To start off, no, this is not another CAS complaining thread. I greatly enjoy both playing SPAA and CAS of various types accross multiple BRs but I want to highlight some issues with them.
In this game, there are thousands of vehicles, all with their own strengths or advantages, however one type of such vehicles has been plagued with issues ever since its introduction. That class is missile-armed SPAA systems (aka SAM systems). These vehicles have surface to air missiles, from the FIM-92 to the 95Ya6 with sometimes a gun system to complement their kit. Most of these vehicles feature a search radar or IR system which offers them decent situational awarness and allows them to detect and engage targets from many kilometers away.
However, when matched against air vehicles of equal battle ratings, the match-ups are often quite unfair. If an aircraft commits to an attack run without having spotted an SPAA system, they will often be killed. However if an aircraft manages to spot or somehow evade the missile fired at them during the attack run, the SPAA instantly gains a massive disadvantage. While the aircraft can simply fly outside the SPAA’s range, the SPAA can often not hide due to lack of cover in and near the spawn areas and because of the very high danger of getting shot by an enemy tank if you move further away from it.
While at higher tiers with SACLOS SAM systems, it is possible to shoot down incoming munitions, even if you deplete an aircraft’s entire arsenal, they are able to safely return and land on their airfield while it is borderline impossible for the SPAA to reach a capture point to rearm (not to mention how long it takes to rearm an SPAA compared to an aircraft).
Moving back to the lower tier SAM systems that use IR guided missiles, the situation is completely different when facing helicopters. Due to how gaijin models helicopter heat signature, even starter helicopters can outrange most if not all IR guided missiles with the exception of the ones with Contrast Lock. In such cases, these SPAA systems often are unable to do anything to counter these helicopters, especially in maps where there is little to no cover within spawn areas.
While some systems like the Type 93 and Ozelot are able to sneak past enemies and get behind enemy lines so helicopters will not spot them, the rest are essentially helpless when facing a helicopter player that has even the most basic knowledge of how to play their vehicle.
This obviously causes some issues where very potent SPAA are often moved down in BR (or people complaining that X SPAA is underpowered), not because they are bad but because they will run out of ammunition quickly and die because of it (prime example is the Strela which is criminally undertiered).
What are the possible solutions to this though? For starters, the proposal by gaijin for constructable rearming points would greatly benefit a lot of high tier SPAA, offering them a chance to fight back against enemy aircraft and helicopters, requiring players to outsmart each other to actually win an engagement.
For the IR guided missile SPAA, a general remodel of the IR signature of helicopters would be a great start, taking into consideration the massive jet engine at the rear of the vehicle and the heat caused by friction of the air and the fuselage from the massive propeller constantly pushing air downwards.
TL;DR, SPAA CAN BE TOO GOOD BUT ALSO BAD AT THE SAME TIME BECAUSE OF HOW THEY ARE CURRENTLY IMPLEMENTED
I hope I put this in the correct category so it doesn’t get nuked
