Dear Fighter Pilots, Partners and Friends, This week's DCS 2.9.30.28536 update added the Matthew "Wags" Wagner tribute liveries for the DCS: F-16C and DCS: F/A-18C, a new AI runway lineup option, and a wide range of weapons, Data Transfer Cartridge, module, and campaign improvements. Learn more below.The
DCS Autumn Sale 2026 is now live, with up to 50% off fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, terrains, and campaigns. It runs until October 12th at 17:00 GMT on the E-Shop and until October 8th at 17:00 GMT on Steam. See the highlights below.In this week's community highlight, we're featuring DDCS Overlord. In this persistent PvPvE campaign, NATO and a new Warsaw Pact fight around the clock, with AI commanders, player-run logistics, and a companion app to command from your phone or tablet. Learn more below.Thank you for your passion and support.Yours sincerely,
Eagle Dynamics
DCS 2.9.30.28536Update HighlightsThis week’s update delivers two very special liveries, smarter AI takeoffs, improved weapons behaviour, Data Transfer Cartridge fixes, and a host of updates across many modules and campaigns. Here are the highlights.
Wags Tribute LiveriesThe Matthew “Wags” Wagner tribute liveries by IrishFatty are now available in DCS: “Forever Aloft” for the DCS: F-16C and “Legends Never Land” for the DCS: F/A-18C. Jump into Instant Action and take them for a spin today.
AI Aircraft and Ground UnitsMission makers can now use the new “AI runway lineup” option to have AI groups do formation takeoff. AI carrier landings have improved: F-14 wingmen will no longer take an unexpected swim on approach, and Harriers now land on the Tarawa as intended. AI aircraft are also less likely to collide on the runway during takeoff, and will not drop SARH lock anymore when RTB is triggered.On the ground, SAM systems now acquire targets below the horizon properly, and 100 to 125 mm HE fragmentation shells are less effective against armoured targets like MBTs. Armour values have been corrected for the MT-LB, Tigr, and HMMWV, and trailers now attach as expected to late-activated and script-spawned groups. Civilian trucks such as the GAZ-66, KAMAZ, and ZIL-131 now have FLIR textures.
WeaponsDelay-fuzed bombs and rockets not designed for penetration can now shatter on hard surfaces. Drop a standard high-explosive bomb with a delayed fuze onto concrete, and you’ll likely see it break apart rather than detonate. This depends on the target's strength, as well as the weapon's velocity and angle. The SD-10 seeker has been tuned, the LS6-100’s radar cross section reduced, the APKWS long-range aiming table corrected, and illumination rockets are now visible to all clients in multiplayer.
Data Transfer CartridgeThe DCS: F/A-18C SA page no longer shows mission-known SAM sites and threat rings when preload is unchecked. The AH-64D Block II now displays correctly in both DCS: F/A-18C and DCS: F-16C RWR; the P-14 Tall King, PGZ-09, and Type 021-1 missile boat have been added to the DTC databases; and DCS: AH-64D map cards now display correctly on the DTU sub-page.
Voice Chat, Mission Editor, and ScriptingFixed dynamic radio numbering and control logic in Voice Chat. Please check and set your hotkeys in the Options VoiceChat Controls panel. In the Mission Editor, the SA-19 Grison is back in the missile type list, and dynamic templates now work when Unlimited Aircraft is set with an aircraft count of zero. Late-activated trains no longer show on the F10 map before they appear. Scripters get five new export functions, including player seat number for multicrew aircraft, time acceleration, multiplayer and track replay status, and flight model control in multicrew sessions.
ModulesThe DCS: MiG-29A Fulcrum adds Indian Air Force liveries and new Instant Action missions for Afghanistan, Syria, and the Persian Gulf. The DCS: F-16C navigation system no longer jumps 150 NM shortly after mission start, and the DCS: F/A-18C afterburner now engages after the salute on a catapult launch. The DCS: AH-64D now sets QNH on the FLT SET page when spawning hot, and disabling George AI in the Mission Editor now also silences his voice messages. The DCS: Mi-24P Hind CPG trim button no longer overrides the pilot in multicrew, and its R-60 missiles now launch reliably.From Heatblur Simulations, the DCS: F-14 A/B and DCS: F-14B(U) gain a Plane-Captain submenu in the Jester UI for air, power, and wheel chocks, along with TARPS feedback messages and a new option to turn off automatic unit marking. The DCS: F-14B(U) also receives DTC loading fixes and CPU performance improvements; the DCS: F-4E Phantom II adds Korean localization, and the DCS: AJS37 Viggen’s radar ranging mode now triggers a lock warning on other aircraft’s RWR.
CampaignsDTC support has arrived in several campaigns, including DCS: F/A-18C Raven One and Raven One: Dominant Fury by Baltic Dragon, and DCS: MAD AH-64D and DCS: AH-64D Outpost by Stone Sky. Many more campaigns from Sandman Simulations, Fight’s On Simulations, Reflected Simulations, Baltic Dragon, Badger633, Ground Pounder Sims, and Stone Sky received fixes and refinements.These are just the highlights. For the full list of changes, be sure to check out the
complete changelog.
DCS Autumn Sale 2026Up to 50% OffAutumn is here, and so are the savings.
The DCS Autumn Sale 2026 is now live on both the E-Shop and Steam, offering up to 50% off fixed-wing, helicopters, terrains, and campaigns. The E-Shop sale runs until October 12th at 17:00 GMT, while the Steam sale ends a bit earlier on October 8th at 17:00 GMT.
AircraftThe DCS: F-16C Viper, DCS: F/A-18C, DCS: A-10C II Tank Killer, and DCS: F-5E Remastered are all 50% off on both stores. The DCS: MiG-29A Fulcrum is 50% off on the E-Shop and 38% off on Steam. Warbird pilots can pick up the DCS: P-51D Mustang, DCS: Spitfire LF Mk. IX, DCS: P-47D Thunderbolt, DCS: Fw 190 A-8, and DCS: Bf 109 K-4 Kurfürst at 50% off, and the DCS: Mosquito FB VI at 50% off on the E-Shop and 40% off on Steam. From Heatblur Simulations, the DCS: F-14 Tomcat and DCS: F-4E Phantom II are 30% off, as is the DCS: JF-17 Thunder.
HelicoptersThe DCS: Black Shark 3, DCS: UH-1H Huey, and DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight are 50% off in both stores. On the E-Shop, the DCS: AH-64D, DCS: Mi-24P Hind, and DCS: CH-47F are also 50% off, while on Steam they are 38%, 42%, and 37% off, respectively.
TerrainsThe DCS: Persian Gulf, DCS: Nevada, DCS: East Afghanistan Map, DCS: Southwest Afghanistan Map, and DCS: Iraq North Map are 50% off on both stores. The DCS: Afghanistan Map, DCS: Iraq Map, and DCS: The Channel are 50% off on the E-Shop and 38% off on Steam. The DCS: South Atlantic Map is 40% off; the DCS: Kola, DCS: Normandy 2.0 Map, and DCS: Sinai Map are 30% off, and the DCS: Syria Map is 20% off.
Everything ElseDCS: Combined Arms and DCS: Flaming Cliffs 2024 are 50% off, and DCS: Supercarrier is 50% off on the E-Shop and 38% off on Steam. Dozens of campaigns are also on sale, with discounts from 15% to 50%.If you’ve had your eye on a module all summer, now is the perfect time to add it to your hangar. Head over to the
E-Shop or DCS on Steam before the sale wraps up.
DDCS OverlordA Persistent War, Flown From the Cockpit and Commanded From Your TabletDDCS Overlord is a persistent PvPvE campaign for DCS, where NATO and a new Warsaw Pact contest the map around the clock, with human pilots and AI forces on both sides. It currently runs on the Caucasus in the modern era and is in open beta; the DDCS team has run persistent DCS campaigns since 2017. Veterans of real conflicts helped shape its procedures, and it shows in the details.
Choose a SideWhen you join, you choose a coalition and serve with it for the entire campaign. NATO defends its bases with Patriot, NASAMS, and IRIS-T and supports its advance with towed howitzer batteries, while the Warsaw Pact holds a denser air defence belt of S-300 and Buk sites, backed by mortar sections. Air defence networks stay silent until an early-warning radar cues them, so taking out those radars forces the batteries to emit and give themselves away.The AI reinforces whichever side is outnumbered, and the war carries on when nobody is online. The AI can destroy a garrison, but it can never capture a base. A base changes hands only when a player lands infantry on its headquarters, and capturing the enemy’s main operating bases ends the war and starts a new campaign.
AI CommandersEach coalition’s AI forces are led by a large language model that works only from what its own side has detected. It selects the main effort, decides whether to assault, flank, or fix, positions combat air patrols, prioritizes artillery targets, and sets the air defence network's posture, with its artillery and SAM batteries firing and then displacing before the enemy can respond. Players can hand their own ground units to the AI commander and take them back at any time.
The Overlord AppThe companion app for phone, tablet, and browser shows a live moving map of the war, filtered by your coalition’s fog of war. From it, you can move ground units with route previews, set rules of engagement, place orders, direct artillery, operate a JTAC, and take control of AI groups, and the units you command keep engaging real players while you’re away from your PC. A controller mode composes BRAA calls for a human GCI, and chat connects you with the airborne pilots. You can also issue all these commands from the cockpit of any aircraft.
Logistics and Forward BasesNothing appears out of thin air. Every missile, gallon of fuel, vehicle, and airframe at a base was flown or driven there by AI heavy transports, helicopter pairs, and road convoys, so interdicting them starves the base they serve. Players can haul cargo in the DCS: C-130J, DCS: CH-47F, or DCS: Mi-8MTV2 and are paid for each delivery, while vehicles and air defences players order leave a motor pool by road, where the enemy can ambush them.A FARP can go anywhere a sling-loaded crate can be set down, and you can build a walled FOB with four helipads at a site of your choosing. Howitzer batteries and mortar sections arrive by sling load too, then fire by hand or at any target a JTAC designates. Keep firing from the same position, though, and enemy counter-battery fire will find you.
Combat Search and RescueA pilot who ejects survives, conceals himself, and transmits on a survival radio. His coalition receives a bearing and a frequency, never a grid in the clear, and a helicopter crew has one hour to find him by ADF before his fate is reported to his side by name.
Aircraft and PersistenceEvery spawn is dynamic: any base, any airframe, any loadout, and every aircraft is free with a full rack. Land one at a forward base, and it joins that base’s stock. The roster spans fast jets, helicopters, and transports, from the DCS: F/A-18C, DCS: F-16C, and DCS: F-14 to the DCS: AH-64D, DCS: OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, and DCS: C-130J. The server also supports the Su-30SM and Su-35S community mods, flown with stock DCS weapons only, so if you want to fly either one, you’ll need that mod installed first. After every restart, the mission rebuilds from the state of the war, with every unit, convoy, downed pilot, and AI tasking picking up exactly where it left off.
Getting StartedFlying, the live map, chat, and the controller mode are all free. Commanding from the app is an optional subscription, and everything it offers is also free from the cockpit. The campaign is designed to expand to every DCS map and to multiple time periods.Find --==DDCS Overlord==-- in the server browser, open the app and live map at
ddcsoverlord.com (iOS and Android versions are available by invitation through the Discord), and read the
player guide before your first sortie. Join the community on the
DDCS Overlord Discord.If you’ve been looking for a war that keeps going after you log off, give it a look this weekend.Thank you again for your passion and support.Yours sincerely,
Eagle Dynamics
THIS WEEK’S PRIORITY TASKINGHere is some more Start Here action, this time from
LongShot featuring the P-51D Start Here Missions.
Watch it here.
