Honestly when they are lenient about GCS-1 and give us a lock on before launch it could be very good. The F-2 can carry TERs with three 500lb GCS-1 on the three inner hardpoints of each wing, which in theory means a total of 18 IR guided bombs. Maybe 19 if there’s another centrally mounted, but since I’ve never seen that I’ll assume it can’t until proven wrong.
That’s not only an amazing loadout as is, but also allows it to take 2 ARH missiles while still carrying 12 of them, or a full air to air armament with 6 of them.
Though if the GCS-1 are realistic self-searching they will be very situational, or they might just not come considering we already have eight other aircraft that should have them in game.
ASMs could also be very good, especially if they allow fuel tank stations with ASMs. That would allow for 4/2 loadouts with ASM/ARH or a total of 6 ASMs in a loadout.
This one’s also very dependent on what Gaijin adds and how they do it, but in the sadly unlikely best case scenario F-2 could actually hold its own in CAS.
Then with unique FCS modes alongside or somehow integrated with maneuver mode, the theoretical 6+4 AAM loadout, possibly planned HMD and J/APG-2 radar it could even be decent in air to air. Not meta defining by any means, but decent.
But it’s just unfortunate that for F-2 to be considered good we need to put this much trust in the same people that got us here with their F-2 delays in the first place…
My optimistic side is hoping this is the reason it hasnt come yet because with a full theoretical loadout it could actually be quiet good in terms of its kit and radar and decently good cas for both close and long range. And an extended air to air loadout but…well doubt it.
Y’alls talk about the inner pylons make me believe the reason why F-2 wasn’t planned for March was due to research hurdles.
With F-15JM covering the capability for the time being, they can take longer if and when research problems arise.
Makes sense from a development point of view.
Sucks from a we want the F-2 now point of view.
Ngl i would’ve been less mad if we got it 6 months ago with a half assed loadout then i will be with basically any loadout we end up getting when it comes next patch or god forbid even later. They always could’ve just added it in and added stuff to the inner pylon later if enough sources turned up, they’ve done similar for other planes.
The strangest bit is that there’s multiple variants they could add and yet it seems they’re banking it all being on the latest F-2 model. At least, we hope it’s the latest because anything else would just be a joke.
They had their biggest chance to add the XF-2A for Air Superiority instead of the F-15J as it’d have the same loadouts but something unique for Japan. Then they could have added the F-15J(M) (as F-15J) in the ARH update as usual. Why they fumbled the ball is hard to say, especially since it seems they rushed the EFT and Rafale.
At least, given that the F-2 and F-18E have been leaked by Gszabi, they are most likely setup for next update along with maybe J-10B, so we don’t have to wait too much longer. Then again there’s still 3 other updates left, excluding the December one as that most certainly looks like Gen 5 update at the rate we’re going.
(AI Translation) Recent attitudes from Gaijin toward Japan are quite concerning… The armor fragmentation issue of the Type 90B was fixed, the Jingyun fighter was removed, and the armor of the Type 5 Ho-Ri Tank was adjusted (making it more vulnerable to large-caliber HE shells)… Does this continuous nerfing of the Japanese tech tree mean it’s being neglected? I’m skeptical about the F-2’s capabilities. Or is Gaijin deliberately suppressing expectations now to hype up the F-2 later?
It somewhat makes sense assuming only late F-2, but then considering the much more simple to add early F-2 with only SARH missiles it’s weird again, since that could’ve been here much sooner. Chances are because F-2 variants weren’t renamed for licensing issues Gaijin just sees “F-2A” as one plane and just completely ignored early models.
My main issue with that isn’t even the delay itself, but the implication of it. F-2 is the flagship domestic aircraft for Japan. Everything after it is either foreign, unfinished prototypes or still in development. So the F-2 is the most important aircraft Japan has to attract players to Japan that don’t already play the nation, to potentially make them stick around and make Japan as a whole more popular.
F-2 can work at a lower BR than top tier, but that’ll severely limit it in the role of flagship player-magnet.
I mean the F-2 early and late were separately passed to devs iirc? this shouldn’t be an issue, gaijin just chose not to add it when they very well could’ve.
Yes, but in that case “early” F-2 is a year late. More likely they just planned to add one, and only ever noticed the differences when they started researching at a time already too late for the early one.
If I were Gaijin I’d focus on the easier to research F-2s that offer the most functionality for the game.
That and at this stage the F-2A would be perfect.
@Shplendyt
The BR system means nothing is late.
AAM-4B, AIM-120C7, Meteor, etc isn’t needed.
F-2 will be plenty strong as my favorite Japanese fighter jet with AAM-4s and AAM-3s; AAM-5s later if Gaijin changes how flares work.
If they mean to add the F-2 with the most advanced weapons it has access to, then sure, we will have to wait. But if they add it with AAM-3s and AAM-4s, all their talk about the plane being ‘‘too advanced’’ would just not be true. Not anymore.
I don’t think that’s the right call considering just how different and important they are.
Early models use the initial J/APG-1 AESA radar and SARH AIM-7 missiles, but lack J/ARG-1 datalink for ARH missiles. It was this aircraft that was the first AESA fighter in service, not the late model.
Late models have J/APG-2, J/ARG-1, AAM-4 series missiles, advanced targeting pods with LJDAMs and other weapons integrated later to the F-2 platform like the ASM-2B and ASM-3/A
One is the first AESA fighter, the other is the best F-2, both have a notable BR gap between them, both should be added.
Not late to perform, but late to be the flagship aircraft for Japan. F-2 is the biggest player magnet still guaranteed for Japan, it needs to perform in order to get as many new players interested as possible so that some of them will stick around. F-35 after it can’t do that since it’s shared with many other nations.
The way AESA is modelled doesn’t make AAM-4B OP, but maybe a bit redundant. ARH seekers are generally weak as is, so no doubt it would be nerfed anyways. Apart from that, nothing on the missile changed from AAM-4 besides guidance logic, the stated range increase is not a physical change.
Japan’s Meteor equivalent would be the AAM-4 TDR, and since that was only ever a prototype it depends on Gaijin if we ever get it.
Yes, it was made two years ago. But even by the time equivalents were added, we saw no F-2. So either they lied about being “too advanced” holding it back, since if that was the case it’d have been here once equivalents showed up, or they plan to introduce features that are still too advanced.
The first time an equivalent that wasn’t mechanical scan was added when Rafale F3 got its radar.
And you may dislike this next fact, but fact it remains: It is easier to research French vehicles with export customers than Japanese vehicles.
We only need speak of how long it took them to research Type 10 still with a number of errors; Not having the rubber pads on tracks, upside down UFP internal array, etc.
The standard AAM-4 is more than necessary unless Gaijin thinks AIM-120C7 is a good idea.
“Too advanced.” meant both not having the internal systems needed as well as not having the weapons in-game, now that both are in, development clearly started last year.
However, this also means that any research hurdles cause issues, and it’s clear this topic came up with a few research hurdles they’ll have to make a decision on if nothing comes up.
As for the comment about flagship additions; if they’re planning F-2 to be the star of an update, it makes sense not to add it with things more known than it.
Ask yourself what is more known than the F-2 at this stage. F-18 was added last major, and all the other aircraft added.
So that really just leaves J-15/16 [someone will get mad I put those flanker types with a slash] as potentially being more well known to be added at the same time, well and Mig-25, but we know how trash that is.
Edit:
I want the F-2, and the more I think about it the more the many explanations arise that indicate potential plans.
This is a reminder that explanations are not justifications or defenses of anything.
The Rafale is not an equivalent just because it has an AESA radar. It has significantly better flight performance, more versatile weapon loadouts for both air to air and air to ground and the radar itself is far better than the initial J/APG-1.
The initial F-2 is equivalent in performance to early F-15s in the game, with better dogfight performance for less speed. Everything else is either the same like the air to air loadout or not better enough to warrant a higher BR like the radar most likely wouldn’t. But even then just in case I’m underestimating J/APG-1, it would slot perfectly between the F-15s, giving even less reason for it not to be here.
In general, yes, Gaijin put themselves into a bad situation. But F-2 is the most important plane of the JASDF for them to add, it’s the first AESA fighter and the number one aircraft that comes to mind for modern day Japan, the Viper Zero. It needs to live up to an expectation, and to do that it needs to match the capabilities of other top tiers when added.
Comparing to to the likes of Eurofighters isn’t easy, and who knows what else is added before the F-2. People are grasping at straws because the F-2 needs a whole lot of those to be what it needs to be.
This one I agree with, though considering the position F-2 is in, this makes it weirder to skip the initial aircraft.
There’s a lot of 4.5 gen ARH slingers for everyone, Rafales, J-10s, Eurofighters and more, but the early F-2 is one of the last planes to add pre-ARH. It could’ve had it’s time then, while the late variant doesn’t need to have any expectation attached and gives space in the spotlight for others.
If a teaser focuses on a late F-2A and J-10B I will buy whatever F-2 premium I just know Gaijin would sell alongside such an update.
That is not what I was addressing, as you should’ve known with reading my post; I was addressing the specific systems needed: AMRAAMs and AESA functionality, it’s also possible and/or probable Gaijin was also waiting for the AOA switch as well.
There’s a lot of functions added that center around the F-2’s introduction being potentially as smooth as possible.
Again, explanations are not justifications nor defense of actions.
The F-2 didn’t start out with any ARH missiles. While early F-2s could and later did carry AAM-4, they lacked any datalink. AMRAAM functionality was not needed.
For AESA, it is the first and weakest AESA radar, the best to test the waters with. Rafale didn’t need an AESA aircraft to precede it, why does F-2?
For AoA switch I doubt it is for F-2. F-2 will get it since it has an override, but it’s not a unique feature to it. The Flankers and F/A-18s are much more known for their override.
But at least when we look at it with more optimism it could give Gaijin some input to model other FCS features like ME/MLC or even DY mode that would be very interesting.