Project ASTFOR - Astelandic Armed Forces

[tasksoldier121 80]

Ok seems like yesterday I did indeed lie seems like the THOR received some more Hotfixes

 

 

progress line http://imgur.com/a/pB38I

 

And the Radios

 

PRC 343

 

MH 300

 

Happy New Year everybody and shall the New bring The Nordic Infantry.

[PTV-Jobo 820]

Annnnd here's an ever-so-lovely update!

 

 

 

[Alex150201 894]

Oh dude looks really nice, can't wait.

[papanowel 120]

Nice work, keep it up :)

[Folkward 50]

:wub:

[war_lord 934]

Gorgeous.  

[matisxx 16]

Hey, i have a question. Are you going to make "PASI XA-180" or "Pasi XA-180 EST" version? The Estonian version has a gunner tower built, what can protect the gunner better similar to the armored HMMWW modifications in arma 2. The tower would make the vehicle alot better for transporting units as it could also be used as a supportive vehicle because of its .50 caliber.

 

 

[Picture]

[PTV-Jobo 820]

Hey, i have a question. Are you going to make "PASI XA-180" or "Pasi XA-180 EST" version? The Estonian version has a gunner tower built, what can protect the gunner better similar to the armored HMMWW modifications in arma 2. The tower would make the vehicle alot better for transporting units as it could also be used as a supportive vehicle because of its .50 caliber.

 

 

[Picture]

 

100% guaranteed at the top of our vehicles list. GranQ back when we were still developing towards just before ArmA 3's announcement was kind enough to donate his on condition of any improvements to the model we send back for them to use in his Swedish pack. We're obviously going to tweak it a bit to suite Asteland's needs which is more closer to the 180 EST variant instead of the Swedish turret version [ref. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Pansarterr%C3%A4ngbil_203_Revinge_2012-1.jpg ]. Some are looking forward to the cv90's or Iveco LMV's. Me? I'm looking forward most of all to the Pasi, personally, heh. 

[matisxx 16]

Yea I am aswell really looking forward to the PASI, I myself have been driving a Pasi for some time, and would really like to see this vehicle in the ARMA game.

[dockie27 11]

Mod's lookin good so far, but I have a suggestion:

 

It seems you've put a major emphasis on naval assets, which is a great thing for not only the mod, but also the community. But your fixed wing assets are lacking in operational capacity, even for a nation of Astoria's size. Allow me to fully explain what I mean.

 

The JAS 39 Gripen is a capable multi-role, single engine Saab fighter from Sweden. It was developed with STOL characteristics and a budget in mind, and as such it has grown to fill an export niche (much like the CV90.) This, combined with the location of Astoria, makes the Gripen NG a perfect candidate for the ASTFOR air force. Its reliability, combined with the ability to carry ordnance for nearly any mission (excluding ASW and electronic warfare, I believe) also allows the Gripen to fit well to any fledgling air force. She's a jack of all trades, and a master at none (Tank equivalent, M551 Sheridan.)

 

I would highly suggest a heavy hitting bomber of some sort, for practicality reasons. The JAS 39 NG is good enough for the A2A niche in ArmA 3, but it simply doesn't carry enough to compete with dedicated anti-surface aircraft. I have assembled a few suggestions, from the oldest practical solution, to the newest. Enjoy.

 

1. S-3 Viking   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_S-3_Viking#/media/File:Viking_S-3B.jpg

    The S-3 Viking was a United States Navy (hooyah) Anti-Submarine Warfare plane that was later adapted into an anti-surface role. The craft can house all JDAM bombs, Mavericks, Harpoons, SLAM-ERs, and even a nuclear bomb. Selected for its ability, uniqueness, and cockpit layout (which is side-by-side, great for ArmA.) I would not, however, recommend the S-3 as there are better options. Moving on. 

 

2. A-6E Intruder  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_A-6_Intruder#/media/File:A-6E_Intruder_VA-52.JPEG

   The A-6E Intruder is a US Navy carrier operable bomber/attack aircraft that was recently replaced by the F/A-18F and EA-18. The Intruder features the same side-by-side layout that the Viking has, but it simply preforms better against land targets. The Intruder can carry up to 18,000 lbs of bombs (That's 8,170 kilograms, boys and girls.) It can carry all of the Mk80 series, the Mk117, the Walleye, Harpoon, Sidewinder, Rockeye, all 3 Paveways, CBU-89 GATOR mines, Mk77s, Mavericks, HARMs, and 4 different nuclear bombs. DAMN. This aircraft is one of the two that I would go with, myself. 

 

3. Panavia Tornado (GR₄)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panavia_Tornado#/media/File:Image_of_a_15_Squadron_GR4_taken_over_Royal_Air_Force_Lossiemouth,_and_surrounding_countryside._MOD_45155748.jpg

   The Panavia Tornado was the result of a multi-national defense buildup and air force modernization in the 1970s, that was brought on by the US F14/15 and the USSR's MiG-29. The Panavia Tornado is a multirole, tandem seat, variable sweep wing aircraft that leans more towards the ground and pound role, where as the JAS 39 is partial to dog fighting. The Tornado has a top speed of Mach 2.2, and can carry a bevy of precision attack munitions, including 12 Brimstone missiles and a few Paveways. The GR₄ can also carry cluster bombs, nukes, runway clearing munitions, Mavericks, Storm Shadow missiles, Sidewinders, and ALARM anti-radar missiles. I would go with this aircraft 3rd, if my first two were not available. 

 

4. Lockheed Martin F-16XL Fighting Falcon  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16XL#/media/File:F-16xl.jpg

   The F-16 is the 2nd most common military aircraft in the world, while the F-16XL was a failed "cranked-arrow" wing design variant, that only lost its contract competition because it was going up against the F-15E (which is unfair, I mean really.) Not much to say here, except that according to wikipedia the aircraft had "17 pylons with a capacity of up to 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) of payload," which is pretty damn impressive. Its unique, no one else uses it, I say pull the trigger on this one. Don't like it, think its too far fetched? Then play it safe with a Tornado or Intruder.

 

In summation, the addition of a dedicated strike aircraft would fill a very important niche that, up to this point, seems to be left vacant. The 1991 Desert Storm/Shield air campaign proved to the entire world, beyond a doubt, that total air superiority wins wars. For this reason, it is important to maintain an advanced line-up of fixed wing assets that can provide air cover and close air support to a ground operation.

 

Thank you. 

[war_lord 934]

I don't see the outlined defense force having a fleet of strike aircraft really. Purely defensive air forces don't need the capability to carry 1X,000 pound of ordinance. It's much more reasonable for the budget to field an aircraft that can carry out limited strike capabilities alongside its primary roles. One of the key advantages of the Gripen is that it's cheap, which is probably the only way Astoria can afford a fleet of fast movers at all. I'm not on the team of course, so they may feel differently.   

[PTV-Jobo 820]

Well things might be a slight different "on paper" as opposed to actual physical content, however war_lord is pretty on target. Asteland is a country surrounded by ocean. It's primary focus is on home defense and taking a more defensive than offensive approach for the time being. We're located between Norway and Denmark, so any incoming attacks I'd assume would be more naval based. Anything on the ground you'll have plenty of armor and manpower as well as a fairly strong AA/AT supply. We're not really in the business of actively requiring and using 10,000 pounds of ordinance, not to mention budget restraints. I think for Asteland the Gripen fits. And we've looked at Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland's air assets to gain a bit of a rough idea. As mentioned above, for us...it felt a bit more right with our current budget to support a supply of aircraft that will be able to handle limited strikes with its primary role. Besides,

 

So overall, I think for the time being at least, the Gripen will be fine. If anything, we could maybe consider also the F-16 (I think didn't Denmark also have some??). Right now we're working with a "On paper" vs content mentality. As there's just some things we do not have the manpower to create, so right now we pretty much go "well then, at least 'on paper', Asteland had/has a supply of such-n-such's" or whatever. If anything, it's something that'll have to be researched more and discussed in the far future.

Right now the team has slowed down considerably and doesn't look like much progress will be coming down until around Spring/Summer. It's unfortunate, but that's just how life goes in general. We've also kind of lost Fluttershy for uniform development due to just being very busy with other things in his life, so we're also trying to handle the infantry side of things right now. Vehicles are definitely now very low priority for the moment until the infantry side of things gets back to the level of progress it needs to be. So yeah...we'll see about the whole air assets thing, just not any time soon, 

[dockie27 11]

At any rate, I'm glad the two seater will be included. Four eyes are better than two!

[j0nes 194]

As Yokhanan said, the small nature of the country places some limits on all of our unit types and manpower. Astoria relies on allied countries for heavier CAS and fixed wing support. The 2 seater Grippen will also include a targeting pod for the gunner, so it will be capable of mid to high altitude precision strikes. Having looked at Norway's Air Force, the F16 is definitely their workhorse, they really have no other attack planes. Mostly cargo, Command, and Electronic Warfare planes other than the F16. so were basing our model off that, except substituting the Grippen. We have discussed several low(er) budget systems and aircraft for non-attack roles, and again "on paper" everything is pretty steady, but the man power in the creation part is lacking. Any direction we end up taking with the fixed wings, we want to keep it new and exciting, but within the realms of our country.

[PTV-Jobo 820]

Just a small heads up, the Project ASTFOR team is kind of in need of a modeler to help in the infantry kit department, even if part-time. Fluttershy has become just too busy with real life and other projects to be able to continue work, so we're kind of back to a slight limp in development. Our other 3d guys are tied up in working on getting our THOR plate carrier low poly'ed as well as overhauling our rifles big time. Our uniform is basically done model-wise, including the low poly. We're just missing some smaller-but important-bits such as very much needed footwear. We're also going to need to tackle the helmet thing as well, but right now we just want to get the first primary uniform finished with the footwear first so we can call it done and get it all weighted and in-game. 

 

I know most people are already tied up in other projects and such, but even so I figured take a chance and raise up a little S.O.S. and see.  :) If not, no worries, it just means a longer wait time, nothing that will kill the project thankfully, lol. 

[john111 76]

News about helos?

[gabravo2005 40]

This mod sounds amazing, the amount of time and thought that goes into designing a nation is amazing. Heck I might have to recreate it outside of Arma 3 in CMANO.

[j0nes 194]

@John1

unfortunately all vehicles are on hold right now. were really focusing on our infantry kit for first release. if all goes well we may do something similar to A3s alpha release and have 1 helo with a couple variants and 1 truck with a couple variants. but that still is a long ways off. I was originally brought on to model vehicles, but as of late, ive been moved to weapons. and I would like to personally say that the amount of detail were going for in our models is some of the highest in A3 to date. The weapons need to look especially good because players are constantly up close, and while not everyone flies a helicopter or drives a car. everyone in A3 picks up a gun.
The first rifle undergoing a massive overhaul is the Galil SAR, which will lay the basework for the rest of our Astorian Galil weapon line. this is by far the longest step, creating the base model. At time of writing, this rifle's hi-poly model is sitting around 3,000,000 polygons, and were not quite done with it.
We have a old versions of the AS550, Iveco LMV, and Patria Pasi, that will undergo a similar update pass, but this will take some time. The good thing is our weapons list has been solidified, barring a couple weapon variant decisions that need to be made down the road, but this means our modelers (myself included) can just go down a laundry list of items that need creating without anymore back tracking or removing weapons. We want to make sure the players are continually "wowed" every time they pick up and fire our guns, put on our uniforms, and get behind the controls of our vehicles. In the coming weeks, you should start seeing some photos pop up on this thread that I think you'll like, so thank you for your patience. If youre feeling impatient, we could use another hard surface modeler on the team, so let one of us know and well put you to work getting some stuff built! 

[j0nes 194]

*NOT FINAL VERSION. SUBJECT TO CHANGE

[matisxx 16]

Correct me if im wrong, but shouldn't the letters over the safety switch go "S-A-R" not "R-A-S"?

 

Nice work btw! :)

[war_lord 934]

Correct me if im wrong, but shouldn't the letters over the safety switch go "S-A-R" not "R-A-S"?

 

Nice work btw! :)

It's a different variant. They both exist in real life. I would imagine the advantage of the reversed selection is that it means that the Soldier can't panic and slap the AK style right side paddle selector from Safe to Automatic in the heat of a sudden engagement. Which is a common issue with AKM style rifles.

[Saunatyyny 2]

This mod looks amazing!

 

I hope we could work together on this one, PM me for more details if you are interested in!

 

-Saunatyyny (Finmod project leader)

[j0nes 194]

[Alex150201 894]

What gun is this jones?

[da12thMonkey 1943]

What gun is this jones?

It's their customised Galil for Astoria. It's based on the Swedish FFV-890C

 

There's some info about it in the first post - name is AG890k