“Do you know what divine intervention is?”
“I think so. Someone comes down from heaven and corrects the code so it runs better.”
“That’s right!”
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Royale with cheese
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@Scoop the tomcat is free for 6 days…you need to try it in VR…you owe it to yourself to experience the power
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Viper. You already own the flanker. If not, Flaming Cliffs 3 (a pack that contains F-15, A-10A, Flanker-C, Flanker-E, J-11, Frogfoot and Frogfoot (D?)
Which one? I think you have at least one of the naval jets (F/A-18C) so if you bought the supercarrier to support that, you will also have gotten the Su-33 Flanker-D to fly off your premium model admiral Kuznetsov carrier.
I can wholeheartedly recommend the Viper on basis of how much fun it is to fly. However I’m immediately forced to warn you that this one is still very early in early access. Pretty much the whole she-bang for air-to-air is present, AMRAAMs, High off-boresight missiles, radar with DL, IFF (M4 only for now) and TWS. The only thing that I think are still missing is some of the ACM modes (HUD and a slewable mode) as well as TTSAM (Two target situational awareness mode, 2 bandits locked with the radar scanning in between for more potential bad guys) for normal BVR fights.
It’s the other departments where things are (sorely) missing. She has her selection of Dumb AG (as well as the CBU-97. Which is smart but still flies ballistically.) She also has LGB’s and a TGP to go along side it. The thing about that TGP is that it does not quite work like the real one does, yet. The real jet generates a system of deltas as you slew the TGP, perhaps best of thought as similar to generating offset target points in the viggen that you may already be familiar with. In DCS it doesn’t work like that jet, so it will grab your current waypoint and slew that around instead. The real jet can undo its system of deltas with a function called cursor zero, but that is not in yet either. So your slewed waypoints will stay where they are unless you bother to move them back. Other avionics and functions that are needed/useful for proper mission flying are not in yet either, such as many of the DED pages (in my opinion, cruise and mark are sorely needed).
When she was first released I was very happy with the pace of progression, and ED’s plans to simultaneously develop similar systems for the hornet and viper made a lot of sense to me. However, ever since our hornet community cried out in anguish that the viper got TWS before they did, development has been at a glacial pace. Since said TWS upgrade, we have received only a handful of updates such as an updated gun-sight, improvements to INS and stored heading allignments as well as the capability to create waypoints in flight. This all makes me a very sad viper driver, but I continue to enjoy to fly her and hope the updates will start flowing again shortly. If only she had a few more things going for her (such as the aforementioned DED pages, CZ alongside the realistic delta system and perhaps an AGM-65 as well as an AGM-88, even if it only supported HAS-RUK mode) she’d be more fun to fly, mission capable and more easy to kill the time with until ED finds the time to work on her full-time.
One last thing I have to say is that I have the feeling that you have a dislike for automation and computerized assists. I’ll have to warn you that the F-16 is an FBW aircraft pur sang, subjectively even more so than the Hornet where you atleast have to trim for pitch. I’ll be happy to help with anything you’re having trouble with if you do end up getting her, although Chuck’s guide has everything covered that she is capable of today.
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Imagine if we really had those 
What we have right now is a Flanker-B and Flanker-D.
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Consider me schooled. So many variants!
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Sryan - that was a very good review of the (present) DCS Viper!
ps you forgot to mention the hard to read MFDs… I still use the mod.
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If you do not own Flaming Cliffs, get that. If only for the MiG-29, but I have a stronk suspicion you will enjoy the Su-25 very much indeed 
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I didn’t mean it in a negative way! I don’t think anyone with a true hate for technology would sit in front of a pc to play a flight sim! I can usually divide most sim pilots into two broad categories: Those that prefer a stick-and-rudder experience with ample workload spent on safely and properly operating the aircraft and those that would generally prefer something closer to a flying office with plenty of autopilot relief, intra-cockpit screen estate and guided munitions. Ofcourse, everyone is an individual and no-one would fit these persona perfectly, but considering the time you put in the MiG19, MiG-21 and the AJS-37 I had figured you more of the former than the latter and wanted to give a fair warning that it might be something that you would not enjoy.
Like I told Schurem before, we unfortunately do not have have a Flanker-C. Our Russian variants are the B and D. In terms of levels of complexity and advancement, they are virtually identical. They carry mostly the same avionics and fire the same weapons. Hypothetically, the B is a better dogfighter while the D has better low-speed performance. The only Russian jet that has more capabilities is the MiG-29S, which can use active radar guided R-77’s and even launch and guide those against a maximum of two targets simultaneously using TWS.
We do have access to a more advanced flanker version in the form of the J-11 (Flanker-L), though. This chinese variant is (for now and AFAIK) only available to FC3 owners. While it does gets access to the R-77, it can not guide that missile using TWS.
I’m also going to back up @schurem’s comment that the Su-25A (standalone or with FC3) is a lot of fun. A ton of dumb AG options, but the laser rangefinder makes those easy and fairly accurate to employ. That laser can also guide laser-guided weapons, but there are no fancy displays or anything like that to control it. There is a simple pipper and some stabilization to help you guide it, and that’s it. You have to manually slew the laser. Tracking a moving target manually is tricky and challenging. You can also use it to get some form of CCRP going.
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Ah hell me too…I even remember the old map with the air bases in the northern part…
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Over time I’m starting to feel like a Luddite trapped in a nerd’s body…
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Oh man I remember my “Russian invasion of the east Ukraine and Krim” campaign so well.
I made it in 2004 or so.
It was nice to have that area to fly in. I remember how sad I was when I learned that DCS Black Shark (IIRC) would not contain it anymore (at least not in any reasonable detail).
You mean “the only Russian jet in DCS that has more”, as obviously there are far more advanced Flanker and Fulcrum variants around.
I wish we had some of those. Not the Su-35 or MiG-35 or anything, just a 29SM or something that is roughly equivalent to the Hornet and Viper in age instead of being basically the one that Gorbachev saw rolling off the line…
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I actually looked into this and found that it’s very hard to find a Flanker or Fulcrum equivalent to a lot of western multirole fighters. Primarily because Soviet/Russian doctrine doesn’t place much emphasis on PGMs outside of specific circumstances, partly because their electronics industry is still playing catch up, and partly because Russian doctrine says that if you need to blow something up on the ground in a specific way, you use an attack aircraft, not a fighter.
I’m stealing that!
Considering how he treats the Swedish technological marvel that’s commonly known as ‘Viggen’, I have to agree…
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