DSplayer

Pretty cool that their 3D artist seems to be continually working on making a new pilot/wso helmet. Also it seems like in the latest Air Combat Sim, they mentioned a video involving the F-15E coming out soon and another DCS news content creator had said that an F-15E video is also coming out soon. Can't wait to see what could be up next.

It actually appears that HB has reverted the entire cockpit into an older version. Switches in the back are now labelled differently/missing labels exactly like they were in older patches.

With that DCS newsletter, we are expecting some big changes and features for the May 2022 patch. What else can we possibly see on top of the inclusion of jamming effects? Will we finally see a new missile API? The -135 Early? Some funny top secret mode that the F-14 had where you could t-pose on a MiG-31?

Damn I was hoping for possible Link-4C integration in the F-18.

Perhaps this could mean Link 4 communication between the F-14 and F-18 in the far future if the systems get merged. I also asked NineLine about the possibility of Link-4 A2A DL between the F-18 and F-14 (I’m not too sure if this capability even exists).

I haven’t had issues recently with the 54 and the AWG-9 since my statement was made over 2 months ago. Sure there might still be issues with the AWG-9’s sensitivity to network connections but I haven’t seen them recently. For possible reason why you experienced the problems in those clips: For your first clip, it’s possible that since the RWS Jester scan volume is larger than the TWS Auto scan volume, you couldn’t pick up the target anymore since the antenna elevation was too high to pick up the target. Idk for sure since I don’t know your altitude or the altitude of the target with the resolution of the footage. (Refer to DoorMouse’s response to why Jester won’t STT something if it doesn’t appear on the TID from TWS or RWS) For your second clip, Link 4 DL has a maximum of around ~8 aircraft that it can display at one time iirc. It’s very possible that the DL for that target is flickering because the priority for DL is being given to other aircraft then immediately switching back to that target.

For some reason it no longer feels like the autopilot does anything when it's engaged with the Altitude and Attitude Hold switches up. F14Autopilot.trk

That talk about the AWG-9's resistance against beaming or notching tactics was such a stark contrast to how people fight the F-14 in DCS.

It appears that 1F-4E-34-1-1 references the CAA mode (page 53 or 1-37).

Idk what document this specifically comes from but I think it comes from an F-4E flight manual: And here’s a forum post from another forum about the F-4E’s systems: https://www.f4phantom.com/drupal/content/various-questions-f-4e-ordnance-radar-avionics-tiseo

I really like how RAZBAM was able to model the countermeasure system for the Mirage with the Eclair pod's loadout being selectable through the pylon menu. I think the F-14 can go for a similar approach since, iirc, moving the sliders on the loadout page for the chaff and flare will mess up your CM loadout while you have to edit your ALE-39 loadout through a Ground Crew menu. So I think you can make the LAU-138 AIM-9s their own weapon (similar to the Magics with the DDM and how you don't use the Mission Editor for this option anymore) and make a pylon "9" for the ALE-39 loadouts that we have in the Ground Crew menu already. A helpful quality of life addition that could exist is that the kneeboard also showing the initially loaded countermeasure loadout number (Kneeboard shows you have 0 Chaff from ALE-39 but 40 Chaff from the LAU-138 and 60 flares from the ALE-39). Mockup Screenshots: Base: AIM-9s with Pylon Selection ALE-39 Loadout Selection Kneeboard

I've read somewhere where the F-4E's APQ-120 radar in later models had a feature where it could automatically determine what a target was against ground clutter and allow for easier target acquisition. Will our F-4E get this MTI-like radar function? Edit 01/04/22: This function is called Computer Automatic Acquisition (CAA).

You would press the same button again. Like if you're in PAL, press the button that activates PAL to get out of it.

They did say a 2022 release tho. I would think that at least something is complete externally or something.

It appears like the upcoming patch for the RAZBAM Mirage 2000 will feature the possibility of interference if 2 Mirages are operating their radars near each other. With the possibility of this feature existing in DCS, will this perhaps come to the F-14 in the future?

Looks like 420th learned how to defeat the Phoenix ! From my experience, it seems like a maneuvering target (either notching or other defensive maneuvers) will cause the AIM-54 to overpredict a loft (or get so high up it can't get out of a loft quick enough) and basically cause either a super steep decent angle or an overloft situation like shown. Edit: I'm rewatching it again. I have zero idea why it went so high and didn't kill him. It lofted to 120k+ ft, that's altitudes for a ~95+nm shot while you shot at ~70nms. I'd assume the missile thought the closure rate was too slow and distance was erroneously large because that's basically the only explanation I got here. This is the only time I guess a negative loft would've perhaps benefited.

I think the range and speed is pretty optimal. My one suggestion is to get to 40k. Target size small is working normally.

Ah it appears that you lofted your missiles at a pitch beyond 12 degrees. In my experience, the 54’s new guidance doesn’t like manually lofted missiles beyond 12 degrees since it will cause them to not leave the loft fast enough.

This currently is not the case since the motor values for AIM-54C-Mk47 are weaker than the 54A-Mk47 counterpart. Iirc, the 54C-Mk47 has worse performance than the numbers stated within the whitepaper while the 54A-Mk47 has numbers that exceed that of the whitepaper.

Imo the biggest issue for the 54 in terms of guidance (outside of the notching) is that when it is in its loft stage, it doesn’t lead the target but merely points at the target until it actually goes active. That will cause the missile to either lose all its speed or get easily defeated since it wasn’t in a good position to kill the target.

I just did some testing both with a lock and without a lock using the same mission. Seems like the 54 will track when there is a lock already and the ACM cover is up. The first couple of tries with the ACM cover up and no lock resulted in a couple of the missiles not tracking but idk if it was a fluke or not. Then I continued to retest but I had 1 time where all the missiles had missed (idk if the target was too far away from the ADL or if it was an actual issue caused by the possible bug). I did seem to discover a bug where if you get an PAL P-STT, drop it (or not), then flip the ACM cover up, it wouldn't actually go into boresight mode automatically. That might've been the reason why some of my missiles had missed but I'm not too sure. F14ACMTestFeb15.trkF14ACMTest2Feb15.trkF14ACMTest3Feb15.trkF14ACMTest4Feb15.trkF14ACMTest5Feb15.trkF14ACMTest6Feb15.trk

I’ve had similar problems but this was before the 54 patch and I had written a bug report a couple months back and nothing came of it.

Considering the speed (which seem low in terms of DCS combat) of the target drones, I think it would be easier for those hits at those distances IRL in comparison to doing those against maneuvering targets going at like Mach 1. Also, did the actual Navy tests actually show that target aspects that the target drones were at? The aspects of the targets are definitely important to the kinetic performance of the 54. I do not think GS server is a very good measure of stuff considering the server does have lag which trashes missiles and tracks since people just warp around sometimes.

The radar’s performance should be on par or better than how the current F-15C’s radar performance. In terms of A2A weaponry, it will be the same with the possibility of 9Xs. Speed is probably the only major factor you’ll see worse since the CFTs are mounted.

I meant like the last time they sent pictures of the Eurofighter cockpit.