Stryker2000

What Gierasimov and Lunatic98 said. I love options. And the nationally aligned assets should be a part of any mission build. If an ally is involved like a hypothetical Poland or Egypt, Russian assets make perfect sense. But a US-Euro oriented mission should have all Western hardware around bases. There should be C-17s, 141s or KC-135s sitting around.

I'm becoming aware of new definitions here, like "full fidelity." Hmm. I was under the impression that the MiG-29A was as full fidelity as they could get, though I'm not as hot to fly it as I am the Western guys. I know the F/A-18 is a special case somehow, not sure how they managed to get out of the U.S. what they did. The F-14 is a surprise. Maybe Russia being run by an ex-KGB guy, they want to hold ED "hostage" and squeeze as many rubles out of them as possible or no deal. I'm sure that that RSK MiG would want their legacy to be well represented in a game with competing western designs, as would the other design bureaus, so it must be Das Kremlin. Hopefully that's not too political. Not being a hardcore simmer, I'm happy to fly simplified jets. Whatever the state they're in, I'm hopeful the To Do list in the roadmap page gets done by the early 2019, so we can see "modern" campaigns from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, India/China, Korea and others. And those WWII, 1950s Korea and Vietnam things too as things progress.

I approve this message. +1

A man after my own heart! I'd just posted about wanting the A-37 in DCS a few days ago, along with some other light attack aircraft to spice things up. Have you thought of looking for T-37 trainer documentation, or writing to Cessna themselves for help?

I do prefer ED and its partners to focus on delivering the meatier, sexier, more capable assets to us like the F-16 and 18, carriers and all that. But one aspect which is really lean in the toybox are a decent selection of light attack aircraft, as well as dedicated attack helicopters. For alternatives to the cliche Su-25 and A-10, online flyers will often go to WW II prop fighters! I know these developers are at the mercy of the armed forces of the world, but some fudging would sure work for most of us. I'm hoping that at some point before Kim Jung decides to start flinging nukes, we get some serious capable light attack jets - not trainers - like the Alphajet and Yak-130, and heavier birds like the MiG-27 and A-7, which seems to be in the pipeline.

+1. I like a mix of aircraft in a scenario, as we would see in a real world campaign. Since we can grab any aircraft, it makes sense to put together a fighter/strike package of superfighters and superattack jets. But craft like the Hawk, Albatros, Avrojet and Alphajet serve a good purpose even in DCS. Small, nimble, they can even cause problems in a dogfight with a good pilot.

+1 also. Sort of. I agree that there are some notable gaps in the inventories of both sides which I mentioned in my first post yesterday. Then I was promptly advised to read the proposed roadmap for upcoming content, in which some of my planes were listed. I'm going back to it in fact. A couple of things. Fighter wise, the Russians are really short of options. But what they have is the cream of the crop. The MiG-29 has incredible medium fighter performance, and is armed with the Archer missile with a wide axis of track, while the Su-27 is a superfighter in almost every way. While it can be argued that the F-15 has similar performance to the Su-27, there really isn't a comparable fighter to the MiG, though the Mirage 2000 can compete with it in the right hands. And to be sure, the Russians have the only real attack helicopter in the game. In my mind, the only truly comparable aircraft East to West are the Su-25 and A-10, and MiG-21 and F-5E. More aircraft are coming like the F/A-18, but that just provides a proper counter to the MiG-29, and we don't know for sure when that's being released. I'd also be careful what to wish for. My list in the F-16 thread had a fairly good apples to apples basket of aircraft in a few categories. While the MiG-25 and it big brother MiG-31 are capable aircraft, those guys are mostly interceptors with quite limited fighting capability, and are handily outclassed by just about all the fighters in the DCS inventory. I think they would fare about as well in a dogfight as an F-111, a U.S. attack aircraft. I'm thinking that everyone lusting after the F-14 are in a similar boat, as it's more of a 3.5 or better generation fighter, but not a true 4th gen like the MiG-29, Su-27, F-15, 16 and 18. I saw a video of a test engagement of an F-14 with expert A.I. versus an Su-27, and the Flanker won 5-0. But for carrier scenarios, it does make a good mix with the F/A-18. I like the MiG-23 and 27 too, and with the Mirage F1 would be an essential ingredient with any Middle Eastern campaign. But pure interceptors like the MiG-25, F-104 and 106 would suffer badly in a dogfight, so I think those would be best with A.I. assets you could fly as you wished as extra jets. People will learn quickly I like to type a lot. I'm a budding writer. ;)

Pleased to meet you. ;) Okay, I'm slogging through the "official" Road Map now. What I'd been going on turns out to be old and surprisingly incomplete, though it did line up with what's available in DCS now. I stand corrected, and should know by now to follow Reagan's adage, trust but verify, check original sources before posting and all that. I do have to say though that what ED and partners offer now is kind of a hodge podge. It's a nice HP to be sure, but I still think a more matched East vs West asset for asset approach, fudging and all, would have been a better idea. Relying on Ka-50 for our sole gunship is a bit of a bummer. Oh, and no IFF yet?? I've been watching Grim Reaper videos for a week now and thoroughly enjoying them, and have been wondering about the occasional friendly fire incidents. Man... i'd put working friend or foe stuff at the top of my To Do list personally. Makes me think I'd better hold off on any online stuff till that's going. It's bad enough trying not to shoot friendlies in No Man's Sky when they fly right in front of you. Anyhow, I have a lot of goodies to look forward to it seems. No hard feelings, hopefully. Now, if I can just get DCS 1.5 to install my modules without immediately crashing...

First time caller. One exception? How about the...? MiG-29 Su-25, 27 and 33 F-15C And I believe the Mirage-2000 fits that list too regarding operational aircraft. Now I understand that the classified nature of operational aircraft and all that, and that ED can have more free access to Russian makes. But in particular, the fact that the F-15C is in the sim and the F-14 and F/A-18 are coming indicates to me that the Viper is just losing the popularity contest to the carrier-based jets, and nothing more. Which is a shame because many of us, including the militaries of the West, see the F-16 as the natural adversary of the MiG-29. I'm brand new to DCS and just purchased much of the content in the fall sale, but I have to remark on how weird are some of their selections for inclusion in the game. I really think they should have focused more on the modern "East vs West" confrontations which the world's armed forces will likely be facing, as the old Cold War polarities are lingering, though I completely understand a "politics agnostic" approach to modern scenarios. I think a proper mix of both "Soviet Block" and U.S./NATO aircraft should have been pursued from the start. I would suggest a roadmap which revolves around something like this: Light attack Russian L-39 Albatros Yak-38 Forger Yak-130 Light attack West OV-10 Bronco A-37 Dragonfly C-101 Aviojet Hawk T1 Alpha Jet A-4 Skyhawk Jaguar Harrier Medium attack Russian MiG-27 Flogger Su-25 Frogfoot Su-24 Fencer Su-30 Flanker-C Medium attack West AJS-37 Viggen Tornado A-7 Corsair II A-10 Thunderbolt II A-6 Intruder F-111 F-15E Strike Eagle Light fighters Russian MiG-17 Fresco MiG-19 Farmer MiG-21 Fishbed MiG-23 Flogger Light fighters West F-5E Tiger II - and F-20 Tigershark for a lark JAS-39 Gripen Mirage F1 Mirage-2000 F-16 Falcon Medium fighters Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum Su-27/33 Flanker Medium fighters West Rafale Eurofighter Typhoon F-14 Tomcat F/A-18 Hornet F-15 Eagle F-22 Raptor - yes, this is a dreamer Bombers Russian Tu-95 Bear Tu-16 Badger Tu-22M Backfire Bombers West B-52 Stratofortress B-1B Lancer Attack helicopters Russian Mi-24 Hind Ka-50 Black Shark Attack helicopters West UH-1 Huey AH-1 SuperCobra - lordy, we at least need this to balance off of the Ka-50 AH-64 Apache SA342 Gazelle Utility transport helicopters Russian Mi-8 Hip Mi-26 Halo Utility transport helicopters West UH-60 Blackhawk CH-47 Chinook Early Warning and Control Russian A-50 Mainstay Early Warning and Control West E-3 Sentry Yeah, lotsa planes, but this would have made a much more sensible roadmap than to throw in Korean War and WW II vintage oddballs. I know that a lot of gamers are hungry to refight The Great War, Korea and Vietnam, but what we have now is such a hodge podge. I know, woulda shoulda coulda, but I expect a lot more from this modren human race... In any case, what we have is a solid air combat game, if a little haphazard with aircraft stable, and the models and graphics are so good, I have lots of new fodder for my art resource portfolio. And I'm digging this place. Might not post all that much, but I'll definitely want to do some reading over the months.