Next Major Update - Rumor Round-Up & Discussion

“vampire, vampire, vampire!”

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I say this in general not just because im a Japan main we need it more out of anyone…

Ofc they dont but with the F/A-18 comes 10 AMRAAMS and 2 9Ms/Xs

Which tbf we cant act like the Su-27SM doesnt exist with 12 R-77s which albeit arent nearly as potent as AMRAAM but still

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I would love that tbh

For Air Superiority last year the first blog was on the 1st of December.

And for Apex Predators the first blog was on the 29th of November.

So seriously we might see the first blog for the update either on next Friday or any time the week after.

Gib Stealth Frigate

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Because Gaijin hates Britain with a passion for some reason.
Britain always get worse weapons/vehicles for their BR at top tier, the F4S vs the F4JUK is a prime example of this.

I think im the only person in the game who loves the F4J(UK)

In fact its actually one of my best KDRs 😭

Everyone does

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Smun’rams has been locked onto his 6

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I think the vehicles models are done by a 3rd party way ahead of time. However I don’t think the model being in the files versus when it shows up in the game means anything.

That’s the earlier prototype right?

Ah I see, then I don’t see why not 6 x AAM-4 since it would be similar to the F-15J(M), albeit that needs AIM-120As on the wing hardpoints to get more than 4 ARHs missiles.

For what it's worth, I plan to only run 2 wingtip AAM-3s and 4 AAM-4s to recreate the Ace Combat look, but that's just me being me lol:

It’s true…

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With the addition of F-15E, I don’t think it is a far stretch to add F-2 in the December update. It has an AESA radar yes, but it is the very first AESA radar fitted on a production fighter and probably won’t be too overpowered considering the size of the radome isn’t huge. Flight-performance wise it has slightly less thrust-to-weight ratio compared to F-16 Block 50 although its larger wing area (by 25%) and larger horizontal stabilizers might compensate in terms of climb and turn rate, for slightly less acceleration. It’s comparable to what we have right now. Missile load will also be comparable as we already have AAM-3 and AAM-4 ingame, though if Gaijin is generous, they may add AAM-4B or fictional AAM-4 variant with slightly more range than right now.

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I don’t expect the AAM-4B (or AAM-5 till AIM-9X) anytime soon.

I’d expect the F-2 to have better AoA and 1 circle capabilities but the higher wing area lowering it’s turn rate a little due to higher drag for the same thrust.

Realistically in RB it won’t really matter because people don’t rate properly instead pull the stick as much as the instructor allows, which would put the fight in the F-2s favor as it’d perform better at lower speeds due to higher lift, and drag isn’t as much of an issue at lower speeds.

So basically as the name suggests, it’d be the Zero of top tier, until all the late gen 4.5s and gen 5s show up with thrust vectoring and super high T/W ratios. Would be a nice niche just like back in low tiers how nothing can out turn it but also due to being slower can’t dictate the fights.

That all being said, Gaijin might have different plans so we’ll see whenever it shows up how they model it. At the very least I’d expect it to perform like the Gripen, maybe even launch Gripen A but who knows.

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There is some correlation between the F-2 and the Agile Falcon project, although with the F-2 the Japanese used composite materials for the wing and the F-2 also has the enlarged horizontal stabilizers which the Agile Falcon lacked. From what little flight demos I can find of the F-2 online, it certainly does seem to be more comfortable at high AOA than something like a F-16C. F-16C and other F-16 variants are limited to 26 degrees of AOA by the FCS because past that, the F-16 could enter an induced stall. With the redesigned aerodynamics (and I know that the F-2 uses an indigenously-designed fly-by-wire system) it would be curious to know if the F-2 has a higher limit.

F-2 might fly like the Block 10 F-16 ingame imo. I’m not too worried about flight performance, but does the F-2 integrate HMD? The last time I checked it didn’t.

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The F-2 does have +12g (higher with override) as opposed to most other FBW systems limiting to +9g.

I’d expect at minimum Block 10 but even more than that as it has similar T/W to the AJ but more wing area (and lift as a result). I think the Gripen slightly edges the Block 10 out? I don’t think the F-2 would lose to the Gripen outside of maybe 2 circle ideal rating?

As for the HMD, earlier I mentioned that it appears the F-2 got HMD when it got the AAM-5 (just like how the F-15J got HMD when it got AAM-5). Since we have the F-15J(M) with it without AAM-5, no reason F-2 can’t get it.

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interesting, so it could be a 625e, or a mistake or a merged one, let’s wait and see

I’m 60K away from getting the F-1 : D

I hope there more powerful Thailand F-5s because the FCU is a dream

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I see.
Block 10 F-16 and Gripen are actually pretty close in terms of how they fly now, which one wins depends on the skill of the pilot.

J-10A beats Gripen and Block 10 F-16 IF both planes constantly hold S and go into low-speed one-circle fight. If Gripen and Block 10 keeps speed up then J-10A will lose.

Maybe F-2 will be more similar to the J-10A style, where it outpulls Block 10 and Gripen but loses out in a sustained fight.

Glad to also know that F-2 can get HMD.

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