On their press-release, which can be found on their Facebook page, Polychop states talks about a new project:
We still wished to release more products because we are confident, as a team that we can provide some of the best simulation software available so in 2016, we started a new project in secret to avoid the pressure of rushing out an un-prepared product and could focus energy on improving the Gazelle.
This new project, as you can see on the screenshots (some of which are exclusive renders we got from Polychop) is the OH-58 Kiowa, a light helicopter used for observation, utility, and fire support, which was developed from the Bell 206, although it uses the rotor system of the Bell 407.
Curiously enough, when we asked about the role of the OH-58 in the current state of DCS, Polychop said something that can be quite a shock: the module may not be released for DCS. Perhaps they are still in negotiations with ED?
Currently we have not decided which platform we will use for the Kiowa. Certainly DCS seems to be the most promising, but we are evaluating right now how well the avionics can be integrated.
The Kiowa has way more functions then people would expect, neiter did I when I started to read the manuals. Unfortunately a lot can not be integrated into a flight sim, no matter which one you take, but these functions
are not important for a simulated battlefield like DCS. Most of the functions that will not be integrtable are important for real battlefield comunication and other very cool stuff but I can not go into details here.
So in general terms of DCS this helicopter has a few unique functions that can be used on the battlefield of DCS.
It has a similar system like the A10C or the KA50 has where you can see on the moving map your buddy, it is called L2MUM and a few interesting memory functions.
It can also laserdesignate for other platforms, which was the intention of the sightsystem from its first rollout.
They were supposed to designate targets for the laserguided hellfires that were carried by the AH64A and so it became possible to designate for anything else that uses a lasertracker.
Therefore this helicopter could be a perfect addition to the upcoming F18c and F14a/b which will be fast and will also rely on a good designation when they use thier laserguided ammunition.
Also current modules like the A10C, Mirage M2, Harrier or even the F5 would have a huge benefit fom the Kiowa Warrior.
In addition the Kiowa has some nice weapons like a maximum of 4 Hellfires, which are only used in that configuration on doomsday. It can use the Hellfire to disable radar sites or any other groundvehicle or troup at a certain distance.
The .50 caliber machinegun is a very potent tool too against light vehicles or infantry and for aything that is medium heavy and below you can also use a rocketpod.
We also asked about multicrew (if it sees the light of day in DCS), to which Polychop replied by saying:
This all depends on multiple factors. First, the choice of platform we will be using. Stating anything else about this topic is to early at the moment. But the Kiowa Warrior was designed to be flown and fought for a single person in case one of the 2 pilots gets injured or killed. So it would be fully operational even with a single man onboard. What I had figured, spending the past 2 years with the women and men that flew the helicopter and the community behind this bird, is that both pilots go through the same flightschool and both fly all seats, so they sometimes fly as commander or copilot.
The OH-58 is one of those helicopters we always see fans asking for and Polychop decided to deliver.
Let's all keep our fingers crossed as, I'm sure, a lot of us would like to see this as a DCS module. But hey: it wouldn't hurt to see it in X-Plane as well, would it -- in both sims, of course?
Screenshots of the Polychop OH-58
