Microsoft Flight Simulator is too slow to keep up with this third-party F-15 add-on

Microsoft Flight Simulator is an outstanding flight sim, but it's very light on high-performance machines: There are plenty of jetliners and prop-driven small craft, but not a single afterburner to be seen. That will change later this month, though, when simulation add-on developer DC Designs unleashes its take on the famous F-15 Eagle fighter.

The package will include the F-15C, D, E, and I variants, all "accurately rendered," although as ObsidianAnt noted in the preview video above, they're not intended to be high-fidelity, "study level" simulations. Instead, the overarching goal here is to digital pilots the chance to have some fun with a screaming machine that can do things no other plane in the game is capable of, in a "vast and highly detailed world" that no other flight sim can match. The DLC will also include a full operations manual, paint kit, and eight liveries:

F-15C

• 493rd FS based at RAF Lakenheath
• 173rd Fighter Wing, Oregon Air National Guard
• 144th Fighter Wing, California Air National Guard
• 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, Langley AFB, Virginia

F-15E

• 336th Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina
• 391st Fighter Squadron, 'Bold Tigers', Mountain Home AFB
• 391st Fighter Squadron, 'Tiger Meet' 2005

F-15I

• N 69 Squadron 'Patishim' (Hammers)

It seems unlikely that players will be able to deploy any of the Eagle's arsenal—that's a whole different flavor of simulation—but if you want to climb from floor to ceiling in seconds or try your luck at a super-fast flyover of New York City, this is definitely going to be your plane of choice. In fact, this bird is a little too fast for Flight Simulator to handle: The description on Just Flight warns that the game currently doesn't support supersonic flight, meaning that unless and until the flight model is updated, the F-15 will top out at Mach1. (Which, for the record, is still really fast.)

DC Designs' F-15 package will be available through Just Flight for $37/£27, although anyone who already owns it for "legacy platforms"—Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Prepar3D—can snag it for $13.50/£10. It's set to come out on either January 20 or 21.

Thanks, Polygon.