Devserver First Impression : AIM-120A AMRAAM (test event)

Checking out the active radar missile test event on the warthunder dev server.

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I'm all over the place!

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[TimsVariety]

Gaijin article about active-radar missile testing and schedule:

[swisstraeng]

Having looked at the datamine by gzhabi:

-All fox 3's seeker heads are the same, except for the PL12 which is worse.
-R77 does not have a sustainer, but a 6sec long initial booster
-Mica EM has got thrust vectoring which makes it shorter ranged but amazing
-PL12 has a surprisingly powerful booster stage, which makes it convenient for any speed scenarios.

Having filled an excel to compute DeltaV for all fox 3s,
-Mica EM gets best DeltaV, but wastes most of it through thrust vectoring.
-2nd best missiles are Darter/Derby (which have the same stats right now)
-R77 has more deltaV than aim120, but less burn time. (6sec versus 1.7+5.3 for 120)

All in all:
PL12 is the worst missile, being heavy with a bad sustainer and bad seeker head.
Mica EM is the most multirole given its vectoring.
Darter/Derby is best for medium range engagements.
Aim-120 is best for long range snipes, since it has a longer burning sustainer.
R77 is a bit in the middle of everything, but since it doesn't have a booster stage it doesn't like being launched slow.

Thus, since missiles are generally close together, the radar becomes a major factor at how good the missiles are. The Mirage 2000 seems to be the best regarding TWS which makes it even deadlier at shorter ranges. the J8F however is just horrible right now, and will likely always be.
Mirage with J8F has the worst flight performances in general for early game, which is why the F-16 may be one of the best top tiers currently with its insane acceleration (making its aim120 deadlier).

[sailorssilence]

I still remember when they pledged to never add vehicles past 1953, as well as when the Sabre, Panther, SeaJesus, and MiG-15 were topdog. Good times.

[Thunderbox]

From playing a lot, I'm sorry a FUCK TONNE of top tier I'd say the biggest issue after the lack of critical thinking among the players is the maps, they are too flat, size wise they are fine but we need mountains to duck and weave around

[jacobbaumgardner]

If they reduce player count in matches I expect high altitude high speed shots to really maximize missile lethality. Fast jets like the F-15 will be very strong.

[Trabulno]

3:00 Average War Thunder chat experience.

[pandoranbias]

Don't worry guys, the AMRAAM-D is only like 3 times as capable in every way as this thing and completely impossible to avoid

[SeekerHead]

Dang Tim's been grinding with this content! Big ups my man

[lucasboulanger]

Hey Tim, idk if you've read the full changelog, but there's been some changes to how radars work in the game. Radars with multiple track modes will now automatically change between pulse and pulse-doppler when they detect they are losing the lock. ACM will now also automatically determine which mode it needs to lock the target. You should check it out!

[ethans]

Im so happy they included wingtip AIM-120s on F-16 like it has irl

[threeggaming]

I wish they would add this as an event to the live servers so a larger population could test it, i.e. the recent severe damage test, rather than limiting it to the dev server.

[pomelo]

you can check if the missile is tracking by using the "tracking camera:bomb/torpedo", its normally set to U

[hippyhebrewhomestead]

I see the chat was ever so welcoming in your session. As to be expected on war thunder haha.

[EnderBender]

game says the mica pulls 50g with thrust vectoring is crazy for whats to come

[grantnewton]

stopped playing a couple months ago after getting the 16s and 29s, tim still on top tho

[TomPrickVixen]

I told them a few times that instead of rising the BR skyhigh on the top jets' because the new tech, (and adding +0.3 to some of the jets before them), they should just change the MM to +/-0.5 BR from rank 6, instead of the +/-1.0, and done; way less decompression issues, and only need to change some jets' BR to fit the new system, to be more balanced!

[garrettobrien]

All the stat cards are the same but the missiles are actually different. As an example. The MICAS thrust vectoring is modeled. The Derby lifts the highest. The R77 has crazy drag because of the fins. But also good turning.

[triifid]

I think it's good that they're coming 2nd update because with feed back on balance of missiles but also the gameplay itself, hopefully the overwhelming feed back about player counts per match will get them to take action. Also with chaff quantity being a factor they also add independent countermeasure drops, with the introduction of fuel sliders hopefully they acknowledge that also.

[nentic]

Just a few things. TWS doesn’t come up on RWR. They won’t get a warning until the missile goes active (pitbull). Also, you need to be maintain the lock for as long as possible, as the AMRAAM doesn’t go active immediately. Because we don’t have any stats on it, we don’t know how long it takes for it to go active, so you need to maintain your lock for as long as possible.

[KaguyasBeat]

Reading the devblog on it is certainly interesting info. Middle of the year were gonna see quite a massive change to the game. Generally speaking as it stands right now it's nothing beyond insane. More than likely these will change statistically and actually be better differentiated for launch but... The rule of multipathing is definitely still dominant, but the attempts for the long range jousting by multiple people not of just one nation (as it is generally right now anyone with an R-27ER) is nice to see. Doesn't have to be so serious all the time. Trying to do things differently when you have weapons capable of multiple approaches is nice... and that's generally what the case is for these. Especially the AMRAAM and MICA. Just look at the F-16C... it can literally carry a loadout of just AMRAAM's. The F-18 can do the same and they even mention in the devblog planes that can carry 8-10 of them... Hmmmm.... :)