Straight to the point:
The so-called ‘Persian Tomcat’ or ‘Alicat’ has become a part of my player identity and along with the other Tomcats I love her to death. Even though my wife gave her to me as a gift around New Years 2025, it wasn’t until months later that I began flying her regularly. By the time I was done spading her, putting a talisman on her was a no brainer. I am very, very much in love with this bird game-wise and have taken an interest in her history and Iran in general since.
THAT SAID
The Fakour-90 is a paper missile Yes, it exists in real life, but as far as I have been able to find, it was never fired in anger, and has never been tested in combat. The statistics used in the game are based off of data that is not peer reviewed, nor is it really independently checked. Meaning that in all reality? It’s almost certainly far more effective in the game than it would ever have been (the Alicat fleet being moribund) during it’s years of service.
I never have a problem admitting that the vast majority of my 1,600+ kills in the Alicat are because of the missile: I’m no where near that good of a player even though I play 3-6 hours a day. I’m old, my reflexes aren’t as good as they once were, and I have trouble keeping good situational awareness in complex battlespace. That said, I’d have far rather seen the Fakour’s effectiveness nerfed, than play a Tomcat short of the D variant against anything 14.3. Recently I’ve begun savoring the idea of getting in close and dogfighting - I’ve taken on everything from other Tomcats to Flankers, to F2As and won…and lost a lot too.
This is an airplane that is going to get slaughtered at 14.3. Once the missiles are away, it is essentially a F-14A with terrible American Fox-1s at it’s BR already, tricky Iranian one, and a reasonably useful Russian one. Arriving in the game at 9.3 the AIM-9P is a joke as a AAM even at 12.0 - at 13.0 it’s like showing up to a gunfight with a derringer. The IRIAF has sixty total countermeasures facing the dreaded ‘spamraam’ and aircraft with often twice as many if not more CMs, and the radar? Lets be honest, it’s atrocious.
The move uptier is going to happen.
My own personal feelings on what predicated this were the cries of players who have never flown the Alicat in game, and have died again and again to Fakours because a lack of experience with them, knowing how to spot a lock-on, and knowing how to counter. Because of the unique attack profile one has to fly to use the Fakour most effectively, it’s usually pretty easy to spot an IRIAF Tomcat moving up to fire, and as a result I contend I got shot at by OPFOR IRIAF Fakours more than just about anyone else, regularly, in the game. I get killed by them less than almost any other missile. But things in life are often ruined by people with very little balanced experience. Sort of like burning someone at the stake for conspiring with the Devil because their wife is prettier than yours, or business is more successful.
To come to the point:
If you’re going to stick her up against aircraft far in advance of her own capabilities, can we have the same benefit of the doubt that the Fakours were given, extended to other systems? There is data that is just as reliable to show R-27E1s mounted on the 'Cat as there is to show it successfully carried R-73s. While adding the ability to carry R-73s in place of AIM-9Ps against aircraft with more than twice as many countermeasures, it would still give us a fighting chance at elevated tiers.
Secondly, again in the face of the fact we’re taking Iran’s word on the performance of the Fakour in combat, could we extend this same allowance to the upgrade to the AWG-9 radar Iran supposedly made? While I am not privledged to the exact technical specs, I think adding a true TWS mode, as well as allowing it to pick up on smaller targets further out, and be capable of holding a lock just a little bit better than it currently isn’t too much to ask.
As it stands now, save for a very small exception of the best pilots, most IRIAF Tomcats flying against 14.3 aircraft will be little better than in-game AI for survivability and effectiveness. Even the prospect of this is anything but fun - as a game ought to be, and to be frankly honest, unless something is done to make her more viable in these match ups, I’m just quitting any full uptier lobby I find myself in.
Thanks for your time.
{Edited to remove Reddit boilerplate}
