Developers IndiaFoxtEcho and Heatblur Simulations are once again teaming up to bring us a high fidelity fighter jet for Microsoft Flight Simulator. After the successful release of the F-14 Tomcat, the developers announced they are joining forces to bring the F-16 Falcon to MSFS.
The F-16 Falcon is an aircraft that barely needs an introduction. developed in 1974, the aircraft was produced all the way until 2019 (this includes several variants and modifications). The multirole fighter aircraft plays a prominent role in many air forces around the world, even as its official replacement, the F-35 Lighting II, is starting to be adopted on a wider scale.
In the announcement, the developers shared that they will be recreating the F-16A Block 15 version of the aircraft. The F-16A version is the initial, single-seat variant of the F-16, with the Block 15 variant being the first major upgrade to the plane. It featured larger horizontal stabilisers, extending the aircraft’s capabilities and addressing some limitations.
The developers chose for the -A variant specifically as they felt that no good version has been made for any simulator for a long time, and its simpler avionics are a better fit for MSFS. This should result in a more agile and faster development traject. The team has not closed the door on creating a -C variant later down the road.
The developers have not shared any further details on system fidelity and depth, and no release date was mentioned. For now, we’ll need to make do with the screenshots, which appear to be early renders of the aircraft as well as images of laser and photogrammetry scans of the cockpit.
