The Su-7 series

Machinery of War Discussion Aircraft
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Do you enjoy these planes at it’s current BR?
  • Yes, they are at the correct BR for their capabilities
  • No, they are at too high of a BR for their capabilities
  • No, they are at too low of a BR for their capabilities
  • See results
0 voters

Su-7, Su-7BKL, and of course the Su-7BMK

Recap

These planes are 9.3 (as of today), and they will frequently get up-tiered into 10.3

Supersonic at around mach 1.05, decent turn rate without bleeding all its speed

2x 30mm cannons with 160 ammo with CCIP
Light bomb load (4x ZB-360) but no bomb CCIP
Up to 96 S-5K rockets with CCIP

No AAM, No flares

Opinion after 150 ARB battles

This plane is not particularly good

This should come as no surprise since the Su-7BMK was removed from sale, and then had it’s bomb CCIP removed

It’s main strength is it’s speed
It’s weakness is everything else

Ground pounding

The 30mm does short work of light pillboxes and ground units. But with only 160 shots, short precise bursts are required to conserve ammo. Doing this leaves the aircraft vulnerable, it’s important to keep the speed up and eyes on the map/radar/rear, as missiles are a-plenty at this BR.

Base bombing

It has 4 ZB-360 fire bombs that can take out 1-2 bases. Note these bombs drop in pairs. Reaching these bases however will prove to be a challenge, as there are faster aircraft, noticeably the AV-8C, that will reach the bases before the Su-7.

Air-to-air

I don’t engage in air-to-air combat. The Su-7 needs to dogfight and get it’s guns on target, or boom-and-zoom. Doing this generally leaves the craft very vulnerable to getting “third-partied” (i.e a 2nd enemy shows up).

Generally an air-to-air engagement with the Su-7 will revolve around it out-running enemies while dodging missiles, waiting for the enemy to either retreat or get taken out by a teammate. In the rare cases where it’s a 1-on-1, it can dogfight well enough with it’s swept wings and after-burning engine.

Spading

If missile evasions gave RP, spading it would be an easy task. Limited ammo for the guns and base competition makes the task pretty difficult in ARB. In GRB, if the enemy team has no SPAA, the Su-7 can be effective with CCIP for guns and rockets.

Rating

Personally I rate this aircraft the worst at 9.3 from my experience. There are contenders for the spot, such as the F100D, but bad planes around this BR generally either have AIM-9Bs or are lower BR than the Su-7. I’ve gotten 9.X planes from USA, USSR, UK, and France, maybe there are worst planes out there that I haven’t had the displeasure to fly?

TL;DR

In summary, this is a supersonic plane with no missiles and no flares at BR where most planes are supersonic and have missiles. In ARB you can try to compete for a base or use CCIP guns to hit pillboxes. In GRB, CCIP tanks and hope no one spawns a SPAA.

All-in-all, I enjoy this fast aircraft, but the BR it’s at makes it frustrating to play. It’s not fast enough to get to the bases fight, and there’s only so many missiles you can dodge until running out of energy (my record is 5 AIM-9G/AIM-9D).

Feel free to share your experience with the Su-7 air-crafts, especially if you think it’s fine at 9.3 in ARB.

2 Likes
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I am not entirely surprised tbh, but it is after all a supersonic and extremely fast jet. Vs things like MiG-23BN at 9.7 it does obviously have a disadvantage, but that is almost just bomb CCIP. With perspective from things like Q5 at higher BR, which I have plenty of experience, Su7s require a more careful flight avoiding enemies but at base bombing extremely efficient.
I think currently it is 100% doable at 9.3, whether in the future decompression it is lowered or need to stay the same I think it much to Gaijin’s decision.

3 Likes
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The entire br bracket from 8.0 to 10.0 has been a mess ever since missiles and supersonic jets where added

1 Like
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I’ve mostly played SU-7BKL and it seems fine. Virtually untouchable in the same BR.
However, in the slightest overtier things get tricky. AIM-9Gs start from 9.7 , which is the next step in Br, so in that case never stay for a fight , with your best bet IF you spot them, turn of the engine and pull…
And then they higher you go in BR, the more troublesome it gets…

Then why i say it seems fine…? Because against the same BR is fine… Whatever problem you run to with a 9.3 plane others of the same BR have it double. It doesn’t matter if they carry ancient type missiles (AIM-9B for example) , since the problem is mostly what the opponents carry…and you’ll have same issues, but be slower, or less agile or less energy retention…things that can count more in keeping you alive.

For the other end, anything below 9.3 won’t be able to keep up with you anyway… and even 9.3s like 104 won’t be able to dogfight you…

5

According to this, it can take out 2 bases in a downtier, and 1 base in an uptier

The real issue is getting to a base, and most matches are uptiers

I’dd argue just being able to run away from fights isn’t fine, but for it’s role as a bomber it works. But in reality it’s going to be in a higher BR match. Even if it’s 2-3 planes with missiles, it only takes 1 to kill the Su-7, and every player at this BR knows it’s defenseless

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As i said in the slightest over, things get tricky. But they should be if you play overtiered…
And i don’t think any 9.3 fares better against AIM-9D/G for example…

It is fine to run for its role and if you feel confident, you go release bombs, then do some BnZ in the comeback or clean someones 6 for some extra rewards.

It’s not a bad plane… but the overtiering in this specific BR 9.3 makes any of them unplayable, all 9,3s
. At 10.0/10.3 you even face SHARs making head -on meetings dangerous as well (if they find an angle).

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All of the Su-7 variants are the biggest pieces of turd possibly imaginable. They ABSOLUTELY SUCK at even existing. Constant uptiers to 10.3, where you face AIM-L that delete you from 7km frontal aspect even if you try to evade because of how much energy this bleed with the slightest movement. Even at 9.7, you cant defend against AIM-9Ps or AIM-9D/Es. I have not had a single pure 9.3 game. Even then, you will face other planes that have AIM-9Bs, which you have to slightly move to evade. Then you lose all your speed and the enemy planes will catch you in a dog fight, which you have exactly 0 chances of winning. And this thing rips its wings at Mach 1 at ground level if loaded with bombs. Not that it can actually exceed it, due to the absolutely broken air drag that it has.

This thing absolutely needs to be taken down to 9.0 for the Su-7B/BK variants and given R-3S for the Su-7BKL.

Its mind boggling how the Yak-38M has R-60Ms, better flight model which is better at turning, energy retention and acceleration at the same BR as the Su-7, which has … only guns.

tl;dr - flying this plane in AirRB with the intention of spading it will make you question your life choices. You will have probably more success if you try to spade it in 9.3 GRB.

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Supersonic planes don’t below below 9.3.

BR compression is just really severe at those BRs, and many planes suffer from it.