It’s incredibly frustrating not being able to lock onto helicopters in a Helicopter vs. Aircraft confrontation during a realistic ground match. I run into this situation often and am forced to take risks using the maneuvers I know for direct engagements with cannons.
As far as I know, aircraft radars are efficient against helicopter systems so much so that we can look at aircraft used by Ukraine against Russian helicopters in conflict as an example. How can an F-16 have difficulty maintaining a radar lock on a helicopter, no matter the nation? This issue is even more common in medium BR matches, where aircraft like the JA37 at 11.0 and other jets between 10.0 and 10.7 can’t maintain the lock needed for their radar-guided missiles to hit them.
Sometimes we have to get as close as 1.0 km to launch an infrared missile that would normally lock at 3.0 km. If you want to use radar missiles, you’ll have to “try” continuous tracking from extremely high altitudes. Even if your radar has Search PD, allowing a perfect lock on targets close to the ground without interference, it still won’t hold because, for some reason, helicopters don’t need much effort to break radar locks from jets.
If you agree with what I said, please share your experience regarding this issue. Helicopters have indeed become incredibly frustrating and nearly unbeatable by radar missiles from 10.0 to 11.3 aircraft that rely on continuous target lock. This is especially problematic for all aircraft that need to get within 1.5 km or less to finally lock their infrared missiles—whether AIM-9Ms or others used.