The SPAAG\SAM situation

Game Discussion Arcade Battle
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1

Lately i’ve been playing alot of the new 9.3-7 and up BR’s in GFAB.
This is where you see the first SAM’s and Prox armed SPAAG’s & SAM.
I mostly use Ocelot, Gepard A2, and the CV9040 LVKV and LVRVB 701, i also tried most of the other similar type vehicles in Testdrive.

Is it just me or are these vehicles becoming less and less effective every update?
For me:

  • Ocelot , Type 93 and other IR tracking SAM only vehicles are FUBAR, They can only fire at air and are defenseless against GF, since air in GFAB is always spaded, they come equipped with flares, so you will never get a lock if they remember to use them;

  • SPAAG with canon and SAM: Gepard, LAV AD, Machbet, SIDAM 25 Mistral: have the same SAM weakness but at least can throw lead at the problem in various degrees of success.

  • what bugs me from my playing experience is that the Stinger and similar weapons, they take a very long time to lock onto the target, unlike the Strela which can fire after one second if not almost immediate.

  • then there are the SAM, with missiles that can be used against GF, with various degrees of success against mostly lights;

  • again the LVRVB 701 is a laser (beam) guided missile but if you lock the target, the radar is fooled by flares?

  • and as always the are squishy and die to HMG or AC with ease but still cost as much as an MBT and planes kills will net nice scores but not much SL in the long run.

your thoughts / experiences?

2

I fly CAS and also play AA, so I’m going to be commenting from both sides of it.

Gun AA is somewhat irrelevant of a threat, due to people not using them correctly. But when used correctly, it’s quite concerning to approach the battlefield. Except the gepard. Gepard can be used by a moron and still end up with some degree of success. IR SAMs guidance, in my experience, has been pretty consistent on both the launch end, and the receiving end regarding tracking. The issue with them is that those who fly cas are starting to learn to evade them.

The Lvkv 9040 is my personal preference for AA, or the ASRAAD, and they are pretty consistent. Wouldn’t really compare anything to the Strela, thing’s fucked. I’ve yet to have a Mistral fail to connect on an aircraft, but they do miss helis relatively often. But regarding the lock on time, I haven’t used stingers outside of helis, and they always seem to be on target pretty much immediately, and the mistral also tracks pretty much immediately.

Stingers run into the issue of being pretty consistent to flare if you fly properly, but it goes for most IR missiles except the Strela. Might just be I haven’t worked out how to flare the Strela tho.