Pyrocumulous

The Migs do not appear to be firing at all now (DCS 2.9.21.16362), but oddly, Pink did fire an AMRAAM at me as I got between him and the bandits (rookie move!) which made me think I was getting launched on by the Migs.... so anyway, after breaking ROE and further escalating the war, Pink and RTBd to Mother. This is a great mission, pretty intense between having to quickly program the harpoon and potentially kill a boatload of refuges, and then staring down a pair of Mig29s closing in at 1100 knots.

It doesn't happen every time, but the first time I ran through Mission 5, the Kapinallisten AK BMP destroyed the eastern ISIS BMP while I was inbound on it. Lead and I ended up using our remaining ordnance on the remaining pickups. Not as intended, but not a problem. Then when while we're watching the helicopters commit war crimes, one of them ("RUSSIAN HELO") crashes near the wreckage of the ISIS BMPs and Toyotas. That's a bit more problematic as it results in an auto-fail and court marshal.

I suspect this is the result of the AI updates that came with DCS 2.9.21.16362. When Cougar 2 goes to intercept the TU-22s, Cougar 2-1 stalls out, like practically stationary, and of course yells at me for being a bad wingman... which she's not wrong! It appears that she opens up the speed brake (0.9 to 0.3m in 50 seconds) and then hits the burners again accelerating 0.3 to 1.0m in 70 seconds. Then, when the two Migs engage us, she tries to avoid the SA-11 and runs right into the terrain. Possibly related to her not-up-to-Navy-standards-wingman initially engaging the right bandit rather than left. Was amusing to hear her summary of my performance as a wingman back on the boat, while her jet is sitting buried in the Syrian desert! Fun mission and really liking your method of briefings and close outs.

It may have been operator error; I'm just relearning the hornet to fly a fresh batch of campaigns. I didn't check datalink freq or anything, as it really doesn't matter for this mission.

I concur with all, beautiful start to the campaign! Would be awesome to be able to program AIs to not use burners or the speedbrake. Just minor point on Intro 2, the datalink does not appear to be working within the flight. Also, not at all important to this mission, but Lion 1-2 and Lion 1-3 do not have a 9X as briefed.

I've been going in and changing the fusing every mission for this reason, and so far it's worked. I believe they have all, up to 11 anyway, had invalid fusing.

As of DCS 2.9.20.15384, there is no option to stop music. I also didn't see an F10 option for AWACS, but I was able to contact for bogey dope through the regular comms menu. Potentially the NVG Info option could be removed from the menu after refueling as there is no need for goggles past that point. I personally would have chosen high-drag bombs given the direction to come in low, but the low density of single-digit SAMs dropping from a reasonable altitude for low-drag bombs really wasn't a concern.

Same. for some reason I only got 20 points (failed) after destroying all four convoys. getting the RTB message, destroying one of the Mig-29s, and returning to ramp and getting the mission complete message. Also of note, Jazzman's datalink isn't activating, the A/A loadout doesn't match the briefing, the timings programmed for the CBU99s is invalid, and the F10 command for stop music doesn't work. DCS 2.9.20.15384. edit: I was able to get a passing score (80), I believe by maximizing my kills. I suspect to get credited with 20 points, one has to kill every single vehicle in a caravan, which takes a lot of time given the lack of assistance. I definitely had a few trucks still remaining in the final caravan when I got the RTB message. Not sure if it gave me any extra points, but I also managed to get both Migs on this final attempt. As usual, I did lose Jazzman, although he did talk to be from beyond the grave when I told him to follow me back to Texaco for a drink.

As of DCS 2.9.20.15384, all three attempts have resulted in me being the only jet that is able to taxi and depart H4. edit: I finally managed to get the wingman to launch, not sure if it's coincidental, but I tried taxiing immediately after starting mission (press spacebar) but before given the direction to taxi. You have to taxi quickly or else the Hummer to your right will collide with you. It worked once, and that was enough to move onto Part 3!

I can confirm that: Frequencies programmed into the radios don't match briefing. Chariot frequency in the briefing (278.000) does not match what is actually utilized in the mission (300.000). Easy Communications is enabled for the entire campaign, so I believe if the player doesn't override that, the radio it should work regardless. I think that's the solution to making the comms work in this campaign. That said, for the life of me, I can't get the red jets to launch in this mission, nor can I get my wingman to engage. In fact, it seems like the best method is to just go guns (or grab a set of mavericks at Minaq) for the jets that never respond. Otherwise, 70 is the highest score that I have been able to achieve.

I flew this mission twice to verify that these are not just random, but repeatable as of version DCS 2.9.20.15384 (September 2025). The loadout (x2 AGM-65F, x4 MK82) still does not match the briefing (4 AGM-65F). The Hummer turns off taxiway before leading Stryker to Runway 05 as ATC directions state. Wingman will never engage the dam targets, but claims credit when I hit them for him (your welcome!). I finally get the opportunity to F10 order everyone to hit the airport after I've already taken out all three helicopters. Lastly, when returning to base, wingman goes to a different parking spot than we started at. I just drove through our original parking area (parking spot 95) and then all the aprons trying to get some sort of message. Eventually I just parked next to my wingman (who is stopped in hanger 03, which is not where we started), and lost 10 points for not parking in the correct place.

This may be resolved in DCS 2.9.20.15384; at least in one play through Zeus reports taking ground fire but no "getting hammered" message or mission failure.

After clearing out all enemies at the target airbase, I circle at low altitude while Zeus approaches. No tracers or manpads observed. Just continuous flares at southwest side. ZEUS41, taking ground fire I show of force the airbase ready to drop a cluster on someone... nothing. Zeus lands. Zeus41 - we're getting hammered here! Still nothing to be seen around the airbase... ADVISE - GREEN SMOKE = FRIENDLIES Okay, that I see, but still no enemies... MISSION FAIL - REPEAT MISSION FAIL and them immediately after mission fail, a bunch of ground units spawn around the airbase. Not sure if I'm missing something, but upon closer inspection in TacView, it appears that two of the CH47s (Zeus 41 2 and 3) are colliding after they take off and are about 100' AGL. DCS 2.9.20.15010, no mods.

Just flew Mission 01: Camp destroyed : 40 points? Convoy: wingman destroyed 1 vehicle with cluster bomb, and I destroyed 4 with rockets and was given RTB direction: 50 points? Return to hanger 19: 10 points? but score was 75, which isn't a possible total according to the briefing. From mission log: DCS 2.9.20.15010, no mods.

Thanks for the great campaign, only wish is for Viggen campaign to go with the pair!