the f-5c has airframe performance, not flight performance, as for it’s engines have very little thrust and solely relies on it’s very streamlined airframe to hold energy and stay fast in vertical maneuvering. The rest of 10.3’s are pretty much missile buses or mig21 bis with rear aspect r60s’ so the competence is fierce between the lancers and the tigers. The F5C is great, but it’s not as bullshit as other stuff. You’re putting the f-5c to the level of bullshittery of the ju188 that can turn fight with spitfires or run away from corsairs and win, but the f-5c is just a nimble aircraft, it very often has to play like a prop because it doesn’t have enough energy generation to cope with the rest of stuff.
It doesn’t. The F-5C/E both have workable missiles in that they force people to turn
lmao? what’s this copium? the f-5e has two short range 20g missiles at a BR where everyone is rolling 30g all aspect missiles already, besides the fact that a single flare is going to deter an aim9j or an aim9e whose only function is to catch average andies like you off guard in a head on for the memes.
The F-5C airframe is not worth 10.7 at all, looking at stuff like the j35xs, kfir canard, f104g (germany, the best of them all) thing is barely hitting 1300 at sea level. And as you say, the 10.0-11.0 bracket is decided by flight performance. Let’s compare the f-5c to the MiG21 SMT, Kfir canard and J7E, shall we?
F-5c: Two aim9e’s, 1230kmh sea level, 550x 20mm that are quite random when it comes to damage, very good ergonomy, very good energy retention, 30x flares 30x chaff, poor acceleration.
MiG21 SMT: Four R60, 1400kmh sea level, 250x GSh23L sulfuric acid gun; very slow but good range, one shell connecting is enough to send a tu-4 back to the hangar. Unironically good high speed energy retention, 64x countermeasures and a future radar jammer, out accelerates the f-4e. Mixture of delta wing and conventional wing flight model.
Kfir Canard: Two AIM9G, 35x flares, 1460kmh at sea level, great high speed energy retention, fantastic maneuverability, out accelerates the mig21 bis.
J35XS: 6x flares, six aim9j’s, faster than an f-104, average low speed acceleration, great high speed acceleration, ridiculous high speed energy retention, good mid to low speed handling
The reason why the f5c is at 10.3 and has nonrealistic flares is because if it had it’s flares taken away it would sit at 9.7 where it would just club the living shit of everything. It’s the damage model that is still not going to grant you 1 hit kills the premium part. I don’t want the f-5c to club, i want the very rest of 10.3s to not be handled by the mig23 ml, because the f-5c is pretty much the only non russian counterpart that can handle it.