Jane's Combat Simulations: Israeli Air Force

Overview

Developed by Pixel Multimedia and published by EA, Jane's Combat Simulations: Israeli Air Force is a military flight simulator focusing on the Israeli Air Force. Jane's IAF allows the players to pilot nine different jet fighters in air-to-air and air-to-ground combat with Syrian, Jordanian, Lebanese and Egyptian forces. Though not as realistic as other flight sims, IAF exchanges realism for breadth of aircraft available. The sequel, Jane's USAF, was released a year later.

Gameplay

Players can fly seven jets flown by the Israeli Air Force. An additional two fighters are available in multiplayer only. The jets and weapons behave relatively realistically but specific nuances of each fighter are not captured in the detail of a dedicated one plane flight sim such as Falcon 3.0 or Jane's F-15. The cockpits are also realistic but some switches cannot be toggled. Ground terrain was created based off stereoscopic satellite terrain data as well as elevation data of the region. This allows the pilot to fly low and use hills and mountains as cover from radar however, the ground terrain becomes more pixilated at lower altitudes.

A key element to Jane's IAF is the tactical display. The tactical display shows a map of Israel and its surrounding countries. Friendly forces, mission objectives, navpoints and key enemy threats such as SAMs are displayed on the map. Before the mission, the briefing is displayed on the tactical map and the player can go to the arming screen to arm all the planes participating in the mission. The player can then select which formation he wants to fly in (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie or Delta) and commence the mission. The other formations will be AI controlled.

Anytime during a mission, the player can hit the ESC key and return to the tactical map to get better picture of how the mission is going. The tactical map serves as an AWACS, capable of showing enemy planes on the map before the aircraft can detect them. The player can also assume control of another formation. This is often key to completing missions as the AI is not good. An example mission: Alpha is a pair of F-15s tasked with a combat air patrol (CAP) and Bravo is a pair of F-4s assigned on suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD). The player can initially fly as Alpha and take out any air threats until AI controlled Bravo reaches a certain navpoint. The player can then switch to flying Bravo via the tactical map and carry out the SEAD mission. When the SEAD mission is done, the player can resume flying Alpha on CAP. If shot down, the player is returned to the tactical map and can continue the mission as his wingman or as a plane in another formation.

After each mission, the player is taken to a debrief screen. Here all the kills and losses incurred during the mission are shown and the player is given a numerical score. In single player, the difficulty setting will also modify the score by 80% on easy, 100% on normal and 120% on hard. Failing to complete objectives, quitting the mission and applying cheat codes via the options screen can also affect score. The score goes towards promoting or demoting the player's rank though the rank is merely cosmetic and doesn't unlock anything new.

Game modes

Training

• Basic Course: Teaches how to fly the plane including takeoff, landing, navigation and basic air-to-air and air-to-ground.
• Combat Course: Teaches dogfighting maneuvers, wingman control, and other advanced tactics.

Campaign

The game features historical campaigns and future campaigns. Historical campaigns are based off of the wars Israel has been involved in and the missions they flew. Future campaigns are hypothetical scenarios between Israel and its neighbors. The campaigns have 6-10 missions. Missions are scripted but allow some randomization. Players do not have to complete the campaigns in chronological order.

Historical

• Six Day War: June 5-10, 1967. Israel engages with the forces of Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
• Yom Kippur War: October 6, 1973. Syria and Egypt launch a surprise attack on Yom Kippur.
• Lebanon War: June 6, 1982. Israel invades South Lebanon

Future

• Syrian Front: The Syrians have begun to amass forces along their southern border. Is it a military exercise or the beginnings of renewed hostilities with Israel's most dangerous enemy?
• Iraqi Front: Saddam Hussein has invaded Jordan, his western neighbor, which has brought his elite Republican Guards within striking distance of Israel's population centers.
• Lebanese Front: Another build-up of Syrian forces in southern Lebanon must be addressed.

Scramble

A randomized set of missions that puts the player in the cockpit ready to takeoff. The player is briefed en route via radio instead of the tactical map.

Mission Creator

A powerful mission creator that allows the player to not only set the types of friendlies and enemies involved but also the time of day, home base and other mission parameters. The player can then press "fly", to launch directly into the mission.

Multiplayer

Jane's IAF supports up to 8 players via online or LAN. Players could also go to janescombat.net to set up and start games. The site was closed in 2002.

• Teamplay: 4v4 missions with different objectives and flight conditions set by the host
• All-Out-War: Last man standing FFA. The tactical map is unavailable in this mode.

Aircraft

The game features 9 flyable aircraft. The 7 available in single player are aircraft flown by the IAF while the 2 aircraft available in multiplayer are MiGs flown by Israel's enemies. Several additional aircraft are AI controlled only.

Single Player

• Mirage IIIC: Single seat interceptor built by Dassault
• Kfir C.7: An Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) multi-role fighter based off the Mirage V
• F-4E: Two seat multi-role fighter built by McDonnell Douglas
• F-4E Kurnass 2000: An IAI modernized F-4 with better radar and avionics
• F-15C: Air Superiority fighter built by McDonnell Douglas to replace the F-4
• F-16D: Two seat, multi-role fighter built by General Dynamics
• Lavi: A cancelled multi-role fighter built by the IAI

Multiplayer

• MiG-23: A Soviet made, single seat interceptor with variable geometry wings
• MiG-29: Single Seat multi-role fighter built to counter the American F-15 and F-16

AI Controlled

• A-4E
• C-130
• MiG-17
• MiG-21
• MiG-25
• Su-17
• Su-24
• Tu-22M
• Il-76

Weapons

Weapons selection in Jane's IAF feature mostly a mix of US and Israeli made missiles and bombs. Soviet air-to-air missiles are available for the MiGs in multiplayer