Glossary

Air-to-Air Coordination & Support explains how fighters plug into the bigger picture: AWACS and GCI control, picture calls, check-ins, commits and aborts, timeline management, and roles like striker, support and high cover. This section shows how proper comms and coordination turn a bunch of jets on the map into an actual, coherent package in DCS.

Beyond Visual Range Combat explains what happens before you ever see the bandit with your eyes. This section covers BVR fundamentals: radar ranges (Rmax, Rtr), NEZ and MAR, Fox 3 employment, crank/notch/drag tactics and the logic behind commits and aborts. The goal is to turn long-range shots in DCS from “hope and pray” into deliberate, timed BVR decisions.

Mission Types & Roles explains what different air-to-air taskings actually mean and how they shape your job in the cockpit. From CAP and BARCAP to DCA, OCA, escort, sweep and more, this section breaks down who protects what, who goes hunting, and how those roles translate into practical responsibilities in DCS missions.

Within Visual Range & Dogfighting covers the close-in fight once you can actually see the bandit. This section explains WVR basics, BFM and ACM, one-circle vs two-circle fights, energy management, gun and Fox 2 employment, and how to turn the chaos of a merge into something you can control and reproduce in DCS.

Close Air Support Procedures & Geometry explains how CAS is actually flown. This section covers CAS flows, 9-line briefs, IPs and BPs, attack headings, stacks, danger-close considerations and egress planning, so your DCS CAS runs are structured rather than just “point at target and shoot.”

Close Air Support Roles & Controllers explains who actually runs CAS on the ground and in the air. This section covers FAC, JTAC and AFAC responsibilities, how they brief, clear and control attacks, and how their guidance keeps friendly troops alive in both real operations and DCS missions.

Delivery Modes & Aiming explains how you actually put weapons on target. This section covers CCIP and CCRP, dive vs level deliveries, loft/toss profiles, HUD pippers and release cues, and how sighting methods affect accuracy and survivability. The goal is to turn your DCS weapon drops from “hope it hits” into repeatable, planned attack profiles.

Sensors & Night Systems explains how you see and fight when the sun isn’t helping you. This section covers FLIR, IR, NVGs and related systems, how they detect or amplify heat and light, how they’re limited by weather and terrain, and how to use them in DCS for target detection, identification and night/low-visibility operations without flying blind.

Weapon Types & Guidance explains what you’re actually dropping or firing, and how it finds the target. This section covers unguided “dumb” bombs, PGMs, JDAMs, LGBs, GPS/INS-guided weapons, CEP and the trade-offs between cost, accuracy and risk. The aim is to help you choose the right weapon and guidance method for each DCS mission, instead of just loading “whatever looks cool.”

Strike Missions & Geometry covers how air-to-ground attacks are planned and flown, not just which bomb you drop. This section explains strike mission types, run-in planning, headings and offsets, release geometry, deconfliction, timing (including TOT), and the logic behind ingress and egress routes. The goal is to help you build repeatable strike setups in DCS that are safe, efficient and easy to coordinate with other aircraft.

Radio Modulation Methods explains how your radio actually carries the voice: AM vs FM, why aviation uses AM on most VHF/UHF channels, where FM shows up in tactical and helicopter ops, and what that means for clarity, range and realism when you set up radios in DCS.

Radio Frequency Bands explains where on the spectrum your radios actually live. This section covers VHF, UHF (and HF where relevant), what each band is typically used for (ATC, air-to-air, tactical, long-range), and how that maps into DCS so you’re not just spinning knobs until “it works.”

Air Traffic Services & Networks explains how controlled airspace is actually managed and how that carries over into sims. This section covers ATC roles and services, tower/approach/center-style control, and online networks like VATSIM-style environments and DCS multiplayer ATC/GCI. The goal is to make your radio calls and routing in DCS feel more like flying inside a real system, not just talking to a menu.

Simulation Tools & Integrations covers the extra tools that make DCS feel less like a game and more like a cockpit. This section focuses on SRS and similar add-ons that tie comms, controls and external apps into your aircraft systems, so radio use, coordination and workload start to feel closer to real operations rather than just Discord and hotkeys.

Brevity & Clearance Calls explains the short radio phrases that carry a lot of meaning in very few words. This section covers standard brevity codes like Fox, Spike, Mud, Bingo and Winchester, and clearance calls like Cleared Hot, Abort, Continue and more. The goal is to make radio traffic in DCS sound clear instead of cryptic, so you know exactly what is being asked or reported in the fight.

Carrier Operations explains what it really takes to land and launch from a moving deck. This section covers patterns and CASE I/II/III recoveries, the meatball, groove, arresting gear, catapults, LSO interaction and basic deck procedures, so your DCS traps feel more like naval aviation and less like “point at the boat and hope.”

Flight Rules explains the frameworks that decide how you’re legally and procedurally supposed to fly. This section starts with VFR and later IFR: who is responsible for separation, what visibility and cloud minima mean, and how these concepts map (imperfectly) into DCS so you can plan patterns, routes and weather decisions with a bit more real-world logic.

Aircraft Handling & Control Phenomena covers the flying qualities and “weird behaviours” you feel in the stick before you fully understand them. This section explains control and stability effects like PIO, Dutch roll, adverse yaw, stall and spin behaviour, trim effects, energy bleed, and other handling phenomena that affect how an aircraft responds to pilot inputs. The goal is to help you recognise what’s happening, stop fighting the jet, and fly with cleaner, safer control in DCS.

Ground Operations covers everything that happens before takeoff and after landing, when the aircraft is moving on the ground and the mistakes are usually slow, expensive and avoidable. This section includes start-up and shutdown flows, taxi technique, runway and ramp procedures, ground crew interactions, basic ATC calls on the ground, and the habits that keep you predictable, safe and efficient in DCS airfields and carrier decks.

Operational Information & Restrictions covers the information that changes what you are allowed to do, or what you should not do, during flight operations. This section includes airspace and range restrictions, NOTAM-style notes, altitude and speed limits, ROE-style constraints, holding instructions, pattern and approach restrictions, and the kinds of operational warnings that shape real decision-making. The goal is to help you read a brief, understand the limits, and fly inside the boundaries instead of discovering them the hard way.

Aviation Units & Measurements explains the basic “language of numbers” used in flying: feet vs meters, knots vs km/h, nautical miles, Mach, angles in degrees, QNH/QFE and typical altitudes. This section helps you stop guessing what those values mean so you can read charts, briefs and cockpit data in DCS without constantly converting in your head.

Instrument Approaches and Minima explains how you get safely from the clouds to the runway using instruments instead of eyesight. This section covers ILS categories (CAT I/II/III), DH/DA, MDA, RVR and the concept of “minimums,” and then shows how those ideas map into DCS where the rules aren’t enforced but the techniques still matter for serious IFR-style flying.

Navigation Systems explains the tools that tell your jet where it is and where it’s going. This section covers GPS, INS, GPS/INS hybrids, TACAN, waypoints and markpoints, plus how these systems drift, update and interact. The goal is to make your navigation in DCS deliberate and repeatable instead of just “follow the line on the HSI.”

Radio Navigation Aids explains the classic beacons your instruments listen to. This section covers NDB/ADF, VOR/DME-style navigation and TACAN, how bearings and radials work, and how these concepts are simplified in DCS where TACAN does most of the heavy lifting. The goal is to make tuning a nav radio something you understand, not just “spin the knob until the HSI moves.”

Altimetry & Vertical References explains how altitude is actually measured and reported. This section covers AGL vs MSL, barometric settings (QNH/QFE), transition altitude/level concepts and how altimeters work, so you know what those numbers really mean in briefs, cockpit instruments and DCS missions.

Cockpit Displays & Avionics explains the “glass” and brains of your jet. This section covers HUDs, MFDs, basic avionics pages, sensor displays and how flight, nav and weapons data are presented to you, so you can read the symbology in DCS with intent instead of just reacting to random numbers and icons.

Weather Reports & Codes explains how weather is written down and briefed. This section covers METARs, TAFs, basic abbreviations, QNH/QFE and how to read the key lines that matter for visibility, wind, cloud and pressure, so you can turn real-world reports into useful planning info for your DCS missions.

Visibility & Cloud explains what you can actually see out of the cockpit and how the sky is layered above you. This section covers visibility, ceiling, fog, haze, cloud bases and tops, plus how these factors affect VFR/IFR decisions, approaches and low-level tactics in DCS, so you stop treating “weather” as just a slider in the mission editor.

Wind & Turbulence explains how moving air messes with your jet. This section covers surface winds, crosswinds, gusts, wind shear, turbulence and mechanical/thermal bumpiness, and how they affect takeoff, landing, pattern work and low-level flying in DCS. The goal is to make you think about wind as a tactical factor, not just a number on the briefing screen.

Environmental Hazards explains the nasty stuff in the atmosphere that can ruin your day even if the sky looks flyable. This section covers icing, thunderstorms, microbursts, high density altitude, dust and sand, and how each one affects performance, control and survivability in both real aviation and DCS missions.