What is the better A/G - F-14 Tomcat vs A-10C Warthog?

[OG Slav ☭]

So I'm really debating on what's a good air to ground aircraft in the game at the moment, I've made a pros and cons list for both aircrafts

A-10C

Pros:
1.can carry a big payload
2.BRRRRRRRT
3.HUD has nice tech
4.a very iconic aircraft
5.seems pretty easy to learn
6.really fuel efficient
7.litening pod

Cons:
1.really slow
2.can't do carrier landing/takeoff's (I wish it was able to but that's impossible)


F-14

Pros:
1. Very fast (can reach mach 2 speed!)
2. has a decent amount of bombs and can be an A/A aircraft too
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK0P1Bk8Cx4
4.can do carrier landing/takeoffs

Cons:
1.Outdated tech
2.LANTIRN Pod (Minor inconvenience because of the low resolution on the targeting pod screen)



So what you think is the better A/G? both are pretty nice one is fast and a little less payload but the other is slow but can carry a lot more and has a cannon that shoots rounds the size of a coke bottle, leave a comment and let's have a discussion.

[Dokkaebi]

This is an apples and oranges comparison really. Obviously the A-10 is the better A/G aircraft since you know... It was designed to do so. the F-14 is primarily an Air to Air fighter, but it can do strikes, rocket runs and drop alot of dumb bombs... alot.

[OG Slav ☭]

Yea that is true, but it has a nice loadout as well, the F-14 can carry up to 18 MK-82's I'm not sure how many the A-10C can carry, but I heard it's like 24? not sure correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like the F-14 is more of a Ground aircraft more than a A/A? like it's turning like a boat in dogfights(Not saying that it's an awful A/A aircraft just saying it has a bad turning ratio an a Su-33 can outturn it easily) I would take my F/A-18 to a dog fight instead of F-14, but I know what you mean the A-10C is really designed for A/G, but I feel like the Tomcat could be as lethal as the A-10C against ground units

[m61a1]

A-10C can take punishment like there is no tomorrow. I've been hit by IR air to air missiles and still flown, and once even an AT missile lol! It also carries far more than dumb bombs...ie laser guided, gps bombs, cluster munitions, my personal fav the maverick missile.

[Tormoz]

Why you comparing MK-82?))
F-14 have only 4 GBU vs 11 GBU+6 mavericks in A-10C.
Even F/A-18C have 8 GBU.

[OG Slav ☭]

Originally posted by m61a1:

A-10C can take punishment like there is no tomorrow. I've been hit by IR air to air missiles and still flown, and once even an AT missile lol! It also carries far more than dumb bombs...ie laser guided, gps bombs, cluster munitions, my personal fav the maverick missile.

ohh yea man I've heard the A-10C is like an ariel tank hahaha, it's very durable, is there a chart by any chance like the F-14 has? like says how many bombs you can have on pylon 4 5 or 7 etc...

Weapon Station 1A 1B 2 3 4 5 6 7 8B 8A Total
AIM-9 1 1 1 1 4
AIM-7 1 1 1 1 1 1 6
AIM-54 1 1 1 1 1 1 6
Mk-81 2 4 3 3 4 2 18
Mk-82 2 4 3 3 4 2 18

^This kind of chart I mean
and yes man Mavericks are indeed god send haha, you can only carry 4 of them on the F/A-18 sadly not enough for me, and the F/A-18 doesn't have a targeting pod so you use the crappy res camera on the Maverick

[Dokkaebi]

Originally posted by m61a1:

A-10C can take punishment like there is no tomorrow. I've been hit by IR air to air missiles and still flown, and once even an AT missile lol! It also carries far more than dumb bombs...ie laser guided, gps bombs, cluster munitions, my personal fav the maverick missile.

I've tanked AMRAAMs in the F-14 and had the last laugh.

[OG Slav ☭]

Originally posted by Zadoff:

Why you comparing MK-82?))
F-14 have only 4 GBU vs 11 GBU+6 mavericks in A-10C.
Even F/A-18C have 8 GBU.

ohh holy crap it can carry that many precision guided bombs?!?! that's actually impressive, and ohh yea man I know F/A-18 is pretty nice, I love to set the coord for the JDAM's on the F/A-18

[OG Slav ☭]

Originally posted by Dokkaebi:

Originally posted by m61a1:

A-10C can take punishment like there is no tomorrow. I've been hit by IR air to air missiles and still flown, and once even an AT missile lol! It also carries far more than dumb bombs...ie laser guided, gps bombs, cluster munitions, my personal fav the maverick missile.

I've tanked AMRAAMs in the F-14 and had the last laugh.

ohh man I take a pebble in the F/A-18 and it just shreds man

[Tormoz]

Originally posted by OG Slav ☭:

Originally posted by Zadoff:

Why you comparing MK-82?))
F-14 have only 4 GBU vs 11 GBU+6 mavericks in A-10C.
Even F/A-18C have 8 GBU.

ohh holy crap it can carry that many precision guided bombs?!?! that's actually impressive, and ohh yea man I know F/A-18 is pretty nice, I love to set the coord for the JDAM's on the F/A-18

А запустить ДКС, зайти в редактор и посмотреть не судьба?)
Or you cosplay Russian?)

[OG Slav ☭]

Originally posted by Zadoff:

Originally posted by OG Slav ☭:

ohh holy crap it can carry that many precision guided bombs?!?! that's actually impressive, and ohh yea man I know F/A-18 is pretty nice, I love to set the coord for the JDAM's on the F/A-18

А запустить ДКС, зайти в редактор и посмотреть не судьба?)

Ohh you can do that? a kak eto deloitsa? y menya tolko 69 chasov :D v DCS tak chto ne znau bce isho

[Dokkaebi]

Originally posted by OG Slav ☭:

but I feel like the F-14 is more of a Ground aircraft more than a A/A? like it's turning like a boat in dogfights(Not saying that it's an awful A/A aircraft just saying it has a bad turning ratio an a Su-33 can outturn it easily) I would take my F/A-18 to a dog fight instead of F-14.

The Tomcat is better at low speed turning than the F-15C Eagle, with that in mind, its more than capable of turn fighting everything else in DCS, you just need to adjust the way you fly and stop hammering the flight stick.

[Tormoz]

Originally posted by OG Slav ☭:

Originally posted by Zadoff:

А запустить ДКС, зайти в редактор и посмотреть не судьба?)

Ohh you can do that? a kak eto deloitsa? y menya tolko 69 chasov :D v DCS tak chto ne znau bce isho

Добавь в стиме, лень тут расписывать.

[OG Slav ☭]

Originally posted by Dokkaebi:

Originally posted by OG Slav ☭:

but I feel like the F-14 is more of a Ground aircraft more than a A/A? like it's turning like a boat in dogfights(Not saying that it's an awful A/A aircraft just saying it has a bad turning ratio an a Su-33 can outturn it easily) I would take my F/A-18 to a dog fight instead of F-14.

The Tomcat is better low speed turning than the F-15C Eagle, with that in mind, its more than capable of turn fighting everything else in DCS, you just need to adjust the way you fly and stop hammering the flight stick.

Yea that is very true, I used to just pull the stick back when I flew the F/A-18C didn't workout so well because I lost so much speed so quickly, but I didn't know that I was just watching fights the F-14 against some ♥♥♥♥♥ jets, most Russian jets would win if they came up close, the F-14 was winning in the medium range battles

[startrekmike]

The central issue here is that it really depends on what kind of air to ground mission we are talking about. If we are talking about CAS or even AFAC, and even fairly conservative battlefield interdiction missions, the A-10C is great. It can handle going slow and staying over very small patches of airspace for long periods (good for CAS and AFAC). Likewise, it can carry a good amount of JDAM's or other precision guided munitions and do interdiction missions against enemy assets in uncontested airspace/low-intensity conflicts.

There is one issue though. The thing that makes the A-10C good for the missions I listed above is exactly what makes it not so great for the more traditional strike mission in contested airspace/high intensity conflicts. The F-14 may not have JDAM's or a fairly modern targeting pod but it can fly very high, very fast, and handle itself when the target is defended by SAM systems or even potential interceptors. If the A-10C were to try its hand at that, it would be a waste of a good plane and a good pilot because it would get shot down very, very quickly.

There is a reason why the Air Force is not in the habit of using the A-10 for anything that could possibly involve long range SAM systems, enemy aircraft, or anything like that. It is not built for that kind of mission and thus is better left with the CAS centric roles where its features are quite useful. The F-14 was (when in service) a excellent strike platform and even at its retirement in 2006, it could do that job very well.

So the answer to "which is better" really depends on what we are actually talking about here. Any answer that does not explore these details is kinda useless to be honest.

[fikmeinshizer]

The answer is in the names of the aircraft.

An A designation is an attack aircraft. An F designation is a fighter.

The A-10 is designed to operate at low level and deliver precision ground strikes. The F-14 by contrast is designed to operate at high level and deliver BVR interception of soviet bombers.

Yeah the F-14 can carry bombs and deliver them with a decent degree of accuracy but the A-10 carries a wider range of munitions and a bigger payload. Even when it comes to gun runs the A-10 has the upper hand with more ammo and more punch from the GAU-8.