The AIM-9B doesn't suck

Well… Last time I said this I didn’t have any AIM-9b capable plane and nobody listened. However now I do.

I’ve since obtained the SAAB-105G from the Swedish techtree and at 8.3 it’s a pretty comfortable attacker whose only major threats are the ground, a skilled Alpha jet or an AIM-9E from a F-100.
Things said, it can carry up to two RB24s, commonly known as the infamous AIM-9B Sidewinder outside Sweden.

I’ll put it bluntly; it’s not bad… At all. You are
The missile works on dogfights, on ambushes, on bomber-hunting. It has its limits, truly, but the community made it look like a Zuni rocket for the fact it is a rear-aspect. It is not bad, you are wrong. Even on uptiers it works perfectly fine against Lightnings, MiG-19s or J-7s, even maneuvering ones too. The flareless br argument is irrelevant as any Sidewinder will eat them happily.
“But the afterburners?” Good argument: they are a factor, however the missile can also work against CL-13s, G.91s, Hunters, MiG-15s, and so on. The only difficulty it has here are of course the aforementioned planes’ maneuverability, but this too isn’t a much of an issue depending on the dogfight you’re in. You just cannot be at >200 knots and expect the missile to hit a target flying at near mach 2km out. Everything has its limits, and the AIM-9B is good within its own limits.

Before you bring in my kill death ratio, it’s because I’ve been playing as a bomber to get quick silver lions after I misclicked and got myself in near-debt. It’s cowardly but easy cash with some boosters.

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Eh they’re ok, nothing great nothing amazing. They’re amazing at 8.3 only issue is when you’re trying to use them on 9.7s/10.0s

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They are fine for what they are, like any missile you have to understand what it’s capable of and launch it under conditions that favor those capabilities. I lot of people just fire when the seeker goes red then wonder why the missile misses.
Hell there are even threads on here claiming the Magic 2 is awful.

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Sorta, they are solid against clueless players or trying to make people bleed speed. Unfortunately the cons of the Saab 105 and it’s flight performance far out way the benefits of its aim 9b missiles.

It’s part of the reason I doubt we’ll ever see the XT because the flight performance is so atrocious

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Ehhh its useful enough. Rather have them than not right? I dont actually have the SAAB 105 only the SK60 but I think its similar isnt it? Flight performance wise I mean

Heavier with no thrust reverse and slightly better engines, dying to a Saab 105 in a gunfight is a skill issue especially with those guns it has.

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Imo id rather lose the missiles and it drop to 7.7 or 7.3 it’s like a worse J29A which is already mediocre at 7.7

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I dont recall anyone saying they are awful at 8.3. They are the worst/2nd worst IR missile in game though.

Of course at 8.3-8.7, they work pretty well.

Lol

Fourth worse.
AIM-4F (or G I cant remember)
Firestreak
Red Top
9B

Pangolin and Tiger, I swear, they’re the same person but one is for Air and the other for Ground. If Naval actually had a player base, I wonder who would be Naval’s version.

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How about the SRAAM on the Harrier, I would put that within top 3, and move the 9B to 5th.

Ehhh they’re decent on the Hunter when they have the speed, on the Harrier they generally dont have enough speed to stabilise

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It doesn’t sucks just because you use it at 8.3, try it at 9.0 or 9.3 you will get a different opinion.

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I certainly wouldnt put the red top or firestreak below the aim9b.

Could you explain your reasoning for that ranking?

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there’s even a plane with 8x 9B only at 10.7

Red top pulls less but has slightly more range, bigger proxy fuse which is better and worse, so its about the same imo, firestreak is just bad

at that BR they’re OK

at any higher BR they’re not

It is also faster than the aim9b

In the case of the red top, it is only a positive because it has a huge warhead.

Though to disclose, i am biased with the red top due to me playing the hell out of the sea vixen.

Eh, fire streak just has the issue of energy retention.

The main issue with the fire streak is that basically whenever you have a jet with them, you also have red tops which are better. The javelin is not a great jet so im not sure if it is a missile issue or platform issue.

Has significantly more drag

Me too

Platform

Already tried that in full uptiers, my opinion continues the same