JASF: Jane's Advanced Strike Fighters

JASF: Jane's Advanced Strike Fighters is an arcade styled flight simulator developed by Trickstar Games and published by Maximum Family Games.^[1] Released in October 2011,^[1] it was the first game to have the Jane's title in over a decade. Unlike the previous games in the Jane's Combat Simulations line, JASF does not feature realistic gameplay and instead focuses more on arcade-style action.^[2]

Story

For ten long years, the small island nation of Azbaristan has been rent by a disastrous civil war. Two factions of the government - the Northern People's Republic of Azbaristan and the Southern Azbaristan Democratic Front - have fought over resources and land, and thousands have died in the struggle. When the cease-fire was negotiated, the North controlled everything excepr the Southern capital city of Talvade. Knowing that the North's fiery leader, Chairman Kropanin Borzai, could order his forces to resume the war at any moment, the SADF wasted no time in petitioning the Western Democratic Alliance in a desperate plea for support. In exchange for exclusive trade rights to South Azbaristan's vast oil and natural gas reserves, the WDA sent help in the form of military advisors and hardware

One exceptional individual is a fighter pilot known only by his call sign, Razor, who served in the Second Gulf War and the War on Terror and has extensive experience in both air-to-air and air-to-ground operations with almost any fixed-wing combat aircraft. The skill and ability of this one pilot rivals that of an entire squadron, North or South, and can hold his own even when outnumbered ten to one.

Aircraft

There are fifteen combat aircraft of four profiles to choose from - ground attack, multirole, fighter and air superiority - each with two versions. They're divided by generation and range from classics like the F-4 Phantom II and MiG-21 Fishbed to the most advanced stealth aircraft like the F-22 Raptor and Su-50 PAK-FA, armed with a variety of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions. Some are more specialized to one mission profile than another, with armament weighted toward that specialization, but all carry a cannon.

Mikoyan-Gureyvich MiG-21 Fishbed

The second in one of the most successful fighter series of all time, the Russian MiG-21 Fishbed is fast and nimble enough to survive encounters with most third-generation and some fourth-generation combat aircraft. Its distinctive triangular wings and sleek silver body give it a very recognizable radar outline, and its armament is weighted heavily toward air-to-air combat with short-range missiles and three guns. However, its combat survivability is almost completely dependent on its speed and agility, as it has very little armor.

McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II

Developed in the late 1950s and used extensively during the Vietnam War, the F-4 Phantom is a large fighter that specializes in both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat, with a variety of air-to-air missiles and freefall conventional high-explosive and napalm bombs. Its weight and sluggishness on the controls make it less than ideal for dogfights, but tough armor and powerful engines give it the edge in head-on encounters.

General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark (aka Raven)

When it entered service in 1967, the F-111 Aardvark - also known as the Raven - was the most advanced aircraft in the world. Variable-geometry wings and a complicated terrain-following radar system allowed for high-speed, low-altitude travel both at night and in adverse weather. It took part in the strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam and the invasion of Iraq in 1991. It carries a variety of munitions that are weighted heavily toward air-to-ground operations.

McDonnell Douglas F-18E Super Hornet

Replace the F-14 Tomcat as the US Navy's primary carrier-borne multirole aircraft, the aptly-named F-18 Super Hornet is the latest incarnation of the first service model. Fast and nimble with an emphasis on anti-ship combat and fleet defense, it carries an assortment of air-to-surface munitions as well as short-range air-to-air missiles and guns to defend against airborne attackers. The Hornet's speed, agility, adaptability and superb room for enhancement ensure its place in the NATO air forces for years to come.

Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II

The first aircraft since the A-4 Skyhawk designed from the ground up for air-to-surface combat, the A-10 Thunderbolt II - collectively known as the Warthog - is one of the toughest aircraft in service today. Sporting heavy armor and powerful weapons consisting of bombs, rockets and missiles on the wings and a 30mm rotary cannon in the nose, it's capable of singlehandedly decimating armor columns and facilities. It has little ability to engage airborne targets, however.

Mikoyan-Gureyvich MiG-29 Fulcrum

Developed in the 1970s to counter NATO fighters like the Eagle and Falcon, the iconic MiG-29 Fulcrum was a marvel of aerospace engineering, one of the first aircraft capable of performing extreme aerial maneuvers without serious risk to the pilot. Its mission profile is geared toward high-altitude, high-speed air-to-air combat with limited potential for air-to-ground operations. Fast and maneuverable, the Fulcrum is considered the pinnacle of late mid-20th century Soviet aircraft technology.

Chengdu P-10 Hǔzhǎo (Tiger Claw)

Incorporating powerful engines, advanced avionics and limited stealth capability, the P-10 Hǔzhǎo is China's first aerial machine that can be considered a fifth-generation fighter aircraft. Performance is enhanced with high-end radar, a sleek fuselage, thrust-vectoring engines and canards forward of the wings, enabling it to engage targets at long ranges and execute maneuvers far beyond the abilities of many comparable modern fighters.

General Dynamics F-16I Sufa (Storm)

This latest development of the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Sufa - Hebrew for "Storm" - is a tandem-seat version reverse-engineered by the Israeli Defense Force from the classic aircraft. The improvements over the original include enhanced radar with multi-target and terrain-tracking capabilities, shorter response times in the control surfaces and a more powerful engine. Small, light, fast and agile, this wasp buzzes enemies with lightning-quick strikes and deadly precision.

Sukhoi Su-30 Mk I Flanker-H

One of the most advanced fourth-generation fighter aircraft, the Su-30 Flanker was developed in 1995 with an eye on foreign markets. Canards and thrust-vectoring nozzles are some of the improvements over its third-generation predecessors. It's capable of high-G turns, tracking multiple air and ground targets with advanced radar and destroying them with a plethora of missiles for long and medium-range engagements and a gun for close-in fights, essentially making it a multirole platform.

Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon

The product of a collaborative effort between Britain, Germany and Spain, the Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon is one of the most advanced combat aircraft to come out of Europe. Featuring a rocket-like fuselage, small forward canards, triangular wings and thrust-vectoring engines, its ability to engage and destroy both air and ground targets is unsurpassed in Europe and Asia except by the Russian Su-50 and Chinese P-10 Hǔzhǎo.

Sukhoi Su-35BM Super Flanker

The third of several variants of the original Su-27, the Su-35 boasts a number of improvements over the original. Enhanced avionics, smoother and more responsive control surfaces and much more powerful engines give the Super Flanker a tremendous boost in a fight. Its operational combat package is weighted heavily toward air superiority and high-speed interception, it carries weapons geared for that combat type.

Reception

Reviews of JASF on aggregator Metacritic have been generally negative.^[3]

References