A few people have dissed it as a downgrade from the Hs-123, and to be sure it isn’t going to set much alight with only 5 x 50kg bombs and2 MG’s as offensive armament… but is it actually worse than the 123 as has been claimed?
well… in many important respects yes, it is… if we’re using War Thunder’s stats, and I assume that’s where the performance models will come from.
So:
https://wiki.warthunder.com/Fw_189_A-1
https://wiki.warthunder.com/Hs_123_A-1
bombs and forward firing machineguns are exactly teh same as Hs-123, with the same amount of ammo for the 2 mg’s
It climbs at 3-4 m/s less than the 123, it’s turn rate for a 360 degree turn is close, but still 0.5-1.0 seconds or so slower. (which is ~2 seconds faster than the Yak 1, but 2-3 seconds slower than the I-153.)
So is there anything good?
Well it is 50-60kph faster, which is a major advantage, and it has significant amounts of armour protecting the pilot, which will probably help too (the 123 only has a 5mm armoured headrest).
The 123 already has a pretty good field of vision - the 189 will (or should!) add quite a bit in the forward direction from that big glass nose, which might make bombing a bit more accurate.
If we ever get gunners then it will probably have 2 defending the rear - which will be a major advantage over the 123, but of course we do not have them right now.
so that’s about it really - it is worth noting that it is appropriate for Moscow, coming into service in August 1941, but it is not really appropriate as a ground attack plane, since it’s main job was reconnaissance, at which it excelled.
Overall it doesn’t really add anything to the game except a bit of “colour”
