Update, April 28, 2026: Taog’s Hangar confirms the project is on track but without a fixed release date. Models, sounds, and animations are done. What remains is final systems work, testing, and documentation. The main holdup is the HH-65 variant, which the developer says turned out to require far more work than expected to represent accurately alongside the standard AS365.
If you’ve been following Taog’s Hangar for any length of time, you already know the developer doesn’t rush things, and you also know the wait tends to be worth it. The AS365 Dauphin has been in development since October 2024, and after months of steady progress updates shared quietly on Discord, the developer posted a teaser video a few days ago with a simple caption: “coming soon.”
That’s about as close to a release signal as Taog’s Hangar gets.
The AS365 has a long history in real-world aviation. The twin-engine helicopter built by Aérospatiale (later Eurocopter, now Airbus Helicopters) has served in offshore oil transport, search and rescue, law enforcement, military operations, and civilian air taxi roles across dozens of countries.
In the U.S., the Coast Guard operates it as the HH-65 Dolphin, and that particular variant appears to be a major focus of this add-on. The screenshots shared so far show a striking orange Coast Guard livery with full crew figures, open cabin doors, and an armed crew member visible in the doorway, with a hoist cable trailing below.
That winch, by the way, is not just decorative. The developer confirmed it as a working system, and given what the screenshots suggest about the SAR and military roleplay possibilities, it looks like it will be central to the experience.
More than just a helicopter
What’s most striking about the Dauphin is how far beyond a standard helicopter release this appears to go. From the Discord updates shared through early 2026, the confirmed feature list already stands out from the rest of the category.
Night vision goggles are in. One of the WIP screenshots shows the full NVG cockpit overlay, with the characteristic green circular monocle rendering the instruments in NVG-compatible lighting. It’s a feature that very few aircraft add-ons have attempted, and it immediately opens up a different kind of mission flying, particularly for the military and Coast Guard scenarios the developer seems to be building toward.
Career mode integration is also confirmed. Also on Discord, the developer posted in January that they were “slowly locking in those career modes,” which indicates that the Dauphin will take advantage of MSFS 2024’s built-in career system.
The cockpit screenshots also suggest there are at least two distinct variants in the package: a more analog, classical AS365 setup, and the more modern HH-65 Dolphin instrument suite with dual controls and a clearly different avionics layout.
MSFS 2024 and Marketplace only
The Dauphin will be exclusive to MSFS 2024 and will release through the in-sim Marketplace rather than third-party stores. That’s a deliberate platform commitment, and it places the AS365 squarely alongside the Hughes 500C and OH-6A as part of Taog’s full pivot to the new simulator. For those still on MSFS 2020, this one won’t be coming your way.
It also means the add-on will be built to take full advantage of what MSFS 2024 offers, including the improved helicopter physics environment, career mode hooks, and the general graphical uplift that makes low-level flying over water and coastlines look considerably better than it did in the previous sim.
What to expect
Taog’s Hangar has earned a reputation as one of the most reliable helicopter developers in the MSFS space. The SA315B Lama, the Alouette III, the Huey, and more recently the Hughes 500C and OH-6A have all been received well by the community, with the H500C going on to become one of the highest-rated helicopter on the MSFS Marketplace. The Dauphin is clearly a step up in scope from any of those, with more variants, more systems, more mission-focused features, and a longer development cycle to match.
No price or exact release date has been confirmed. But with a “coming soon” teaser live and the Discord channel showing consistent finishing work through April, it doesn’t feel far off.
We’ll have more as soon as the release drops.
