Grinnelli Designs has opened pre-orders for DCS: F-100D Super Sabre, as announced in this week’s DCS World newsletter, bringing the first of the USAF’s Century Series fighters to DCS World.
The F-100D entered service in 1956 as the USAF’s primary fighter-bomber, succeeding the F-86 Sabre. It was the first US fighter capable of sustained supersonic flight in level flight and saw extensive use during the Vietnam War in the close air support and strike role, where it also became the first US aircraft dedicated to suppression of enemy air defences. Operators included the United States, France, Turkey, Denmark and Taiwan, the latter retiring its last F-100 in 1988.
Grinnelli Designs states the module has been built from thousands of photos, photogrammetry and laser scans of a museum F-100D. The flight model has been tested against actual short and long-period dynamics reports and verified by F-100 pilots. The aircraft’s well-documented handling challenges are modelled in full, with the 45-degree swept wing introducing adverse yaw, inertial coupling and wingtip stall at low speeds, producing the notorious “Sabre Dance” departure. The module also includes the “Project High Wire” avionics upgrades, adding the AN/APR-25 radar homing and warning receiver for SAM threat detection.
Systems modelling covers a fully simulated electrical system, hydro-mechanical hydraulics, a thermodynamic engine model including compressor stalls and surges, and two afterburner configurations: the J-57-P-21 and J-57-P-23, each with distinct lighting characteristics and failure modes. Cockpit audio has been recorded from an actual F-100 as well.
Armament covers four 20mm M39 cannons, up to four AIM-9 Sidewinders including the new AIM-9E variant, and six underwing hardpoints capable of carrying up to 7,040lb of bombs, rockets, napalm, AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missiles and two new cluster dispensers, the CBU-38 and CBU-7. A fire control system incorporating a ranging radar, gyroscopic gunsight and early computer-assisted bombing is also modelled.
The Zero-Length Launch support is also included, recreating the experimental rocket-assisted take-off system tested with the F-100D at Edwards Air Force Base in 1958. Designed to allow fighters to operate from dispersed positions if runways were destroyed, the system generates 130,000lb of thrust to accelerate the aircraft to flying speed in seconds before booster separation. While never operationally implemented, Grinnelli Designs has incorporated it into the module to open up forward deployment mission scenarios.
The DCS: F-100D Super Sabre is available to pre-order now for $41.99, discounted from the full price of $59.99, on the official DCS E-Shop. No early access or full release date has been announced.
