i still have 13 other vehicles to add as i recently discovered them, and at a few dozen more that were ignored as they are not really different than those in this tree (like we do not need to have all the variants of the Panzer 61 if it just has a few internal difference) and i didn’t even talk about adding the Austrian as sub tech tree there or included the many export variants of some vehicles such as the Piranha.
it’s definitively much more than what Germany can take.
Since the alpha jet is ex-german, would it have CM?
normally yes, i do not think it had any modification when it was sold to Thailand
adding all these, especially some not so “Japan style” vehicle would not be fun, adding some suitable ones to make up the gap can be acceptable.
the F-15, F-18 and F-20 are a valuable option as steps for the top tier, the Typhoon will be the real german top tier, and it’s about to be added. it would be the next in line after the F-18. so i do not see any reason to have the Swiss plane added to Germany right now. if the German cry so much for a new top-tier jets, they can have the Argentinian F-16 already. there is plenty option better than wasting the Swiss as sub tree.
Thailand did a major overhaul of the plane a few years ago to add a glass cockpit among other minor avionics changes, however they did not delete the CM. Also worth noting Thai Alpha Jets have been spotted with AIM-9P.
of course, not all of them should be added. I would not like to see the SB2C or the Firefly in the middle of the awesome Japanese WW2 planes. but those jets would be very helpful. from the A-37 to the J39
with the addition of Thailand (and a few Japanese planes), Japan jet could look a bit like this
it’s not perfect, it could still need meet at rank 7 but it’s much better, the gap are almost closed and the top tier is actually offering a good line-up
Why do I need evidence for an opinion
well, actually I was talking about ground more, but air is same, some plane to fill the cas gap, some light vehicles. I don’t like the MBT part, Japan have quit enough MBTs, it’s better to fix the type 10’s transmission than add things like T84 or VT4
edit: I think air is not so hard like ground, because air battle don’t have a lineup, so it won’t be so strange
for the ground, i would favor the addition of the B78 tanks as it’s Japanese tanks. but i would not say no to the addition of the M60, Stingray, V-150, and Scorpion. as they do add something to Japan the M60 add some armor, the V-150 and Scorpion add mobility in the mid-rank. the BTR-3 too, at least those unique versions. and the M163 would reduce the gap between the SUB-I-II and the Type 87. for the Oplot-T and VT-4, i guess it could be premium or something like that, so it will not feel too much in the tech tree while still being there. and with the addition of the Stingray, i would hope to see it take the place of the TKX (p) and the TKX (P) move between the Type 90 and Type 10 where it logically belongs.
Let’s be clear. Thailand is meant to make up for the delays in the Japanese tree, and will not contribute much to top-level competition. For example, the UK can get a lot of the latest fighters from India, and the US, China, and Russia can get them from their own countries. To balance that out, we need a western-leaning ASEAN country or something similar.
What about helis? Heavy tanks? Rank 1-3 mediums? Modern SPAA? Top tier CAS?
i think it would be more than enough and really contribute to the Japanese top level. especially for aviation. Thailand has a bunch of F-16 and a bunch of J39 and are getting upgraded for them right now. and Japan is getting the F-35 while also developing its own 5th-generation plane. so the ASEAN is absolutely not needed after Thailand.
You misplaced the F-2 significantly
Have to imagine this would kick off a sh*t-storm. From the few places you could expect to see a reaction regarding the idea of such a plan; to say it was not received well is sort of understating it.
not everything is so urgent, no heavy tanks won’t cause much, CAS can be filled by Thai, there are some domestic SPAA choices.
so ASEAN is still needed, to provide more choice to fill the gap, but instead, addition from Thai is also limited to truly needed.
whole Thai plan is like 60% of the whole possible Thai vehicles, and the ASEAN plan is like 20% of the possible ASEAN vehicles containing Thai.
i think Japan already have enought rank 1-2-3 medium vehicles. all it need is filler for the rank 2 light tanks. i could suggest the Ke-Nu and Chi-Ho who can at least shorter the game of the light tanks lines and make the tree look full. for the heavy there is nothing Thailand can bring. and for the WW2 era, they have nothing to offer, but it does matter not as Japan have a lot to offer there. the Scorpion may get to rank 3 i suppose. Thailand seem to have passed from the Ha-Go to the M60 at once.
for airdefense, they have the VL-Mica and Igla-S mounted on a truck
ASEAN is offering too much choice and almost exclusively copy-paste, each nation has a bit of 2-3 existing nations. a bit of American, a bit of Russia, a bit of China, a bit of France, a bit of UK, and even a bit of Sweden.
at this point, you can just forget about separating the nation and let everyone play everything together. because adding ASEAN to Japan will do that to Japan.
we can’t say it would be safe to say Japan is competitive when it ends up with 10 variants of the F-16. 6 variants of the F-18, 5 variants of the Grippen, the Rafale, the Mig-29, Su-27, and more. and if you start to add one, you will have to add each of them. which is why ASEAN is causing more issues than anything. it would just break the competition with a line-up of a dozen top-rank aircraft for serial BR in a row.
Adding Thailand Alone does not cause this issue and fixes the Japanese tech tree well enough already. so why want to break the balance?
so i firmly believe Thailand is all that Japan needs.
The only planes that are sure to surpass what is currently in the WT are the upgraded JAS-39C and the JAS-39E they are planning to buy. The F-16 is on par with the current American F-16C even at MLU. Other nations will receive double that number while adding 2 Gripens and the Japanese F-15JSI and F-2 in the future.
