MiG-29A FulcrumLaunchThe full-fidelity MiG-29A enters DCS with a study-level focus on aircraft systems, flight model, sensors, weapons, and outstanding graphics. Designed as a point air-defense fighter, the export 9.12A variant pairs a capable radar and an Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system with an agile platform and deadly weapons. The result is a machine that lives for the merge, yet remains lethal in beyond-visual-range engagements.
Why does the Fulcrum matter?Since its introduction, the MiG-29A became a cornerstone of many Cold War and post-Cold War air forces. In capable hands, the Fulcrum can be a deadly opponent, even to other modern 4th generation fighters. Upon the fall of the Iron Curtain and exposure of western fighter pilots to the Fulcrum, it was soon discovered what a powerful opponent it could be in-close given its R-73 “Archer’ and HMS combination. In DCS, the Fulcrum will provide a particularly deadly adversary in Cold War scenarios just employing semi-radar active homing and infrared guided missiles.The MiG-29A is operated by Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, former East Germany/Germany (later transferred to Poland), Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic/Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, former Yugoslavia/Serbia-Montenegro, India, Bangladesh (export 9.12B), Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, North Korea, Myanmar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Eritrea,Cuba; and the United States acquired a small number for evaluation and adversary training. Many of these liveries are included in DCS.
Early Access Highlights- Fully interactive cockpit built from 3D laser scans and photogrammetry with precise switchology and labeling.
- Highly-detailed external model and pilot with Helmet Mounted Sight.
- In-depth system simulation including the SPO-15LM Beryoza radar warning receiver and flare/chaff dispensers.
- Fire Control Radar with both aerial search and track modes.
- IRST with Laser Range Finder (LRF) that supports close air combat modes and air-to-air and air-to-ground ranging.
- Helmet Mounted Sight (HMS) that can cue air-to-air missiles by just looking at the target.
- Air-to-air weapons: R-27R, R-27ER, R-27T, R-27ET, R-73, R-60, R-60M, and the GSh-30-1 30mm cannon.
- Ground attack modes for unguided bombs, canisters, and rockets including pre-designate, non-pre-designate, and toss deliveries.
- Navigation suite with Point-to-Point, Return, Landing, and Traffic Re-Entry modes. Program up to three airfields, three waypoints, and three RSBN beacons with Data Transfer Card (DTC) support.
- Gyro system with Fast and Long alignments, basic IFF modeling, an Early Access Guide, and Interactive Training missions.
- Cyrillic and English cockpit labels and avionics options. Units of measurement can also be either metric or imperial.
The ´first week MiG-29A patch’ swaps the cannon and missile trigger animations, corrects intake louver animation, adds an optional lower-resolution cockpit texture set, refines chaff and flare sequencing, restores the controls indicator overlay, addresses repair behavior after belly landings, and provides an English HUD and HDD option; a dedicated-server IFF client issue is identified and queued for resolution. Known items in work include visual autopilot stick oscillations at low speed, landing and taxi light leakage, brake-chute visibility for other clients, FCR launch inhibition without an LA cue, ejection and muzzle flash visuals, CAJ logic with jamming, an imperial IAS indicator anomaly, and a large 3D detailing pass covering textures, stencils, bays, IRST, dispensers, seat, LODs, FLIR textures, additional national liveries, improved pylons, canopy reflections, and an enhanced pilot model.
What is coming?- Ground Control Intercept (GCI) command system.
- Full IFF modeling and full flight manual.
- Radar and IRST cooperative mode options.
- An Eagle Dynamics campaign, more missions, and liveries.
- Improved ejection seat with more detail and animations (see image above).
How to fly it?The MiG-29A features a highly manoeuvrable lifting body, impressive nose authority, and a high thrust-to-weight ratio that can maintain energy in a fight. Combined with the HMS and R-73 high off-boresight capability, it will be a challenge to anyone in a phone booth with it. The IRST stealthiness and immunity to jamming can also make it a deadly sniper. Leverage the Return and Landing modes to get home and land quickly, even to non-programmed airfields (Landing mode). Master these strengths of the Fulcrum, and you’ll see why the Fulcrum became an icon.
See moreWe will be sharing fresh post-launch development screenshots throughout Early Access. Explore the
Development Screenshots. Matt “Wags” Wagner has also released his
Aerial Combat Instruction video that delves into the sensors and air-to-air weapons of the MiG-29A. Videos on ground attack and defensive systems are coming soon.
DCS UpdateDevelopment ProgressDCS CoreThis week’s update introduces new special ground units, along with their respective symbology and settings. You may place these landing aid systems anywhere on any map (note: the MiG-21bis from Magnitude 3 is not yet compatible). Note that the Caucasus and Cold War Germany have integrated RSBN and PRMG landing aids. Please read the
RSBN/PRMG ground units usage guide. The Currenthill Asset Pack has undergone numerous improvements that include model updates, vehicle parameters, and interaction refinements.For
Weapons, the R-27 missile family has been fully reworked with a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-based aerodynamic model, authentic control systems, updated seeker and guidance logic, new datalink/INS behaviours, and realistic limitations. Additional changes include adding the Mk-83AIR GP HD bomb, laser PRF code adjustment for GBU-54, expanded fuze options for Soviet and Chinese bombs, corrected fuze sets for U.S. weapons, and accuracy refinements for cluster and penetration munitions. Several fixes address detonation, trajectory, and seeker issues, while visual and functional improvements extend to GMLRS and other ordnance.Regarding the
Terrain Engine, inefficient loading of 3D models has been tuned to load only those needed in the current context, improving performance in the Mission Editor and at mission start.
AI Aircraft as usual got some pinpoint behavior fixes noted in the
changelog.
Quality of life features such as decimal inputs were added to the Mission Editor, as well as text search input fields in the rearming window. Multiplayer spawn windows were also improved.
Quick Action Generator now randomises enemy units and AI skills based on the selected mission type. Modules
DCS: F-16C Viper received numerous fixes including emergency jettison mode memory, throttle axis duplication on VPC hardware, bullseye text clarity on the FCR page, landing gear handle lighting, ECM pod mode transitions, AI Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) use, Maverick low-rate slew, Harm Targeting Sensor (HTS) and HATM Attack Display (HAD) emitter overlap, HOTAS A-G gun toggle, and ATP behavior in A-A Track While Scan (TWS).
DCS: F/A-18C stabilizes Multi-Sensor Integration (MSI) in TWS and Range While Search (RWS), resolved JDAM EFUZ options and countermeasure bypass counts, addressed AIM-120C MSI desync and AI engagement reluctance, corrected seeker cues and ranges in BST and HACQ, repositioned closing-velocity symbology, and cleaned up L&S and DT2 when entering ACM mode.
DCS: AH-64D reduced pedal-induced yaw wobble through SCAS tuning and fixed a George AI search loop.
DCS: Mi-24P Hind clears obstructing texture blocks from the side gunner view.
DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight restored missing side numbers.
DCS: F4U-1D Corsair added three RNZAF liveries and adjusted flight and damage model behavior, gear spawn resilience, indicators, mirrors, control inputs, and engine sounds.
DCS: JF-17 Thunder fixed a frozen BRM-1 HUD pipper, improved SPI consistency across pages, and adjusted INS drift.
DCS: OH-58D Kiowa Warrior addressed NAV data detaching, PERF CALC button response, HOG menu loops, DIR WPT caret visibility, and a multiplayer CPG slot crash.
DCS: MiG-21bis Fishbed reorganized kneeboard pages and added RSBN and ARK data for the Cold War Germany map.
Flaming Cliffs 4 expanded with DCS: Su-33 Flanker D Iraq instant actions.
DCS: AJS-37 Viggen by Heatblur’s update overhauls and enhances many core and fundamental systems. The biggest highlight is the new electrical system, bringing a host of new warnings and failures, circuit-breaker functionality, instrument fault indications, improved RAT and AC/DC failure modelling, and more. They have also fixed the issue preventing RB-24 and RB-74 missile lock-ons and sincerely apologies for the inconvenience. Additional improvements include an updated RWR and database, restored KB automatic mode, major fixes to the RUTA display, and refinements to instrument, cartridge, and WP management, among others. In all, this update delivers a wide range of fixes and quality-of-life enhancements. See a full list of changes in our latest changelog!Terrains
DCS: Iraq grew substantially with new airfields at Al-Kut, Mosul International, H-2, H-3 Southwest, H-3 Main, H-3 Northwest, and the H-3 highway strip. Airfield scenes have improved signage, taxiways, and surfaces across major fields. The road network has been expanded and surface textures are improved in the north and south. More lakes and rivers have been added, FLIR and radar visualization has been improved for multiple assets, Levels of Detail (LOD) and life settings have been tuned. Numerous, unique landmarks have been added including new stadiums, monuments, terminals, ATC towers, fire stations, and historic sites.
DCS: Caucasus now includes RSBN and PRMG channels and frequencies at several bases. Texture resolution for ground and assets has been improved, tree and forest draw distance has been extended, corrupted scenery in multiple cities has been corrected, and object life and fire parameters have been tuned.
DCS: Sinai by OnReTech exits Early Access with TACAN fixes, expanded parking for heavy aircraft, corrected markings at key airfields, improved AI runway course selection, deeper Alexandria sea depth for ship mooring, additional bases near Tabuk, city texture cleanups, smoother transitions between urban and ground textures, new hangars at multiple Israeli bases, and a VHF HI update at St Catherine, alongside several new airfields and unique scenes in Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.
DCS: South Atlantic by Specter Studios also exits Early Access. The editor default date has moved to 1 October 2024 to present summer textures by default, numerous airfields and POIs are revamped, airfields received a VRAM optimization pass, runway and road textures are quadrupled in quality, building textures are doubled, vegetation distribution is modernized, snow and tiling issues are corrected, Argentina and Chile terrain gained upgraded normal maps, airfields benefit from animated radar units, new map-specific animated wind turbines, corrected PAPI at Ushuaia, modernized lighting that responds to takeoff and landing, and F10 map enhancements with borders and helicopter pads.
DCS: Cold War Germany by Ugra Media revises RSBN and PRMG callsigns and channelization at many legacy fields, and they removed obsolete frequencies to improve approach usability. Please make sure you install the latest update to enjoy all these fixes and enhancements. Thank you again for your passion and support, Yours sincerely,
Eagle Dynamics