Currently, the CS/SA-5 severely underperforms in the game, largely because the FB-10A missile is modeled completely incorrectly .
First and foremost, the most critical error is the missile’s dimensions. In the game, the FB-10A has a diameter of 160mm and a length of 2.25 meters — this deviates extremely from reality. As shown in the image below, FB-10A’s launch tube is exceptionally long – exceeding 40% of the overall vehicle length(approximately 8m). This indicates the launch tube surpasses 3 meters in length.
It’s ridiculous to load a missile barely over two meters long into a launch tube more than three meters long. So, what should be the actual length of the FB-10A? I couldn’t find public data, but we can roughly estimate it from the picture.
The image is from last year’s Zhuhai Airshow, and the missile on the far left is the FB-10A. We know that the PL-11 is approximately 3.7 meters long. Based on the scale, the FB-10A is about 2.8 meters long, with its booster section measuring around 1.9 meters.
Due to the game’s incorrect missile length (2.25m in-game vs 2.8m IRL), critical parameters like weight(65kg,too light) and thrust are compromised. This currently renders the FB-10A incapable of reaching its 18-km range.
I’m attempting to redesign the FB-10A using various publicly available information sources to create one that better matches IRL.You can download this BLK file for custom game testing – personally, I consider the values to be fairly accurate. Next, I’ll briefly explain what the FB-10A should realistically look like.
130mm_fb_10at.blk (13.9 KB)
The in-game FB-10A features a booster with a diameter of 160mm. Now that we know the actual length of FB-10A is 2.8 meters, we can identify a missile with notably similar structure and specifications — the RAM Block II, which has a total weight of 88kg. Since the FB-10A lacks a passive radar seeker, its weight might be marginally reduced. However, the RAM Block II’s weight may serve as a suitable preliminary estimate for the FB-10A.
Regarding the missile’s motor: Firstly, RAM Block II is claimed to have 30% more propellant weight than early RAM models, which used the Mk39 mod8 engine loaded with 27.27kg of HTPB. Thus, if the FB-10A uses a similar engine, its propellant weight should be approximately 35.5kg. Assuming a specific impulse of 2400, the total impulse of the missile would be 85kN·s.
Simultaneously, Chinese air-to-air missiles feature comparable engines: The PL-8 (Python 3) missile’s engine has a diameter of 160mm (identical to FB-10A) and a length of 1962mm (slightly longer than FB-10A), making it highly similar to FB-10A. Its total impulse is documented as 88.06 kN·s. Therefore, adopting 85 kN·s for FB-10A’s total impulse is entirely reasonable.
As for the specific thrust profile allocation, it remains challenging to calculate precisely. Based on the game’s datacard indicating a maximum missile speed of 725 m/s, I adopted the following thrust allocation:
- Booster: 18 kN thrust for 3 seconds (Δv ≈ 722 m/s)
- Sustainer: 3.44 kN thrust for 9 seconds (Δv ≈ 537 m/s).
This profile allows the missile to maintain an approximate cruising speed of 725 m/s during the sustainer working. After propellant depletion, the missile mass is 52.6 kg.
Regarding missile drag, I set the Cxk at 1.3, making the zero-lift drag of FB-10A approximately 1.1 × AIM-9X. Considering the missile’s 130mm nose diameter and relatively clean aerodynamic profile(devoid of large wings or control surfaces)—this value is acceptable.
In tail-chase scenarios against low-altitude targets:
- At 10 km range, residual speed = 1.48 Mach (≈500 m/s)
- At 12.4 km, residual speed = 1 Mach (≈340 m/s)
- At 18 km, residual speed = 0.56 Mach (≈190 m/s), just sufficient to sustain level flight.
