Following the success of Red Flag 1, virtual pilots set off for another three-hour round of online air combat on the 104th “Heliopolis” server on May 30.
The concept of the battle remained the same as for all Red Flag events: outnumbered OPFOR pilots from the 51st and 104th fighter squadrons defending the airspace and ground troops against an attacking coalition force, also called the challengers.
Unlike RF1 where OPFOR came out on top with a comfortable lead, this time, the battle turned out to be very tight as only 60 points in favor of the challengers, separated the two sides at the end.
Detailed results of this battle are available including team and pilot scoring; you can also watch a tactical recording, put together by 104th Maverick by visiting the RF2 official result page.
The BattleFacts section below will once again attempt to go over the main events and best performance that highlighted this second round of the DCS Red Flag series as well as providing an insight of what will be at stake ahead of the upcoming showdowns.
- RF2 has been the tightest battle ever since the inception of the Joint Warrior and Red Flag series with only 60 points separating the two sides at the final whistle.
- KombatMilc made a very strong come back since OPFOR’s first appearance logging nothing less than the best air-to-air performance. All KombatMilc’s air-to-air victories were scored by the R-27ET missile; furthermore, out of the 3 confirmed kills, two were on top 10 pilots; through this stellar performance, KombatMilc has decured the 9th spot of the pilot rankings.
- With KombatMilc’s best air-to-air performance, the Su-27 Flanker is back in the spotlight for the first time since Frostie’s performance in JW3.
- After resounding performances at OPFOR 15-1 and RF1, Spanish ground pounding expert, Honos from the 71st squadron, backed by teammate SkyHell, reiterated his success by coming out on top for the third time in a row after making short work of 13 enemy ground units amid the raging air battle. Honos’ consistency throughout the last events has earned him the fourth place in the air-to-ground hall of fame with two months spent back-to-back as the top DCS striker in addition to further consolidating the total domination of the 71st pilots in the air-to-ground squadron rankings.
- A clean sheet topped with three confirmed kills has allowed Riptide to be yet again among the very top performers in the air-to-air arena. A great deal of consistency since JW1 has proven the Irish ace to be a serious contender for the top spot of the air-to-air rankings; in the last 5 events, Riptide has been the author of the best performance twice (JW2 and OPFOR 15-1), and been among the top four on two more occasions (RF1 and RF2); JW4 battle will be a good opportunity for Riptide to move into at least the second place of the rankings as squadron mate Spade, currently runner-up, will have to defend a lot of points won at JW1 twelve months ago, which Riptide himself had not flown.
- With over 1300 points scored in RF2, Gabriel has been ahead of the pack as S77th pilots continue to push in their squadron rankings campaign. The North American-based squadron have now further consolidated their status as the third best air-to-air squadron ahead of JW4, an event that will give them a shot at glory as they will probably face the 51st and 104th in a very anticipated clash.
- OPFOR’s Air Defense Systems were deadly in RF2 in comparison to previous rounds; 6 Su-27 fighters, one F-15C and 1 Su-25T from the attacking coalition (Challengers) were shot down at low altitude by either Anti-Aircraft-Artillery (AAA) or Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM), which counted for 375 points on the scoreboard in favor of OPFOR.
- All AIM-120 kills were achieved by pilots from either the 104th (7 kills) or 77th (3 kills) squadrons. R-27ER was a bit more effective in comparison to RF1 with 3 confirmed kills while R-27ET was behind the destruction of 7 air units. Longest BVR kill was made by Rage from the 51st squadron through unleashing an R-27ET from 14nm away with TaccoZ on the receiving end. There were a couple of close encounters but no dogfight worth mentioning.
- Despite not flying RF2, Maverick, the current leader of the rankings, sustained his position and has moved ahead to 8 months spent as air-to-air number one ranked pilot, which is an absolute record in DCS history. Spade who had a good opportunity to take over the top spot did not score enough points to do so, though has reduced the gap to 230 points only with even less points separating him from fellow teammate and current third best pilot, Riptide.
- Country-wise, KombatMilc’s brilliant performance has given the United States a greater lead in the air-to-air rankings with now two months spent at the very top in the Hall of Fame and just one month shy of the current leader Sweden.
