New Iranian F-14A Feels both funny and dumb idea

Game Discussion Realistic Battle
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First of all, I love Tomcats too despite that I have never flown with them in War Thunder yet though(interested more in an obscure variable-wing aircraft like the Panavia Tornado or Su-17)
Who would hate Tomcat’s beautiful fuselage if you watched Top Gun or Top Gun Maverick, or played Ace Combat 5 and became one of the honourable members of Wardog squadron? Those Beauties are Beautiful, I totally understand why many of you guys are on hype. If I got my RSAF Tornado ADV as prem… I might be on that same level of hype. so I understand you guys and also think that Adding F-14A IRIAF is an interesting addition.

(I am not going to talk about ‘Which country’ should’ve got the F-14A IRIAF because there was a clusterfuck of fights on the ‘Official news’ topic. I don’t want to have that shitshow on this topic too.)

Just thinks timing isn’t right. F-14A IRIAF should’ve shown slightly later than now. (Maybe after the next major update might fit perfectly?)
The current 11.3-12.3 meta is completely ruled by the USA thanks to their superior SARH weaponry compared to counterparts and only ability to carry ARH in that BR.

Let’s talk about AIM-54 and side-grading fakour-90 missiles first. It is usually considered as meme-missile. because. it is not maneuverable as later counterparts on top ranks, and easily can be defeated.

But still, Even though that AIM-54 is quite evadable and easy to defeat (unless your plane has Vietnam-era junk RWR or doesn’t have any. then things will escalate quickly for you.), I consider them as a ‘game changer’ since there are NO ARH MISSILE COUNTERPART for the rest of the countries in this game. (at least on BR Bracket of Tomcats.) and there also are some planes with pos RWR which makes them harder to notice AIM-54 and gives a tighter window of opportunity for defeat them(the infamous J35XS with no RWR or non-F1CT variants of F1C which has dumb Mirage Detecteur can be an example).
So, as a result, Phoenix is maybe not a payoff-pitch type of missile which will guarantee to kill, but It still has the advantage for poke the enemy with lower risk.

When Tomcat fires ARH at enemies, the enemy has no other option than to defeat the missile’s radar. Of course, if you don’t evade, then you will die. you need to notch them at all costs. While enemies are wasting chaffs for evading phoenixes and few lucky kills from newcomer base-bombers are granted. at the same time, Tomcat can take a better position than enemies thanks to the ARH capability of AIM-54. with 4th Gen Maneuverability.
Also, F-14A IRIAF can access Fakour-90, a domestic replacement for AIM-54 which is made with a Hawk missile. I heard that compared to AIM-54, it has some kind of 27ER level of thrust but has lot much heavier weight than Phoenix. I think both missiles might not kill a well-aware pilot but still can be an annoying threat.

and Moving into SARH missiles. according to the event announcement, F-14A IRIAF can access to AIM-7 variant and R-27R1 or Sedjil(Somewhat similar to Fakour but SARH).
I think AIM-7E-2/E-4 are considerable but R-27R1 is a dumb idea. Of course, Iranian Tomcat can ‘mount’ them, but they failed to integrate them into their American-made weapon system. so R-27R1 of F-14A IRIAF is some kind of ‘JDAM on F-4EJ kai’ status. can mount but can’t use. so, it is not historical.

In conclusion, I think Adding F-14A IRIAF itself is a neat move. I like it.
Who would hate the sexy plane addition?
(With a 200% joke. I’m very excited to see the JASDF F-14J in Japan, the Luftwaffe F-14G in Germany, and the Canadian CF-14 in Britain. more kitties are happier. isn’t it?)

I will grind an F-14A IRIAF of mine in the event too. XD

but thinks Just… She shows up at the wrong time…
Feels like adding insult over injury. and will be a double whammy for non-US mains.

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50/50 chance I grind half of it and pay GE for the rest I can’t be bothered with 45k man too much

Realest thing I have seen all day. I love that it doesn’t have 60 countermeasures like other planes at its BR. Gives a ton more wiggle room trying to eyeball a notch with a Phoenix.

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Yeah that BR bracket will probably be a mess for the foreseeable future. But I still really like it

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Random fun fact:
an Iranian F-14 pilot shot down 3 MiG-23s with 1 Aim-54 once, they were close together, and when the first plane was struck, the other two were hit to a beyond recoverable state.

3 with 1…

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lolno No where close.
12.3: EJ Kai, Mig-21Bison, Kurnass 2000, Mirage 2000C [OP].
12.0: Kfir C7, JA37D, Mirage F1CT, Tornado ADV, F-104S ASA, F-4s with PD radars.
11.7: Mig-23ML.
11.3: Kurnass/F-4E, Mig-21Bis, JA37C, J-8B, F-5E FCU.

USA is not the bees knees. It’s good, it’s just not alone nor the best.
I’ll take Tornado ADV over F-4J [haven’t had to use my Tornado ADV in a few months tho cause partially waiting for more stuff for Britain].
I’ll take EJ Kai easily over F-14A.
USA has no 11.7 option.
I’ll take Mig-21Bis over F-4E despite the E being easier to fly.

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F-14A is better than the 12.3s you listed pretty easily… M2K is the only one that is about as good.
USA has the best PD phantoms at 12.0 but I agree that the rest of those planes (minus F-104S.ASA you are delusional) are pretty good.

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@Italy_Suffers
As good? LOL!
F-14A is so inferior to F-16 and Mirage 2000.
FAR worse flight performance, worse engines, worse weapons in every way.
You have to be getting paid by Grumman to say that.

EJ Kai is already as good to significantly better than F-14A in every way but sustained turn rate.

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It’s good for Gaijin because it’s going to bring money. Nice for people who either play US a lot or wanted to see Iranian stuff in WT (some can be sad about nation placement though, because of personal views) or people who just want to try F-14 without grinding entire US TT. Awful for players who just want to play the game and don’t care about Tomkeks, as it contributes even more to US Civil War and Phoenixes spam.
I would probably get it for selling, as it should be quite expensive imo especially in the future, but I’ve already played a bit too much of WT with Alcione event, so not this time.
Btw maybe later we will see some kind of Iranian TT and then I’ll grind their F-14)

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Given Israel still hasn’t received their Merkava variants that the US got as event vehicles, don’t be surprised if it ends up being exclusive to the US in its current iteration.

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“Saddest” thing (in a 1st world kinda way) is that there is no way to use it as a BombCat for an Iranian ground line up, since at 11.3 GRB all you can do is squint and pretend the KVT is a Zulfiqar. Which is ironic since it is most likely just a VISMOD of the M1. The real peer/era vehicles would be the M60A1 and M113 things way back in 8.3.

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Times like this make me REALLY miss the mocking laughter and confused eyebrow emojis from the old forums.

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@GeneralArmchair
Digital RWR, actual PD radar, AIM-7Fs, and AIM-9Ls.
An F-15A kit without the 9Ms at the same BR as an F-14A which has an RWR that exists, a foward PD radar that’s a sidegrade of the F-4J’s, and 9Hs as its best IR missile.

Basic cross analysis.

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Well, I am planning to spend the whole 9K GE if I can’t manage to play WT at that event period XD

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Ah, Alvis-The-Wisla, The tomcat attorney and brawler who loves the ‘sidegrade’ term too much.
I knew you would come to this topic too and defend Tomcats. makes the topic into a fighting arena.

sounds like F-14A/B in War Thunder are forced to mount AIM-54 only but no AIM-7 is allowed to be used. eh?


OF COURSE F-16 flies better than F-14. F-16 has a higher BR and came out later than F-14. right?

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Really wish it was in a different tech three.
It’s an interesting addition but will saturate the BR with even more Phoenix bullshit now that a bunch of people will have a Tomcat without needing to grind an entire tree for it. 11.3 will be borderline unplayable for a few months.

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@Stockholm_Blend
Well, enjoy defending the Tomcats.
You also note my statement has the word “and” in it, not “or”, or any other term besides those two.
I get you think F-14A is as good as F-16, Yak-141, Mig-29, and so forth… but it really isn’t.

@Conundrummer
11.3 is the easiest BR in the game right now, 2nd to none. F-14s are the weakest of the 12.3s due to their trash RWR, lack of all-aspect IR missiles, and radar technology seen on F-4J.

Just don’t 1v1 them and you’re fine.

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no? Of course, they are better planes. but also having higher BR than F-14A.
do you think different BR also can be considered as ‘sidegrade’?

While clubbing quite a lot of non-US mains with even worse RWR than them.
Tomcat’s RWR might be awful compared to more advanced modern planes like Tornado or F-16.
But AN/APR-45(V) isn’t a bad RWR as you think. compared to counterparts in the rest of RWR in BR brackets.

There are many planes with worse RWRs, such as Mirage Detecteur(Normal F1Cs) or SPR-15(Soviets), AN/ALQ-73(F-104S/ASA) and J/APR-2(F-4EJ).
it might be unpleasant RWR but still at an above-average level.
you are just cherry-picking the examples to win the argument.

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At 11.3 F-14s alone dictate the flow of a match through their sheer presence. You’re pretty much forced to engage at a disadvantage, unless you take your chances and pray a Tomcat didn’t pick you up throughout the TWS cycling. And even if you do manage to get into the merge it still outperforms almost everything in a dogfight, especially now that the Mig-23, Mig-21 and Viggen were nerfed. It’s only weakness are the hot engines which would make even an R-60 unflarable, however to even get to that point you’d need to overwhelm it which would be a tough spot for literally any plane and isn’t something exclusive to the F-14.
Also the superior radar on the F-4J doesn’t mean all that much when the missiles on the F-14 outrange anything the F-4 can carry, and by a lot.

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where’s TLDR when i need it

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@Stockholm_Blend
That’s not what cherry picking is, I compared every 12.3, and I compared every 12.7 that people claim F-14A is equivalent to, yourself included by making this false claim:

The last person to claim this had an identical KDR in their Mig-23 as they did in their F-14… probably the B rather than the A.
And if I check every person that makes this claim that has played 2 or more aircraft their performance will be similar.
You can check mine. F-14A is inferior to F-14B cause of its RWR, engine heat, countermeasure count, and IR missiles.
I fragged at least 5 F-14As using Mirage 3C back when the Magic 1 missile was the 2nd easiest to flare missile in the game despite them flaring, and one even shut off their AB.
Back when everyone kept their ABs on.

F-14A is not a seal clubber.
There’s no evidence in the cross analysis.
There’s no evidence in player performance.
Oh and you know what aircraft I did better in than F-14B?
Mirage 2000, Mirage 4000, Gripen, Sea Vixen… to name the easiest to remember.

@Conundrummer
F-14s are indeed forced to engage at disadvantage whereas everyone else fighting F-14As always have advantage. Those that shoot a radar missile first are those that are disadvantaged. They gave up their strong position to the enemy they fired at, which is why I’ve countered 100% of the F-14s that fired on me and died to NONE that fired first outside my intentionally get hit by a Phoenix test cause no friends had an F-14 to shoot at me with.

I’ve never needed to pray an F-14 didn’t spot me, cause I play the game as if all aircraft are launched on me, and I’ve been playing this way since SPAA with IR tracking was introduced to the game.

F-14 and F-4 use the same AIM-7F, no out-ranging available.

Not sure why you’re talking about custom battles dogfights in the middle of your post.