SF2 Series DACT Reports And Related A2A Discussions (Game only)

[cougar_1979 37]

Second engagement is on the vid. I cheated and rushed to the merged. gained an advantage earlty on. eager to quickly end the fight, my bad habit of shooting too early cam out ( sorry cougar). Still a quick enough engagement that allowed for a quick upload.

 

It's ok mate, just take your time. Once maintaining the stick discipline is no longer an issue, it will be like a second nature to you. As you start picking them off at around 0.3-0.4nm in regular basis, for added challenge you can try not deploying the flaps when the enemy drops bellow 300KIAS. That would be flying it by the NATOPS manual. If he drops bellow 300, then you either go up or extend and roll in for another attackm thus staying above corner at all times. This may save your skin in multy bandit environmnet.

bloody hell... yes it was. I think at the end of day i'll take a D/H/G winder and just shoot him to save all that trouble. The gunpod weighs almost like a mk84 2000 pounder and is twice as draggy. in campaign mode you can use it to get some opportunity kills but in 1 v 1 where he's always got eye on you... it's pretty hard. what's worse is the gunpod is declined 2 degrees below the nose to facilitate ground strafing, but in a2a it's a hindrance. iirc the eagle as an air dominance fighter has the gun inclined upwards even.

I didn't know that abount the angle off of the pod. I just flew several more flights in order to account for it. After 6 more flights (3 with a pod, 3 with winders) i reached the following conclusion. The penalty for taking the pod is HUGE. With 4 winders i could not just get behind a MiG-17 when properly using the vertical, but actually stay there for dozen of seconds at a time. More then enough time to get a good tone. With a gun pod, this is almost impossible and more a matter of the bandit messing something up. End result of the drills. 3 draws with the gun pod, 2 wins with the winders and one loss. The loss was when i wanted to see how fast he could stay in a turn with me. The answer......the MiG-17 in SF2 can sustain a turn at 450+KIAS at 5000ft to match that of a Phantom II in full afterburner at 500KIAS (to be fair he was coming out of a dive). But still, while i was blacking out, he not only stayed with me he even for about 10 seconds, he ended up pulling lead and gunning me down at about 460KIAS (his). Not a sign of any control lockouts or blackouts. It's good to be an AI

[Caesar 305]

That would be flying it by the NATOPS manual. - Funny enough, every single one of the top-end Tomcat drivers I've spoken to eschew the NATOPS "no landing flaps in a dogfight" rule.  One went so far as to spray-paint the red under the slats so other pilots wouldn't bitch when he selected full flaps (happened during ACEVAL/AIMVAL).  Another pilot went and did this for an A-4 after he saw the F-14 driver do it just to mask the soft-wing Skyhawk's energy state in a furball.  The term they used was "Flaps in a non-landing configuration" (i.e. full flaps being used for a fight, rather than landing) to get around the NATOPS wording.  As you say, though, in a multi-bandit environment WITH MISSILES, getting that slow can be a problem.  Multi-bandit guns only, I've never run into a problem using full flaps and getting the fight slow.  It's actually my preferred fighting technique in the guns-only furball in the F-14.

 

With respect to the MiG-17, there had been a modified version of the FM a while ago which simulated the beyond 450 knot limits of the Fresco, but if memory serves, it got jacked up by one of the patches.  As such, the MiG-17s in SF2 are UFO's.  Might look into that in the future.

[saisran 84]

As Caesar said. David "Bio" Baranek, and other Tomcat pilot in one F-14 Forum said this as well. In a 1v1 engagement and using guns only. The Swing Wing and the Flaps are one of the Tomcats major weapon. Most of the time other pilot would misjudge their speed and actual ability by manipulating the wing configuration. With missiles in the equation the Tomcat is the BVR king. Still wont mind flying by NATOPS Rule. Would be fun if SF2 has a multiplayer. Opponents will think you have reached your limit then suddenly... Bang! hehe.

Edited September 1, 2014 by saisran

[cougar_1979 37]

That would be flying it by the NATOPS manual. - Funny enough, every single one of the top-end Tomcat drivers I've spoken to eschew the NATOPS "no landing flaps in a dogfight" rule.  One went so far as to spray-paint the red under the slats so other pilots wouldn't bitch when he selected full flaps (happened during ACEVAL/AIMVAL).  Another pilot went and did this for an A-4 after he saw the F-14 driver do it just to mask the soft-wing Skyhawk's energy state in a furball.  The term they used was "Flaps in a non-landing configuration" (i.e. full flaps being used for a fight, rather than landing) to get around the NATOPS wording.  As you say, though, in a multi-bandit environment WITH MISSILES, getting that slow can be a problem.  Multi-bandit guns only, I've never run into a problem using full flaps and getting the fight slow.  It's actually my preferred fighting technique in the guns-only furball in the F-14.

 

With respect to the MiG-17, there had been a modified version of the FM a while ago which simulated the beyond 450 knot limits of the Fresco, but if memory serves, it got jacked up by one of the patches.  As such, the MiG-17s in SF2 are UFO's.  Might look into that in the future.

 

 

As Caesar said. David "Bio" Baranek, and other Tomcat pilot in one F-14 Forum said this as well. In a 1v1 engagement and using guns only. The Swing Wing and the Flaps are one of the Tomcats major weapon. Most of the time other pilot would misjudge their speed and actual ability by manipulating the wing configuration. With missiles in the equation the Tomcat is the BVR king. Still wont mind flying by NATOPS Rule. Would be fun if SF2 has a multiplayer. Opponents will think you have reached your limit then suddenly... Bang! hehe.

Yeah, i agree with you both, that is why i wrote "for added challenge" . It is a common practice to impose different limitations on the AC in order to emphasize certain aspects of the "workout". In example, when flying against Vipers in an F-14A staying fast was one of the ways to avoid being draged down and slow and then beaten in the vertical. However by keeping your air speed above 0.7mach at cobat load, you can effectively have a T/W of 1 or greater even in an F-14A, thus having a safe margin for a vertical fight. Also by staying above 340KIAS you are in the zone where you accelerate (and thus regain energy) as good or better then an F-15. IMO it's nice to lear how to fly your plane at both ends of the envelope, even at the very edges :)

[saisran 84]

Yeah, i agree with you both, that is why i wrote "for added challenge" . It is a common practice to impose different limitations on the AC in order to emphasize certain aspects of the "workout". In example, when flying against Vipers in an F-14A staying fast was one of the ways to avoid being draged down and slow and then beaten in the vertical. However by keeping your air speed above 0.7mach at cobat load, you can effectively have a T/W of 1 or greater even in an F-14A, thus having a safe margin for a vertical fight. Also by staying above 340KIAS you are in the zone where you accelerate (and thus regain energy) as good or better then an F-15. IMO it's nice to lear how to fly your plane at both ends of the envelope, even at the very edges :)

 

Can't argue with that. That's absolutely right. Much appreciated advice.  :)

 

 

Sorry bout this. Due to the talk about Missiles decided to do some 2 vs mix of 8 BVR Engagement.

 

Heroes: 2 F-14 Tomcat; 4x AIM-54ECCM Sealed, 2x AIM-7M and 2x AIM-9M

 

Villains: 2x J-10, 2x Mig-29C, 2x Su-27, and 2x EF-2000 all with default Air to Air Long Range loadouts.

 

Got confused with No 2. He was very selective with his targets. Probably due to having targets spaced wide apart. So i wasn't able to tell if he was firing on a single target or following the target priority in succession. Usually when you task him to fire Phoenix using TWS he'll do it in succession. because of this I wasted 3 Phoenix Missiles. Luckily no 2 did good on 3 of his four shot. it got a bit hairy later on when all i had left was winders trying to break lock and close in on fresh Flankers and had to ride the terrain. But its an overall boring vid, and not quite the BVR demo that i wanted. 

 

 

 

Try to enjoy it if you can. hehe.

[Kyot54 2]

Ok, as promised, photos to go along with DACT debrief

 

    Bandit: MiG-29C, 4 R-73 Archers, full internal fuel, no tanks

 

    Me: F-14B (96): 4 AIM-9M, full internal fuel, no tanks

 

         I had to do this one twice, first time Ivan got saucy and fired at the merge, I'm tempted to degrade them to Aphids, but I like the challenge all aspect gives, so we'll see. Starts out 20 miles out, head to head intercept course, roughly 16,000 ft, 450 kts.

 

Pop flares and aileron roll/tight barrel roll as we merge. He ends up slightly above at about 1:30 high, and begins a descending right turn. I roll about 30 degrees off vertical and pull, keeping things in a somewhat vertically inclined one circle fight.

 

 

 

As I come over the top, rudder right twisting, he is about 5000ft below me, still in the right hand turn, but beginning to come back up. Even though it is high deflection, I have a good tone from the 'winders, Fox 2.

 

 

 

 

He pops flares which decoy the missile, then as he finishes the shallow climbing turn to the right he breaks back to the left. Meanwhile, since my initial shot at him was nose down it allowed me to do two things: a. situate my lift vector so as to keep my nose generally pointed at him as I leveled off out of my dive, and b. maintain a pretty decent amount of energy. When he cuts back left, he's about 30 degrees off boresight, but moving across my nose. I just wait for a good Sidewinder tone and fire

 

 

 

Fight lasted about 35 seconds. I've noticed from a few fights not to go purely vertical if I'm not doing around 500-550 kts, because when I come back over the top my energy level will be right on the edge of low (320kts) to the point that if I have to make any sudden moves, I'm going to bleed that energy really, really quick. At the .95 Mach arena, I tend to end up right in the sweet spot of turn performance, around 360knts. I was really pleased with this engagement after having a couple of marathon 15 min ones a few days ago. "I'm not going to sit here and blow sunshine up your ___, Lieutenant, a good pilot is compelled to always evaluate what's happened, so he can apply what he's learned"

 

Hmmmm, I think that's what this whole thread is kinda about, lol

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                              Peace, J

 

 

 

[cougar_1979 37]

Not a lot of free time today, so only one post and one flight. My favorite gun duel, F-14A VS F-15C. Trying to make that one perfect first turn. And it worked :)
The rest is just angling for the right shot.
Any requests?

[saisran 84]

Cool vid cougar. Been Playing around with BVR Missions where the tomcat squadron is outnumbered  3 or 4 to 1. Depending on the AI's skill the mission is either a flop or an annihilation by the tomcats. All of them are pretty darn long. Will try to post some DACT soon.

[zwz 0]

Can anyone make a :

 

1) F/A-18E(no EPE) vs Su-27

2) F/A-18E(no EPE) vs Mig-29

 

I'd like to see how a high alpha jet hold its own against a jet with higer T/W

[cougar_1979 37]

Sorry, i don't have late planes on my install, at most i end in the mid 90's. But an F-16C VS F/A-18C should be a similar encounter?
Uploading a what-if middle east VS USNAVY CAP right now, late 70's.... will take a while though....

[cougar_1979 37]

Here it is, unfortunalty it crashed (it someitmes does if don't stop tarps before i end the mission). I really lost count during this one. At the end it was probably 10+ bandits (mostly MiG-21) VS 2 flights of F-14A's. The F-14's were on CAP, hauling 4 buffaloes, 2 sparrows and 2 winders. End resault, all the bandits downedm 0 blue loses. Originally i was about to end the mission at around 10 minutes, but i got a wingman call that a bandit was behind me again. No fancy flying this time, just some SAM dodging and a bit of flight delegation. Both 2 and 3 did their jobs well and i can't tell about 4 cause the game crashed before i could read the stats. My general experiment was to target 4 bandits in TWS mode and order my wingman to engage my target. This way i hoped to get a more even distribution of long range shots and hopefully better accuracy. Also i hoped the wingman would not get killed. Half way through the merge i ordered the 2nd flight to engage all air. The opening volley seamed to have cost the enemy enough planes so that flight no2 didn't suffer any loses as well. I will have to try this several more times and see if the resaults will be consistent.

[saisran 84]

Can anyone make a :

 

1) F/A-18E(no EPE) vs Su-27

2) F/A-18E(no EPE) vs Mig-29

 

I'd like to see how a high alpha jet hold its own against a jet with higer T/W

 

I believe Eric J did this before. He usually fly the hornet while Caesar fly the tomcat. Maybe hell post a new vid soon. I'm not that good but ill check if i have an E model installed. You wont see perfect utilization of the hornet but you should be able to see how it handled when stressed.

[Kyot54 2]

I did three quick 1 v 1's tonight, one was a legacy Hornet vs the Flanker, sorry, no pics though, I didn't think about getting on until after. Was over very quick. After the merge Flankers turned right, I turned leftish in a high G, half loop/half barrel roll. Came out with him crossing just across my nose about 1/4 mile out, left to right. Just angled in behind him, let him get some separation, Fox-2, Boom!

 

The next two were eerily similar. 2nd was F-16CM vs Flanker. After the initial turns ended up vertically looping while he was turning decent circles around me, eventually got into a quick scissors. About the second or third pass he was floating at high alpha, but I think he didn't have enough energy. I just pulled nose on and gunned him at REALLY close range, like .1 miles. It was like he was trying to pull the Cobra right in my face. Bad move, huge target cross section.

 

Last fight was a Delta Tomcat vs. Flanker. I usually go full internal fuel, but I thought this time, I'd drop it to a more realistic combat weight at 12,000 lbs. After the first pass, went into a high G barrel rolling scissors, with me just a shade out front. As I got slower, I was gaining a few angles on him at a time, but not much, still having to watcn my energy. And almost like a repeat from the last mission, I reverse and he's right there hanging again, high deflection, close, close range. Boom, 20 mike-mike, he practically blows up in my face. Definitely one of those times I wish I could record my fights. Maybe on down the road.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        J

[cougar_1979 37]

Here is a little legacy Hornet VS F-16 guns only, so it's plane VS plane, not missile VS missile. The starting premise is, a clean F/A-18A/C can sustain energy as good as an F-16 in the mid and early high subsonic part of the envelope, but can't match the late high and transonic performance of the Viper. However the Bug's nose pointing ability (and authority) as well as low subsonic performance is decisvely better. Alternatives to fight? If you can drag him slow, you will surely win. That is an IF. A better strategy is to use the energy build-up, energy bleed method. Start fast, use your better nose pointing to get a nose-on early on in the fight, but be careful not to bleed-off too much energy. Once you get a nose-on, unload and regain energy as much as possible. Wait for his next move. If he goes vertical you have enough energy to follow. If he continues to turn, you have more energy built up to push for another attack. Always keep the enemy on the deffensive by leading him with your nose across the sky. If and when he finally breaks too hard and bleeds off too much, you can just use your better alpha to gun him down easily. If he doesn't in a few turns you will be behind him anyway and can get a nice low aspect shot from behind his six. If the battle evolves into a pure vertical contest, the outcome is somewhat less predictable, but if you are carefull with the energy management , you can always at least get a draw. I found it somewhat surprising that in SF2 as in Falcon BMS i find the Hornet the easiest plane to fly with and implemnet the above tactics (in BMS i have went against a block 32 F-16C 1-1 for a kill ratio of 5:0 until i ran out of fuel and/or ammo on the highest difficulty setting). One more thing that helps is that the AI here in SF2 is not very keen on moving a fight in the vertical even in a plane that excells in it (like the F-16 here). This one however, did :)
Here is the video, i hope you like it (my 4th flight in an F-18, first was against F-16, second against F-14A (he held out surprisingly long, longer then the Viper), third against the Su-27)

[saisran 84]

I know i said id post a vid of the hornet vs a high energy fighter but as it turns out the FA-18F fight characteristics is completely alien to me. I did 3 fight against the Mig-29C. Two ended in the Mig crashing to the ground and 1 ended with a double kill. 

 

The second fight was over the minute the game loaded. The mig is rushing towards me with gusto and hes rght smack in the middle of my HUD. So we played chicken and we both got fried.

 

 

First fight was the longest. we started with a 5NM distance at around 8Kft he was closing in at 0.93M and  i was just increasing throttle. He passed underneath me and pulled up to a vertical. wanting to test the limits of the hornet i went ahead and pulled up from just over 600KIAS. I pulled hard and the hornet immediately pitched up past vertical and l bled my speed down to under 200 just as i was inverted. my nose already pointed on the mig down below trying to complete a turn.though i had a position of advantage my energy state was too low to do anything about it. A winder could be launched perfectly from my position but were only using guns. The fight ended in a circle at first having an advantage due to the quick instantaneous turn of the SuperBug, but the thing cant sustain its advantage and quickly looses ground to a speeding Mig. And as the bug seems to have a hard time hauling ass in a climb i was not inclined to use it. instead i found that the quick nose authority of the bug is excellent for pulling out of a dive. because of this the fight went low. the mig trying to turn its way round my tail. Almost always succeeding until i reverse my turn and got into a head to head or go inverted and dive in a split s. Between Fight 1 and 3 I can always get a nose on first but since its a head to head engagement i never had the gunnery skill to get a quick enough shot to kill the bandit. But since i've been forcing the mig to maneuver hard to keep up with the quick initial turn of the hornet, both fight 1 and 3 ended up with the mig either crashing or disintegrating in mid air. Im not sure since on both occasion it happened after a head to head pass.

 

here's a snippet of the 3rd fight. Mig ended up disappearing all of the sudden

 

 

Thougths on the fight: I'm not in tune with the hornet and i need sometime to figure out how to fly it properly. Eric J is an ace in it but it behaves very very differently from the tomcat for me to use it properly in a guns only fight. However in a close in All Aspect Heat Seaking Missile engagement i think even i can be lethal in a hornet. I truly believe that an FA-18F with an All Aspect Missile such as the AIM-9X sidewinder is the perfect combination. Got a mig on your 3/9 line? Just yank that stick in his direction and you got that seeker head pointing lead on the bandit. it will be that deadly. Also it seems like my flight sticks' dead zone and sensitivity was reset.  i need to re calibrate it to ensure a much smoother response before i drive the hornet again.

 

[Do335 382]

doesn't that thing turn and bank at 90knots?   no wonder the AI crashes trying to gun it!..

[cougar_1979 37]

doesn't that thing turn and bank at 90knots?   no wonder the AI crashes trying to gun it!..

It's not just that. All the planes feel like they "fight you" when you bring them bellow certain air speed. Not the Hornets though. You can bleed them off bellow 270 and they still feel lively. Not to mention there is no trace of any dutch rolls when pulling high g's at any speed. Truly the most easy and joyfull plane i have ever flown in any sim.

[cougar_1979 37]

I know i said id post a vid of the hornet vs a high energy fighter but as it turns out the FA-18F fight characteristics is completely alien to me. I did 3 fight against the Mig-29C. Two ended in the Mig crashing to the ground and 1 ended with a double kill. 

 

The second fight was over the minute the game loaded. The mig is rushing towards me with gusto and hes rght smack in the middle of my HUD. So we played chicken and we both got fried.

 

 

 

First fight was the longest. we started with a 5NM distance at around 8Kft he was closing in at 0.93M and  i was just increasing throttle. He passed underneath me and pulled up to a vertical. wanting to test the limits of the hornet i went ahead and pulled up from just over 600KIAS. I pulled hard and the hornet immediately pitched up past vertical and l bled my speed down to under 200 just as i was inverted. my nose already pointed on the mig down below trying to complete a turn.though i had a position of advantage my energy state was too low to do anything about it. A winder could be launched perfectly from my position but were only using guns. The fight ended in a circle at first having an advantage due to the quick instantaneous turn of the SuperBug, but the thing cant sustain its advantage and quickly looses ground to a speeding Mig. And as the bug seems to have a hard time hauling ass in a climb i was not inclined to use it. instead i found that the quick nose authority of the bug is excellent for pulling out of a dive. because of this the fight went low. the mig trying to turn its way round my tail. Almost always succeeding until i reverse my turn and got into a head to head or go inverted and dive in a split s. Between Fight 1 and 3 I can always get a nose on first but since its a head to head engagement i never had the gunnery skill to get a quick enough shot to kill the bandit. But since i've been forcing the mig to maneuver hard to keep up with the quick initial turn of the hornet, both fight 1 and 3 ended up with the mig either crashing or disintegrating in mid air. Im not sure since on both occasion it happened after a head to head pass.

 

here's a snippet of the 3rd fight. Mig ended up disappearing all of the sudden

 

 

Thougths on the fight: I'm not in tune with the hornet and i need sometime to figure out how to fly it properly. Eric J is an ace in it but it behaves very very differently from the tomcat for me to use it properly in a guns only fight. However in a close in All Aspect Heat Seaking Missile engagement i think even i can be lethal in a hornet. I truly believe that an FA-18F with an All Aspect Missile such as the AIM-9X sidewinder is the perfect combination. Got a mig on your 3/9 line? Just yank that stick in his direction and you got that seeker head pointing lead on the bandit. it will be that deadly. Also it seems like my flight sticks' dead zone and sensitivity was reset.  i need to re calibrate it to ensure a much smoother response before i drive the hornet again.

Question about the F/A-18E, how good is the flight model? Is it actually based on flight data/manuals? I mean about the level of authenticity of course....

 

BTW, tips for flying hornet like planes (as well a the F-14A i guess), i actually decrease joystick sensitivity and increase the deadzone a bit. This way i get more "sensory feedback" on the energy bleed and thus i find it easier to maintain a given g-load. It may be just my personal preference though. Anyway, try to keep the enerhy high and unload it in "waves" or "push-attacks" . Small periods of heavy turning followed by small periods of unloaded acceleration. And if your stick provides force feedback or vibration, try to fly on he edge of the feedback. This is probably your best turn rate.

[cougar_1979 37]

I just tried the F-18E/F. It felt proper for the most part when i flew against F-16 and MiG-29. A bit more sluggish in the transonic but more authority in the low subsonic. However when i flew against it i noticed something weird. I was in an F-14A right on its tail when he went vertical. And i mean right up, around 90 degrees. He started climbing at around 340KIAS while i was around 400. I decided not to shoot him as i suspected that by now we both had effective T/W bigger then 1 and that i would catch up with him, cause he started at a lower energy state. We went all the way up to 43000ft when i stalled out at aeound 140-160KIAS and had to level. He was around 93KIAS and i expected him to level off soon as well........ but he didn't. He kept  his nose high and before you know it he shot for 62000ft and still climbing. The best i could do was follow him up to 57000ft in a supersonic climb but then i just gave up as my plane would not go any higher. So i decided to try this myself. I took the Super Hornet and flew against the MiG29, flew a bit with him, shot him down to expend some fuel (of which you BTW have more then 30000lbs) and then went streight up. I hit the ceeling at around 24-25000ft at 120KIAS, but instead of leveling off, i pulled back on the stick and stuck the nose up 30 degrees. Airpseed was at 96KIAS and i continued climbing all the way up to 57000ft. Then i leveled off went to mach 1.04 and pulled gently back, getting the nose up some 15-20 degrees....and....voila.... i saw stars! 63000ft and climbing, mach 1.06 and accelerating. This bird seams a bit overmoded. Maybe the thrust has been increased to match those 30000lbs of internal fuel? Or maybe the fact that the plane would not stall, means that it will continue to go up as long as there is thrust?

Edited September 4, 2014 by cougar_1979

[Caesar 305]

Cougar,

 

The F/A-18E/F/G does have a stall speed value of 51.44.  I don't remember the units, it has been so long since I've messed with an FM (m/s?), but the Super Bug has a lot of peculiarities with it that I still don't quite grasp.  The fuel, for example.  When you actually calculate out the fuel values in the data.ini, it is correct to the aircraft.  Then, you load it in game, and it's 30,000 pounds!  (This also affects the ThirdWire F-14A, which actually has 16,200 pounds of fuel internally in the data.ini, but in-game has something like 14,800 or thereabouts.)  Similarly, you can check what the engine output is based on altitude, airspeed etc. by looking at either's table data.  As such, I'm still not sure why the bird can climb to infinity down at 96 knots at high altitude, when it's getting less than 100% by speed and another .2 multiplier by altitude.  There must be more to it than what I'm seeing.  

 

EDIT:

Also, nice vid on the 2 v X!

[zwz 0]

Which block is F-16CM?

[MigBuster 2,861]

Which block is F-16CM?

 

Thats any F-16C Block 40/42/50/52s that were upgraded with CCIP (Common Config Implementation Program) from about 2002. 

[zwz 0]

Thats any F-16C Block 40/42/50/52s that were upgraded with CCIP (Common Config Implementation Program) from about 2002. 

Well I guess the block 42 is pretty underpowered since it's a F-16C airframe+F-16A engine. Other blocks are good energy fighters though.

 

But according to this article, block 42s in US fleet have got engine upgrade since 2002. I am not sure if the upgrade is implemented in the game.

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-national-guard-re-engining-block-42-f-16s-lockheed-martin-expedites-kits-to-meet-deployment-schedule-76538987.html

[saisran 84]

Happy weekend! Finally got some air time. If there is a fighter plane that can stand with the Tomcat in terms of aesthetic beauty, it's Saab's JAS-39 Gripen. I just love the look of this plane. Even if it shares the same delta configuration as the Typhoon and Rafale, he Gripen is just so sleek! The ridge on its back that connect to its vertical tail. the angles on the wings as it connects to the engine exhaust. the shape of that front nose and those sharp looking air intakes on the side. This bird is a work of art. Of course looks aren't important in combat so i decided to do a DACT with it to see how it fights.

 

Jas-39C Gripen VS Mig-29C guns only.

 

The fight started with me trying to figure out the gripen's FM. A series of circles and blackouts reversal and black outs and then this video that i hope you can enjoy.

 

 

Even if its just a single burner, the small and light weight of the gripen gives it a lot of energy to spare. Someone who's better than me in managing his energy can keep up with a Mig-29 even with just minimal use of the afterburner. Also the Jas-39C ( in the game atleast) can out turn a fulcrum at any given speeds. It also can turn a cockpit pitch black faster than it can complete a turn. Without the pilot blacking out. This fight would have been over much too soon!

 

P.S. this plane shuld be a perfect match for the viper.

Edited September 6, 2014 by saisran

[cougar_1979 37]

Nice flying! I have always found those small nible buggers to be the most difficult ones to aim with. In fact the more responsible a jet, the harder time i have articulating it :))))

Meanwhile, i found my match in the world of AI controlled jets
Not that he outflew me or shot me (i am consistently on his 6), but in 3 engagements one after another i manage to win either by i high deflection shot or by the thing running out of fuel and switching out of burner. Me being an F-14A and the bandit being a Mirage-2000. The thing can turn, the thing can accelerate and the thing is very small. If it wasn't for the blackouts, i think i could consistantly nail it above 400KIAS, as it doesn't sustian a turn all that well above 360-380KIAS. But i do blackout and the AI doesn't, not even when stuck in a continous highest performance turn until it runs out of fuel

I may have to try some more decisive vertical maneuvers, but with the rate this little nasites accelerate, that might be head-on waiting to happen. A head-on against a smaller more nimble plane? I think i'll skip it. Dropping the flaps and going bellow 300KIAS in a bat turn might work, but it will be a gamble. If i miss he can just pop from 250 to 360KIAS in few seconds....or less, and go vertical on me while i am in a poor energy state. Heaters will get him cause i often get the angle, i just can't maintain a nose on long enough for a gun shot, but if i give him missiles as well, his performance would drop anyways. I preffer to keep the fight fair and as hard as possible.

Have you tried going guns only against a M2000? What are your tips?