This morning there was breaking news making the rounds that DCS World would be getting a Eurofighter Typhoon and now we have official confirmation that a new third party developer is tackling the project and they bring together some very impressive resumes according to Eagle Dynamics. This is everything that we know right now!

Introducing TrueGrit Virtual Technologies

A new third party developer is officially part of the DCS World developer community with the name TrueGrit Virtual Technologies. Eagle Dynamics has announced in their latest DCS World Weekend News Update that the team is being lead by Gero Finke who is a former Typhoon Instructor Pilot with 15-years of experience on the type along with 10 years as a weapon instructor on the F-4 Phantom.

The dev team of 15 includes a 3D designer that has experience with companies such as Airbus, Grob, Eurocopter, the Luftwaffe and also with Heatblur on the DCS: F-14. I’ve also learned (and am seeking confirmation) that folks at Miltech-5 are involved with the project as they have implied via a Facebook update that they are contributing some of the work towards the interior modeling or texture work. Looking at the work, it is indeed impressive.

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The exterior of the jet looks pretty much spot on as well although there’s surely still some work to do as the project moves forward.

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The team also reportedly has an experienced lead coder involved along with some PhD’s that are working with the complex flight modeling for the Typhoon. So this is definitely a module that appears to be firing on all cylinders and with a team in place to support development on such a complex and high performance fighter. Speaking of which…

In the excitement this morning, many of you have pointed out that the Typhoon is widely considered one of the hottest fighters around with performance that is only exceeded perhaps by the F-22. It’s already a rush flying most fighter jets in DCS World already so it will be very exciting to try another one with such a powerful reputation.

Only partial confirmation on Tranche

As of yet, there have been no confirmations on the exact Tranche of the aircraft involved, however, a FAQ posted to the brand new DCS: Eurofighter section of the DCS World forum does include some valuable information.

In answering the question on Tranche and on Nationality, the developers had this to say:

We are in constant communication with the “NETMA” and our licensor “Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH” in order to bring you the most current version of the Eurofighter possible, without violating classified information. As you might already have guessed from the published pictures and our company’s German background, we will create a German version of the Eurofighter Typhoon to start out. This version will only make the introduction to DCS as we will continue to bring more and more nationalities and capabilities to you over time.

Dash@TrueGrit on the DCS World forums

Most of the other questions in the FAQ include questions on price, capabilities, etc. to which most of the answers are currently that they are still working on details. Will it go on to eventually incorporate PIRATE (the IRST sensor for Typhoon), StormShadow, and other advanced weapons? We don’t know and it sounds like the developers also don’t know what they will and won’t be able to do. These features and more will become clear over time.

Being a highly classified aircraft and still producing a highly accurate rendition of the jet will be a challenge certainly although with the pedigree mentioned earlier I feel that TrueGrit Virtual Technologies has the leadership and knowledge to be able to weave that line as best as possible.

Not the milestone aircraft that ED was talking about?

It’s unclear now if this is the milestone aircraft that Eagle Dynamics was talking about in the early part of the year but I would venture a guess that it is not and that their internal efforts are being directed at something else. That surely reignites hopes for many that a Flanker or other high end modern Russian jet is being pursued by Eagle Dynamics that is worthy of the milestone indication.

In the meantime, Eurofighter Typhoon for DCS World is very exciting! This is all that I’ve been able to dig up so far on this new module announcement. Of course there’s lots of excitement and a desire to get information out as quickly as possible and my assumption at the time was that this appeared to be an Eagle Dynamics module has turned out to not be correct. Though I thought I was clear that we didn’t have confirmation I do want to make sure that information is also correct. We now have that confirmation missing from earlier that it’s being done by a third party – one with an impressive resume!

It’s also clear that Eagle Dynamics was allowed to take the lead and introduce this as part of a concerted PR effort rather than a surprise announcement from a new third party. It’s different than the way that many DCS World projects have been trickle announced but with the module already beginning to look strong on all fronts I expect we’ll see some impressive updates as time goes on.

My goal will be, as always, to let you know as best as I can whenever I can.

Also, isn’t it nice to have some surprising good news that’s a bit exciting? It’s been a dark depressing week. Stay healthy and safe out there folks!