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It seems fair that they can evade your radar missiles as easily as you can avoid theirs. AI mindlessly commit themselves to defending and properly notching, while players can get distracted with sneaking a shot in or keeping themselves oriented so they can keep the enemy range. This is kind of the same reason that the opposite problem is hear a lot: "Missiles are hard to evade" being the defender instead of the attacker.
A philosophy I learned from a DCS player is to think of AIM120s more of a way to "posture" an opponent(s). Its a way to break up an organized flight, keep them busy, and deny them the chance lock you up. A plane notching your missile now exposes their engines for your IR missiles.
I haven't flown for a couple updates now really, but I just give the basic principles of the A-A missiles overall.
All the data you can find about missiles in common public sources are their maximum performance at "standard" scenario.
Typically it is this:
* High altitude launch (like 10 km).
* Launching aircraft at high speed (like Mach 1.2 so going supersonic, transonic speed is Mach 0.8-1.2, subsonic is < 0.8 and supersonic is Mach 1.2-5) to give the missile extra boost (aircraft speed + missile rocket motor max speed = total max speed).
* Target coming straight toward (Head-On).
* Target does not maneuver at all (change speed or vector).
That is the commonly quoted "Max Range" values for the missile. If you change those values, you change the missile probability of kill (Pk, 1.0 = 100%, 0.5 = 50% etc).
The modern targeting systems has such features that calculate you the ranges based the factors given, that is "Dynamic Launch Zone". And then there is the "NEZ = No Escape Zone" that is a distance where target at its current speed has no means to escape the missile even if they would turn 180 away from the missile.
So when you are launching the missiles, you are better to wait the target to get close. Launching at Max Range is just bad unless you are firing like against airliner that flies next 2 hours straight.
Launching at top end of the DLZ is as well risk, as good pilot can prepare to make your missile chase itself easily by maneuvers.
So it often goes to close to NEZ distances.
Example, you will find that AIM-120 missile gets quoted crazy numbers like "max range 130 km" or so. But in history the AIM-120 has been all launched well in Visual Range, inside about 10 nmi IIRC. Only one AIM-120 has been launched that hit the target just in "BVR", but it is little questionable even was it so.
The most effective weapon is still the IR seekers, most kills in the history.
Here is example a simple public performance chart for the Russian first gen R-77 missile. You will get the idea how to use missiles:
https://i.imgur.com/7q5ubbC.jpg
How to read that chart?
The center vertical blue line is you as a launching aircraft. The right side is against targets that are coming head-on. The left side is against targets that you are chasing.
The vertical scale tells you the altitude (same for you and target) and horizontal scale tells you the range where to expect missile intercept the target.
So example if you know that your launching altitude is 5 km, then your missile has intercept capability (was it Mach 0.9 for missile speed left) about 25 km head-on, and about 7 km in chase.
Typically these launch parameters are for target and launching aircrafts to be at Mach 0.9 or 1.2.
These charts do not tell anything about your radar performance, only that hypothetical range at given values. Like you can detect a target at 300 km distance, lock on it at 250 km distance, and then launch a missile against it while it is still well outside the missile MAX range, because the target will be flying head-on toward the missile and so on get closer and you can expect to get missile hit at far.
But here is one of the problems, charts like that does not include at all all the data that is required. But you get the idea how to use missiles as you can't just "lock & launch".
I don't know does VTOL model anything like these basic things (altitude, speed, what kind missile navigation etc) but you get the idea.
So when you are locking on the target in VTOL, look at their direction and altitude, you need to make the decision when to launch the missile as it is required to have enough speed to reach the target.
Those are fairly realistic values for AIM-120C-5/7 variants.
You are expected to have a change to hit something at 25 nmi, but 20 nmi is about 30%. In reality you would have closer to 15 nmi to get 50% Pk or little over.
The AIM-120D (AIM-120C-8) with its hypothetical "max 160 km" (estimated for public sources) is as well again only about high speed target heading toward you at high altitude.
Like if you launch AIM-120 at 5 km altitude in lofting mode (missile raises to 14 km altitude where it flies), you get about 2-3 times more distance than firing it from 5 km straight forward.
So all the missiles ranges are secrets, very much changing depending scenarios and it can't be said "But the source X says the range is Y kilometers" as it is just the hypothetical max performance value with even intercept probability at low side).
People need to as well remember that AIM-120 while being a "fire and forget" weapon, only true Fire and Forget weapons are IR missiles that locks before launch (LOBL). The AIM-120 requires guidance to long range targets, and only when closer to target does the missile activate its own radar and start searching the target to lock on.
So with AIM-120, one can not lock on target, launch missile and turn away or brake the lock. The missile will not track the target. It will fly straight to initial intercept point where it is expecting to find a target, using target information (vector and speed) on the moment when the lock was lost.
In reality the AIM-120 activates its own radar about 10 nmi from the target, but it can not find a targets unless large bombers at those ranges, the fighter size smaller RCS targets are possible to be found about 5 nmi range.
The TWS mode is not used in reality against a fighter type targets because they can maneuver and lose the lock. The AESA radar makes that less likely to happen. The STT launch is still the preferred as you are tracking target all the time, while in TWS mode you would be tracking it (with mechanically scanned radar) only once the radar picture is built (and that is depending radar scan volume from couple seconds to few seconds).
The TWS mode primary existence is to be able launch missile missiles against multiple targets, as STT method allows only one target at the time. And TWS multi-shot capability is only against slow non-maneuvering targets like bombers, while fighters will know when other is in launch range and they can trash your missiles with simple means. So as the target anyways know you are there, they know your range, there is no sense to try to "hide" the launch as a smart enemy anyways expects launch occur regardless has it in reality.