Kind of ! Its another paid for Beta, but hey, at least you get to play it right now !!
Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 3 (FC3) is the next evolution of the Flaming Cliffs series. FC3 features the F-15C, A-10A, Su-27, Su-33, MiG-29A, MiG-29S and Su-25. FC3 aircraft provide an easy learning curve for new players and focuses on a broad range of aircraft rather than a detailed single aircraft. FC3 adds a number of new features and improvements to previous versions of the Flaming Cliffs series. FC3 is a module of DCS World, which makes it compatible with all other DCS: World titles like A-10C, Black Shark 2, P-51D, and Combined Arms.
Requirements
Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 3 will require an installation of Lock On: Modern Air Combat.
The Flaming Cliffs 3 Aircraft
MiG-29A and MiG-29S Fulcrum
Western observers often conclude, inaccurately, that the Su-27 and MiG-29 were born of a single design program, which copied the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18, no less. Indeed, the Su-27 and MiG-29 look quite similar and some observers cannot readily tell the two aircraft apart, despite the MiG-29 being substantially smaller than the Su-27. Both the Su-27 and MiG-29 design teams reportedly worked with common research data and drew common design conclusions. The MiG-29 has been much more widely exported than the Su-27, serving in many former Warsaw Pact air forces, several of which have since joined NATO (bringing their Soviet-made MiG-29s with them).
The MiG-29 originally shared most of its avionics suite with the Su-27 (including the radar, the Electro-Optical System (EOS), and the helmet-mounted sight), but was designed as a short-ranged fighter, not as an interceptor. The EOS lets the Fulcrum search for, track, and engage targets without emitting telltale radar signals. Being smaller, it doesn’t carry as many missiles as the Su-27, but its high-AoA maneuverability coupled with the R-73 (AA-11) Archer high off-boresight, heat-seeking missile and helmet mounted sight makes the MiG-29 a deadly dogfighter. The slow-speed turning fight is the MiG-29’s preferred arena where it can use its high-AoA capability to point its weapons at a floundering target. The newer MiG-29S includes onboard electronic countermeasures, a greater fuel load, and the ability to carry the medium-ranged R-77 (AA-12) Adder missile.
As with the Su-27, critics cite weak avionics and poor cockpit design as weaknesses of the MiG-29. The later MiG-29S (Fulcrum C), though, incorporated numerous improvements including better defensive countermeasures and increased fuel capacity. The MiG-29 reportedly requires a significant amount of maintenance, especially the engines. German MiG-29s (inherited from the East when Germany was re-unified) have had their engine performance "tuned down" to somewhat lengthen engine lifespan. Obtaining spare parts continues to be a concern for former Warsaw Pact nations.
Russian forces in DCS World employ the MiG-29A and MiG-29S, while German forces operate only the MiG-29A.
Combat Modes
- Multiple Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air combat modes, radar and (or) infrared detection system, up to150 km.
- Close Air Combat (CAC), vertical scanning radar mode and (or) infrared detection system. Less than 10 km.
- Close Air Combat (CAC), boresight scanning radar mode and (or) infrared detection system, less than 15 km.
- Close Air Combat (CAC), helmet-mounted sight radar mode and (or) infrared detection system, less than 10 km.
- Close Air Combat (CAC) missile seeker mode, less than 10 km.
- Unguided ground attack mode for cannon, bombs, and rockets. CCIP and CCRP delivery modes.
Su-27 and Su-33 Flanker
The Su-27 Flanker B and its variants are some of the most impressive and capable fighter aircraft in the world, designed to beat the vaunted F-15C. Born in the waning years of the Cold War, the Flanker did not have an easy life. The initial design suffered serious problems. Then, the breakup of the Soviet Union hindered its deployment, denying it the opportunity to prove itself as one of the world’s greatest aircraft.
The Su-27 is tailored for air-to-air combat, not air-to-ground. Armed with the R-27 (AA-10) Alamo series of missiles, the Flanker has an impressive beyond visual range (BVR) capability. Meanwhile, the helmet mounted sight and high off-bore sight R-73 (AA-11) Archer heat-seeking missile, coupled with the Su-27’s high thrust and sustained turn capability, gives the aircraft a powerful edge in a knife fight. High-AoA manoeuvring helps the pilot point his weapons at the enemy. Finally, its very large internal fuel capacity keeps it in the fight well after other fighters are running on fumes. It carries as many as ten air-to-air missiles, giving it an impressive "punch".
Detractors criticize the Su-27’s avionics and cockpit layout, citing limited ability to track/engage multiple targets, high reliance on Ground Control Intercept (GCI) control, and high pilot workload. However, its passive Electro-Optical System (EOS) lets it find and engage targets without any radar emissions (which can warn the target). Debate continues whether high-AOA maneuvers (such as tail slides and the famed "Cobra") are useful as combat tactics or merely impressive air show stunts.
Su-27 pilots should keep in mind that although the Flanker has a very large internal fuel capacity, hence the lack of external fuel tanks, a fully fueled Flanker can be a very poor performer in a dogfight.
Originally named the Su-27K, this cousin of the Su-27 was specifically designed to operate from Soviet aircraft carriers. Equipped with canards for improved take off and landing performance, the first Su-27K made its maiden flight in 1985. The tail cone was shortened to reduce the risk of tail strike during high-AoA carrier landings, but this also reduced the space available for defensive countermeasures (including chaff and flare dispensers). The Su-33 uses the same radar as the Su-27 and, to a large extent, the same cockpit as well. Neither the Su-33 nor Su-27 has air-to-surface radar modes.
Combat Modes:
- Multiple Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air combat modes, radar and (or) infrared detection system, up to150 km.
- Close Air Combat (CAC), vertical scanning radar mode and (or) infrared detection system. Less than 10 km.
- Close Air Combat (CAC),boresight scanning radar mode and (or) infrared detection system, less than 15 km.
- Close Air Combat (CAC),helmet-mounted sight radar mode and (or) infrared detection system, less than 10 km.
- Close Air Combat (CAC) missile seeker mode, less than 10 km.
- Data Link mode, all radar systems are kept silent for stealthy attack.
- Unguided ground attack mode for cannon, bombs, and rockets. CCIP and CCRP delivery modes.
- In-flight refueling (Su-33).
- Take-off/landing on an aircraft carrier (Su-33).
F-15C Eagle
The F-15C has often been labeled as the greatest fighter aircraft in the world. Designed to counter the exaggerated capabilities of the Soviet MiG-25 "Foxbat", the F-15C has been the backbone of U.S. air defense for three decades. The F-15C, equipped with improved avionics and weapons over the original F-15A, has scored over 100 air-to-air victories in the service of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. without suffering any losses.
The F-15C rules the Beyond Visual Range arena (BVR). No slouch in a dogfight, the F-15C excels at finding targets, positively identifying them as hostile, and engaging them with AIM-120C AMRAAM missiles before the enemy can respond.
The F-15's versatile pulse-Doppler radar system can look up at high-flying targets and down at low-flying targets without being confused by ground clutter. It can detect and track aircraft and small high-speed targets at distances beyond visual range down to close range, and at altitudes down to tree-top level. The radar feeds target information into the central computer for effective weapons delivery. For close-in dogfights, the radar automatically acquires enemy aircraft, and this information is projected on the head-up display.
The Eagle is somewhat restricted in the close-in dogfight. The AIM-9M Sidewinder, a reliable weapon that has soldiered on since the 1960’s, does not have the high off-bore sight capability of recent Russian heat-seeking missiles. F-15C drivers should generally favour the higher-speed "energy fight" in favour of the low-speed turning duel, especially against nimble adversaries.
Combat Modes:
- Beyond Visual Range (BVR), Track While Scan (TWS) or Range While Search (RWS) modes, up to 160 nm.
- Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) vertical radar scan mode, 10 nm.
- Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) boresight radar mode, 10 nm.
- Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) FLOOD mode for AIM-7, 10 nm.
- Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) VISAUL mode for AIM-120, 10 nm.
- In-flight refueling.
A-10A Thunderbolt II
Designed as a Close Air Support (CAS) platform to counter the massive quantities of Soviet armor during the Cold War, the "Hog" is heavily armored and carries an impressive weapons load including the deadly GAU-8A 30mm anti-armor cannon. Efforts to retire the A-10 from active duty began gaining momentum in the late 1980s, but fell by the wayside after the aircraft’s stellar performance during the 1991 Gulf War.
The A-10 was intended to fly low, using the terrain to mask its presence from enemy SAMs. Low flying, however, places the aircraft in the heart of the AAA engagement zone. Therefore, the aircraft is heavily armored, including a "titanium bathtub" that surrounds the pilot. When the threat of SAMs has been reduced, the A-10 generally flies missions at medium altitudes, placing it safely out of the reach of AAA guns.
The sub-sonic A-10 can carry AIM-9 Sidewinders for self defense, but should avoid dogfighting. It carries an impressive air-to-ground weapons load, but lacks the power for a sustained fight against a dedicated air-to-air platform. When confronted by an enemy fighter, the Hog pilot should use the A-10’s impressive turn rate capability to point the nose (and the dreaded 30mm cannon) at the attacker. When the attacker overshoots, unload and extend until the attacker makes another pass, then use another maximum-rate turn to point the nose back at the adversary.
Combat Modes:
- Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) AIM-9M seeker mode and funnel sighting for GAU-8A cannon. 10 nm.
- Unguided ground attack mode for cannon, bombs, and rockets. CCIP and CCRP delivery modes.
- Guided ground attack mode for AGM-65K/D.
- In-flight refueling.
Su-25 Frogfoot
The Su-25 Frogfoot bears little resemblance to the U.S. A-10A, but it was designed for a very similar Close Air Support (CAS) ground-attack mission. The Su-25 was built to operate near the forward edge of battle area (FEBA) from rough, "unimproved" airstrips, and can carry a loadout with tools, spare parts, auxiliary power supply, a pump for manual refueling and other "self deployment" supplies. It carries a wide variety of weapons for missions including anti-personnel, runway denial, and tank killing.
The fortified cockpit and armored canopy help protect the pilot from anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) and small arms fire while engaging targets at low altitude. Ingressing at low level, the Su-25 hunts down targets, pops up, delivers its weapons, and dives back behind terrain. The Su-25 may arguably be the most power ground-attack aircraft in Eastern inventories.
The Su-25 is not intended for dogfighting though. Its primary defense against patrolling fighters is simple avoidance. When engaged, the Su-25 should operate at extremely low altitude, which hampers enemy fighters’ ability to engage it. Using terrain as available, the pilot should turn to face oncoming threats or extend away from the fight if given the opportunity.
Combat Modes:
- Close Air Combat (CAC) R-60 seeker mode and funnel sighting for cannon. 10 nm.
- Unguided ground attack mode for cannon, bombs, and rockets. CCIP and CCRP delivery modes.
- Guided ground attack mode for laser-guided missiles.
DCS World Integration
Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 3 operates as part of DCS World. As such, DCS World must be installed prior to installing Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 3. DCS World is a new, free, combat simulation. DCS World provides a free-to-play Su-25T ground attack aircraft with no online restrictions. Online DCS: World includes friendly and enemy forces that can be controlled by other players or AI air and ground units. The purchase of additional DCS modules allows the player to have careers as pilots of the A-10C Warthog, KA-50 Black Shark attack helicopter, P-51D Mustang, or armor vehicle commander. You may read more about DCS: World and its modules at:
http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/
Common F-15C and A-10A Changes
- – Updated US RWR threats display logic - threats in scan mode do not update their position continuously anymore.
- – US RWR display symbology was made stabilized to the horizon.
- – Glide slope/localizer deviation bars were removed from F-15C/A-10A HUDs.
- – Adjusted F-15C/A-10A HUD gun reticle distance sector visual appearance.
New F-15C Cockpit and Updated Cockpit Systems
Perhaps the most noticeable new features with Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 3 is the new, beautiful cockpit. This cockpit is fully rendered in every detail and provides 6 degrees of freedom of movement within the cockpit. This new cockpit includes both day and night lighting, an improved HUD that is focused to infinity, re-worked HUD symbols and many improvements and new functions for the radar and radar warning receiver:
- – New flap position lights
- – Flaps position lights logic was updated.
- – AI & SAM warning lights are functional now.
- – Active jamming is indicated by open X in the center of TEWS screen. Flashing X - standby, steady X - active.
- – CHAFF/FLARE, and MINIMUM lights are operational now.
- – Marker beacon light was made functional. MKR display was added on HUD.
- – Added CSET display on HUD - is displayed for the first 10 seconds after ILS mode selection.
- – Steer mode select knob was animated.
- – Fixed HUD Integrated Flight Director indication.
- – Added bank steering bar on HUD.
- – HUD altitude scale is always barometric now.
- – Removed radar altimeter scale from HUD.
- – Fixed AoA scale and numeric indication on HUD.
- – Adjusted HUD display logic of Mach number and current/maximum G displays.
- – ADI light was made functional.
- – Fixed unstable radar lock at certain ranges in the vertical scan mode.
- – Radar scan zone in TWS is limited by 60 degrees now.
- – DTWS scan zone automatic centering is implemented.
Changes to the A-10A
- – Fixed bank steering pointer and bank indicator animation on ADI.
- – Adjusted TVV position limits on HUD. Out of view arrow has been added for TVV.
- – Pitch numerics were changed to Flight Path Angle numerics on HUD.
- – Adjusted position limits of various HUD symbols.
- – Reworked visual shape and display logic of the destination index (tadpole).
- – Added TD box (steer point position) on HUD.
- – Fixed visual appearance of the Target Designator Cue (TDC) on HUD.
Changes to the MiG-29 and Su-27/33
- – Stations display was removed from Su-27/33 HUD.
- – Radar scan zone on Russian aircrafts is now always centered on the tracked target in TWS.
- – 'Target unlock' command is now functional in Russian TWS - current track and radar contacts data is cleared.
- – Radar is correctly returns back to TWS (instead of RWS) on Russian aircrafts when STT is lost.
Common Changes to All Aircraft
- – Fixed momentary jump of the HSI course pointer in some cases when steerpoint is switched.
- – HSI course/bearing/distance pointers and ADI steering/deviation bars animation was made smooth in all aircrafts
Improved Air-to-Air Missile Flight Dynamics
- – With a return to a heavy focus on air-to-air combat in Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 3, the flight dynamics physics of air-to-air missiles has been improved in multiple ways:
- – Launcher platform speed, thrust, missile weight, total drag, gravity, etc. are all calculated to determine missile speed.
- – Missiles now incur realistic energy bleed that accounts for drag, induced drag and gravity. Induced drag calculates g-load and that factors the missile’s lift. Missiles will now bleed energy very quickly if the target performs hard maneuvers.
- – We added a longitudinal-load fuze arming type. The missile warhead of missile will only be armed after reaching the assigned longitudinal g-load (acceleration). Otherwise the missile will not detonate.
- – We added a limited duration to the missile’s power system (gas-generator, generator and hydraulic pump). When the onboard power system is exhausted, the missile goes ballistic.
- – We added a self-destruction timer. Some missiles will self-destruct when the timer is reached.
- – We added altitude based of self-destruction. Some missiles will destruct when reaching an assigned altitude above ground level.
- – We added a guidance timer delay. After launching a missile, the missile will fly straight from the from launcher for safety reasons before initiating the guidance stage. This is typically 0.3…1.5 seconds. For example: the R-27R missile flies unguided forward for 0.5 seconds before guidance to target starts.
- – We added parameters of loft trajectory. The initial range to target, the range of transition to proportional navigation, and initial angle of loft are all factored.
Resource Manager
In any war, logistics plays one of the most critical roles. If an army air force cannot be resupplied, it will be useless in battle. The new Resource Manger allows mission designers to add the element of resource management into missions.
Mission builders can now place warehouses on the battle map and allow them to resupply airbases and other facilities with set amounts of weapons and fuel. This can be done for both single player and multiplayer missions.
