Shadow of the Condor
Posts: 394
Joined: 2/9/2004 From: Chicago Status: offline
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My first "big" strike - 8 planes. The war is getting late, and all I have is one lost pilot and 11 VPs. I chose the 4 VP missile factory mission and gave it my best. Screen shots later, but - for now, enjoy the story... Al-Furat manufacturing center… The men inside their buildings had suspended their work. The sandstorm outside had reduced visibility to almost nil, and – although they were protected by the thick walls of the facility’s buildings, no one wanted to take a chance that the power could be lost while they were working on a task… Meanwhile, in the loading building, the dispatcher was trying to contact one of the vehicles scheduled to return to Al-Furat. When he failed, he silently hoped there wasn’t going to be anyone on the road in the desert right now… 40 km south of the Al-Furat manufacturing center… The driver was on the road - heading north. His skill contributing to the defeat of the enemy was that of a very select group of men – even more select then the pilots in the air force. He was a driver of a TEL. His vehicle resembled a caterpillar – inching its way along the paved road surface. He was on his way back to Al-Furat, and would be happy to get there. Already driving for two hours, he had a precise schedule to stick to not be seen by the Americans and their satellites or reconnaissance planes. He wasn’t too happy about the radio not working, but he wasn’t overly concerned, neither. No one transmitted over the airwaves anymore… He was rounding a sharp curve in the road when the sand hit. He wasn’t going very fast, and the squat, eight-wheeled vehicle was heavy enough to not tip over. Except for today. The wind stung the windows and doors of the truck and some of it actually made its way inside the cab of the vehicle. The driver cursed and let go of the wheel for a moment to wipe the sand from his eyes. The wheels started to straighten out just before the road did. The result was they neared the edge of the road. The vehicle’s weight now worked against it; as the edge of the road began to give way the vehicle shifted left and settled into the gully about 2 feet below the level of the road. Again the driver cursed, and sat for a minute – debating the wisdom of going outside to look at the wheels. He was still debating when his answer was provided for him. The transporter, now sitting at about a 30 degree angle with its left side two feet below its right side had its undercarriage exposed to the elements. A gust of wind hit the vehicle at just the correct angle, with just the right force, and the right side of the vehicle began to lift off of the ground. As more of the undercarriage was exposed, the greater effect of the wind on the vehicle. The driver didn’t move, and hoped futilely that the wind would abate, but it didn’t. As the effect increased past 45 degrees, the inertia of the moving vehicle took over and the transporter flipped onto its side. The driver managed to scramble outside to the relative safety of the blowing sand, and hid behind the vehicle, wondering what he was going to do next… 300 miles above Al-Furat… The American satellite continued its west to east track as it spiraled over the planet in a polar orbit. Not at a geo-stationary orbit of 22,300 miles meant that its cameras would only be over its target a short while. Again, on a command from its microprocessor brain, the camera began to snap pictures. Of particular interest was that the sandstorm which had occluded views of the facility was now about 100km to its south… Dhahran Airbase, Saudi Arabia… The analysts pored over the latest batch of pictures with the same intensity as they did when the war started. They, too, noted the passing of the storm, and wondered if it would reach them before the day was out. The weathermen said no, that the storm would die out. One of the analysts noted a small blob on the road south of the facility – or; more correctly, just off of the road south of the facility. Enhancing the image resolved the blob into a squat shape with what looked like eight small legs pointing skyward. The commanders read the report of the analysts, and they agreed with their conclusion – the vehicle was a launcher, and the building just to its north had to be the missile facility everyone had been searching for. Al-Furat was under suspicion of being that facility, but without proof and it sitting almost in the middle of a town, the coalition forces had been reluctant to attack. Today, however, they had the proof they needed… USS America…carrier flight operations… Mission minus 2 hours… The plan was straightforward. Eight aircraft would sortie to the facility today. Intelligence promised a full spectrum of defenses from low altitude AAA to high performance enemy aircraft, and everything in-between. The Iraqis had to prevent the destruction of the facility at all costs. Today, Cherub and Dino would provide air cover, each with five Sparrow and two Sidewinder missiles. Lightning would be flying his first mission of the war, and he carried a jammer pod as well as two Walleye missiles and a HARM. Banzai, Cowboy, and Topo would be the main strike element, each with three Mavericks and a HARM. Wraith and Fox carried one Maverick and two Walleyes each, along with a single Sparrow missile to aid in air defense after they bombed the target… Mission minus fifteen minutes…en route to Al-Furat… The planes didn’t have much time to react. Topo and Lightning both reported a radar lock on their planes. Lightning fired a Walleye in the direction of the launcher, and Topo fired a HARM. Neither was affected by the lock, nor did either report any explosions… Al-Furat…Turn 1 The Hornets all approached from the south at high altitude. A MiG-21 and –23 were in their path, and a MiG-25 was northwest of the site. West of the site was another MiG-21… On the ground in their path was a pair of ZSU-23 AAA guns and a SA-6 AA missile system. The SA-6 could reach up and hurt one of the pilots. As Wraith targeted the MiG-21 in their path with a Sparrow, Banzai fired the Harm at the SA-6. The missile site exploded, but the MiG-21 survived Wraith’s attack. The MiG-23 in the south now targeted Fox, and Cherub fired a Sparrow trying to suppress the attack. The MiG pilot held his focus and fired on Fox. Fox evaded the shot successfully. Dino and Cherub were trying to gain a lock on their targets. Finally Dino had the Mig-21 locked in and fired both of his Sidewinders – destroying the plane. Cherub locked onto the MiG-23 and hit it with both Sidewinders. The Hornets moved north, out of range of the ZSUs below them. The MiG-21 that was west of the site had moved to a position east of it. Al-Furat…Turn 2… Protecting the complex were four missile systems – three of which could reach high altitude and had radar capabilities. The pilots – still at high altitude - now had to either try for the target and hope to hit it, exposing themselves to only one salvo of missile fire, or try for the sites and either destroy them or expose themselves to two or more salvos. In the end, Cowboy locked his HARM on the SA-11 site, but his shot missed. Wraith fired a Maverick at the site and also missed. Banzai, meanwhile targeted buildings in the complex and fired. The three missiles scored one hit… The Americans were now fired on by the SAMs in the facility area. The SA-11 fired on Fox but Fox evaded successfully, as did Topo, who evaded an SA-2 missile. Cherub barely evaded a shot from the SA-3 system in the facility, and Banzai narrowly evaded a shot from the MiG-25 now in range… Topo now lined up the target and fired his three Mavericks, scoring a single hit. Fox did better, scoring two hits with his Walleyes but missing with his Maverick. Finally, Lightning fired his Walleye, but missed the target. With most of their missiles gone, the Americans moved over the target and dropped to low altitude… Al-Furat…Turn 3… Dropping low allowed the pilots to strafe the target, and allowed only the SA-13 site to target them. Cowboy missed the target with his three Mavericks while he barely evaded a SA-13 missile, and both Wraith and Banzai made gun runs on the target but missed. For some reason, the MiG-25 did not engage the Americans, while Cherub, Dino, Lightning, and Topo all made gun runs on the target. Dino scored a hit, but the others missed. The misses meant the planes would have to loiter in the target area and try again. Wraith, with a Maverick and a Walleye still at his disposal, moved south and clmbed to high altitude. The other seven Hornets stayed over the target, and were joined by the lone remaining MiG-21… Al-Furat…Turn 4… Staying in the target area proved successful as although Fox missed on his strafing run, but Wraith hit the target with a Maverick, and Banzai hit it on a strafing run. The facility was a total loss, and the mission was accomplished; but the Americans still had to extricate themselves. Banzai barely avoided an SA-13 missile, while the SA-11 barely missed Wraith. Banzai also evaded the shots of the SA-2 and the SA-3. Fox evaded the attack of the MiG-21, and both Fox and Cherub missed hitting the MiG-21 with any of their missiles. Dino, Lightning, and Topo made a final strafing run over the SAM sites once the facility was destroyed, but they all missed. The Hornets them climbed high and flew south, back to their home…
< Message edited by Shadow of the Condor -- 10/27/2007 7:16:22 AM >
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"Shouldn't we be leading the shark back to shore, instead of him leading us out to sea?"
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