How to properly use the F-15A

[AndSoDerp]

I have spaded the F-15A but I feel like its performance hasn't change when it was stock minus the missiles except for the AIM-7Ms which are unreliable at times and is an aircraft that barely gives any positive SL. I can get 1-2 kills on average and my highest is 5 but it feels like the aircraft is underwhelming and it can barely compete at times with the Gripen and Su-27s, not to mention that it's impossible to dodge/evade a R27ER. There's also the fact that 80-90% of my team will consist of low lvl prem players so my games are mostly one-sided loses where I become the last man standing.

So I want to ask for advice on how I can improve cause so far its just been me getting 0/1-2 kills, die and repeat. I've tried doing things different such as climbing or going right to rush the enemy. But it feels like I'm not using it to its strengths. Also how does one dodge an R27s effectively and what is the optimal way to use the AIM-7Ms. Tnx.

[shipdesignerdude]

R-27ERs can only reliably be dodged if you fly low to the ground and maneuver along the ground, to avoid the missile dealing splash damage when it hits the ground. Flying low will confuse the missile into thinking you are the ground. Notching is only a good strategy at range, and is unreliable at best due to the ER being able to resume guidance after losing lock.

Aim-7Ms are best used if someone is busy dodging someone else above ground level, and within 5 miles. This range is optimal to prevent people from dodging, and the acm lock is pretty good in my experience.

I would start the match by flying to the left with your team, and avoid being the first one to make contact with the main group of enemies. The first person usually catches at least 2 R-27ERs when merging. The Aim-9Ms are best used at mid range, so people don't see them and don't flare or dodge. Don't be afraid to dump flares, and you might be able to get away with using periodic countermeasures for short intervals.

[Paradoxicc70]

The balance is atrocious the AIM7's are unreliable, and the AIM9M's are best used 1.5KM out, even if you defeat the 27's and fly defensively they have a guaranteed kill rate at 2k with the R-73's. You are helpless ATM if a SU-27, J-11, or MIG-29 wants you. There's too much against you regardless of competency & skill level.

[JuX]

It's absurd how badly the AIM-7 is nerfed. To a point they sometimes turn away from targets just before impact. As if they had a magnetic force field pushing them away. Sometimes it doesn't even track from rear-aspect.

To make matters worse sometimes these US radar just loose lock when enemies do a simple 45 degree turn and pop one chaff. That makes me question the meaning of PD in the radar mode.

[Jaes]

Hi, I regularly engage aircraft slinging R-27s in BVR and win with the glorious steed that is the F-15A Eagle and its AIM-7M complement. This is where the Eagle is king. Most folks do not know how to engage in BVR correctly, so, I'm gonna discuss that a bit here.

No, there will not be a tl;dr because there's a lot of information to go over. Welcome to Modern Jet combat.

Let's go over the two predominate Fox 1s that are available.


First, the R-27.

Pros:

• It's really fast, enabling unparalleled close range capabilities (less than 9km)
  
• It has Inertial Navigation Capabilities which allows the missile to continue guiding to the last known positional data of the target
  
• Has a big warhead compared to Sparrow

Cons:

• It's really bloody heavy
  
• Loses a lot of speed while maneuvering
  
• Has a short burn time for its fuel (8 seconds)

Next, the AIM-7F/M. Both of these missiles are copy and paste for each other so there is zero performance different in them. The variations players often complain about are attributed to the radar of the launch aircraft, not the missiles themselves. That's a whole other topic in itself.

Pros:

• Has a lot of fuel (Approx 16 secconds)
  
• Great mid range capability (15km-20km)
  
• Has a much more consistent energy state thanks to its long burn time

Cons:

• Weaker acceleration rate compared to a lot of other SARHs
  
• Not ideal for close range missile jousts against R-27s (Less than 9km)
  
• Requires maintained radar lock for a successful intercept

So, now that we have a baseline for what the Vympel is good at and what the Sparrow is good at, how do we go about playing on the Sparrow's strengths while exploiting the Vympel's weaknesses and mitigating the weaknesses of the Sparrow?

First, we need to establish how the radar works on the F-15A Eagle. The Eagle's radar is very unique and behaves differently compared to any other radar in the game, especially if you've spent a lot of time working the US air tree with F-14s and F-16s. I'm a Tomcat main, I had quite a learning curve with the Eagle's radar, but once I figured how to employ competently, I've had no qualms with engaging any target that's flying around.

The Eagle's radar has two engagement modes: SRC PD and SRC PD HDN. Unlike many of the other US aircraft available, there is no non-Pulse Doppler filter that you can cycle to while locked on a target. It's all in on PD. This does make the Eagle vulnerable to Notch tactics, but there's ways you can mitigate this.

When to use the PD modes:

• SRC PD is an "All Aspect" mode. Use it if the target is trying to Notch/Go Cold against your Sparrow shot.
  
• SRC PD HDN is a "Head On" mode. Use this if the target is flying in a linear line and not properly defending.
  
• You can help your Eagle defeat a Notch by vectoring your aircraft in the same direction your potential target is heading when using "All Aspect" mode, turning the engagement into a rear-aspect engagement

The strength of the Eagle's radar is primarily that it's very difficult to successfully maintain a Notch. Even if they are able to Notch, your target needs to stay in that position relative to your aircraft, or else it'll get locked up again and enable the Sparrow to continue guiding to target. If they're forced to maintain that position, then you will merge where you trusty AIM-9M will laugh at their attempt to defeat a side aspect shot and get a free kill.

The radars present on the MiG-29, J-11, and SU-27 are comically easy to Notch by comparison and there's not much they can do about it. If you Notch against the noted aircraft, please for the love of the Gods, Chaff. You should always Chaff in a Notch. It does help.

Important Note: In certain circumstances, the F-15's radar will be ineffective when tracking an opponent in rear-aspect/approaching Notch engagements. This is due to the Speed Gate thresholds for the Eagle's current radar. If you and your target are moving at fairly similar speeds, your radar will be confused about whether or not it should be filtering out the object it's looking at, and unfortunately this confusion translates to the Sparrow as "wtf am I supposed to be tracking" and decides to take a trip literally anywhere else because it's picking up a stronger return elsewhere and tries to engage that instead.

Always keep in mind the golden rule of Pulse Doppler Radar and engage accordingly:

Target moving towards you = Best target.

Target moving away from you = Expect it to miss and be happy when it doesn't.


Okay, now we know the operating principles for the Eagle's radar. Let's go over how to kill MiG and Sukhoi before the Merge.

Circling back to our Missile Specs (see above), what can we glean from knowing what the Sparrow can do and what the Vympel can do?

I lied, there is a bit of a tl;dr: The Vympel is weaker at midrange engagements than the Sparrow is.

The trick with the Eagle is to start that engagement at 20km while performing F-Pole/Crank maneuvers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Lx4SFMWdU

The video shown is a good breakdown video on what the maneuver looks like and what you need to do to maintain target lock. Keep in mind, the video is from DCS and it involves the F-15C employing an AIM-120 vs. an R-27. The video is purely so you understand what the maneuver looks like and why it's used. It was originally designed for SARH on SARH combat. AIM-120s just make the maneuver a lot easier and safer.

I have not encountered a single War Thunder player that actually employs this offensive maneuver correctly.

They either fly like this: \

Or this: /

Or this: |

They never do this; S

The R-27 really sucks at dealing with Cranking compared to the Sparrow, because it burns through all of its fuel very quickly to gain a velocity advantage over other missiles. Missiles absolutely abhor turning. They lose a ton of speed when they do so. The Sparrow is much better suited for mid range missile jousting because it's able to maintain a consistent energy state thanks to it's much longer fuel burn time vs. the R-27's rapid burn time.

After you've launched your missile, focus on maintaining the crank and your Sparrow will do its intended job for you. You just need to make sure that you don't over shoot your positioning to maintain radar lock against your target so the Sparrow can do its job.

When should you decide to engage or defend?

Optimal Engagement range: 20km-16km

Less than ideal: 15km-12km; gambling

DEFEND: 10km and less. You will never beat an R-27 here, don't bother. DEFEND, DEFEND, DEFEND. Get in that Notch, drop your Chaff, stay there and draw them into a Merge. Don't forget the R-27's Inertial Guidance Capability, make sure to change your altitude higher/lower so that the R-27 doesn't just dumb luck it's way into an Intercept.

Pre-flare their R-73s and reverse into their turn against you. J-11 and SU-27 gets clapped here every time unless you make a mistake.

At mid to high altitudes, these aircraft are cows and you can cut into their turns pretty easily if you're not engaging your After Burner, which is a bad habit a lot of War Thunder players have. You can even do it at lower altitudes or just simply break away if they try to do their funneh Cobra stuff. F-15's acceleration and thrust to weight ratios are insane, use them.

Once you own the higher altitudes, you can than proceed to practice firing on Gripens at angles that effectively turn your Sparrow into a Javelin and laugh due to the F-15's excellent Look-down Shoot-down radar capabilities and get free kills. If you have expended all your Sparrows by that point, energy trap them into an endless turn cycle and use a classic yo-yo to gun them down.

You're probably going to have a bit of a dirt eating competition with yourself until you get this down, but it'll be worth it. I went from a 1:1 to a 2.5:1 k/d after figuring out the F-15's quirks and that figure has only been going up.