Wishful thinking with F-15C golden eagle

… This is the core issue with all the F-15 variants

Now that USA has a radar that actually scans at a reasonable rate it will be able to hold multiple locks without dropping them 99% of the time in BVR

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

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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

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even with BOL pod it shouldn’t be at 14.3

As of the current dev server loadout for the F15C Golden eagle, it should be foldered right under the normal F15C and stay at the same BR lol

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You can’t with one airframe in the F-15C GE:

  • 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.

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Golden Eagle will be better in 14.0

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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:

Altitude allows missiles to fly farther, speed allows missiles to fly faster, and obviously faster is more important than farther.

The su30 can enter the 39th line faster, and the r771 has obviously strengthened this point, while the f15e’s radar is terrible

Amber Pylons: refused
https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/i/w2MMzjNGpmkv

MRML pylons with primary source: refused
https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/i/y3RoJmkAM9It
https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/i/TUQOAO0iCTyu

Meanwhile Yak-141 with paper feature and Su-27SM/Su-30SM getting double rack they can’t use in real life is fine. Great stuff as always.

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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?

Accelerate at 6km/h, not Mach 1.2 to 8km/h

Ignore /h Thank

A completely useless aircraft, even worse than the dreadful Hornets. And this aircraft will be inferior in speed to all modern European and Russian aircraft.

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Interchanging f15e and f15c ge would be a good choice

Agreed. The F-15C is originally a 13.7 BR vehicle, while the new “Golden Eagle” version was placed at 14.3 BR. If it doesn’t receive an increase in missile count, and only gets an AESA radar and the AIM-120C5, then it only suits a 14.0 BR. The performance of the AIM-120C5 in the game is not outstanding; its close-range performance is worse than the AIM-120A/B, and the C5’s maneuverability is not great. Compared to other 14.3 BR aircraft like the Rafale and the Typhoon, the F-15C is significantly inferior in both maneuverability and engine performance .

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If it’s meant to bridge the gap with the current 14.3s than maybe it shouldn’t be 14.3? If it remains a sidegrade to the F-15E I don’t see why it should be above 14.0?

There are so many easy ways to make it more 14.3 worthy like giving it the BOL etc.

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  1. Sidegrade to F-15C*
  2. BOL is likely
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Needs FM rework (bug report submitted and accepted)
Needs BOL (bug report submitted and accepted)

Anything else would be an extra. Though, if it did get quad racks that would be perfect. 12 AMRAAMs would make it competitive but not the best fighter at that BR (obviously.)

And to talk about the person who’s calling it a stopgap, go and listen to yourself. It’s 14.3. If it were a stopgap, it’d be 14.0 and at its current state should not be more than 13.7. They went ahead and put it at top tier.

The F15E will likely be the better choice for air rb.

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