VRS | F/A-18E Superbug (2024)

VRS has created a truly remarkable and faithful reproduction of the F/A-18E Super Hornet - the U.S. Navy's front-line strike fighter. Crafted by a small, dedicated team of developers who also happen to be engineers in real life, the Superbug provides what we believe is by far the most comprehensive overall simulation of ANY combat aircraft ever created for any Flight Simulator derivative. The Superbug is the culmination of over a decade of work dating back to FS2004, and continues to be supported with frequent releases. From avionics to weapon systems, if it's in the real aircraft, it's probably in this simulation! VRS regularly receives input from active and retired F/A-18 pilots as well as aircraft maintainers serving with the U.S. Navy and Australian Air Force. We have continuously leveraged these invaluable friendships and resources for over a decade in order to bring you the most realistic experience possible. With the addition of the TacPack (required), the Superbug is taken to a whole new level of immersion and realism not previously attainable on the Prepar3D platform.

Feature-rich with Constant Updates

The Superbug is the single best-selling military aircraft of all time for Microsoft Flight Simulator, and is now also available for P3D Academic (or commercially for P3D Pro). The Superbug has been continually updated and improved upon since its initial introduction for Flight Simulator 2004, and continues to be updated regularly with significant new features and fixes. Your investment in the Superbug/TacPack is an investment in the future of military aircraft simulation.

The Superbug also includes a powerful external app called the Aircraft Configuration Manager (ACM), which may be used to manage aircraft systems and simulation preferences. The ACM provides functions to maintain and edit saved loadouts (weapon sets), program the Mission Unit (MU), set initial fuel loads, and even arm failures. Aircraft preferences are also available for everything from avionic to graphic options. Finally, the ACM can gather and export vital logging information for diagnostics/support.

Fully Combat Capable

Superbug for FSX and P3D is a professional-level, fully combat capable F/A-18E aircraft simulation. The Superbug and TacPack combat system, work together to bring dedicated aerial combat and ground attack capability to life for the first time in Flight Simulator or Prepar3D. Features include multiplayer-capable weapon, radar, transponder (team-based), countermeasures, and early warning systems that function seamlessly by leveraging the proven power of the TacPack. TacPack integration means sensor and weapon systems are fused just as their real-world counterparts. You can lock up AI aircraft and receive feedback to the HUD, radar and early warning systems. The radar simulation takes a number of factors into consideration, including signal strength (range), aspect angle, closing velocity (Doppler shift), and more. Every mode present on the F/A-18E AN/APG-73 airborne radar is simulated to exacting detail.

Fly-by-Wire

The Superbug is the first true 3-axis fly-by-wire combat aircraft designed for P3D. The flight control system is not a "fly-by-wire-like" CAS, it's a completely dynamic, fully control-law-dependent proportional system driving a single (ordinance independent) neutrally-statically-stable base flight model. The FBW system extends to 100% custom autopilot functions. Input signals from the stick, throttle and rudders are fed through I/O controllers where they're filtered, passed through control-law schedules, and finally sent to the control surfaces. The Control Augmentation System (CAS) is responsible for allowing an incredibly wide AoA range while maintaining excellent lateral and longitudinal handling qualities. In addition, neutral speed stability in conjunction with automatic longitudinal trimming means there is no need to trim the aircraft for pitch. Similar CAS algorithms are used to drive everything from engine FADEC control to dual-rate nosewheel steering and 100% custom flight director and autopilot modes.

History in the [re]Making

The Superbug is the recipient of multiple awards including the coveted Avsim Gold Star, PC Pilot's Platinum award, and the SimFlight Award for Best Military Aircraft. These are the highest review awards available in their respective mediums. However VRS hasn't been resting on our laurels; The Superbug has been constantly updated for over a decade. If you've tried military aircraft for MSFS before, and they've left a bad taste in your mouth, give the Superbug a try and see why VRS has been called The PMDG/Level-D of military add-ons. Explore all the Superbug has to offer by seeing the features and media below. We think you'll agree, the depth of the simulation is second to none, making this an investment you can be proud to add to your collection.

| Media

Screenshots may represent various versions of the Superbug. The majority are taken from the now depreciated TacPack-powered FSX version, while some are P3D. Note that the TacPack-Powered Superbug, which is installed by default when the TacPack is detected, has many external and VC cosmetic improvements over the non-TacPack-powered ("vanilla") version.

| Features

The Superbug has dozens of unique features, many of which have never been available in any FSX/P3D aircraft, and remain exclusive to this day. Some features require TacPack, while many are standard. Wherever possible, TacPack-specific features are called out separately, but in general these range from live weapons to air-to-ground radar and FLIR video.

Study-level simulation designed based on U.S. Navy NATOPS flight manuals
Unmatched accuracy and depth of simulation
The only true fly-by-wire control augmentation system (CAS) available for Prepar3D:
- A single, dynamic (changes in real-time based on current loadout) base flight model
- Every weapon and store individually modeled with weight, asymmetry and drag characteristics
Dozens of custom keystroke commands which may all be mapped to gaming devices for HOTAS setups
Fully functional Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD)
Fully collimated (TrackIR savvy) vector HUD
HUD and full screen NVG modes for night vision in any conditions
Custom landing lights which illuminate not only the ground, but objects and auto-gen
Dynamic g-induced and Mach vapor effects
Over 70 22K 16-bit discrete co*ckpit sound samples
7 co*ckpit-selectable strobe patterns modeled on the exact same frequencies used in the real aircraft
3D landing lights licensed from A2A
Model-based exterior lighting with Fresnel flaring
Complete set of undockable 2D panels with panel navigator utility
State of the art virtual co*ckpit (VC):
- High resolution textures with incredibly sharp panel text
- Unshaded (emissive) avionics and HUD
- HUD collimation for TrackIR
- Transilluminated panel text with separate main and console circuitry
- Flood lighting
- NVG lighting
Adjustable levels of detail (via ACM)
AN/APG-73 A/A Radar simulation
- True B-sweep design with adjustable scan volumes and Doppler simulation
- Multi-sensor integration (cheat) mode
- Velocity Search (VS)
- Range While Search (RWS)
- Track While Scan (TWS)
- Boresight (ACM)
- Vertical Acquisition (VACQ)
- Wide Acquisition (WACQ)
- Auto Acquisition (AACQ)
- Fast Acquisition (FACQ)
- RAID
AN/APG-73 A/G Radar simulation (requires TacPack)
- Polar design with a completely custom back-end that simulates Doppler-bean sharped modes and terrain masking
- Ground Moving Target (GMT)
- Sea Surface Search (SEA)
- Doppler Beam Sharpened (expanded) modes
- MAP mode
Thousands of combinations of useable weapons systems and other droppable ordinance. Stores include (but are not limited to):
- AIM-9 Sidewinder (various)
- AIM-7 Sparrow
- AIM-120C AMRAAM
- AGM-65E Laser Maverick
- AGM-84D Harpoon
- AGM-88C HARM
- Laser-guided bombs (various)
- GPS-guided bombs (various)
- FPU-11 480 USG external tanks
- ASQ-228 ATFLIR with integrated LST andLTD functions
In-game loadout manager
Aerial refueling using any AI aircraft. Receive or deliver (buddy tank) fuel (TacPack required)

Highly efficient and detailed external modeling recreating every nuance of the F/A-18E:
- Boarding ladder
- Port and starboard avionics bays
- ECS auxiliary duct doors
- Radar bay
- Full pilot articulation with autonomous movement and gesturing
- FCS-driven flight control surfaces
- Speedbrake function involving multiple surfaces
- Rudder toe-in and flare
- Asymmetrical trailing and leading edge flaps
- Wing fold
- Tailhook
- Launch bar
- Holdback bar
- Catapult shoe
700+ pages of documentation including tutorials
True combat capability via TacPack:
- Accurate AN/APG-73 A/A and A/G radar simulation with multi-mode capability and IFF
- AI and multiplayer aircraft can be tracked and fired upon
- Multiple bombing, AGM and AAM launch modes
- FLIR IR and TV imagery
- Laser Target Designation (LTD) (including buddy lasing)
- Laser Spot Tracking (LST)
- ALE-47 (chaff and flare) dispensing
40 official liveries including all active F/A-18E USN squadrons
Comprehensive failure and battle damage system
Sharp vector graphics and advanced lighting techniques
NATOPS-accurate tactical avionic displays
Custom auto throttle:
- Cruise ATC maintains airspeed at the time of engagement
- Approach ATC continually adjusts speed to maintain approach AOA
Custom 12-mode autopilot which mimics the actual F/A-18E AFCS:
- Barometric Altitude Hold (BALT)
- Radar Altitude Hold (RALT)
- Flight Path Angle Hold (FPAH)
- Heading Hold (HHLD)
- Heading Select (HSEL)
- Ground Track Hold (GTRK)
- Ground Track Select (GSEL)
- Roll Hold (ROLL)
- Coupled Waypoint (CPL WPT)
- Coupled TACAN (CPL TCN)
- Coupled Sequence (CPL SEQ)
Aircraft Configuration Manager (ACM) application:
- Livery import/export and browsing functions
- Custom weapons loading. Anything you want in any combination
- Fuel Loading
- Electrical, hydraulic and avionic failure arming
- External model and VC preferences
- Operational preferences
- Reference Section
- Automatic Updates
Comprehensive, custom primary systems modeling:
- Hydraulics
- Environmental Control (ECS)
- Fuel
- Electrical
Custom navigation system:
- Ground-based and air-to-air TACAN navigation
- Custom in-flight waypoint insertion/deletion
- GPS transfer function
- Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) with ellipsoid selection (read-only)
World-class tech support via official support forums

| System Requirements

Component	Requirement	Notes
O/S	See Prepar3D requirements	Windows 7+. 64-bit required for P3D v4 versions
RAM	See Prepar3D requirements	4GB VAS recommended
CPU	See Prepar3D requirements
GPU	See Prepar3D requirements
P3D x86	P3D Academic v1.4 to v3.4.22.19868	Versions outside supported ranges will break compatibility
P3D x64	P3D Personal v4.1 to v6.0.34.31011 (HF4)	Versions outside supported ranges will break compatibility
D/L	191MB	size varies based on partitioning
HDD	539MB (v1.4)	size varies based on partitioning
Prerequisites	FSX or Prepar3D TacPack FSX/P3D Microsoft .NET 4.8	Please see supported versions, above

Terms & Conditions

Please read before purchase!

Compatible ONLY with exact version(s) ranges listed under requirements
P3D
Licensed on a major version basis (i.e. P3D v4, v5, v6, ect. are separately licensed)
Software for P3D v1-3 (x86) and v4, v5, v6 (x64) are licensed and sold separately
Licenses sold for P3D Personal are for non-commercial-use ONLY
Includes one (1) year of free minor version updates. Yearly extentions can be obtained for a nominal fee
Internet required for automatic activation. Manual activation possible from an online secondary device
Automatic activation requires firewall access to outgoing ports 80 and 443
Native force feedback NOT supported. An alternative is fs-force
Not all features available in single-player may be available or the same in multi-player
Please see the P3D Personal EULA prior to purcahse
System requirements are subject to change without notification