Dev Blog #85: What's Next?

[CzechTexan]

+1 for trenches and more defense works.

I must say that I have been impressed with the Commander Career mode.  I picked the F-51 ground attack role.  This lets me enjoy all the beautiful scenery and terrain.  I use the skip time option a lot and it gets me into action quickly and the days of the campaign go by quickly.  I look forward to improvements in the variety of targets and missions.  

Thanks to the devs' work on all this!  I don't really feel the need to create my own campaigns because this Career mode has been done so well.  A U.S. Marines Corsair career is what I'm really waiting for!

[BlitzPig_EL]

A big +1 on the Corsair Career.  The Corsair should be a beast in the attack role.  Four 20mm guns and more payload than the Mustang.

Bring it!!

[Enceladus828]

30 minutes ago, BlitzPig_EL said:

A big +1 on the Corsair Career.  The Corsair should be a beast in the attack role.  Four 20mm guns and more payload than the Mustang.

Bring it!!

 

[Viking1]

On 8/21/2026 at 8:02 AM, BlitzPig_EL said:

 The Corsair should be a beast in the attack role.  Four 20mm guns and more payload than the Mustang.

.88 kg per sec weight of fire per gun for the AN/M3 50 cal. Around 1.55 kg/sec for the 20mm. But its 6 guns vs 4, so per second of fire with all guns, the difference is less than you might think and has more to do with the huge explosive rounds. WIP for an article on air combat and lethality...

 

 

 

Edited Saturday at 04:28 PM by Viking1

[KC23]

With regard to the radio comms offer. I sent in my information, but was wondering if you wanted samples of certain calls? And what is a reasonable time period to hear back about this?

[Viking1]

It sounds like the current F4U version in planning is the 4 and not the 4B. A survey of players would likely be heavily weighted to the latter with its 4x20mm cannon. Id sure like to see the B.eauty myself.

[Justicier10-7]

I remember an old Korea development screenshot that had in-game UI text for an F4U-4E model Corsair. Maybe the devs were just tinkering with onboard RADAR for fighters at that time just to get an early framework for future development. Then again, maybe they planned a long time ago to put it in the Naval Expansion.

Perhaps we get the Corsair "F4U-4", but with 'modifications' to fly it in the -4B, -4E, or -4N configuration. Wishful thinking on my part maybe.

Edited Saturday at 04:56 AM by Justicier10-7

[gecko]

Wasn't the "B" designation dropped by this time, with the USN standardizing on the 20mm. Thus the aircraft designated F4U-4 during the Korean War timeframe would be armed with 4x 20mm.

[MiGCap]

On 8/21/2026 at 3:40 PM, Aapje said:

My opinion is that the exams should be made easier with regard to time and number of kills required. If the devs want to have an extreme challenge in the game, then put the current exams in there as a special challenge that is clearly marked as being hardcore or such.

I do not think that the exams are such a special challenge. But the own AI should be a little bit more effective.

I managed all exams except of the La-11 combat exam and this one is IMO impossible to pass, as the own AI usually managed to kill only one F-51 out of the required six kills, run out of ammo after five minutes or so and RTB‘d leaving the player alone in the fight against the remaining seven Mustangs. 🙄

I already named that problem in the respective thread. 

[Viking1]

1 hour ago, gecko said:

Wasn't the "B" designation dropped by this time, with the USN standardizing on the 20mm. Thus the aircraft designated F4U-4 during the Korean War timeframe would be armed with 4x 20mm.

Could be, but here is Luke's comment: notice he does not say definitely what will be available in KOREA so maybe a sub-type?

"The Navy didn't like operating the 4B because of the increased hazards of handling cannon ammo vs MG rounds aboard carriers. Not that they never operated 4Bs, but more of those were operated by the Marines"

Related: Essex Class carrier -- https://historynet.com/the-american-aircraft-carrier-that-won-the-war-in-the-pacific/

Edited Saturday at 04:29 PM by Viking1

[Viking1]

From Wikky-pedia

 

 The versions of the Corsair used in Korea from 1950 to 1953 were the AU-1, F4U-4B, -4P, and -5N and -5NL. There were dogfights between F4Us and Soviet-built Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters early in the war, but when the enemy introduced the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, the Corsair was outmatched. On 10 September 1952, a MiG-15 made the mistake of getting into a turning contest with a Corsair piloted by Marine Captain Jesse G. Folmar, with Folmar shooting the MiG down with his four 20 mm cannon. In turn, four MiG-15s shot down Folmar minutes later; Folmar bailed out and was quickly rescued with little injury.

 

The AU-1 used 4x 20mm. Soounds like the 6.5" rocket was also developed with the F4U in mind.

Edited Saturday at 04:41 PM by Viking1

[Justicier10-7]

25 minutes ago, MiGCap said:

I do not think that the exams are such a special challenge. But the own AI should be a little bit more effective.

I managed all exams except of the La-11 combat exam and this one is IMO impossible to pass, as the own AI usually managed to kill only one F-51 out of the required six kills, run out of ammo after five minutes or so and RTB‘d leaving the player alone in the fight against the remaining seven Mustangs. 🙄

I already named that problem in the respective thread. 

I have completed the La-11 combat exam... and my AI wingmen were actually pretty effective... on one attempt out of four. It took four attempts to complete the exam because on two out of four attempts, the AI was struggling with formation flying and having mid-airs. On one of the four attempts, it was just me and my second wingman who survived the maelstrom of mid-airs and made it to the combat area. 2 La-11s versus all those Mustangs was not fun, but that was an unintended outlier. On the successful attempt, I shot down 4 out of the 6 required, and my AI wingmen shot down 3 in total.

They're very inconsistent... if the outlier mid-air issue is waved off, the major issue they suffer from in this scenario is just getting rounds on target. They relatively consistently have difficulty scoring hits on maneuvering targets with those 23mm cannons... they're just not leading enough and very often holding down the trigger and wasting all their ammo. Of course the AI could maneuver and manage energy better, but the lack of marksmanship in this scenario in particular is rough.

Once those issues are fixed by the devs, the scenario won't be so bad I think.

[MiGCap]

3 minutes ago, Justicier10-7 said:

I have completed the La-11 combat exam... and my AI wingmen were actually pretty effective... on one attempt out of four. It took four attempts to complete the exam because on two out of four attempts, the AI was struggling with formation flying and having mid-airs. On one of the four attempts, it was just me and my second wingman who survived the maelstrom of mid-airs and made it to the combat area. 2 La-11s versus all those Mustangs was not fun, but that was an unintended outlier. On the successful attempt, I shot down 4 out of the 6 required, and my AI wingmen shot down 3 in total.

They're very inconsistent... if the outlier mid-air issue is waved off, the major issue they suffer from in this scenario is just getting rounds on target. They relatively consistently have difficulty scoring hits on maneuvering targets with those 23mm cannons... they're just not leading enough and very often holding down the trigger and wasting all their ammo. Of course the AI could maneuver and manage energy better, but the lack of marksmanship in this scenario in particular is rough.

Once those issues are fixed by the devs, the scenario won't be so bad I think.

You‘re lucky! I don‘t know how often I repeated this exam and also quite frequently my flight reduced their number by mid-airs or just crashing before combat even started. And I only experienced it one or two times that the AI shot down more than one Mustang. I am not good enough in the La-11 to kill five F-51s on my own while the AI leaves the area after minutes.

Hope it will be fixed with the next update.

[BlitzPig_EL]

40 minutes ago, Viking1 said:

From Wikky-pedia

The versions of the Corsair used in Korea from 1950 to 1953 were...

Any idea about what ground attack loadouts they could carry at the time?

[Viking1]

this --

 

Edited Saturday at 05:44 PM by Viking1

[Art-J]

On that big repository of colour photos from Korea, posted here long ago, there were a few -4 Corsair shots aboard carriers and not a single one of them was cannon armed, so I'd take that wiki article with a grain of salt. I also remember a korean 1/48 -4 I made back in my scale modelling years ages ago and that one was .50 variant as well. Luke's comment seems more reliable. I'd hazard a guess we'll get both armament configs anyway.

[MajorMagee]

Corsair Squadron Deployment List By Type and Date.

Squadrons that flew mixed types are designated by a "/" between types.

Carrier	Cruise Dates	Squadron	Corsair Type	Tail Code
CV 45 Valley Forge	1 May 50 to 1 Dec 50	VF-53	F4U-4B	S
		VF-54	F4U-4B	S
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
		HedRon 1	F4U-5P	AZ
CVE 118 Sicily	4 Jul 50 to 5 Feb 51	VMF-214	F4U-4B
CV 47 Philippine Sea	5 Jul 50 to 26 Mar 51	VF-113	F4U-4B	V
		VF-114	F4U-4B	V
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
		VC-61	F4U-5P	PP
CVE 116 Badoeing Strait	14 Jul 50 to 7 Feb 51	VMF-323	F4U-4B
CV 21 Boxer	24 Aug 50 to 11 Nov 50	VF-23	F4U-4	M
		VF-63	F4U-4	M
		VF-64	F4U-4	M
		VF-24	F4U-4	M
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
		VC-61	F4U-5P	PP
CV 32 Leyte	6 Sep 50 to 3 Feb 51	VF-32	F4U-4	K
		VF-33	F4U-4	K
		VC-4	F4U-5N	NA
		VC-62	F4U-5P	PL
CV 37 Princeton	9 Nov 50 to 29 May 51	VF-192	F4U-4	B
		VF-193	F4U-4	B
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
		VC-61	F4U-5P	PP
CVL 29 Bataan	16 Nov 50 to 25 Jun 51	VMF-212	F4U-4
CV 45 Valley Forge	6 Dec 50 to 7 Apr 51	VF-64	F4U-4	M
		VF-63	F4U-4	M
		VF-24	F4U-4	M
		VF-65	F4U-4	M
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
		VC-61	F4U-5P	PP
CV 21 Boxer	2 Mar 51 to 24 Oct 51	VF-791	F4U-4	A
		CF-884	F4U-4	A
		VC-3	F4U-5NL	NP
CV 47 Philippine Sea	28 Mar 51 to 9 Jun 51	VF-63	F4U-4	M
		VF-64	F4U-4	M
		VF-24	F4U-4	M
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
		VC-61	F4U-5P	PP
CV 31 Bon Homme Richard	10 May 51 to 17 Dec 51	VF-783	F4U-4	D
		VF-874	F4U-4	D
		VC-3	F4U-5NL	NP
CVE 118 Sicily	12 May 51 to 12 Oct 51	VMF-323	F4U-4
CV 37 Princeton	31 May 51 to 29 Aug 51	VF-821	F4U-4	B
		VF-871	F4U-4	B
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CV 9 Essex	26 Jun 51 to 25 Mar 52	VF-53	F4U-4B	S
		VC-3	F4U-5NL	NP
CVE 114 Rendova	8 Jul 51 to 22 Dec 51	VMF-212	F4U-4
CV 36 Antietam	8 Sep 51 to 2 May 52	VF-713	F4U-4	H
		VC-3	F4U-5NL	NP
CVE 116 Badoeing Strait	15 Sep 51 to 1 Mar 52	VMF-212	F4U-4
CV 45 Valley Forge	15 Oct 51 to 3 Jul 52	VF-653	F4U-4B	H
		VC-3	F4U-5N / NL	NP
CV 47 Philippine Sea	31 Dec 51 to 8 Aug 52	VF-113	F4U-4	V
		VF-114	F4U-4	V
		VC-3	F4U-5N / NL	NP
CVL 29 Bataan	27 Jan 52 to 26 Aug 52	VMA-312	F4U-4 / 4B
CVA 21 Boxer	8 Feb 52 to 26 Sep 52	VF-64	F4U-4	M
		VF-63	F4U-4	M
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CVA 37 Princeton	21 Mar 52 to 3 Nov 52	VF-192	F4U-4	B
		VF-193	F4U-4	B
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CVE 118 Sicily	8 May 52 to 4 Dec 52	VMA-312	F4U-4B
CVA 31 Bon Homme Richard	20 May 52 to 8 Jan 53	VF-74	F4U-4	L
		VC-4	F4U-5NL	NP
CV 9 Essex	16 Jun 52 to 6 Feb 53	VF-871	F4U-4	D
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CVE 116 Badoeing Strait	19 Jul 25 to 27 Feb 53	VMA-312	F4U-4 / 4B
CVA 33 Kearsarge	11 Aug 52 to 17 Mar 53	VF-884	F4U-4	A
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CVA 34 Oriskany	15 Sep 52 to 18 may 53	VF-874	F4U-4	D
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CVL 29 Bataan	28 Oct 52 to 26 May 53	VMA-312	F4U-4 / 4B
CVA 45 Valley Forge	20 Nov 52 to 25 Jun 53	VF-92	F4U-4	N
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CVA 47 Philippine Sea	15 Dec 52 to 14 Aug 53	VF-94	F4U-4	N
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CVE 115 Bairoko	12 Jan 53 to 24 Aug 53	VMA-312	F4U-4 / 4B
CVA 37 Princeton	24 Jan 53 to 21 Sep 53	VF-152	F4U-4	H
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CVA 21 Boxer	30 Mar 53 to 28 Nov 53	VF-44	F4U-4	F
		VC-3	F4U-5N	NP
CVE 119 Point Cruz	11 Apr 53 to 18 Dec 53	VMF-332	F4U-4B
CVA 39 Lake Champlain	26 Apr 53 to 4 Dec 53	VF-44	F4U-4	F

Edited Saturday at 09:48 PM by MajorMagee

[MiGCap]

Regardless of the version, I will be happy with any F4U. It is already one of my favourite planes in DCS.

And I am looking even more forward to the F9F: The top iconic Korean War carrier jet. Remember the old "Buck Danny" comics! 

[LukeFF]

8 hours ago, gecko said:

Wasn't the "B" designation dropped by this time, with the USN standardizing on the 20mm. Thus the aircraft designated F4U-4 during the Korean War timeframe would be armed with 4x 20mm.

No, you'll see both designations in squadron reports during the war, since both types were in use by the Marines and Navy. 

7 hours ago, MiGCap said:

I do not think that the exams are such a special challenge. But the own AI should be a little bit more effective.

I managed all exams except of the La-11 combat exam and this one is IMO impossible to pass, as the own AI usually managed to kill only one F-51 out of the required six kills, run out of ammo after five minutes or so and RTB‘d leaving the player alone in the fight against the remaining seven Mustangs. 🙄

I already named that problem in the respective thread. 

This should be fixed in the next update. 

7 hours ago, Viking1 said:

The AU-1 used 4x 20mm. Soounds like the 6.5" rocket was also developed with the F4U in mind.

It's insane what kinda loads the AU-1 could carry. 

[Justicier10-7]

Seeing that list from MajorMagee really makes me hope for an F4U-5N in-game at some point.

More powerful engine boosting it to 408kts, 4x20mm, RADAR for some interesting night fighter mission potential. 😃

Hoping there will be K-Base Marine squadrons too, IIRC Marines operated from several over the course of the war. Even though I'll love doing carrier ops, having the option to fly a corsair out of one of the land bases in career mode would be great as well.

[YoYo]

On 8/21/2026 at 5:34 PM, Enceladus828 said:

 

I recently watched Devotion. I admit I didn't really touch it when it came out, as I decided to wait for... IL-2 Korea a while ago to get a better feel for the atmosphere !

The movie is quite good, mainly due to the cinematography. There's some CGI visible, and I thought it would be better done, but I'm glad the Korean War was touched upon.

When F9F comes out, I'll go back to The Bridges at Toko-Ri from 1954 which I watched a long time ago:

Edited Sunday at 06:23 AM by YoYo

[AndreiTomescu]

A Korea theme movie is always welcome, mainly since there ain't many.

Imho, the game itself is slowly but constantly turning into a "movie that i take part in" due to extraordinary, cinematic graphics and the steady improvements in planes behaviour and the world being more and more populated.

But Devotion, man, it's a fine movie, but full of.....improbable things.....fast&furious style.....

Bridges of Toko-Ri, well , those are real planes doing real stuff. The kind you can try at home, if you have Il-2 Korea installed! 🙂 

The Hunters, a  movie I found out about courtesy of @DFLion mission, that is even better. The human story was also excellent. The real planes doing real stuff, excellent. That movie I call very good for our niche.

Imho, the cinematics from those 2 '50 movies are much, much better compared to the new one, because there are REAL planes, REAL pilots. For CGI, we have Il-2 Korea!! 🙂 

[MajorMagee]

10 hours ago, Justicier10-7 said:

Seeing that list from MajorMagee really makes me hope for an F4U-5N in-game at some point.

More powerful engine boosting it to 408kts, 4x20mm, RADAR for some interesting night fighter mission potential. 😃

Hoping there will be K-Base Marine squadrons too, IIRC Marines operated from several over the course of the war. Even though I'll love doing carrier ops, having the option to fly a corsair out of one of the land bases in career mode would be great as well.

The F4U-5P (30 built), F4U-5N (214 built), and F4U-5NL (101 built) represent highly specialized, tactical sub-variants of the post-WWII Chance Vought F4U-5 Corsair. Powered by the advanced Pratt & Whitney R-2800-32W engine and instantly recognized by their distinctive "cheek" cowl intakes, these final-generation Corsairs were optimized for the extreme demands of night-fighting, all-weather operations, and reconnaissance during the Korean War.

The 5P was stripped of standard radar, it featured a unique rotating camera mount housing vertical and oblique cameras protected by heated glass ports to prevent high-altitude fogging.

The 5N was distinguishable by a two-foot diameter AN/APS-19 radar dome built directly into the leading edge of the starboard (right) wing. To protect the pilot's night vision, the four 20mm cannons were fitted with flash hiders, and the engine featured prolonged exhaust collector flame dampeners.

The 5NL was fully winterized. It included rubber de-ice boots installed on the leading edges of the wings and tail assembly (empennage), alongside fluid de-ice shoes on the propeller blades to prevent dangerous ice accumulation.

An interesting story about VF-653 to show how confusing things can get in the chaos of wartime operations. Maintenance Officer Lieutenant William R. Clarke recalled the time when they transferred their -4B aircraft to the Marines after arriving in theater on the Valley Forge and went back to operating with -4 aircraft. "During our cruise, we still had some 4B wings on board and on several occasions we replaced damaged Dash-4 wings with Dash 4Bs. It wasn't the way it was supposed to be, but it worked!"

[gecko]

12 hours ago, LukeFF said:

No, you'll see both designations in squadron reports during the war, since both types were in use by the Marines and Navy.

Well, I learned something new today! Thanks.

[BlitzPig_EL]

One thing to remember about "Toko-Ri", is that in the real mission that inspired the movie, the bridges were attacked by Skyraiders, the Panthers flew flak suppression.