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Dear Pilots, Summer is here and it’s very hot in both Moscow and Las Vegas, but we soldier on still working mostly from our flats and homes. This week’s DD features just a couple items, but one is quite a surprise as you will see. But first, let’s admire the upcoming 4K skins made by our steadfast ally and partner Martin “ICDP” Catney. The ugly duckling has become a swan with these new textures wouldn’t you say? With the new skins for the Hs-129, we are rapidly closing in on ALL planes in Great Battles being upgraded to the 4K standard. The Yak-1b should be next and eventually the Ju-52 will also get a refresh. The entire 4K upgrade has been a huge effort on Martin’s part as well as the previous contributions made by Francisco “BlackHellHound” Bindraban. Please join me in thanking them for their awesome contributions! A shining example of talented community members helping the developers and an effective international partnership. And now a surprise that came about very recently, but one that has a its roots in Rise of Flight history and one that should end in a positive result for Sturmovik. Today, we share extremely early WIP shots of an important fighter design that saw action against both Soviet and American air forces and late in the war, alongside them. Can you guess what plane it is? There are very few types that have this distinction. Hide contents That’s right, the Romanian designed and built IAR-80/81 is under development by a third party that we feel has the skills to make it a reality. This will take some time, but we are confident it will come to fruition. Please enjoy this little tease and when we the mesh is further along, we will offer it for pre-order as we always do. Why the IAR-80/81 exactly? Well, believe it or not, there is a lot of good reference information on this plane, so it is one that is possible to build by a single qualified modeler. A lot of what we do as a sim developer, can be described as the “art of the possible”. The IAR is indeed possible to make, so let's do it. And it’s a nice departure from our usual plane-set and is often overlooked in the history books. It will be sold as a Collector Plane, but it will certainly add some more historical flavor to the Battle of Stalingrad theater. There are some other planes we are working looking into finding a way to make. Your continued financial support is most important when we try to make new aircraft. And we continue to work on the new AQM feature, fuel systems with drop tanks, Air Marshal and even improved cloud technology. All of which I hope to show you pictures of in upcoming Developer Diaries. And Jason continues to work with talented mission makers on new mission content and Campaigns which we hope to have localized and released soon. On a serious note, the pandemic really slowed us down as we are prevented from being on our office and seeing each other face to face. Working from home is not always ideal for a collaborative effort like developing Sturmovik, but we continue to do our best and fill irritating personnel needs as soon as we can. We had hoped 2021 would bring a quick return to normalcy for us, but sadly it has brought a whole new set of challenges for us as a team beyond the usual technical ones as the pandemic sticks around. So please have patience with us and know that the team is doing their very best under less-than-ideal circumstances. See you in the skies and on the battlefield! The Sturmovik Team

Hello Everyone! This week we are showing a Dev. Diary a little early because we have some vacation and Covid-related holiday time that interferes with our normal routine. So, before we take a little time off, here are some quick shots of the German Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 in the actual game engine. As you can see the textures are not anywhere near ready, but it is starting to become functional including some of the damage model and the gunsights. Once again, our partners at DigitalForms have done a terrific job on the model. In the images below you can see how a machine gun from a Soviet armored car shot up my engine and ended my mission. The sights on this German gun are quite different from the Soviet 72-K and maybe it’s a bit more user friendly? You’ll have to be the judge when you try it, but it sure is fun trying to knock down planes with either gun! Again, the textures are not done and this is just an early Beta example and we wanted to show you that progress is being made. The Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 will be ready for action later this summer. In WWII aircraft news – the P-51B/C is scheduled be the next aircraft released as we work on other things like the V-1 ‘Buzz Bomb’. The P-51B/C will be released late summer; the exact date is unknown at this point, but we’ll have updated pics for you just as soon as we can. In WWI aircraft news, Ugra Media is hard at work on several FC2 planes and the map, but the closest to release is the Pfalz D.XII. She will be ready for our next update. Recently, when I collected the USAAF squadron emblems for BON, created once again by our friend Isaac ‘Solidkreate’ Chavira, I was inspired to make another poster. This time for the P-47D-22 with all the USAAF Ninth Air Force squadrons that will be a part of the Battle of Normandy Career. There are quite a few that flew the Razorback during that period. ….. and finally, a shot that you have been waiting a long time to see. A Bf-109 with something new under slung its belly. Functional drop tanks are being worked on for several planes, but it will take time to retrofit the aircraft that need them. Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Great War Pilots! We are hard at work trying to finalize update 4.602 and the Fokker D.VIII is in final testing and implementation. So, this DD is dedicated to that deadly monoplane the Germans sent to the Western Front late in the war. The 'Flying Switchblade' makes it's debut in Flying Circus next week if testing goes well. Enjoy these beautiful images of it in action! Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend to our American community members! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Friends! Today’s DD is pretty straightforward, we’d simply like to show you some shots of content that we have in the works for both Battle of Normandy and Flying Circus: Volume II. First, we have multiple renders of new objects, vehicles and ships that are being created by a development partner of ours. They are coming along nicely as you can see. They will be fully integrated into the engine very soon. Next, we have the first shots of the Fokker D.VIII which is development by our friends at Ugra Media. This awesome high-winged monoplane will grace your installs next month assuming everything goes to plan. We plan to release it along with the Typhoon Mk.Ib (which we showed in a DD269) in our next update, which should happen by mid-June. Again, assuming final preparations go well. Also, our great friend Luke 'Requiem' Campbell has created a very helpful video on how to operate the GAZ-MM 72-K and improve your accuracy when shooting at planes and vehicles. Check it out! Thank you to Requiem for making another great training video! GAZ-MM 72-K Steam Release! Additionally, we have added the GAZ-MM 72-K to our Steam store today where it along with the official webstore will have it on discount for another week. You can pick it up HERE. All other work continues and our efforts to expand the team a bit so we can finish Normandy as planned continues. Stay tuned to our DDs all spring and summer long as we continue to build out BON and FC2! See you in the skies! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Friends! Today’s DD is not long, but wanted to say that in addition to working on many aircraft, features and improvements, we’re also making some moves internally with the addition of, and search for, new personnel while adding responsibilities to others. This adds overhead costs to our operation which we hope will pay for itself in time, but we ask that you continue your financial support of Sturmovik throughout this spring and summer and al of 2021 by purchasing new content and buying gifts for your friends, family and squadron-mates. And please remember, purchases made directly in the IL-2 Official Webstore benefit the team the most! Without further delay, here are the first pics of the work-in-progress Nieuport 28.C1 for Flying Circus: Volume II. The N28 drafts the U.S. Air Service in the war and her slender lines make her a real beauty. Also notice our new Tactical Codes technology is present. The damage model is next up for her as well as DVD adaptation. …. Geronimo!!! No invasion of Normandy can be complete without paratroopers! These guys will be jumping from our C-47s later this year after they are properly animated. Enjoy your Easter weekend if you celebrate it and see you in the skies and the battlefields! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Pilots, Good news on all fronts this week as we continue our march towards completion of Battle of Normandy and ramp up work on Flying Circus II. We hope to have some pics of the first FCII plane, the Nieuport 28 soon for you, but today we’ll stick to WWII. As you already know, We have several aircraft in development and the closest, actually very close, to completion is the Spitfire Mk.XIV which is currently in beta testing. Below are a few pics. This plane is a beast with its Griffon engine and shooting down Doodlebugs with it is going to be a blast. Speaking of Buzz Bombs, our V-1 is going to be treated just like an aircraft. It will have a detailed damage model, so you can damage parts of it like the wings, the pulse-jet engine, the warhead (boom!) or if you’re talented enough tip it over with your wing! More on the V-1 as we develop it this summer. Next, we have some early pics of the very cool Me-410 ‘Hornisse’ and the Ar-234 jet bomber. The images speak for themselves. The Hornisse strikes me as the German response to the Mosquito no? Who do you think would win in a dogfight between a 410 and a Mosquito? Did they ever duel during the war I wonder? .In addition to new planes, we have made some tweaks to some of our oldest, namely our 109 series. When we overhauled the damage system several months ago, we had to make a temporary change to the 109’s tail assembly to avoid a bug that caused certain parts to stay attached to the plane after other damaged tail parts had been blown off. All 109s other than the E-7 was affected. The temporary change we made was to fuse the vertical stabilizer and the horizontal stabs making them one part which basically tripled their strength and the likelihood of them ever coming off was three times less likely, so basically never. To remedy this, we needed the model team re-build these tails and make a new failure point in the vertical stabilizer (like on the E-7) and break up this fused tail into their proper damageable and detachable sections. Remember that before we did any of this, the 109’s tail assembly was the ultimate ‘kill button’, push it and the entire tail would come off, not just part of a stabilizer like other planes. Of course, you can also just blow off the elevators and rudder if you hit them right. In the images below you can see this new reality in action during combat. I shot off the vert stab and rudder in one image and the horizontal stab and elevator in another. This should solve the so called “109 concrete tail” phenomenon. 109 tails now behave like all other tail sections in the sim. An. Petrovich Lead Engineer's Note: Initially, 3D models of all 109s except the E7 had the point of broken tail in such a place that the loss of the vertical stabilizer simultaneously led to the loss of the entire horizontal stabilizer. One successful shot in the vertical stabilizer could immediately deprive the plane of all its tail surfaces. Of course, it looked catastrophic (you called it "crystal tails"). And only in the E7 (as in all other aircraft in the game), the 3D model made it possible to separate the vertical stabilizer and the central part of the horizontal stabilizer separately. When we completely redesigned the damage system a few months ago, this limitation of the 109's 3D models did not allow us to fully correct the situation with the strength of their empennage, and we had to temporarily block the loss of vertical stabilizer for these aircraft. Although the aircraft could still lose the ends of the left and right horizontal stabilizer consoles, elevators or rudder. However, the fact that it became impossible for all Messerschmitts (except for E7) to shoot the vertical stabilizer and the central part of the horizontal stabilizer caused criticism from the players, and now the tails of the 109s were called "concrete". It was only possible to do it "right" by completely reworking the 3D models of these tails and adding a new break point on the vertical stabilizer (as in E-7). Which is what we did in the end. Work on the Tactical Codes feature continues and although we don’t have them working on all aircraft and vehicles yet, the technology works great and the images below gives and idea of how it will work and look. It’s not totally final yet so final result may vary a little. Work on the Dynamic Visual Damage system also continues and is currently being applied to our tanks. When it’s perfected on the tanks, we will then work to apply it to aircraft. Finally, in the next update we will include 4K skins for the Mc.202 and Ju 88 A-4 made by our talented partner Martin “ICDP” Catney. To celebrate this, I have made these interesting posters showing these new skins side by side. They make quite a colorful display. We hope to do this kind of graphic for all our aircraft eventually. Speaking of new skins, Martin is now working on 4K skins for the Spitfire Mk.Vb. This means both marks of Spitfires in Great Battles will now have 4K skins soon. The beautiful image below of the Macchi skins reminds me to say that I intend to make an Italian pilot for the 202 later this year. Similar to how we made the female Soviet pilot. The images below are 4K so you can re-size them and use as wallpaper is you are so inclined. Mc.202 Poster Full JU-88 Poster Full See you in the skies and on the battlefield! Jason and the Sturmovik Team

Hello everybody, Another week has passed and our work has moved another step forward. The Collector AAA vehicle, 25-mm automatic gun installed on the chassis of the GAZ-MM truck will be finished soon - the physical model of the truck is ready, as are the automatic gun animations and functioning, all animations of the chassis and the crew as well as gun ballistics and damage model are also done. The correction system for the gunsight that turned out to be incredibly complex kinematically is in. The unique audio and more detailed tech of the tires visualization and deformation are icing on the cake. All these elements have something new and are believed to be interesting for the end-user to familiarize with and learn something new. At the moment we're improving the visual look of the new vehicle, the texturing of the gun, and apply the new DVD tech we talked about in our previous Dev Blog to make the result the best. Meanwhile, a part of our mapping department works on improving the railyards on the Rheinland map (Bodenplatte project). They aren't the most striking or shiny detail of the numerous cities on this map, but they do improve the overall visual look of the scene and make the landscape more realistic. This time we can show you the screenshots of the railroad structures in the cities of Cologne, Brussels, Bonn, Duisburg, Liege, Mainz, Frankfurt am Mein.

Hello Everyone! Time does not stand still, just as work on the Battle for Normandy project does not stand still. Work is underway on various technologies as well as development of ground equipment, maps, aircraft and ships. As you know, the Battle of Normandy is an event most closely associated with the navy. And in order to reproduce some of these events, new types of ships and watercrafts will be introduced into the project. Along those lines, today we will show you a screenshot of development progress of the landing craft LCI (L) (Landing Craft Infantry, Large). This is a specialized vessel designed to land infantry units directly ashore, for which it is equipped with two gangways, on both sides of the bow. And because Battle for Normandy is a project about combat aircraft, you are waiting patiently for news about the progress of aircraft in development. So here we have something new to show you today! It is the cockpit of the Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib fighter-bomber. These screenshots were taken in the game world. Work on this aircraft is entering the final stage, and we plan to give it to everyone who pre-ordered the project at the very beginning of the summer.

Dear friends, Today we can show you a teaser, the first screenshot of the Normandy map showing one of its characteristic features - a coastal port city. Le Havre, in the Seine estuary, is one of the biggest in France. Our map development team always tries to find new ways to improve the landscape elements, and now, working on the Normandy map, they are researching new techniques of terrain texturing, coastline composition, keeping in mind the differences in the architecture and city layout between the two sides of the Channel, attempting to recreate more detailed railway junctions and many other things. Speaking of the railway junctions, some of you have pointed out that they are too simplified on the Rhineland map. They were made simple because the development was focused on many detailed airfields and time was not available, but we're always trying to improve the existing content and other things whenever we have time and resources to do so. This year we plan to gradually add more detailed railway junctions to this map. This is the Antwerp railyard being improved:

Dear friends, Earlier this week we have published update 4.506 that brought the new aircraft for the Battle of Normandy and many important improvements, but the preparation of this update did not slow down our main development. Soon we'll be able to show the first teaser screenshots of the new map, while today we have for you several of the unique buildings that you'll see in the Normandy and Southern English coast cities - Royal Hospital Haslar (Gosport, Hampshire), Abbey of Saint-Étienne (Caen) and Bayeux and Rouen Cathedrals. We are also glad to report that the next Battle of Normandy fighter, Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV, will be finished soon - its FM should be ready in a month while its visual model, including the cockpit, is nearly finished. Here are the first in-game shots of this legendary aircraft: Together with our partners at Digital Forms, we continue building the player-controlled AAA trucks - the Soviet 72-K AA gun installed on the GAZ-MM truck chassis will be ready soon. The visual and physical models of the truck itself are complete, the 3D model of the gun is created and we're working on animating it and its crew. Ballistics are recreated according to the historical data and the rounds already have self-destruct fuzes (you may have seen such fuzes in action when fired from other AA guns in this week's update). This in-game screenshot demonstrates the state of its completion:

Dear friends, Today our team presents you the first IL-2 Great Battles update in 2021, 4.506. The main feature of this update is the Fw 190 A-6 fighter/bomber developed for the Battle of Normandy. The Normandy map is in development, but you can already fly the new aircraft in Rheineland Career mode, provided you have both Battle of Normandy and Bodenplatte. You can also encounter the new A-6 as an enemy in the recent Wind of Fury campaign and anyone can set it up as an AI in quick missions. In addition to the new arrival, there is a significant number of other changes and improvements. The updated graphical effects are included (the ones that are ready), Chiawei =Oyster_KAI= Liang continued his work on the 4K texturing of many planes cockpits and Martin =ICDP= Catney created 4K external textures for Bf 109 E-7 and corrected a number of other aircraft. There are two AI corrections, but they are significant. Among other fixes are ones for aircraft systems, player controllable tanks, including an important one for the gun aiming, and many improvements for historical campaigns. We continue our work as always and this Spring you'll see new planes and improvements for the game world. Main features 1. German fighter/bomber Fw 190 A-6 is now available to all Battle of Normandy owners; 2. Fw 190 A-6 added to Rheinland Career mode (to the 1st and 2nd chapters to joinable squadrons III./JG 11, I./JG 26 and II./JG 26 and to all chapters to AI squadrons III./KG 51 and NSGr. 20); 3. Bf 109 E-7 got 4K quality external textures; 4. There are new truck variations (which look exactly like the regular ones) that are loaded with ammo and explode when attacked in a spectacular way; Aircraft improvements 5. AI pilots of fast fighters engage slow-flying targets much better; 6. AI pilots that are alone or from different groups carry out a landing approach much better - now all the AI pilots form the landing queue, not only the ones that belong to the same group; 7. MC.202 propeller rotation and twist were corrected; 8. Yak-9 and Yak-9T elevator is affected at high speeds similar to other Yak fighters; 9. On all aircraft with set mixture control positions the current position is shown in the technochat instead of the mixture percentage; 10. UBT MG gunsight scale on IL-2 mod. 1943 has been recentered; 11. A damaged Fokker D.VII won't visibly disappear at long distances; 12. Gunsight adjustment (target size and range) using buttons happens faster and their default values are set for a close dogfight against a typical enemy fighter; 13. German gyro gunsight Ez.42 damping corrected, higher frequency oscillations of the aircraft affect the calculated lead less; 14. AI pilots fire all 12 Hurricane MGs when installed instead of only 8; 15. Water vapor effect added to the damaged or overheated Hurricane radiator; 16. Oil and water drops won't visibly appear on the inside surface of the cockpit canopy on many aircraft; 17. A number of typos that appeared on Soviet planes after increasing the cockpits to 4K quality were corrected; 18. Bf 109 E-7 cockpit: a typo corrected, detail of certain controls improved, dimmer looks more historically accurate; 19. Bf 109 F-2 and F-4 wheels corrected; 20. BG-25 detail increased (Bf 109 G6/G6 Late/G14/K4); 21. Rocket control panel detail improved on Bf 109 G6 Late and G14; 22. Fw 190 A-3/A-5/A-8 ammo counters panel detail improved; 23. Hs 129 B2 cockpit: weathering and scratches on leather objects, weathering of the gunsight parts outside the cockpit, more detailed dimmer switch, revised coloring and updated lettering of gauges and parts to make them more historically correct, alpha layer adjustments; 24. MiG-3: enhanced textures of braided cables, redrawn placards, alpha layer adjustments; 25. P-39L: control stick weathering, more detailed radio equipment (MN-52H, BC-345, BC-451) and recognition light switch box, more accurate white aluminum panels and detailed text, enhanced throttle quadrant and fuel prime pump handle, improved gauges and parts lettering, alpha layer adjustments; 26. P-40E: more detailed radio equipment (BC-366, BC-451A, BC-450A), throttle quadrant and fuel prime pump handle, historically correct texture for exposed wiring (black wires and white braided cables), alpha layer adjustments; 27. P-47D22/D28: more detailed BC-765 switch box and fuel prime pump handle, upgraded textures of the white screws on the trim indicators box and flap control handle slide rail, alpha layer adjustments; 28. Fw 190 A-3 and A-5 default pilot positions and some skins of these aircraft were corrected; 29. Radio and lighting switches are now animated in Fw 190 A-3 and A-5 cockpits; Player controllable tank improvements 30. An option added that amplifies the gun aiming response to the mouse movement. If you play without a visual mouse aim indicator or aim the gun using buttons, it is recommended to leave it at the default setting (0); 31. Player controllable tanks now correctly collide in multiplayer; 32. A wrong technochat message about turning on and off the powered turret traverse won't appear while moving across rough terrain at high speed; 33. SU-122 and SU-152 crews throw out all the accumulated spent ammo casings when the hatches are opened; 34. The initial position of the shot off Ferdinand gun mantlet corresponds to the mantlet type installed; 35. 72-K 25mm round ballistics were corrected; 36. HE rounds of 72-K, 61-K, Flak 36, Flak 38, Flakvierling 38, Sh-37, NS-37, BK-3.7, M4 and Vickers Class S now have self-destruct fuzes (HE rounds without such fuzes were not used on these guns); 37. Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.M suspension animation corrected; Visual effects improvements 38. New bomb ground and water impact (impact, not explosion) effects; 39. 50-100 kg bombs explosion effects have a new style (it is planned to update all the explosions in a similar way); 40. Additional explosion effects added for rounds containing more than 450 g and less than 1500 g explosives; 41. Improved gunfire effects for the detailed ground vehicles; 42. APHE explosion effects corrected accordingly to the number of explosives they contain; 43. Ground vehicles leave better-looking tracks; Other improvements 44. The hook on port cranes is raised higher so it won't prevent larger ships to dock underneath; 45. The visual model of a destroyed 52-K AAA gun was corrected (it contained elements of an intact gun); 46. Blazing Steppe, Fortress on the Volga, Ice Ring historical campaigns: all fire effects updated, ammo trucks added, many other improvements and fixes; 47. During the Wind of Fury historical campaign you can encounter С-47 and Fw 190 A-6 while Bf 109 G-6 fighters were replaced by Bf 109 G-6 Late; 48. Fortress on the Volga historical campaign: fuel and ambulance trucks added to the transport columns, the overall number and size of the columns increased.

Attention Pilots! The Lunar New Year Sale has begun in the IL-2 Official Webstore and on Steam! Save between 30% to 85% on most items. The Lunar New Year Sale runs from 10:00am PST February 11th to 10:00am PST February 15th in the IL-2 Official Webstore and on STEAM. IL-2 GREAT BATTLES IN IL-2 OFFICIAL WEBSTORE IL-2 IL-2 GREAT BATTLES ON STEAM Tank Crew - 35% Off (Webstore & Steam) BOS – 85% Off BOM – 75% Off BOK – 75% Off BOBP – 66% Off FC1 – 66% Off Hurricane Mk.II - 35% Off Yak-9 – 40% Off Yak-9T – 40% Off Fw-190 D-9 – 66% Off P-38 J-15 – 66% Off U-2VS -75% Off Ju-52/3M – 75% Off Bf-109 G-6 – 75% Off Yak-1B – 75% Off Spitfire Mk. VB – 75 % Off LA-5FN – 75% Off HS-129 B-2 – 75% Off P-40E-1 – 85% Off Macchi MC.202 – 85% Off Fw-190 A-3 – 85% Off LA-5 Series 8 – 85% Off Ice Ring – 30% Off Blazing Steppe – 75% Off Fortress on the Volga – 75% Off Hell Hawks Over the Bulge – 30% Off (Webstore Only) Ten Days of Autumn – 75% Off (Webstore Only) Havoc Over the Kuban – 75% Off (Webstore Only) Achtung Spitfire! – 75% Off (Webstore Only) CLIFFS OF DOVER IN IL-2 OFFICIAL WEBSTORE CLIFFS OF DOVER ON STEAM Cliffs of Dover: Blitz - 75% Desert Wings: Tobruk - 35% RISE OF FLIGHT IN ROF OFFICIAL WEBSTORE RISE OF FLIGHT ON STEAM All ROF Content – 75% Off Enjoy! See you in the skies and on the battlefield! The Sturmovik Team

Dear friends, There will be a lot of Battle of Normandy news in 2021. Relatively soon we'll be able to show you the first landscape shots, while today we have some of the ground vehicles that are already done. Please note that the quality level for the new trucks, armored cars and other objects for Normandy has increased. Of course, the new objects will benefit from all the previously developed physics and AI improvements. Dodge WC-54 - while working on the Battle of Normandy we have decided to add the ambulance vehicle for the US Army that was missing in 'Bodenplatte'. This 3-ton all-wheel-drive vehicle was designed specifically for the US Army medical service. Austin K2/Y - you can tell the country of origin of this 3-ton military ambulance vehicle after a first glance. Of course, it is British. Ordnance QF 17-pounder - the famous British gun which was very effective in the anti-tank role in spite of its relatively small caliber. This gun, either in an AT gun form or installed on a tank gave good chances against German panzer beasts. Sd.Kfz.222 - this German all-wheel-drive 5-ton armored car with 3 men crew had a powerful weapon for its class, 20mm automatic gun KwK-20, and sloped armor. AMES Type 15 was a British made radar. SCR-584 was a US radar. Also on this screenshot are the British AA searchlight and its accompanying electric generator.

Dear friends, Today we have mostly images for you. Soon we'll be able to share news on the Battle of Normandy progress in various areas, but today we can show you the first in-game screenshots of Fw 190 A-6. This aircraft will include the assault modifications G3, G3/R5 and Sturmjager and is planned to be released in the coming update along with the new graphical effects and aircraft AI improvements. And here are the screens on what we're working on at the moment, the feature that all the previously released BoX projects will benefit from:

Dear friends, So, here is the new year 2021! Like anyone else, we're going to hope that it will be better than the previous one. However, for IL-2 Great Battles, the last year was quite positive in spite of all complications. We hope that we'll build on this success this year - the plans are quite extensive. Let's start with the first in-game shots of the British fighter Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib which is being developed for the Battle of Normandy. As you can see, it looks nearly complete, but in fact, there is still a lot to do - a hefty chunk of work is left on its cockpit instruments and the flight model. Nevertheless, we're expecting to finish everything before the end of this Spring and release it to all Battle of Normandy customers. Speaking of the Normandy map, the layout of the towns on its continental part is complete for the first iteration. A bunch of landmark buildings and a significant part of AI-controlled ground vehicles planned for Normandy are already done. We're researching the data for the Normandy Career mode. Meanwhile, the AAA trucks are also showing good progress - the GAZ-MM with the 72-K gun will be ready first. Its chassis is ready both in terms of the 3D and physical models while the crew animations and audio are being worked on. We've managed to find the authentic firing tables prepared by the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army and printed by the military publishing house of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union in 1943 and made the ballistics of the 25mm rounds and their armor penetration ability in various cases as close to the real thing as possible according to this data. We still have to research and recreate the really complicated correction system for the gunsights, that's what we're working on now while our partners at Digital Forms are creating the complex 3D model of the AAA gun itself as you can see on the screens below:

Dear friends, Another year is ending. This one was tougher than usual, but the team has managed to do without losses and meet all the planned goals nevertheless. The work on Normandy is going well and soon we'll be able to show you the screenshots of the unique buildings and ground vehicles being developed especially for it. It will be a while before new aircraft are released because several of them are at the same stage of development at the moment, but in Spring we plan to release a number of player controllable content we're preparing right now. This, however, doesn't mean we won't release anything new till that moment - as you know, we're constantly improving the project in all its aspects and we plan to release some of the improvements sooner, in big updates before that. One of these improvements is 4K texturing for I-16 fighter created by Martin =ICDP=Catney. In addition to this, we're always glad to have more people improving the project and one can spot a result of the new collaboration on these screenshots. We won't disclose all the details of the coming surprise right now but we're sure you won't be disappointed. The player controllable self-propelled AA guns saw good progress lately. A new system of visualizing the tires, not less interesting than the one previously developed for tracks, is in the sim already and we'll show it to you soon. The model of wheeled and half-track propulsion is also ready and gets the final touches. In the meantime, our partners at Digital Forms made significant progress working on the second object of this pair - German Sd. Kfz. 10 half-track with 2cm Flak 38. We already can show you the WIP screenshots of it along with a Luftwaffe soldier in Winter uniform: To finish today's Dev Blog we want to show you the progress that was made on the fascinating bird, one of the planes that are in development for Battle of Normandy - Typhoon Mk.Ib. This legendary aircraft is planned to be released in late Spring 2021, it will be the third one of the Normandy planes that are planned to be released before the Summer. This concludes the last Dev Blog of this year, see you in 2021! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Update 4.504 Dear Friends, New player controllable aircraft or vehicles aren’t ready yet, but we have decided to release the update 4.504 that improves many aspects of the sim. The main feature of this update is the increased visual detail of the landscape at close distances, which is a graphics option. It makes the terrain bumps and unevenness, that were previously only calculated in physics, to be visible. Overall, this improvement makes the vehicle and aircraft movement on the ground look much better and natural. The second main feature is a nearly complete overhaul of the sound volume balance in the aircraft cockpits which was done with the help of pilots that have experience flying similar aircraft, resulting in a more realistic sound environment in the cockpit. There are many other important changes as well, for instance, many graphical effects were improved like large structural fires in cities and more detailed tank cannon fire effects. Even the grass now bends when you fire the tank main gun! The full changelist follows: Main features 1. The terrain bumps that were previously only in the physics are now visible at a short distance, resulting in a much better visual look of the wheeled and tracked vehicles and planes on the ground movement. The detail of this visualization can be adjusted or completely disabled and works at ‘Medium’ or better graphics settings preset; 2. The movement of all simplified ground vehicles (cars and tracked vehicles) also looks more realistic since the benefit from the new tech as well; 3. Tanks transmission modeling was made more detailed, increasing their maximum climb angle; 4. New RAF paint scheme added for P-39L-1 by Martin =ICDP= Catney; 5. P-39L-1 pilot got a new visual model, animation of removing glasses on the ground and donning an oxygen mask at high altitude. In addition, setting the country of the plane to the UK or USA in the mission file changes the pilot model to UK or USA pilot accordingly; 6. The ram air noise sounds depend on the flight speed, taking into account the position of the pilot's head in the cockpit (in the center, near the side, overboard) and the cockpit canopy state (open or closed). The volume of the ram air noise has been increased, giving more audio cues in a closed cockpit; 7. Airflow noise sound when stalling or at a high-G load has been improved; 8. Stall sound on Yak fighters was adjusted to be more informative at high angles of attack; 9. The volume of other sounds in the cockpit (the noise of the aircraft moving on the ground on the landing gear, the hissing of the flaps and landing gear valves, the background power grid noise, radio communications, etc.) is balanced according to the new volume of the airflow noise. Corrections were made to the sound volume of several engines as well; Tank improvements 10. New motion blur effect improves the look of the player controllable tank tracks if the ‘Cinematic Camera’ option is checked; 11. All Tank Crew module tanks got new gun and machine gun firing effects that depend on the muzzle power. If a gun has a muzzle brake, the effect has a corresponding shape. In addition, firing the main gun temporarily causes the grass nearby to bend down; 12. The "jitter" animation issue of aircraft and tank gunners when the player left the corresponding station has been fixed; 13. The tank turret stays in place when the player switches from the gunsight view to another station and there are no visible enemy targets for AI gunner to engage; 14. When giving an order to other tanks in the platoon only existing tanks are shown in the menu; 15. Only existing ammo types are shown in the commander menu when selecting the ammo for your tank; 16. AI gunners will correctly engage a target when several different targets were assigned by the commander one subsequently; 17. AI will load correct ammo as instructed by the commander; 18. Gunsight zoom on VR devices with canted displays and Parallel Projection mode works correctly; 19. M4A2 visors won’t look too bright in an external view; 20. The remaining .50 cal ammo is shown correctly when the M2 MG installed on the M4A2 tank is in the anti-aircraft firing position; 21. It’s no longer possible to hit the M4A2 turret by pushing the AA MG down and left to the limit when firing; 22. The free T-34/76 STZ (1942) tank turret switches to manual turret traverse when the generator is not working; 23. The free T-34/76 STZ (1942) tank field of view when looking through the gunsight has been fixed; 24. Free T-34/76 STZ (1942) and Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.L tanks have their turret traverse speeds reduced the more they are tilted, just like Tank Crew tanks; 25. SU-122 SPG mass has been corrected according to the latest data found (30900 kg); 26. Commander's machine guns (KV-1s and M4A2) won’t ‘stuck’ when trying to swivel them looking through the sights in VR mode; 27. The graphic effect and sound of a machine gun or tank gun firing won’t stuck when the tank is blown up; 28. In Quick Mission - Duel, tank settings are correctly applied; 29. The 1st and 3rd missions of the "Last Chance" German tank campaign were optimized to be playable on 3.0 GHz processors (without time compression); 30. The vertical adjustment sound of the PT4-7 and PG panoramas (KV-1s, T-34UVZ-43, SU-122 and SU-152) was removed since they can be adjusted along this axis separately; Aircraft improvements 31. Pilot AI won’t dive into the ground after receiving a command to attack a ground target if there is no ammo; 32. Fighter pilot AI won’t open fire too far away in a ‘face to face’ attack; 33. A rare issue that could make an aircraft to levitate above the ground or sink into it up to 1m depth (it happened more frequently on Arras map) and therefore cause damage to it has been fixed; 34. U-2VS wing damage when touching the ground during taxiing has been reduced and the landing gear damping settings have been corrected. Now it is possible to land and take off on an unprepared field with a bit of luck; 35. U-2VS formation and landing lights functioning was corrected; 36. Pe-2 series 87 top turret camera corrected in VR mode; 37. Torn off A-20B bomb bay doors behave in a physically correct way; 38. A-20B bomb bay doors will be torn off during an emergency landing (landing gear up) only if they were opened; 39. A-20B cockpit view won’t shake when the mission starts; 40. P-51D level autopilot won’t turn off by itself at the start of the mission in the air if the fuel tanks are full; 41. Visually inverted MC.202 propeller pitch has been corrected; 42. The P-39L-1 antenna won’t ‘hang’ in the air if the tail section is broken; 43. Audio and visual effects when hitting the outboard cannons and bomb and rocket racks were corrected for IL-2 (all modifications), Bf-109 (all modifications), FW-190 (all modifications) and MC.202; 44. IL-2 mod. 43 gunner and rear fuel tank armor has been corrected; 45. An issue that could cause the aircraft with a repaired wing to move instead of stop when applying the wheel brakes has been fixed; 46. Pe-2 series 87 surface material won’t visually change when moving away from it; 47. A-20 cockpit glass won’t visually change when moving away from it; 48. P-51D-15 spinner was made less shiny; 49. Visual artifacts on the Bf 109 E-7 cockpit glass were eliminated; Other improvements 50. The visual image of the sea surface was improved up close (the blackness on wave crests, shadows shake, reflection and glare when the camera was directed downward very close were corrected); 51. Fixed an issue that caused ships and aircraft on the sea surface to be unaffected by the movement of the waves; 52. Fixed an issue that prevented the submarines from moving when the waves were high; 53. Fixed a rare issue that could display a black screen when switching to F11 free camera; 54. F11 camera movement was made smoother; 55. An incorrect factory building roof in Stalingrad that glowed at night has been corrected; 56. The visibility range of large fires (static effects City_Fire, City_FireSmall, VillageSmoke and their new cyclic versions) has been increased to 100 km; 57. Settlement fire effects in Career, Quick Missions and tank campaigns won’t periodically disappear and reappear or ‘flip’ when you move the camera around them. These effects now illuminate the surroundings as well; 58. Three factory chimney smoke effects for mission creators were added: Chimneystalk_smoke_white, Chimneystalk_smoke_grey, Chimneystalk_smoke_black; 59. The “DummyGroundExpl” explosion effect set in the mission has been restored; 60. Visual mission effects AmmoExplosion and AmmoExplosion_Big have corresponding sounds; 61. House_smoke effect starts correctly, without an overly intense and dark first phase; 62. Сyclic settlement fire effects City_Fire_Loop, City_FireSmall_Loop and VillageSmoke_Loop won’t visibly disappear and reappear or ‘flip’ when you move the camera around them, greatly simplifying their use by mission designers and reducing the resulting performance impact; 63. German and French translations of Last Chance, Breaking Point and Wind of Fury campaigns were corrected. Please discuss the update in this thread.

ear friends, As you know, the long-awaited Tank Crew - Clash at Prokhorovka was released officially recently. This is a very important milestone in the development of the IL-2 Great Battles series even if it has deviated from the aviation theme a bit. However, those of you who read our Dev Blog regularly know that the tank project development contributed to the aircraft features immensely. And while today's Dev Blog is dedicated to tanks, in the near future all the aircraft in the series will benefit from both things we'll tell you about (3-dimensional visualization of the terrain unevenness and graphics effects improvements). First, though, we'd like to show you the new Tank Crew promotion trailer created by =HH=Pauk. It showcases the main features we focused on with our partner Digital Forms during the development - operations of the realistically looking and accurately modeled combat vehicles on the real terrain that were recreated according to historical documents of the Prokhorovka battle and the events immediately before and after it. Taking into account the two bundled historical campaigns, it is a massive historical reconstruction of the tank actions in that area. Here it goes: It is well-known that we continue the improvement of our modules long after their official release dates, that's why we keep them in one 'package', so all the modules shared the newest benefits of the sim core. In the next update, you'll see the terrain roughness that previously was modeled physically and affected the tank movement is now visible and have a realistic size and layout. This also affects the aircraft in case of an emergency landing in a field. The second addition is the set of newly developed gunfire visual effects for the detailed tanks - their guns and machine guns. Before all the gunfire effects looked similar, but now they'll differ depending on the muzzle brake and the power of the gun. We plan to do the same for the aircraft guns of the planes in development and later on for the previously released ones. This video demonstrates the new effects better than many words can: Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Attention Pilots! The Annual Autumn Sale has begun in the IL-2 Official Webstore and on Steam! Save between 25% to 85% on most items. With the world still grappling with quarantines and lockdowns now is a great time to explore the Sturmovik universe in great depth by playing our Pilot Career or a Scripted Campaign or try your Tank Commander skills in our newly released Tan Crew – Clash at Prokhorovka or perhaps give multiplayers a try? There are so many gameplay options and something for every style of virtual pilot! The Annual Autumn sale runs from 10:00am PST November 25th to 10:00am PST December 1st in the IL-2 Official Webstore and on STEAM. IL-2 GREAT BATTLES IN IL-2 OFFICIAL WEBSTORE IL-2 IL-2 GREAT BATTLES ON STEAM BOS – 85% Off BOM – 75% Off BOK – 75% Off BOBP – 66% Off FC1 – 66% Off TC - 13% Off (Launch Discount on Steam Ends on 11/27) Hurricane Mk.II - 25% Off (Launch Discount on Steam Ends on 11/27) Yak-9 – 30% Off Yak-9T – 30% Off Fw-190 D-9 – 66% Off P-38 J-15 – 66% Off U-2VS -75% Off Ju-52/3M – 75% Off Bf-109 G-6 – 75% Off Yak-1B – 75% Off Spitfire Mk. VB – 75 % Off LA-5FN – 75% Off HS-129 B-2 – 75% Off P-40E-1 – 85% Off Macchi MC.202 – 85% Off Fw-190 A-3 – 85% Off LA-5 Series 8 – 85% Off Blazing Steppe – 75% Off Fortress on the Volga – 75% Off Ten Days of Autumn – 75% Off (Webstore Only) Havoc Over the Kuban – 75% Off (Webstore Only) Achtung Spitfire! – 75% Off (Webstore Only) Hell Hawks Over the Bulge – 30% Off (Webstore Only) Ice Ring – 30% Off (Webstore Only) IL-2 DOVER SERIES IN IL-2 OFFICIAL WEBSTORE IL-2 DOVER SERIES ON STEAM Desert Wings Tobruk – 25% Off Cliffs of Dover Blitz – 75% Off RISE OF FLIGHT IN ROF OFFICIAL WEBSTORE RISE OF FLIGHT ON STEAM All ROF Content – 75% Off Enjoy! See you in the skies! The Sturmovik Team

Dear Friends, We know that the Battle of Normandy pre-order customers are eagerly waiting for its planes to arrive. It's understandable, but in spite of our team keeping the development rate at a very high level, creating an aircraft with the fidelity worthy of our simulation from scratch is very time consuming and labor intensive. The main bulk of the Normandy planes list will arrive next year. However, some of the planes that are based on the previous ones will arrive sooner. We have already released the P-47D-22 'Razorback' and as soon as next week another one will arrive - the German Bf 109 G-6 Late fighter with an enlarged tail and additional modifications which are characteristic for the year 1944. This includes the MW-50 water-methanol injection system and an improved cockpit canopy - the 'Erla Haube'. Being part of the 109 family, this fighter also has very good flying characteristics and powerful weaponry. The MW-50 allows increasing the power near the deck from 1480 to 1800 HP, increasing the maximum speed from 528 to 573 km/h. Of course, the engine power increase also improves the turn radius and climb rate which are invaluable in a dogfight. This late G-6 variant could also carry the WGR.21 heavy unguided rockets in jettisonable underwing launchers. Enjoy! The Sturmovik Team

Update 4.502 Attention Pilots! On this chilly Autumn day, we’re releasing a large update to IL-2 Sturmovik - update 4.502 is here! The star of this update is the new Hurricane Mk.II Collector Plane. This plane has the most modifications in our sim and with a wide range of weapon loadouts available this makes it 5 aircraft in 1. You get several variants including the IIa, IIb, IIc, IId and the one with the Soviet armament. The famous Dust Filter and Merlin XX engine with +14lb boost are also available. On top of all that, you can use the new bird in the Career mode right away - we added it to the Battle of Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad careers. In addition to the Hurricane we have added the legendary С-47А "Skytrain" transport plane for the Battle of Normandy. The C-47 is AI only, but adds a new dimension to our missions and variety of Allied aircraft you will encounter in the sky. It is also great for mission makers who want to make supply runs an integral part of their battle. And finally, Battle of Moscow players receive new 4K quality skins for the Bf-110 E-2 thanks to our talented friend Martin =ICDP= Catney. On the technical front we have added a new and more realistic G-load physiology modeling system. This work was described in great detail in our Developer Diary #263. Additionally, a lot of work was done on all the aspects of the ground battles, significantly improving the quality and realism of Tank Crew engagements. There are many improvements to the pilot AI as well in this update. And finally, long-awaited Career mode improvements are finally starting to arrive. Main Features 1. The Hurricane Mk.II Collector Plane is now available to its owners; 2. The C-47A transport aircraft is now available in the sim as an AI enemy or ally in the Quick Mission mode. It can also be used in the custom missions as an AI transport aircraft; 3. Female crews got female voices in the radio messages; 4. Pilot physiology modeling has been improved significantly. This is described in detail in the Developers Diary #263; 5. The zoom function now works correctly on VR devices with canted displays (Pimax) without using the performance-intensive Parallel Projection mode; 6. New multiplayer scenarios, including Cooperative ones, are added for Tank Crew (you can create a server directly from the game by selecting a scenario or scenarios from the Multiplayer\Cooperative\TankCrew or Multiplayer\Dogfight\TankCrew folders); 7. 4K external textures for Bf 110E heavy fighter (Battle of Moscow) are added thanks to Martin =ICDP= Catney; 8. A-20 and B-25 bombers got new paint schemes with invasion stripes for different timeframes; Tank Crew Improvements 9. Several missions of the Soviet tank campaign "Breaking point" were improved; 10. Both tank campaigns are now available in Simplified Chinese, German and French; 11. KV-1s got an additional paint scheme; 12. It is now possible to use binoculars or personal weapons after pressing the "T" button (except for the M4A2 tank, where binoculars and personal weapons cannot be used simultaneously with a machine gun); 13. It is now possible to designate a waypoint on the ground in a command mode while using binoculars; 14. The enemy spawn point in Tank duel quick mission is correctly randomized after the destruction of a previous one if the player did not leave its spawn point; 15. It is now possible to designate a target in a command mode while using binoculars; 16. Fixed the issue that prevented the tank commander from using binoculars or personal weapons after pressing the "T" key if he does not have a machine gun to operate; 17. Trying to fire the M4A2 machine gun while using binoculars or personal weapons won’t work; 18. AI gunners use bracketing the target with fire when engaging the ground targets both for the range and (if the target is moving or there is a wind) the azimuth error. The size of the initial aiming error depends on the AI level, distance, target speed and wind; 19. Ground AI gunners now have a certain delay in detecting and starting aiming at a new target depending on the AI level, distance and density of the group of enemy targets; 20. Ground AI vehicles return the turret and/or gun to the traveling position only after a considerable time after the destruction or disappearance of the last enemy target from the field of view; 21. Fixed an issue where detailed AI tanks (and especially self-propelled guns) could not hit the target at minimum distances (they were firing above the target); 22. SU-152 will correctly stop for a shot and won’t drive towards the target without firing; 23. The extra (maximum) AI level parameter has been removed from the Quick Mission, it caused errors in the AI functioning; 24. Fixed a bug due to which the AI controlled tanks did not attack obviously visible targets in some rare circumstances; 25. A bug has been fixed due to which there was no difference between aircraft or ground vehicle gunners with different AI levels; 26. The enemies and allies have correct marker colors in tank Coop missions; 27. Detailed damage buildings on Prokhorovka map are correctly displayed at far distances (the inner side of the walls was invisible far away); Airplanes physics, systems and damage model improvements 28. 13mm German and 12.7mm Italian machine guns are no longer loaded with HE ammo only due to a bug; 29. USAAF pilots wear G-suits only when piloting P-47D-22, P-51D-15 and P-38J-25 in September 1944 or later; 30. A circular limit of the movable aiming mark of the Mk IID and K-14A gyro reticles has been implemented. The mark also bounces and stops at the working range boundary when the gyro mirror reaches its stop; 31. The characteristic whistle of P-51 machine guns ports during active maneuvering that disappeared before due to an error is back now; 32. P-51 and P-38 fighters won’t be pulled into a dive when their tail section is damaged; 33. Ju-52 / 3m g4e cargo containers drop animation has been corrected; 34. The mixture control of al aircraft with M-105 PF engine became standard (similar to Yak-7/9); 35. According to the historical data found, Ju-87D ammo counters are disabled when the BK 37 outboard guns are fitted; 36. Fixed an issue due to which hit effects weren’t visible on certain parts of the P-51 fuselage; 37. Bf 109F-2 cockpit canopy correctly jettisons; 38. All Fw 190 aircraft are less stable after rudder loss; 39. Tail combat damage causes less shaking; 40. Closed landing gear doors on P-51D-15 won’t be torn off at high speeds; 41. The top gunner of the He-111H-6 and the bottom gunner of the A-20B won’t always hold their machine guns and its hatches won’t be always open; 42. The turret hatch on certain aircraft turrets won’t start to close before the machine gun is returned to the stowed position; 43. U-2VS shooter's leg won’t clip through the fuselage; 44. Incorrect (missing) armor value of the armored glass visor and headrest has been fixed for La-5FN; 45. TIncorrect (missing) armor value of the armored headrest has been fixed for P-38J; Visual aircraft improvements 46. Yak-9 s. 2, Yak-9T s.2, Fw 190 D-9, P-47D-22, P-38J-25, P-51D-15: jettisoned cockpit canopy has all the details; 47. Fixes for Bf 109 G-6 4K textures from Martin = ICDP = Catney (Barkhorn and Hartman planes); 48. The A-20B tail lamp no longer visibly detaches from the aircraft at a significant distance from the observer; 49. Fixed an issue where some of the glass fragments could be visible next to torn P-51D elements; 50. When moving the camera away from Yak-9 aircraft its effects won’t disappear; 51. In the upper MG turret of He 111 H-6 bomber some elements won’t visually jitter; 52. Damaged Pe-2 series 35 cockpit windows have a correct color; 53. Some of the Fokker D.VII airplane debris pieces won’t have extra engines visually attached to them; Aircraft AI corrections 54. An AI issue that could cause a fighter AI to be unable to engage a slowly moving target flying in a circle has been fixed; 55. An AI issue that could cause excessive error in aiming the forward firing armament at ground and air targets (especially in a frontal aerial attack) has been eliminated; 56. Heavy aircraft will use the differential brakes after landing correctly to turn to a taxiway, preventing unintentional turns; 57. An AI issue that could make the bombers unable to start a bombing run after a failed first bombing run has been fixed; 58. U-2VS AI pilot can fire unguided rockets at the ground targets; 59. AI pilots attacking a ground target from a high altitude will reduce the altitude in a downward spiral first; 60. AI pilots now try to reduce the G-load they experience in order to prevent loss of consciousness if their condition is deteriorated due to fatigue or other factors; Career mode improvements 61. An AI in Career mode won’t stuck at the first route waypoint after takeoff if its assigned target is very near (less than 5500 meters); 62. A random issue that could cause the bombers to stuck in a circle above the target area after dropping their bombs has been fixed; 63. Several typos in the Battle of the Rhine cutscenes were corrected; 64. Hurricane Mk.II fighters have been added to the Battle of Moscow Career mode, they are available in 5 squadrons: 1st GIAP (former 29th IAP), 67th IAP PVO, 157th IAP, 287th IAP, 736th IAP PVO; 65. Hurricane Mk.II fighters have been added to the Battle of Stalingrad Career mode, they are available in 2 squadrons: 651st IAP PVO and 629th IAP PVO; 66. There are now 13 additional subphases in the Rheinland Career frontline (18 different frontline positions according to the current career date in total); 67. Three American squadrons were added to the Rheinland Career, one of them is available for the player to join - 412th Fighter Squadron, 373rd FG (P-47s) and two are AI squadrons 410th Fighter Squadron, 373rd FG and 411th Fighter Squadron, 373rd FG; 68. 18 new target locations added for the following mission types in Rheinland Career: Ground Forces Support, Enemy Troops Concentration Attack, Enemy Troops Concentration Bombing Strike, Railway Junction Attack and Railway Junction Bombing Strike. Please discuss the update in this thread.

Dear Friends, It's the middle of Autumn already and the work on the project progresses well. For instance, the AI-controlled transport plane C-47A Skytrain (Dakota) for Battle of Normandy is almost ready and you'll get it in the next update. This WWII veteran served in air forces and civilian air fleets of many countries for several decades - one of the iconic symbols of the piston era of aviation. These aircraft played a tremendous role in the Battle of Normandy, dropping paratroopers, supplies and towing assault gliders. This legend will be finally reconstructed in our project, even if it is an AI only aircraft for now. Later on, when we complete another stage of the Career mode improvements, it will be used in this mode for transporting cargo loads, airdropping paratroopers and parachute supply containers for the troops on the front-lines. At the moment the new paratrooper model and its integration in the Career mode are not yet ready for Early Access, so this aircraft will be available in QMB and community-created custom missions as an ally or enemy loaded with cargo or parachute supply containers. The second hero of the day is the upcoming Collector Plane - the British Hawker Hurricane Mk.II fighter. This legendary early war aircraft saw much action in the Battle of Britain and later on the Eastern Front with the Red Army Air Force via the lend-lease program. This fighter actively participated in the Battle of Moscow and Battle of Stalingrad and the owners of this Collector Plane will be able to use it in the Battle of Moscow and Battle of Stalingrad careers in the coming update. There were many different modifications of this plane, the most interesting ones will be available in our sim: Hurricane Mk.IIa - default model with eight Browning .303 MGs; Hurricane Mk.IIb - modification with twelve (!) Browning .303 MGs; Hurricane Mk.IIc - modification with four 20mm Hispano Mk.II guns; Hurricane Mk.IId - two assault modifications with two Browning .303 MGs and two 40mm Vickers S Class guns, with or without additional armor plates; Hurricane Mk.II Soviet - modification armed with Soviet bombs, unguided rockets, two 12.7mm UBK MGs and two 20mm ShVAK cannons; In addition, either of the modifications listed above can be equipped with a Merlin engine with an additional boost, air cleaner for dusty conditions and rear-view mirror. The work on Tank Crew is continuing as well. The coming update will include very important changes for ground vehicle AI, both detailed and simpler modeled vehicles, making the AI gunner actions more realistic. To hit a target at a distance, they will usually bracket a target with gunfire as they find the proper range. Spotting a target to the side of the current aiming line will require more time the more distant it is. Both of these actions will depend on the AI proficiency level set in the mission. The AI gunner will also behave more naturally when the target is destroyed or no longer visible - it won't rotate the turret to the default position immediately, but will wait for some time, looking for more targets in the same general direction. Many smaller improvements and changes will be added as well, as we prepare Tank Crew for its official release. Enjoy!

Salute pilots! It’s been a year since we introduced a detailed human physiology model in our simulator. The model which takes into account the limits of human’s G-load tolerance, as well as a number of other factors affecting pilots in flight. This, of course, immediately and greatly changed the dynamics of air battles. They became much more realistic. After all, now, when performing an attack or a defensive maneuver, you have to take into account the fact that a living person with his natural physiological capabilities and limitations is sitting in the cockpit. And that any pilot, of course, gets tired of constantly maneuvering at high Gs. And in the end, there comes a moment when he just needs time to catch his breath and recover. We were interested in your opinion Over the past year, we have read a lot of your comments on the forums and collected a lot of feedback about this model. We have seen that this new and exciting aspect of dogfight has been very warmly received by the bulk of our community, and it's encouraging. While another part of the players asked us to make some changes to this model. In order to understand the situation, a month and a half ago we conducted a poll among players on the .com and .ru forums. What did the poll show? The poll results showed that 60% of players are quite happy with the current model (494 out of 821 unique users on both forums, excluding the extra 31 votes of those who voted twice, i.e. on two forums). And 40% of players would like us to make adjustments to this model. I had carefully read all your comments on the polls. In general, there were more players satisfied with the model on the Western forum, so I conducted a more detailed analysis of that thread and found that 63 out of 381 Western users who chose option 1 (“leave everything as it is”), nevertheless, in comments have written a number of requests for changes in the model. Thus, it became clear to us that the community was divided in opinions approximately 52/48. This means that we cannot leave this situation unattended and we need to think carefully about what can be improved in our model. Collecting new scientific data Over the course of this year, thanks a lot to you, our community, we have collected a large amount of new data from the field of aviation medicine and human physiology under extreme stress conditions (I would like to express special thanks to comrade @Floppy_Sock for the materials he found). This allowed us to take a fresh look at our physiology model and find ways to improve it. For example, a year ago, in my work on a physiology model, I relied mainly on the well-known monograph of the Russian scientist, professor, doctor of technical sciences Boris Abramovich Rabinovich “Human safety during acceleration (biomechanical analysis)”, 2007, where while talking about the duration of the G-loads a human can sustain, he refers to the famous article by Anne M. Stoll, "Human tolerance to positive G as determined by the physiological endpoints." ), published in The Journal of aviation medicine in 1956. This article provides a graph of time to loss of consciousness versus G-load. It is compiled on the basis of the results of 40 experiments,13 of which ended in loss of consciousness by attendants. However, recently we learned that in 2013 there was another article published on the BioMed Central portal in the Extreme Physiology & Medicine section: “The +Gz-induced loss of consciousness curve ”. Its authors, Typ Whinnery & Estrella M Forster, prove there the fallacy of the conclusions from the article of 1956, relying on much broader statistics: now they had already 888 cases of loss of consciousness by testees. These statistics were collected from 1978 to 1992 at a number of US research centers (USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, Texas and the Naval Air Warfare Center, Warminster, Pennsylvania). In particular, in their article Tip Whinnery and Estrella M. Foster argue that at high +Gz (that is, acting on the pilot in the "eyeballs down" direction), up to +11.7G, the subjects never lose consciousness earlier than 5 seconds after the start of acceleration, and on average statistically - only after 9 seconds after it. While in our current model, built on the basis of data from the sources published above, loss of consciousness occurs within 3-5 seconds at acceleration of more than 6-7G. Authors of the study explain this difference by the presence of a certain “functional buffer” of the brain, which prolongs the activity of the brain for a few seconds after the arterial systolic pressure at the level of the eyes (brain) drops to zero under the influence of extremely high Gs. In addition, many players asked us to reconsider the pilot's tolerance to large negative Gs (assuming that the deteriorating effect of negative Gs should be more pronounced). They also asked us to implement the so-called push-pull effect (PPE), which manifests itself in a noticeable and very dangerous short-term decrease in the +G tolerance immediately after a negative one. Many aviation accidents on maneuverable aircraft are associated with this notorious effect. Over the past year, we managed to find scientific materials about this effect, too: for example, an article published in 2011 on the scientific, technical and medical portal Springer, co-authored by a number of Chinese scientists “A centrifuge simulated push-pull manoeuvre with subsequent reduced + Gz tolerance ”. This and over three dozen other publications, NASA reports, scientific dissertations, and unique test materials that we have collected, gave us a large amount of numbers that we could rely on with greater confidence. And the need to simulate the above-mentioned phenomena presented me with the fact that it is not just about readjusting the coefficients of the current model. It became clear that the model would have to be built anew, with a more detailed account of all factors acting on an individual and an even more detailed simulation of physiological processes in his body. Today I am glad to tell you about the results of this work. First impressions The new pilot physiology model is currently undergoing a detailed and meticulous beta test. The first impression it invoked in our testers, and which, most likely, it will invoke in you, is “it became more forgiving”. After all, due to the appearance of the “functional buffer” of the brain, quick and short-term maneuvers at very high Gs have now become possible without immediate loss of consciousness. More details... For example, if by a one second long jerk one pulls +7-8Gs, then visual disturbances in the form of a "gray out" (which is loss of color perception) will now occur only 3.5 seconds after the beginning of acceleration. After another 1.8 seconds, the peripheral field of view (the so-called “tunnel vision”) will begin to narrow. The vision will be completely lost (“black out”) after another 2 seconds, that is, only 7.3 seconds after the start of the maneuver. And after another 1.6 seconds, G-LOC (G-induced loss of consciousness) will occur. It has also now become possible to perform, for example, a loop or a split-s with the initial and final G-loads of +5...+5.5Gs without loss of peripheral vision. But if these Gs are maintained during the maneuver for longer than 25 seconds, the “blacking out” will nevertheless begin to happen, and consciousness will be lost 32 seconds after the start of the maneuver. In general, at first you may really think that the pilot has become more resilient, and it has become easier to fight. Has it really become easier? But already after 2-3 days of “test flights” our testers found that the first impressions were somewhat optimistic. Yes, you can now actually “kink” the trajectory more sharp. Once, twice ... but you won't be able to maneuver for a long time, while constantly holding high Gs. You will have to reckon with fatigue and a decrease in the pilot's tolerance to G-forces during the battle, just as before. And just as before, you will have to plan well the trajectories of the fight, choosing the moments when to “pull” and when to let yourself catch your breath. About endurance and fatigue As I wrote above, we have collected a large amount of scientific data on a human's tolerance to +Gs and -Gs of different magnitude. Unfortunately, some of them are contradictory, and there is no one single model of the “average person” that would reliably describe our “average” endurance. In one source, you can find information that an experienced aerobatic pilot can withstand +2Gs only for 13 minutes, while in another source, you can find a figure that the + 3Gs are quite normally tolerated within an hour. At the same time, when we talk about larger Gs values, the numbers from different sources become closer to each other. But still, this subject has some field open for discussion. Therefore, the endurance of our pilot to long-term G-loads, as well as to cyclic G-loads in the new model is adjusted both taking into account reliably known data from various publications, and based on the impressions of real pilots with aerobatic experience. We have involved military pilots and pilots flying on sports aircraft in testing. They all praised the results achieved, and admit that the model reproduces their own feelings quite closely. What else I think that many players will be especially pleased with the fact that the new model now contains several interesting phenomena that have been simulated thanks to a more detailed calculation of physiological parameters. PPE For example, the push-pull effect. If you pull a high positive Gs immediately after the action of any prolonged negative Gs (of which only three to five seconds is enough), then visual impairments will come faster than usual, at noticeably less G-load. To the extent that such a maneuver can lead to an unexpected LOC. The greater the negative G was and the longer it lasted, the more noticeable this effect will be. But just a few seconds of a pause after a negative Gs is enough: the cardiovascular system will have time to adjust and will be ready again to normally sustain positive Gs. This effect is due to the fact that with a negative G, blood intensively rushes to the head, and the body reacts to this by rapid vasodilation, seeking to reduce cerebral pressure. And if, in such a state, a large positive G is immediately pulled, then the vessels will take time to narrow again and maintain the now falling blood pressure at the level of the brain. At this moment, a quick crisis comes. Warming up effect Also, thanks to the improved calculation of vascular response, the new model has a “warming up” effect. It is when the first short maneuver at high +Gs is tolerated worse than the subsequent ones. It is also related to the compensatory response of the cardiovascular system, which needs time to “warm up” in order to maintain sufficient blood pressure in the head. If you pull, for example, +6G in one-two seconds, withstand it for five seconds (this is when you will get the partial “tunnel vision” effect), then reduce to 1G, pause for five seconds, and then create the same +6G for the same five seconds again at the same rate, then in the second case there will be no “tunnel vision” effect. But the same maneuver made third in a row will again lead to a partial "tunnel vision". But this is already because of a decrease in the tolerance limit due to excessively intense load without sufficient recovery time. Backrest angle Over the past year, there were many attempts by some players to prove that there are differences in the endurance of the pilots of one or another coalition. Although the physiological model of a pilot was the same and did not depend in any way on the plane in which he was sitting. However, now in the new model of physiology, while still remaining the common model for every pilot, the peculiarities of the aircraft cockpit in which the pilot sits are taken into account. Namely, we are talking about the backrest angle. As you know, tilting the seat back significantly increases the pilot's tolerance to G-load. This is due to a decrease in the difference in hydrostatic blood pressure between the heart’s level and the head’s (eyes) level. For example, tilting the seat back by 30° increases the maximum G-load-sustaining capacity by about 15%. Many researchers also attach importance to the position of the legs. For example, the Spitfire even had two pedal positions: a lower one for normal flight and a higher one for aerobatics. It was assumed that in the elevated position of the legs, the outflow of blood from the head to the legs decreases under the action of +Gs. However, a number of experiments have shown that this effect is negligible, and, nevertheless, the angle of inclination of the pilot's upper body plays a much larger role. The new model takes this angle into account, which on all highly maneuverable aircraft in our simulator ranges from 0 ° (MC.202 series VIII) to 22.5 ° (MiG-3), averaging about 10-15° for different planes. AGS In the current physiology model the effect of the anti-G-suit (AGS) was simulated empirically, based on statistical data. In the new model, a detailed calculation of the suit’s pressurisation dynamics and the effect of this boost on the hemodynamics of the pilot's blood pressure is performed. Several mathematical models of this phenomenon can be found in scientific research, and all of them give, on average, results that are in good agreement with the tests for modern AGSs. In our new model, we used the characteristics of suits from the 40s, which gives us confidence that this aspect is now modeled even more authentically. AGSM In the scientific literature, the term "anti-g straining maneuver" (AGSM) refers to a set of special measures that a pilot applies in order to temporarily increase his tolerance to G-load. This is a special type of breathing (you are familiar, of course, with it from the current version of the simulator), as well as tension in the muscles of the legs, butt and abdominal press. A well-trained pilot who has undergone special training in a centrifuge, using AGSM, is able to increase his G-load tolerance limit by 2 to 4G! It is not easy and requires a lot of physical effort. If the AGSM is performed incorrectly, then the effectiveness of such a technique is sharply reduced. As you know, during the World War II, pilots did not undergo special training on centrifuges, and were not trained to perfectly perform AGSM as modern fighter pilots are. But even then it was known that the tension of the muscles of the press and legs together with strained breathing allows one to endure higher Gs. Taking these facts into account, the pilot in our game (just as before) performs the AGSM not “excellently”, but “somehow”. This increases his tolerance limit for prolonged G-loads from 5.5G in a relaxed position (statistics are on the chart below) to 6.7G. This is about 0.4-0.5G more than in the current model. Such a slight increase in the limit of the maximum tolerated long-term positive G-load, however, will now make it possible to maintain a g-load of +6G with a partially narrowed peripheral field of view, up to a complete loss of vision within 18 seconds. Loss of consciousness under this Gs will occur in another 2 seconds. (all pictures are clickable) At the same time, I hasten to inform you that the annoying bug of “double breathing” (duplicate overlay sounds), which sometimes appeared in our game, will now be fixed. Visual effects I would especially like to mention that the effects of visual impairment have also been readjusted. I personally have been flying aerobatics in ultralight and light sport aircrafts for many years, but over the past year I got a new aerobatic experience, now with high G-loads on the Yak-52 sports airplane. Therefore, I now know firsthand what all phases of visual impairment look like from the beginning of the “gray out” appearance, then through a “tunnel vision” and, as a result, almost to a “blacking out”. As they say, a real picture is worth a thousand words. So now in the new model the manifestation of such effects as loss of color, “blurring”, “tunnel vision”, - very accurately correspond to what I see with my own eyes in real flights, if I perform a maneuver with a long-term 5.5 to 6Gs. Other pilots who have tested the new model also agree with this visualization. The red-eye visual effect under the influence of negative Gs, has also been slightly enhanced: Visual disorders dynamics Additionally, in our new model, the delay between the moment the G-load is reduced and the restoration of vision after visual disturbances will be shorter. From my own experience, I would say that now this delay in visual reactions better corresponds to reality. Also, the time between the complete loss of vision (“black out”) and the loss of consciousness has been brought into better agreement with the research results, and now is about 2 seconds, in rare cases reaching 8-9 seconds. By the way, in the current (older) model, this time ranges from 0.2-0.8 seconds under 6G and higher to dozens of seconds under less Gs. As you can imagine, this change will allow you to better anticipate the moment of G-LOC and to fly near this border with more confidence. I also corrected the effect of temporary and more severe visual impairment, which happens if you pull a high +Gs on the first maneuver with an abrupt jerk (when the pilot was not "warmed up" yet). This effect is associated with the already mentioned above feature of the cardiovascular system hemodynamics. It takes some time for the vessels to "mobilize" and respond to the sudden increase in G-load with an increase in blood pressure. After 5 to 7 seconds from the start of such an abrupt maneuver, while the blood pressure is still "lagging" behind the G-load, the pilot gets a more apparent temporary visual impairment. But after another 3 to 5 seconds, the blood pressure rises enough and the visual function improves. If the Gs are not pulled abruptly, but are rather gradually increased over 5 to 7 seconds, then such a temporary "crisis" of vision can be avoided. This is exactly what is implemented in the new model more clearly than in the current one. Disorientation effect We already have implemented in our older model the "motion sickness" or disorientation effect which was happening in the case of frequent changes in the Gs direction or sign-changing angular velocities. Now this effect will come even faster in order to better imitate the discomfort pilot suffers under alternating positive and negative G-forces. I will not say that the “wobbling” or "dolphin" is physically unbearable. I myself tried to do it in real flight. But it's really damn unpleasant, and I prefer to not do that anymore. Also, this disorientation effect will now come along with the period of recovery after G-LOC (the so-called period of relative incapacitation). It will also manifest itself when approaching the border of LOC, foreshadowing it. Taking into account that, in the new model, loss of consciousness under prolonged G-loads of less than +4..+4.5G will now occur without an obvious tunneling effect, this “dizziness” together with “defocusing” of vision will become a good indicator for you that you are already on the edge. Fatigue indicator By the way, about the fatigue indicator. We decided to heed the popular request and add a G-load induced fatigue indicator to the simple instruments in GUI. When you set the difficulty to “Normal”, you will see a small white triangle in the lower left corner of the G-meter in the GUI. The more your pilot is worn out by the G-forces, the smaller this little triangle will become. Thus, it will give you a rough idea of your current state. As I have repeatedly written on our forum, a real pilot cannot predict in advance what Gs he can sustain during the next maneuver and for how long. He, of course, roughly understands how tired he is. Therefore, this indicator will give you only an approximate idea of the current physical condition of the pilot. When you set the “Expert” difficulty, you will not have this indicator. As a result Ultimately, the new improved version of the pilot's physiology model turned out to be more interesting, detailed, taking into account new important factors and, as a consequence, more “vital” and corresponding to reality. All tests, including the ones with the participation of real pilots, indicate that this model will be the next important step in the development of our simulator, and the realism of air battles will again be raised to the next step with it. This model will get to your computers very soon, along with the next update of the game. Sincerely, Principal software engineer Andrey (An.Petrovich) Solomykin

Dear friends, Today we'll continue to show you the progress of the aircraft currently in development. The hero of the day is two-seater this time, twin-engine fighter/bomber De Havilland Mosquito F.B.Mk.VI Series II we're making for Battle of Normandy. This famous and popular WWII British RAF plane had an unusual and distinct look (well, the same can be said about most British aircraft). But it's interesting not only because of its appearance - it reached high speeds in its class despite being partly wooden. Moreover, it kept its high-speed capability even when carrying bombs thanks to the internal bomb bay. 2000 pounds of bombs, four 20mm guns and four 7.69mm MGs the Mosquito carried made him a dangerous adversary for the enemy. In our sim, there will be additional weapon modifications available - eight RP-3 unguided rockets and 57mm anti-tank gun (!). Here are the first 3D renders of this bird of prey at its current development stage: The recently announced player controllable mobile AA guns are also showing good progress. Along with the work on their visual models, we're improving the realistic physics model of the wheeled ground vehicles movement even more. And don't forget about their crews as well:

Attention All Pilots and Tankers! We are excited to announce the newest additions to IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles line-up – the Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 and GAZ-MM 72-K vehicle mounted anti-aircraft guns! These two unique and deadly vehicles are our first Collector Vehicles and they will bring a new type of gameplay to the Great Battles series. Now your airfield or supply column can be protected by actual humans driving or manning these rapid fire and deadly AAA batteries! Our awesome partners at DigitalForms, the same team who built our amazing tanks for Tank Crew, are once again lending their considerable modeling talents to the GAZ-MM 72-K and Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38. When completed this will no doubt be must-haves for your IL-2 collection! Pre-Sales of these vehicles are NOW AVAILABLE in the IL-2 Official Webstore. Regular price is $24.99, but pre-orders are available for just $19.99! The GAZ-MM 72-K is tentatively scheduled for release by the end of the year and the Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 by Q2 2021. GAZ-MM 72-K (25mm) Vehicle Mounted Anti-Aircraft Gun The GAZ-MM was a double-axle 1.5-ton truck used for both general purpose and specialized purposes by the Soviet Union during WWII. It was a licensed copy of the American built Ford-AA truck, albeit a simpler version with a more powerful motor than the original GAZ-AA truck. At the outbreak of WWII the Soviet Union had over 150,000 vehicles in use and by the end of it’s production run there were nearly 1 million vehicles built. During the war, several different versions of the GAZ-MM appeared, some with no doors, bumpers and some with no front brakes and only one headlight. These changes were made to keep production costs and time as simple as possible. It was a rugged truck and served the Soviet Union well during the war. The Soviet 25mm automatic air-defense gun M1940 or 72-K as it was known was designed for protecting infantry units from air attack. It was normally mounted on a four-wheeled carriage that could be towed by a truck or other vehicle. It had a slant range of up to 2.4km and could hit aerial targets up to 2km in altitude. The gun could also be used against ground targets and light vehicles if necessary. It was manned by a six-person crew and was an automatic weapon with rounds loaded from the top via a feeding mechanism. The 72-K saw extensive use by the Soviet Union’s armed forces for many years only being finally phased out in the 1960s. When loaded into the bed of a GAZ-MM truck it becomes a mobile AAA battery allowing you to protect an armored column, supply convoy, infantry unit or a stationary target like an airbase with accurate and deadly fire. Our GAZ-MM 72-K can be used in both single-player and multiplayer scenarios and it will include several custom-made missions to demonstrate its ability at knocking down enemy planes! Sd.Kfz. 10/5 Flak 38 (20mm) Vehicle Mounted Anti-Aircraft Gun *Development pictures not yet available. The Sd.Kfz. 10 or Sonderkraftfahrzeug (special motorized vehicle) was a German half-track that saw action throughout World War II and on all fronts in Europe and North Africa. Its main role was as a prime mover for small towed guns or liquid agents and it could also carry eight troops. Different models could be specialized for a wide range of duties. It was powered by a Maybach 6-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine. It had a semi-automatic Maybach Variorex-transmission with seven forward and three reverse gears. It could attain 65 km/h (40 mph), while the cruising speed was 45 km/h (28 mph). Steering was performed by both the front wheels and caterpillar threads. Shallow turns were done using the front wheels and sharper turns were done using the treads with one braking like a tank would. Sd.Kfz. 10 /5 carried the Flak 38 anti-aircraft gun in its rear bed and fired a 20mm projectile. The Flak 38 was an improvement over the older Flak 30 design and it had a rate of fire of 220 rounds per minute and weighed 420 Kilograms. Its use was ubiquitous throughout the war in all German theaters of operation and was the most produced artillery piece of the war by the Germans. Later designs mounted four Flak 38 cannons together for an added punch. The Flak 38 could also be towed by trucks or other vehicles when not mounted on Sd.Kfz. 10 half-tracks. In the right hands this gun was deadly to low flying Allied fighters. Our Sd.Kfz. 10 /5 Flak 38 can be used in both single-player and multiplayer scenarios and it will include several custom-made missions to showcase its ability to protect its airspace! We hope you will like these new vehicles! The Sturmovik Team