This is the data of the aircraft of both sides in the China-Thailand military exercise. The Aim-120 has a range of 80km, but the R-77 has a range of 50 km？
The picture says the farthest launch distance, I don’t know if this is equivalent to the maximum range.
I did the test in following setup.
F-14 on 5000m at Mach 1 against two side by side targets at 70km.
I fire two Aim-54 in quick succession, then two targets turn away from each other by 30 degrees, both Aim-54 followed.
Then, after two seconds, both targets turn towards each other for 60 degrees, both Aim-54 followed, RWR was still not triggered.
Then I turn off TWS and both targets turns away from each other by 60 degrees, both missiles did not follow.
This test can be replicated easily if you have friends and see for yourself. However, you have to act fast and complete the test before Aim-54 goes pitbull.
Also, it is less accurate due to reduced TWS scan rate on F-14’s radar, not loft.
2 Likes
IIRC, launch distance in China usually means the distance at the moment of launch when flying at Mach 1 on 10,000m going head on. But that may not always be the case (and I could have remembered it wrong).
It says that the 120 can work with the F-14. What variant of the F-14 can mount the 120 and what variant of the 120 can it mount?
1 Like
F-14A was tested with it, however by the time the F-14D retired all it required was software and the correct pylons to fire the AIM-120 iirc. Political discourse prevented the funds from being sent to equip the navies F-14D’s with AMRAAMs as they wanted to simply retire the F-14 at that point.
1 Like
All F-14D’s were wired for the AMRAAM, but the developmental work for the adapters was not completed. the AIM-120 is listed in the 1985 SAC for the F-14D on the last page. There are also photos of them being flight tested on a number of airframes.
6 Likes
Seems AIM-7M should have better time to hit gains and potentially even a modest lofting trajectory.
https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/i/qXZgF5fLYEAe
All of that is great but imo they should first focus on the missiles actually going where you aimed them. Literally no other missile behaves like the sparrows
The code isn’t special to the AIM-7. All other missiles share the same mechanics.
Further, your choice of how / when to launch the missile has quite a lot to do with why it was performing so poorly.
Well it might not be exclusive to the Sparrows but I have never, not once, seen it affect the R-27s or the 530s. And for the love of god dont pull that “how/when” bull****. Everyone has seen sparrows go for the ground regardless of altitude and attitude. You can be up at 30k with a single hot target on your radar and there is still a 50/50 chance the sparrow is going to have a seizure and just not track anything
4 Likes
must not use them much then because it happens to both of those too, though its not because the missile but rather the radar. AIM-7s on the F-14 are much more reliable in going for a locked target than the F-16 for example. I suspect this is possible because due to the Mprf nature of the APG-66 its much more affected by sidelobes than high prf radars like the RDI and AWG-9.
That might be the case, I can’t prove a negative but I do have 200 games in the 29 and 115 in the M2K and I have never seen a missile just randomly decide to not track anything. I have seen missiles go for a different target (that also happens a lot more often with the Sparrows, regardless of the launch platform, be it a 14,16 or 4J), I have seen them fly in a straight line and explode when they lose lock, but never just refuse to track while looping around
it happens a lot with super 530s, much more than sparrows for me atleast, probably because they have a very short max break lock time, R-27s it will never happen thanks to their datalink and INS either way this is all anecdotal and everyone’s experiences are different but I can say objectively theres nothing in the code for the missiles that makes them do this as late SARHs practically all share the same seeker code.
You launched at target with a questionable lock to begin with, one that had already dropped… and you did so at such a long range that (imo) a sudden maneuver from target could easily throw the missile off. He was also at low altitude… not high altitude as stated. In fact… I challenge you to lock and fire someone with a double red circle on your HUD above 10,000m and try to get it to miss without actively confusing it with chaff or simply hitting a notch.
Also, kind of getting off topic. I posted the report here because there isn’t an AIM-7 thread and because it’s somewhat relevant. I think the technical term for upgraded guidance that includes loft profiles for the US might contain terminology such as “trajectory shaping”.
- The first target went into a notch, thats why I locked someone else.
- The second target, the one that I fired a Sparrow at stayed hot as indicated by the radar
- He was at 15k, that’s not “low”
- I would be more than happy to demonstrate a 40 mile shot with the R27ER, happens every 2-3 games
I have literally zero desire to discuss/debate anything with you. There are countless pages both on here and on the old forum of you being incapable of considering anyone else’s opinion.
4 Likes
This guy is at 15k feet? No. No, he most certainly is not.
Also, your missiles tracked just fine until you lost the lock by diving so low that the target ended up ASL behind a mountain providing physical obscurity.
You came to my thread to complain about the missile (which is not special by any means as compared to any other missile in the game). You came in here and showed two good examples of how not to perform BVR with the Sparrow. They are all going to lose lock in either of these scenarios. An exception can be made that an R-27R/ER can be salvaged easier due to the INS/Datalink and additional break lock time.
Ok man, whatever you say
If the missile has better time to hit gain, longer range shots will dive into the dirt far less often when target begins to maneuver. Further, if by some miracle it is provided lofting based on the evidence provided… the missile will certainly be more salvageable than it currently is should you have to rapidly re-lock a target.