There aren’t many 4+ and 4++ generation fighter jets left to add to the game, and the 5th generation is next in line.
As I see it, the main issue is that currently, very few countries possess their own mass-produced 5th generation fighters. To be precise, as far as I know, there are only three: the USA (F-22 and F-35), Russia (Su-57), and China (J-20 and J-31/35).
At the same time, the F-35 has been widely exported, meaning any country without its own 5th generation fighter can get an export version of the F-35. However, in my opinion, the F-35 is relatively weak compared to other fighters of its generation — it is slow and carries a limited air-to-air weapons load.
To address this issue, I propose merging the nations into two alliances after Rank IX: BLUFOR (NATO with the F-22 and F-35) and REDFOR (Russia + China with the Su-57, J-20, and J-31/35).
This would solve two problems:
By progressing through any nation’s tech tree, a player could obtain a competitive, heavily armed fighter (given that the context is NATO countries, this fighter is the F-22) rather than just the F-35.
In the case of the F-35, the player would be able to utilize the aircraft’s full available arsenal (for instance, the US F-35 cannot use the MBDA Meteor for obvious reasons).
F-22 would only excel in acceleration, super cruise, stealth and maneuverability, it would still be stuck with AMRAAMS (until AIM-260 is in service) meanwhile Eft, ravioli and gripen E would have meteors which would at least have seeker same as MICA EM, Gaijin will also most likely add the older F-22 with any modernization (maybe except for it to use AIM-120D, 9X and HMD) upgrades that it is supposed to get. So I don’t think F-22 will be that great
Gaijin could give American F-35 meteor as well due to compatibly (though unlikely but still there is a chance)
I think at this point it might be a good idea to look into more “Incomplete prototypes” (parially built/rear complete) for other nations.
For example Japan had a 5th gen project that went as far as physical prototypes for fuselage, weapons bay, engines, TVC and more after the F-22 export was denied, but decided to cancel it in favor of investing in a 6th gen that would then be made in time for equivalents from other nations while the current gap was filled with F-35 imports.
Two F-35 models (A/B) and this are still not equal to USA or China, especially when they can also get unfinished prototypes of their own (like Russia got the Yak-141 for example) but enough to still be a sufficient and interesting top tier for the nation.
There is also more complete/ongoing projects from future nations like the Korean KF-21 Block 3 or Turkish KAAN, and other potential unfinished prototypes (how viable they are depends on how complete they were, I wouldn’t know here sadly) like the BAE Systems Replica, so this is not just a one-nation thing even if it’s just the one I personally know.
And even beyond that, not every F-35 is equal, for example Israeli F-35I get domestic systems integration and compatibility with their missiles, British F-35Bs get ASRAAM and Meteor (potentially JNAAM if they allow prototype weapons) and so on, so theee would still be national distinctions even between them.
I don’t think this is a good idea. 5th generation aircraft like the F-22 and F-35C are among the major selling points of the US techtree simply becauye these weren’t exported, just copying them across “BLUEFOR” nations would take that away. The same of course goes for the other side too.
Russia can also already hold their own with multiple potential Su-57 variants and future Su-75, so they don’t need to merge with China either.
prob the 3 best stats you can be good at in war thunder, and considering the how meta the MICA is range isn’t much of an advantage VS a decent player, plus stealth kinda neutralizes the range advantage of the Meteor compared to the D-3 since you can get a bit closer for free
