Tirak

Well that'll be good for us, not so much for you guys though :lol:

Navy Phantoms would be a money sink for whichever company tried it. The simple fact of the matter is that even among Phantom Phanatics, most people will only purchase one Phantom module, and the choice would heavily be skewed in favor of the most multirole capable. Because of its internal gun, and addition of precision guided weapons of greater variety and a targeting pod, the late series F-4E that has been announced would trump any Navy Phantom in terms of capability, bar carrier landings of course. Furthermore, since it would be released much later, it would be the Johnny Come Lately of modules, arriving after most people would have already purchased the F-4E. Because of this, you'd be looking at a significantly reduced customer base, meaning it would be a great deal of work, as the Phantom is a fairly complex aircraft, for fairly limited gain. If the two modules were developed simultaneously by different companies, it would be a lose lose situation for the company, as they would be fighting over mostly the same customer base. A Phoreign Phantom might generate more revenue if an advanced version like the Terminator 2020 were selected, however again it runs into coming far too late, as a late series F-4E would bring most of the capability of a upgraded Phantom, and already be in most people's libraries. RAZBAM clearly has a better plan, to do modules that compliment the Phantom, instead of trying to scrounge up the leftovers from after BSTs F-4E launch. By selecting airframes like the A-7 and A-6, they provide the perfect draw from customers interested in the Phantom era of aircraft, while providing a new and different experience. The A-7 will be single seater, giving RAZBAM access to a very large customer pool only partially tapped by aircraft like the Phantom, and while some may see it as competing with the A-10, the vast majority will see things like the ground radar, heavy carry capacity, greater range and being more era appropriate to SEA style conflicts as more than enough to overcome any similarities of being a dedicated ground attack aircraft. Because the F-4E is now on the table, that makes the A-7 more desirable, especially if a SEA map is announced and released before or around the A-7 release. The A-6 is exceedingly popular, and lets RAZBAM take advantage of that "Sweet Hollywood Money" That both HeatBlur and BST have already started to take advantage of with their F-14 and F-5 modules. It would be the first dedicated bomber to come out, and its host of interesting and unique systems would set it apart. Again, the release of the F-4E will enhance the draw for the A-6, as they existed in the same period of war, and pilots love creating proper sets. Onto future unannounced modules, by capitalizing on another company doing the grunt work of taking on one of the most complex modules of that fighter 'era', it gives RAZBAM an easy opportunity to slip into some of the simpler modules for a quick cash in. Aircraft like the F-100, MiG-17, A-37 Supertweet and A-1 are all fairly uncomplicated modules in terms of avionics and flight modeling, but help fill in the SEA theater of operations, and are an opportunity to work on a less difficult to do module that they can still make a fairly good return on. Less complicated means less draw on resources, meaning a faster turn around, reducing cost in development, and maximizing profit. As these modules, for the most part, are not as popular as the more complex ones, absolute purchases would likely be lower than something like the A-6, but the reduced cost due to shortened development time could likely sway the bottom line to be more in line with their more complex modules. Anyway, I didn't mean to go on this long. Long story short, doing another Phantom now that BST has taken on the late series F-4E would be a waste of money, and instead companies like RAZBAM can capitalize on the opening of a new theater and era and potentially bring in more money by complimenting the work of BST, rather than trying to compete with them.

Mirage F? Also, they haven't said they're making any helicopters...

You seem to be the only one who has a problem with Cockpit mods, terrain texture mods, ect, so you are welcome to take yourself off to your own server. Quality of life mods like English Cockpits for the MiG, Viggen and Mirage do in no way impact the game performance of others or give unfair advantage, nor do ground texture mods to improve the visual experience for the players. The big thing you seem to miss, trying to compare Blue Flag to major sporting events, is that Blue Flag is not a sporting event, it's a sandbox game run by players with a similar desire for a red vs blue style combat environment where we get to shoot at hostile appropriate aircraft, rather than endless mirror matchups. We are not playing for prize money, nor international recognition, we're playing for fun.

Most suited to the DCS environment would be the Peace Icarus, the Kurnass 2000 or the Terminator 2020. If/When we do get a Phantom, those are the ones I would want. Barring that, a Slatted F-4E would be next best.

You may find this pertinent to your questions.

Does the AV-8B not have multiple chaff and flare programs?

Smart money is on the good players running 2-4-2. You get 2 Phoenix's for range to burn down enemy energy, while keeping the tunnel clear for the best performance gains.

Haven't found a video of that style test yet, but the F-35 does have a pneumatic launch system called that LAU-147 for AMRAAMs, so it does not appear like that will be a limitation.

I think Moltar's right. The EWR systems should be mission placed, and can be repaired by bringing a specific EWR crate to them. That way managing them is still important for the Logistics teams, and BlueFor knows where they are to hit them and try and take away the DL advantage. That actually gives aircraft like the Viggen a bigger role to play as they're built around high speed single target strikes.

So do you hold down the pickle when running in on target, or do you just try to time it with the symbology?

Yes but these guys are talking about making a full module, and we've seen some form of 'reserve' aircraft list with the announcing and subsequent cancellation of the MiG-23. It would seem to be a wasted effort to attempt to make a Cobra as your 'audition piece' to ED, when it is already said to be being worked on by BST, of all developers.

I only meant they've got five days before it's appropriate for us to start whining "WHERE'S THE NEXT UPDATE!"

They've got 5 days.

Last general statement we got was Q3 2017.

That accident was caused because the safety systems had been removed for that flight. The rotor assembly and control system was redesigned to stop that from happening again.

Asymmetrical Balance is still balance...

It actually caused an interservice firestorm. The Airforce got super pissed because they said it was too plane like. It would be one hell of a unique NATO Gunship to include in DCS though.

XHawks are boring. Be bold, AH-56 Cheyenne

Already claimed by BST. I think if a new group tried to come in with an AH-1 they'd be rejected. A Kiowa Warrior with mast would be an excellent addition, finally a chopper that could lase for the fast movers.

So you're saying that you don't want to see a potentially expanded module to include additional capabilities? :huh:

Right, which is why mirage 2000 updates have been flowing out on schedule and the next BST module is well on its way forward. I happen to pay quite a bit of attention to what is stated and what goes on in 3rd party land, so I'll stand by my statements as to why I don't buy this being a full module until RAZBAM gives out some data on this to change my mind. I prefer to be realistic when I look at third parties instead of overly optimistic.nd think they have unlimited resources.

Fundamental realities. I work in machining, so I do understand division of labor, schedules and development pipelines. I have two parts, both need to use the same machine. I must machine one, then switch to the other, both parts cannot be worked on at the same time. Now these parts may need to be machined on by several other setups on other machines, but if both need to be done on one machine, there creates a bottleneck. Let's go further, and say that only part of the part can be completed before it needs this machining work to be done, in which case I may have the rest of the job spread out on multiple other machines, but until I finish the work that needs to be done on the part on this machine, the whole program is stalled. Avionics and Flight Model are critical components and much is built on top of them.

Flight model coding and avionics will be the major stumbling blocks for the first modern chopper that RAZBAM will develop. Those same coders will be also heavily needed when the RadarBAM fleet begins development. D

Because it represents a man hour commitment. RAZBAM has soft committed on an AV-8B+, F-15E, A-7 and A-6 module with the caveat that they will come after the Hornet has released and the ground radar code is given to third parties. That code is going to take some time to get figured out and integrated properly, so the first of the RadarBAM aircraft will be a steep commitment in time and manpower. In addition, the community has wanted those modules badly, and are extremely vocal about that. Delaying the release of the RadarBAM aircraft in favor of a heavy lift chopper, when most of the support systems to make those choppers a viable and interesting asset to the widest possible audience, would be a misstep, and not supported by the majority of the community. For reference, i would like to point out BST's announcement of an AH-1G Cobra, that received such a negative response, the company pushed to get permission to produce and AH-1W in order to placate customers.