AV-8B Harrier or A-10C Warthog?

[[ATP]Flo]

I'd like to hear your thoughts about those ground attackers.
Which one do you prefer and why?

Thinking about adding such an A/G plane to my hangar (have only the Hornet) but don't know which one. I'll start testing the Harrier now but I guess it's not enogh time to see everything of both birds. So I need your opinion guys.

Thanks!

[Mysterious Drone]

BOTH!

[80ne]

AV-8B Harrier only because when they release the map of the Marianas you'll be able to use the map and launch off carriers. Yes you have Andersons Air for base on Guam, and the rest is ocean.

[spike2071]

For me, the main drawback of the Hog is the speed. If you don't mind taking twice as long to get to the action, the Hog is better for A2G missions. It has more weapons, better loiter time, better native control of the TGP, BRRRRRRTTT, and more single player content.

With that said, I prefer the Harrier. Mainly because of the speed, but also because of the V/STOL capability. I much prefer for landings to require concentration (like carrier traps) rather than descend, flare, speed brakes....zzzzzzzz.

I don't know if you prefer SP over MP, or both, but...

Both have good training missions (the Harrier's training is almost too good...as in, startup checks that imitate a non-existent ground crew). The A-10 has a couple of built in campaigns, while the Harrier has none (although a mini campaign should be coming soon). In addition, the amount user-created content for the Warthog is impressive. It's almost 10 years old, and for a long time its only competition was the Ka-50, so it makes sense that there so much stuff for it.

In uncoordinated MP, I prefer the Harrier simply because it has the ability to run away. The Hog is dead if your A2A guys aren't actually protecting you. At least the Harrier can get close to the sound barrier while running to a group of friendlies.

One of the few things that the Harrier can do in A2G over the Hog is the SideArm. It's a never-used-in-real-life missile based on the sidewinder that homes in on radar signals. Like a poor man's HARM. It's fun to dart in and out of valleys before popping up and locking a SAM radar.

TL;DR - For pure A2G, the Hog is better, but the Harrier is more fun.

[Michael Jordan]

personally av8b ♥♥♥ it looks better and it is basically an a10c on steroids

[[ATP]Flo]

Escrito originalmente por Almond Milk:

personally av8b ♥♥♥ it looks better and it is basically an a10c on steroids

LOL

[[ATP]Flo]

One thing I really like about the Harrier is that its from the same company as the Hornet (McDonnell Douglas). It looks so similar and I instantly feel like at home. ^^ Looks good so far!

[geistXIII]

Harrier is way easier to get into and with some training you can do insanely unsafe stuff with the thrust vectors. As a weapon platform I'd say the Hog is superior, but it's way more complex, takes more time to get all the sensors and controls right and as mentioned above, she's super slow. While I really love the hog and she always will have a place in my heart, right now I prefer the Harrier for A/G because it's way easier to control and just jump in and have some fun with it. And even if the VTOL aspects are quite limiting (according to load) it's just a fantastic feeling when you leave the ground vertically.

[Zero]

try the A-10C, its free. take some time to learn it and do the controls (should be able to pull up chucks guide for that)

the harrier is good but some of its features are just weird.

example would be the deployment of mavericks.

[van Leeuwenhoek's mustache]

You have plenty of time to learn both planes.

Here's my 2 cents, based on my experience flying warthog and harrier


A-10C:

PROS

- Good fuel economy
- Can carry an extensive and varied payload (no JSOWs or HARMs, though)
- Large MFDs, much better than the ones in the harrier and hornet.
- Once you have all the HOTAS controls down, it's a joy to operate in A2G
- Good dogfighter, dangerous at close range
- Can carry up to 4 sidewinders, in addition to a full A2G payload
- Low heat signature (especially in hot aspect), also, defeats fox 2s easily
- Better at avoiding radar detection than a regular fighter
- Stable at low speeds, extremely easy to land
- Sturdy, it can take quite a lot of punishment
- BRRRRRRT!


CONS

- Underpowered and slow
- No radar
- Pretty limited DL
- Automatic CMS, with no option to bypass it, unlike the hornet
- Can't do SEAD
- Alignment takes longer than harrier and hornet (but not as long as mirage)
- Can't carry laser-guided mavs


Harrier:

PROS

- VTOL
- Fast and agile (for an attack plane)
- Thrust vectoring can be used to turn tightly, rise / drop speed suddenly, etc.
- Good dogfighter, dangerous at close range
- Can carry anti-radiation missiles for SEAD
- Can carry a decent selection of A2G ordinance (only in moderate quantity, though)

CONS

- No radar
- No DL
- Not the best fuel economy (keep rpm below 90% to have decent playtime)
- Limited ordinance capacity


Anyway, the hornet can launch 8 JSOWs at separate targets from 30+ nm, which puts both warthog and harrier to shame.
Also, it does so while retaining full A2A capability (radar + datalink + 2x amraam + 2 sidewinder).
Sure, JSOW trucking gets old after a while, but it's more effective, safer and much quicker than flying a full strike sortie with either warthog or harrier.

[[ATP]Flo]

The Harrier has no radar and no DL? So how do you even know where the enemies are? Do you always need someone to babysit you when flying in MP?

[ZeroReady]

RWR and CAP

[geistXIII]

Also mission briefing, DMT and and TGP. And which is also quite unique for DCS, NAVFLIR to Hud

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyjjzCmgt_8

(btw, looks way better now than in the video, this was still in EA).

[van Leeuwenhoek's mustache]

@[ATP]Flo

EWR and AWACS / GCI calls, basically.

Harrier might be fast enough to run to safety, provided you aren't too far away from friendly SAM / CAP / base, etc. So escort is kind of optional (though recommended).

Warthog always needs escort (unless you're planning to sneak in through the mountains).
It can't outrun anything, it doesn't have radar either and the datalink is no SA page...

If needing an escort is a deal breaker for you, pick the harrier or just stick with the hornet.

[spike2071]

One cool feature of the Hog is the Missile Warning System. It will alert when any missile is launched within a certain range (I don't know what the range is). So you can get alerts on IR missiles when they're launched. Of course, you also get alerts when friendly Mavericks are launched, or friendly escorts firing AIM-120s, or anything else.

But I didn't realize how awesome it was until I didn't have it (i.e. - every plane but the Mirage).

[[ATP]Flo]

One little downside I found out ist that the medial pushbuttons of the MFDs and some others are obscured so that you can't see them. I played the first tutorial missions yesterday and I often had the problem that I couldn't see the buttons which the instructor was talking about.

Currently I don't have TrackIR... it's ordered but delayed.
I have VR but do not use it right now with the Harrier because I wan't to learn the basics first.