Crestan Conflict

We've waited long enough.

Teased since the Monarchii War, delayed for nearly two months, waiting in anticipation... The Intimidator has gotten its upgrade. Here it finally is. The Interdictor.

Real-Life Background

About two months ago on March 29, 2024, the Intimidator was made.

The Intimidator was made with a few key concepts in mind; speed, stability, armament, and simplicity. It would be rolled out and see combat in the Monarchii War.
Except, the war ended before the Intimidator could really leave its mark, same fate befell upon others like the F/A-32A and AMX-10M. This combined with procrastination and productively working on other projects eventually caused the Intimidator and its variants to fall into forget.

But of course, it didn't end there. Sometime after the Monarchii War, MGLA/MDA members CrestelAeronautics and FOXHOUND26 broke into a civil war. With little pre-war planning, both sides were forced to use whatever they already had early in the war. And guess what one of those planes was? The Intimidator, of course, and in large numbers too. It proved formidable on the battlefield, but as the war progressed, so did technology, and the Intimidator was starting to take bigger losses. And this was precisely the push I needed to finally build this juggernaut.

And it was better than I ever hoped.

Carrying the legacy left by its intimidating father, the Interdictor will greet the battlefield with the reality that the Intimidator and its variants may never truly die.

Ingame Background (LOOOOOOORE)

In March 1955, the MiG-19 was introduced into combat. America already had the F-100 to counter the Farmer, but TUPL decided he needed a fighter to combat it too. That and he wanted to make every Soviet warplane suffer because he was still extra salty about the Tu-4 (TUPL is a singular person who is older than the Saint-Chamond tank, deal with it lol). As a result, the Intimidator was made to defeat the MiG-19. Except, the Intimidator was incredibly overpowered, so much so that it was able to defeat even more modern opponents. Over time, the Intimidator was upgraded, seeing combat in the Monarchii War, Siren War, and now the Crestan Conflict. The Interdictor would be made as heavily refined variant built to completely wipe out the competition.

Flight Guide

The Intimidator's base controls are very simple and easy to learn, so let's get to the juicy stuff; the upgrades.

First thing we wanna talk about is that red thing on the front of the Interdictor. That is simply a targeting pod. Although ingame tech reduces it to simple aesthetics, it would in reality give the Interdictor its insane missile accuracy.

Next up is the guns. The Interdictor only has two guns, as opposed to the Intimidator's three, but the Interdictor's guns are much higher caliber, having more of just about everything. Also note that the Interdictor uses gatling guns, meanwhile the intimidator sports machine guns.

Now the top. Those two gray streaks and two gray pods are all radar jamming systems. Yes. All four of them. This makes the Interdictor's anti-radar tech so powerful that it's virtually undetectable on radar, so you'll have to fight it WWII style where you detect it with your own eyes.

Meanwhile, that little pyramid on the top is the Interdictor's own radar. To counter its own anti-radar tech, the Interdictor uses both a nose radar as well as the additional one on the top of the fuselage.

Now for the landing gear. The landing gear is pretty simple, and almost nothing changed regarding it, but one thing we will talk about is the new arresting hook which allows the Interdictor carrier compatibility. This arresting hook can be activated/deactivated through Activation Group 1.

And lastly, the part we all wanted to hear about, the missiles. The Interdictor comes armed with eight missiles, although it actually has nine hardpoints. Four of these missiles are its air-to-surface "Surface Scourge" missiles. These missiles are fast and pack a devastating punch capable of wiping out almost any target in a single hit.

The air-to-air missiles are much more complex though. Nicknamed the "Crossbow," the Intimidator's crazy LRAAMs aren't normal missiles, as they actually have guns mounted in them. As such, using these wisely (or just fighting the right opponent) can turn the Crossbow into an insta-kill gun with a supersonic aimbot, making it not only lethal, but potentially reusable if fighting large numbers of enemies. Good news is, if you aren't able to utilize the Crossbow's gun, it still carries an explosive payload that will one-shot any foe all the same. These guns can be toggled on or off with Activation Group 8.

For example, that Red Laser is the Crossbow missile's bullet tracers.

The missiles can be dropped from their pylons passively by pressing Activation Groups 2 or 3. 2 drops the ASMs, 3 drops the AAMs.

And the last special feature is the lights. They are mostly aesthetic, but can be toggled on/off with Activation Group 7.

Pros And Cons (and workarounds)

Pros:

-Very stable
-Very maneuverable
-Powerful guns
-Insane missiles
-Almost undetectable on radar
-Carrier compatible
-Versatile
-Can carry heavy payloads
-Long fuel range
-Good visibility
-Can climb vertically with almost no issues
-A large amount of countermeasures, albeit no chaff
-No extra pilot training required; anyone certified to fly the Intimidator will have no issues flying the Interdictor

Cons:

-Slower than fighters like the F-33A Falchion (Workaround: use the missiles, they aren't slower than most enemies. Plus, the Interdictor is still pretty fast)
-Poor armor (Workaround: There is none, but the Crestan Conflict is a dangerous war where getting hit even once can take you down anyways, so just utilize your agility)
-Limited hardpoints (Workaround: just consolidate your desired payloads onto one hardpoint, don't underestimate the Interdictor. I worked hard upgrading it for a reason, you know)

Variants

The F/A-29 is the variant (of the F-29 Intimidator)

Extras

-Random fun fact: The original Intimidator was released on the 29th of March. However, I didn't know this when choosing the Letter-Number designation for the Intimidator/Interdictor.

-Swarm variant of the Interdictor

Have fun and Happy Hunting!