i did and agree with him.
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I have played it too
and i agree with him as well
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awesome guys next time we need a group of experts with 100 combined games in the EF we will let you know
I must be blind then. Still, I very much disagree with your statement on the Captor M. It is blind and pretty much unable to hold a stable TWS lock when it does find a target. It’s performance is unacceptable, even when compared with “lesser” radars like the one on the F-16Cs and M2Ks
I just flatly disagree. Find a target and then put it in narrow scan. It holds lock almost as well as if you hardlock a target, and gets the benefit of having the fastest TWS IOG+DL update time of any mech scan radar, which is what actually matters for guiding a missile with it.
It just flat out has a longer detection distance than the APG-63/70, and you can say “oh well it can’t actually detect anything with it” but in my experience I can pretty much get an RWR ping, point the narrow scan in that azimuth and find a target within 1-2 seconds of manually scanning in the vertical, all the way across EC maps. Plus you get the benefit of the PIRATE tracking through notches on 2/3rds of the typhoons and can’t even use the copout of the auto switch mechanic stopping you from shooting anymore.
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And how many of those 100 games are 2hr+ matches? Which probably equates to more actual playtime than your 600 5 minute hero matches.
The assertion that “nothing else competes” hinges entirely on surface-level statistical readings — but these stats can be misleading, even if unintentionally so. They don’t fully reflect the raw mechanical performance of an airframe, because they’re influenced by a key confounding variable: the average player, who is, frankly, not great. And I include myself in that statement.
There are several well-known reasons why this data may be skewed or unrepresentative:
- Skill Migration / Selection Bias
Not all planes are flown by the same kinds of players. Stronger planes tend to attract stronger pilots. The perceived meta creates a kind of skill gravity — experienced or competitive players disproportionately flock to aircraft believed to be superior, compounding any performance advantage into a statistically dominant position.
This phenomenon becomes apparent when looking at more context-rich stats.
Win Rate and Kill/Death Ratio
The most reasonable approximation of individual player impact in an otherwise noisy dataset is a combination of Win Rate (W/R) and Kill/Death Ratio (KDR). While still imperfect (since match outcomes involve 15 teammates), they tell us who’s consistently making a difference.
- Rafale C:
- KDR: 1.55
- W/R: 63.5%
- F-15E:
- KDR: 0.97
- W/R: 47.3%
The implications here are clear: the Rafale is being flown by more capable players. A KDR above 1.5 and a win rate over 60% are signs of pilots who survive, score, and win consistently. By contrast, the F-15E is underperforming even in the hands of its average userbase. That’s not necessarily because it’s a bad aircraft — it’s because its current userbase includes a disproportionate number of less experienced players.
Kills per Spawn and Death Rate
Kill/death ratio is helpful, but Kills per Spawn gives a better sense of raw efficiency — how much a pilot contributes each time they take off. Coupled with deaths per spawn, we get a better idea of survivability and skill.
- Rafale:
- K/S: 1.14
- Deaths: 3.57M over 4.84M spawns → ~0.74 deaths per spawn
- F-15E:
- K/S: 0.78
- Deaths: 7.78M over 9.6M spawns → ~0.81 deaths per spawn
Despite facing the same lethal, brutal environment, the Rafale scores more per life and dies less often — another clear indicator that its pilots are performing better. If it were only about the aircraft, we’d expect kill rates and death rates to be closer.
Silver Lions per Game
SL earnings per match aren’t perfect, but they’re still useful. They reflect kill count, survivability, time spent in-match, and mission results — all of which benefit from better player performance.
- Rafale: 8431 SL/game
- F-15E: 6816 SL/game
Again, we see a ~24% efficiency gap. Not definitive on its own, but consistent with every other signal.
If the Rafale were just statistically “meta-broken,” we’d expect these numbers to show consistent dominance regardless of who flies it. But what we actually see is that player quality and aircraft effectiveness are entangled — and the current stats reflect that.
I’m unfortunately a bit busy (I’m watching a lecture), so I’ll answer as I can.
But this is definitely not something to take at face-value.
Only 16 or so because 75 of your 100 come from realistic as well. No one cares about your sub 20 game experience in sim
This is the issue.
It’s all fine and good in gamemodes like ARB with markers where you can point the radar in narrow TWS or just hard lock with ACM or HMD.
But finding a target in something like ASB is a major issue and it’s actually one of the weakest radars at top tier for exactly this
It’s underperforming loads without it’s P-track
Range isn’t modeled properly to have a drop off and I’ve never had an issue with the Blue Vixens 80km range on any map, including ASB
The EFT just doesn’t need the missle.
That’s cuz the narrow scan is effectively a STT, which isnt a good thing, since thats not what you need narrow scan for…
- Gripen radar has the same update rate on a better radar
- Not having a working narrow scan mode for the radar is a step price to pay for a bootleg STT with no lock tone
- Though it has the shortest update rate, functionally speaking its really not a big deal, since the only time you would actually need a super high update rate in DL is when an enemy is notching your missile but not your radar, implying that they both know you are attacking them and have not fired back, so a regular STT is fine
Detection range is a largely irrelevant argument, all top tier radars can track targets at any range relevant to the currently available missiles, and most of not all can detect targets at effectively any range seen in-game.
I’ve said this before, ill say it again; The CAPTOR-M is a horrible radar for top tier war thunder. Its usable, but it isn’t good, and its barely “fine”. You would be better off with literally any 14.0 radar, and even most radars seen between 13.0-14.0 are superior. Pretending otherwise is disingenuous.
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Another major factor that warps statistical interpretations is the popularity and accessibility of certain tech trees — and how that correlates with player experience levels.
The American and German air trees are, by far, the most popular in War Thunder. For many players, the U.S. is their first progression path. The result is that these trees — and their top-tier jets like the F-15E and F/A-18C Late — are disproportionately flown by less experienced players, many of whom are rushing to top tier with limited understanding of jet meta, BVR mechanics, or situational awareness— and that’s significantly worsened by premiums.
This massive player pool introduces a great deal of performance variability — and more importantly, low-skill deadweight — that drags down global stats like KDR and W/R.
In contrast, the French air tree is significantly less-played. The Rafale is not a casual grind target. This self-selection ensures that the Rafale’s pilot population skews more toward high-skill, experienced players who know how to effectively fly @ ARB.
As a result, the Rafale’s statistical efficiency isn’t just a product of the plane itself — it’s a reflection of who flies it.
The dataset is screwed before you even look at it.
So what happens when you compare stats between, say, the F-15E and Rafale without accounting for this? You’re comparing a jet flown by a broad, mixed-skill population of average players, to a jet flown almost exclusively by top-tier players.
There’s also a temporal dynamic at play: statistics for newly released jets often take weeks or months to normalize as more players unlock and adopt them. Early adopters are typically better players — skewing stats high — but as the plane filters down to average and below-average users, the metrics “settle.” This is relevant but less pronounced here, since the Rafale has maintained dominance over time, while other planes (like the F-15E) have lost high-skill users as the meta shifted.
I’m sorry for the big aah wall of text, but it’s very much not that straightforward.
No one is saying it’s straightforward but the Rafale has more playrate than the British and Italian typhoon, the Swedish F18 and the Israeli f15 which by your argument should also be very good due to „more expert“ players. However they aren’t, the Rafale significantly gaps even those planes
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I’m not saying that just having lower playrate = better players = better stats. I’m saying the Rafale attracts a disproportionately high number of top-tier players compared to most aircraft at 14.0, due to a mix of tree self-selection, meta awareness, and airframe strength.
Just because a plane like the British Typhoon has low usage doesn’t mean it has the same quality pilot pool as the Rafale. Many nations’ 14.0s are either underwhelming or not meta-relevant, so fewer players — and even fewer high-skill players — bother flying them at all. They’re abandoned, not curated.
The Rafale, on the other hand, is actively pursued.
It is the meta jet. Players grind France specifically to fly the Rafale, knowing it’s top-tier. That creates self-selection pressure, where MORE (than usual) dedicated or skilled players bother unlocking and flying it. That’s why its stats stand out — it’s flown more often (than other planes) by people who know exactly what they’re doing. Though not entirely; the jet itself is still extremely strong.
So no — it’s not “every low-playrate jet has great players.” It’s that the Rafale’s specific popularity is skill-loaded compared to broader-access jets like the F-15E or F/A-18C Late, which are flooded with average and new players due to tree popularity and accessibility.
More lateral fin acceleration and should have more movement compared to the A/B, Also gets new avionics along with a new seeker. This variant also added the HOBS ability but gaijin took it away for some reason making it’s addition almost useless.
Yeah so super powerful jet → more good players → even better performance
Doesn’t change that the starting point is the Rafale being significantly stronger in the current meta than its competitors
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It absolutely does change the framing — because it shows the Rafale’s dominance isn’t just from being “broken,” but also from who flies it.
The point isn’t to claim the Rafale isn’t strong. It is. What I’m arguing is that its statistical performance is being inflated by factors other than raw airframe capability — primarily, the disproportionate skill level of its userbase.
It’s a self-reinforcing loop:
- Rafale is perceived as meta → skilled players grind France → they fly it with high efficiency → it posts better stats → perception is reinforced.
So yes, it’s ahead of the pack — no one is denying that.
But it’s not as far ahead as the raw stats alone suggest.
No one is denying that. Most comments just want that the initial level of power is somewhat similar so good players don’t feel the need to flock to one plane in order to perform at peak level