i recently got the F18E super hornet expecting to have a fair match against SU30SM2s, AESA eurofighters, and rafales finally. however i was thouroughly dissapointed. AIM-120Ds seem to have such absolutely awful speed and turning performance that they can be defeated with only a few chaff on side aspect, and their range isnt great either unless youre at high speed and altitude, which brings me to the next point of the honret airframe seeming to be like a top tier version of the A-10, being barely able to even reach mach even at 6km altitude. is there a certain strategy that works better for the hornet, or did i just waste my time with it instead of grinding the F15CGE?
Pretty much. Practicality wise, no reason to play superhornet or PoBIT over the CGE in ARB unless you need them for CAS. You’d only really play them for the larp.
Aim-120Ds are just Aim-120C5s but with GNSS, that gives them some advantages under certain conditions. Mostly in look down. (All Aim-120s have the same seeker, and that is the same to most other Fox-3s bar some minor differences here and there, except for the MICA nad Aim-54s)
F-18s main strength is missile mass, but it lacks the ability to fire off those Aim-120Ds under ideal conditions (Fast and high)
Aircraft like the Su-30SM2, Typhoon and Rafale can fire missiles with far greater energy, from far stronger positions, and there isnt a huge amount the F-18Es can do about it.
F-18E is correctly placed relatively to the F-18Cs at 14.0, but top tier is rather heavily compressed at the moment.
As for the F-15C GE. That is a 14.7 aircraft currently at 14.3. It can do basically everything the F-18E can (bar WVR gunfight combat) but with far greater speed, climb rate and CM count
iirc dont 120Ds have more mass and worse deflection, making them much worse at pulling to targets and with much less range (mass causing drag)
not to mention AMRAAMs dont have a great seeker to begin with
so in short, yes, it was a waste of time. i dont really see any use in an aircraft that does everything other aircraft at its br can do, but worse in every way imaginable
I dont believe it differs much from C5s, both have greater mass and worse deflection compared to the A/Bs. The greater mass though is a symptom of their main strength which is far longer burn time and a lot more delta-v. In quite a few shots, that extra delta-v is quite valuable, but the cost is a slower TTT below 12km.
The worse deflection is considered ahistorical by most, which is a real shame. But its not like the A/Bs are MICA/R-77-1 level of HOBS performance to begin with, so… I dont really notice the difference, you setup the shot with a lead on the target, and dont rely upon pure pull to get the missile to hit the target
Personally though, I prefer C5s over the Bs.
They do not, though the same seeker as the R-77, R-77-1, PL-12, PL-12A, Derby, etc etc. Just the MICAs have stronger seekers and Aim-54s have generally weaker seekers.
There is a report to buff Aim-120 seekers that is about 3 years old at this point, among other reports.
Yeah, pretty much, its why ive not even looked at the F-18F yet, even though im kinda interested in try the Aim-120Ds.
But they have hinted at some sort of decompression maybe soon™
We’ll have to see what changes this actualy involves
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wouldnt be hopeful, the balance change before last shows that in gaijins mind the super hornet is borderline 14.7, so its likely going up next update
not too sure about that, they seem comically easy for enemies to notch, especially compared to the R-77-1 / RVV-AEs
part of a comically long list of NATO tech being artificially nerfed and “accepted” as a bug years ago
99.99% the same seeker. The tricky bit about those is their speed and large warheads. Even a succesfully defeated missile might still kill you. Especially in a slower aircraft.
Yeah…
You’d be better off with the F-15C, it’s a solid 14.3 that belongs there. As it stands the super hornet is like 14.15 but there is nothing you can do.
If you want to play the super hornet, since it’s getting the AARGM-ER, run a mix of 120A and D. If you don’t have missile modification only run 9M and 120A, go low and go for a less than 20km launch on an aircraft above you
that difference, is almost nothing.
Frankly derbies and R-darters are considered to be the same missile when comparing missiles, yet have a larger weight difference between them than AIM-120C/D
That’s a 2kg difference vs 900g