In some of the campaigns (I’m playing the Egypt and Vladivostok at the moment) you are required to fly missions using either the F-117 Nighthawk or B-2 Spirit. In the earlier missions I find that enemy fighters can fly right past me without even seeing me. However, in the later missions, it seems the enemy fighters gain some sort of see-in-the dark ability and can detect me when they’re about 10 miles away from me. I can usually complete my mission by watching my RWR and avoiding fighters. I take further precautions by not using my radar at all (the F-117 doesn’t even have any) and opening by bomb bay doors only long enough to drop a weapon. However, in the later missions, it seems I can do nothing to avoid detection by enemy fighters, and when they do, that’s all she wrote (since stealth aircraft have no speed, or maneuverability, or defensive weapons).This is more of a problem with the B-2 missions, as you generally have to make more than one pass over the target area to destroy all the assigned targets. The SAMs and AAA are no big deal, but the fighters are something I’m having real trouble avoiding. In one of the Vladivostok missions, the target (some ammo factories) that was covered by hoards of fighters, and despite my best efforts, one would eventually detect me (and then the rest would come zooming in for the kill). I got so frustrated getting killed time and time again that the last time I replayed the mission I set the damage to invulnerable so I could complete the mission and move on to missions that I had a more realistic chance of completing.
The thing of it is, I’ve played quick missions at night versus against B-2s and F-117s, and I’ve found that even with a FLIR pod, you cannot detect them more than 5 miles away (and you cannot see them until you’re almost on top of them).
Anyone have any tips on how to avoid detection?
I also have a couple other questions that are sort of related (getting on soapbox at this point):
Would the USAF really send a $1 billion bomber into airspace that was known to be heavily patrolled by enemy fighters?
Also, why doesn’t the B-2 in Fighter’s Anthology have access to decent standoff weapons, like the AGM-84 SLAM (for that matter, if they could give us heavy bombers like the B-1, B-2 and B-52, why didn’t they give us some of the standoff weapons that they carry)? Instead, I’m limited to 8 laser-guided GBUs, and then once I’ve used them, I have to destroy the remaining targets with free-fall bombs using that horrid bombsight. I find it rather ironic that I’m flying a state-of-the bomber, and I have to rely on technology that’s not much different than a WWII B-17 with a Norden bombsight and iron bombs!
Too bad I can’t swap out the B-2 for the EB-52 Megafortress- stealth capability, decent standoff weapons AND AMRAAMs for the pesky fighter that gets too close…
That’s enough of a rant for now. Thanks for any help.
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