105-Rahon

It may as well be 'paired' with the Syria map, just like AH-1S, or all of it may end up in a bundle of three.

Since 2.5.5 update all mods, that used EFM/PFM of official modules are sort of broken. You can select them as flyable in mission editor, but they'll load as AI-only when the actual mission starts.

Sure! It's not, like I want it out now, I was just curious, if they will be ever available, so I asked. ;)

CubanAce, are you planing to release skin template, once you will have released the final version of the mod?

Nothing of FC3 level AFAIK, but if you have UH-1, you definately should look up Upuaut's Bell 47.

Good find, it is SPO-10. Weird.

Uhm... No, why would it be? While Mi-24D and earlier variants had СПО-10, Mi-24V's and P's had your 'regular' СПО-15 Cирена C-3M, allso known as "Берёза".

I know, you do. What I meant was that we'll get AH-1F (and possibly even AH-64A) at some point. Untill then it's gonna be fair to put Mi-24 on both sides of the conflict (and being Polish, I'd love to see it regularly available for Blue side in modern-day scenarios even after we get typical western combat helos ;) )

You could argue, that it kinda will get a gunship with Mi-24. I mean, currently there are many of those in NATO service. Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia are all NATO Mi-24 operators. Plus there is Georgia, a potential NATO member and a Mi-24 operator, which actually even has a map in DCS. ;) There are two helicopters shown in that video - one is a regular Mi-24P, the other is some other "P" with a new electro-optical sensor replacing old Radugas periscope. Might have been a test-bench for Mi-24PN. The cockpit is from Mi-24PN or even Mi-35M, as they're to the same standard. Might be wrong about this, but I think, that Russia ultimately scrapped the whole Mi-24PN project, settling for a purchase of Mi-35M, Mi-28 and Ka-52.

Most of us (including myself) would prefer V, I guess. It's gonna to be, what it's gonna be, and that's still better than nothing. I only hope ED won't replace the AI Mi-24V with Mi-24P. Hopefully someone will make a mod with that V flyable with P's cockpit and FM.

OK, so you probably already know about this, but I'll post just in case: Multicrewing doesn't work. DCS crashes to desktop, when attempting to join the rear seat in multiplayer. Aside from that - a great mod! MiG-23UB is among my favourite aircraft, so thank you very much for this release! :)

It's gonna be AH-1F. It kind of 'slipped out' to Wags in one interview ;)

Did it die? Not for me, but what are we supposed to discuss here at the moment - WWII aircraft damage model progress update?

We'll be stuck with the "P" then. Thank God for modders :D

Yes. Our dream helo, that's 10 years overdue. They've got nothing to do with Mi-24P, that's for sure. Still, AFAIK no BST/ED official said anything about other variants being permanently off the table for 3rd party devs. "Them"? Do you imply, ED has plans regarding Mi-24D or Mi-24V? Not now for sure, but how about some time in the future? Or will we get stuck with just Mi-24P, because ED will already have their Hind done and wouldn't want anyone ellse to make an other variant even when ED itself will already have long moved into other projects? And that's some scary stuff, as ED might just put the Hind back in ice if they feel like it. For instance, like if F-4 fans would cry-out loud, how they want the Pahntom ASAP all the while we here would keep quiet. You've been out there, you know what's happening. I've seen your reply post about Hind allegedly coming out after F-16 and how did they react to that. They luuv them Pahntom real sweet, and want it to come after the 16 ;) Our ranting is mainly due to sheer frustration and disappointment. Please, understand: we've been waiting for it for so many years now... Over a decade for some, but for the sake of an argument, let's stick with BST's first official Hind announcement as starting point (2014). That's over four years now and after all that time of allegedly working on it that one picture is really all, they have to show us (except for the Mi-24P external model, that kind of "happened to" show up in one of Wags' F/A-18 videos)? That's really disappointing, especially since I've seen BST doing whole modules in much shorter time period. So we need to unload our frustration, kind of safety valve, like this topic... especially since there's not much of 'hard news' about DCS Mi-24 to discuss. And I get it, that F-16 is expected to be "seeing us soon", so ED is naturally going to spam news about it, like crazy to generate more hype and increase the sales - that's a typical marketing campaign, BUT it would be realy, realy nice, if they would kindly throw us something more, than just vague 'yeah, we're working on it' from time to time. Why? Because that's what we got untill now and in January we all saw, just how much did they manage to built up due to that work and we're scared. One, it's because most of us felt, like this project is not treated seriously by ED. Which leads to my point number two, which is that ED might keep on delaying it anytime they come up with another idea of a new module either to compete with 3rd parties, other sim devs or just because it would seem like there's more hype for it on this forums. EDIT: BTW, have you gus seen this:

It's not all about politics, really. Some people may have wanted to fly a particular aircraft, like U.S. Apeche IRL, but couldn't make it for various reasons, so they might want to get into it in DCS more, than anything. Some other may actually do fly it IRL, or did so in the past, and would want to see, how does DCS module compare and is it at least part as cool, as it was to fly the real thing. There are allso some, who might have this sort of 'patriotic' approach to buying particular stuff, used by their country's military, regarding of where they live. And there will allways be fanboys, who saw and bellieved in one quasi-documentary video, stating that i.eg. Apache is the best combat helicopter in the world (IMHO there's no such thing as best or worst weapons platform, it all depends on plenty of variables, like proper tactics, general tactical situation, battlefield and many others) and they want the best. And Apache had lots of such videos and plus it had a ton of screen time in various movies. Generaly it had lots of good PR, much like F-14 or F-16. Such reasons to purchase a module are not exclusive to U.S. - it's probably all the same around the world, but my point was, that Apache is the most widely used combat helicopter in the 'western world', and it just so happens, that this is the largest market for IT stuff, particularly the U.S. Again, I'm NOT CLAIMING, that American Rotorheads won't be generally interested in Mi-24, but I am saying, that U.S. and other 'western countries' people with motivations, as listed above, may actually tip the scale heavily in favor of the Apache. Simply because statisticaly there's more of them on the IT market, than those from behind the ol' Iron Courtain. ;) Good example of this, is why did RoF initially had basic planeset consisting of SPAD XIIIc1, Nieuport 28c1, Fokker D.VII and Albatross D.Va, with A.I. two-seaters like Breguet XIVa2 and D.F.W. C.V - these were all major aircraft used over the American part of the western front in 1917/1918, so for NeoQB it was an obvious choice to generate sales in U.S.A. By the way, what's your point on the MiG-15 vs. F-86 argument? Are you stating, that MiG sold out better, than Sabre in the U.S.? Maybe it did, I don't know. I don't even know, if anyone outside of ED knows that for sure. Anyways, Korean War and it's weapon platforms are far less popular, than, let's say the 'Nam stuff and even it doesn't seem to be able to hold a candle to popularity of stuff from WWII or modern. For example just look, how many KW sims were there - from the top of my head: Virgin's Sabre Ace (1997), Rowan's MiG Alley (1999) and conversions/mods for major WWII sims, like CFS2, CFS3, old Sturmovik or Targetware and that's it. For over 20 years. Alltogether it's less, than you get ED sim instations from Flanker 2.0 up untill DCS 2.5 (same time coverage). Now add other jet-, helicopter- and WWII sims from this time period to the bunch. Which again brings me to my point of having good PR ;) So generaly speaking I don't think, that MiG v Sabre sales casus (regardless of how did it turn out to be) is representative to what Mi-24 or AH-1 v Apache sales will look like. These are all pretty much top-notch as a standard option for any DCS module, particularly for such devs, like Heatblur, ED or Razbam, and since Hind, Cobra and potential Apache would be coming out from ED, there's no real competition here. Well, I don't. What I like, I fly more often and what I don't like, just sits in my hangar. I bought BlackShark 1 and 2, as it was the only helo in DCS for quite some time. And Ka-50 is a good example - it's most advantageous in MP, as it has decent armour protection and variety of load-out options. So what, if Gazelle is better in air-to-air, if your basic role as a combat helo pilot is to blow up the stuff, that's sitting on the ground? And that's still the domain for the Hokum in DCS. So theoreticaly I should fly it the most, but I don't - barely ever take it for a spin, since UH-1 came out. Still, what one considers to be, or not to be advantageous doesn't translate to sales/purchases. I.eg. I'm gonna buy the Hind and the Cobra ASAP and fly them to death simply because I like those two. Regardless of the fact, that flying Hind against Ka-50s (Mi-24 is NATO-used chopper since 1999, so why not to put some on the blue team? ;) ) and at some point in time against AH-1Fs and possibly AH-64s is going to be vastly disadvantageous for me. I probably gonna buy the hypothetic Apache at some point, but that only if my home-budget would allow this without too much of a stretch. Plus I'll probably never buy the BO 105. It has very impressive flight capabilities, no argument there, but I never really liked it simply for aesthetic reasons and my Gazelle fits pretty much the same role. I bellieve, I'm not the only one with this kind of purchasing approach, only the priority of modules may differ. ;) Well, that depends. Speaking just for myself now - currently I'm unemployed, so it's not exactly, like I'm sleeping on a bag of money. I'd love to own literaly everything in DCS, but that's out of the scope now. Even when I do get a job, my income minus taxation, bills and everyday expenses will likely not be enough to buy a new module every month. Gonna have to make some savings first or wait for promos and stuff. However if the Hind goes pre-purchase tommorrow, I'll buy it, even if I had to sell a kidney. Cobra would be tempting too. In case of the hypothetic Apache hitting the virtual streets of DCS, I'll wait, untill buying it won't hurt my wallet. Again, purchase priorities. These were mine, others have theirs. Now, why I actually said, Apache would sell better? Commercial succes or failure is most oftenly measured by how well the sales did within a specific (usually fairly short) time period after release. This is the time, when merchandise is considered 'fresh' and new, so potential customer base gets most hyped to buy it and the manufacturer gets the biggest shot of cash from it. For the reasons given above, I believe that Apache will generate more hype from both us Rotorheads, as well, as other DCS flyers, who are just casuals, when it comes to helos, because of how famous it is. Those discussions are already mostly made by us, the Rotorheads, who are already more or less keen on the subject. It's true, that AH-1F is less popular, than many other choppers, which is another reason why I think, ED should have gone for '68 AH-1G or any Marine variant, particularly AH-1W. Other Army versions kind of went under the radar, because during their service there where other "bigger 'n better" combat helicopter programs, like AAFS, that dragged on even after original AH-56 idea was scrapped and eventually turned into AAH. The Foxtrot Cobra is espacially good example for that, as it came out, while the AAH was about to give out the Apache. Plus the LHX was soon on. Still AH-1F was a very capable helicopter for it's time and could hold it's own even today. Arguably even more so, than Mi-24D, V, or P and people gonna learn that quickly. Usually, when newcommers with no motivation/hype for a specific model want to try helos, they don't just buy one blindly. They ask questions, like 'which helicopter should I buy?' or 'which helicopter will suit my needs best?' They ask their online friends, who already may have some expertise, post those questions on this forum and sometimes even go watch YouTube channels, like xxJohnxx or MagzTV. And it is kind of our responsibility to recommend to them one, that will be fairly easy to fly and manage, so that their first experience will be an entartaining one and make them crave for more ;) So our "Rotorhead community" can grow. To the best of my knowledge AH-1F may proove to be better in that regard than Mi-24, but we will all see about it, when they are both available. Wow... This is exactly one of my reasons of why Apache may sell better, than Hind or Cobra :D Just, as I wrote above, Army Cobras were less popular, because throughout their service people were expecting things, like AH-56, AH-63 and finally AH-64 to come out and replace them. Still I don't think, Hinds "iconism" is going to be an ultimate selling factor for majority of helo-newcomers. I think, they'll want something manageable for a start and then maybe go Mi-24 in future, which IMHO is a good approach BTW. Now about that 'iconism' - it's still alive today, but it's kinda faded. It was big back in the Eghties (just look at all those movies, like Rambo 2 and 3 ;) ), when it was something new, big, weird, reported good service ratio in Afghanistan and was unknown both in west and east due to Soviet secretive approach to military stuff. Did you know, that when U.S. Analitics first saw Mi-24 on some intelligence reports, they thought, that the gun camera on left wingtip is actually a laser range-finder/target aquisitor? This got them quite scared, as United States didn't have this technology developed for their choppers yet. This in part put more preassure on development of such devices for AH-1F and AAH prototypes, which were expected to go toe-to-toe with Mi-24 during the WWIII. All of this, while in fact no old Hind variant (meaning other, than Mi-24PN, Mi-35M and some local modernisations from present time) had any sort of laser device, just pure optics for ATGMs and a set of collimator sights for everything ellse :D This sort of careful approach to expected Mi-24 capabilities translated further onto general public and was expressed in popular culture. Nowadays however, and let's be frank about it, Hind is mostly viewed as a piece of old Soviet tech. Pretty much yesterdays news. Yes, there are still some, who appreciate it or outright love it, like us here, but I doubt, that's how general public views it. Especially since we've got so many new models, like Apaches, Super Cobra and Viper, Tigre and Tiger, Mangusta and ATAK, WZ-10, Hokums, Havok plus some small asian recon/combat helos - the Ninja or HAL. And there was/is(?) allso the Comanche. And look at what 'compund future' has to offer - the Raider and stuff. All of this diludes general public's impression of the Hind more and more. It's only natural. I think, it's the other way around. We already know, what this helicopter is or is not, so we can appreciate it. Usually, when you are a fan of a specific airframe, you get invested into learning about it. Especially nowadays with all the acces to information and data via Internet. In other words, if someone is a fan of Mi-24 or whatever other helicopter, chances are, that person already knows a thing or two about it and if didn't already became a sim Rotorhead, probably never will. Unless you're talking about very young people in their teens, but they will likely first go for casual stuff, like WarThunder, Heliborne or Air Missions: Hind and won't even bother with DCS. Add to that the points, I've made at the begining of this post, and that's exactly why I think, Apache may sell better. That's probably the biggest thing, that makes DCS stand out from it's competition and I don't think, that's up for any discussion, but make no mistake - popularity of a particular aircraft is a thing they strongly take into consideration. After all everyone, who does something for a living want's to earn money from it and not loose time, he could use to make money ellsewhere. That's as probable, as it is scary. I mean, there are no real news, nor official announcement of such map other, than vague 'we'll make it someday', so how long would they keep pushing the Hind back? It already fits Georgian map perfectly. So it will the Syrian map. And with that said, since Syria seems to be coming before Afghanistan, then what? AH-1F first?

Yes Heatblur, Mi-24D and V, like F-14A and B, pretty please! ;) OK, Razbam then! They are getting some considerable expertise in old Soviet tech. Well, according to one of Wags' statements, I've heard, we'll get it eventually, but that's nothing new since BST's first announcement for the UH-1. I don't get it really - so many years since multicrew availability in DCS and they still didn't add it to both halicopters. It's like they rather continue working on new modules, instead of making this final step on the road of UH-1 and Mi-8 completion. Big problem with Ka-50 is that it was never truelly accepted into Russian or any other military and never really used in combat, except for a brief period in Chechnya, where it was undergoing "combat trials". AFAIK those were final nail for its coffin and led to further development of Ka-52. Because of this, among other things, Ka-50 is not truely an iconic aircraft, compared to things, like Hind, Cobra, Apache or perhaps even Havok and one might say it did very well in sales as it is, but won't be able to hold the candle to those. Actually I think, Apache might beat it... Or maybe even Cobra. U.S. is the biggest market of all for 'virtual entertainment stuff' and this is home turf for those two. Not saying, that Americans won't buy Mi-24, but they'll be more prone to "blue" combat helos. Add to that sales world-wide, and they might get more sales I think this will be Cobra, once available. I find UH-1 very easy and fun to fly. More so, than Ka-50 (in contrary to some others, who consider Kamov to be the easiest one) and since Cobra is more of the same in more aerodynamic and more powerfull package, it might be a blast! Mi-24 on the other hand may suprise you. It should be more responsive than Mi-8, but has some nasty habits. For example, you shouldn't go above 4g's in the Hind. If you do so, you might get your controlls locked-up. If you somehow manage to regain controll, your autopilot settings will be of, so you'll have to turn it back on on the fly. So it's not a heli, I'd recommend for beginners. They should consider UH-1 (with Upuaut's Bell 47) or Gazelle. If you refer to troop transport capability, it's doable, but rarely ever executed IRL, as it makes more sense to clean up the area with Mi-24's and then drop off a ton of troops fro Mi-8s. I't would be great in DCS aswell, as we could get to coop with Mi-8 pilots. So troop insertion missions would be cool as something different from time to time, but I sure hope they won't make a daily basis of DCS Hind experience. What would be really cool though is to have two side window gunners, one per each side. That was done IRL (i.eg. that's how Poles flew their Hinds in Iraq and Afghanistan) and technically you can get up to eight such gunners (4 per side) in Mi-24. Yes, all of above is the general impression, I think, we all get. No, it's not (unless you're talking about AH-1G). Ever since Vietnam War ended, Bell was working on making the Cobra a true combat helicopter with all the bells and wistles, that come with it. It got better armour (don't expect the flat-plate canopy glass to be armoured though ;) ), ATGMs, M197 gun turret, active and passive countermeasures and so on. In fact the variant, we're getting for DCS (AH-1F) is more capable, than Mi-24V or P. And they were so used against the armor... Like Israeli AH-1 Tzefas in the Lebanon (they allso shot down a Gezelle in Syria ;) ) or U.S. AH-1Fs and AH-1Ws during the Desert Storm (yep, not only Apaches were there). Aside of AH-1F fitting pretty much the same role, as Mi-24, only better, I fail to see, why would it make more sense? Particularly for BST/ED. I mean, we've already been through it With UH-1, Mi-8 and Gazelle (not an ED product, but still counts ;) ). Yes, it did, and that's pretty much, what envigorated this discusion. Mi-24 was either suggested or announced by ED and BST so many times for past 10 years, and that's all, they have to show us? I mean, for the same time they were able to develop so many modules, like two Korean War fighters, F-5, Hornet, F-15's AFM, now the F-16... And even F-4 was shown tho gain so much progress untill 2017, and that's, what they have to show us, when it comes to Mi-24? An unfinished 3D of pilot's cockpit? That's just shamefull, as Razorback wrote. I mean, I get it, that jet's have bigger priority, but c'mon. Just to be fair here - much, like Mi-24, F-16 was kind of announced back 10 years ago, so let's play it fair game - swallow the pill of F-16 news avalanche untill it comes out and right after then expect similar approach to Mi-24 news reveals from ED. Other than that, I fully agree with everything, you wrote.

Small correction here - Mi-8 was actually released in late 2013/early 2014 (first promo video is from September 2013). 2016 was when it went from beta to 'full release' (where's its multicrewing then?), so formally you're right, but it wouldn't add up to Huey release, which I think was just beta throughout 2013. +1 on everything, you just said :)

I disagree - I think F-16 will sell like hot cakes, both in the U.S. and worldwide. It's very iconic, it will be alternative to 'that other' and aging F-16 sim, plus the Falcon is probably the most exported modern fighter jet, and everyone likes to fly the stuff, that's used by his (or hers) home country military. I don't really know, how it'll end up for ED, but seems clear, that their general idea is to compete with Heatblur and 'that other sim' ;) Sort of kill two birds with one stone approach.

Assuming, you speak of AH-1F, they might be in for a suprise (and not in a good way) then. I mean, it certainly will generate some hype, being first U.S. combat helicopter in DCS, but I think, that what majority of blue-tech rotorhead fans want is the Apache. Plus it seems, that most people waiting for the Cobra expected either AH-1G to go along with the Huey, or AH-1W, for being more 'usefull'. It would make a more believeable (than AH-1F) makeshift for both AH-1G (even more so for AH-1J) due to the shape of the canopy and AH-1Z, as it's only one version behind. Personally I think, that any Marine Cobra would make better choice of a module over any Army version. So in general, community reception for this Cobra, while notable, may yet proove to be quite 'meh', compared to the Hind and ED might be into getting a bucket of cold water splashed over their heads. Sad part of this is that they may take such experience as another proof, that working on DCS choppers is not profitable enough... Can someone clarify this for me - wasn't the term "Huey Cobra" used exclusively for AH-1G, due to Bells marketing move to advertise this as yet another UH-1 variant and then AH-1s would stick with just "Cobra", much like the UH-1 got stuck with "Huey", instead of "Iroquois"? Either they're planning some big suprise reveal really soon (unlikely, but possible) or that's just really low on their side.

Look at my banner and take a guess, if I won't buy it as soon, as it will be available for preorder ;) From what I can tell, it's going to be very popular within Polish DCS community. Vast majority of guys, whom I spoken to already can not wait for it so I'm pretty shure, it will sell vary well. Allso it has huge potential of attracting new players, who are Hind-fans, but for some reason (like no sensible attack helicopter or no fullyu finctional and bugless multicrew support for helos) are not yet into DCS. Those may want to buy it and try it, simply because there's no real alternative - War Thunder is still a semi-arcade with mediocre FM, EECH, although realistic sim by 1999 is now outdated and outclassed in allmost any aspect, even more so is DI's Hind from 1995, quality of FSX Mi-24 addons is questionable, at best, Air Missions: Hind and Heliborne are pretty much arcade air games and don't even get me started on ToH: Hinds. So if you want to feel like a real Hind pilot it's either DCS' way or the highway ;)

Navigation, enemy spotting, communications with flight and ATGM guidance. And copiloting. He's got full set of controls and much better instrument panel, than 'turreted' Hinds copilots/gunners, so can take over quite easily, if the pilots wants to take a nap ;)

Well, we sort of do, I mean I do enjoy flying UH-1 or the Gazelle in particular and they all DO have it's place in DCS, so no discussion there, BUT as much fun, as they are, that's not exactly, what most of us really want. We want sensible combat helos, like Hind, or Cobra, and probably most of the bunch would really love to see an Apache or Mi-28, or at least Ka-52. The ones, we have are great and it will be cool to keep having them around, once combat ones are released, but in all honesty, even if not most, then at least many of us want to blow stuff up, Apocalypse Now, or 9th Company style. Admitively I've oversimplified this, but I think, you guys get the point ;) To compare it with WWII guys - imagine all they got was 4 aircraft, specifically He 280 (potent, but soon outclassed prototype, much like Ka-50), Ju 57 (transport aircraft with limited combat applications - Mi-8 ), DH.98 (do-it-all OK, but excell in nothing - UH-1) and L-5 (basically an observation/liason aircraft - SA 342), and that's it. Now let WWII guys try to do something with this planeset ;) But no. They got fighters - Mustang, Dora, Spit, Messer(schmitt), so they can blow stuff up ;) Maybe they'll get their C-47s, B-17s and He 111s at some point. If not from ED, then maybe from Razbam, or some other 3rd party, who knows? Now however their environment is at the stage of being grown, and part of this foundation are fighters, beacause they're most popular. Now I'm not saying DCS should be all about combat-specific stuff - far from it! It's really cool to have and fly other types of helicopters, or (for that matter) acros, like the Yak. My point is just it's lacking really bad in 'true' (meaning role-specificaly designed) combat helos, as all we got is one prototype/pre-production variant, that barely saw any military service at all. Well, they already have one map and assets. I don't want to go over the controversy of selling both as separate products. I'm only trying to say, they're slowly getting there. On the other hand, all we have in that regard, we owe to jet-folk, whom we share our environment with. And it's only true for modern stuff, mind you. I mean, where's the Korea map for MiGs and Sabers? Where's the 'Nam for UH-1s, Mi-8s, Fishbeds, Tigers and future Farmers or Phantoms? It's not, like someone did all that you described with helos in mind specifically. Which again brings me to my point of where the priorities are ;) Sort of is and isn't. I don't fly singleplayer in any sim for quite a few years now, as flying online with some folks, I know and can talk to is a blast for me, so I don't really care about static vs dynamic campaigns all that much. Net code is more of a problem for me, but I've seen flightsims and other games, that handled it worse, so hard to be overly critic in that regard. However a dynamic multiplayer campaign system would be just as awesome, as it is improbable :D

Yeah, I fully agree. I was merely trying make a hypothetic scenario, that would help explain (in part, at least), why F-16 or WWII stuff gets more loving from ED, than Mi-24, or AH-1. What leads you to that conxlusion? I mean, maybe I've overlooked something, but BST's posts with F-4 WIP screenshots from 2017 show the Phantom in much more advanced stage of progress, than what we were recently shown with Mi-24 and it's totally believeable, that works on F-4 went on even further from that time.

+1 ;) What we probably is some sort of competition. There is the new Sturmovik, so ED has to keep focusing on WWII. That's probably the reason behind FW 190A-8. If there wasn't an A-8 in Il-2 BoX, I believe, we'd be stuck with just D-9 in DCS for quite some more time. The Falcon allso seems to be aimed at that other F-16 sim customer base ;) On one hand, that's a good news, as it indicates, that DCS has alrerady became renown-enough platform in it's basic scope or basic principle of being a 'study multisim', to try to go toe to toe with some other brands out on the market. However on the other hand it means, that the effort of out-competing those will undoubtedly detract some focus from the works on 'niche-modules', like helicopters. Now imagine that someone ellse had released a new combat helo-sim yesterday. Let's say, that product would be analogous to RoF/BoX in respect of having very good FM and DM, with some mediocre approach to avionics and stuff. And it would have flyable helos, like Apache, Havok, Hokum, maybe some less popular ones, like Tiger, Mangusta or Chinese WZ-10. Wouldn't even have the Hind, at least at the beginning. I bet this would give a kick into the production of Hind, Cobra and whatever ellse rotorcraft ED might be secretly working/planning to work on, just so that part of their customer base wouldn't flow-out into the new sim.