The premium NF-5A is essentially a sidegrade of the F-5E (or arguably better) that sits at 10.7 instead of 11.0 like its brother.
But Gaijin chooses to place it at a lower BR to create yet another blatant pay-to-win situation.
what’s the difference ?
NF-5A has AIM-9J/N vs AIM-9E, and it’s also a straight upgrade over the F-5A.
NF-5A has better acceleration and top speed than even the F-5E at 11.0, the only advantage of the F-5E is better energy retention at slower speeds.
The NF-5A can reach almost 190m/s climb rate in min fuel, vs the F-5E at 150-160m/s
All the F-5 premiums are P2W tbh
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Not the US one for sure
they are all too strong to be fair for their BRs. the NF-5A is just even worse than the rest.
I feel like they are ok. But the US F-5C and F-5A don’t belong to 10.7 to be honest since they are limited to the AIM-9E. For instance, I think the crusader is better than those and sits at 10.3. Kinda nonsense when the taiwanese F-5A also sits at 10.7 with aim9J (not to mention the NF-5A)
I don’t consider any particularly strong except the premium NF-5A because it’s essentially a faster F-5E at a lower BR.
Their airframes are absurdly good for the BR (overperforming by a lot too) and they have such a small IR signature that its really difficult to get sidewinder locks on them.
I also dont think the 9E is a limitation at all as its primarily a STR gunfighter, the missiles exist only to stop the few vehicles that can get out of a dogfight from being able to do so safely.
the F-5 is a hell of a lot lighter and more practical for the most part. a crusader shouldnt really be able to stand a chance.
none of the F-5 variants (other than F-20) i would call balanced at all really. they are too low for their capabilities and arent even consistent in placement between themselves. None of it makes any sense
Ehh… With a 17.5 deg/s STR at fast dogfighting speeds, and just about 15deg/s at slow speed sustained turn, I would not call it a STR gunfighter.
The best characteristics of the F-5 airframe is mostly about high-speed handling, which makes it easy to aim and line up high-deflection shots when third partying others.
The F-8u2 crusader is the STR gunfighter, which can hold around 18.5deg/s sustained turn at speeds the F-5A would be around 16 or so.
The F-8U2 doesn’t have much trouble with the F-5A/C in a dogfight, only the F-5E. The only 10.7 jets you won’t outrate with the 10.3 Crusader are the A-5C, alpha jet TH, and to some extent, the F-5E.
With the F-5A/F-5C even the J-7D will outrate it and also clown on it in 1C, and is also much faster and has an OP loadout at 10.7
compare that STR to most other peers around the BR and its almost unbeatable. it comfortably sits transonic for very fast sustained turns which almost nothing else around the BR can dream of while having the snappy nature to gets shots off when needed. Its very similar to a hunter in that sense, but better in every way.
sustained turnfights arent just “who has the best instant turn” its who can keep up the other locked into a 1/2 circle while being faster.
heres its FM graph vs the F-8E (as its same BR instead of u2) and a couple other run of the mill 10.7 aircraft. Sit around 0.9-0.95 mach and only a premium chinese jet competes.
the F-8u2 is also worse.
well yea. its a chinese fishbed. thats like being shocked that you cant dogfight an ariete with another 9.3 plane.
just for clarities sake
NF-5A is a tiny bit better than a F-5a. points about the normal one are even more valid for it
Yeah none of that matters considering they win any dogfight they get into practically, have cold fusion engines that dont get locked onto by IR, etc. They are extremely strong jets because your options engaging them are either hit and run them and never kill them because they have cold fusion engines that resist your missiles and they are tiny, agile jets that easily dodge gun runs. Then, if you try to dogfight instead you just lose.
Crusader has better missiles, F-5 is just a better jet elsewise
Go fight a F-5C in 9.3-10.0 jets and get back to me
This is entirely by design by gaijin too despite having no historical basis. The G.91 YS in game has the exact same engines no differences to the F-5s and yet the G.91 easily gets locked onto while the F-5 doesn’t. It’s just favoritism by gaijin
It’s significantly better.
Its just above average.
Correct, which is why the F-5C isn’t a good 2C fighter, its better than average but plenty of stuff that comfortably outrate it, even the heavier F-8E can, the F-8U2 can just sustain better turn. You should not commit to a dogfight against the F8U-2, but run away and reset when he loses interest.
If you manage to get into the crusader’s six when he is busy with someone else you’re golden, because its very hard to shake an F-5 of your six unless you’re an A-5C that can just out energy the F-5 at will
If you dogfight at mach 0.9 everyone can comfortably cut into your turn by going 1C or doing offset 2C maneuvers. That’s just not a thing, maybe you’re talking about keeping energy to run away and third party others, which is what you should be doing in the F-5.
Worse how? Even the statshark graph you posted says otherwise. You’re graph says the F8U-2 has better energy retention across the board, not only sustained, but also unsustained turns. The point where the F-5A is higher is when the crusader starts to compress, but its such a ridiculously high speed that it is unusable in a dogfight and you’ll just give away your positioning and be forced to run away