The addition of the AIM-120D on the latest dev server feels severely lackluster, being just a AMRAAM C-5 with a longer battery life and GNSS for no inertial drift. These upgrades, however useful they may be in real life BVR combat, are basically useless in game and do nothing to fix the glaring issues of the missile. The biggest problems are the turning rate and fin AOA, but after going through many bug reports none of the given sources state any actual figures and seem to repeat the same line about ‘GNSS, two-way datalink, improved kinematics and software upgrades’ so there is unfortunately not much to go off of. However, there are some viable changes that could be made to improve the AIM-120D without having to dig into classified documents.
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Smaller Angle of Half Sensitivity (seeker fov)
We do know that the US made multiple software and hardware upgrades from the AIM-120A to the AIM-120D (AIM-120A/B seeker FOV is actually supposed to be ±6 degrees), and over the course of 20-30 years they have definitely made improvements to the seeker. Giving the AMRAAM-D a smaller seeker FOV like the MICA at ±7 deg compared to ±15 deg like the rest of the ARH missile lineup would make it tougher to hold a notch and give it some viable seeker improvement over the previous AMRAAM models in game. -
Aggressive Loft Profile
For those of you who remember, the AMRAAM C-5 on its first dev server had great improvements over the A/B, with a 0.3 second guidance delay, higher fin AOA and a much more aggressive loft profile. This loft profile went active with much more energy and impacted sooner than the A/B, while also being harder to notch due to it coming down at a steeper angle. It was a much needed, impactful improvement for the AMRAAM, so obviously the devs then nerfed it to death on the live server and left it ever since. I believe the AMRAAM-D should bring this back as it would be in line with the ‘improved kinematics/range’ claim and make use of the extra minute of battery life allotted to the missile.
There are a few more things I would love to touch on such as the guidance delay (0.6 seconds feels very stupid for a rail-launched 2010s missile) but the devs have probably already closed reports on them and I don’t feel like beating a dead horse any more than I already am. Just my two cents and I may be huffing laboratory grade copium but I still have faith this thing can be good if gaijin lets it.