I really hope to see the quad rack wing pylons on the new Eagle and maybe amber racks to carry additional amraams per fuselage pylon, as well as BOL pods and a new HMD display, because as of now the BR for the plane is criminal only because of the radar. All american HMD (Except for the A-10C) is not on par with things like the Eurofighter, I should be able to see what i have locked on radar with HMD and be able to see friendlies with Datalink like the Eurofighter or Rafale, im not asking for fancy gizmos like what aircraft is friendly just give the US something competitive to the SU-30SM.
I get it, its the dev server and everything is subject to change but AFAIK the devs or the commentors on the dev stream said nothing about additional missiles, BOL pods or an updated HMD for the plane.
You’re treating this new F-15C like it’s supposed to somehow bridge the gap between everything else all at once… In reality it only brings you closer in radar and missile performance and MAYBE a s**t ton of countermeasure (more on this later), which is all you really need to survive in top tier.
Now, as for what’s missing (potentially or actually) such as the obvious missing BOL pods… It’s the literal first day of dev as you said and things can/will change. As for the additional mounts for missiles… that’s probably not likely as that sort of thing (99% sure here) was/is exclusively a F-15EX feature. Now Gaijin could pull a Rafale (quick recap, a different (iirc Indian?) Rafale had 8 missiles whereas the French one usually used 6 and here we are) and add it in later once USA mains do what they do best and up the count from 8 to 12 missiles. They could, but don’t hold your breath.
Onto the HMD thing. F-15C never used the Scorpion HMD (it is used on A-10C and Rafale, Eurofighter uses a different HMD with similar capabilities) so it would never get that anyway. As for the current HMD’s missing capabilities, it should at minimum show you what you’re locking (not in full detail btw, just showing you where they are, not what they are). The rest of the information (ie NCTR) should be right there in your radar screen and/or HUD.
So we jumping from 13.7 to 14.3 just for the new radar??? It has same speed, same missiles (120c even worst for close shoots) same 8 missile, no BOL, no new HMD. Just better radar. Let’s see the difference between su27sm and su30: better radar, better missiles, more ATG weapon, trust vector. And with USA we have just better radar…
Missile performance? Bar the AIM-120Cs, it has the same missile performance as the F-15C at 13.7… Also no, the AIM-120Cs aren’t even the better missile, there is no point in taking them over the AIM-120A/Bs.
Pretty much everything you have said is outlining why it shouldn’t be 14.3 at all…
I will say after going on the dev server, the AESA is really nice, but its not gamechanging, it just updates targets faster and sees more targets on scope, if they dont add BOL pods and extra missiles it shouldnt be at 14.3
then the vehicle is DOA, why bother adding it or even naming it after a proposed F-15 but then not giving it anything that would make it that F-15?
the additional missile pylons were mounted to this aircraft in real life with images, FAR more than can be said for the fantasy missile loads of the Su-27SM and Su-30SM
yea I agree. It’s literally just F15C with no real upgrade. It’s not like the F15C has a trash radar to begin with so this radar upgrade won’t be game changing at all. AIM120C-5 right now is also a straight downgrade from AIM120A/B unless they buff it. So 0.7 BR increase is DOA
Have HOBS missile (C-5+ should, but I digress) similar to or better than MICA/R-77/R-73 without severely upsetting the balance (e.g., giving 9X that we know it can carry, but that’s basically every USA top tier jet)
Insane amounts of thrust to ‘keep up’ with the other high-powered jets (no engine upgrades made to it)
While decent manoeuvrability is there, it is not comparable to most at its BR (Su-30SM is equal-ish in that regard, just don’t get into a near stall or post stall fight)
Have a decent radar and missile kit similar in performance to the heavy hitters (just not possible to get anywhere near them… unless I’m missing a key development of a 50+ G HOBS missile that isn’t 9X?)
The AIM-120C-5 is decent at range, AIM-9M are still good albeit lacking in effective range. The whole point of it was to give USA something with an ESA radar… which is what they said they’d do.
pretty much
AIM-120C-5 is much better at range than at <=20 km. Of course for the very few of us who don’t partake in BVR shenanigans you won’t notice the difference (or in technical terms, you’ll find that the B outperforms it) and currently you won’t notice anything other than purely kinetic performance for now.
No. No F-15s use Scorpion HMD. It’s a C, dedicated air superiority fighter. It has bomb loads, but not to the degree of the Strike Eagle
A vehicle that doesn’t skyrocket to the top (or at least top 3) doesn’t make it DOA 😂 As I mentioned above from the very onset it was meant as a bridge into ESA territory for USA. Anything else (BOL, maybe additional missiles, etc.) would be a bonus.
A possible 1000 CM F-15C shouldn’t be 14.3? But the ESA-less Finnish Hornet with the same deal (bar flight performance in a straight line) is (or at least was considered to supposed to be)?
120c5 needs speed to be useful
Speed will improve your survivability in BVR. BVR aircraft with 14.3 have high airframe performance, while Golden Eagle has only 13.7.
No… what it needs is altitude. Once you’re up to Mach 1.3+ which the F-15C is capable of the difference in time to target (everyone shoots at <= 40 km anyway) is basically the same across all modern ARH missiles. The only missiles you genuinely need speed for are the R-77 and MICA because of their drag profiles.
The Hornet:
Su-30SM:
F-15E with ‘high airframe performance’ at 14.0:
Ackshually altitude does both. Or do you think the AIM-120s or any missile (even R-27ER!) fired near deck are also hitting and holding (while brief) Mach 4+ there?