Release notes
Changelog
Digital Crew Chief is still in alpha. This page tracks current releases and the older alpha history.
v0.5.0-2026081601
Operation Corporate — Falklands 1982
A new South Atlantic campaign follows the British task force from sea control through the San Carlos landing and the advance on Stanley, with dedicated British and Argentine factions, persistent naval groups, and anti-ship missions.
CASEVAC and troop extraction
Helicopter missions can recover wounded personnel and extract withdrawing infantry, with persistent pickup requests, recovery destinations, and local replacement pools.
Campaign operations overview
The campaign screen now tracks phase objectives, naval capability, and formations that are withdrawing, awaiting extraction, trapped, or waiting for a valid deployment site.
Persistent EWR networks
Early-warning radar sites now persist between missions, appear on the campaign map, and can be suppressed by SEAD or permanently destroyed by DEAD flights.
Visible CSAR pilots
CSAR missions now place a standing pilot at the reported location and remove the pilot object after a successful pickup.
Out-of-bounds map protection
Campaign maps and mission debriefs now skip positions outside a theatre's supported coordinate grid instead of crashing, including affected Syria campaigns.
Custom factions and GPS controls
Campaign setup can create or edit factions, shows whether GPS is available on the selected date, and can move historically earlier campaigns to a GPS-enabled date.
Deeper ground and naval persistence
Ground formations retain individual units and curated deployment slots, while carrier, escort, transport, patrol, warehouse, AWACS, and recovery-window state is represented in generated missions.
Improved mission planning
Flight planning handles base and target preferences more reliably, while SEAD and DEAD consider both SAM and EWR emitters.
Expanded anti-ship aircraft support
Anti-ship tasking and mission loadouts are now available for eligible AJS 37, AV-8B, F-4E, F-5E, F/A-18C, JF-17, and Su-22M4 aircraft.
F-5E mission loadouts
The F-5E now has dedicated CAS and pinpoint-strike loadouts and is available for those roles in eligible Argentine and US factions.
AV-8B pinpoint-strike loadout
The AV-8B now has a dedicated pinpoint-strike loadout using GBU-54 laser JDAMs.
v0.5.0-2026080201
Redesigned campaign setup
Campaign creation now guides players through scenario and era selection, player and opponent faction customization, and aircraft roster previews.
Additional classic factions
Additional preset factions and campaign options from the classic DCC set are now available.
CSAR campaign operations
Downed pilots behind enemy lines can generate rescue packages, persist on the campaign map for one hour, and be recovered with kneeboard guidance and F10 status, smoke, and pickup commands.
F-14BU support
The F-14B Upgrade is available for eligible US Navy 1987 missions, contributed by virhed.
Expanded FARP operations
Friendly FARPs can launch helicopter CAS and CSAR flights.
More responsive mission-state saving
Losses, landings, ejections, cargo deliveries, and CSAR pickups now trigger batched state saves, with periodic autosaves retained as a fallback.
Navigation and campaign-date corrections
DCS bearings now use the correct north/east axes, Late Cold War campaigns cover 1979–1991, and the Modern era begins in 1992.
v0.5.0-2026062401
IADS campaign options
Campaigns can now include integrated air defense systems, with generated DCS mission support through Skynet IADS integration.
Air Tasking Order and logistics planning
ATO planning coordinates flight packages with package spacing and airbase supply status.
Player navigation aids
F10 menus can now provide target vectors, generated target TACAN, and landing airport vectors.
Mission start welcome message
New missions now summarize the enabled F10 menu features when the mission begins.
More detailed supply simulation
Supply management now models airbase logistics, capture behavior, and supply state updates in more detail.
More reliable mission state
Mission scripts now persist DCS state more reliably and report state handling errors more clearly.
Richer kneeboard and mission output
Kneeboards and generated missions now include relevant strike, navigation, TACAN, and landing vector details for eligible client flights.
v0.5.0-2026061401
New campaign setup flow
Scenario and era selection now guide campaign creation.
New playable scenarios
Operation Northern Shield on Syria and Eagle Down on Persian Gulf.
New era options
Korea, Vietnam, and Late Cold War are now available as era options.
New aircraft support
F-100D aircraft support has been added.
Separate radio frequencies
Flight groups now receive separate radio frequencies.
Cleaner kneeboard waypoints
Kneeboard waypoint numbering now skips takeoff points.
v0.5.0-2026060901
Complete application rewrite
The 0.5 line rebuilt the application foundation instead of extending the older 0.4 codebase.
Brand-new interface and design
A redesigned user interface introduced the new visual language and workflow structure.
New website
The project shipped with a dedicated website alongside the rewritten application.
Flight group selection system
Flight groups can now be selected through a new purpose-built selection flow.
Aircraft changes before takeoff
Aircraft type can now be changed before takeoff during mission preparation.
EWR script added
An EWR script was added to extend mission behavior and battlefield awareness.
Campaign map with English labels
The new campaign map launched with English labels for clearer map reading.
Offline map support
Map data can now be used offline instead of depending on a live connection.
Map ruler tool
A ruler tool was added to make map distance checks easier during planning.
Automatic updates
The application gained an automatic update system for future releases.
Reworked kneeboard
The kneeboard experience was reworked as part of the first alpha release.
Reworked waypoint logic
Waypoint behavior and route handling were updated in the new mission flow.
Reworked spawn logic
Spawn logic was reworked to support the rewritten application structure.
Full release history
For installer assets, older builds, and exact tags, visit the project releases on Codeberg.