bies

E.g. "Tornado F.3 Weapons System Manual" -> "AMRAAM moding". But we can't post any post 1980s documents here, so let's stay in line with forum rules.

You won't find such sources. Post-Cold War technology in simulators like DCS is more or less guestimated and it will always remain far less realistic compared to Cold War technology. For many reasons, not only classification, but also complexity and 1990s computer revolution.

First let's model AIM-120B in a reasonably realistic way, e.g. with HPRF/MPRF modes. It's easy to make completely unrealistic, made up (and totally simplified) new missile, like MBDA Meteor, without any data, neither kinematic performance nor electronics, radar modes, guidance algorithms, two way datalink and peer guidance etc. EDIT: AIM-120B, not A.

True. Mi-24V, F-16A, F-15A/C, AH-64A, Mi-8MT, CH-47B/D, MiG-21F-13 etc. would be awesome. And some 3rd parties like Aerges, Heatblur, Polychop are already making different variants, which is great. The core of the current problem with variants is, the criterion to chose between variants with available documentation, is not to chose the variant fitting the rest of DCS enviroment - but to model always just the most modern we have access to, even if it means it won't fit ANYTHING in DCS, no other AI or flayable aircrafts, no ground or sea assets, no campaigns. Unfortunately often it means the modules in limbo.

100% Agree. This is the single most important thing. A few conflicts like e.g. 1944 Normandy, 1950s Korean War, 1960s Vietnam War, 1970s Middle East, 1980s Iraq-Iran War or Fulda Gap. Not only a sandbox with modules with random variants and assets from random periods on modern day peaceful maps. Even with just 2-3 flayable aircrafts, but with coherent TIME PERIOD CORRECT MAP, AI ground/air/sea assets and campaign. This is how all the simulators were made and that's how they gave whole lot of fun, even the old Flanker 2,5 had all of that. And if the campaigh would be dynamic it would be even better. This would take DCS immersion, atmosphere, purpose and satisfaction on another level. Not only modern day peacefull maps withut atmosphere, often too modern even for 2005 Hornet, Viper, Apache etc.

Cold War IRST like the ones installed in F-101B, F-4B, MiG-25, F-8, Su-27, F-14A, MiG-29, J-35 Draken etc. were of very limited use. Able to detect a target only in very vavourable conditions like high altitude/good weather/flying below the target/rear aspect. That's why the ones used often as interceptors like F-101, Su-27, MiG-29, MiG-31 often kept them when other lost them in the middle of the service life. I.e. MiG-29 OLS-29 IRST has been rated as practically useless against tactical fighters by USAF testing it during 1990s. In USSR IRST were additionally desirable as Soviets assumed they had older slower microprocessors and their radars will be jammed more easily. IRL IRST were had many more limitations than we have modeled in DCS right now. Hopefully full fidely MiG-29 9.12 will model it in a more realistic way and create some new IRST API.

Full fidelity F-14A 135GR early from 1981. F-14B and F-14A 135GR late from 1987. Low fidelity F-15C MSIP II from 1985.

Marianas map is very small, just a few small islands, but highly detailed, on a verge of acceptable performance. It's a good idea to have similar map, smaller, but with higher details for helicopters, ground forces, CAS, with more detailed terrain mesh.

After many decades, do we even know which other classified device they've been using instead? During mid 1980s under MSIP II program USAF installed some self protection devices on F-15C which remains classified even today, like AN/ALQ-128.

Yes, full fidelity proper Cold War/Gulf War A-10A and Su-25. Our FC3 A-10A is mid 1990s variant, LASTE upgrade, with computerized weapon-aiming equipment, an autopilot, and a ground-collision warning system.

Some declassified pages

Helicopter's flight model is really tricky, requiring lots of work, time, testing, tuning. If someone would invest such a big amount of time and money making high detail cockpit, external model - and especially high fidelity flight model - (all mandatory for FC3 module), it would be stupid not to finish its avionics and not releasing full fidelity module. That's why ED was selling Huey, Mi-8, Ka-50 and Gazelle as a pack. Full fidelity pack. A helicopter is mostly its FM. And a helicopter with simplified FM wouldn't be enjoyable. Spitting a pack of FC3 style helicopters with high fidelity flight models would require many years of hard work - for a few bucks as revenue. Normal DCS full fidelity H-21, Mi-26, Ka-27 or H-34 would be great though.

Add MiG-21bis and MiG-23, still the mainstays of the WarPac in the '80s.

True, though i thinkt they will be profitable as full fidelity modules. MiG-23 is already being developed.

Making FC3 standard aircraft out of already existing full fidelity module is easy, just delete some systems and simplyfy others. Like FC 2024 did. Making a new FC3 standard aircraft from scratch is absolutely NOT profitable: it still needs high fidelity flight model, high quality cockpit, external model, animations, weapons models, interaction with the whole enviroment - just saving time on made up sipmlified avionics - and selling it for a small fraction of full fidelity module... If a developer has already done the tedious work of modeling the flight model, cockpit, external features, weapons, interactions, etc., it would be far more profitable to finish the full fidelity avionics and sell it for some 400% more. Plus FC3 means simplified (F-15C, Su-27S, A-10A, Su-25 etc.) - not unrealistic / fictional / made up (Rafale, F-22, MiG-29SMK, Su-27SM2, Gripen etc). That's why FC3 didn't bring classified aircrafts with completely made up guestimated avionics. Classified unrealistic aircraft with classified fictional systems = MOD.

1) The global number of trees is approximately 3.04 trillion. 2) Kola Peninsula has significantly higher tree density compared to Vietnam.

This one thing is going to improve the whole experience a lot. The end of the endless list of doom. Great job.

Yes, pilot instead of an empty cockpit adds a lot.

Fictional liveries are ok-ish, but obviously they shouldn't be mandatory. Only optional. Modules are big enough even without them.

With the new Dynamic Campaign and CSAR missions it will be a must. Especially it's easy to code in a rudimentary way, even the old sims had this function.

Yes, I'm not sure how exactly, but something should be done. I think about something simple, like a map on a kneeboard. F10 is kind of experience-breaking and silly, let alone zooming, let alone GPS in WW2/Cold War era