An operation is underway to reduce the enemy defenses on the approaches to Cherbourg. Strongholds are being targeted using both air and land assets to prepare the way for a final ground assault. Your flight of two F/A-18C, callsign Springfield 1, will be on call to destroy targets as directed by forces on the ground.
Your flight will depart from the carrier and fly southwest to the target area. You will hold at Initial Point (IP) Adder, waypoint 2, and check in with a JTAC, callsign Axeman, on radio channel 5. Your target is expected to be enemy bunkers near the approaches to Cherbourg. The JTAC will direct your flight onto the targets when you arrive on the scene.
Your flight is armed with both laser and IR guided AGM-65 Mavericks. The JTAC will mark targets visually with ‘willie pete’ smoke rounds and with a laser designator. Laser code 1688 will be in use. The target location will also be given as a bearing and distance from IP Adder, waypoint 2.
See the mission planner for detailed navigation planning and the location of friendly air assets. Enemy units on the map can be considered current intel but may not be the threats you face during the mission.
Other package elements will be airborne and operate on a common mission radio frequency. A flight of F/A-18Cs, callsign Springfield 4, be on station north of Cherbourg to provide suppression of SAM threats (SEAD) if needed. Their primary targets are mobile Roland SAM systems so you may be tasked to take care of shorter range Gepard AAA systems yourself if they become active.
Combat Air Patrol (CAP) flights will be airborne to provide cover. Ford 7, two F-15C, will be on station to the west and Enfield 4, two F/A-18C will be on station to the east. Two F-14B, callsign Uzi 1, are also on station near the carrier. You may disengage and proceed in their direction for additional cover if needed.
Hawk and Patriot SAM systems are active inland and should not be approached. Enemy aircraft can be expected to operate under their SAM coverage. See the intel slide to the left for details.
Carrier Admin: TACAN: 74X ICLS: 11
Success criteria:
- Several different threat scenarios may play out and it may not always be possible to destroy the primary targets. Returning safely to base is the only success requirement.
Probably in the next Hornet OB update, we will be adding two-factor identification. As most you probably know, a negative Mode 4 IFF response does not always mean hostile, just that it is not friendly. With the upcoming change, a negative Mode 4 IFF AND input from NCTR or a SURV track will be required to set an unknown to friendly or hostile.
Also, to reiterate from an earlier note: we are currently simulating just manual Mode 4 IFF, which requires a depress of the Sensor Select Control switch. Later, when we implement the AZ/EL page, we will add the automatic IFF Mode 4 interrogation modes. One of thes includes auto-IFF when a contact is an STT or L&S. The earlier auto-IFF with a target lock was a stop-gap until the more realistic system could be implemented (now ongoing).
Lets stick with the F-14 for this week, there is a lot to learn and a lot of tutorials out there already. Take a look! The Grim Reapers have a good amount of tutorials done for you already, you can see all of them here.
Our map team continues to go above and beyond by adding new content to the Persian Gulf map. With the new additions, the Persian Gulf map will be the largest map in DCS World (as measured as distance between airfields) and have the most airfields.
New pre-launch video: The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a two crew, variable geometry, maritime air superiority fighter that served with the US Navy for 32 years and continues to serve with the IRIAF in Iran. The F-14 was the US Navy's frontline fighter from the 1970s until the mid-2000s. Over the course of its long service life, it also became the US Navy’s premier precision ground-attack platform and lone airborne reconnaissance asset.
Outstanding features of the aircraft are the swing-wing configuration, crew of two, and the powerful AN/AWG-9 Weapons Control System (WCS) and radar. The AWG-9 allows employment of the powerful AIM-54 Phoenix air to air missile while the LANTIRN pod allows the ability to carry out precision ground strikes using laser-guided bombs. The F-14 Tomcat was present during many pivotal moments such as the two Gulf of Sidra incidents, Operation Desert Storm in Iraq, the conflict in Yugoslavia, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was also immortalized in the iconic motion picture, Top Gun, and starred in several other feature films including The Final Countdown, Executive Decision, and others.
Top 10 Things to Know About DCS World
As DCS World continues to grow and increase in popularity, new users often have similar questions about the game. This video is designed to answer the 10 most common questions we see.
10. Do I need a HOTAS to play? 9. Does DCS World support Virtual Reality? 8. Can I use Track IR with DCS World? 7. Does DCS World allow multiplayer? 6. How do I set up controllers? 5. Do I have to start up the aircraft every time? 4. Are there Free Flight modes? 3. Is there a Mission Editor included? 2. Are tutorials included? 1. What is DCS World?
DCS: Flaming Cliffs 3 Content Refresh Recent DCS World open beta releases have brought a massive refresh of our Flaming Cliffs 3 mission content. All Flaming Cliffs 3 Instant Action and Single Missions have been updated or re-built from scratch to ensure they still conform to their original design and play out as intended. Improvements and features you may notice include:
Improved communications with ‘allied flight reports’ enabled
Re-balanced mission success criteria
Improved AI reliability while executing their mission tasks
Battlefield effects and airfield activity to give the world a more ‘lived in’ feel Our campaign content has not been forgotten.
The changes were to the missions only so in-progress campaigns should pick up right where they left off. A similar refresh for older campaigns will take place as the year progresses.
SATAL 2019, Squadron Air to Air League, commences air operations on Saturday, April 6th at 1400z!
Following the success of previous SATALs, the members of SATAL 2019 are excited to kick off this year’s competition. Eagle Dynamics is the official sponsor, and tremendous prizes from Eagle Dynamics, Heatblur, Thrustmaster and others will be available. This year is set to be bigger than ever!
SATAL is a Player vs Player (PvP) competition that pits the best DCS World virtual squadrons against each other. Squads fight for domination of the skies in 6 vs 6 Diamond League and 4 vs 4 Gold League matches.
The matches will be streamed every Saturday and Sunday at 1400 GMT. The first viewer-giveaway will be a Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS! This giveaway can be entered at, {LINK REMOVED}https://bit.ly/2TFQanv. Further prizes and viewer-giveaways will be announced soon. View the current signup, prize pool, and match schedule here.
DCS World Open Beta Update This week we released a new Open Beta of DCS World that includes such highlights as:
Added support for the Heablur Simulations DCS: F-14 Tomcat.
Updates to the RAZBAM MiG-19P to include cockpit systems, cockpit art and effects, external model, animations, and its manual. Changes to the M-2000C and AV-8B are also included.
Improvements to the AvioDev C-101.
Changes to the Hornet that include numerous improvements to the datalink and IFF systems. We also added the target designation box to the HUD for the HARM in TOO mode, and corrected the wind-induced roll.
You can read the complete change log on DCS forum.
This week's Open Beta was focused on addressing the most-pressing D/L and IFF issues. It additionally addressed the wind-induced roll and added the HARM TOO TD box to the HUD.
For the next OB update the focus will be on:
1- HARM Pre-Briefed mode 2- JDAM 3- Aircraft and Mission cards 4- Latent Track While Scan (LTWS) mode
There are a number of issues that will also get attention to include:
Countermeasure programming with WOW and flare counts Master Mode auto-page selections Default bombing mode error AACQ logic Map orientation and others...
Please understand that these are the priorities and not a promise that all of these items will be ready for the 27 March OB.