They should be more transparent about that, why make it 165 mm in the first place?
When Gaijin changed AIM-9D/G/L, Dev told us that they use their made up data, so it matches the charts, which it does (because their system isn’t perfect and cannot match real world atmosphere and physics so close).
There have been numerous mistakes lately even in basic FM dimensional data.
thing is, it doesn’t perform according to the charts, not to mention we don’t have any charts anywhere, more like bits of sources scattered here and there
MICA missile missing some kinetic energy // Gaijin.net // Issues
Conclusion of the acknowledged report is that the missile is missing substantial speed, which will lead to reduced drag as the motor’s delta v is already 1100m/s+
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Taking into account the effects of gravity (9.8×6.75s=66mps), it is unlikely that a rocket with dv 1100mps can reach Mach 3 (3700kph/1028mps) when launched vertically at sea level, unless the air resistance is close to 0?
The missile itself is not traveling completely vertically into the air, but rather it turns and travels horizontally while reaching Mach 3. Consider that the Mistral missile which is an older and lighter missile can travel Mach 2.6 in 2.2 seconds. This is modeled in-game and is accurate to irl performance which I’ll link below. So MICA EM with a more aerodynamic head than Mistral, while also being a newer missile isn’t far-fetched to be believed to be a Mach 3 missile in vertical launch. Don’t forget that the VT1 missile is also a Mach 3 missile, and this is an older missile than MICA EM.
Mistral missile has an incorrect implementation of motor. // Gaijin.net // Issues
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3.6 Mach, to be exact
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Yup, and lighter and older than MICA.
The mach 3 figure is still unlikely because the required deltaV isn’t pushed in the boost stage, the sustainer can only maintain a certain airspeed… Not increase it. Especially not in lower altitudes. A peak speed of mach 3 may only be achievable in a very specific trajectory.
I think mach 3 is referenced but only applies to air launched configuration to say that it can do mach 3 + launch speed. This is of course understating the true capability from air launch.
Explain more? All fox 3s “sustainers” increase the airspeed of the missiles rather than maintaining the airspeed.
Yes, it is expected that Mach 3 is only achieved in a specific trajectory. Testing showed the highest achieved was Mach 2.54 currently rather than Mach 3.
It is specifically stated for Mach 3 in vertical launch. Mach 4+ can be found for air launched.
Most fox-3 do not continue to increase speed in very low altitude launches. They will reach the peak rather quickly.
The increase comes from higher altitude lower drag flight, but is still penalized more by the poor acceleration - having to overcome drag for longer.
I will have to test this and get back to you, I’m pretty sure most missiles in-game with sustainers continue to increase speed, even R-27ER which continues to accelerate with its sustainer, and this is the case presumably for R-77-1, AIM-120A, and etc.
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MBDA presentations is reliable in that what can be shown is the floor or bare minimum. Even the current MICA figures are still understated values, although we have to model what is stated. To provide an example, take a look at this:
This is in the current modern brochure you can readily find online:
Note the 30G at 12km figure
Now this is what I came across when I went through MBDA archive websites:
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So you can see here that modern brochures may state possible 30G at 12km but in older archives, 30G is possible still past 12km.
In-game, the MICA does not have the energy or speed to be able to do 30G at 13km let alone 12km. Maybe it is a mixture of loft guidance and speed. It is likely that developers will take a look at its trajectory/guidance logic before they start reducing the drag on the MICA, similar to what they have done for AIM-120A.
I still think that’s the impulse rating, which would give you a fuel mass of 30.55kg.
sustainers mostly do increase the speed indeed, no matter the launch parameters.
Of course they’ll increase the speed more or less depending on launch parameters (mainly if fired at low speed, or at high altitude, and even more if there’s a combination of the 2)
If launched vertically with a straight up trajectory, the missile will be 4000m at least by the time it reaches its peak velocity, where mach 3 would be 974 m/s
If the target is lower, the missile will do a turn and lose less energy to gravity, although it will probably lose more to drag induced by high AoA. Not sure it would reach mach 3 in that case, maybe more around M 2.85-2.9.
Still, to the present day, and after testing multiple scenarios (straight vertical shot to high target, straight up to middle altitude target, and shot on lower target), the best i could reach was M 2.56 at 2000m or 851 m /s. So basically 250 m/s lost on the initial DV
The missile was also below M0.9 at 12km after no aggressive maneuvering, meaning it wouldn’t be able to pull the advertised 30G at this range
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https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/i/fVxq4GpLjbPO
MICA EM is missing over-the-shoulder capability
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Where does the assumption that it will be able to reach a peak speed of 974 m/s at 4km come from? Is that in-game data?
With 1,100 m/s deltaV that is already quite spectacular.
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