The "Silent Killer" Missile - MBDA MICA - Performance and Discussion Thread (WIP)

[vizender]

@Morvran_

IRIS-T only does 50G in game as of right now. With 50G+ for the MICA EM with these proposals… MICA IR could end up out pulling IRIS-T.

MICA remains 50G, not 50G+. It does spike quite a bit in game with the proposal, but averages at 50, just like most high maneuvering missiles

@Morvran_

Depends on how the choose to model the ASRAAM. Could end up with Mach 3 max

Nah, I think there are sufficient sources now to report it correctly. It should accelerate much faster than MICA, so overall better time to hit.

@Flame2512

Does MICA EM even need to have it’s range increased?

If DeltaV is reduced, it is likely EM would have to have a better range, either through better lofting or drag reduction (or both ?). MICA IR with the current drag and less DeltaV would probably reach 60km with enough KE to maneuver against none defending (but somewhat maneuverable) planes

[Xeno_quaza]

Ngl if the mica EM got time to hit to gain values i feel like that alone would fix a lot of it’s issues, although i see why it doesn’t with the whole mica IR not being able to use them.

[vizender]

I don’t think anyone over than you mentioned 50G+. I did say in the video that MICA peaked at 55G, but this is part of the high oscillating nature of missiles in game. It does average at 50G maximum

Edit : I don »t know if IRIS-T exhibit the same pattern tho, but if not it would probably mean it’s actually underperforming

[UNN_Daedalos]

@vizender

If DeltaV is reduced, it is likely EM would have to have a better range, either through better lofting or drag reduction

Most likely indeed

Aster is slightly more draggy in game compared to MICA, and can not reach anywhere close to the time-to-hit values it is supposed to achieve, nor the range, for that matter

[vizender]

@UNN_Daedalos

Aster is slightly more draggy in game compared to MICA, and can not reach anywhere close to the time-to-hit values it is supposed to achieve, nor the range, for that matter

Yeah, it goes subsonic in less than 40km, despite being a 120+ km missile. It’s not just « a bit draggy » at this point

[Morvran]

@Zannafrancy

Missiles can pull very hard without needing vectoring and mica can pull harder than 50g irl

This was the only reference I could find, though Im fairly certain I saw someone else mention it as well.

[Morvran]

Stat card lists 50G. Which is what im basing it on, not actual averages.

Might be higher thanks to air launch, though if MICA VL can be used for MICA EM then IRIS-T should be usable for IRIS-T SLE

[vizender]

@Morvran_

This was the only reference I could find, though Im fairly certain I saw someone else mention it as well.

Well, you can be assured, all primary and trustable secondary sources stated 50G for the missile, so it should not be 50G+. IRIS-T should still be better in turnfights. AIM9X as well most probably, just like r73 currently is

[DirectSupport]

@Flame2512

MICA can’t pull more than 50g.

In-game or IRL?

[Morvran]

Still further than the SAMP/Ts radar can lock though. So doesnt need to be able to hit anything at 120km

[DirectSupport]

@Flame2512

Does MICA EM even need to have it’s range increased? It has already been demonstrated that it can hit a head on target when fired at a range of 80 km; and to my knowledge no one has claimed it should have a maximum range of more than 80 km.

Primary source does show it has a range of further than 80km, but who knows what the true answer is. Not much to be gained from “80km+”.

[UNN_Daedalos]

We could move this to the SAMP/T thread, but basically since the time-to-hit is higher than what it should be, even with the 40km Arabel limitation, you can’t hit targets as reliably

Effective range of 20km for a 100-120km range SAM is insanely broken

[Flame2512]

@DirectSupport

In-game or IRL?

IRL

[vizender]

@Morvran_

Stat card lists 50G. Which is what im basing it on, not actual averages.

Might be higher thanks to air launch, though if MICA VL can be used for MICA EM then IRIS-T should be usable for IRIS-T SLE

I’m referring to oscillations of the missile causing it to oscillate around its stated max G load. For example, for the MICA, it often oscillates 55G then 45G, with an average of 50G. Same goes for the magic 2, and r73. Basically all high maneuvering missiles do that when playing on servers.
So, for IRIS-T to actually do its stated range, it should indeed most probably exhibit the same pattern as the MICA.

You are also right about comparing air launched and ground launched. Missiles are identical on both platform so they should perform the same (minus the initial speed of the plane)

[DirectSupport]

Primary source states “>50G” but that also isn’t helpful unless another source is obtained that clarifies it.

[Morvran]

Right. So IRIS-T SLE should have a stated pull of more like 60-80G+ iirc.

Not 50G.

[vizender]

Radar had a hard limit bug of 20km in game.
For IRL performances, there’s actually some more info than just « 35km against maneuvering aircraft’s ». For example, we know that :

• it should detect the c22 drone at 35km
• it should detect f15 and su27 sized targets at 70km.

It looks like it was configured to these values in game, since max range is about 80km iirc, so for 3m^2 or medium sized fighters in game. The 20km limit was also removed

[Zannafrancy]

Kinda insane how irl aster 30 is limited by the radar yet in-game It doesn’t even get close

[Zannafrancy]

That is why sampt-ng exist

[Zannafrancy]

The radar on the sampt has a max range of 80 kilometers