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View File Operation Desert Storm: 30th Anniversary Edition Welcome To Duty Built with the extraordinary expertise and dedication of modders from CombatACE.com, Operation Desert Storm – 30th Anniversary Edition promises to be the most complete total conversion ever made for Strike Fighters 2 by ThirdWire. Fly with more than 50 aircraft ranging from Cold War relics to the most advanced platforms. Gain air superiority in the mighty F-15C Eagle or challenge the Coalition with the agile Fulcrum. Support troops with the A-10A Thunderbolt II, bomb strategic targets with the stealthy F-117A Nighthawk, lead airfield denial operations in the iconic Tornado. Enjoy a beautifully rendered scenario on a scaled and accurate terrain. Fly over the lakes and rivers of Mesopotamia, the oil-rich fields of Kuwait, the mountains of Iran and Turkey. Take-off from aircraft carriers stationed in the Persian Gulf to watch over Kuwaiti oil rigs. Perform landings and patrols in more than 90 airports and air bases in the Middle East. Take part in different campaigns including the Iraqi blitzkrieg on Kuwait and the US-led liberation of the Kuwaiti Emirate. Discover how the Iraqi Army was one of the biggest in the world, through the eyes of American, British, Canadian, French, Italian and Arab pilots. Test your skills and abilities flying for the Iraqi Air Force during all stages of the conflict. Thirty years after, Operation Desert Storm still remains the largest air operation of modern warfare to date. Modders and flight sim enthusiasts at CombatACE teamed up to bring you a unique product in the lite flight sim world. Exquisitely detailed aircraft and paint schemes are delivered in a well-researched and thorough order of battle. The ODS 30th AE Development team would like to thank CombatACE.com, its admins, moderators and contributors. We are sure you will enjoy and appreciate this high-quality freeware product. From the aviation enthusiasts, to the aviation enthusiasts... and for the pilots of tomorrow. Minimum Requirements Required products from ThirdWire: Strike Fighters 2, July 2013 patch Strike Fighters 2: Israel, July 2013 patch Strike Fighters 2: North Atlantic, July 2013 patch Full support for: Mission Editor DLC Campaign Customizer DLC System specs: OS: Windows 7 x86 Processor: Dual Core 2.7 GHz Memory: 4.0 GB RAM Hard Drive: 17.0 GB Free Space Video Card: 1024 MB DirectX 10 Sneak Peek Disclaimer CombatACE.com shall at all times retain ownership of the Software as originally downloaded by you and all subsequent downloads of the Software by you. The Software (and the copyright, and other intellectual property rights of whatever nature in the Software, including any modifications made thereto) are and shall remain the property of CombatACE.com and of the respective developers/modders. In no event, unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, shall CombatACE.com, or any person be liable for any loss, expense or damage, of any type or nature arising out of the use of, or inability to use this installer or program, including, but not limited to, claims, suits or causes of action involving alleged infringement of copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, or unfair competition. The Operation Desert Storm: 30th Anniversary Edition modification does NOT comply with CombatACE's Freeware Licensing. Various contents of this modification are exclusive, as such you are NOT allowed to share, redistribute and/or make use of the mod and/or its contents for other purposes, without the consent of the mod's developers. Contents of the modification are the copyright of their respective authors. Notes about the installer Beware, the mod is available only in the ISO format. You can either mount it on a virtual drive, burn it on a DVD like in the good old days, or unzip it with 7-Zip or equivalent software. The installer will automatically detect your installation of the required Strike Fighters 2 games by reading through the registry keys. Game folders that are copied from or manually moved from where they were originally installed are not supported. You need all three aforementioned Strike Fighters 2 games and they must be installed with ThirdWire's original installers, not manually copied from other sources nor moved elsewhere after installation to other folders or drives. If you do not meet any of these requirements, installation cannot proceed and you are on your own. If you install all required games properly, the installation of the mod will proceed correctly as intended. The installer then lets you choose where to install the mod folder; you can even install the mod on a different drive or partition than the one where Strike Fighters 2 is installed. No further user input nor manual edits after installation are ever required; the installer takes care of creating all proper links to your desired path for the mod folder. After installation is over, simply run the mod by using the created Desktop and/or Start Menu links. If you have a previous version of the mod installed, please use the uninstaller to remove it completely. Clean installation is mandatory. You might want to make a backup of the Controls folder, so that you can easily restore your controller settings afterwards. Suggestions on common issues Make sure that you are using your dedicated GPU. By default, Strike Fighters 2 usually selects the integrated GPU you may have on your CPU, which is much weaker in terms of VRAM. In case you have frequent crashes or black/missing textures, I highly suggest you download and install the DXVK graphics wrapper (x86 DLLs) into your Strike Fighters 2 game folder: https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk. You need a Vulkan-compatible GPU. The wrapper can greatly improve the experience with the mod. With DXVK I can play the mod on a mere Intel UHD 710, whereas without it the mod would always crash to desktop. Go to Sound and set Sound Channels to 32. We got reports that 16 is not enough and will cause crashes on some systems, due to the higher quality sounds included within the mod. The mod is pretty heavy for the game engine despite huge optimizations. Strike Fighters 2's engine is 32bit only and apparently does not manage VRAM properly; consecutive campaign missions might show black/missing textures on objects or cause crashes to desktop because the game does not release the occupied VRAM from the previous mission you played, thus the more missions are loaded consecutively, the more easily you may run out of memory. Set Ground Objects to Medium or Low, Horizon Distance to Near, and Shadows to Medium or Low. These are the most troubling settings. Avoid Unlimited settings as much as possible. If the mod used to work and suddenly crashes to desktop, updating or reinstalling video drivers should help. Make sure that DirectX June 2010 Redistributables are also installed, they are included inside the ISO disk image of the mod. Inside the mod folder, you'll find some extra text files. "(Coalition Order of Battle)" should be of your interest; the mod's terrain covers the entirety of Iraq, at the cost of not having all of Saudi Arabia; this means that a number of important units are based on airbases that are beyond the in-game playable area. With those units you always spawn near the target area, you'll never get to start from a runway nor to land on the assigned runway beyond the invisible wall. You have an entire list of the affected units in the aforementioned text file. By pressing ALT+N, the plane returns to base automatically. The mod is fully compatible with the Campaign Customizer and Mission Editor DLCs by ThirdWire. The Campaign Customizer might be an alternative way to experience those off map units I mentioned previously, since it assigns you to a random airbase of the in-game flyable area. Escort missions are often broken, this is not an issue of the mod, but a bug of the stock game; sometimes the AI flight you escort does not engage its target and keeps flying in a straight line instead of following waypoints, thus the trigger for mission success will never happen. Abandon the mission or retry it if the issue happens, sometimes it works. Pray for ThirdWire AKA Tsuyoshi Kawahito to work on a 64bit version of Strike Fighters 2, maybe even with support for DirectX 12. With that done, any out of memory issues should become an old memory. Submitter Menrva Submitted 01/16/2021 Category User Made Campaigns

View File Su-27 Fictional Skins: US Navy Volume III - Adversaries This is a collection of 13 skins of the Su-27 Flanker in US Navy and Marine Corps Adversary paint schemes. Commands represented are: VFC-12 Fighting Omars VFC-13 Saints VMFT-401 Snipers Naval Strike Air Warfare Center (NSAWC, parent command of TOPGUN) The pack includes various combinations of camouflage and splinter patterns in air superiority blue, desert, arctic, woodland and one Su-34 fullback paint scheme based on a 2016 VFC-12 endeavor. Most markings have been westernized, and the pilots have been given USN/USMC flightsuits with Naval Aviator wings and squadron patches. The helmet remains Russian made. Be sure to download Volumes I and II: Volume I Volume II For Compact Installations - A Note About Autoexec.cfg: Rather than copying texture files to their respective livery folders, I prefer to use a series of common texture folders along with unique filenames. This allows a single instance of many of my common textures, and keeps the hard drive footprint to a minimum (especially nice if you run a SSD for your system drive). The installer will add a series of folders to the DCS Texture path; if you do not have these folders created, then it is no problem. The autoexec.cfg included will automatically point to the Texture folder in your Saved Games\DCS folder, and regardless of whether you run the Open Alpha, Open Beta, or Release version of DCS, the path will always point to your Saved Games\DCS\Texture folder. Again, this saves space on your hard drive. If you use your own Autoexec.cfg, then when prompted to overwrite you can click "no". This will create a file called autoexec.new, and you can manually make the updates as you like. Just don't modify the top line with the file date; this is used by the installer for version control. However, feel free to include it in your existing autoexec.cfg, so you don't get prompted to overwrite until there's another update to the autoexec.cfg. If you inadvertently overwrite your autoexec.cfg, it is actually backed up as autoexec.old. Just open it and copy the appropriate information to the new file. For Traditional Installations: If there is an issue with textures not displaying, it is likely a problem with the installer. Please let me know what textures are missing so that I can troubleshoot the issue. If you have any squadron requests, please PM me. If possible, provide top and profile views of the aircraft, preferably line art (much easier to extract color), and for CAG/CO birds, a close up of the tail fin is greatly appreciated. You are free to use any of these skins in other projects as long as proper credit is provided in the readme file. Fly Navy! -Home Fries Submitter HomeFries Submitted 01/21/2017 Category Su-27 Skins  

Fans of ThirdWire's Strike Fighters, I'm glad to announce the Christmas release of Operation Desert Storm: 30th Anniversary Edition. This huge and quality total conversion has seen two Early Access releases this year, one back in January 16th and the other on August 2nd. Once available to site subscribers only, now we offer an updated version of the package to all CombatACE users as our Christmas gift, regardless of a subscription. There have been usual bug fixes and important improvements since the last release. Make sure to read the change log and all the details in the mod's download page once it's approved. You are not required to own a subscription, but keep in mind that the mod is distributed in a hefty, yet highly compressed 3GB installer which contains 15GB of contents. You will need a stable internet connection in order to download it. The mod cannot and will not be offered in a different form. A subscription grants you unlimited number of downloads for its duration and will support the site's hosting costs. The Operation Desert Storm: 30th Anniversary Edition modification does NOT comply with CombatACE's Freeware Licensing. Various contents of this modification are exclusive, as such you are NOT allowed to share, redistribute and/or make use of the mod and/or its contents for other purposes, without the consent of the mod's developers. Contents of the modification are the copyright of their respective authors. My personal thanks to the ODS 30AE Development Team, you guys keep inspiring me with your great works and continuous support! And special thanks to @Erik and to all admins and moderators of this great place that is CombatACE. Happy Holidays, pilots of the virtual skies!

Welcome To Duty Built with the extraordinary expertise and dedication of modders from CombatACE.com, Operation Desert Storm – 30th Anniversary Edition promises to be the most complete total conversion ever made for Strike Fighters 2 by ThirdWire. Fly with more than 50 aircraft ranging from Cold War relics to the most advanced platforms. Gain air superiority in the mighty F-15C Eagle or challenge the Coalition with the agile Fulcrum. Support troops with the A-10A Thunderbolt II, bomb strategic targets with the stealthy F-117A Nighthawk, lead airfield denial operations in the iconic Tornado. Enjoy a beautifully rendered scenario on a scaled and accurate terrain. Fly over the lakes and rivers of Mesopotamia, the oil-rich fields of Kuwait, the mountains of Iran and Turkey. Take-off from aircraft carriers stationed in the Persian Gulf to watch over Kuwaiti oil rigs. Perform landings and patrols in more than 90 airports and air bases in the Middle East. Take part in different campaigns including the Iraqi blitzkrieg on Kuwait and the US-led liberation of the Kuwaiti Emirate. Discover how the Iraqi Army was one of the biggest in the world, through the eyes of American, British, Canadian, French, Italian and Arab pilots. Test your skills and abilities flying for the Iraqi Air Force during all stages of the conflict. Thirty years after, Operation Desert Storm still remains the largest air operation of modern warfare to date. Modders and flight sim enthusiasts at CombatACE teamed up to bring you a unique product in the lite flight sim world. Exquisitely detailed aircraft and paint schemes are delivered in a well-researched and thorough order of battle. The ODS 30th AE Development team would like to thank CombatACE.com, its admins, moderators and contributors. We are sure you will enjoy and appreciate this high-quality freeware product. From the aviation enthusiasts, to the aviation enthusiasts... and for the pilots of tomorrow. Minimum Requirements Required products from ThirdWire: Strike Fighters 2 Strike Fighters 2: Israel Strike Fighters 2: North Atlantic Full support for: Mission Editor DLC Campaign Customizer DLC System specs: OS: Windows 7 x86 Processor: Dual Core 2.7 GHz Memory: 4.0 GB RAM Hard Drive: 17.0 GB Free Space Video Card: 1024 MB DirectX 10 Sneak Peek A Note from Menrva I started this project back in May of 2020. When I invited some of the most renowned modders to contribute to it, I would have never expected such an amazing support from many of them. After roughly 8 months of development, we have produced a high-quality total conversion for Strike Fighters 2, all for free. Driven by passion and teamwork, we managed to achieve new heights and set new standards; this modification is most likely the most complete ever anthology of the Gulf War in any flight sim to date. 2020 has been a difficult year for so many all over the world due to an unprecedented pandemic. It has been a very difficult year for me as well, unrelated to the pandemic. I am extremely proud of what I started, but without the support of the team I managed to form, I would have never accomplished this amazing modding project with success. I want to dedicate this to my beloved girlfriend, Alessandra. With her love and support, I have come to realize my potential and value as a human being. Così adesso lo sai... Download Rights In accordance with the owner and admins of CombatACE.com, the ODS 30th AE Development Team decided to offer the mod in Early Access to all contributors of the site (modders and subscribers alike). Revenue generated by the release in the form of download subscriptions will be used toward the regular monthly operating costs of CombatACE. Modders individually will not be profiting from their work released here. This is our thank you to the community who has supported us throughout the years and to the site for which we are greatly appreciative. A minimum of a 1 month subscription plan is required for download access. Available January 17th, 2021.

USS Bon Homme Richard is on fire in San Diego after an explosion aboard. The LHD assault ship was in for maintenance when a "High Order Detonation" was reported inside the ship's dock bay and hanger. There was only a duty section of sailors aboard at the time. The fire is horrendous, made even worse by the fact that the ship is fully exposed...hatches open, vents open....no sailors on board to set Zebra or go to General Quarters. Fire scanner calls the ship "fully involved" https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/u-s-navy-confirms-ship-on-fire-at-san-diego-calif-base-87550533970 As of this moment, SDFD has ordered all assets to evacuate the pier next to the ship fearing further explosions.

View File Alternative F-4G(B) skin Hi, Just something I whipped up real fast after I saw the loading screen of the renewed F-4G (65-66 USN)... I noticed it wasn't overall green, but resembled the lizard scheme very much. So I fiddled around with some different available skins (I think the lizard skin is TW and other parts came from the green standard skin of the aircraft) and quickly made this to add some variation in an almost real life manner... Credits and thanks to Wrench and Kevin Stein for the F-4G USN Submitter Muesli Submitted 08/31/2019 Category F-4  

A mission editor template I created for the a modern United States Navy Carrier Battle Group (CBG) in Digital Combat Simulator (DCS). Notes: This template is supposed to represent a current CBG using whatever is available in DCS. Since the game does not have the F/A-18E/F model of the Hornet, legacy "C" model of the hornet is used to fill up the flight deck (since the Navy became an "all Hornet" force with their "Neck-Down" strategy).[/size] *Only F/A-18A+/Cs of the United States Marine Corps are on deck. A carrier air wing may have one or two attached Marine Corps Aviation squadrons of F/A-18s on board (if resources are available) among the 6 to 7 squadron of fixed-wing aircraft assigned to a carrier (usually all F-18s except for the E-2C/D). However, since the USN decided to remove all legacy F/A-18s from front-line and carrier service in early 2018 (due to aircraft age, maintenance, and budget constraints) and the Marine Corps is finally getting replacement F/A-18 A/B/C/D air frames and parts (ex-Navy air frames), I decided to make this an all USMC air wing. *The deck is in a launch and recovery configuration. There are no planes parked on the forward cats (cats 1 and 2). Cats 3 and 4 are also free for use (there are aircraft parked close enough to waist cats to get blown over). *No aircraft or rotors should be over the foul lines. Enough of the carrier's aircraft are gone (i.e. out on a operation) but enough are on deck for immersion. *CH-53Es are on deck for vertical replenishment or troop transport. *The frigate (no USN destroyers in DCS) and cruiser escorts have two anti-ship/anti-sub helos that they can share. The escort ships are arranged in a screen but one can be moved closer for "plane guard" launch or recovery operations via the editor. The file can be found here: [/size]http://www.lockonfiles.com/files/file/3559-uss-john-c-stennis-cbg-template/ Different "modern" eras can be created using the same template. *The EA-6B and MH-60 are the only USN aircraft missing from DCS at the moment. For the late 1990s-early 2000s place one or two F-14 squadrons near the fantail with at least three to four S-3Bs on deck.

Ahh that old familiar tale you say - of course, in the late 1960s the F-4 Phantom II finally had a gun installed, which meant that everything was better, magical unicorns danced around the sky and the Vietnamese MiGs would fall from the sky in droves! Okay so that didn’t quite happen….......what did? Note - These articles are a compacted summary of a rather massive topic and will discuss the F-4 and Guns in Vietnam mostly ignoring missiles. Vietnam will be used instead of SEA. And USN includes the US Marines for simplicity. Very different F-4s and Air Forces (USAF v USN) Firstly, with different equipment, ideas and ways of doing things the United States pretty much had different Air Forces in the US Navy (USN) and the US Air Force (USAF), so it is important to draw a big red line between them with a quick summary: US Navy F-4 Versions in Vietnam F-4B (F4H-1) – Second F-4 version but first major production version of the F-4. F-4J - Improved F-4B Major Differences compared to the USAF Air to Air Refueling with Drogue and Basket Use of AIM-9B/D/G/H versions of Sidewinder only as Short Range Missile. Never fitted Guns, and only rare use of the MK4 gun pod (mostly Air to Ground use). Internal ECM equipment. Different Radars (AN/APQ-72, -59 & AWG-10 Pulse Doppler) Had no flight controls in the back seat In 1972 preferred used of AIM-9G/H Sidewinder over AIM-7E-2 Sparrow Used more flexible Loose Deuce A-A formation tactics Carrier and land based (Marines) USN F-4J refueling drogue and chute style (USN) USAF F-4 Versions in Vietnam F-4C (F-110A) – Based on the F-4B with USAF changes. F-4D – Improved F-4C. F-4E – This is the (only) F-4 with the internal Gun. Major Differences compared to the US Navy Air to Air Refueling with Boom Used AIM-9B/E/J versions of Sidewinder Used AIM-4D Falcon for periods over the AIM-9 on F-4D/E External Podded ECM equipment Different Radars (AN/APQ-100, -109 & -120 ) Use of Gun Pods (SUU-16 & SUU-23) Had some flight controls in the back seat In 1972 preferred use of AIM-7E-2 Sparrow over AIM-9 / AIM-4 Insisted on sticking to the obsolete / useless fluid four (Welded Wing) A-A formation tactics right to the end. USAF F-4 nears the boom of a KC-135 in 1967 (USAF) Why no gun on the F-4 to start with? On the 18th September 1947 the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) became the USAF and with the limited budget constraints after WWII, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was seen as security priority and was thus given the major funding over the Tactical Air Forces (TAF). SAC culture dominated the USAF in the early years along with its doctrine of strategic nuclear bombing with massive manned bombers. Tactical Fighters (F-100/F-101 etc) under this emphasis on SAC now had two roles: Defend against enemy bombers as interceptors. (Air Defence Command / ADC) Low level delivery of tactical Nukes. (Tactical Air Forces / TAF) Apparently, Korea never happened because by the late 1950s bombing a target in a fighter within 750ft was more then good enough (with a Nuclear weapon) so not only conventional Air to Air training went out the window but also conventional bombing! One Air Force general noted about this period, General (Curtiss) LeMay had deliberately loaded the Air Staff with bomber guys, who were not well acquainted with things like air superiority or air-to-air combat, and who wanted to destroy enemy aircraft on their airfields. In 1957, LeMay actually tried to eliminate the TAF, but the possibility of the Army developing its tactical air support arm overrode this idea, and later that year LeMay reluctantly gave the TAF more funds to keep its mission from being turned over to the Army. Who needs fighters anyway? - the B-36 Peacemaker takes its toddler son for a walk in 1948 (USAF) Some of this thinking was perhaps driving the US Navy with their F4 program in the 1950s. The USN had a requirement to intercept Soviet bombers attacking the fleet above 50,000ft out of the range of gun armed fighters and thus from 1956 the AIM-7 Sparrow III was to be the primary weapon with a gun as secondary. By 1957 however the gun was deleted from the design because the new AIM-9 Sidewinder was to be the secondary weapon. Feeling in the USAF really was in some respects that the day of the gun had past, working at the Pentagon in Air Force Operations as a colonel in the early 1960s, Maj Gen Richard Catledge recounted his Pentagon experience with the antigun sentiment and General Momyer: I realized this two-star, General “Spike” Momyer[,] ran the Air Staff—very strongminded individual, very knowledgeable individual, who did his homework on everything. . . . It was his belief and his concept that future airplanes would not have guns in them. There was no need for guns. I couldn’t believe this when I came across it in the Pentagon. So I built a flip chart briefing, with my convictions, why we needed guns, more for air-to-air than for air-to-ground. . . . Anyway, I found it was an uphill fight. That every colonel, every major, in requirements, whose business I was getting into, believed as their boss did. So I really went uphill. I built my chart, got my ducks all lined up, and went to my boss, [Major General] Jamie Gough, and gave him that briefing. He said, “Well, it’s a good story, . . . [but] you are going to have to run this by Spike Momyer, and I’m not going with you.” . . . So I went up, got the appointment, put my stand in front of his [Momyer’s] desk, and started in telling him why we needed guns in airplanes. Well at one point in this—he stopped me several times and gave me a few words on why we did not, and [that] essentially missiles had taken over. Missiles had taken over for air-to-air . . . and other kinds of munitions [had taken over] for air-to-ground, so there really was no need [for obsolete guns]. Well, I thought I had a pretty good argument, but didn’t convince him. I remember he’d beat on his table and say, “There will be a gun in the F-4 over my dead body.” That was his attitude. Seems strange that despite the many limitations of missiles then, such as they couldn't be used at the close ranges guns were used at, and they had no way to ID aircraft Beyond Visual Range makes it look at if Momyer was towing a party agenda for flashy new technology. [Even if the technology was crap] The USAF took on the F-4 as part of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara’s drive to get the services to use standard equipment with commonality. He was also interested in the conventional side of things and saw both the A-G potential as well as the A-A potential and thus the USAF received the F-4C (originally designated F-110A). (Note: yes this was potentially one of the few things McNamara did that wasn’t a complete catastrophe!) Of course, the F-4 wasn’t the only aircraft of its time without an internal gun (another reason seen given is that pilots would never have closed to gun range to take down a bomber carrying Nukes.) Some other Interceptors of the era born with no internal Gun: F-102 Delta Dagger F-106 Delta Dart (Some later got a gun under project Six Shooter from around 1969) Su-9/11 Fishpot Tu-128 Fiddler Su-15 Flagon MiG-25 Foxbat Some Interceptors that had the gun removed: Lightning Fmk3 CF-104 Starfighter (Early) A gun was later incorporated MiG-17PFU Fresco MiG-19PM Farmer MiG-21PF/PFL/PFS/PFM/FL (PFL and PFM used by the VPAF in Vietnam along with the gun armed F-13 and MF) F-102A Delta Dagger interceptors (USAF) Getting a gun on the F-4E McDonnell first proposed an internal gun for the F-4 in 1961 however it wasn’t until a potential limited war in Vietnam looked likely in 1963 that this was taken more seriously by the military for Ground Attack / strafing. By 1965 combat experience determined that a gun was a requirement and it was trialed in the F-4, and thus the F-4E was born with a nose job and new APQ-120 Radar: This shows the 22 modules (Line Replaceable Units / LRUs) required for the APQ-120 radar Adding the gun solved all the problems yes? The original gun muzzle caused a few problems. Firstly gas ingestion into the engine inlets caused engine flameouts and secondly it made a loud whistling noise that apparently notified the enemy troops (and their Dogs presumably ) long before the F-4 got there. The muzzle had to be redesigned and the later F-4Es have a longer gun muzzle under the nose. Also not shown in the diagram above, the gun assembly and ammo drum took up a lot of space in the nose and the dish/antenna size was reduced. The Westinghouse APQ-120 was an early ‘Solid State’ radar (derived from the APQ-109) and being Solid State must have helped in reducing the obvious vibration issue when you have a massive Gatling gun sitting next to 1960s electronics! Despite this it still exceeded the reliability requirements and was similar in that regards to the F-4D radar that had no gun in the nose. Ex F-4 flyer Walt BJ stated that the APQ-120 in the F-4E had about 20-25% less range over the APQ-109 in the F-4D. Didn’t the F-4E just wipe the floor now it had a gun? During Operation Linebacker I & II (1972/73): The USAF F-4E had 22 claims in 25 (known) engagements including 7 gun kills The USAF F-4D had 27 claims in 30 (known) engagements with no gun kills So firstly, if you add an internal gun but still don’t train anyone to use it then despite any figures nothing really changes. Secondly the missiles and radars had improved since 1965 regarding close in capability and so the Gun was starting to look very secondary by now. Considering the extra effort required for guns in skill, fuel, risk of collision, and making themselves more vulnerable, a missile would be the priority weapon regardless of the USAF training issues. What about the gun pods? Stop gap measures meant some squads using the 20mm SUU-16 and SUU-23 Gatling gun pods on the F-4C and D respectively – however despite some success these were somewhat inaccurate and the extra drag had a noticeable effect on range. Looking happy to be here - SUU-23 Gun pod on the center line station of an F-4 (Clive Camm) Some championed the Gun pod such as Korean war ace Col Frederik “Boots” Blesse after it became a useful strafing tool for South Vietnam sorties. USAF Col Robin Olds was a tad less enthusiastic: The gun pod wasn’t so much a speed penalty as an object of increased drag and fuel consumption. But that wasn’t my objection to the gun pod, I refused to carry it for 3 basic reasons; It took the place of five or six 750 lb bombs. Only my older and more experienced fighter pilots had ever been trained in aerial gunnery, to say nothing of air-to-air fighting. There were perhaps a dozen of them in the 8th TFW. I had no intention of giving any of my young pilots the temptation to go charging off to engage MiG-17s with a gun. They would have been eaten alive. Instead they fought MiGs the way I taught them and did so with notable success. The US Navy briefly trialed and used the 20mm MK4 (GAU-4) Gatling gun pod mostly for A-G but this was determined to be useless in operation with technical difficulties and also meant the preferred configuration of centre line drop tank only could not be carried. The not so successful MK4 (GAU-4) gun pod at China Lake (Dave Woolsey) Did the Navy not want an internal or any gun? For the primary purpose of fleet air defense, ‘missiles only’ it seems was deemed adequate. When in combat over Vietnam some Navy pilots wanted it and others didn’t. The gun pod was not persevered with and even an offer of free SUU-16/23 pods from the USAF was turned down on one occasion. We can deduce that if you reshaped the F-4J nose like the F-4E then you also have to reduce the radar dish size and forfeit range which might not be the best idea regarding fleet defense. Simply plonking in the APQ-120 with less range and no useful lookdown/shootdown capability was probably not going to win USN favour. Even spending the money on a modified APG-59/AWG-10 still gets you reduced range at the end of it. The APG-59/AWG-10 in the F-4J had some good lookdown techniques (for its time) and was considered superior. However even without the gun the F-4B/J Phantom avionics suffered from heavy carrier landings: I had a USN F4J pilot in my back seat one night gunship escort mission (can't for the life of me remember why) and he marvelled at the radar pickup. I asked him why he thought it was so good when he was flying the J model. He told me after about 4 'standard' carrier landings the radar wasn't so hot anymore. (Walt BJ) So, what did the Pilots say about Guns, Training, and Back Seat Drivers During the Vietnam conflict a Secret project (Red Baron) took place which compiled every A-A engagement fought. As part of that the aircrews were interviewed where available, giving quite a mixed view. 3 April 1965 F-4B USN front seat pilot (with 1000 hours) There is a need for a close in weapon as a backup on any mission……………….Guns would also be useful as an air-ground weapon (stopping a truck convoy, for example) 10 July 1965 USAF F-4C front seat pilot Gun not necessary; it will get people into trouble. Would like capability to fire all missiles on the F-4 with Centreline Tank on. Less minimum range for missiles instead of guns…….Because lack of ACT at time of event, did not know how to manoeuvre the F-4 as well as he could later after some experience. 6 Oct 1965 USN F-4B front seat pilot Fighter needs guns or short range missile……………..Turning and acceleration rate of MiG-17 was impressive. The MiG leader was aggressive and a good fighter pilot. 23 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot Improve the performance of the AAM and the gun will not be needed…………Training safety restrictions severely limited air-combat-tactics training prior to deployment to the combat area. 23 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot The need for a F-4 gun is overstated, although it would be of value if it could be obtained without hurting current radar and other system performance. If you are in a position to fire guns, you have made some mistake. Why after a mistake would a gun solve all problems. Also having a gun would require proficiency at firing, extra training etc. Have enough problems staying proficient in current systems. If the F-4 had guns, we would have lost a lot more, since once a gun dual starts the F-4 is at a disadvantage against the MiG. 23 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot Felt that he had very poor air-combat-tactics background. Prior background was bomber and other multi-engine. Transition to F-4 oriented toward upgrading a qualified fighter pilot rather than training a pilot with no fighter background. 25 April 1966 USAF F-4C back seat pilot Gun is not particularly desirable, if the performance of the aircraft is degraded by an external installation. Also, one might make the mistake of getting into a turning battle if a gun was available 25 April 1966 USAF F-4C back seat pilot Capability of the F-4 is being wasted by having a pilot in the back seat. The pilot is not adequately trained as a radar observer. Need a radar expert in the back seat. The pilot back seaters main goal is to be upgraded to the front seat rather than master the radar. 26 April 1966 USAF F-4C front pilot It is a fallacy to say that you can bring the F-4C home and land it solely from the back seat. You’ve got to blow the gear down and then there is no antiskid system; there is no drag chute handle; there is no fuel gauges or switches; you may be limited to using internal fuel; you can’t dump fuel or jettison tanks. A gun would be nice in an F-4C as long as it was clearly understood it was only a weapon of last resort. Soviet fighters are more capable than US aircraft inside gun range. 29 April 1966 USAF F-4C back seat pilot It was not necessary to have a pilot in the back seat of the F-4 except during night A-G missions when a pilot may more capably advise the aircraft commander. Actually, a radar officer would be more interested in the back-seat operation than a pilot would be. 29 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot It would be undesirable and possibly fatal for an F-4 to use a gun in fighting with a MiG because the MiG is built to fight with guns and the F-4 is not. 30 April 1966 USAF F-4C front seat pilot Training was not really adequate for this engagement, didn’t know what the back should do in a hassle such as this. 14 June 1966 USN front seat pilot Guns would be most useful for the ResCAP role but not particularly valuable in the air to air role. An F-4B from VF-111 Sundowners giving it some - just because (USN) The F-4 Phantom II Dogfighter? As we know the F-4 was not particularly the most agile fighter in theatre and turning at a slower speed was a bit of a problem. However, US fighters had seldom been the best turners in previous conflicts such as WWII (think F-6F Hellcat V Zero) ……power and speed could make up for it and were often better attributes to have. In 1966 the US Navy flew “Project Plan” flying the F-4B against a series of fighters to determine how good it was in an Air Superiority role. It concluded that contrary to what F-4 pilots thought the F-4 was the best air to air fighter in the world (including the F-8), if the F-4 stayed fast. To fly the F-4 however in BFM/ACM you needed to have training and a lot of experience (like most jets of this era). One particular characteristic of the hard-winged F-4 was “Adverse Yaw” at slower speeds where the pilot had to make the turn using rudder pedals instead of the stick. If the stick was used the chances of departing were very high – somewhat fatal in combat. Now stick a pilot in the cockpit with little training and you can see that in the heat of battle adverse yaw becomes quite serious (not just A-A but avoiding SAMs etc). Of course, pilots just simply avoided going anywhere near adverse yaw if they could however that meant they could never max perform the jet if they needed to in every situation. Adverse Yaw was all but eliminated by adding leading edge slats to the F-4E with the 556 "Rivet Haste" Mod late 1972. Too late to have any real relevance for Vietnam though. In Part 2 we look at the very different training aspects of the USN/USAF/VPAF, the F-105 / F-8 paradox and the myth / legend of Colonel Tomb.

Very recently retired USN A-4/F-18/F-16 Top Gun graduate Vincent "Jell-O" Aiello has started a website releasing podcast episodes: https://fighterpilotpodcast.com/about/

View File F-2H Banshee (Razbam) Updated data pack F-2 Banshee Updated data pack v1.1 This is a further update of the DATA.inis of the RAZBAM F-2 Banshee. In this updated data pack, there are changes in the data.ini, trying to achieve realistic performance specs. So changes are done in almost every aspect of the specs (weight, flightdata, engine thrust etc) for being as close to the real thing as possible. For using this pack you need to have downloaded first - the original RAZBAM Banshee (Go to RAZBAM website for more details) - the Banshee Tweeks Pak -for Razbam Banshees of Wrench https://combatace.com/files/file/14889-sf2-kaw-f2h-2-banshee-tweeks-pak-for-razbam-banshees/ https://combatace.com/files/file/15415-sf2-f2h-3-banshee-tweeks-pak-for-razbam-banshees/ https://combatace.com/files/file/15417-sf2-f2h-4-banshee-tweeks-pak-for-razbam-banshees/ Credis should go to - RAZBAM for the original release - Wrench for making this really usable in missions/campaings - Ravenclaw_007 for the AN-M30 bomb - Spillone for - at least - some of the sounds Thoughts for further upgrades - The AltitudeTableNumData & DryMachTableNumData are really very limited and are restricting realism. Please give me help to correct them. DONE - The F2H-3 (F-2C) is without wingtip tanks but in reality all the -2,-3,-4 models had the capability of carrying wingtip tanks. I am planning to substitute the LOD of the -3 with the -4 model (since these two were identical externally) but for doing so I am waiting your feedback.DONE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS - Overwrite everything above v1.0. Place the banshee f2h4.LOD (which you can purchase from the RAZBAM website) in your F-2H3 folder. What's new in v1.1 - The Destroyed Model now it's the stock F-84F one. - The F3H-3 (F-2C) now uses the F3H-4 LOD. Indeed, the -3 also used more the wing tip tanks than not, since they had a minimal effect on overall performance. - Further updated engine data. - Corrected ground clearence for the F3H-2. - Corrected loadouts. Now the wing pylon can be loaded with bombs (historical). - Small touches here & there for better overall result. Issues - The -4 used a different radar than the -3 model that had also a different radar screen with different symbology (not a successful one, as it often mentioned). However, it seems that we have the -3 style radar screen for the - 4 model too. - In some sources it's stated that the -4 had 20% more range than the -3 model. I am not convinced for that. Most likely it had to do with the need for full throttle/max power more often than the -4 model in combat conditions, something which indeed reduced endurance. Therefore I kept the same radius for the -3 & -4 models. - The Canadians seldom used their wing tip tanks. I had a hard time to spot canadian F-2s with wing tip tanks when in actual service. The most likely explanation is that with the small canadian aircraft was too much to handle the take off of the approx. extra 1 ton of weight with the wingtips on the weak -3 model. If someone wants a tank-less RCN F-2, I can update the pack. However the final solution will be to add the tanks as loadouts. *** sQUADRONS [SquadronXXX] Name=VF73 DisplayName=VF-73 Jesters Nation=USN [SquadronXXX] Name=VF193 DisplayName=VF-193 Ghostriders Nation=USN [SquadronXXX] Name=VF870 DisplayName=VF-870 of Royal Canadian Navy Nation=CANADA Remember this is a freeware! Submitter FANATIC MODDER Submitted 02/18/2018 Category ini File Edits  

File Name: Kidd class and Kee Lung class destroyers File Submitter: WhiteBoySamurai File Submitted: 21 April 2014 File Category: Destroyers This model represents the Kidd class destroyers, multi-role warships based on the Spruance class. Originally built for the Imperial Iranian Navy, they were cancelled after the 1979 revolution and completed for the US Navy instead, serving from 1981 until 1999. After decommissioning, all four ships were sold to Taiwan. They were recommissioned for the Republic of China Navy as the Kee Lung class starting in 2005. These ships are included in the package as a separate variant with updated weapons and custom decals, and are capable of leading ROCN task groups in missions. The Kidd class will join existing USN task groups once installed, but for ROCN task groups, you will need an additional ship pack. See the readme for full details. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or constructive criticisms regarding this model, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you! Click here to download this file

File Name: US Navy Attack Squadron 97 (VA-97) "Warhawks" Skin Pack File Submitter: HomeFries File Submitted: 10 October 2016 File Category: SU-25T Skins VA-97 was commissioned in 1967 and flew the A-7 Corsair. In 1968, the squadron deployed to Vietnam as part of Carrier Air Wing 14 (CVW-14) embarked on the USS Constellation. VA-97 conducted a second combat deployment with CVW-14 in 1969, where they flew over 2500 sorties. VA-97 conducted two more Vietnam combat deployments in 1971 and 1972. The Warhawks returned to Vietnam for a fifth time in 1975 in support of Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon. In early 1980, VA-27 provided air cover for Operation Eagle Claw, the failed attempt at rescuing the American hostages in Iran. In January 1991, the Warhawks transitioned to the F/A-18 and were redesignated Strike Fighter Squadron 97 (VFA-97). Today the Warhawks fly the F/A-18E Super Hornet out of NAS Lemoore, CA, and they are slated to be the first fleet squadron to transition to the F-35. This is a fictional skin pack of Su-25Ts painted like the A-7E Corsair II in accordance with MIL-STD-2161A(AS) with VA-97 markings circa 1986. There are four different skins with unique Modexes (side numbers) and historically correct BuNos (serial numbers). This allows you to create packages of unique aircraft. Each skin has a "normal" version and a weathered version. Weathered skins have a bleached effect as if the aircraft were heavily exposed to the sun for months on end. Normal skins include pilots with green flightsuits, while weathered skins include pilots with desert flightsuits. Most markings have been westernized, and the pilots have been given US style flightsuits with US markings. The helmet remains Russian made (but with a black oxygen mask). Note: this skin pack uses an EXE installer that creates common texture folders and an autoexec.cfg (if you already have one, you can make manual changes). I would like your feedback on this system; if it works I intend to apply it to my other skin packs. For Compact Installations - A Note About Autoexec.cfg: Rather than copying texture files to their respective livery folders, I prefer to use a series of common texture folders along with unique filenames. This allows a single instance of many of my common textures, and keeps the hard drive footprint to a minimum (especially nice if you run a SSD for your system drive). The installer will add a series of folders to the DCS Texture path; if you do not have these folders created, then it is no problem. The autoexec.cfg included will automatically point to the Texture folder in your Saved Games\DCS folder, and regardless of whether you run the Open Alpha, Open Beta, or Release version of DCS, the path will always point to your Saved Games\DCS\Texture folder. Again, this saves space on your hard drive. If you use your own Autoexec.cfg, then when prompted to overwrite you can click "no". This will create a file called autoexec.new, and you can manually make the updates as you like. Just don't modify the top line with the file date; this is used by the installer for version control. However, feel free to include it in your existing autoexec.cfg, so you don't get prompted to overwrite until there's another update to the autoexec.cfg. If you inadvertently overwrite your autoexec.cfg, it is actually backed up as autoexec.old. Just open it and copy the appropriate information to the new file. For Traditional Installations: If there is an issue with textures not displaying, it is likely a problem with the installer. Please let me know what textures are missing so that I can troubleshoot the issue. If you have any squadron requests, please PM me. If possible, provide top and profile views of the aircraft, preferably line art (much easier to extract color), and for CAG/CO birds, a close up of the tail fin is greatly appreciated. You are free to use any of these skins in other projects as long as proper credit is provided in the readme file. Fly Navy! -Home Fries Click here to download this file

File Name: US Navy Attack Squadron 27 (VA-27) "Royal Maces" Skin Pack File Submitter: HomeFries File Submitted: 10 October 2016 File Category: SU-25T Skins VA-27 was commissioned in 1967 and flew the A-7 Corsair. In 1968, the squadron deployed to Vietnam as part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) embarked on the USS Constellation. VA-27 conducted a second combat deployment with CVW-14 in 1969, where they flew over 2500 sorties. VA-27 conducted two more Vietnam combat deployments in 1971 and 1972. The Royal Maces returned to Vietnam for a fifth time in 1975 in support of Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon. In early 1980, VA-27 provided air cover for Operation Eagle Claw, the failed attempt at rescuing the American hostages in Iran. In January 1991, the Royal Maces transitioned to the F/A-18 and were redesignated Strike Fighter Squadron 27 (VFA-27). In 1996, the squadron was permanently reassigned to CVW-5 in Atsugi, Japan, where it remains today. Today the Royal Maces fly the F/A-18E Super Hornet. This is a fictional skin pack of Su-25Ts painted like the A-7E Corsair II in accordance with MIL-STD-2161A(AS) with VA-27 markings circa 1986. There are four different skins with unique Modexes (side numbers) and historically correct BuNos (serial numbers). This allows you to create packages of unique aircraft. Each skin has a "normal" version and a weathered version. Weathered skins have a bleached effect as if the aircraft were heavily exposed to the sun for months on end. Normal skins include pilots with green flightsuits, while weathered skins include pilots with desert flightsuits. Most markings have been westernized, and the pilots have been given US style flightsuits with US markings. The helmet remains Russian made (but with a black oxygen mask). Note: this skin pack uses an EXE installer that creates common texture folders and an autoexec.cfg (if you already have one, you can make manual changes). I would like your feedback on this system; if it works I intend to apply it to my other skin packs. For Compact Installations - A Note About Autoexec.cfg: Rather than copying texture files to their respective livery folders, I prefer to use a series of common texture folders along with unique filenames. This allows a single instance of many of my common textures, and keeps the hard drive footprint to a minimum (especially nice if you run a SSD for your system drive). The installer will add a series of folders to the DCS Texture path; if you do not have these folders created, then it is no problem. The autoexec.cfg included will automatically point to the Texture folder in your Saved Games\DCS folder, and regardless of whether you run the Open Alpha, Open Beta, or Release version of DCS, the path will always point to your Saved Games\DCS\Texture folder. Again, this saves space on your hard drive. If you use your own Autoexec.cfg, then when prompted to overwrite you can click "no". This will create a file called autoexec.new, and you can manually make the updates as you like. Just don't modify the top line with the file date; this is used by the installer for version control. However, feel free to include it in your existing autoexec.cfg, so you don't get prompted to overwrite until there's another update to the autoexec.cfg. If you inadvertently overwrite your autoexec.cfg, it is actually backed up as autoexec.old. Just open it and copy the appropriate information to the new file. For Traditional Installations: If there is an issue with textures not displaying, it is likely a problem with the installer. Please let me know what textures are missing so that I can troubleshoot the issue. If you have any squadron requests, please PM me. If possible, provide top and profile views of the aircraft, preferably line art (much easier to extract color), and for CAG/CO birds, a close up of the tail fin is greatly appreciated. You are free to use any of these skins in other projects as long as proper credit is provided in the readme file. Fly Navy! -Home Fries Click here to download this file

File Name: US Navy Attack Squadron 46 (VA-46) "Clansmen" Skin Pack File Submitter: HomeFries File Submitted: 10 October 2016 File Category: SU-25T Skins VA-46 was commissioned in 1955 and initially flew the F9F-5 Panther before transitioning to the F9F-8 Cougar the following year. In this timeframe, VA-46 deployed to the Meditteranean, where they acted in support of the Suez Crisis.1948. In 1958, VA-72 transitioned to the A-4 Skyhawk, with which it deployed to Vietnam in 1967 on the USS Forrestal. VA-46 was present when the infamous fire on the Forrestal killed 134 sailors and injured 62 more, and the heroic efforts of the Clansmen personnel helped to get the fire under control. In 1968, VA-46 transitioned to the A-7 Corsair II, which it flew until the squadron's decommissioning. In 1986, VA-46 conducted offensive strikes in Libya as part of Operation: El Dorado Canyon. In 1990-1991, VA-46 participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as part of Carrier Air Wing 1 (CVW-1) embarked on the USS John F Kennedy. Alongside VA-72, VA-46 conducted both the first strike against targets in Baghdad and the last naval air strike of the war. VA-46 was decommissioned on June 30, 1991, making it the last US Navy squadron to fly the A-7 Corsair II. This is a fictional skin pack of Su-25Ts painted like the A-7E Corsair II in accordance with MIL-STD-2161A(AS) with VA-72 markings circa 1991. There are four different skins with unique Modexes (side numbers) and historically correct BuNos (serial numbers). VA-46 was one of two A-7 squadrons on in CVW-1 during Desert Storm, the other A-7 squadron being VA-72. This allows you to create packages of unique aircraft, including two squadrons from the same air wing. Each skin has a "normal" version and a weathered version. Weathered skins have a bleached effect as if the aircraft were heavily exposed to the sun for months on end. Normal skins include pilots with green flightsuits, while weathered skins include pilots with desert flightsuits. Most markings have been westernized, and the pilots have been given US style flightsuits with US markings. The helmet remains Russian made (but with a black oxygen mask). Note: this skin pack uses an EXE installer that creates common texture folders and an autoexec.cfg (if you already have one, you can make manual changes). I would like your feedback on this system; if it works I intend to apply it to my other skin packs. For Compact Installations - A Note About Autoexec.cfg: Rather than copying texture files to their respective livery folders, I prefer to use a series of common texture folders along with unique filenames. This allows a single instance of many of my common textures, and keeps the hard drive footprint to a minimum (especially nice if you run a SSD for your system drive). The installer will add a series of folders to the DCS Texture path; if you do not have these folders created, then it is no problem. The autoexec.cfg included will automatically point to the Texture folder in your Saved Games\DCS folder, and regardless of whether you run the Open Alpha, Open Beta, or Release version of DCS, the path will always point to your Saved Games\DCS\Texture folder. Again, this saves space on your hard drive. If you use your own Autoexec.cfg, then when prompted to overwrite you can click "no". This will create a file called autoexec.new, and you can manually make the updates as you like. Just don't modify the top line with the file date; this is used by the installer for version control. However, feel free to include it in your existing autoexec.cfg, so you don't get prompted to overwrite until there's another update to the autoexec.cfg. If you inadvertently overwrite your autoexec.cfg, it is actually backed up as autoexec.old. Just open it and copy the appropriate information to the new file. For Traditional Installations: If there is an issue with textures not displaying, it is likely a problem with the installer. Please let me know what textures are missing so that I can troubleshoot the issue. If you have any squadron requests, please PM me. If possible, provide top and profile views of the aircraft, preferably line art (much easier to extract color), and for CAG/CO birds, a close up of the tail fin is greatly appreciated. You are free to use any of these skins in other projects as long as proper credit is provided in the readme file. Fly Navy! -Home Fries Click here to download this file

File Name: US Navy Attack Squadron 72 (VA-72) "Blue Hawks" Skin Pack File Submitter: HomeFries File Submitted: 10 October 2016 File Category: SU-25T Skins VA-72 was commissioned in 1945 as Bomber Fighter Squadron 18 (VBF-18) and flew the F6F Hellcat. In 1948, the squadron was redesignated Attack Squadron 72 (VA-72), where it flew the F8F Bearcat for until 1950, when it transitioned to the F9F Panther. In 1956, VA-72 transitioned to the A-4 Skyhawk, and then in 1970 to the A-7 Corsair II, which it flew until the squadron's decommissioning in 1991. During its 41 years, the Blue Hawks participated in many conflicts. In 1965 while flying the A-4E in Vietnam, VA-72 led the first successful strike against a SA-2 site. VA-72 also participated in the Gulf of Sidra Freedom of Navigation exercises (during the timeframe USN F-14s shot down two Libyan MiG-23s), and later participated as SEAD in Operation: El Dorado Canyon, the strike on Libyan targets in response to the bombing of a Berlin Discotheque. In 1990 and 1991, VA-72 participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, including the first strike against targets in Baghdad. To put a bow on a distinguished history, VA-72 participated in the last naval air strike of the war, a war in which they flew 362 sorties without losing any aircraft or aviators. This is a fictional skin pack of Su-25Ts painted like the A-7E Corsair II in accordance with MIL-STD-2161A(AS) with VA-72 markings circa 1991. Since VA-72 were pioneers and specialists in SEAD, it is fitting that their markings adorn the Su-25T. There are five different skins with unique Modexes (side numbers) and historically correct BuNos (serial numbers), including two hi-color birds (1 CAG, 1 CO). This allows you to create packages of unique aircraft. Each skin has a "normal" version and a weathered version. Weathered skins have a bleached effect as if the aircraft were heavily exposed to the sun for months on end. Normal skins include pilots with green flightsuits, while weathered skins include pilots with desert flightsuits. Most markings have been westernized, and the pilots have been given US style flightsuits with US markings. The helmet remains Russian made (but with a black oxygen mask). Note: this skin pack uses an EXE installer that creates common texture folders and an autoexec.cfg (if you already have one, you can make manual changes). I would like your feedback on this system; if it works I intend to apply it to my other skin packs. For Compact Installations - A Note About Autoexec.cfg: Rather than copying texture files to their respective livery folders, I prefer to use a series of common texture folders along with unique filenames. This allows a single instance of many of my common textures, and keeps the hard drive footprint to a minimum (especially nice if you run a SSD for your system drive). The installer will add a series of folders to the DCS Texture path; if you do not have these folders created, then it is no problem. The autoexec.cfg included will automatically point to the Texture folder in your Saved Games\DCS folder, and regardless of whether you run the Open Alpha, Open Beta, or Release version of DCS, the path will always point to your Saved Games\DCS\Texture folder. Again, this saves space on your hard drive. If you use your own Autoexec.cfg, then when prompted to overwrite you can click "no". This will create a file called autoexec.new, and you can manually make the updates as you like. Just don't modify the top line with the file date; this is used by the installer for version control. However, feel free to include it in your existing autoexec.cfg, so you don't get prompted to overwrite until there's another update to the autoexec.cfg. If you inadvertently overwrite your autoexec.cfg, it is actually backed up as autoexec.old. Just open it and copy the appropriate information to the new file. For Traditional Installations: If there is an issue with textures not displaying, it is likely a problem with the installer. Please let me know what textures are missing so that I can troubleshoot the issue. If you have any squadron requests, please PM me. If possible, provide top and profile views of the aircraft, preferably line art (much easier to extract color), and for CAG/CO birds, a close up of the tail fin is greatly appreciated. You are free to use any of these skins in other projects as long as proper credit is provided in the readme file. Fly Navy! -Home Fries Click here to download this file