The AIM-54 Phoenix missile - Technology, History and Performance

[BeautifulTai_wan]

I remember back a few patches the Kfir radar rangefinder had a larger rear radar lobe than a front radar lobe. It’d scream at my RWR from 16km behind him, but only start doing things at 6km frontally.

[MiG_23M]

Imagine if they’d installed it facing the right way how good the range would be on that bad boy.

[Zannafrancy12]

Not all missiles male use of dusl plane maneuverability

[condor777645-psn]

I might do a Raytheon media request

[quartas121]

Watch Gaijin ignore everything because “AIM-54 made by Hughes”

[condor777645-psn]

lmao, that is if i even get a response

but it won’t matter, Hughes was sold to Raytheon anyway, so they will have to accept it

[quartas121]

@condor777645-psn

Hughes was sold to Raytheon anyway,

That’s the joke lol

[kitsune_qq]

too real to be a joke

[YoloBroMK207-live]

@DSplayer

Speed: Mach 5+

I definitely noticed this detail the most, did anyone else find this interesting?

[condor777645-psn]

my bad😭

[DutchDragon24]

Shhhh, they’ll get ya… You’re gonna get your post hidden (ooOOo)

[YoloBroMK207-live]

Hypersonics in WT would be dope
And not op at the same time considering the fact this is STILL a pheonix, and STILL will accelerate slowly
But i think the speed cap (like 4.6 mach?) affects weapons and projectiles too, not just vehicles.

[Fireball_2020]

Turns out there is no speed cap.

[DutchDragon24]

The speed cap doesn’t matter because it has a metric load of drag which has it lose double the velocity it gains while the motor is active. (while falling)

It’s too slow in basically every way. It’s just too much drag.
It will never hit 4.3, especially since the F-14 itself can’t hit the proper mach 2.3 speed, capping out at about 2.01 at height, after a full fuel load of climbing and accelerating.

[MythicPi]

There is, but its not a hardcoded thing. Seems to be an engine limitation for ehich at a certain speed range, it becomes realistically impossible for a missile to go any faster in-game.

Spoiler

@MythicPi

There’s a few noteworthy things that can be identified from these graphs:

1. The AIM-54C is hit brutally hard by the missing AAT due to its larger motor area (~0.11m^2) compared to the AIM-120A (~0.025m^2), with the largest difference between AAT and in-game thrust being M1.5 for the AIM-54C (at 10 000m) and M0.43 for the AIM-120A (at 14 000m).
2. The AIM-54C’s AAT peak velocity runs into what appears to be an in-game issue/limitation above 10000m altitude. Between roughly 5400-5500kph, missiles struggle immensely to accelerate, which is why the AIM-54C’s AAT peak velocity breaks from its trend and flattens out above 10000m. If this “wall” did not exist, it would likely continue following the trend.
3. This “wall” does not appear to be a function of drag, altitude, missile dimensions, coded speed limit, or any other variable I can identify, and seems to be an issue with the game itself.

War Thunder Hypersonic Research Institute (ie: Testing The Wall):

I did some testing specifically regarding “The Wall”, in which I tested what it would take to go beyond it. Here are some of the results:

AIM-54C “GO FASTER”:

Thrust: 50000N, dragCx: 0.018 → 0.08, launch conditions: 14km M2.8.

Results: unable to surpass “The Wall”, tops out around 5489kph before dropping like a rock back down to the ~5400-5410kph range BEFORE motor burnout:

AIM-120A “Basicly Zeus’ Lightning Bolt At This Point”:

Thrust: 100000N, Motor burn time: 30 sec, dragCx: 0.018 → 0.08, launch conditions: 14km M2.8. Max speed: 1500m/s → 1800m/s

Results: Missiles thrust is so excessive, it immediately breaks M5.0 leaving the rail, and takes ~5.8 seconds to go from 5400kph up to 5500kph. Once cleared of 5500kph, it begins RAPIDLY accelerating, increasing from 5500kph to its 6480kph speed limit in 14.5 seconds.

From a 4000m launch, both missiles once again hit the 5400kph mark and struggled to go any faster as well, suggesting it is not realistic drag imposed speed limit, nor is it a thrust limitation, but a game modeling one gaijin will need to fix:

[Fireball_2020]

How did you test this? In a custom? That’s why, live matches have different limits. Which is why fakour 90 and co can hit Mach 6 nearly.

[MythicPi]

Yeah was a custom, I’ve never actually seen anyone post the F90’s hitting M6.0 in sensor view so im not sure if it can actually hit the speeds you claim.

[Fireball_2020]

[YoloBroMK207-live]

Casual hypersonic activities, i never knew anything could do it in wt tbh

[MikeyPlayzonYT]

The ER could do it.