Nuclear Thunder: How is the F-4E 11.3 but MiG-25PD 11.0? Where is the balance?

Game Discussion Realistic Battle
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MiG-25PD gets:
- IRST (IR radar tracking) which doesn’t set off RWR and can be used to track at low-altitude
- R-60M all-aspect IR missiles that pull 30G
- R-40TD long-range IR missiles to use with IRST so enemies don’t know it’s approaching.

F-4E Phantom gets:
- No IRST
- Basic SRC radar, bad for low altitude
- AIM-9J rear-aspect IR missiles that pull 20G
- AIM-7E-2 missiles that rely on the unreliable SRC radar and high altitude.

Someone make this make sense to me, because currently in Nuclear Escalation the max BR is 11.0 so the US is forced to use the inferior F-5E with rear-aspect AIM-9J’s or the old F-4C with 0 countermeasures and 10G rear-aspect AIM-9E’s against freaking R-60M/R-60MK and more capable Russian radars.

Russia gets MiG-21/23’s with 6x R-60M and gets R-23T while US is stuck with rear-aspect missiles unless you bring A-10A Late or A-6E Tram which are both easy prey.

The AV-8B NA is the only jet with a J-band ARM missile but it can’t be used because it’s 11.3 BR, and guess what the primary Russian AA is? The ZSU-23-4V with a J-band radar. Shrikes don’t have an option that tracks J band.

I’m enjoying this mode regardless, but this BR selection is raising serious BR balance concerns.

2 Likes
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Have you tried to play both of those vehicles? MiG-25PD gets the IRST tracking exclusively for the R-40TD, it won’t help with the R-40RD, and which R-40TD is limited to two in total and just like R-60M those lose contact with a target if a bird farts nearby. Lack of proper anti-radiation missiles on J-band for the US is mostly certainly lack of real technology that fits the Vietnam War timeline, I don’t think that would be fair to put AV-8B NA in the playable vehicles’ list because of that reason. And A-6E Tram Intruder and A-10 Thunderbolt being available is still a bit of stretch since both of these dates after the Vietnam War which I have no doubt that there are some others in the Warsaw Pact side.

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The US also gets the F-5E which is one of the best aircraft due to a powerful RWR, great flight performance, and good A2G/A2A armaments.

What we really need is rolling BR brackets like sim, because moving it to 11.3 would just mean the F-4E is by far the best all round aircraft, and it (and others) would make playing anything below 10.7 much worse.