I’m not sure I get what is going on in that report. The screenshot shows the bomb having travelled 67.2 km (the maximum range you claim it to have in game), but it is still well above the ground in that screenshot, so could presumably keep on flying a while further?
That is as far as I can tell the only source you have presented in support of a 90 km range for AASM (the other source from Rafale International says 80 km). There is a big problem with that source though: it says the 125 kg SAAW has a range of over 90 km. The SAAW is a completely different weapon to the AASM.
Yes, I’ll have to refind it and upload it here. It’s supposed to filter out the recognized landscapes such as roads, buildings, which was uploaded previously to the AASM-IR before launch so it can then filter out the landscape and find the target which it is supposed to recognize.
The AASM-Hammer then exploded after traveling that far. It has a battery time of something like 250 seconds. Now theoretically Gaijin could just increase the battery time and say “that’s it” but it would be up to them if they can find it believable that the battery would last much longer versus the idea that it is supposed to strike a target within 250 seconds. There’s 4 different class of AASM bombs. These are 125kg, 250kg, 500kg, and 1,000kg. All are supposed to be over 70km+. Safran states as much that these bombs have a distance of over 70km. In-game we have the 250kg class which are lighter than the 1,000kg and 500kg variants.
Should note that Rafale International stated a demonstrated range of 80km, not that it is the maximum range for it.
Are there any sources on the battery life of AASM, or any reason to believe 250 seconds is correct? I ask because increasing battery time would appear to be the most logical way to resolve the issue. Or at least it seems it would form part of a solution.
You have said yourself that it is “improbable” that the drag needs a significant reduction. And given the motor burns for 30 seconds of a 250 second flight time it would need to have a pretty significant thrust increase to increase the average speed of the weapon by the amount you claim.
But the point stands that currently there are no sources supporting a range of 90 km, or even anything in excess of 80 km.
Does the AASM meet its quoted low altitude range in game? If so that would support the idea that it is simply the battery life that needs extending for the high altitude range to be met. If not then it would seem some combination thrust, drag, and lift need adjusting.
i’m pretty sure it would actually get to this range if it didn’t try to do a U turn near the end of its flight path. This kind of detour make it hard for the missile to over correct, sometimes leading to misses, and it also increases the flight distance and flight time for no good reason
No sources on battery life of AASM, atleast in my possession, not sure if Gaijin has any.
Yes, I find it improbable that the drag needs to be reduced if it is already similar in drag to other bombs such as GBUs as that would be realistic if the GBUs already have realistic ranges. (I have not actually checked the drag in datamine but assuming that they’re similar)
Yes and no. The 125kg bomb was capable of achieving 80km. The 250kg class of bombs should have more inertia and be able to achieve a greater range than the 125kg. That is why I included it in the report even though we do not have any 125kg classes of bombs in-game.
That is only the case for the 1,000kg bombs, not the 250kg or 500kg. The kit remains the same otherwise.
We don’t know what the low altitude range is or what that height corresponds to. One source says 15km low altitude, another says 15km+ low altitude. But neither gives the stated height and we don’t know the exact range at that lower altitude.
Gaijin already has the 125kg class of bombs to test with as they were datamined although not yet in the game. They could test with those, and see if those are capable of reaching 80km range even with battery increase, if not then they could increase the thrust where needed and transfer it over to the 250kg class of bombs.
I don’t think its that simple as we already know AAMs that loft versus those that don’t typically enjoy greater terminal speed and a lower time of flight than those that don’t. Obviously bombs are different. I can only assume it was because the GBU-24 simply just weighs more.