Wear, faults and damage systems

[=475FG= Dawger]

8 hours ago, Kalasnkova74 said:

The good thing about component wear is it permits simulation of the most important airpower dynamics: logistics.

Having high tech aircraft is all well and good, but the capabilities are just one ingredient in the warfighting soup that is air power. Choosing an F-4 over an F-5 is a no brainer in a static environment. But if half your F-4s are broken for different reasons but 80% of your F-5s are ‘up’, now the dynamic is different. Next layer in situations like all your ‘cheaper’ F-5s are mission capable but your F-4s are flyable with degraded capability - say, no dive toss or PAVE Spike  - and the choices get even murkier. Suddenly, other options you’d just disregard (like using less capable aircraft)become useful.
 

Then there’s good old Murphys Law. You launch 4 F-4Es but two got over-Gd in the last sortie because they dodged SAMs after going off route to avoid interceptors. Now you’re down two jets and your campaign needs four - how do you solve this? 
 

 

Logistics is going to run out of F-5 wings long before it runs out burned out light bulbs for the F-4.