Guides

DCS Persian Gulf Mission Planning Guide

The DCS World Persian Gulf map is a Strait of Hormuz theater: UAE, Iranian, and Omani airfields, island fields in the strait, and open water for carrier and tanker tracks. DCS Planner loads that theater with the same airfield and frequency catalog the map uses, so you can build the route before you spawn.

This page is the Persian Gulf theater detail for the step-by-step DCS mission planning workflow.

Persian Gulf theater overview

Strait of Hormuz - UAE/Iran/Qatar/Oman. The playable terrain is about 917 NM east-west and 501 NM north-south. A hop across the Strait of Hormuz is a short fighter leg. A transit from the UAE coast inland to Shiraz or Kerman is not. Plan fuel and time-on-target against those distances.

The catalog on this theater covers runway airfields in the UAE, Oman, and Iran, including island fields in the strait. The playable terrain also includes the Qatar coast; this page only lists fields that exist in the planner catalog. The Gulf and the Gulf of Oman are open water for carrier, tanker, and AWACS tracks. For the eastern Mediterranean theater, see the DCS Syria Mission Planning Guide.

Elevation in the planner's Persian Gulf terrain runs from 0 m (0 ft) up to 4400 m (14436 ft): sea level on the Gulf, then high ground on the Iranian Zagros inland. DCS treats local time here as UTC+4.

DCS Planner currently lists 30 runway airfields on Persian Gulf. Country outlines appear on the map tiles. The sim does not enforce real-world FIR or ADIZ rules unless the mission designer adds them. Coalition is blue, red, or neutral. Plan the route against the brief, the IADS the mission places, and the terrain, not as if national borders are simulated.

Carrier operations and Gulf waters

Carriers are mission units, not catalog airfields. Place a carrier as a ship in DCS Planner when the brief launches from the boat. The planner's ship catalog includes CVN-74 John C. Stennis, CVN-75 Harry S. Truman, and CV-59 Forrestal. Carrier TACAN, BRC, and recovery procedures come from the mission, not from the airfield table below.

A carrier plan still needs a shore divert. Al Dhafra, Al Minhad, and Khasab are the usual catalog fields near the water. The F/A-18C is a supported airframe for that workflow; see DCS F/A-18C Mission Planning & Waypoints for Hornet sequences, the A/A waypoint, and Hornet export. Tanker and AWACS tracks belong over water you can actually reach from the boat and the target.

Key airfields, ATC and TACAN frequencies

Click an airfield on the Persian Gulf map for tower, ground, TACAN, and VOR when that data exists. The table below is a subset of the same catalog: key runway fields by region. Empty TACAN cells mean the catalog has no TACAN on that airfield, not that DCS has none in every mission.

Turn on the Nav Beacons layer for TACAN, VOR, and similar stations from the DCS terrain data. Put those frequencies on the kneeboard if you want them in the cockpit without leaving the jet.

Bullseye and navigation on the Persian Gulf

Bullseye is a shared coalition reference, not a waypoint on the route. On a theater this wide, put it where the package will fight or talk, not in a distant corner of the map. A call of bearing and range from that point should still be useful when flights are on both shores of the strait.

Import a .miz to load the mission bullseye, or right-click the map and choose Set bullseye here. See DCS Bullseye Explained (BRAA vs Bullseye) for how to read a call and how the planner draws the rings.

Click the map to drop waypoints. Each leg shows distance in nautical miles and true heading as a three-digit value. Magnetic variation is not the same across this theater, so do not copy the map heading into a magnetic-only instrument without converting. See DCS Flight Plan: Waypoints, Headings & Routes for coordinate formats and airframe waypoint limits.

Straight-line examples from the catalog, true heading:

• Khasab to Bandar Abbas Intl: 63.4 NM, 007°
• Al Dhafra Air Base to Bandar Abbas Intl: 204.4 NM, 029°
• Al Minhad Air Base to Fujairah Intl: 52.5 NM, 084°
• Bandar Abbas Intl to Shiraz Intl: 243.9 NM, 306°

Terrain and safe altitudes

Low-level work over the Gulf is a different problem from a night transit toward Shiraz or Kerman. After the route exists, DCS Planner samples terrain along it: AGL clearance, a terrain profile, MSA, and peak markers. Raise the altitude or move the waypoint if a ridge sits on the nose.

Peak markers are on by default. Use them before you commit to a low ingress inland. The 3D radar view shows terrain masking against SAM radar. The planner does not compute bingo fuel; check fuel in the cockpit and with the loadout builder.

Typical threats and where they sit

Threats are whatever the mission places. Persian Gulf does not ship a fixed IADS. Community and campaign missions often put layered air defences around defended Iranian coastal fields and the island airfields in the strait, because the water is a chokepoint. That is a mission-design habit, not a map default.

In DCS Planner, place SAM and AAA units on the Persian Gulf map. Launchers show threat rings that use DCS engagement ranges. Draw ingress outside rings you cannot defeat, and use terrain later to hide from radar you cannot avoid. The SAM encyclopedia has detection, tracking, and launch ranges for systems the planner knows. See DCS SAM Threat Rings & Route Planning for engagement range vs NEZ and how to draw ingress around the rings.

Plan a Persian Gulf mission in the browser

Open DCS Planner and pick the Persian Gulf theater. Then:

1. Open DCS Planner and select Persian Gulf. It is the planner default theater if no other map is stored.
2. Click an airfield on the map, or use the catalog table on this page, for tower and TACAN when that data exists.
3. If the brief is a carrier launch, place the carrier as a ship unit and pick a shore divert. If it is a land start, start the route at the catalog field.
4. Put bullseye where the package will talk, often near the Strait of Hormuz, not in a distant corner of the map.
5. Drop waypoints and check true heading and distance on each leg before you commit fuel or time-on-target.
6. Add the threats from the brief. Launchers show DCS engagement ranges. Draw ingress outside rings you cannot defeat.
7. Read AGL clearance, MSA, and the terrain profile, especially on inland legs toward the Zagros.
8. Export a kneeboard PNG, a .miz with units, drawings, and bullseye, DCS-DTC JSON, or a native .DTC for airframes that support it.

Import works for .miz, .trk, and CombatFlite .cf, so you can open an existing Gulf mission and edit the route inline. The core planner is free and does not require a login.

Open the planner

FAQ

What area does the DCS Persian Gulf map cover?

The theater is the Strait of Hormuz: UAE, Iran, Qatar, and Oman. In DCS Planner it spans about 917 NM east-west and 501 NM north-south. The airfield catalog on this page lists runway fields in the UAE, Oman, and Iran.

Where do I find Gulf airfield frequencies?

DCS Planner shows tower, ground, TACAN, and VOR on an airfield when that data exists in the catalog. Click an airfield on the Persian Gulf map. This page lists tower and TACAN for a set of key fields from the same catalog.

How do I plan a carrier mission on the Persian Gulf map?

Place a carrier as a ship unit in DCS Planner, set bullseye near the water the package will use, click the route from the boat, pick a shore divert from the catalog, then export a kneeboard PNG, a .miz, or a DTC. Carrier TACAN and recovery procedures come from the mission, not from the airfield catalog.

How do I plan a Persian Gulf mission in DCS Planner?

Open the planner, pick the Persian Gulf theater, set bullseye, click the route, place SAM or AAA rings, check AGL and MSA along the legs, then export a kneeboard PNG, a .miz, or a DTC.

Does DCS enforce national airspace on the Persian Gulf map?

No. The map includes several countries, but DCS does not apply real-world FIR or ADIZ rules unless the mission designer adds them. Plan against coalition IADS, terrain, and the brief, not as if national borders are simulated. The catalog currently lists 30 runway airfields on this theater.