After yesterday’s little hiccup, the DCS: F-4E Phantom II from Heatblur Simulations has arrived and is now ready for everyone to fly the legendary aircraft in DCS World. Get your downloads rolling because the servers are going to be busy! Today’s DCS World update also packs in a bunch of other things so let’s have a look!

Phantom time!

Like the DCS: F-14 Tomcat before it, the DCS: F-4E has had a lengthy development cycle and more than its share of delays but that’s all behind us now as the module has now released and is available for download together with a substantial DCS World update.

If you’ve been following the Phantom closely, most of the next section is stuff you already know. On the other hand, if you’re new to DCS and the Phantom is pulling you in right now, here’s an overview of the module’s advertised features.

Heatblur’s F-4E Phantom is a highly detailed simulation of the legendary Vietnam era and beyond jet fighter. Features include detailed exterior and interior 3D model built using laser scanning and photogrammetry technology from real world Phantoms. F-4 pilot and WSO verified EFM (External Flight Model) based on real world performance data. Detailed electrical and hydraulics systems with accurate simulations of electrical and hydraulic circuits, power draws, fluid flows as well as similarly detailed oil and fuel system simulation. The same level of detail can be found with the simulation of the AN/APQ-120 radar, ALR-46 RWR, and AN/AVQ-23 Pave Spike targeting pod.

The module also has multicrew capability with fully functionality of the front and back seats. There’s also an AI system called Jester 2.0 which helps you with the WSO position in the back seat when you don’t have a human back there.

The module has a full manual with the ability to interactively bring up the manual while in flight and it also has interactive tutorial missions to get you started with the jet.

This is an early access module so there are some features coming later on. The DMAS avionics package with more digital capability will be added later together with the Pave Tack pod. Heatblur intend to add more missions and campaigns to the mix as well.

The DCS: F-4E Phantom II is now available on the Heatblur and DCS World e-Shops for $59.99 USD – the promotional price is still up but I’m not sure for how long before it goes up to $79.99 USD. The Phantom is also now listed on Steam with the 20% discount on at the moment.

Other update highlights

While the Phantom is getting the majority of the attention, other DCS World content has also been released in the update. Here are some highlights of what else you can find in the update. Something other than the Phantom you mean? Turns out there is!

Massun Asset Pack mentioned in last week’s update has been added bringing with it new assets for airfields and elsewhere around the map. Addition of the new F-16 pilot model and improvements to the movements of both F-16 and F/A-18 pilot models. New service hatches and doors open to reveal the DCS: AH-64’s interior components. New bomb fuzing system has been added for multiple series of bombs. There’s also new fixes for the F-5E, new liveries and fixes for the SA342 Gazelle, and fixes for the Kola map.

Interestingly, we’ve also seen some updates to DCS: South Atlantic. While most RAZBAM products appear to still be on hold, this project is apparently seeing updates.

Read the full list of updates here.