Vampyre

The Israeli F-15C's are quite a bit more advanced than you assume.

UH-1N would be great as it was used by the USMC, USN, USAF and many foreign air forces in its slightly later form as the Bell 212. Modernized UH-1N's in Marine Corps service had a number of improvements with a FLIR turret added under the nose, MWS, RWR and upgraded cockpit avionics. The basic Twin Huey was first delivered in 1970 and is still in use today. I'd prefer a UH-1N over the Y because it is useful in many more historical settings from Vietnam to the late Cold War and GWOT... and I mostly prefer planes and helo's that don't have computer assisted training wheels.

There is a lot missing on the battlefield logistics side of DCS. I would like to see this more fleshed out. Currently we have CTLD to fill this hole and I have been grateful for the efforts of ciribob for CTLD and Grimes for mist. Those two scripts alone have kept helos like the Huey and Mi-8 relevant in MP. That being said, this sort of gameplay should be native to DCS, not third-party scripting. Casmo did a video about using the CH-47 as a mobile forward FARP recently. That is just one way it can be used. It would be good to have the option to be able to recover damaged/crashed airframes from around the map. This would require the damaged aircraft to either be persistent for a time period and/or a separate object generated that will be compatible for the helicopter to lift. Asset recovery is a role airframes like the CH-47 are uniquely suited for. Troop insertion/extraction with corresponding onload and offload time, weight and CG changes to the airframe. This should include staple air assault ground units like towed howitzers and various versions of the HMMWV that the CH-47 would be moving in an actual air assault. The incorporation of more types of cargos that will have an actual battlefield impact for delivery to forces in the field that need them would flesh out helo logistics for not just the CH-47 but the other transport helos as well. SAR and CSAR should also be built into the game.

Maverick uses the RADAR display for the image. According to the TO 1F4E-34-1-1 the missile can be locked and launched from either the front or rear cockpits but it will require the pilot to turn master ARM on.

From Growling Sidewinders video about 2023 and beyond- Matt "Wags" Wagner 19 hours ago Thanks for the video, GS. A few comments: While we’d love to do a bomber like a B-52H or B-1B someday, the required reference materials are not available. While the basic aircraft operations covered in a TO -1 are, the sensor, weapon, defensive systems, datalink, comm, etc. systems covered in a TO -34 are not publicly available. So, at least for now it can only be an AI. The original comment can be found here- F-4 Phantom Soon ?? | DCS WORLD | 2023 AND BEYOND | Breakdown | - YouTube

Oh, and Maverick is a relatively simple point, lock and shoot weapon. the A-10A is testament to that. It was also used on F-4D's without the more advanced navigation suites like the LORAN equipped birds.

The "Towel Rack" Loran antenna was LORAN D. It was added to 72 F-4D's from production blocks 32 and 33 under the Pave Phantom program. The ARN-92 Loran was tied to a precision intervalometer that was required for precision navigation at night. In Vietnam these jets were mainly used over the Ho Chi Minh trail for delivering "Igloo White" sensors by the 8th and 432nd TFW's. After the war they were kept on in the 52nd TFW, 301st TFW and 924th TFG with one squadron each. They were all out of service by the mid 80's.

They are not. DMAS was used by the 3rd TFW at Clark AB in Philippines, 4th TFW at Seymore Johnson NC, 37th TFW (also numbered as 35th TFW for a short time) at George AFB CA, 52nd TFW at Spangdahlem AB Germany, the 924th TFG at Bergstrom AFB TX, 3246th Test Wing at Eglin AFB FL, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing at Nellis AFB NV, and the South Korean 17th TFW in Chongju RoK. A few were also used in various test and evaluation units as well. The main external tell for a DMAS F-4E is the antenna fit along the spine of the aircraft. The most noticeable of these are the black trapezoidal shaped antenna radome covering the LORAN-C antenna located just behind the TACAN blade antenna. In this case the wing assigned is the tell as the spine antenna fit cannot be seen. DMAS jets were never assigned to the 347th TFW at Moody AFB.

Early lot C's had the APG-65 as well.

They had 10, crashed a few, and the USAF supplied them with attrition replacements from their stocks of F-4E's. Those Jets were operated at George AFB until 1993 when they moved to Holloman AFB. In 1997, they were replaced by F-4F's from Germany and the F-4F's continued to operate until 2004 when Phantom training ceased at Holloman. The Luftwaffe had 14 Tornados which arrived in 1996. They ceased flying operations at Holloman in 2019.

Walleye is a Navy/Marine weapon. I have seen no evidence of the F-4E ever carrying the weapon or it being listed in the USAF manuals for the F-4E. The photos you have posted of the USAF planes with the walleye are F-4D's one of which is definitely a weapons school aircraft and the other has a test weapon fitted. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say the Walleye was evaluated by the Air Force but not adopted by the service. The Air Force used the GBU-8, GBU-9 and GBU-15 TV guided weapons instead.

My father retired out of Holloman AFB in 1989 and still lives in Alamogordo. Saw lots of Phantoms there between the Germans and the Drones from 88 until I left to join the Navy in 95. I remember some of my AF friends talking about the new F-15C/D's they were getting right before that plan was axed and the F-117's were sent to replace the F-15A/B's instead. The AT-38B's were there for fighter lead in training and further T-38A's were sent to support the F-117's. In the late 80's they were still flying the QF-100 drones there too. Tracor operated a Skywarrior in Army markings for testing as well. The Germans showed up with their Phantoms and Tornados in the early 90's because George AFB closed down and the Tornados needed a better training environment than Europe had to offer. The German F-4E's looked to be super well maintained. I also remember when the F-4F's showed up because they were still sporting the Norm 81 camouflage when they first arrived. Very interesting times.

The Vanilla E is the easiest one to integrate into DCS. Almost all of the weapons it uses are already in game and its systems are fairly straightforward to model. The DMAS E will require new weapons/sensors not yet in game and its Nav/Attack system is more difficult to model. A Naval Phantom will require all new Sidewinders, new catapult hookup procedures, and other Navy specific systems. So far, I'm happy with Heatblurs choices especially with the decision to do both the vanilla E and DMAS version. I want to see as many variants of the Phantom (even the RF-4 variants) as possible although I highly doubt we will see them all. The FAQ mentioned "naval Phantoms"... Plural, meaning more than one. My fingers are crossed for both a J and S versions at a minimum. Germany owned/operated 10 F-4E's and were supplemented by USAF F-4E's to replace attrition losses... although they were flown almost exclusively in the US for training with the 20th TFS/FS at George AFB and Holloman AFB before being replaced by actual F-4F's in the late 90's. Most of them ended up in Germany for parts cannibalization birds and ground instructional airframes.

Chose Sikorsky S-65 but really want a S-80. The CH-53E is a beast. S-65 could never lift this.

There are three types of leading edge devices on the Phantoms. The Air Force slatted wing, the Navy slatted wing and the un-slatted wing. The un-slatted wing uses leading edge flaps with boundary layer control to reduce takeoff and landing speeds. The slatted wings had similar effects for takeoff and landing as leading edge flap equipped jets but improved the high alpha maneuvering capabilities of the Phantom as well. The down side of the slats is that they reduced the top speed and slightly increased fuel consumption in cruise configuration. The Japanese F-4EJ Phantoms were originally built to augment the F-104J's as interceptors where speed and range were more important than the turning ability of the jets.

Interesting. Evidently there were 16 RF-4E's built with wing slats. Eight for Greece and Eight for Turkey. The reason some of them have slats and some don't is that not all of the respective countries RF-4E's are from the original block 66 production deliveries from the US. They were augmented by larger numbers of ex-Luftwaffe RF-4E's that did not have the slats. This has me wondering why they have slats as it is slightly detrimental to their performance as reconnaissance platforms. Perhaps McAir werent building the older RF-4E wings anymore when the orders for the Greek and Turk RF-4E's came in. IIRC the original RF-4E wings were from the F-4D. Good to know.

They are slotted stabs. All early Phantoms (B/C/D) were produced without slotted stabs. Some B's were later retrofitted with them. German F-4F phantoms had the slatted wings but unslotted stabs. The Japanese F-4EJ Had Un-slatted wings with slotted stabs. The Japanese RF-4EJ, being a conversion of the F-4EJ also had slotted stabs. All RF-4C/E's had un-slatted wings and un-slotted stabs and as such were the fastest of the operational Phantoms. All E/G/J/K/N and S Phantoms had slotted stabs.

F-111, particularly the F and C, also has commonality with the DMAS/ARN-101 F-4E Heatblur are working on as well. They both use the PAVE Tack and GBU-15

Great idea. For the people who want to pretend DCS is another game entirely, let the game modification people handle it. Heatblur shouldn't waste time on frivolous unrealistic "features" when the true naval version will be worked on immediately after the land-based version as has been previously stated in this very thread. Those who know about naval Phantoms know that the changes required are more than just invisible hookups to the catapult. The Phantom has to maintain a critical angle of attack to achieve a proper flyaway attitude. The F-4E cannot extend its nose strut and therefor will have difficulty achieving flyaway attitude before hitting the water without excessive wind over deck. If you have to do excessive wind over deck you might as well put it at 190kts in the mission editor and lift off vertically. I doubt Heatblur would want to mar their reputation with unrealistic capabilities built into their modules in any case.

The J never got the slats. Early S models didn't have them either but were later retrofitted with them. The Slat setup on the Navy S was different than that installed on the E/F/G's.

Well, it's been my experience that, even in a war, this was never an issue. The limitations are trained to by the aircrew. I have never seen gross overspeed conditions caused by pilot incompetence that have caused a TFOA of the landing gear doors. Even minor landing gear overspeeds not involving a TFOA are very rare.

Yes. This can be found in the A1-F18AC-NFM-000 dated 15 Sep 2008 on page I-2-65 paragraph 2.10.1.4 titled Landing Gear Warning Lights/Tone. The indicator that something is wrong will be the landing gear handle illuminating red in the up position. The airspeed limitations for the landing gear extension/retraction/extended is 250 Knots (DCS seems to have a little buffer zone above 250 before things start to break). The airspeed limitations for the Refueling Probe, Landing Gear, Tires, Trailing edge Flaps and Canopy can be found in figure 4-1 of the before mentioned NFM-000. The Hornet systems are all tied together electronically and communicate with each other. The landing gear are still in transit as far as the airplane knows and will not allow you to use the weapons systems. Bubble gum won't fix that. The key is to operate the aircraft within its limits. If you don't have access to the actual aircraft manual, Chuck Owl makes an excellent guide for the F/A-18C and many other airframes as well. Chuck’s Guides – DCS F/A-18C Hornet | Mudspike

The F-4E was not used in Bolo. They were F-4C's.

I love a good speculation thread... You are such a tease Wags. F-111E/F OV-10A/D+ Bronco CH-53E Super Sea Stallion AH-1F Cobra

I'm only buying the N Aus map if it comes with Salties... We really need an incentive to aim our flaming fireball towards the not wet.