Reposting my post here since it was in the dev server category:
Your picture is the F-15C 2040C test bed. Amber racks were only mock up on it. It was a regular F-15C showcasing what the F-15C 2040C could have carried.
Golden Eagle:
A real, implemented upgrade program for existing F-15C fighters in U.S. Air Force service during ~2010 up to ~2015. Its purpose is to extend the life of the aging F-15C fleet and make it relevant alongside newer fighters like the F-22 and F-35.
Structural refurbishments for life extension of old airframes
APG-63(V)3 AESA radar
JHMCS
Link 16 datalink
Upgraded mission computer and cockpit displays
New electronic warfare suite(Brought from 2040C program, EPAWSS — only in some aircraft, not standard)
Talon Hate pod IRST + Advanced datalink coming with it for F-22/F-35 connectivity(brought from 2040C program, only present on a few Golden Eagles)
F-15C 2040C:
A Boeing proposal (around 2015) to keep the F-15C combat-viable until 2040. A sort of F-15C with EX feature.
Newly built airframe
Conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) as standard for extended range
Quad-pack missile racks (AMBER and MRML racks)
APG-63(V)3 AESA radar
EPAWSS as standard
Talon Hate pod IRST + Advanced datalink coming with it for F-22/F-35 connectivity(standard)
Completely updated full screen cockpit(similar to EX)
Big Air Force evaluated the concept but instead chose to:
Retire many F-15C/Ds (due to age and structural fatigue), and
Import 2040C features into F-15EX. Buy brand new F-15EX Eagle IIs airframes as replacements because the production line at Boeing only build that airframe now. There is no production chain still existing for F-15C airframe. The F-15C 2040C would have required to completely restart a costly production line of airframe for it.
MRML were brought to the EX, Amber rack so far not(maybe in the close future?). As of today, even Boeing’s website advertises the F-15EX as 12 missiles maximum, not 16.(8 + 4 MRML) Apparently, the Golden Eagle later received the wiring necessary for the MRML but whether the ANG actually received the MRML for the Golden Eagle is another matter entirely. For the F-15s, EX got full priority for funding especially since the C is on the way to retirement. Though that doesn’t matter for Gaijin since they said they work on the basis of what the plane can carry.
I might be generalising from my own experience here, but I watched War Thunder YouTubers before getting into the game and I still watch them when a new update comes out. PhlyDaily was the YouTuber I watched as a kid who got me into the game, and he definitely shaped my opinions on certain aircraft.
But if the general consensus around an aircraft is that it is bad or not worth the time, then for new players or anyone looking to start a new nation, having your top BR plane be the weakest and least interesting will affect some people’s willingness to buy a premium. Plus I’m just certain most/a lot of players will watch youtubers
First impressions…
Why in heck this is 14.3
Aim 9L modification, why it even got it. Stock conf migitates em completely, since 9M on outer pylons and 120’s on second, so no idea to use it, but you have to research it.
Still horrible flight model, and worse engines compared to E version.
Radar what supposed to be main selling point, is actually bugged, and it loses randomly targets on TWS mode, unlike su30 radar.
If something positive, you get a extra chaff/flares eventually on it
Real fun when tracked targets starts running around like some crackheads on radar screen and then they disappear
And when making soft lock on target it doesnt keep radar “elevated” on that and starts randomly tweek
Yes but new player doesnt know what general consensus about plane is, let alone where to look for it.
Just put name of any premium plane in the forum search and hit enter. Threads complaining about premiums outnumber threads of new players asking if X tree is worth the grind.
Even as recently as the current anniversary sales there were people making threads about F-104S TAF being bad DESPITE being known for years that the plane sucks.
Point im making here that arguing new players wont be attracted to GE because it is bad is weak argument because new player more likely than not dont care nor do they find more info about planes they buy, let alone the end of the line stuff.
It being a modeling only issue that doesn’t have a significant impact on gameplay (thus fairly low priority).
And that we’re in the short sprint between the 4th and 5th update of the year so it’s likely that the current focus is on prepping whatever they have for the November / December update.
So Gaijin’s in house team is likely to be busy at the moment. (I’d like to be; Anti-Radiation Missiles, Cluster munitions (dispensers and bombs), or Submarines personally).
More so the Anti-Tank / Material focused submunitions, so;
Dispensers; CBU-3, CBU-55 / -72
Bombs; BL755, CBU-89 / -90 (if prototypes are permitted, as it has a better HEAT bomblet fill ratio), Mk.20 Rockeye(CBU-59, -99 & -100), CBU-97 / -105, if possible (it would also allow air launched Cruise missiles, like the JSOW (AGM-154B) and assorted prototype(s) (e.g. the GBU-15(V)3 / AGM-130 they use the SUU-54 as the warhead)).
They could even reuse the Torpedo release GUI pretty easily too, with some minor tweaks to show the Dispersal area.
The main idea is to do the inverse of the PGMs and give aircraft a area attack option that is only useful at very short range to give the the option to get closer (early bomb-type systems have large voids in their pattern so require massed drops for sufficient coverage), for a reduced SP cost providing a reason for Short range IR SAM / SPAAG to exist at higher Tiers.
As it would reduce the prevalence of IIR PGMs by providing a suitably higher potential and risker alternative, and so produce more varied loadouts, Anti-Radiation Missiles and ECM pods would be similar by taking up Stations that would otherwise be used by longer range IIR/GPS guided ordnance.
That waste of research on AIM-9Ls/Ms could’ve easily been avoided by just giving the stock AIM-120s on the pylons below the belly… but Gaijin knows better than anyone how to make people suffer on their spading.
The Golden Eagle fiasco still manages to baffle me lolol, it has been the most insulting modification cashgrab in the US tech tree in a good while, at least since the 120S (tank, which is good, but the stock grind is near a deliberate torture).
yeah we pretty much don’t get a useful mod till tier 4 because they have the aim 7 ( long outa service by the time this jet was made) where the aim120 A should be
Honestly as it is rn theres no reason to use the F15C GE over the 13.7 F15C.
13.7 is just a much better br to be at
the F15 already had one of the better mechanical radars so your not gaining a whole lot with the AESA update for the large br increase.
flight performance is the same witch means you can either be very good at 13.7 or mid at best at 14.3
Bol Pods are nice but dont do much for a plane that already had 240 countermeasures and don’t really justify a jump up by 2 brs
Aim120C-5 is a beyond artificially nerfed and is just a side grade at best. ( the devs have yet to undo the aim120 turning nerfs even with the dominance of the MICA)
yeah its crazy to me that the aim120s are in the state they are in rn. i assume to devs think the game is the same as it was when they first came out and people just climbed in a strait line and range was all that mattered.
Thank you laying out everything, super helpful :) . so to clarify, the 2040C racks were physically tested, the aircraft was wired, and the Golden Eagles already share the relevant avionics backbone, APG-63(V)3, JHMCS, EW upgrades, and the mission computer capable of managing expanded missile loadouts.
If the F-15C is meant to be competitive at top tier, then giving it the additional missiles it was demonstrably capable of carrying fits both the gameplay balance and Gaijin’s own standards for weapon inclusion? (I feel like other weapons have been added for a lot less)
