Miltech Simulations - October Dev Blog

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another Miltech Simulations Dev Blog!
This one’s going to be a long read — so sit back, and enjoy.

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MH60 (Miltech in partnership with Blackbird)

TOP-RATED AIRCRAFT SALE

We’re proud to share that three of our aircraft (MH60, M2K, and CH47D) have been selected for the Marketplace “Top Aircraft” event! 🎉 Discounts on these 3 products are now available on MSFS2020 and MSFS2024 Marketplaces. We’ve also matched the same discounts on our website, so you can grab them there as well.

UPDATE V1.0.3

The next update is well underway and scheduled in a matter of a few weeks. Our goal with this version is to reach a stable build before moving on to major new feature additions.

Here’s what’s coming:

• APU Logic Overhaul: Redesigned to be completely fail-proof, resolving the intermittent issues reported by a small number of users.
• Flight Model & SAS Improvements: The helicopter now exhibits more natural inertia in pitch, yaw, and roll, along with more realistic high-altitude performance.
• AFCS Logic Refinements: ALT modes are now correctly disabled when the aircraft is on the ground, and both bank and speed control logic have been further polished.
• New Keybind Support: Added bindings for the PCL and Tail Wheel Lock.
• Optimized Mipmapping (FS24): Improved texture handling for reduced memory usage.
• Realistic INS Alignment (Optional): You can now enable full, time-accurate INS alignment.
• Map Gauge/Coherent Crash Fix: A candidate fix is included and currently undergoing testing.
• Cockpit Lighting Review: Several lighting inconsistencies have been addressed.
• Pop-Out Gauge Support: Added for greater flexibility in multi-monitor or custom setups.
• Manual Trim Support: Now available when using “Autotrim” force-trim modes.
• Enhanced Speed Control: More precise fine-tuning of lateral and longitudinal speed inputs.

MH60 LIVERY PACK 1

We’re preparing the final release package! The finalized livery lineup is listed below, though we may still add more based on community feedback. If there’s a specific MH60 livery you’d like to see included, feel free to leave a comment below.

•    MH60S 163787, US Navy,
•    MH60S 160th SOAR,
•    MH60S 1091 Mexican Air Force,
•    MH60S 02 “Longhorns” US Navy Rescue,
•    MH60S N160AQ Orca Livery, 
•    MH60 Calfire 612
•    MH60S Hong Kong Government Flying Service (Fictional),
•    MH60R 01, Royal New Zealand Air Force,
•    MH60R Royal Danish Air Force Eksadrille N973,
•    MH60T 6048 - Traverse City,
•    MH60T Japanese Coast Guard (Fictional)

UH60, in partnership with Blackbird Simulations

No relevant updates at this time. This project is scheduled for 2026.

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Miltech Mission Hub

XBOX/MARKETPLACE RELEASE

Xbox testing is now in its final stage. The FS2020 version has already been approved for release, and we’re wrapping up a few final tweaks for FS2024. Our goal is to deliver a simultaneous release on both Marketplace platforms within the next few days.

Alongside this release, the Mission Hub + MH-60 Bundle Combo will also be available.
If you already own the MH60, you’ll automatically receive credit toward the bundle, allowing you to access Mission Hub at a discounted price.

NEXT MAJOR UPDATE

Work on the next Mission Hub update is also well underway, bringing a long list of improvements and new features:

• Sling Load Enhancements: Improved handling of “sling lost” situations and better support for multi-load missions.
• Extended Objective Texts: Popups can now display longer messages.
• New Map Tools: Added a Measure Tool for distance and bearing visualization.
• Image Objects: Missions can now display on-screen images directly.
• New SAR Scenarios: Sinking Cargo Ship, Combat SAR (downed aircraft/helicopter), Astronaut Rescue.
• New Slingloads: Bambi Bucket, Humvee, Flags, Astronaut Capsule, Weapons, RHIBs.
• New SimObjects: Fire trucks, ambulances, snowcats, limousines, Humvees, pickups, fast patrol crafts.

We’re also collaborating closely with the Mission Builder App, which will soon introduce cloud-based mission sharing, letting users upload, download, and share missions directly online, and even send missions from the web straight into Mission Hub.

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Skyraider, in partnership with Blackbird Simulations

Release Status

We’re now officially entering Beta Testing territory! The aircraft is feature-complete in MSFS 2020 and has been fully converted to the modular 2024 framework.

And yes - we mean “Skyraider”, not just the A1H. We’ve modelled several distinct fuselage variants, including the A-1H, AD-3W, AEW.1, and AD-4W. These variants are livery-dependent, so when you select a specific livery, the simulator automatically loads the corresponding fuselage.

While the differences are purely external and cosmetic, they add a lot of visual variety: featuring changes such as the belly radome, elongated canopy section, rear fuselage crew door, and observer station details.

Variants and Liveries:

Weapons Variety:We expect pricing to land in the mid-$20 USD range, covering all included variants of the Skyraider as announced above. The aircraft will be fully compatible with MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024, across both PC and Xbox platforms. We also anticipate a much smoother release process on Marketplace this time around, thanks to the straightforward structure of the project and the experience gained from our previous launches.

Aircraft Carriers

As previously announced, we’ve been developing a series of Korea- and Vietnam-era aircraft carriers, beginning with the USS Intrepid. These carriers will be available as fully usable assets in both Supercarrier Pro and Mission Hub upon the release of the Skyraider.

More details on this will be shared at the time of release.

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U2 Spyplane

The U2 development started a long time ago – early 2023 to be exact. It started a both a passion project and a testbed for new technologies, many of them led to features on the products you know and love. For example, many features on Mission Hub leverage technology initially created for the chase car and mission system of the U2.

However, as with many passion projects, other responsibilities get in the way. For example, we were tasked with the development of the C17 early in 2024, which took pretty much all the capacity for the year. Likewise, our partnership with Blackbird Simulations on the MH60 and Skyraider projects demanded significant focus. That said, this had a positive outcome: more public information has surfaced now that the U2 is due to retire.

We’re currently developing the U2 for both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024, covering the S (digital) and R (analog) variants. Here’s an early look at the U2S avionics suite. It’s a complex system, recreated in detail while keeping it practical to use in-sim, based on all publicly available reference material. Please note that everything shown is still a work in progress.

Moving on to the aircraft and ground support equipment, we’ve also created a detailed set of U2–specific assets, including pogo wheels, a ground power unit (GPU), and LOX and camera attachments.

The Chase Car assets are now production-ready. We’ve created three different vehicles, which are automatically assigned to the aircraft depending on the variant and livery in use. Please note that while these vehicles are closely based on their real-world counterparts, some details may differ slightly for licensing reasons.

As with all Miltech Simulations products, it’s not just about the aircraft - it’s about the entire ecosystem that surrounds it. That’s why, with the U-2, we’re including a set of five detailed airbases at no additional cost:

• Groom Lake (Area 51) – circa 1960s
• Fairford, UK
• Akrotiri, Cyprus
• Osan, South Korea
• A fictional CIA airstrip designed for historical USSR overflight missions

Each base is built to complement the U2 experience, providing authentic environments for mission profiles across different eras and theaters.

Missions will be available through Mission Hub (required) and will feature dynamic, randomized events, custom audio effects, and scenarios that may involve intercepting communications using the aircraft’s radios and onboard sensors.

So… where’s the cockpit? The aircraft fuselage?

Remember how we mentioned that this project began over three years ago? Well, the assets we built back then simply don’t meet our current standards for modeling and texturing quality. Because of that, we’ve decided to take a step back and give both the cockpit and exterior models a major upgrade to bring them up to today’s visual and technical standards.

This decision won’t significantly affect the schedule. We’ve added extra development capacity dedicated almost entirely to the U-2 project to ensure progress continues smoothly. For example, here's the recently remodeled Ejection Seat.

So… when is it releasing? For various reasons, we are unable to provide an ETA. But the project is progressing at a good pace, and it is next up on our release schedule.

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CH53 Helicopter

For this DevBlog, we’ve decided to focus mainly on the U-2 and Skyraider, as the post is already getting quite long to cover everything in depth.

That said, we didn’t want to leave out the CH53, so here are a few preview shots!
You can see the rotor hub rendered in incredible detail, and thanks to the new FS24 Modular technology, this level of fidelity comes with minimal performance impact.

By the way – have you seen the size of these things?

Moving on to the interiors, we’re once again taking advantage of the MSFS 2024 Modular System to build highly detailed, performance-efficient assets. This approach also enables us to design configurable cabin layouts for the different variants we plan to include. At this time, our focus is on the CH53E and MH53E variants.

More details to come in a future DevBlog.

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FS2020 and the Future

As mentioned by Jorg during last week’s Developer Stream, and supported by our own internal analytics, the vast majority of users have now transitioned to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

With that in mind, we anticipate a full transition to a 2024-only development environment sometime in 2026. Maintaining support for both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 is logistically complex and financially unsustainable in the long term, particularly as new releases and updates continue to grow in scope and technical depth. Many of the "delays" as pointed out by the community, based on our 2025 Roadmaps, are in part attributed to the support of two platforms. It’s also important to note that maintaining backward compatibility significantly limits our ability to fully leverage the advanced technologies introduced in Flight Simulator 2024, particularly in areas like flight modelling, aerodynamics, and system simulation.

That said, we remain committed to ensuring that both the Skyraider and U2 projects will be available on both platforms. Beyond those, however, we can’t yet say whether upcoming aircraft (like the CH-53 or UH-60) will continue to receive dual-platform support. That decision will ultimately come down to market trends and where most players are by the time those projects are ready.