The first ARH missile carriers are appear in 13.0: AV8B+ J8F Ja37Di F4FKWS LV
Those early ARH planes have their reason to stay in 13.0 except F4FKWS LV
AV8B+: 2xAim-9M+4xAim-120, F/A-18 radar, all direction RWR but a subsonic flight structure
J8F: 4xPL8+2xPL12, f16 code radar, all direction RWR but only 2 ARH missile and a triangle structure
JA37Di:2xAim-9L+4xAim-120, 4 direction RWR, and the worst flight performance in 13.0
But lets see what F4F ICE got in 13.0
4xAim-9Li+4xAim-120, same F/A-18 radar, all direction RWR, and a new engine that can cover the disadvantage that old engine brought to F4 structure
No matter in both armament or in electric equipment, the F4F ICE are all in advance compare to other 13.0 jets.
compare to ICE, the Tornado F.3 Late seems unreasonable to stay in 13.3
4xAim-9m+4xAim-120 sounds great, but since Tornado do not have a all-aspect radar and the HMD, also the returning performance is a disaster, so the missile can not performance well on this plane.
Also the engine perform badly on this plane due to the heavy structure, usually when the plane start to turning, it will suddenly drop under 1 mach, and it is difficult for Tornado to accelerate back to 1 mach during the battle.
Base on the information mentioned above, it is unreasonable for F4F ICE to stay in 13.0 and Tornado stays in 13.3
Tornado F3 player here. They do have an all-aspect radar. it might be the best all-aspect radar in game.
The greatest weakness of the F3 currently is actually CMs. BOL is artifiically nerfed to be 1/4 the strength it should be and this results in the vast majority of both flares and chaff on the F3 to be nearly useless.
Fixing BOL and/or adding the currently misisng Phimat pods (216 large chaff) that can be equipped in place of an Aim-9 or instead of the tanks, would make the Tornado F3 Late appropriate for 13.3 quite readily.
That being said, ICE has no buissness remaining at 13.0. It so completely outclasses all the other 13.0s its actually insane, especially when you look at what can face it like the Phantom FGR2.
My apologies I didnβt express clearly. Tornado F.3 actually got the head-on PD radar not the all aspect PD radar like f16 or f15. The scanning rate is good, but still compare to the top tier PD radar itβs still weaker.
I think adding new pods can not solve the problem. Because greatest weakness is the body of tornado. Its too heavy to do all the staff. For example, it needs to take a very long distance to get in 39 position when you are defending, and at the same time your speed will drop significantly, from 1mach to 800km/h, and the missile will still hit. Also in the lower air, it does not point smoothly which means you need a few time to put your dogfight locking square on the enemy, and the time you wasted is deadly to yourself since it need a long time to get in defense position
You can lock onto targets in rear-aspect with the Tornado F3s PD radar rather effectively. Whilst its not MPRF it is all-aspect still.
Iβve personally not really had any major issues notching in time with the F3.
This is likely the BOL nerfs, you need about 50 BOL Chaffs to equal the performance of 1 large calibre chaff when it comes to defeating an ARH missile. Not that big of a difference in the story when it comes it IR missiles.
But still this plane perform badly in both higher and lower air. take almost 30s to return for one lap, and the accelerate to higher attitude compare to other 13.0 or 13.3 plane is still weaker