With all of the hype surrounding the tease for the DCS: F-16C last week, I think there were some who may have begun to worry that the F/A-18 was being moved to the back-burner but that is certainly not the case and Matt Wagner gave us the clearest indication yet of the priority that this aircraft currently has with his latest mini-update.

Four engineers working on systems

The F/A-18C has already areas of its experience that are finished, however, there are still several major weapon systems and avionics that are still being worked on and according to the latest update, there are four engineers devoted to these systems. This is what they are doing:

Engineer 1: Correct DUD cue logic, fuse setting, tune AGM-65F TTMR/IN RNG, and adjust AIM-9X tones. Once those are done, then JDAM.

Engineer 2: AGM-88C HARM and then ATFLIR.

Engineer 3: IFF interrogation, HAFU and color change when MSI is enabled, and then LTWS/TWS.

Engineer 4: Datalink with MIDS / Link-16 / MSI color display symbols, then the UFC BU page, and then INS ground and ship alignment.

Matt Wagner, DCS World Forums

Though Matt was not keen to share exact dates (likely because things slip, problems come up, etc.) this does give us a roadmap for the next couple of months and an idea of what kinds of things are being worked on.

Still high on the priority list for many community members is the AGM-88C HARM. The HARM is now available in the latest Open Beta build, however, it currently is not usable. That should change early enough into the new year. Adding to another thread on the DCS Forums, Matt Wagner also indicated that the HARM comes in three available modes:

SP, TOO, and PB modes are all planned.

Matt Wagner, DCS World Forums

I look forward to learning more about these modes and the implementation of the HARM. Going on SEAD missions with the Hornet and contributing to other strike aircraft is going to be a game changer.