29SMT:
Airframe: Trash, It doesn’t let 29SMT dodge several missiles
Engines: Of course trash too.
R-77: One of the worst ARH for BVR
Comparing with F-16D Barak:
Airframe: not bad or good in 13.3
Engine: not bad or good in 13.3
ARH: Not good for BVR- But it’s launching platform is much better than 29SMT
So 29SMT needs at least 2~4 R-77-1s.
Spoiler
Su-34:
Airframe: Really trash
Engines: Good, But It doesn’t cover airframe’s disadvantage enough.
R-77: One of the worst ARH for BVR
And it’s br is 12.7 in ground RB- Su-34 suffers too much when it is fighting against Rafale and EF2K, But Gaijin must not buff Su-34’s br.
Rafale and EF2K can kill Su-34 easily- But Su-34 is having too big difficulty to kill them.
(Let’s not talking about buffing Su-34’s br in ground RB)
So Su-34 needs R-77-1s for less-suffering anti-air missions.
I know that Su-34 is mainly designed for CAS-
But unlike reality, My team doesn’t always guarantee the cover with fighter jets.
Of course, If Su-34 gets R-77-1s without limited amounts of pylons(NOT only getting 2~4 of 77-1s)- Then It’s air RB br must be 13.7.
When I use Su-34 in air RB, It’s R-77s force me depend on my team(Using them as frontline baits).
Maybe some people say that Su-34 can’t be happy in 13.7 with R-77-1s, But Rafale&EF2K, F-15E aren’t having 14.3~14.7 br right now.
And difference of 0.3~0.4 br is not having enough difference in near top tier br.
OOPS Sorry. I changed my opinion.
Because Su-34 with R-77-1s in 13.7 is will be painful.
I forgot that F-16AM is not good fighter jet in 13.7, And Su-34 is much more worse platform than F-16AM…
I ask you why playing the Su-34 in air realistic battles? And by the way, the R-77 in the Su-34 is more than enough, no need of this unrealistic upgrade, same applies to the MiG-29SMT, which doesn’t have to recieve a battle rating increase to battle rating 14.0.
IMO Mig-29SMT is fine where it is, but Su-34 should get upgraded to the M variant and get R-77-1 along with it (especially if the M/NVO variant has HMD).
Personally I just use R-27ER over R-77 anyway, itd be nice to get something more useful than R-77.