A new DCS: F/A-18C Hornet mini-update is out and while its not a long one it does give us a clear picture of what’s coming up next. There’s some big new features coming and each one of them is integral towards seeing the F/A-18C Hornet finished.
Targeting pod delayed
With the JSOW, JDAM, and various guided weapons now available on the DCS: F/A-18C Hornet we are now looking forwards to the AN/AAQ-28(V) LITENING targeting pod. As excited as everyone is for it, Eagle Dynamics is not quite ready to release it into open beta as they had hoped to do by late June.
After talking with the team today, the Litening targeting pod will need a bit more time in the oven before we can release it. Given how integral this feature will be for the product, we want to further flesh it out before releasing into an open beta. We do apologize for this delay. Please note that all dates and time projections are best estimates at the time and can change. I mention this a bit here: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=244404
Matt Wagner
As is my usual thoughts on this, I’d rather have a functional targeting pod that works all the time than a broken one that cause crashes or works inconsistently. As anxious as I and everyone else is I still think that the best case scenario is always to wait a bit longer. If a delay is required to bring it up to the level that it needs to be – fine with me.
Radar, Harpoon, datalink and other features
New features are in development in parallel to the targeting pod. Here’s the latest on what Matt Wagner was able to tell us about:
SA page:
- STEP
- EXP
- TXDSG
Weapon systems:
- AGM-84 Harpoon
- Dynamic launch zones for JDAM and JSOW
Radar:
It’s been awful long time since we’ve heard anything from Eagle Dynamics about their new air-to-ground radar technology. We now have some new information:
As noted, before, initial implementation of the air-to-ground radar rendering technology is now being used to create the Real Beam (RB) mode for the radar. Once RB mode is done, we can then use that as the foundation for other modes like SEA, EXP, GMTI, etc.
Matt Wagner
The team is also working on Track While Scan radar mode.
Though its not something that everyone is talking about, the AGM-84 will add yet another capability that has so far been limited to just one or two aircraft and that’s a dedicated anti-ship missile. Harpoon provides some unique capabilities that most jets just don’t have and in scenarios featuring anti-ship operations – it should prove to be invaluable!
PLID training video
Matt Wagner also put out a new training video for the SA page using something called Pilot Identification (PLID). PLID lets you manually identify targets on the datalink as friendly, enemy, or unknown. There’s some unique circumstances where IFF isn’t yet satisfied but where you’re certain that the target is hostile. This feature will likely be part of the next open beta.
Stormbirds 
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