VTOL VR Gets New Plane: The EF-24G Mischief and Electronic Warfare Update

A couple of weeks after its announcement VTOL VR solo developer Baha has released the new VTOL VR plane known as the EF-24G Mischief to the public.

This new plane is purchasable as DLC on Steam for the price of twelve dollars, and is based on the real world F-14 tomcat. This plane also happened to be released on the exact same day of the year as the first flight of the Tomcat in 1970.

The EF-24G Mischief is intended as an Electronic Warfare fighter in VTOL VR, using jamming pods and sensors to hide from or confuse enemy missiles and radar systems.

Of course this new plane isn’t going to be the only one capable of utilizing jamming technology, with jamming equipment now available for other planes in this fantastic VR flight simulator.

There’s even some other new equipment available like the AIM-54 missile, but for now let’s talk some specifics on exactly what you can do with the EF-24 and more about the electronic warfare update, which massively changes VTOL VR.

The F-14 Tomcat In VTOL VR

The EF-24 is a very fun new addition to VTOL VR that makes great use of the new Electronic Warfare system.

On it, and various other aircraft like the F/A-26, you can mount AN/ALQ-245 Jammer pods, which allow you to spoof and jam signals for the enemy team.

We’ll talk more about this and the new Electronic Warfare system here shortly, but suffice to say it’s a massive change to VTOL VR that will completely revamp how the game is played, especially in Multiplayer, and the EF-24G is tailor made for it.

The AN/ALQ-245 Jammer Pod

The EF-24G Mischief itself bears many similarities to the F-45 (based on the real like F-35) in that the cockpit is extremely high tech when compared to older aircraft like the AV-42 or F/A-26. Though in many other respects this new plane is unlike any other.

Especially when using Electronic Warfare, there’s a lot of buttons to press on your various configurable touchscreens, and a lot of things to do to fly and fight as effectively as possible.

That’s why it’s great that the EF-24G is also a two seater plane. You can have a copilot in the back to handle the Electronic Warfare pods or weapons.

While it’s completely possible to fly this new plane by yourself, it’s much harder to manage everything on your own.

Being the passenger can be just as fun as being the pilot

Still, you can always by yourself a little time by zooming away, which the EF-24G is very capable of doing just like it’s real life inspiration the F-14 Tomcat.

It’s now capable of the highest speeds in the game, at least when you sweep the wings back, because just like the F-14 the EF-24 can sweep its wings forward or back for maneuverability or straight up speed.

This, coupled with the new missiles available to it, make the EF-24G a fantastic plane for countering enemy air defenses, and generally confusing them.

There are a ton of features, old and new, that you can use with this plane. So many that we won’t discuss them all here, though the size of the EF-24Gs manual speaks for itself.

If you’ve just gotten ahold of the EF-24G there’s also a whole new Singleplayer campaign for the plane which focuses on its strengths in countering enemy ground based air defenses. It’s a ton of fun and a great way to get to know your way around the new aircraft.

The new campaign is hard at first, but fantastic

Electronic Warfare in VTOL VR

Though by far the biggest change to VTOL VR is not only the addition of the EF-24G, but the addition of Electronic Warfare in general in this fantastic modern VR flight simulator.

You used to always be able to trust your radar and radar warning system to show you exactly where enemies were and what type of craft they were flying. That’s no longer the case.

That’s a lot of incoming missiles, shame they’re aiming at imaginary planes

The new jammer pods, which can be mounted on many of the aircraft already present in the game as well as the EF-24G Mischief, mean that no electronic system is guaranteed to work as you’d expect it to anymore.

These jamming pods are capable of doing a number of different sorts of electronic warfare and different frequencies. Guidance systems can be flooded with noise to become unreliable, DRFM can be used to make one aircraft seem like a whole wing of them, and even basic functionality like navigation and communications equipment can be interfered with.

It’s truly a massive change for VTOL VR, and opens up many more options in how you can approach each combat encounter, or how you can be tricked into approaching them in the wrong way.

What’s even more incredible is the further addition of the ADM-160J decoy missile.

The ADM-160J Decoy/Jammer Missile

This is a missile that, like the name says, functions as a decoy and is capable of making itself look like an entire aircraft.

Not only that, but it can help you triangulate targets for your own missiles, and has jamming technology of its own to misdirect enemy air defenses. Suddenly what might seem like another EF-24 approaching you could just be a decoy missile.

There’s no limit to how these new technologies present in the game can be used for any number of operations, and makes the depth of the air combat simulation of VTOL VR far better.

That’s not even mentioning all of the new assets available not only in the new campaign like huge Early Warning Radars, Enemy Radar Jamming Trucks, and Missile Silos, but also in the VTOL VR mission editor for mission creators to use.

So if you’ve always wanted to feel like Maverick from Top Gun yourself and rule the air in an F-14 Tomcat, or want to see the new ways the game can be played, now is a fantastic time to get back into VTOL VR or try it for the first time. Though all of this new technology does make an already complicated game even more complicated. Once you understand it though, it’s truly a masterpiece.