Battle of Normandy’s Bf109G-6 Late is coming as early as next week is the news that we got with today’s IL-2 Developer Diary update. This intermediate model is a key fighter for the Battle of Normandy expansion and we’ve got our first look at it and what features it will have.

Filling the ranks

I know what some of you are thinking. Another Bf109? But here it is and I’m still excited to see another variant enter into the series anyways.

The Bf109G-6 Late might as well be a different aircraft from the early model Bf109G-6 currently available as a Collector Plane as it helps fill the ranks of the Luftwaffe fighter units that were able to claw back some of the performance lost in the earlier model by adding MW50. This increases the speed of this fighter, according to the developer diary, to 573 km/h (just 3 km/h off of the slightly faster G-14). This version also has the taller tail and the improved canopy with better visibility.

When we get into the fine details of historical battles, though this fighter is largely a repeat of others that we have, it can still be valuable to simulate the correct relative performance of the fighters present and that’s what this version does for us.

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Other new aircraft

We are, of course, awaiting other new aircraft to come to Battle of Normandy. The Bf109G-6 Late will make two, alongside the P-47D-22, as production of new aircraft has continued on. Many of the other new types require more work than that which we see from the Bf109 with the Typhoon, P-51B, Mosquito and others representing significantly different variants or altogether new aircraft. Development work takes time and Jason has recently indicated that the team had to adapt in the shift to working from home. This despite several members of the team being affected by COVID-19. Writing in a forum post last week, Jason wrote,

COVID restrictions has screwed up everything in our Moscow office. The fact that we can even operate remotely and put out updates is a miracle. I’ve also had several members of the team get COVID and get quite ill. One is out sick right now recovering from COVID induced pneumonia. Whenever the core team works remotely work slows down, but many on the team continue to work way more than 40 hours a week to try and keep us on track. Normandy is progressing more or less as planned, but finishing updates under these circumstances has proven difficult and delays are bound to happen. But generally speaking Normandy is progressing as planned. Just check the DDs to see what’s going on.

Jason Williams

As the update indicated, the bulk of aircraft for Battle of Normandy will arrive in 2021 which I hope will be both an exciting and positive new year for the series and for all of us in the world.

For more, read the latest IL-2 Developer Diary.