macrossMX

Find 3 - 7 other buddies to fly F-14s with you and roleplay as Razgriz.

It uses the same type of ECM the A-10C uses, so it is likely it will be available at launch possibly as a placeholder.

If I recall, the F-16 is a pressure/input hybrid stick because the first F-16 flyers apparently freaked out when they are getting no physical input from the stick. And also, isn't the side stick configuration provide less of a left turn bias compared to a center stick where it is easier to pull left than right with a center stick.

At least the trailer confirms you can load up to 4 Mavericks with the LAU-88 rack. Now we have to wait and see if it can fully load 6 Mavericks as a theoretical wartime loadout.

Export variants will only be depicted as skins, so no major system or weapon changes from the 2007 USAF/ANG baseline. That means no Conformal Fuel Tanks or APG-68V9 radar for the Turkish variants. Unless ED eventually have the documents to create the Block50+ which has the APG-68V9 and CFT compatibility.

Would like to see a gen. 4 strike aircraft in DCS. Just like with the F-14B, it is very likely that it will be the older GR.1 variant.

Even if the color looks a bit out of place for some people, it is actually miles better than the original color for the Block 1 which was black.

Anyone here remember this old tribute to the F-14 at a time when DCS was once called LOMAC (and a little from the Strike Fighters series): Someone needs to do a 2019 remaster of this video showcasing the F-14B in all its HD glory.

Same with the GR.1. We have too many western fighters and few of them are as dedicated of a groundpounder than the Tornado GR.1.

Heatblur are leading the way with their function 2 seater planes and a decent AI to boot. It would make sense for HB's future project either be the F-4 or the Tornado series (hopefully the F3 or the IDS with its twin cannons).

I have no problem if the F-16 we get has all the basic weapons minus the TGP if it gives them more time fix any potential bugs with the pod. The Minimum Viable Product will still be a joy to fly and kill with just like the F/A-18. While it is true that many USAF F-16s now operate with TGP for ground pounding, the Viper is still very effective with simple unguided weapons. Just look at Israel's combat history in the 1980s, or the USAF deployment of F-16s during the Second Gulf War of 1991.

So for those 72 F-16s that will eventually receive the new radar, would that make the ECM pods redundant or will the new radar lack a jamming mode?

So if what wizard say is true about the degrading performance of mounting a jammer pod for A2A missions, that would mean the majority of the time, the F-16 will fly either with a clean belly or mount a belly tank in order to reduce drag when the fight gets close and personal. Then again considering that jammers simulated in DCS is the equivalent of pointing a giant flashlight in the direction of the plane locking on to you, I doubt having an ECM pod or ECM in general for an offensive air superiority mission would do you any good.

But other countries like Israel have a built in ECM for their F-16C fleet. Unless the US is using a larger, more powerful jammer that requires an external mount.

Because the F-16C we'll be getting is a USAF/ANG variant, it will use an ECM pod. What bothers me is why the USAF insist on leaving the F-16 with an externally mounted ECM pod while other countries have their F-16 with the ECM built internally. I cannot find any article on why the USAF insist on having the F-16 mount the ECM externally, but one theory I can assume is that it would be easier and cost effective to just install a new ECM pod once the old one becomes obsolete. But that does not explain why the F-15C and F-15E have their ECM built into the plane while the F-16 has theirs externally. Can someone present me an article as to why the USAF would make such a decision.

Maybe they can update that for the NTTR or Persian Gulf in the future.

Will there be plans to make the tailhook functional? I know it is a silly question, but the USAF does have a tailhook that is functional for all their planes (including the never to be DCS-flyable F-22) for the purpose of emergency landings in case of hydraulic failures. Also Belsim has no problem adding this insignificant piece as functional on the F-5 for the sake of being authentic, so I am curious if ED is planning to make the hook functional.

I noticed in the external power/ fuel pump switches that there is a switch to engage the drop tank pumps yet the plane currently does not have it as a loadout. Will future updates eventually add the drop tanks into the plane?

Can I safely assume the A8 will come with the same default weapons like the D9: Wing mounted 210mm rockets Fuselage 500kg bomb Fuselage 4 50kg bombs And being the A8 I hope they give us the double barreled mg151 cannons gunpod. Having 4 20mm cannons firing at a column of trucks and halftracks is a sight to behold, but with 6 20mm cannons blazing, nothing short of a tank will survive that kind of firepower.

With those 4 MG151s, the A8 is more than capable of handling themselves in air combat through hit and run tactics (not so different from how hellcat pilots "dogfight" a zero).

If they have enough information, they can also incorporate the Block 50+ variants that are exported to countries like Poland and Greece. While it will be miles away before the public can get access to information regarding the AGP-68(V9) radar, one major upgrade to the plus variant is the inclusion of conformal fuel tanks. And if that proves to be difficult, nothing it stopping them from adding the F-16A Block 1. Being the lightest and the most agile F-16 of the bunch, this plane can also play the role of a more modern F-5 as a dogfighter, ground pounder, and aggressor plane.

I guess the ideal way to fight in the A8 is to focus on BnZ and always have a wingman at your side in case the defender finds an opening to reverse on you. And if nothing else have a wingman with you and execute the Thach Weave to lure the poor fool into an open broadside for its 4 MG151 cannons to work its magic. And if all else fails, go hellcat on them and fight them head on.

They say the F-16 will have anti-ship capabilities. I do not see it, but will there be future considerations to implement the AGM-84?

@Fri13 Let's not forget the Polish F-16s also have provisions for conformal fuel tanks, something the US never ordered. Sometimes, I wish ED gave the F-16 the option of conformal fuel tanks as an option for those who want to simulate F-16s from other nations like Turkey, Greece, and Poland. But I am still satisfied with what we will be getting.

I do agree with your take on your first point even though it is a bit harsh. Personally I would have made this comparison similar to an army soldier explaining an A-10's loadout. Both are a good baseline in understanding the possible loadouts for the plane but they leave out the tactical and operational considerations for said loadout (I have seen A-10C drivers overloading with gbu-12s to convince me that this is not how the US would ever use their A-10 for). Agree with you on the second. If there is a large scale WW3 server, it would make sense for the F-16 to either go with a 3 mav or even a 2 mav (A-10 already has a 2 mav option so it should not be too hard to incorporate) to represent a compromise without risking airframe damage with a 3 mav. I may need to research this, but I don't think the USAF have used the 6 mk82 load since the Gulf War or 4 LAU-19s on a regular basis. Does that mean we should remove those weapons because US doctrine no longer need to use such a loadout despite the fact the plane is still cleared for it's use. And for the final point, by the end of the day DCS is still a digital flight simulator where the rules are set by the user or the server. If you want to fly the type of loadout USAF pilots fly on a typical mission you can always look for a server that has such restrictions or even impose yourself to those loadouts. The real magic in DCS is seeing other people going up with an unorthodox loadout and being effective with it. If someone goes up with an F-16 loaded with double LAU-19 rocket pods and chewing up BTRs and infantry formation, there is something to be in awe for someone to pull of a perfect rocket run.