Persian Gulf

Originally called “Strait of Hormuz,” the Persian Gulf map is said to be a new concept for DCS World: an expandable expansion. It covers roughly 300×300 nautical miles around the (previously) eponymous sea strait.

The map encompasses a fair portion of the UAE, the northern tip(s) of Oman, and the southern coast of Iran. This includes the cities of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bandar Abbas and Bandar Lengeh — old-timey simulator players may still have nightmares of seeing the message “Hawk launched from…” related to the latter two from back in the F-15 Strike Eagle II days.

Strait of Hormuz

In terms of actual geography, the map shares a lot of similarities with NTTR, with its vast stretches of deserts, its mountainous regions, and its large modern metropolitan areas, but it also shares an important feature with the Caucasus map: lots and lots of open water. It is a narrow strait between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, after all, and it is a water border at that. Instead of the large columns of tanks rolling over the border or across some desert shooting range, this map offers a backdrop for large naval action and island hopping. A third of the available airports sit on small contested islands, and more islands still are available for evil mission makers to place SAM sites on — no terrain masking is available over the water.

In terms of map features, a fair amount of airports are available with a good spread between them: small, fast ground attack packages can be made just as easily as long-range CAPs and fuel-demanding deep strike missions. The region offers a good mix of navigation options, depending on which side of the map you are on: TACAN, VOR, and NDBs are all available (but no RSBN/ИСКРА or ARK beacons for the older Russian planes), and most larger airports offer ILS as well — at a later stage, AWLS and TILS may be added as well, but time will tell.

Features

• 600,000km² of modelled terrain, including large stretches of open water.
• 29 airports, ranging from large multiple-runway international hubs to tiny barely-above-dirt strips.
• A wide and scattered mix of navigation options, including TACAN, VOR, and NDBs.
• Recreations of numerous famous landmarks in and around the area.

Missing features

The Persian Gulf module is no longer labelled as “early access” in the DCS shop since the official word is that all parts of the map and all airports are finally in. However, the module is still missing a lot of the auxiliary data — kneeboard approach plates and navigation charts — that are usually included with terrain modules.

Links and files

• Compact airfield information (see also kneeboard mods).
• Persian Gulf airport navigation/approach chart kneeboard pages.
• High-res aeronautical map of the Strait of Hormuz.
• DCS: Persian Gulf Map in the DCS shop.

More information

• Strait of Hormuz on wikipedia.
• Strait of Hormuz VFR map on Skyvector.