I made the mistake of buying the Tornado and it is only good in Sim if you ask me and a radar would be AWESOME as everyone else radar hunts you and it would be nice to have eyes as well.
But having a radar that always find ships and no anti ship armaments is kind of dumb.
I’m always bombing ships the hard way.
What naval Tornado version?!?
The WTD61 (Wehrtechnische Dienststelle, a test department of the German armed forces) variant is just a specific aircraft used by said test department, and in no way a naval(ized) version.
The event vehicle MFG 1(Marinefliegergruppe 1) is also just a land based Tornado, but operated by the German Navy instead of the Air Force, and - contrary to the other variants - also equipped with the Kormoran anti ship missile.
Worst premium in the game.
This plane is so bad it feels like a scam.
You’re so slow that you won’t even make it to drop bombs on a base - others will always get there faster. As a flying brick… your chances of success are minimal.
Ive been playing a bit of the GR1 since it finally got moved down to 11.3 and have been reliably getting base kills despite actually being weaker than the WTD61 (weaker engines)
How many bombs are you running?
12x 1000lb
2x AIM-9L
2x CMS
Dont run 12x 1000lbs.
For 3 main reasons
Diminishing returns - The more bombs you take, the less reward you actually get. if you can get 2 bases you will earn more than just 1x base with less bombs taken, but the rewards are heavily reduced
That increase in mass and drag will result in you barely ever getting 1 base, let alone 2
There is rarely enough targets for everyone only taking 1 base each. So most of the time, you’ll be dumping those bombs on nothing.
Switch to this loadout:
2x Aim-9Ls
2x BOZ
5x MK83s on the belly
45-50 minutes of fuel should be enough for a bomb run, though run max internal fuel if you want a little bit of leeway afterwards.
Ive also had some success with 40 minutes of fuel and combat tanks, that way I can ditch them if I need a sudden weight reduction, but it also means dealing with higher initial drag
not an option for the WTD61 at the moment, but if you get the MFG, or GR1, or the ASSTA1 ever gets AS-34s, then some ASMs on the wing pylons work kinda well too on some maps, yeet them at long range for a little extra score
(In theory, 5x MK83s is enough to kill a base, but it wont die straight away, it will tick down slowly when the base gets low enough, Run 6 though if you are worried about this)
This reduction in weight and drag will allow you to keep pace with other aircraft and in theory actually get base kills. Also the Tornado IDS handles a lot better when running a lighter warload.
Then, once you’ve dumped your bombs, go hunting. When lower on fuel as well as out of bombs, the Tonka can be okay in a fight if you are careful and make use of the combat flaps. Though try to third party.
I’ll try it, thanks. :)
How to make WTD61 worth its money
Add HARM to it…
Gaijin: nuh uh…
The IDS WTD61 being my first premium, it was amazing when it was 10.7 because yeah, no decent radar and only dumb bombs it should be (even if IRL it could carry much more than that). Then it got upped to 11.0 with zero new equipment, and it was… okay, I guess? It is literally unplayable at 11.3 where you constantly get thrown against very-non-russian-bias or usa-number-one 12.3 and get demolished before you even get the chance to approach the base to bomb it. While every other 11.3 is just faster and lighter, like the MiGs who have napalm bombs.
No, you won’t convince me otherwise, I will not rest until the WTD61 is back on 10.7 or gets decent weaponry. This premium plane feels like a scam.
It wont ever go down to 10.7, just look at the ground attackers at 10.7 like the Jaaaaaags.
11.0… maybe… but I still dont consider it likely. I think the biggest hope for it would be decompression.
As for weaponry, the only weapon I can think of that would be ideal would be the addition of CBUs. Nothing else could be added to the WTD61 without massively increasing its GRB rating or ARB rating.
But playing the actually weaker GR1 since it got moved down to 11.3, its fine. You can usually make it to bases and even get a few kills, of course uptiers suck though.
I couldve told you that before it got upped from 10.7 lol
Wasn’t there a ‘big’ decompresion around that time, that extended the BR scale and moves quite a few aircraft up?
Again, it:
…shares ARB BR with AV-8B (Mavericks), F-5C (Bullpups), Su-39 (Kh-25, Kh-29L, Kh-29TE)
…shares GRB BR with Yak-38 (Kh-23M and a buttload of unguided rockets), and AV-8A (ZUNIs, Mighty Mouses)
…doesn’t get even one guided bomb, less so AGMs.
…and that’s just USA and USSR.
Yeah nah I’m not buying that line of reasoning.
NOT TO MENTION how bad unguided bombs are in GRB. No kidding, I dropped a series of ALL 12 BOMBS on ONE anti-aircraft gun in battle, and guess what? “Hit” god dammit.
and?
With the current state of ARB, not a single one of those listed weapons are ever actually worth taking, except maybe for a few easy AI kills on the way to PvP. If the Tonka even had any of those as an option it would be just to grab 1-2 AI kills on the way to taking out a base. Youd still be taking 5-6 Mk83s to take out a base as well.
In the GR1 I have access to PGMs and I literally never take them because they are more hassle than they are worth.
Its 9.7. With a boat load of unguided bombs and an amazing kit for that BR. only 0.3 lower is the Buc S2 which is subsonic, no A2A (not even a gun), and with CM pods, has less unguided bombs.
Im almost of the opinion 9.7 is actually too low for it.
I want a WTD61 equivalent for Britain for GRB. Id use it all the time in my 10.7 lineup, let alone 9.7 lineup.
And again. The better upgrade to retain its lower BR advantage by avoiding guided weapons would be CBUs. BL755 and MW-1 would be epic weapons for the WTD61 to get, but wouldnt necessarily increase its BR too excessively. They would be very fun weapons
Has no AGM options, but the GBUs would up its BR to 11.3 in GRB, making it a downgrade to the ASSTA1 and trust me, that BR sucks for the Tonka because there isnt much you can do vs most of the SPAAs you can encounter.
Never had much of an issue myself. Done plenty of high-alt CCRP bomb drops using unguided bombs from the Jaaag and gotten kills before, and thats at 10.3/10.7.
Try switching to impact fuse on the bombs with high drag bombs if you are doing low level runs. Bombs get a bit wierd with long fuse times in GRB
Have you played on any of the German Tornados? I do regularly play the WTD61, and when the game demands I dodge 20 SARHs on my way to bomb one base, I’d say that’s a pretty bad experience. My friend who’s a real good pilot recommends against researching ANY German Tornados, as for the WTD61 he straight up said “you bought a turd, I’m sorry”
Ive extensively played the Tornado GR1 (identical except it has weaker engines) and the Tornado GR4 (12.3 version) and I can routinely reach bases in both, in addition to a track record with beating aircraft I have no buissness beating in gunfights.
How many bombs do you run in ARB?
5 bombs, as per the recommendation of said friend. Again, I’ve learned notching, but ONE R-24R and I’m toast, and I have to dodge 2-3 of them on my way to a base! More often than not at once!
Then you’ve got the right loadout, but ive never experienced issues with dealing with SARH, with an excellent RWR, 1200 large chaff and Multi-pathing.
Heck. Try doing the same when dodging that many R-27ER, R-77 and Aim-54s. Now that is hard work. (GR4/SLE)
What alt are you flying at?
I try to be as close as I can to the ground, again said friend recommended I put safe RALT to 60, and I’ve been trying to fly as low to the ground as I can basically. I’m not sure if it’s because these specific rockets from Viggens and MiGs are pulse-doppler but flying low and constantly throwing chaff doesn’t work, notching usually does unless there’s more than one.