Sure its not as good a the aim7m but definitely still usable and better then having no radar missiles at 13.0 or 13.3.
I have never had an issue with the BOL flares and you definitely can pre flare with them. i would always put automatic (periodic) release of flares on when in a dogfight or furball witch makes it very hard for people to shoot an IR missile at you because the seeker will lock the flares instead of the plane. and with like 60 flares putting the automatic release of countermeasures on is not a viable option.
Ehhh, they’re similar in performance I would say, radar missiles are very good now, and 9L works best at rear aspect than 9M, I wouldn’t put a 6x aim9M loadout above 4x9L + 2 7M, but a sidegrade
Eh… Less range, less nimble. No one uses it. Easily the worse SARH at that BR and one of the worst at 12+. They’d only run 9Ms.
As for BOL, the point is they are nerfed to hell. Flares are smaller than small calibre flares with less burn time. They should be equal to large calibre flares with less burn time. Same for chaff. They are currently less effective than small calibre chaff, they should be equal to standard calibre chaff. (All has been bug report for about 7 months)
I would rather have 4x9L + 2x7M than 6x9M in the current meta, I would consider those loadouts side grades, with different playstyles, but with only 9M you gotta act like support fighter and having no TWS for situation awareness to be able to survive up high and sneak above enemies makes the 9M only kinda meh in my opinion. This is about the F-16A with 6x9M, not a gripen which has better instruments for situation awareness
bring up the f15 and gripen and give the mlu its true loadout. dont complain about the belgian one which is literally older than the mlu and yet gets everything the mlu should
In fact, mounting 6 AIM9M is not as good as imagined, even in the face of the battle situation mainly composed of F4S and MIG23ML is very weak, you need to hover and wait in medium and high altitudes, dodge all the AIM54 and AIM7 that are coming at you, and you can only enter the combat zone to launch AIM9M when you are sure that the enemy’s high-altitude target leaves the high altitude or is not paying attention to you. When the Belgium F16A appears in a battle full of FOX3, there is no need to play, and the endless FOX3 will devour you
Well, 9Ls are from 1978 and 9Ms from 1983, only 5 years apart. So there are few aircraft that used the 9L but not the 9M. The only fighters really are the F-4S, F-4N, F-4E, F-20, and F-14A. Other nations (Germany, UK, Italy, Japan, etc) did use 9Ls more though, typically because 9Ms were not as available. The 9L was for example the only IR missile regularly carried by the F-4F post-Peace Rhine.
But “skipping a generation” isn’t new- the R-13M isn’t even in the game, despite being the main Warsaw Pact IR missile from the early 70s to mid 80s. Instead, aircraft are given either only R-3S or R-60s. Similarly, the AIM-4 family is excluded from the game in favour of AIM-9s and AIM-7s.
Alternatively, it’s similar to the R-60 of 1974 vs the R-60M of 1982. The only Soviet fighter with the R-60 but not the M is the SMT. But that doesn’t detract from the tree.
So, now that other F-16A users have destroyed the belgian F-16A (before complaining about it, it was planned at 13.0) despict the fact 9M can’t replace SARH, will it sit at this BR?
The whole game need more décompression, they just compress more top tier at this point.
As I said before, some 13.0 aircraft are way more capable than this poor belgian F-16A. I don’t see a reason to play it instead of F-16AM who is only 0.3 BR higher. Ridiculous.
This plane at 13.0 fighting other 13.0’s feels like getting a whole uptier, nevermind going to 13.7 almost all the time.
Aim-9m upgrade at the last rank makes this one if not the worst stock grind you can get in high ranks right now.
It’s just an F-16 ADF without radar missiles but with aim9-m and the ability to bring 90 or 180 extra countermeasures if you carry only 5 or 4 IR missiles respectively.
Gripen A is a straight upgrade with a similar role, Mirage4k is also 13.0 with more and better IR missiles (also radar missiles but not very good). F-15A, Mig29G, Su-27/J-11 and AV-8B+ completely outclass it. On top of that, it should never see 13.7 fox3 slingers…
Im stock grinding the Belgian F-16A and the F-16AJ at the same time. While abandoning 13.7 matches on both.
So far after about 10 played matches on each, the F-16AJ is much more reliable and at a lower BR.
3.3 kdr for the F-16AJ
1.3 kdr for the Belgian F-16A
So I think the Belgian F-16 could go down to 12.7 but preferably it stays at 13.0 and everything else above goes up except the Sea Harrier FA2. Top tier to 14.3 minimum
flying this jet is probably the most frustrating experience ive had yet. No reason this thing should sit at 13.0, none, gaijin. Fix your fucking game, fix the god damn balance.