lmp

Can't wait! :thumbup:

Uhm, where exactly on that site?

In depth look at the radar, weapon and nav systems please ;).

Well, first of all, unlike the purely air to ground A-10 and air to air F-15 - both very popular aircraft - the MiG-21 can do a little bit of both. That's already added variety. And I don't see why it couldn't do escorts, CAPs, CAS, interdictions... The real thing did all that, you just need to choose the goals and threats appropriately. F-5s may be boring if you fight them in a Flanker. ZSU trucks might feel like they're unworthy of a Maverick from your A-10. Both however will make challenging and interesting opponents for the MiG-21. Also stuff that were non issues in more advanced aircraft suddenly matter and force you to think and learn new stuff. Consider navigation in the Ka-50 versus the Mi-8. In the Shark the PVI-800 and ABRIS provide you with tons of information. You just follow the line on the LCD. Or press "R" and the chopper will do even that for you. Pretty boring. In the Mi-8 however that won't do. You need to learn the flight plan, all the landmarks, headings, NDBs etc. And then you have to pay attention throughout the flight. Navigation becomes a big part of the game, not just something you do without a thought. Heck, even the GCI interceptions can be interesting and varied. Picking out a low flying F-111 from ground clutter will be very different from executing a perfect climb to 15km to catch a B-52 before it launches its cruise missiles. Not having a perfect idea what's happening in a 50+km/120deg cone in front of you nor 4000km worth of fuel can actually make the whole experience more and not less interesting.

It's the two yellow lines over the ADI that tell you what attitude you should maintain to perform a certain maneuver (in this case, the approach for landing). Other DCS aircraft have it too (FC3 aircraft or the Ka-50 for example...).

Looking nice :thumbup:

I never properly learned the A-10C, but I have plenty of hours in the helicopter modules and I'll tell you this... in a combat situation you don't really DO much more in the Ka-50 than in the Su-25. When doing cold starts or following a complex nav plan - then yes, there's plenty of switches to throw in the ASM aircraft - but when you're trying to kill that SAM before it kills you, the differences are minimal. The simplifications in the FC3 aircraft are mostly in the non combat systems and you usually have most of your combat related controls mapped to your joystick anyway. So I guess it's down to what you like doing most. If you'll be killing tanks and airplanes most of the time, or just doing aerobatics and enjoying the FM, the simplifications may bother you a little bit, but I think you'll have a good experience over all. If you want to be super immersed all the time, ramp starting your aircraft with a single key press might ruin it for you. Personally, I enjoy the Su-25 a lot and can't wait for the other Russian aircraft getting PFM. The F-15 is also a ton of fun now.

That's no MiG-21, it's an Su-9.

I think the best way to create a scenario that's winnable for the MiGs is to look at what made the MiG-21 so successful in the Vietnam War. A lot of good ideas have already been given here. I think, while the MiGs should have some numerical advantage, it would be bad to overdo it. If you just pit a squadron of MiGs against a pair of Eagles, that might be more or less "fair", but it means most of the MiG players will just get killed, even if one or two get a shot at the enemy. Not a lot of fun. Not to mention you need a lot of players to make it happen. However if you give the Eagle guys plenty of things (other than just killing the MiGs) to worry about, and at the same time a bunch of handicaps for the Fishbeds, a 2-3:1 advantage for the latter might be enough to make it interesting. So to give an example: BLUFOR is a pair of F-15s escorting an AI flight of slow, bombers unarmed for air to air. Their goal is to destroy a strategic ground target. They get no other support and the escorts are armed with Aim-7M and Aim-9P. REDFOR is two or three pairs of MiGs armed with whatever they want, with EWR and maybe some SAM support. Their job is to stop the raid. Here the F-15s have to be smart about their resources. They can wipe out the MiGs in BVR and have a big edge in a dogfight, but if they stray too much from the bombers, those might be shot down by other MiGs. The Eagles can lose without getting shot down. The MiGs OTOH need to coordinate well and work with their EWR to either lure the Eagles away from the bombers or overwhelm them. They get to chose when and how to engage, but if they don't have a clear tactical advantage when they do, they stand no chance. You could also add other things that hindered the US airman and helped Vietnamese pilots, like certain ROEs etc. I'm not an experienced mission designer, nor do I fly much multiplayer, but I feel something like this might work.

You can also include bombers for the F-15s to escort or SAMs supporting the MiGs, etc.

The closest one in terms of equipment would be the MS export variant. M, MF, ML and MLD would all require the radar and TP-23 sensor to all be done from scratch. Part of me would want the MF, because it has served with the Polish air force, but the ML or MLD would probably provide a more interesting gameplay.

Or rather, the MiG-21 has PFM-level EFM and ASM. There's no such thing as "PFM in systems modelling". The MiG-23MS has a similar sensor suite and weapons capabilities to the bis. The more advanced (and interesting) versions - such as the MF, ML or MLD - have a completely new radar, different radar guided missiles, EOS, HUD etc. On all versions, much of the other systems and instruments will be similar to the ones in the bis. The flight model will be completely different however and in particular swing wings are something no previous DCS aircraft did.

Dunno about the standalone ASO-2Is, but I know of at least one incident where a Polish MiG-21R fired chaff from ASO-2I installed in a recon pod after being intercepted over the Baltic by a NATO or Swedish fighter.

The SPS-141 version used by the MiG-21 (which AFAIK is different from the SPS-141 we have now for the Su-25) has ASO-21 chaff/flare dispensers.

Here's the real thing: http://fotki.yandex.ru/next/users/rata16/album/1157/view/1132089

I'm pretty sure the RP-22 can't track target head on, so that would rule out all aspect engagements with the R-3R/RS-2US.

For a start, there's the English Wikipedia entry for Kh-29. The source given is a Rosoboronexport catalogue (which is no longer available under the given link, but I have it and can confirm it's quoted correctly). If that's not a good enough source for you, I know that only the latest Su-22M4s with the IT-23 screen in the cockpit could utilize the Kh-29T. Earlier Su-22M4s with the Klen-54 rangefinder and Su-22M3s with the Klen-PS unit (same as on the Su-25) could only employ the laser guided S-25L, Kh-25ML and Kh-29L. I could provide a couple of sources for that, but they'd all be in Polish.

AFAIK none of these can be fired by the Su-25.

Such as? Cause the Kh-25ML, Kh-29L, S-25L are all laser guided.

Not saying you should all fall in love with trainers, but here's some food for thought for those asking for a more "modern" battlefield... The idea of big armies clashing and the latest fighters battling for the skies is, well, pretty "last century". It was a possibility in the 80s, it may (let's hope not) become a possibility in the future. But right now, the "XXI century war" is a COIN operation in some more or less forgotten corner of the Earth, where the lowly trainer/light CAS planes see more action than the F-22 perhaps ever will.

Here's a good description of how well each aircraft is modeled: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=122801 Should help you make heads or tails of it all. Yes, 6DOF cockpit means you can move you view position back and forth, up and down etc. and not just rotate it. The 6DOF cockpits are also of higher quality than the old cockpits. To illustrate this, here's the old Su-25 cockpit: Here's the new (6DOF) one: Currently of the FC3 aircraft the F-15C, A-10A, Su-25, Su-27 and Su-33 have the 6DOF cockpit. The MiGs will receive theirs later.

Mate, ASM (Advanced Systems Modeling) means clickable cockpit. SSM (Standard Systems Modeling) is what FC3 planes have.

Now the question is: which one will be first ;).

Great work guys! Can't wait to fly her :).