Hunter F.6 (France)

This page is about the Dutch jet fighter Hunter F.6 (France). For other versions, see Hunter (Family).

◘Hunter F.6

▄Meteor F Mk.8

▄Mirage 5BA

◘Hunter F.6

▄Meteor F Mk.8

▄Mirage 5BA

France

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.3	9.3	9.0

Class:

Fighter

Jet fighter

Research:220 000

Purchase:620 000

Show in game

Description

The ◘Hunter F.6 is a rank VI French jet fighter with a battle rating of 9.3 (AB/RB) and 9.0 (SB). It was introduced in Update "Seek & Destroy". This aircraft is quite counter-intuitive to play as a player of the usual french jets, as it behaves very differently, most notably in the aspects of combat speeds and engagement styles. With it's subpar manoeuvrability, but excellent energy retention, and cataclysmic firepower, the Dutch Hunter proposes a unique form of jet combat, based on transsonic boom & zoom, sustained turns, and shallow climb escapes.

General info

Flight performance

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Max speed

at 0 m1 148 km/h

Turn time25 s

Max altitude15 500 m

EngineRolls-Royce Avon Mk.203

TypeJet

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight11 t

The Hunter F.6 is an aircraft which will feel very alien to players who are used to the other, french aircrafts present in the french tech tree. Where a Super Mystère B2 will bleed it's energy significantly, to pull G's at extreme overloads, the Hunter family is of an entirely different breed.

The Hunter excells at energy retention, being able to pull relatively hard turns, but most of all, can sustain a turn for a very long time (tens of seconds, if the scenario allows it). Energy retention and best manoeuvrability are achieved at high subsonic speeds. 800-900 km/h seems to be the standard combat sweet spot.

This superb advantage is counterbalanced by the Hunters relatively poor "on the spot" agility. The aircraft feels sluggish, it's roll rate is mediocre, and nose authority is not very impressive. This is most prevalent without the boosters installed, where reaching "overload" level G's won't be possible under 700km/h approximatively.

The engine of the Hunter F.6 goes well with the airframe it is installed on. Providing a good acceleration (higher acceleration than most first generation afterburning engines, like the General Electric J47-GE-17B found on the F-86K). This acceleration gives out at transsonic speeds, and provides the Hunter good fleeing performances if necessary. The engine gives the best performances closer to the ground, opening for possibilities of horizontal engagement, at low level.

Note : Landing the Hunter F.6 is quite difficult. With a poor airbrake that closes when the gear opens, good energy retention (playing against you, in this situation), no drogue chute, and abysmal wheel brakes, the entire runway will be used.

Small size bases are nearly always too short, and sometimes, the landscape around the longer runway doesn't allow for a clean approach. It is not uncommon to see Hunters perform gear-up landings to mitigate these problems.

Characteristics	Max speed (km/h at 0 m - sea level)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	1139	1133	15500	26.6	27.2	54.2	47.6	820
Upgraded	___	___		__._	__._	__._	__._

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
_	_	_	_	_	_

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	450	___	___	___	~__	~__

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< ___	< ___	< ___	-

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
_____		_	_,___ kg		___ kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Gross Weight
Weight (each)	Type		_m fuel	__m fuel	__m fuel
___ kg	___		_,___ kg	_,___ kg	_,___ kg	_,___ kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (___%/WEP)
Condition	100%	___%/WEP	_m fuel	__m fuel	__m fuel	MGW
Stationary	___ kgf	___ kgf	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Optimal	___ kgf (_ km/h)	___ kgf (_ km/h)	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear450 km/h

In an era where 20-30mm autocanons reign supreme, and missiles become nearly ubiquitous, the Hunter has a very low survivability. Any hitting shot will break a wing, or cripple the engine. While the Hunter can be brought home with significant damage, allies will need to engage the pursuers and save it from danger before any return to base can be accomplished.

In light of the previous note about Hunter landings, belly landing should not be executed above 400km/h, as the risk of explosion increases drastically at higher speeds.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 020 → 4 424

RB8 644 → 12 663

SB9 843 → 14 419

Total cost of modifications194 000

305 000

Talisman cost2 700

Crew training175 000

Experts620 000

Aces2 600

Research Aces1 010 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

130 / 380 / 600 %

226 / 226 / 226 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 340 Compressor Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 340 Airframe Research: 22 000 Cost: 35 000 580 New boosters Research: 22 000 Cost: 35 000 580 Wings repair Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 320 G-suit Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 320 Cover Research: 21 000 Cost: 33 000 550 Engine Research: 21 000 Cost: 33 000 550 EFS Research: 21 000 Cost: 33 000 550		aden_belt_pack Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 340 aden_new_gun Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 320 AIM-9B Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 320

By default, the Hunter F.6 cannot deploy it's full potential in sustained turns because of the lack of boosters, and the lack of G-suit, necessary to remain awake in these manoeuvres. Hence, Boosters and G-suit are an absolute must.

Once these are obtained, it is usually advised to increase engine power and streamline airflow, with associated modifications.

The missiles can be researched independantly from any other researched. The level of priority given to this modification is at the discretion of the user.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Hunter F.6 (France) is armed with:

• 4 x 30 mm ADEN cannons, chin-mounted (150 rpg = 600 total)

The ADEN cannons cluster provide a stellar firepower for an aircraft of this size. They are installed in the nose, under the pilot, and thus are nearly perfectly centered. The stream of cannon shells from this weapon pack is nearly continuous, and the hit from only one shell is sufficient to disable even heavy fighters. Smaller agile jets like the Fiat G91 or the Mig-15 tend to explode like a grenade when impacted. by an ADEN explosive round.

The Air Targets belt tends to be the best for the aircraft, as it cannot carry air-to-ground armament, and thus is ill equipped to attack ground targets (even if they work relatively well against pillboxes and light vehicles, in an emergency situation). Stealth munitions will work as well.

Note : the weapon arrangement and firepower is similar to the Vautour II, available in the same tech tree.

Suspended armament

The only suspended armament available to the Hunter F.6 is a pair of AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles. First of their generation, these missiles are subpar at the BR, and can only be used on unsuspecting ennemies, or dogfighters whose potential energy is exhausted.

The capabilities of the missiles lend well to the Hunter F.6 playstyle, as harrassing targets increases the chances of finding them in an unfavourable position., and landing a missile shot.

The drop tanks gives an additional ten minutes of fuel. It if quasi useless for a non afterburning engine, but can be used in conjuction to a minimum internal fuel load, to ensure the fastest escape speeds by dropping them.

Default weapon presets
2 x 150 gal drop tanks 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles

Usage in battles

Overall, the Hunter F.6 is an good boom & zoom airframe, and harassing multiple enemies one by one seems to yield optimal results. It is to be kept in mind that the performances of this tactic are largely dependant on the position of the Hunter in the battle. In a uptier, high overload missiles and supersonic opponents will tear the Hunter to shreds. but around it's own BR, the Hunter can engage rapidly and escape furballs, only to regengage when the next opportunity appears.

When examining placement, it can be usefull to flank the initial furballs to ensure low pressure in engagements and increased decision time. Flying at high altitudes is disadvised, as the engine power is lower and agility suffers, making the Hunter very vulnerable to missiles.

When attacking, a shallow dive angle is recommended, to avoid compressibility problems, and remain in the most manoeuvrable speed interval. This stands for escaping as well, where a 10° climb is often enough to zoom away without losing speed, and watching eventual pursuers lose theirs.

With the current opponents, it is also important to know and learns which ennemies carry potent missiles, that might extend their own defense range. Being flareless, the Hunter F.6 will not be able to defend against anything else that a R3S or AIM-9B missile.

Pros and cons

Pros:

- High acceleration

- Sustains turns well, conserves energy

- Good firepower

- High speed manoeuvrability

Cons:

- Terrible mid speed and low speed handling

- No radar

- Subpar instantaneous turn rate

- Flareless

- Bullets have very low velocity

- Default belt do relatively low damage

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Related development

• Hunter (Family)
  • Hunter F.6

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Super Mystère
• MiG-17 (Family)
• F-100 (Family)
• G.91 Y/YS

External links

• [Devblog] Dutch and Belgian Aircraft are Joining the French Tree!

Royal Dutch Aircraft Factory Fokker (Koninklijke Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek Fokker)
Strike Aircraft	◗Fokker G.IA
Jet Aircraft	▄Meteor F Mk.8* · ◘Hunter F.6*
Export	▄Fokker D.XXI-3 · ▄Fokker D.XXI
	* Licensed Production / Variants
See Also	Gloster · Hawker · Valtion Lentokonetehdas