Hello, Im having a bit of trouble trying to figure out what USSR plane to use as CAS. I’m currently sitting on 9.7 RB with my line-up, but my CAS gameplay (plane only) is close to non existent.
For both 9.3 and 9.7 i use the Su-7BKL but it seems like a bad vehicle for ground RB, on paper it seems powerful with its engine and bomb/unguided missile loadout. Though it bleeds speed a lot, turns pretty bad and does not have any countermeasures where others do have them including all-aspect missiles: resulting in 2 out of 3 times to get shot down by SAM before i get a chance to get near the battlefield. My usual loadout is either 6 OFAB-250 or 4 FAB-500, sadly due to the recent patches the Su-7 now drops them in pair of 2 instead of individually. I tried using the rockets too but: S-24 does not overpressure at some moment where it should, S-3K do not do any damage when directly hitting the target and i didn’t even bother to try out the S-5K loadout due to small HEAT pen that it carries.
So im just wondering if i am playing the vehicle wrong or if there are better options for me to try. I do have the Yak-38M, Yak-28B and MiG-21S, so im curious to see what other people use in this BR range as CAS and what their loadout and tactic is. It would help me a lot to progress faster and utilize CAS better. :D
MiG-21S is a Jack-of-all-trades type vehicle, it does get CCIP? I can’t remember, but I have a special interest on the Su-7B vehicles, they look so cool, unfortunately you can’t carry any air-to-air missiles, so you must rely on the speed.
It all depends on your gameplay style and the scenario, MiG-21S has access to missiles which can be good for a situation when there are enemy planes, in other hand with Su-7 either you have to risk or rely on ally, it’s the type of plane that you only attack the ground and leave the place fast as possible.
With Rockets you got both, S-24 are not the best but if you know how to precisely place them, they can be useful, with bombs, both can be good, unfortunately, accordingly with the Wiki the MiG-21S (R-13-300) doesn’t have CCIP for bombs, but it have missiles which can be good in certain situations, Su-7BKL doesn’t have but can carry more air-to-ground weapons,
If you add S-24 to the pods 1 and 6, and FAB-500M-54 in the pods 2 to 5 should be a good option for ground only with the Su-7BKL.
You could use MiG-21S or Yak-38 series, both of which have rocket pod aiming computers, making them quite suitable for this high-tier ground battles.
I wouldn’t recommend Su-7 series, as the Su-7BKL/BMK will be losing all ballistic computers in the next major update, rendering it incapable of any sort of bomb aiming calculations.
Yak-28B could be a backup option; it carries a single 3000kg bomb with a 43-meter kill radius. I consider it a jet-powered Pe-8 – poor survivability, a one-shot deal, and a high risk of friendly fire, but worth considering if you’re feeling adventurous
no way the Su-7 is being nerfed even more… then it might as well go down in BR in every range. Yeah then ill stick to the MiG-21S with Rockets for 9.7 and Yak-38M for 9.3 and use rockets again. 9.3-9.7 is such a weird strike aircraft br. Not to mention what Su-17M2 is supposed to do on 10.0 ground with no countermeasures.
Thank you for the tips and information, i appreciate it a lot :D
PFM with Kh-66 is quite fun, and was pretty good. Su-7 if you like being fast and dropping lots of heavy bombs. Yak-38 has S-5KP, decent pen with lots of ammo, plus CCIP.
ah yeah the MiG-21PFM, i was actually thinking of buying that. But i decided to buy the MiG-21S and its pretty good for its price, maybe next time ill get thet thing, i heard in terms of MiG-21 its the worst