Why are these things going in to the ground on rear aspect shots while the plane they’re locked to isn’t flaring?
Nobody, ever:
10 Likes
If they flare immediately as it comes off the rail they do some weird things but otherwise this does not happen
they will ignore flares after a while but if youre good at preflaring you are safe.
9m is about as flarable as r73 in my experience, maybe the r73 is slightly stronger in rear aspect but the smokeless motor makes up for it
Probably because plane at top tier get a lot of CMs and people tend to pre flare more , which is easier than correctly flaring a AIM-9M/R-73. Not because it is easy to flare , people are evolving
Because they are terrible and the only people who couldnt dodge them couldnt understand you should do more than drop some flares then forget about it… But just so you understand how easy dodging something that closes its eyes and goes to where you last heading if you head towards ground flare then not actually drive into the ground the 9M will
1 Like
Welcome to all IR missiles for me if I have flares I genuinely don’t have to do anything but turn engine off flare wait 2 seconds and im good lol. Even in top tier I think all IR missiles are a joke.
Unlike missiles like the Magic II and R-73 which are basically unflareable when fired at close range. Aim-9Ms are equally affected by CMs at any range, including pointblank. So if the target is able to flare, which switches the seeker off, and then maneuver succesfully to avoid the missile. Then the Aim-9M can be defeated any distance (in theory)
Its less so they are worse or better. They are just different. They are also the weakest in a dogfight, with far less off-boresight ability, which also makes them feel worse in a very close range brawl compared to the others. You’ll feel this if you try to dogfight a Rafale in the Typhoon. Getting a shot off is much harder.
Aim-9Ms are best used when being more sneaky, or longer ranged shots. Which is why them having ahistorical lock ranges (Currently just C&P from the 9L not the double 9L lock ranges they should be) is actually quite a major nerf for them. Way too often I’ll see on the radar display the target is well within range, maybe even entering the LSZ but I still dont have a lock to fire
4 Likes
I do not have the same issues I have with Aim-9Ms when I’m using Magic 2s.
If I toss a Magic 2 frontally it generally hits, same with from the side. Even from the back.
No matter the direction unless it’s from the rear but that’s not a guarantee I can’t get the Aim-9M to connect.
I see, well this unfortunately makes them generally unusable for common top tier engagements.
Huh odd… I never get hit by any IR missiles but at the same time avoid them like the plague due to them being pretty bad.
Thats correct, all US mains please stop using AIM9-M, they are very bad.
Unusable no. But you need to use them in a specific way.
In something like the Typhoon or F-15E. I would operate a little more defensively than I would if I was in the Rafale
Finally someone who actually understands the IRCCM differences