Yeah, also we have documents explicitly stating the AAM-5 is fully compatible on normal F-2s, its simply not cleared for service use.
(funnily, the ADTW F-2 premium we have in game could also get the AAM-5s as it has JDAMs, which were added with the same AMC (Advanced mission computer) upgrade which provided JDAM compatability).
This one is nice! Sad that they closed text but mostly it talks about adding AAM-5 on F-2. Interesting why they haven’t included introducing AAM-5 in the first paragraph.
Maybe it is the reason why here isn’t any photo of serial F-2 with AAM-5 because as I understand this modification still wasn’t delivered (but I can be very wrong here). As for me here weren’t reasons to not add AAM-5 for F-2 when it will be needed but now here is even less of them
The capability is part of IRAN, so it should be rolled out to a good amount of serial production F-2s, and we have seen F-2s with JDAMs, so some do definitely have the modification.
Testing for the AAM-5 was originally intended to begin with the AAM-4/JDAM in 2014, but we haven’t really seen it until more recently. Perhaps there was some delay with getting AAM-5s specifically to work?
It could not, even as Thailand bought AMRAAM they could only operate it with the F-16A/B ADF, not the OCU. The OCU needed modification for that, which it never got outside of eMLU upgrades (that make it a completely different model).
Maybe? They did equip their two seat OCUs with DASH HMD and Python missiles, but I’ve never seen any mention of either of those for the single seaters. Personally I think it only makes a potential F-16B OCU less interesting, which would otherwise be a very unique plane and finally an excuse to add another two seater.
They also gave it a radar that doesn’t exist (based on a typo in a book) and a weirdly restrictive CM loadout missing half the dispensers and being the only F-16 with the 30/15 loadout rather than more flexible 60 for some arbitrary reason. Then it’s also missing some armament, like GBU-16 or AGM-65G that are already in game and would be useful, but are still missing somehow.
This was all reported, but instead they gave it semi-historical HMD, which wouldn’t be necessary if it was at proper BR. 13.7 has other planes anyways (including the Gripen from the same subtree), it would’ve been more useful at 13.0 without AMRAAM.
Yeah, would be doable. It would need a different radar, same as OCU with already wrong radar, and a few model changes, which OCU also needs (just less since for the OCU it’s only the CMs). It’s probably about as close to being an eMLU as it is to being an OCU.
Personally I see room for both, but I guess Gaijin preferred to instead throw 4 variants of Thai F-16 into one instead.
Honestly they should just transform the OCU to the eMLU. It would make it actually up to par with other F-16s at the same BR.
For the OCU if they still want it in the game can be changed to get 60 CMs, and should retain the 9Ms but remove the 120s and be put at 13.0 or so.
As for the ADF, i dont really know how it would fit in to the game, as thailand didnt operate sparrows to my knowledge and if it got AMRAAMs it would essentially be a worse eMLU
The OCU has 120, the only Thai F-16s with less are the ADF variants.
The main differenc ein CMs between OCU and eMLU is just that tge OCU uses AN/ALE-40, while the eMLU uses AN/ALE-47. Functionally they’d be the same in game.
Yeah, the ADF is hard to enter. It’s a late ADF modified to use AMRAAM, so it wouldn’t have a CW illuminator for the Sparrows anymore.
So what we end up with it just an F-16 with the lowest CM amount (60), but armed with AIM-9P-4/M and AIM-120C-5/7. Gaijin could go for AIM-120A/B since they’d be compatible, but even that won’t save it.
Really the only thing it has going for it otherwise is KGGB, which is integrated on all Thai F-16s, not just the ADF. But it is interesting to have a CAS weapon on an ADF.
Realistically I see three Thai F-16s for the game only.
Fixed OCU at 13.0 without AMRAAM or HMD, proper CMs and the missing air to ground armament.
New eMLU with superior radar and weapons, probably 13.7, but will be higher once it gets the proper IRIS-T and AIM-120C-5/7 loadouts. Even without those it gets some nice upgrades over the current OCU like better radar, proper HMD (in-game it’s not for the radar) and a Sniper XR targeting pod.
New F-16B OCU, which compared to its single seart counterpart gets DASH HMD and Israeli missiles. I’ve seen Python 3 and 4 mentioned, but only photos of the Python 3 mounted. Thailand does have both in inventory, so unless disproven I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and say a Python 4 armed F-16 could be interesting. This one might need more research though, since it’s a bit unnecessary if all it adds is HMD and Python 3 (when all OCUs already have the 9M).
Yeah, as Ares said here are images of AAM-5 on ADTW planes but still no one for service F-2. Maybe it will be changed when newest upgrade for F-2 will come
Does anyone know why Gaijin named the premium F-2A the F-2A ADTW? I’ve been reading through this thread for a while, and the ADTW planes get all the funky stuff put in 'em, like AAM-5, testing HMDs, and that sort of thing.
So why name it F-2A ADTW and not F-2A Early, XF-2A, F-2A (Prototype), or something of that sort??