Thanks to their collaboration and an unprecedented behind the scenes look at real French squadrons flying the Mirage 2000, RAZBAM has announced that they will be conducting a “mid life overhaul” on the M-2000C module for DCS with some new functionality for some of the core systems of the Mirage. We now know how deep those changes will be.

Some re-learning might be required

In the quest to build the most accurate Mirage simulation available to the public, RAZBAM has had a great opportunity to go behind the scenes and get time in a real Mirage flight simulator. That has allowed them access to get a better understanding of how some systems and features work in ways that they previously weren’t able to do. This, all with the blessing of the Armée de l’Air and the Française’s Escadron de chasse 2/5 “Ile de France.”

Some changes are coming and they appear to be deep changes to the way that the Mirage works. Some fundamental controls will be modified and that was all detailed in this post by RAZBAM developer Zeus67.

Folks, The M-2000C is scheduled for systems overhaul. Based on feedback from the Armée de l’Air the following systems will be updated/upgraded:
– Poste de Commande Armement (PCA): Weapons Control Panel
– Poste de Preparation Armement (PPA): Weapons Configuration Panel
– RDI Radar: functionality and control panel.
– Poste de Commande Navigation (PCN): Navigation Panel
– RWR.
– VTH (HUD)
– VTB (Radar Display)
– HOTAS
– Flight Manual
The functionality of some of these devices will be changed and thus you will have to relearn them again.
The manual will be updated to incorporate these changes.

Zeus67 on the DCS World forums

So, it may require forgetting a lot of what you know about the Mirage 2000C in DCS World but it will mean that we’ll be getting closer to how the real life version of this aircraft works and that is commendable in my book.

DCS World and the M-2000C are used for real training

A series of images were posted on the Facebook page for Base aérienne 115 Orange showing off a training session with Escadron De Chasse 2/5 Ile de France flying the Mirage in DCS World! The caption explains it all:

The Escadron De Chasse 2/5 Ile de France has set up a new “serious gaming” DCS World Training Tool that helps to improve and enrich the skills of the trainees and squadron pilots in a virtual environment.

While I’m sure that DCS World has its limits for the kinds of training that real pilots need to do, I also imagine that the relatively low cost and high fidelity nature of the simulation means that its good enough to put some of their pilots in a room and run a multiplayer training scenario.

There’s something great in seeing the hobby of flight simulation taken as seriously as it is in this example. See the rest of the photos here.