Launch of our new persistent campaign:
Operation IRON HURRICANE 2023

For our BSD pilots exclusively, our amazing missions team has made it again: a brand new persistent campaign built on the experience from the previous campaign, insane scripting, voice acting, ultra realistic FARPS, huge amount of tasks for all the helicopters with possible catastrophic consequences in real time: miss a logistic refueling task, and the attack helicopters won't have anything to fill up their tanks next time. 

This time, we are  back to the Persian Gulf. In this totally fictitious story, NATO allied countries are trying to overthrow Iran current dictator and resolve the oil crisis triggered by a complete embargo of Iranian oil exports to the World but to Russia and China. Expect some intense naval action, including coastal defense, anti smuggling, maritime security and oil rigs assaults.

ED Newsletter features BlackSharkDen!

In today's ED Newsletter, we had the huge surprise to find Black Shark Den featured! This is certainly the highest distinction any virtual squadron can ever dream of and we are extremely thankful to ED for such a recognition. Now, for those of you guys who just find out about us and registered to join the most experienced DCS RW squadron available in one of our 64 platoons, expect a couple of weeks delay at least before we can start to absorb the waiting list! Thanks for your patience and passion!

Semi Public Event for our pilots on the waiting list

We know the wait is frustrating now the 64 is out and you are still on the waiting list. Well, on the good side, this should give you plenty of time to become a bit more proficient on this helicopter so you can pass our intro flight where some minimum skills are required like hover, fly straight, perform a cold startup,etc. For you guys who are already capable of handling this beast reasonably well, we are inviting you guys to a semi public event on Sunday 27th where one of our dedicated server will run a 12 hours campaign full of exciting and challenging missions for the AH-64D! You should have already received your details to join. So see you Sunday!

BSD Apaches large formation flight today

Thanks to all our 64D pilots who joined today. It was loads of fun!

BSD Apaches large formation flight today

Thanks to all our 64D pilots who joined today. It was loads of fun!

OMG ! 64D AVAILABLE!

Complete hysteria at BSD!

And now, news from the OH-58D?

 OK. This is a lot to take in only a couple of weeks for the RW community who has been used to be very patient when it comes to news or updates for their favourite machines. A Mi-24 in 2021, an AH-64D for April 2022 (and a flight manual available for download by the way!), in-game shots of the BO-105 last week and now ED announcing the OH-58D is back on track and doing well? 😵

"We have made the decision to present the whole timeline of the aircraft from 1984 till 2017 with some exceptions to avionics. This means the product will include the OH-58D Kiowa (no weapons pylons), the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior from 1992 till 2006 and the latest aircraft of 2017 all in one module”.

– Polychop Simulations

And now, news from the OH-58D?

 OK. This is a lot to take in only a couple of weeks for the RW community who has been used to be very patient when it comes to news or updates for their favourite machines. A Mi-24 in 2021, an AH-64D for April 2022 (and a flight manual available for download by the way!), in-game shots of the BO-105 last week and now ED announcing the OH-58D is back on track and doing well? 😵

"We have made the decision to present the whole timeline of the aircraft from 1984 till 2017 with some exceptions to avionics. This means the product will include the OH-58D Kiowa (no weapons pylons), the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior from 1992 till 2006 and the latest aircraft of 2017 all in one module”.

– Polychop Simulations

Actual in-game shots of the BO-105??

Well, that's quite a change from the years of 3D renderings we have seen so far. Exciting.But no more information about it. 

Actual in-game shots of the BO-105??

Well, that's quite a change from the years of 3D renderings we have seen so far. Exciting.But no more information about it. 

Gazelle Lima is getting updates!

A lot of suggestions are actually coming from our Gaz pilots at BSD. Great to see them in the upcoming patch (when? Don't know). Nonetheless, more modularity in the weapons loadout where gun can be removed as wekk as rockets. An option to remove doors is now added, and the dipole antennas for the UK variant can now be added (purely aesthetic but the UK BSD guys will be pleased). Some more fixes to come. Hopefully the multicrew will become more useable.

Mi24P Pre Order!

Epic video to showcase the DCS Mi-24P and the opening of the pre orders!

After the 64D, now the 24P!

After many years of nothing RW related for DCS, 2021 could be the year for DCS chopper pilots after all.

DCS Mi-24P Hind news!

Helisimmer received some new screenshots from ED about their upcoming Mi-24P module (2020?). This time, not only the cockpit is looking fully textured but we also got some external shots!

Mission Rabbit stew by Tnt

An awesome mission this weekend with quite a high density of helicopters from all our BSD platoons and the two regions. This one generated a lot of excellent screenshots. Just sharing here.

Screenshot of the  month by Grinner

Another perfect timing also from Grinner

Quite a large turnout this weekend!

New Oculus Rift coming: Oculus Rift S

Persian Gulf map is still receiving updates!

A quiet update posted by Wags on the ED forum shows new airbases and monuments to be added in the upcoming DCS patches:

- Liwa airfield
- Ras Al Khaimah airfield
- Bam 
- Persepolis

BlackSharkDen Official Skins by Charge 4

So pumped right now with the release of our first Black Shark Den's official skins pack thanks to the amazing work of our pilot Charge 4! Charge provided us with multiple camo and tan skins for our beloved choppers, whether for the Ka50, the Mi8, the Huey and the Gazelle! BSD OvGME repository is up to date! All links updated too! Time for BSD pilots to download and enjoy flying with style!

Strait of Hormuz new screenshots

There are plenty of pretty interesting screenshots from the upcoming Strait of Hormuz DLC map on ED website. This will certainly improve the attractiveness of desert operations in DCS with a more plausible area to fly than in Nevada with the NTTR map.

Dragoon's mission

Sunsets never cease to amaze us in this new DCS 2.5. Dragoon's last mission was sending us in a dangerous SEAD night operation. Lot of fun!

News Polychop posted on FB 03/26

Finally some signs of life. What's you guys guess about this surprise?

Flying Helicopters over Normandy

Latest stream from Wags.

Definitively the next favorite map for BSD. A perfect and typical north western environment for 80's East vs West scenario. I really can't wait to fly tactical with all those collideable trees giving an awesome feeling of speed!

First helicopter solo!

Don't have a cool video like Shurugal but at least my instructor took a photo of me when I landed at the end of my first solo yesterday. 

Normandy Map live stream (March 18th)

"the most fun flying the Normandy map is with helicopters" Wags (Matt Wagner, ED)

BSD moved out

You guys might have noticed some issues with the site lately. We moved out. The site is now based in Washington DC. It is faster and offer plenty of storage space. Most of the site should be operational now. I am still working on some details, but let me know if you find stuff broken. 

New video for Normandy 1944 DLC map

Thanks to Cyrano for pointing this out. A very exciting 'pre order' video of the upcoming Normandy 1944 DLC map.

Where was Shurugal?

So we were all wondering where our pilot Shurugal disappeared for some time now. Well, just got the answer!

Congratulations to you Shurugal! Awesome first solo flight!

BSD Pinterest

So, I don't know if everyone is aware that the small pictures you can see scrolling on the left of the main page are actually coming from the BSD pinboard on Pinterest. This board is opened to all the BSD members. Just ask by PM (also you need a free Pinterest account). The board is shared with about half a dozen pilots today. Everytime you find/create some cool pics you want to see on the site and share/comment them with the other members, just pin them on the BSD board.

One of the picture you may have missed lately is one of a Gazelle with the "tail number" BSD!! (OK, letters are used in Europe and elsewhere for tail numbers). Anyway. Yes, there is actually a French Gazelle somewhere flying our colors. How cool is that?

Some new files available on the BSD OvGME repository

There are really a lot of great skins you can download on the users files on ED site, but Eagle_Rising spotted this one, made by a very talented skin artist called Rafal from Yoyosims that look particularly awesome: a paint job by Polish forces in Afghanistan with a nice weathered effect.

These skins where posted by Eight Ball not so long ago. It's not about the UN skin for the Mi-8 (it's a default one in game), but he skinned a whole set of vehicles (LAV-25, BRDM-2, BMP-2, UAZ, Gaz-66, Kamaz truck, BTR-80) as well as a nice blue UN helmet to US soldiers. Now ED extended its skin system to all the objects in game, the UN skin is just showing up in the list of skins available for each of those vehicles/people. So you are not deleting or modifying anything in your DCS install. I think this adds some nice missions possibilities for all of us.

As usual, if you are using oVGME and you went through the tutorial on the BSD forum, simply go into Mods/Repositories/Query and select what you want to install. Otherwise, there is still the (less often updated) mods page on BSD site. But you have to understand how to install mods.

Training within a virtual flight group got several purposes:

First, it is used to make sure that every pilot of the group will equally enjoy a simple to complex mission without being totally lost in the procedures, radio chatter or when it comes to use some specific functions/weapons of the aircraft he is flying.

Second, it is used to offer a way to progress within the flight group, for a better understanding of the operations and aircraft, to reach a leader rank and be able to lead a large flight, or to become an instructor and share the knowledge with the newcomers.

The training program is divided into 4 Sections:

• Elementary: Most of the content of the Elementary Section shall already be well known by the pilots who joins the Black Shark's Den. But just to make sure, we have some training modules for some cases.
• Basic: The Basic Section is the minimum to know in order for a trainee to join some complex missions with the BSD pilots.
• Standard: The Standard Section is here to bring each member to a high level of expertise with his aircraft or with the operational environment of Black Shark's Den.
• Advanced: The Advanced Section completes the BSD pilot training to move to higher responsibilities like a flight leader or an instructor.

Each section is divided into Modules. Each module got a ID ([AAXX]), an short description and an applicability (to which aircraft this module is relevant).

The following icons indicate:

	This module is relevant for the Kamov Ka-50 Black Shark
	This module is relevant for the Mil Mi-8
	This module is relevant for the Bell UH-1H Huey
	This module is relevant for the SA342 Gazelle
	This module is relevant for the BO-105

 In the Pilots Training Status, you will be able to follow your progression for each section. The following codes are used in the tables:

0: The pilot did not validated this module on any aircraft
K: The pilot has validated the module on Kamov Ka-50
M: The pilot has validated the module on Mil Mi-8
U: The pilot has validated the module on Bell UH-1H Huey
S: The pilot has validated the module on SA342 Gazelle
B: The pilot has validated the module on BO-105

The Black Shark's Den Training Range is a full program designed to bring all the BSD pilots to a level compatible with what is usually required to enjoy a simple or complex cooperative mission with a given aircraft. It is also targeted at pilots who wish to revise or improve their knowledge, either about the aircraft they are flying or the operational environment they are experiencing in a single or complex mission. It is also used to make the pilots progress to a type certificate on a new aircraft, to a position of leader in a flight group or to a position of instructor on a given aircraft.

The training program is divided into four large training groups with an increased level of complexity. Each group includes a number of modules of equivalent complexity. Each module can address DCS game elements, flight dynamics, avionics, flight procedures, weapon systems or operational environment. It should be noted that some modules are specific to an aircraft while others can be applied to any aircraft within the Black Shark's Den. In addition, some modules are permanently acquired while others can be revoked after a given amount of time if no re-training is scheduled.  

	Elementary This group of modules should generally known to all the trainees entering the Black Shark's Den. Nonetheless, there will be some cases where a specific point, at the beginning of the training, needs some clarification with a member of the BSD.
	Basic The basic group is composed of modules that are not mandatory to know when entering BSD, but should be understood for simple missions.
	Standard The standard group is composed of modules that will help the pilot to master complex missions and multi squadrons missions.
	Advanced The advanced group addresses the knowledge required for flight group leadership or instruction. Most of the modules of this group requires regular re-training in order to be maintained validated.