MigBuster

By Damian Teo Join the 354th Bulldogs on a difficult mission over North Vietnam portrayed in this comic strip adventure!

Today we are taking a trip back to 2004, a time when as you can see from the photo above featured PC CDROMs! Before Internet speeds for most were high enough to consider sending entire game files they had to distribute games to people using good old fashioned Compact Disks. The shiny CD came complete with its own (Jewel) case with cover and even a printed manual. As you can see a time when even Thirdwire had to distribute games and make them look like games used to - the manual even tells me to go to http://www.softwarehelpdesk.co.uk/ for technical support…………..ha looks like that domain is up for sale! Looking at the back we can see it even ran on Windows ME with 256MB of RAM! - Yes, I had to look back to remember what Win ME was – the very last of the Win 9x line before Microsoft thankfully ditched that and we got Win 2000 then Win XP. Of course, in 2004 or nearly all of that decade Win XP was the only game in town for home users and it was great for its time. For anybody who had bought Strike Fighters: Project 1, a Vietnam game was a logical and most welcome step forward….a game that recreates the intense air combat experience in the skies of North Vietnam at the height of the air campaign……………..what could be better! The manual lists the Player and AI aircraft, and although the VPAF selection looks fairly complete, the US selection was very limited compared to the later Strike Fighters 2: Vietnam. This was a time when there was hope for the future and many opportunities to modify the hell out of the game and start getting into place the absolute ton of things not included in the box. Terrain & Environment As you might see (from the case) the Terrain that came with WOV wasn’t much better than what comes with one of Thirdwires Phone & Tablet PC games – a pretty poor and unrealistic looking barren wasteland. Unsurprisingly it was not long before modders produced somewhat better tilesets - one of the first I remember and although free was used by Yankee Air Pirate later: The RA-5 Vigilante - does not come with WOV There was a payware tileset for sale at Razbams store at some point – but suffered from having obvious borders and tile edges – also 512 x 512 bitmap files were pretty big at the time but very low res by today’s standards. This later effort includes a version of Starys Green Hell which included a lot more trees for the first time: Vietnam was hell - Green hell! When released WOV also had no clouds either but they were added in a later patch: Low level clouds, gone but not forgotten Game play The North Vietnam Air Force (VPAF) and air defences were quite well set up as part of the terrain, with relevant SAM and AAA models for the era along with relevant AI. The MiGs varied in effectiveness from patch to patch whereas some of the SA-2s had a Kill probability of about 99% - this was rightly toned down somewhat in Strike Fighters 2 (SF2). WOV included an airbourne FAC (Forward Air Controller) role and this was usually represented by an 0-1E Birddog flying over the battlefield (Callsign Snoopy) – this was removed from SF2. The game added Carrier operations for the first time although the carrier was pretty lonely by itself most of the time, and players could only fly off it in campaigns and scripted single missions! The B-52s thought they were safe from Thirdwires lesser spotted MiG-17F Payware There were some options for payware – mostly from Razbam and Yankee Air Pirate – both had air of controversy that I won’t go into here. One of the very few payware aircraft was the A-1 skyraider pack Before the Mission Editor arrived in SF2 you had to create single missions using Notepad basically, quite a time consuming and difficult process. Yankee Air Pirate basically created single missions based on real missions from Vietnam and was quite an important addition for anyone with an interest in that subject. Populated carrier deck Landing and taking off in Hueys from smaller boats like this Shooting down Colts in Hueys Shooting the side gun in Hueys - Get some!. Of course, with scripted missions you can do quite a few things you cannot in auto generated single missions and campaigns! Advance clone army! The VPAF, masters of camouflage Looking back Wings Over Vietnam certainly started out as a fairly serious attempt to put together a decent standalone Vietnam war Air Combat simulator and in that respects, did a pretty decent job, but only if you took time to add a lot of the mods available and change the game yourself. Graphically it was using DX9.0c so was up to date in that regards although again you had to add mods to get it looking to what it should have perhaps been out of the box. F-111A - not included with WOV EB-66 - not included with WOV …………and Here we are at the tail end of 2017 and still no real alternative to WOV and SF2V on the Vietnam War flight sim front.

Back in 2004 a book was released by Osprey that likely caused a few (thousand) Internet forum arguments……………...Iranian F-14 Tomcat units in combat by Tom Cooper and Farzad Bishop. The information in the book shattered the typical Western held views and perception of what really might have happened during the eight-year Iran Vs Iraq conflict in the 1980s. The book is probably owned by most Tomcat fans out there and even was referred to positively by both Dave Baranek and his guest Iranian former F-14 pilot (Mikey) in Episode 5 of the Tomcast on YouTube. But what was the controversy all about and how accurate was the information presented? After all information is usually the first casualty of war and it usually takes decades afterwards to even start scratching the surface. Lack of Information Osprey books are normally very well researched using the best information available that they can get released into the public domain. That information can often be cross checked especially in the US where more of this information is available. The problem with the Iran/ Iraq conflict is that most of the official Iraq war records seems to have been lost during the constant state of conflict there. Likewise getting credible information from Iran also involves contacting those who have to remain anonymous due to such things as political persecution and death threats. (Even if they live outside of Iran) Trust Today Tom Cooper is probably one of the top authorities on Middle Eastern Combat having published many books with leading Historians….. but this book was one of his first and it had listed almost no source references! You basically had to put trust that Osprey had actually had a look at where this information was coming from. What gets your backs up! The book is only written from an Iranian point of view and thus, to most of us that does not mean you can dismiss it but you need to be weary that there is always more than one side to every story. We also have to accept that the information on the conflict was still not great at this point in time and therefore unlike most Osprey books you had to accept that the information was raw and a higher percentage of it was likely wrong. For an example of the hodgepodge of data, in the chapter “The Fog of Disinformation” it states: “It remains unclear exactly how many air-to air kills were scored by IRIAF F-14s between 7 Sept 1980 and 7 July 1988” It then tells us that a Post war Iranian conference concluded that a total of 71 x AIM-54s had been fired with a further 10 lost (Due to crashes/defection etc) The conference also determined the F-14 had a total of 30 x confirmed kills with 16 of those confirmed AIM-54 kills. The author then states that they have further evidence for 130 confirmed kills total including 40 with the AIM-54. Then if we move to the Appendices, it lists another figure - around 58 “confirmed kills” with the AIM-54 and around 159 total confirmed kills. [more on that later] So then the hodgepodge of information gives a total that might be in the range of 30 to 159 for total claims, and AIM-54 claims might range from 16 to 58 [okay] Accuracy The book was the first time most found out that perhaps the F-14s were used in combat and that stories of the US sabotaging all the missiles etc were not completely true. This is one thing in the book at least that is backed up in some other interviews like here: What is the biggest myth about the Iranian F-14s? “The most tiresome is that the departing US personnel stationed in Iran managed to sabotage Iranian F-14 radar, electronics and Phoenix missiles before leaving Iran in the ensuing days after the 1979 revolution. Let me tell you that I was a young officer during those days at Esfahan Khatami air base. Our wing commanders and senior officers made sure this never happened. We lined up departing American personnel before boarding their TWA aircraft and inspected them all. From: F-14 Tomcat pilot Col. Fereydoun A. Mazandarani (rtd) The Appendices and the art of the Kill Although there is probably a lot of useful information in the book the one area that always seems a tad flaky was the Appendices which lists 159 confirmed kills in total for the Iranian F-14A. It does at least list some sources for the information. What we can do is take information released more recently (including newer text from T Cooper) from the Iraqi side and see what has changed and if it can be matched up in anyway to these confirmed kills. In particular Iraqi Mirages in Combat (2018, Miguel Garcia, Independent) Iraqi Mirages (2019, Tom Cooper & Milos Sipos, Helion) A confirmed kill is not a confirmed Kill In the history of aerial warfare, the difference between confirmed kills stated by one side only and the real actual kills has been like the difference between Jupiter and the Sun! In fact, ridiculous claims are even partly to blame for major blunders such as the USAAF sending in unescorted bombers for so long over Germany in 1943 to their inevitable slaughter. After all, why do you need escort fighters if your bomber crews claims show they have already shot down the entire Luftwaffe! A good airforce should only claim a confirmed kill based on multiple criteria – even gun camera film in the past has not been enough evidence of an actual shootdown. Pilots in the stress of combat are extremely bad eyewitnesses and here we have a conflict where pilots are firing missiles BVR. One explosion in the distance or a radar blip disappearing are not evidence of an actual shootdown. So, a “confirmed kill” by one side is usually better described as a “Claim” instead. 33 claims on Mirage F1s………. hmm That’s right, the Appendices in the book list 33 F-14A “confirmed kills” (claims) over Mirage F1s. (Garcia M) only lists a total of 32 Mirages lost over the period to all causes! Out of that, only 2 of those dates match any of those 33 events. [what!] So is that 2 actual losses only out of 33 claims listed!! [Oh dear]. But wait you say that independent book from Garcia M cannot be much use, can it? Well, the thing is the 2019 (T Cooper / Sipos) book actually matches the information in the (Garcia M) book closely and almost disowns the 2004 data like a child that doesn’t meet its ideals. The (T Cooper / Sipos) book does mention another 2 of the events out of the list of 33 but in both cases states the missiles fired by the F-14 missed the Mirages. So where does the figure of 33 comes from? - Is it coincidence that the total number of Mirage F1 losses (Garcia M) to all causes comes to about 32 for that period?? Better information? Either way both of the newer books provide information that Iranian F-14As may have shot down 7 or 8 Mirage F1s during the conflict [Yes, slightly less than 33]. Likewise, they also show that Mirage F1s may have shot down 4 x F-14As (a 5th F-14A was hit but flew back to base) Is that accurate? – only time will tell but at least the numbers are going in the right direction [down] Other things noted in the 2004 book are, the Appendices also show most of the Sidewinders and Sparrows used as the type AIM-9P and AIM-7E-4. The more recent information suggests that Iran only had the AIM-9J and AIM-7E-2 and were essentially using ones supplied for their F-4s which had degraded capability because of it. Also, on page 76 the 2004 book tells us (from the Iranian side) that Iraq received Super 530D and Magic 2 missiles. The recent information in both newer books suggest Iraq only received Magic 1 and Super 530F missiles and nearly all their claims were using the Super 530F. So, perhaps some progress has been made in the past 2 decades because instead of these authors shouting at people on internet forums (yes, some did) there is maybe a bit more calm and willingness to look at both sides and the actual data available. The final word on the book is that its real value was not only to highlight that the conflict was very different to published stories about it at the time, but also may have helped inspire those more passionate to get out there and start digging for better information. Sources · Iraqi Mirages in Combat (2018, Garcia M, Independent) · Iraqi Mirage (2019, Cooper T, Sipos M, Helion) · Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in combat (2004, Cooper T, Bishop F, Osprey) · Air Combat Memoirs of the Iranian Air Force Pilots (2015, Ryan, K, Bishop F, Independent) · Schweinfurt-Regensburg 1943 (2020, Marshall Michel III, Osprey) The Tomcast Episode 5: Iranian F-14s (2020, Baranek, Online): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q5Y_ai4s2Y Interview with Fereydoun Mazandarani (2020, Hushkit, Online): https://hushkit.net/2020/04/07/interview-with-the-greatest-living-fighter-ace-f-14-tomcat-pilot-col-rtd-fereydoun-a-mazandarani/

There must be several others - here is one

For a limited time only! This edition will be only available until Feb 29, 2020. Strike Fighters 2 Complete Edition is a collection of the entire Strike Fighters 2 series (over $400+ value!) including 5 games, 2 expansion packs, and 29 DLCs all in one single, easy-to-install package! The package inlude: • Strike Fighters 2 • Strike Fighters 2 Vietnam • Strike Fighters 2 Europe • Strike Fighters 2 Israel • Strike Fighters 2 North Atlantic • Strike Fighters 2 Expansion Pack 1 • Strike Fighters 2 Expansion Pack 2 • All 29 Strike Fighters 2 DLCs You can get this Complete Edition for free if you've already purchased all the products listed above! Get Strike Fighters 2 Complete Edition for FREE! You can also get a 50% discount if you've already purchased 5 Strike Fighters 2 games! Get Strike Fighters 2 Complete Edition discount! https://store.thirdwire.com/project_sf2_complete.htm

Still in development, expected release date: May 2020 (subject to change). Strike Fighters 2 Win10 Edition is the latest version of Strike Fighters 2, a jet air-combat game set in the 1960's, updated to run on Windows 10 PC! Player flyable aircraft include some of the most legendary fighters from the early jet age, including F-100 Super Sabre, F-105 Thunderchief, A-4 Skyhawk, F-4 Phantom II, and F-8 Crusader. Campaigns feature 1960's high-flying combat action over fictional Middle Eastern sands. Join the United States Air Force, Navy, Marines, or a special operations Mercenary unit, and engage in blood-draining, G-pulling, action-packed dogfights against the enemy MiGs! Additional aircraft, maps, and campaigns will be available as DLC in-app purchases. Owners of Strike Fighters 2 Complete Edition will receive the Win10 Edition and its DLCs for FREE as they become available. https://store.thirdwire.com/project_sf2_w10.htm

The Soviet PVO used missiles, unguided rockets and guns - even Tu-128s were used to shoot at them. A lot of missiles of course missed, sometimes a direct hit by the missile was enough. See defending Rodinu vol 2 by Krzysztof Dabrowski. flying directly at a balloon at 60000ft means you have to be fast so getting out of the way is going to be problematic. an off boresight shot was the best way to keep things as cheap as possible.

I shall add your name to the list - that makes you and Streakeagle.

4 kills from 5 shots on objects. Don't know if they were designed for such low heat and slow objects - presumably dependent on heating from the sun to some degree.

Nice - but you need Falcon 4.0 for BMS that you install only for licensing purposes. check out GOG Once installed download the exe from BMS - once installed - if it is not at 4.37u1 then click on the update button on the initial splash screen to auto update. would need to check size but relatively small. No mods needed to start.

The latest iteration of the Tommo Inc Falcon 4.0 total conversion modification - Benchmark Sims 4.37 U1 - is available for you to enjoy RIGHT NOW! BMS 4.37 U1 requires a legit installation of a Falcon 4.0 (all older and newer versions are accepted alike, i.e. Microprose, Hasbro, GOG, Steam, Retroism). The check is performed both at setup time and every time you start BMS. If no valid installation is found, BMS will exit with a corresponding error message. For those of you who are new to Falcon and still need a legacy Falcon 4.0 license, you’re lucky, as there are various season sales going on. Retroism GOG If you have already installed BMS 4.37 Full Installer you will need to launch the “updater.exe” in Falcon BMS root folder (or from the new launcher). Alternatively, you can use the offline incremental installer available on the Falcon BMS Download page. This mod may not be used for any commercial purposes. Any such use may constitute a violation of the intellectual property of Tommo Inc and the non-commercial Terms and Conditions under which Benchmark Sims make this mod available to you. After the update, when starting BMS, the version string in the BMS UI will now read: Falcon BMS 4.37.1 (x64) Build 451 A big THANK YOU to everyone in the BMS development team and to the gents from TOMMO INC who made this release possible! DISCLAIMER: Do not update over a modded 3D KTO Database, it will corrupt your install… Changelog. https://www.falcon-bms.com/changelogs/falcon-bms-4-37-1/

I think it may have already been incorporated or was being worked on years back into some mods remember the discussion. It isn't 22,000 lbs because that is the figure for Emergency thrust at sea level flying at Mach 1 (as stated in the manual). MiG-21bis with R25-300 Static max AB output = 6850 kgf Static Emergency / second reheat = 7100 kgf

I take it you have changed the dates on the FA-18F so it is operational in 1956?

Do your other mods you have in there work okay? Are you just replacing an aircraft type with another for a single unit?

Are you putting the files in the correct place ?

Benchmark Sims Falcon BMS 4.37 has now been released. Downloads https://www.falcon-bms.com/downloads/

Yes they have to do as part of the licensing agreement with Tommo who own the IP currently.

It has been totally standalone for years now - the original Falcon 4 is only required as part of the licensing agreement. When people buy the game from GOG etc they get an exe I think - but you can convert the CD to another format anyway if you only have that (eg iso). BMS has also completely changed the installer this past year from the past Torrent nightmare and is currently offering an exe for 4.37.

Wait and see what pans out really - I think they are just developing one for now. Yes they could export the settings out like TW did - like everything needs time and will to do it. It just goes to show you how much of the source code has been rewritten because if you ever played with the source code like I have............even doing the GUI was major challenge because it was all so entangled with other classes.................. and at the same time you are having to convert it over to use modern C++ syntax and concepts.

Merry Christmas, happy new year and happy holidays to all.

You can contribute to the discussion in this forum https://combatace.com/forums/forum/342-wtr-general-discussion/

Welcome to the DCS Halloween 2022 Sale! Enjoy huge discounts across most of the aircraft, maps and campaigns on our eShop now! This super sale will start on the 28th of October and will last until the 6th of November exclusively on our e-shop and offers 50% discount on most of our modules with 30% off DCS: Supercarrier, F/A-18C Hornet, and F-16C Viper as well as 25% off DCS: F-14 Tomcat! Please check out our DCS Halloween 2022 Sale video! At last we are delighted to inform you that our latest DCS World version 2.8 has been released. This large quality of life update improves several core features of DCS including the weather system, lighting, jet dogfight AI, Mission Editor options, and more. New terrain lighting technology has been introduced for the DCS: Persian Gulf. Make sure to view the Development Screenshots. As always, we look forward to your valuable feedback. Read the full changelog here. Finally, our third party developer IndiaFoxtEcho is proud to announce that DCS: MB-339 is available from our eShop and from Steam. This exceptionally capable aircraft is really worth a look. Check out the details of this remarkable trainer, light attack, and aerobatic aircraft and enjoy the MB-339 Launch Trailer. We wish you and your family all the very best for Halloween and thank you for your passion and support. Thank you for your passion and support. Yours sincerely, Eagle Dynamics Halloween 2022 Spooky Sale The DCS Halloween 2022 Sale gives you great savings of up to 50% across our most popular products. Head over to our Shop for an exclusive sale until the 6th of November at 23:59 GMT. Due to Steam Halloween Sale criteria, this promotion is not available on Steam. DCS 2.8 Progress We are excited about the release of DCS version 2.8. This update includes some long-requested improvements such as moving clouds and weather effects, HOTAS updates, new jet aircraft AI Basic Fighter Maneuvers (BFM), multicrew sync enhancements, an F10 compass mode, Module Manager groups, and more! The Persian Gulf map also includes new, dynamic light sources like street lamps and airfield flood lights. MB-339 Release The MB-339 is an Italian, single engine, twin seat, jet trainer and light attack aircraft that was derived from the Cold War MB-326. The aircraft entered service in the early 1980s and quickly became the primary trainer of the Italian Air Force. The MB-339 was exported and many are still in service. Flown by the Armada de la República Argentina (Argentine Navy), this aircraft took part in the Falklands-Malvinas war. It was also used by the Eritrean Air Force against rebels, smugglers, and the Ethiopian Air Force. Historic operators of the A version of the MB-339 were the Air Forces of Italy, Malaysia, Nigeria, Peru, United Arab Emirates, Argentina and Ghana. Thanks to its superb flying qualities, the MB-339’s PAN aerobatic version is also used by two national aerobatic teams: The “Frecce Tricolori” (Italian Air Force) and the “Al Fursan” (“The Knights” – UAE Air Force). The MB-339 is the only jet aircraft capable of performing the famous Lomcovák maneuver. The MB-339 will be released in an almost feature-complete state. Some of the most interesting features available at release include: A highly advanced Flight Model based on performance and engineering data from the real aircraft. Furthermore, the flight model has been deeply tested by former MB-339 Frecce Tricolori pilots. Extensive and detailed simulation of all flight systems: Flight control system. Full electrical system including circuit breakers logic. Detailed hydraulic system. Fuel system. Oxygen and pressurization systems. Navigation systems: TACAN, VOR/ILS, and AHRS/GPS including the possibility to load a custom data cartridge. Blind flying hood. Radios compatible with SRS and DCS voice. Internal and external lighting. Armament system. Smoke system. A highly accurate 3D model that is based on blueprints and surveys of the real MB-339. The model includes a complete set of animations, lighting and a detailed damage model. A very accurate 6-DOF (Degrees of Freedom) cockpit with realistic and detailed instruments, controls, and textures. The cockpit is VR-ready. Weapons: Anti runway Durandal. Cluster Belouga bombs. BAP-120 and BAP-100. Pod conformal cannons DEFA 553 30mm. Pod conformal machine guns AN-M3 12.7mm. Pod conformal camera (only visual at release). Travel pod. LR-25-0 (or AL-25-50) for 50mm rockets SNIA. 50mm rockets Snia ARF-8/M3 (API/HEI/TP). BRD-4-250 for training bombs Mk-76 /MK-106 and 2 50mm rockets. Mk-76 for BRD without hook, Italian labels. MK-106 for BRD without hook, Italian labels. Included with the purchase of the MB-339 is an array of country liveries. Several training and practice missions, single player missions, and instant action missions are included. Also available at launch is a mini campaign and an exhaustive PDF user manual. We look forward to your feedback! Available now Thank you again for your passion and support, Yours sincerely, Eagle Dynamics

Can you map it to another key and does it work? Is SF being run as admin? If you copy an exe from the main install and call it Allen1 then run it - it will create a new mod folder called Allen1 - so you could try that and see if tab still works in the new game. for reinstall - best would be to make a copy of your mod folders as backups before you do anything. After reinstall create new empty mod folders by running the relevant exes You may be able to copy most of the files back in - but I think the Aircraft folders may need to be done individually. If it is not done properly the game will copy all the default aircraft into the Aircraft folder after you put in the mods - which might cause problems.