceleration and flight performance is really anaemic at altitudes. It can sort of just sit just below mach and survive well until the other person gets close enough but will struggle to joust with the AIM120’s turn performance compared to many other fighters, and just having 4 of them
RB id say they are okay, the SAAF gripen is the best version given the missiles fit its RB playstyle but unfortunately given it has British players it means they bitch about it being the worst regardless.
For me ill take a Su any day of the week as the meta pushes more towards amount of missiles as if you run out of 120’s for defense against something like a Rafale you’re basically dead. Given now the EFT and rafale now get even more missiles amd better flight performance the Gripen E is getting worse flight performance over the C its basically going to be pushed into F15 roles for air
My issue with Gripen is that you are forced to take two Sidewinders alongside four missiles of your choice. Even with my F-16C or MiG-29SMT I still prefer running full universal ARH loadout over 4 ARH + 2 specialised short range IR that I’m not sure I will have a chance to effectively use.
Also I dont think comparing the Gripen (light fighter) with heavy fighters such as Typhoon is a fair thing to do. Its only natural for it to be at disadvantage by design and class alone. I think we should focus on fair comparisons to similar type of vehicles like F-2A, F-16C, maybe F/A-18C, etc.
Gripen e gets new engines that push the twr to ~1.04. It should fly about the same as the current c with its twr of .97.
If you’re gonna take ir on the mig29smt you may as well take the 2 r27ets.
At this point, I hope Gripen E is delayed until the first update of next year. I was hoping it would appear this morning in the Dev update, but instead it was the SU30 SM2. Do not need Gripen E to be super rushed. Makes me sad though…
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Regardless the Gripen really still falls short for the RB meta in missile and now the radar getting changed to 60°. Ill take my F16’s over the Gripen as they have similar excellent energy while also having better guns and more Fox 3’s
With the worse wing load and weight it should suffer a bit on energy and turn as some others in another thread mentioned. It will be a worse fighter but a better BVR bus over the C
Yeah but I find 6 R-77 to be more effective of a loadout most of the time. But I do carry ETs from time to time for fun!
Nothing new for sweden air besides you should expect japan and Italy to get their Gripen E’s somwtime next year also
Actual question why fly the SMT over the Su-27 sure R77, but worse BR and flight performance with meh missiles over the 27/33
I agree with this sort of, it’s an entirely different class built for a different purpose, of course it’s going to fall short when you start comparing its combat endurance, and other various mission specs to the much larger dual engine fighters. It’s low maintenance meant for dispersed operations with a greater focus on EW and networking between several fighters. I’m sure there’s nations that value this and aren’t enticed by $60k flight hours from things like the Eurofighter
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I was not trying to say that Gripen is super good or anything because I actually agree with you that its lacking compared to similar fighters. I simply find this specific comparison with Typhoon to not be the greatest way of highlighting Gripen issues.
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Class unfortunately doesn’t really matter as it will be put in the same place as the EFT and such especially BR wise. Irl Niches dont translate well most if the time to warthunder which again is why i dont compare it to the F2, because the F2 isn’t going to be 14.3 or 14.7 im comparing the Gripen to its competitors in the sam BR.
I just think its a cool vehicle
Yeah, I was not responding to you or making a point against you, just took an IRL stance. I agree
Valid
I get that, again i just feel for game purposes it would be better to focus on BR comps than IRL class niches. Until we have a game mode that focuses on class, it doesn’t matter to me particularly Until then as the Gripen E will likely be the only light fighter stuck fighting Heavy fighters. I doubt we will see a aircraft in a similar position to the Gripen E at least for a while
hmm now that i’m thinking about it, if the devs weren’t lying the past couple weeks maybe the delayed Jas-39E to the dev server even after being confirmed & the files for being “Not ready to show” It’s possible they’re are still developing/polishing its EW suite.
But the main question to that is if it needs it or not, possibly super hornet too being a similar fighter aircraft with EW/ECM at the top of the ladder
So wen JAS 39E ? it is should be added today tbh