Persian Gulf

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Originally called “Strait of Hormuz” the Persian Gulf map is said to be a new conceptfor DCS World: an expandable expansion. While it currently “only” covers roughly 300×300 nautical miles around the (previously) eponymous sea strait, it is said to be the first part in eventually covering some 800×500 nm around the entire gulf area.

Within its current zone, it 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 — in time, AWLS and TILS may be added, but time will tell.

Links and files

• DCS: Persian Gulf Map in the DCS shop.

More information

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