In my squadron’s discord the German airfield was identified as Mendig, close to Bonn. Not sure if there is any truth to it, though 
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Yes, I think that must be it. Closed now.
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F15C FAQ
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/367619-dcs-f-15c-official-faq/
Early 2000s MISP including the 63 or 70 radar and the 9X. So roughly 2005 probably.
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With the current EW modeling, I am forced to agree sadly. With better EW modeling and some better mission planning tools, I think it could be interesting. However ultimately the lack of real life consequences (besides time spent in game) would rob Nighthawk missions of a lot of tension the potential failure actually had with the current structure of DCS.
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JTIDS with SIT confirmed… I am happy 
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Indeed - and while ED themselves have certainly made some odd decisions, I think it’s because of their model where if I can convince ED I can deliver I can make whatever module I want and it’ll become part of the product.
You mentioned the I-16, perfect example: passion project by one guy. Now he’s working on a La-7…
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I don’t mind they making the F35 and I will remain optimistic it is going to be a good module. But EW is awful in DCS. Radar has just started to see some upgrades, but honestly, not that much to feel one of it’s strong suits, what to say about stealth. The change from simulating stuff from hard public data, to creating realistic game mechanics from well informed inference is not, in my point of view, inherently bad. If it helps them to fill some holes and make the game more complete, I’m all for it. That being said, this is a major shift in philosophy and came very much from nowhere. We have not seen strategic thought. Those systems have not being built and iterated upon leading to this. (If we compare to dynamic campaign, where the ground war is being slowly but steadily updated with that goal in mind). They are announcing the F35 without having IFF working properly in a lot of their modules. Let alone jamming and the full suite of EW which the F35 was built to fight. That coupled with their 2 underwhelming last terrain releases, that scream to me they have been rushing products out to get money quickly, that coupled with the fact it is announced along and in parallel with the Eagle (another high profile and certainly big seller), that coupled with the fact that they announced both aircraft BEFORE starting development in any of them (both F15 and F35 are starting development in 2025) , that coupled with the fact that the RAZBAM situation looks to be beyond repair, that coupled with the fact that they have established absurd timelines for both projects, probably in the name of not showing up empty handed after such a weird year, hints to me that they want to make money quick. And while that is not inherently bad, I fear for what they might be willing to sacrifice in the process. I’m happy to be proved wrong. Another thing that really bugs me, but is inline to what we have already been seeing, is that with two high profile aircraft being developed in parallel, and the herculean task that will be the F35, I sense a lot of core improvements will stay in the backburner for longer than I would like. Like I am giving up having a working ATC before 2030 (if ever)…
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You’re not wrong on the EW simulation, but I suspect it might be on the backburner for a couple of reasons:
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we’re probably still one generation away from consumer GPUs being good enough to do high FPS at high resolution (for VR) yet still have enough overhead left to do raytracing for a radar simulation
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if you are using raytracing techniques to simulate radar, the “flat earth” model of most of the terrains might be a problem
Once both of those things are addressed realistic radar probably becomes way easier, so it might not be a good investment to work on a detailed CPU based solution in the interim…
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By that measure, the F-35 would be a Viper with really good alpha. Not something I’d be rushing to get since we already have that and it’s called the Hornet.
ED is going to have to immensely improve EW and Radar modeling.
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I question how fun the gameplay aspect would be as well. Considering stealth and sensor integration, it would be curb-stomping everything without much of a challenge.
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I think that’s something that can be addressed by the mission maker. More high risk environments, less airframes, etc.
That’s something for us nerds to consider.
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What’s “high risk” for stealth? If nothing can get a solid enough track to fire anything radar guided on it, that leaves banzai waves to try and survive BVR to stick a Fox 2 up its tailpipe. That’s about how I imagine it going.
Difficult to do in DCS, but possible with scripting:
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SAM traps, where the mission spawns in a bunch of ADA at a distance they can target you, to simulate the enemy remaining dark until they detect you by something other than radar (usually observers on the ground)
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having a group of interceptors pop up from below unexpectedly and engage you from below at close range
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just having a difficult mission with lots of stuff happening, where if you focus your concentration too much on one aspect of the mission you’re liable to stray into the threat range of something. Like CAS for a group of friendlies surrounded by some pretty well equipped enemies.
This is the stuff that kills small groups of fourth gen fighters, which is why they tended to work the large package with all the support up until recently. It is the mission the F-35 is meant to be more efficient at - but the pilot still needs to be on their toes!
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This is where an improved radar modeling an EW come into play. Stealth isn’t perfect, even if the F-35’s stealth is good. There’s also a trade off in terms of payload to stealth as the F-35 fitted for its best stealth is not that far off from an F-117 with the ability to effectively defend itself. If you’re taking a lot of munitions, your stealth is obviously affected.
And, utilizing the AMRAAM for BVR will give opponents some idea of where the F-35 is. At least, if you use the radar. Plus, with eyes in the air, you can always spot it.
It’s a level of capability we’ve, honestly, got no clue how to totally get to grips with. But, very much doable, I think. This is also all assuming this is going to be accurate. It won’t be since ED isn’t working off of official materials, so expect under and over performance.
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I’ve found many ref’s to this situation. It all makes sense too. As I write (currently re-writing a piece due to new-found limits in DCS - grrr)…
I’m sitting here during the 30th test run, in external view along side a road, waiting for my plane/helicopter to twitch the AI’s nerve endings (yes this gets very tedious), watching the convoy I’m supposed to provide overwatch for drive by…
and I hear 'pop, pop, pop…bang…bang…etc, off in the distance. Then I recall, “oh, yeah, I have the ‘barrage’ fire algorithm running”:
They ‘hear’ you coming; “somebody” looked up and saw something; they passed the alarm. So everyone with a weapon points it into the air and starts firing. This includes shoulder-mounted weapons[1]
All to say that it dawns on me I can’t just go charging in willy-nilly knowing that the only ‘bad things’ are near the target.
[1] infantry, though there’s a limit to how high they can elevate their rifle…something that took a lot of time to figure out (the number) - and each is different…requiring a mini-sub-system in the code to handle anything with variety.
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With the discussion over on the il2 thread … I am surprised that DCS haven’t done a drone simulator …it would fit into their world so to speak…” DCS drone pilot” who knows maybe they have a military contract for it right now
You have drone mechanics in steel beasts pro and the reaper drones in dcs
It would definitely add a new dimension to dcs world
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Waggs, reads our minds
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These are so good, would be great if he could do one every 2 months or something.
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I love drones, but they kind of take the “fun” out of war, don’t they? I would hate to be an infantryman these days. What a horror. As if arty wasn’t enough, now you get hunted by geeks 20k away. It seems to me that a squad designated pheasant hunter would be a good thing to have. I wonder how the heck they are going to counter fiber optic cable drones now.
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