Just curious, how do BOL flares compare to regular flares? Do they have the same 1/4 effectiveness?
On a Gripen they work completely fine, on an F-14B they are almost useless in rear aspect.
Great summary, thanks
1 Like
Yes, they have reduced Luminance (I assume the same reduction the chaff has) but also a reduction in burn time (which is accurate) so they are less effective for pre-flaring (this is the only nerf they really needed to apply to stop the pre-flare spam on the Gripen)
IRL, BOL Flares should have an effectiveness similar to large calibre CMs and be one of the only truly effective defences vs IIR seekers like those on the ASRAAM.
You can read Gunjobs bug report on the BOL flare changes here:
1 Like
That is the ultimate problem. The nerf was intended for the Gripen and is balanced fairly well, but every other BOL user got really screwed.
I wouldn’t say “screwed”. Having BOL pods is a great deal even for an F-14B. In many circumstances, the power/duration of your flare/chaff will be enough whenever you use 1 bol or 1 large. In the few that you need more, you just spam more.
The only problem I can forsee is that if you don’t have any large/normal flares and need to flare something in rear aspect in a gr7 for example. But you should use all your non-BOL countermeasures as flares only to remedy this.
Its not quite that simple though.
Airframes like the F3 have a tough time getting into the Notch super quickly and in my experience, often need to drop 30+ chaff to have the same kind of effect that dropping 2 or 3 large chaff (from something like the GR4) has. Quite often, you dont have time to get into the notch and drop that amount before dying.
With wise of the flares its much the same. Especially when combined with the Harrier Temp issues which result in them being some of the hardest aircraft to flare anything in. Having 1/4 strength BOL flares ontop of the ahistorical IR signature, is really punishing.
Its really time they fixed BOL and restored it to IRL performance.
I didn’t have this issue with the F3 personally, I spaded it some days ago. Sure it handles like a weighted brick, but if you are in the correct notch you will easily bait radar missiles with just a few bol chaff.
And then they always get you whenever you start doing the fun vtol shenanigans in a dogfight against someone else. IR seekers love that.
I’m all for it, but that could also mean raised BR’s for the bol carriers.
That is because VIFFs bleed speed and the Harriers engine produces more thrust at lower air speeds.
Higher thrust = hotter target.
Though IRL, VIFF should actually make it harder to lock on and easier to defeat IR seekers
Some maybe, others… I’d go as far as to say are under-BRed due to the CM issues, like the F3 Late and FA2 (especially when you consider airframes like the ICE at 13.0 compared to them)
Tornado F3 (one at 12.0) could move to 12.3. But other airframes like the Tornado Gr4 and Harrier Gr7 are already pretty high.
Yeah and the “hotspot” changes to a much larger picture instead of a rear aspect only.