Frostie

I wouldn't call free PFM and additional features little attention, the 33 and 29 are going to be getting PFM soon to complete the set. Yes there are things that could be fixed in FC (Flanker client to client datalink i'm looking at you) but I think adding new aircraft would be a step backwards, we're all balls deep into full fidelity these days paying extra for FC again would grate.

That would require a new cockpit, might as well just start a fresh and go full fidelity.

It's never been so hard to kill Eagles, in a multiship face off we practice 2 F15 vs 4 Su27 which usually comes out 50/50. Engagements usually end in close within 10km where there is little escape from a 120C other than notch and put yourself in a bad position. The best kill shots for Su27 is obviously an unseen IR very hard against experienced or a head on 7km R-27ER which will end as a mutual kill if the F-15 is surprised, otherwise he has time to launch and defeat it. It's just a sad fact Russia makes the crappiest missiles known to man.

As said the Su27 Flanker in DCS is an Su27S it wasn't until the upgrade to Su27SM standard in 2003 that gave the 27 a radar that could utilise the R77, blame the USSR break up. I believe the 33 still hasn't received this upgrade, last I read they were replacing them with MiG29K.

Are there plans to add any FARPs in the GJ area, currently it's a barren 150km x 150km area that would be tactically critical plus create less linear lines of attack.

I don't know if it has been mentioned but Op.backfire - no restrictions, there are no R-27ET at Kutaisi, Kobuleti or Batumi only at Senaki.

Razbam are kind enough to release videos of wip should we really care about the quality of the video, this shows how strongly they feel a part of the community. I'm sure when it gets down to the nitty gritty of pre purchase etc. there will be showcase videos to do exactly what is required with the business in mind. Unfortunately YT is full of self importance where all that matters in the World are subs, likes and e-pruning, it's a welcome change to see someone not give two hoots about this self-glorifying trend for simple wip videos. Razbam please don't have second thoughts or feel like you have to change anything, you don't.

Light fighters, maybe.

Don't get too hung up on expected range it's not so critical, you're best leaving expected range at default 10 until you become more accustomed with how best to manipulate it in conjuction with elevation. Expected range doesn't alter anything other than fine tune the elevation angle. The only benefit of this is for you to accurately pick areas of interest in the sky which allows you to create an optimal scanning pattern technique. The range at which you see contacts is unaffected by this setting.

What he is doing in that video that he doesn't state or realise is notching the missile by flying perfect beam of the missile in combination with the missile looking at the ground. It's not a matter of just simply changing your aspect and dropping chaff that defeats the 120 but getting a 90 degree beam below the missiles horizon which is called notching that succeeds here. There are many ways to defeat missiles, the most critical part starts as soon as its launched, that is if you want to be aggressive in a 1v1 or 2v2 situation you should always concentrate on bleeding its energy.

I guess it depends on which chess you're playing, if it's just responsive childlike chess then ok but real chess is played out in the head. Just as in BFM you're trying to predict what your opponent is doing long game and responding with your own long game to create problems for him. In one turn you may think you've won the initiative but you may actually be playing into his hands. Also in both contests just one mistake should leave your opponent to capitalise to the end game, depending on the severity of the mistake this can be immediately or several actions later providing you read the situation. So yes I believe BFM is very muck like chess.

The opening post in this thread is not up to date, Viggen is available, go enjoy.

An airframe life limit on the advanced airbases would be great for fighters. They could be replenished by time or transit. Only say Anapa and Batumi could be unlimited while the others capped. Maybe Min Vody and Tblisi having a much higher cap. Something along those lines would maybe limit the consistency of top level fighters on the front.

I apologise if i've jumped the gun but please stop with the FC pilot pigeonholing and degrading.

This totally depends on your payload, if you take fully loaded Flanker then expect to burn more fuel, the fact is there is an option to take less fuel and less weapons to conform with a 5 minute take off and still perform an equal on station time to the Mirage. I'm still waiting for your way of making ends meet as giving all aircraft full fuel is not an option. Exactly so if Mirage pilots spool up correctly (most don't) the refuelling they would be doing would be moot, so there is another reason why adding the refuelling is good idea. I'll ignore the lack of maturity in your post, I hope you can change that though. The point of refuelling is to stop spam on attack and adding it to all fighters makes all the other fighters more appealing, this refuelling doesn't impact anything other than those guys that want to get off the ground in a minute and a half so why do you have an issue? It doesn't make your radar warm up slow down or your INS not align and will be fuelled up during and before either of these happen. Does an FC flyboy really need to teach you Mirage procedures now, pm me for lessons.

Cutting the fuel of the Mirage does make sense when there is no alternative, you don't have to fill an FC3 aircraft to the brim, it's optional. Heck an F-15 has 60% of a Flankers fuel by just sticking tanks on. If you want to be an effective CAP you have to spend 4 or 5 mins rearming and refueling in an F15 or Su27, lets bring the Mirage closer to that, I don't see why there should be a cloud of doubt over it. Just giving everything full fuel takes us back to square one, fighters are the bane of this mission, they die the most yet have the easiest survival chances. BS introduced it for a reason alongside the lives system and it works. Not only does it slow the spam but also deters casual solo players.

The idea behind the fuel was not to stop defenders spamming but to slow the constant stream of attacking fighters.

Autolock reaquires targets instantly there is no scan, there are pros and cons to this though. The heat signature of the Mirage is really low as in A-10 range. 80nm is not burnthrough, the HUD tape reads the range the radar doesn't, it's been reported for a while. My advice would be to read posts properly before responding. I never said I don't like how BS run their servers, thankfully they are open to suggestions and apart from the last few months of down time, they have consistently listened to their fans and acted upon issues. The main beef with my posting was the claim that FC3 aircraft are arcade and in someway so much easier. Mirage start up takes well under 2 mins, with refuelling it takes 4 mins. That right there is a longer process is it not.

Mirages getting airbourne at server start before strikers and helos is part of the sillyness that needs to be addressed. The top dog fighter in Blue Flag is the Mirage why it doesn't have the same empty tank as the F-15 and Su27 is strange after all the fuel was put in place to stop fighter spam but now we have Mirage spam. I'd love to see guys that call the Flanker an arcade plane take it up against the Mirage in Blue Flag. They don't realise how easy the Mirage is in this scenario and for some reason think flying the Mirage is complex and takes some special talent, do me a favour with this bs, it probably has one of the easiest FMs in DCS and has some cushy scripted auto lock features as well as a buggy really low heat signature against eos and ir missiles, a buggy radar that sees the range of jamming targets and while the damage model has improved it is still suspect like the MiG29. You won't find much over done with the Flanker in fact you'll find it has more restrictive modelling in its make up. The Mirage is a great module and a welcome addition but a small portion of the pilots that fly it in DCS really do suffer from grandeur.

Head on, radar (in this case SARH) is a better choice than ir, countermeaures are far more effective in DCS against ir missiles in this aspect than radar. If you choose to launch ir and go into a defensive notch you're basically presenting yourself on a plate. It's a sad fact of DCS and also for Russian aircraft vs ARH that in full payload servers ir missiles are easily trashed, you're defending against ARH carriers that can either turn cold if you go toe to toe or they can press hard on your ir defensive shot.

Long range shots are not an issue against aggressive pilots that know what they're doing, it's the 5nm shots that do the damage and in that regime 530D is 2nd best only to an ER, the Sparrow and Alamo-A are so slow at this range in comparison they are totally outclassed.

Breaking wings that is with 1 tonne of fuel. ;) To get anywhere near the instant pitch and roll of the M2K requires the limiter switch (not ASC switch), this puts you on the edge of wing breaking even with 1 tonne. But even so doing this evasion technique is still nowhere near as easy or fluid as in the M2K or F-15 for that matter as the Flanker has a lot more feeling of shifting weight. Kudos to YoYo I guess, that's why he is the FM man.

Speed and optimal range. R-27ER > 530D > AIM-7 > R-27R. With head on engagements the difference between the first two reaching the target compared to the later two is huge. When you're faced with a Flanker that is only armed with R-27R you should win everytime in a straight up head on BVR engagement. Not to mention how easy it is to outmanouvere any SARH missile head on in the M2K which is next to impossible with the Flanker without breaking your wings.

Shouldn't you be waiting for that CAP, instead of getting airbourne without it racing to go off and kill ground units, a'la airquake. :) Re. The F-15 fuel tanks, why not put them at another airbase so pilots can transit or rtb to gain much needed fuel tanks. Not having them restricts CAP time compared to Flankers plus having no ARH is already a kick in the teeth seems harsh to double wammy the Eagle.

+1 Please