It's no secret that The War Zone is a fan of Eagle Dynamics' hyper-realistic flight simulator Digital Combat Simulator World, better known as DCS World. So it's exciting to see the company offer the first glimpse of its upcoming F-16C Block 50 module. But it now comes with an unusual added twist as one of the company's programmers, Oleg Tishchenko, is now sitting in the Weber County Jail in Utah charged with attempting to smuggle sensitive U.S. military aircraft flight manuals related to the F-16 Viper and the F-22 Raptor back home in violation of the U.S. government's International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITARs. On May 17, 2019, Eagle Dynamics released a screenshot, seen at the top of this story, of the simulated cockpit the company has designed for the forthcoming F-16 module. In the initial early access release of the software, Eagle Dynamics says the update for DCS will include a fully recreated Block 50 Viper cockpit with "Color Multifunction Display (CMFD) symbology, Horizontal Situation Display (HSD) format, and Head-up Display (HUD) symbology" and "Digitally [sic] TACAN [Tactical Air Navigation System] and Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI)," according to a company news release from February 2019.

The company had posted another view on its Facebook page the day before. Both pictures show the kind of overall quality and impressive attention to detail that we've come to expect from Eagle Dynamics.

Eagle Dynamics The first screenshot of the F-16C cockpit from the upcoming module for DCS World that Eagle Dynamics had released on May 16, 2019.

But these first glimpses of the future add-on come just days after Ogden, Utah's Standard-Examiner newspaper broke the news that officials in the country of Georgia had arrested Tishchenko earlier this year and extradited him to the United States. American authorities arraigned him in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah in Salt Lake City on March 15, 2019. Nearly four weeks later, U.S. Magistrate Brooke Wells signed a detention order declaring him to be a flight risk and he's been in the Weber County Jail ever since. The 42-year old programmer has pled not guilty and his trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 19, 2019.

via Meduza A picture of Oleg Tishchenko from his profile on the Russian social media site VKontakte.

The U.S. government has charged Tishchenko with one count each of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, violation of the Arms Export Control Act, smuggling goods from the United States, attempted violation of the Arms Export Control Act, and attempts to smuggle goods from the United States. You can find a copy of the full indictment here. All of this centers around the Russian's purchase and attempts to purchase U.S. Air Force "Technical Order" manuals for various models of the F-16, as well as the F-22.

USAF The cover sheet for an F-16A/B manual from the same series as the ones that Oleg Tishchenko allegedly bought and sold in violation of the Arms Export Control Act.

Tishchenko has had a lifelong interest in military aviation and is a graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute with a major in control systems, informatics, and electric utilities, according to Latvian-based online newspaper Meduza. He has been working for Eagle Dynamics since 2004 and is apparently well known for his love of acquiring flight and other military aircraft manuals. These purchasing habits, which including buying older manuals off eBay, apparently caught the attention of U.S. authorities all the way back in 2011. At that time, Tishchenko made a post on the Eagle Dynamic' DCS World online forum asking for help in physically obtaining two maintenance manuals for certain F-16A/B configurations, which he was looking to buy. The seller was refusing to ship them overseas. These manuals are unclassified, but contain information subject to ITAR and the Arms Export Control Act. The regulations expressly prohibit the export of anything, including manuals, that contains technical information on systems listed in the U.S. Munitions List without a proper license. Exporting material subject to these provisions to Russia, as well as a number of other countries, is banned entirely.

USAF A sample of warnings found inside an F-16A/B manual from the same series as the ones that Oleg Tishchenko allegedly bought and sold in violation of the Arms Export Control Act.