This update enables the formation flying A.I. for testing purposes and is really just a show case of how the A.I. manages the fairly complex task of flying and staying in formation. [u]Spawning Wingmen[/u] There is now a button (F5 by default) to spawn in up to 3 A.I. wingmen. The wingmen will fly an unarmed version of whatever helicopter you are currently in. It is best to spawn them in once you have gained at least 10-20m of altitude to prevent them colliding with objects around the base. Their basic A.I. settings should allow your wingmen to fly in a V formation with you. [u]A.I. Abilities[/u] 1. Formation station keeping at hover / very low speeds. The wingmen will maintain relative position and heading without breaking formation while at low speeds. This means you can rotate your helicopter slowly and they formation will rotate around with you correctly. You can even fly slowly backwards and they will maintain formation. At low speeds the A.I. has no minimum altitude which makes it perfect of NOE (Nap of the Earth) flying. 2. At high speed the A.I. will dynamically spread out and also increase their altitude to a safer height if they are too low. It is currently set reasonably high to ensure they don't do anything silly like flying into the ground! 3. When transitioning from high speed to hover / low speed the A.I. should tighten formation smoothly. However, during very aggressive maneuvers it is possible for the A.I. to overshoot their formation position but they should work out what they need to do and re-join fairly smoothly without having to do a "fly around". 4. A.I. will defend themselves from missile attacks. 5. A.I. will not shoot at enemy units 6. A.I. can take damage from the enemy. 7. A.I. flies a slightly simplified physics model but are still constrained by the same weight, drag and engine power as you. 8. The A.I. can fly the Harrier in a hover but they will not transition into forward flight. [u]Bugs[/u] There's probably quite a few! Don't spawn the A.I. if you actually want to play and complete a mission successfully. The main visible bug is the A.I.'s tendancy to oscillate forward/back and left/right while station keeping in the hover. I know what is causing that and should have that sorted A.S.A.P. [u]Next Stage[/u] Next stage is to integrate the wingmen into the mission planning area so you can select what aircraft the A.I. will fly and what weapons they will carry. The plan is to have 3 flights available for any given mission... Flight 1 (Rotor Wing) Any 1 - 4 Helicopters from the available helicopter pool. This will be your main attack flight. Flight 2 (Fixed Wing) Any 1 - 2 Aircraft from the available aircraft pool. This will be your close air support flight Flight 3 (Rotor Wing) Any 1 - 2 Helicopters from the Utility Helicopter pool. This will be your troop / cargo / other transportation flight This should give you great flexibility on you how deploy your forces for each mission.