The AIM-54C was still very relevant for the USN even after the AMRAAM because it offered more range against bombers (and fighters - but the range is more relevant for the bomber/cruise missile threat) and a bigger warhead. It didn't even exist for the first half of the Tomcat's service life. However, there was a 17 year gap between the Phoenix going operational and the AMRAAM entering service. Therefore, you could mount a bunch of them on a fighter ranging from small to large without the performance penalties of carrying 2 Phoenixes. The AMRAAM offered Phoenix like capabilities (with less range and a smaller warhead) in a more reliable package and for 1/3rd the weight. But by the mid-80s and early-90s, digital processors and miniaturization had delivered and the dream arrived: the AIM-120 AMRAAM. But the tech simply wasn't there in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Of course, even back in the 1970s, the dream was for a missile with the capability of the Phoenix, but smaller and lighter than the sparrow. The rocket motor was also an essential part of improving it's effectiveness against fighters, since it would give much more energy for maneuvering against agile targets. Lastly, for effectiveness against bombers with cruise missiles, they wanted a lot of range and a powerful (and heavy) rocket motor. Also, it had a big warhead because the USN wanted it to be effective against bombers (one hit one kill) and against cruise missiles (large blast radius with improved odds of a "range/indirect hit"). When it was originally developed, the size of the electronics and radar demanded a certain size for the nose and fuselage. Mounting multiple Phoenixes on the 40,000 lb F-14 led to noticeable changes in performance, can you imagine the hit to a 28,000 lb F-15C or 17,000 lb F-16C? It was a really big missile - ~13' (4 meters) and 987 lbs. There are reasons that it wasn't adapted to other US aircraft, namely size and weight. The ability to hit maneuvering and low flying targets was an important part of it's original design specifications.
No, it was actually the first US missile to hit a drone maneuvering at more than 6 Gs. Wasn't Phoinex missle dropped because of the lack of maneuverability which lead to being poor missile against fighters? Maybe I am wrong but the purpose of the missile was long range interception of bombers right?
And while I agree, there are things you can do to make the Phoenix less effective, I question the playerbase's willingness to adapt, when they can more easily go on the forums and bitch to high heaven. If I'm honest, that really, really irks me, because I'm going to have to watch my very favorite aircraft be sidelined because whiny players won't want to adjust their tactics to suit an F-14 being on the field. Hell, the R3R got banned because the SPAAMRAM crowd didn't like that it was accurate at 5nm against an unmanuvering target. And it is because of that reason that I am fairly certain the weapon will be banned. Because LN is making the missile special, I have faith that it will be modeled correctly, which in the current DCS environment means it's going to so vastly outperform everything else, the complaints on the forums will be long and numerous. So you will be rolling and evading from the moment you pick the F-14 up at 150nm? Will the Su-27 RWR even pick up a spike from that range?Īnyway, we will see when it finally happens. It's also important to remember that the Su-27's R-27ER isn't exactly a short ranged missile either and the Su-27 does have the radar to make use of that range. Even if the missiles were realistic, this method would still be effective with a little modification (wider zigzags mostly). Now yes, the wikipedia max range of the AIM-54 is closer to 200km, but we all know it's max range against a target flying mach 2 into it when launched from a mach 2 fighter is going to be well under 100km at 14km height. If you know an F-14 is in firing range, simply take light evasive action to cut its range from 100km to 15km, problem solved. This bleeds the missile's energy so that it cannot hit unless launched within about 10km, at which point I'll see the missile trail. When flying the Su-27, I have no clue when an F-15 actually fires an AIM-120, so I start doing barrel rolls or zigzagging once I'm within absolute max range.
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