OneBlueSky

I'd wager that the Viggen is coming pretty quickly. The Tomcat though, I'd be pleasantly surprised if it's out before the end of next year given that they are developing an entire theater as well as carrier ops and a carrier for it. They've already said the Viggen is feature complete, and just has a few little things to clean up. They're offering it as a prize last I saw for the winners of the second round of MiG-21 vs. F-5 tournament. That doesn't mean release is imminent, it could be a long ways off for sure. But I'm betting it'll be pretty quick, and definitely before the end of this year. People seem to often make the silly mistake of thinking that every developer will or has to show off modules along the way and hype them before release. Nothing says that they can't do a short teaser a week out or even just drop it for release one weekend with the only previews coming out the day of release. The lack of previews and public hype couldn't possibly have less to do with when a module is coming out. (People also seem to forget there are several legitimate reasons why a developer may not show an aircraft off or even be allowed to while it's in development.)

That is one gorgeous shot! :thumbup:

Hit me up when the time comes! While I'm not a fan (in the sense of caring to fly them) of most allied aircraft of the WW2 era, I am anxiously awaiting the chance to mix it up with them! :pilotfly:

It's not hard in the slightest if you have some hours and practice into it. Now and then you'll be surprised by a good opponent but these days it's really rare sadly. Generally speaking in fact there's little that's easier than fighting against an AMRAAM platform in DCS online. The good F-15 drivers just don't seem to go up much anymore. Most people flying the Flanker or Mig don't put all that much time in it or know what they're doing. As a result most current F-15 pilots in DCS get incredibly lax and lazy. It's not at all hard to swat them down. And if you've got one or more buddies who know how to fly, it's child's play. You can easily be more than even a pretty decent F-15 can handle, and if you know what you're doing after the merge it's a pretty steady win rate. You will from time to time run into "professionals", but that's another learning experience and you can still keep them on their toes, and get a decent K/D.

It's pretty interesting really to see how far the security goes. I remember going to an event with my father (he worked jet engine test at an USAF base as a civilian.) when they were showing off the B-2, which was relatively new at the time. They had armed guards everywhere and there were clear warnings about the harshly violent consequences if you stepped over a freshly laid line on the ground. You weren't even allowed to take photos of it. They would hand stock photos out, and you could get the crew's autograph. I remember thinking that photo was the coolest thing ever.

Makes the video all the more fun to watch and impressive! Nicely done.

Looks like you're knocking the rust off quickly, nice!

Wonderful to see someone even expressing interest in getting more Russian birds into the sim! While this one will be particularly difficult to get in as an actual flyable module (highly classified, other things people have already mentioned rendering almost any representation of it to being purely fantasy/guesswork) - at the very least this is good practice for you, and if you get something really good maybe at some point it can even replace the horrible AI model already in the sim. Don't let anyone discourage you. The community needs all the developers it can get (especially those interested in Russian aircraft because goodness knows no one else seems motivated to do them, not even the ones with information WIDELY available), and everyone starts somewhere! Keep it up!

F-16 or the F-20 would be nice, but man, we really need more OpFor aircraft like you said. We're getting drowned in western planes. And while that's good in a way for the "flying around just for flying around's sake", we really need some stuff to fight. At this point really even just a properly done Su-27, Su-33 (any variant of the Flanker) or Mig-29 variant would do. A good base is already there for those. But things like the Mig-23 or Su-17, anything entirely new would also be welcome. It's getting to a point where it's sadly a pretty cringy feeling when a new western aircraft is announced for DCS. I'd like to fly against these awesome planes in something just as awesome and high fidelity from time to time. Most of the modules go for 50-60 bucks right? I'd gladly drop $120 for a proper OpFor module right now. Doesn't even really matter what it would be as long as it was done right. I buy all the modules that come out to support a sim I love and the development community. I'll buy whatever comes out as long as it's not trash. But that would really be nice.

That would be incredible!

Question 1 - Yes. I buy every module that's released as I am happy to support the sim in any way that I can. The Harrier won't bring much to the table that other birds can't already do better, especially with the Hornet on the horizon, but I would have a blast just playing with VTOL if nothing else. Question 2 - Honestly none of the above. I hope (as I do with all modules) that it will be released when it's a proper representation of the real life aircraft. Whether that means next week, or 5 years from now. Better for it to be right than for it to simply exist. Question 3 - The Harrier. Just personally not as into prop aircraft that much. Cool bird, but if I had enough money to buy just one and both were available, I'd buy the Harrier. Question 4 - It's a niche aircraft. I can see it being fun to play with for the novelty of what it is, but again, other birds are now in game that can do it's job better, and with the Hornet and ground attack variant of the Viggen coming soon - two more that can outdo it. Definitely can see the Harrier being used in single player and MP just for the novelty though. I can imagine people will be trying to land it in all sorts of places. Question 5 - I hope they are just focused on whatever is likely to benefit them and the community most at this time. I am sure they have feelers out and know what is wished for more, and what will benefit them more. As well as what they have the best sources/information for. Sort of like question 2, I prefer aircraft are done right, rather than fast or pushed ahead of others for the sake of rolling something out. Honestly some people really enjoy them. I own them all. The only one I fly regularly is the L-39C and L-39ZA, and both are an absolute blast. Doing aerobatics in the 39 is quite a lot of fun. More so than almost all the other planes. It's a different challenge. In some ways it's a lot harder and for some people that's far more fun. Using them in combat is also a fun challenge. It can get boring being basically a "god of the sky". Putting oneself at a marked disadvantage can make something that's become a bit dull a lot more exciting and enjoyable. And believe it or not, some people actually do use the trainers as trainers. For a person relatively new to flight simming or just new to combat sims something like the L-39 is a benefit. You get to crawl before you walk so to speak. I have talked to more than a few people who said learning how to properly fly it and go through procedures with it made learning the frontline aircraft like the Frogfoot, the A-10C and so on a lot easier. There are some people who are not as familiar with combat aircraft in sims as we are. They don't know what to look for, they don't know the gist of things and it can be overwhelming. They'll never be the top sellers, but there is a market for them and they do make plenty of money. Edit: And that's absolutely not the purpose of trainers at all. If you break them, you won't be moving forward to the bigger leagues. They're there to teach you simple procedures, to introduce you to a given concept. Ranging from the basics of flight to the principles and entry of combat aviation. They're designed as a stepping stone and intermediate between book and coursework to taking the stick of an extremely advanced and complex implement of war. There is a purpose for them in DCS. I don't know that we need 8 dozen of them (which is likely why RAZBAAM themselves halted development on their T-2 trainer), but the handful that exist are justified.

That doesn't really follow. A great number of Russian birds are sold to anyone who throws cash at Russia. They're in the hands of so many nations getting data or even a real world pilot/crew member/technician/etc. can't be all that difficult to do. And manuals/data certainly aren't that hard to come by. That may not be the case with the more current and advanced birds, but those don't tend to (for good reason) find their way into the sim anyway. As well they shouldn't. I'd wager getting data on something like the F-14, F/A-18, A-10C, F-15E, etc. is far, FAR harder than on some of the slightly dated Russian aircraft. Probably even some of the more current ones. As to selling more, that may be the case. But I am not sure to what extent. We're getting flooded and drowned in western birds. I'd pay a lot for the Tomcat or some of the coming western planes, but I'd pay twice as much for a proper Russian counterpart to mix it up with the western planes online. Even one or two of the Chinese fighters though they'd be quite a bit harder to get data on than the Russian planes. Really the only viable Russian plane for combat that we have that's modeled at any level of realism as far as workload is the MiG-21, which won't compete in any way with some of the coming and current western aircraft. Even just a properly done "DCS" level Su-27 or MiG-29 would rake in decent cash right now. Edit: As would a properly done "DCS" level Su-33/Russian carrier ops to compete with the coming US carrier ops.

It gets assumed a lot. You see it on other things as well, like the Tomcat side of the forum. Though the F-14 had "rudimentary" capabilities from day one for A/G with it's radar, they were never implemented properly. Just because a piece of equipment "can" do something or does do something on another bird doesn't mean it will on any other given bird. Capabilities are not always integrated on a platform, or on all platforms if it's used on many. It's always a silly assumption.

This. The F-5E is a real treat. On the face of it for some people it seems dull, another "old" fighter, small armament... But it's way more fun than it seems. It's a challenge, but it's amazingly fun. In fact on some of the older planes their lack of "advanced" avionics and weapons are what make them so much more fun. You really have to work to earn your kills and stay alive. You don't just go up, push a handful of buttons and rack up kills. You also have to be mindful of energy and maneuvering. As well as your position and how you approach a fight. Definitely have to use the terrain and learn how and when to use the radar (and often not to use it at all). It's especially fun to use to swat down people flying the more advanced birds as well. They can be pretty complacent and if you know how to position yourself you can really wreck their day. They get pretty pissed off when they realize not only did they get shot down by an F-5, but that they got shot down by an F-5 they couldn't see. It really grates on their nerves. It's definitely a welcome release. It's hard to decide if it or the MiG-21 belong at the top of the list of most bang for the buck/most well done all around, but I'd kind of give the edge to the F-5. The only thing on the horizon that looks like it might top it is the Tomcat.