F4U-1D Corsair Launch | DCS Update | FlightSimExpo2025

[Graphics]

 

20 June 2025

Dear Fighter Pilots, Partners and Friends,

In collaboration with Magnitude 3 we are delighted to bring you the long awaited early access launch of the DCS: F4U-1D Corsair. The ‘Bent Wing Bird’, as she was affectionately named, was built for long range air-to-air and air-to-ground attack operations and packed a serious punch with rockets, bombs and machine guns. It mainly flew over the expanse of the Pacific theater from land bases, but also operated from Essex-class aircraft carriers. Take a look at the launch video here. This is a classic not to miss. 

This week’s update focuses on providing a number of quality of life core improvements including AI and weapon improvements, with further refinement of the Quick Action Generator. Aircraft such as the F-16C, F/A-18C, and AH-64D as well as several 3rd party aircraft also received important enhancements, In addition to the Corsair, this update features the release of the highly detailed free DCS: Marianas WWII map. This is the first stage of our Pacific Theater of Operations scenario.

We will be attending the FlightSimExpo 2025 from the 27th to the 29th of June at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence! Come and find us as guests of the WINWING booth; we’ll be showing off DCS with their latest hardware. 

Thank you for your passion and support.

Yours sincerely, 

Eagle Dynamics

 

F4U-1D Corsair

Fly it in early access 

The early-access Corsair features a highly detailed and realistic cockpit and external model that are rendered entirely with PBR textures. The featured -1D version includes a Mk.8 Mod.1 fixed gunsight and even the ASM-N-2 Bat glide bomb. Flight modelling simulates  the aircraft’s unique characteristics that made it a deadly opponent to Japanese forces in 1944 and quite a challenge to operate from an aircraft carrier. The Corsair's powerful engine and massive prop torque provides exceptional speed and climb that leant towards its slashing attack tactics against slower and less capable aircraft. 

Along with the Corsair release, an Essex-class aircraft carrier, Japanese coastal guns and ground vehicles will be available for free as part of the Core update.

Other assets are being created such as the F6F Hellcat and many United States and Imperial Japanese air, ground, and naval units. Please see: Pacific Theatre of Operations | CH-47F Development Progress | Lunar Sale Final Hours - Official Newsletters - ED Forums. For this scenario, we are creating an extensive and accurate set of units that match the time and location. This will allow you to recreate the Battle for the Mariana Islands and the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The DCS: F4U-1D Corsair is available now for only $47.99 during the early access phase. Please note that once the module is released, the price will increase to $59.99.

 

DCS Update

Development Progress

This week’s update is headlined by the free DCS: Marianas WWII map and the long-awaited DCS: F4U-1D Corsair.  This update has also squashed several stability and performance bugs, improved AI behaviour, overhauled several missile flight models, and pushed a healthy list of quality-of-life fixes to the Quick Action Generator, Mission Editor, and Voice Chat.

Marianas WWII
A free map of the Mariana islands that includes Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Pagan. Based on period maps and photos of the islands in the summer of 1944, they are characterized by hastily bulldozed runways, cane fields, volcanic ridges and villages under Imperial Japanese control.   

DCS Core
Texture streaming now uses less RAM and disk I/O; Mission-Editor templates and resource-manager copy functions are now working correctly; WWII ground units received proper radar returns; SAM logic prioritises targets more sensibly; Buk and Kub missiles received improved aerodynamics, while the R-27 series of air-to-air missiles now deliver more accurate velocities.  The Quick Mission Generator received several improvements such as fixing era/country mismatches, restoring missing aircraft and adjusting altitude and airspeeds.  Voice-chat mode selection and mid-transmission slot-switch crashes have also been fixed.

Eagle Dynamics Modules
F/A-18C received more accurate AIM-7 FLOOD and AIM-9 uncage logic, and the flashlight behaviour has been fixed. Work continues on the new Terrain Avoidance radar mode and the ability to set surveillance MSI surveillance tracks as an L&S and DT2.

F-16C Viper saw AGM-65 seeker fixes, INS/GPS drift corrections, HMCS symbology tweaks, and a long list of HAD and CMDS improvements, while the new AN/ASP-33 pod moved into extended testing.

Although our hope and intention was to release this new targeting pod for the Viper by the end of Quarter 2 of 2025, it requires a bit more time in testing to ensure a quality release that will include new features such as Multi-Target Tracking (MTT), Picture-in-Picture that combines the infrared and TV cameras, Extended Range (XR) functions, and more. The planned release is for summer 2025.

CH-47F receives a major CDU/MFD feature drop including hover-mode HSD, full fuel-and-power pages, data search, progress pages, plus keyboard entry options and pedal-trim fixes.

Miscellaneous: the Su-25T instant-actions were added for the Iraq map; the F-86F jettison sound bug is silenced; and the Black Shark 3 enjoys ABRIS accuracy tweaks.

Third-Party Additions
Orbx – Kola adds six new arctic bases, colour-corrected summer textures, runway-data fixes and an optimisation sweep.

Deka – JF-17 introduces TWS-EXP radar mode and radar-page HPT fixes.

New Campaigns and Improvements
The F-4E Northern Defenders Campaign by Flying Cyking and the P-47D Wolfpack II Overlord Campaign by Reflected Simulations are also now available. Along with the improvements included in last week's update, more campaign improvements will follow later in June. Read the full changelog.

 

FlightSimExpo 2025

Come hang out with us!

From the 27th to the 29th of June at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, we’ll be at FlightSimExpo 2025 showcasing two state-of-the-art cockpits equipped with the latest WINWING hardware and ready for you to jump in and experience DCS.

We're also excited to share that Grinnelli Designs will be at the show with their own booth, showcasing the highly anticipated DCS: F-100D Super Sabre; a legendary Cold War-era jet.

FlightSimExpo 2025 will also host several of our partners, including Orbx, Tobii, PIMAX, and many more. This show offers an exciting glimpse into the future of flight simulation. Come and say hello, try the latest gear, and join our community!

Thank you again for your passion and support,

Yours sincerely,

[T.Power]

QAG is greatly improved, nice work ED.  I just noticed the textures use less RAM in the patch notes, I can conform Germany is running with around a gig less RAM on my system, very nice!

Edited June 20 by T.Power

[Qcumber]

Just want to say the WWII Marianas map looks great. Especially with water set to high. A big leap from the original map. 

Corsair is great too. Cockpit is to a good standard. In VR there is a good sense of immersion. It's annoying that the navy layout is so different to the air force standard but I can hardly blame Magnitude 3 for that! 

A minor gripe is that performance is a little bit worse than I hoped, but I suspect this will improve with optimisation and updates. 

[Sunbather]

The "Northern Defenders" campaign is not available on Steam. And the F4U and the Wolfpack II campaign can only be found when searched for manually but not on the DCS shop page. My humble suggestion is that you make things available for purchase if you want to sell them... 

Edited June 20 by Sunbather

[ouky1991]

Haven't checked it out yet, but big thanks for making the Marianas WWII free for all!

[Furiz]

Hello, 

 

What is AN/ASP-33 pod?? Is that a typo? We don't have that mentioned in the roadmap for F-16C.

[AndrewDCS2005]

Quote

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/news/changelog/release/2.9.17.11733/

Multi-Sensor Integration (MSI) of surveillance-only tracks that can be set as the L&S and DT2 is in testing and is planned for the following update.

Really looking forward to this. 

Since there was sufficient amount of public unclassified source data and documentation for ED to implement this, I expect it to be properly documented (btw when will the F/A-18C guide be updated?) and available to all users.

And still expect a bunch of initial confusion since this will significantly change BVR dynamics with spatial separation between track donors (varying from same strike package to dedicated AWACS) and Hornet launchers.

[Czar66]

The Corsair, Mustangs and Jugs are in need of Zeros and company to play with.

Terrific looking map so far.

1 hour ago, Qcumber said:

A minor gripe is that performance is a little bit worse than I hoped, but I suspect this will improve with optimisation and updates. 

huh... I found it to be the opposite. How come?

 

[Sunbather]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb Sunbather:

The "Northern Defenders" campaign is not available on Steam. And the F4U and the Wolfpack II campaign can only be found when searched for manually but not on the DCS shop page. My humble suggestion is that you make things available for purchase if you want to sell them... 

Available now! Thanks. 

[Qcumber]

45 minutes ago, Czar66 said:

The Corsair, Mustangs and Jugs are in need of Zeros and company to play with.

Terrific looking map so far.

huh... I found it to be the opposite. How come?

 

I have not really seen any significant improvement in performance over the previous map. I was hoping the performance would be more like Normandy or Syria. 

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

1 hour ago, Furiz said:

What is AN/ASP-33 pod?? Is that a typo?

Yes, they probably meant AN/AAQ-33 aka Sniper XR.

[WolfCat]

Has VRAM consumption gone up, or am i imagining things? I havent played in 2 months or so.

[Czar66]

2 hours ago, Qcumber said:

I have not really seen any significant improvement in performance over the previous map. I was hoping the performance would be more like Normandy or Syria. 

Over Guam Island where there is urbanization on the modern version. Much lower GPU usage, akin to what I see on other maps such as Syria. Idk much else because I lock my frames. I just saw good numbers.

Lots of trees too, but I guess the buildings autogen are heavy in DCS. (something for the devs to look into one day, idk)

Edited June 20 by Czar66

[Qcumber]

6 hours ago, Czar66 said:

Over Guam Island where there is urbanization on the modern version. Much lower GPU usage, akin to what I see on other maps such as Syria. Idk much else because I lock my frames. I just saw good numbers.

Lots of trees too, but I guess the buildings autogen are heavy in DCS. (something for the devs to look into one day, idk)

Thanks. I'll take a look there.

[killjoy73au]

EA huh? Who would've guessed.

Also are there any Imperial Japanese fighters to go up against or is it just for joy riding at the moment?

Edited June 21 by killjoy73au

[Rudel_chw]

2 hours ago, killjoy73au said:

Also are there any Imperial Japanese fighters to go up against or is it just for joy riding at the moment?

no Zeros yet, but you can place a bunch of Japanese flak to make your joyride more challenging

[killjoy73au]

1 minute ago, Rudel_chw said:

no Zeros yet, but you can place a bunch of Japanese flak to make your joyride more challenging

Sad Panda. I guess i'll buy it in like 6 years once it's out of EA. Hopefully the Zeros are flyable in the future.

[draconus]

Marianas islands are beautiful, thank you for this map  Still very demanding on CPU same as modern version.