Tailhook
Posts: 293
Joined: 1/18/2015
Status: offline
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(Russian perspective added to later post)
Had a lot of fun with this scenario. Played as the US. Score and Butcher's Bill is at the bottom of the post.
Spoilers to follow.
Started off with an impressive array of forces on my side. Multiple submarines, a CSG, multiple F-16 squadrons deployed to South Korea, the South Korean Air Force, and a number of shiny attachments including a B-2, some F-22s, some F-35s, recon assets, and tankers. My mission was to destroy all of North Koreas nuclear capabilities, including TEL vehicles and their one Ballistic Missile submarine. Other targets included Command bunkers, tunnel entrances to various nuclear production sites (not the sites themselves for fear of releasing radiologicals), an under construction reactor, and the North Korean naval facilities on the East Coast. To accomplish this I needed to neutralize an aging but numerous DPRK Air Force as well as their Soviet era IADS backing them up.
I was a bit overwhelmed at first, not knowing where to start. I spent well over two hours planning my moves and organizing the AI before unpausing. I needed to catch as many of the 400+ Korean jets on the ground as possible so as to be able to hit my targets, especially the time sensitive and mobile launchers. Having a swarm of bees around would not help this out. So I began to plot tomahawk routes.
The North Koreans occupied 9 major airbases across the countryside. Tomahawks would hit Kuum Ni, Koksan, and Hwangju airfields closest to the border. Other missiles would cross the peninsula and attempt to hit Sunchon (home of Kim Jong Uns MiG-29s) and Pukchang near Pyongyang. A few missiles would hit radar sites nearest the border while my large quantity of TLAM-Ds equipped with cluster warheads would target the various SAM sites located across the country. F/A-18s from the Ronald Reagan strike group would engage Iwon airbase on the coast with JSOWs with large BROACH warheads. One of my submarines would fire 24 Tomahawks to skirt the Russian and Chinese borders with North Korea (probably not a wise political move but what they don't know won't hurt them) to attempt to hit Changjin-Up Airbase in the North. The ROKAF would launch a strike with KF-16s to neutralize Wonsan airbase on the eastern coast. Finally, a dozen American F-16s would push across the border to ensure that Suchon, Pukchang, and Kaechon airbases were destroyed in case the Tomahawks up there were intercepted. I planned this because the missiles going there, while taking a wide flank, were likely to be detected once the border airbases started going up and Kim scrambled his back field fighters.
Complementing this massive strike I had an EP-3 over the Sea of Japan, a Rivet Joint along the DMZ, AEW aircraft, and tankers scattered liberally across the southern peninsula and Sea of Japan. Two of the three USAF F-16 squadrons were equipped with AMRAAMS to patrol the DMZ, backed by ROKAF KF-16s not tasked with the strike on Wonsan. Out to sea, two squadrons of Super Hornets took to the air. I would have over 60 shooters in the air to deal with whatever DPRK air forces survive the Tomahawk waves. Elsewhere, I launched maritime patrol aircraft to begin hunting the DPRK SSB as well as identifying the various unknown surface contacts in the area. This was backed by autonomous JMSDF maritime patrol aircraft and an ASW SAG centered on the Izumo. The Russians showed no signs of mobilization, despite their strong language against the Kim regime.
After all this planning I waited an hour for aircraft to get (more) ready and support aircraft to get into position. With those assets set, over 200 Tomahawks lept into the air. I monitored their flight paths and once the time seemed appropriate I began launching my fighters to arrive at their patrol stations shortly behind the missile strikes, and the strike aircraft themselves to impact at approximately the same time. I was wildly successful.
Coastal radar and SAM sites on the East coast were the first hit, along with the strike on Kuum Ni which disabled the field without the chance to launch a single jet. Koksan was able to launch a pair of MiG-21s which intercepted a couple tomahawks heading to it, sparing a runway grade taxiway. These jets were splashed and a single GBU from a passing F-16 neutralized that runway. Super Hornets fired 16 JSOWs at Iwon which had begun to scramble MiG-23s. The same hornets splashed these scramblers and although a KN-06 (S-300 copy) splashed a few bombs, enough got through to wipe out that airbase. Hwangju was only able to launch a pair of MiGs before the Tomahawks rained down on it, taking it out of the fight and catching several aircraft on the runway. The ROKAF hit Wonsan on time, firing at scrambling MiGs even while dropping their laser guided bombs on the runways and taxiways. Within 10 minutes, 5 of the 9 airbases were taken out of the fight with the vast majority of their fighters left on the ground with nowhere to go.
The last 4 airbases were farther into DPRK territory and thus harder to get to through the 150+ aircraft still available and remaining SAM sites concentrated around Pyongyang. I pushed all of my DMZ cap F-16s to push north, sweeping the skies of DPRK jets. I found that by launching my AMRAAMs at ~70% of their max range I had a consistent pK of 0.85, letting me slaughter the old jets I found but still remaining out of range of their missiles. With luck, my first 4 F-16s reached Sunchon and were able to take it out before a single MiG-29 could be scrambled. The other 4 F-16s, backed by the large Air to Air sweep and a few HARM shooters, were able to press on to Pukchang and take out the runways stranding the aircraft that remained on the ground. The success of this strike let me retarget my TACTOMs coming in off the west coast. I sent these on a wide flank to come around and hit Kaechon from the North-west, allowing over 25 Tomahawks to get through the few fighters in position to intercept. This airbase too was neutralized, showing the strength of the TACTOM as it originally had not been targeted by any missiles. The remaining 20-30 jets or so gathered for a suicide raid and charged the DMZ, where they were annihilated without a lost US/ROK jet (although there were a couple close calls).
In the east things got more interesting. The majority of the Tomahawks skirting the border were detected by the now massive amount of fighters circling over Changjin, debating whether to go Southeast against my CAP or engage the missiles coming from their rear. Somehow, the DPRK pilots were able to attack the missiles skimming along at 60' AGL (this really shouldn't be possible, there's nothing as stressful as flying low for a long time, nevermind in extremely mountainous terrain and old jets) and destroyed all but a handful. These hit the airfield but weren't able to neutralize any of the runways or taxiways. I began to marshal the Navy to push in for a sweep when Russia entered the fray in force. A regiment of SU-27SMs crossed the border with North Korea and began engaging their MiGs, killing the majority of them while losing only 4 of their number. This had the added effect of exposing the North Korean KN-06 site to a Navy SEAD flight I had lurking to the south. Backed by a pair of growlers, 4 Super Hornets raced in to the confusion and wiped out the lone battery with AGM-88E missiles. During this, I slipped a quartet of F-35Bs equipped with JDAMs out of Japan and was able to finish off the airfield at Changjin. At this point the skies over Korea belonged to me, although I had to share them with an increasing Russian presence.
A B-2, previously launched from Kadena worked it's way along the western coast of the Korean peninsula before reaching the skies over Pyongyang. There it released a pair of Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, destroying a pair of command bunkers that would otherwise have been impervious to my munitions. The few SAM sites left in the city had no idea what was going on and the big black jet escaped unharmed. During all this, an Australian submarine, the HMAS Sheean, backed by a P-8 were able to sink a DPRK diesel-electric submarine off the coast as well as the few old missile corvettes motoring about. I ordered the submarine to move off of the docks, and the rest of my P-3s and P-8s were free to load up for sub hunting and join the hunt for the SSB.
I launched a squadron of F-15Ks to head to the border with China and destroy the tunnel entrances to the Kanggyesi Production Center using GBU-28 Deep Throat heavy bunker busters. Simultaneously, the Navy took out the Satellite Uplink Relay (above the ruined bunker), the Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center Entrance, and the Taechongun Nuclear Power Station construction site all to the Northwest of Pyongyang using SLAM-ER missiles and JDAMs. As expected in the briefing, the Russians used this opportunity to start hitting targets as well. They showed no such restraint against the spread of radiologicals and decided to attack the Yongbyon and Chungjinsi Nuclear storage and production sites, causing who knows what sort of environmental disasters and lasting effects on the poor citizens of the DPRK. These attacks were substantially less effective than my own due to the lack of PGMs and heavy ordnance available to them. The Russians also finished off the majority of SAM and radar sites that were damaged but not destroyed by the Tomahawk strikes.
My U-2S out of Osan arrived in the reported area of the North Korean TEL launchers during the last of these strikes. Using it's radar and powerful optics it was able to locate several groups of vehicles scattered across the North-east of North Korea, including the suspected Nuclear armed TEL. Washington did not want to afford Russia the opportunity to steal credit for neutralizing the threat, so I had to act quickly before the Russian search forces found the vehicles. After getting positive ID on the TELs with some F-35s I raced in, I fired the last of my Tomahawks from one of my submarines. To back this up I launched 4 F-22s bristling with SDBs to supercruise to the area from North Japan. Most of the Tomahawks passed too close to a Russian SAG which shot down all but a handful. I was irritated but they took no other hostile actions, so I chocked it up as a simple misunderstanding and carelessness on my part. I vectored the remaining missiles out of the area and re-allocated them to targets I most suspected were launchers, while the F-22s raced overhead. The F-22s actually reached the area first and had more than enough SDBs to destroy every TEL, conventional and nuclear, in the area. The U-2 confirmed the destruction overhead, and with US and Russian politicians already racing to claim credit, the F-22s and U-2 returned home while the Tomahawks were vectored into random DPRK targets in the area.
All that remained at this point was the North Korean boomer somewhere in the sea of Japan and the dockyards themselves. Against this submarine was two of my own submarines (a Virginia and a 688i), a JMSDF submarine and ASW SAG, numerous Russian maritime patrol aircraft, a pair of Udaloys, and at least one submarine (detected via Japanese sonobuoy). Amazingly with all this going on, a P-8 dropped a lucky bracket of passive sonobuoys beneath the layer near the SSB. Once it was positively identifed with as the target, a HAAWC Mk54 torpedo pair was all that was needed to ensure it would be no threat to anyone anymore.
The final task was the destruction of the Sinpo Submarine Pen, Mayang-do Naval Base, and T'oejo-dong Naval Base. USAF and ROKAF F-16s and KF-16s, backed by USN Super Hornets took to the skies after rearming and finished off these last three bases in heavy bombing raids. Dumb bombs actually proved most effective here, able to take out the berths and docks in a single pass from USAF F-16s.
This was a lot of fun, and a total curb stomp on my side. Not a single US or ROK casualty! I didn't expect it to go nearly as well as it did, but the tools are in place for a crushing victory like this. I imagine losses would have been higher in real life due to AAA emplacements across the peninsula, but this scenario demonstrated just how much of a curb stomp the air and naval battle for the Korean peninsula would be. At this point in the scenario it's up to the politicians to sue for peace before an all out land war erupts on the Peninsula. The scenario was completed in under 12 hours, so who knows, maybe the ground war could be averted.
Odd behavior noted:
-There were numerous false contacts out there. Unfortunately, the AI isn't smart enough to drop them over time, so there were points where like 4 Russian MP aircraft were circling the same spot. I switched sides and manually marked them neutral.
-My forces stopped automatically dropping sonobuoys in the ASW patrol. I don't know if this was because the Russians had saturated the area or what, but it took quite a bit of micromanaging to get good patterns and eventually find the SSB. The carriers escort sonar picked up any contacts, although no submarines.
-My DDGs/CG kept trying to "drop" contacts in the message log, even though they weren't assigned to any AAW mission. It got a little spammy. See the tech support thread.
Score and Butcher's Bill:
Triumph - Your score is: 3825
SIDE: US
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LOSSES:
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EXPENDITURES:
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15x AN/SSQ-62E DICASS
16x AN/SSQ-53F DIFAR
3x Mk48 Mod 7 ADCAP CBASS
11x AN/SSQ-77B VLAD
62x RGM-109C Tomahawk Blk III TLAM-C
52x RGM-109D Tomahawk Blk III TLAM-D
50x RGM-109E Tomahawk Blk IV TACTOM
24x UGM-109E Tomahawk Blk IV TACTOM
20x UGM-109E Tomahawk Blk IV TACTOM
78x AIM-120D AMRAAM P3I.4
16x AGM-154C JSOW [BROACH]
21x AIM-120B AMRAAM
16x AGM-88B HARM
19x Generic Chaff Salvo [5x Cartridges]
16x GBU-31(V)3/B JDAM [BLU-109/B]
1x AIM-9S Sidewinder
97x AIM-120C AMRAAM P3I.1
20x AIM-9M Sidewinder
1x 20mm/85 M61A1 Vulcan Burst [100 rnds]
18x GBU-24C/B Paveway III LGB [BLU-116/B]
6x AN/ALE-50 [RT-1646/ALE]
7x Generic Flare Salvo [3x Cartridges, Single Spectral]
12x AGM-88E AARGM
2x GBU-57A/B MOP
2x UGM-84D Harpoon IC
8x GBU-32(V)2/B JDAM [Mk83]
12x AGM-84K SLAMER-ATA
23x GBU-24E/B Paveway III GPS/LGB [BLU-109A/B]
6x GBU-28C/B Deep Throat LGB/GPS [BLU-122/B]
70x GBU-39/B SDB
2x Mk54 HAAWC Mod 0
3x Mk54 LHT Mod 0
48x GBU-10E/B Paveway II LGB [Mk84]
64x GBU-12D/B Paveway II LGB [Mk82]
168x Mk82 500lb LDGP
100x GBU-38(V)1/B JDAM [Mk82]
SIDE: Russia
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LOSSES:
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4x Su-27SM2/3 Flanker B
2x Su-24M2 Fencer D
EXPENDITURES:
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27x RGB-NM-1 [Passive Omni]
12x RGB-41 [Search, Passive Omni]
15x RGB-48 [Search, Passive Directional]
17x RGB-58 [Track, Active/Passive]
16x SS-N-30 [3M14 Kalibr]
48x Kh-101
16x AS-4 Kitchen B Mod 3 [Kh-22NA INS+TERCOM]
2x SA-21b Growler [40N6]
23x AA-10 Alamo A [R-27R, MR SARH]
24x AA-10 Alamo C [R-27RE, LR SARH]
15x Generic Chaff Salvo [4x Cartridges]
21x AA-10 Alamo B [R-27T, MR IR]
14x AA-11 Archer [R-73M]
3x 30mm Gsh-30-1 Burst [30 rnds]
5x Generic Flare Salvo [4x Cartridges, Single Spectral]
8x AS-17 Krypton C [Kh-31P, ARM]
16x AS-22 [Kh-38MLE]
16x AS-20 Kayak [Kh-35U Star]
3x KAB-1500L-F LGB
3x KAB-1500Kr TV/EO
64x SA-N-6a Grumble [5R55RM]
12x RGB-15 [Refined Search, Passive Omni]
9x RGB-75 [Basic Search, Passive Omni]
SIDE: North Korea
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LOSSES:
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1x Sang-O
11x Radar (Bar Lock A [P-37])
15x MiG-23ML Flogger G
59x SA-7a Grail [9K32 Strela-2] MANPADS
84x SA-2f Guideline Mod 1 Single Rail
51x MiG-21PFM Fishbed F
49x F-7B Fishbed [MiG-21 Copy]
15x Vehicle (Fan Song F [RSNA-75M])
14x Vehicle (Spoon Rest C [P-12])
50x MiG-21bis Fishbed L
27x SA-5c Gammon Single Rail
17x 23mm ZU-23-2
6x Building (Square Pair [5N62])
3x Building (Tall King C [P-14])
1x Radar (Tall King A [P-14])
26x SA-3b Goa Quad Rail
4x Vehicle (Flat Face B [P-19])
4x Vehicle (Low Blow [SNR-125])
1x Radar (China JY-8A Wall Rust)
2x Building (Odd Pair HF [PRV-13])
2x Radar (Flat Face B [P-19])
1x Nampo
1x Radar (Odd Pair HF [PRV-13])
1x Vehicle (Clam Shell [5N66])
1x Vehicle (Tombstone [30N6])
6x SA-20a Gargoyle [5P85SE] TEL
3x SA-16 Gimlet [9K310 Igla-1] MANPADS
2x Underground Hardened Bunker (C3M)
4x 611 Sariwon [Impr Tral]
2x Radar (Back Net [P-80])
1x Building (Control Tower)
2x 531 Najin [Kola Copy]
1x Building (Uplink Relay Station)
2x Structure (Power Station - Nuclear)
2x A/C Underground Aircraft Shelter Entrance (Blast Doors)
1x Structure (Industrial Plant)
1x Structure (Tunnel Entrance)
6x Nodong 2 TEL
24x Nodong 2 TEL
1x Radar (Spoon Rest D [P-18])
23x Building (Medium)
30x Structure (Naval Dock)
17x Building (Large)
1x Sinpo
2x MS-29 Yono
2x Building (Very Large)
1x Structure (Submarine Pens)
EXPENDITURES:
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62x SA-5c Gammon [5V28M5]
44x SA-20a Gargoyle [48N6E]
25x AA-7 Apex C [R-24R, SARH]
13x AA-8 Aphid [R-60TM]
26x 23mm Gsh-23L Burst [40 rnds]
22x SA-2f Guideline Mod 1 [S-75M2 Volkhov, 5YA23 / V-759]
15x AA-8 Aphid [R-60T]
10x 23mm Gsh-23 Burst [GP-9 Pod, 40 rnds]
31x SA-3b Goa [5V27, V-601P]
3x AA-2a Atoll [R-3S]
6x PL-2b [AA-2a]
1x SA-7a Grail [9M32]
100x 30mm Type 30-1 x 2 Burst [30 rnds]
SIDE: Japan
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LOSSES:
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EXPENDITURES:
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57x J/HQS-12 DIFAR
100x J/HQS-33B DICASS [AN/SSQ-62]
SIDE: Civil Traffic
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LOSSES:
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SIDE: Biologics
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LOSSES:
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< Message edited by Tailhook -- 3/5/2017 11:33:14 PM >
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Command Live! - Korean Missile Crisis [US & Russian Per... - 
). Downed all the MiG-21 (and equivalents) and -23s thrown to me, with no own losses. Then the yankees started their own show and things quitened a lot in Russian AOR. 
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