u/Kooky_Comfortable751

As of October 4th, 2026, there are 28 flyable aircraft in this photo available for the playerbase! Half of them developed by modders.

Aircraft in this photo and their respective creators:

Shockfront Studios

• CI-22 Cricket
• T/A-30 Compass
• VT-7 Vagrant
• UH-90 Ibis
• SAH-46 Chicane
• A-19 Brawler
• FS-12 Revoker
• FS-20 Vortex
• VL-49 Tarantula
• KR-67 Ifrit
• EW-25 Medusa
• SFB-81 Darkreach
• AB-4 Alkyon
• ???/UFO

Aryx

• MiG-15
• OA-27 Cavalier
• RAH-72 Knockout
• F-99 Shrike
• F-16M King Viper
• MC-260 Chimera
• F-22E Strike Raptor
• FS-41 Eclipse

Primeva 2082

• FQ-106 Kestrel
• FS-3 Ternion

volcanowater

• XFS-21 Helios
• FS-45 Specter

Phoenix1509

• KR-33 Agni

iornman1213

• MiG-29 Fulcrum

blacknight2u

• F-117A Nighthawk

You can download these mods on the mod forums on Shockfront's Discord or through Github.

F117 Mod: https://github.com/blacknight2u/nuclear-option-f117/releases/tag/v0.4.92

A lot of people threw around the idea of adding a light helicopter or infantry to Nuclear Option. I think the light helicopter or infantry by itself doesn’t fit into the current state of the game so here is my personal take on this.

In order for this to work, there should be a dedicated Counter Insurgency update. This update should have a new light aircraft (obviously), more infantry mechanics, weapons and weapon targeting, dense urban/suburban areas in the new map or adding onto existing maps, and vehicles.

Weapons:
The weapons in Nuclear Option or not really designed for infantry. So I propose dumb fire rockets and bombs. Napalm and snake-eyed bombs are good for AoE which will be good for carpet bombing the dense suburban areas. Rockets will be great for chicane, ibis, and cricket users. But I think if you just slap on some CCIP to the lynchpins or kingpins it’ll still act the same. They are great for precision attacks in these types of environments.

Target Systems:
Since infantry and dense urban/suburban areas will go together with this update, targeting infantry will not be as easy as targeting an APC or a depot. It’s many small guys over an area. To make killing the little guys easier, there should be a manual targeting feature. It’s a control using arrow keys on a keyboard or analog stick on a HOTAS where you point and click.
Note: This part of the suggestion may be a feature-creep to Mitch’s idea of his game but I’m just throwing the idea out there

Urban and Suburban areas:
There aren’t that many suburban or urban areas besides Feldspar and Agrapol city. With a new map coming, there are many opportunities for this environment like vast desert cities or small mountain towns. This would be great for urban warfare and make rotary wing aircraft as they can excel in these types of environments. It would give more purpose to the small armaments like the rotary .50 cal on the Tarantula or the head tracking 30mm cannon on the Chicane.

Infantry Mechanics:
Infantry can be picked up and dropped off with the ibis and tarantula. This can create a new mechanic like CSAR. Though it may seem small and irrelevant to the battlefield, this gives a new niche to the game where everyone blows each other up. Another thing that can be added are outposts, command centers, strategic bases, POW camps, etc. These are more things for the player to blow up. They could also be captured used for enemy locations, dismantling command, or whatever the developers want to do with it.

Aircraft:
For now, the Ibis, Cricket, Chicane, and Tarantula can really shine in an infantry update, but a light helicopter or plane can work with this update.

Overall, I think this game can benefit from a Counter Insurgency update and give a niche to do besides flying 90km and getting shot down. It’ll give more purpose to low rank aircraft.
I made this idea in the middle of the night so please give thoughts or critique to my suggestion.