FransKoenz
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SPOILER ALERT
AFTER ACTION REPORT
Scenario : “CARCRASH” for Harpoon 3.6
Author : Freek Schepers
Side : Russia
Reporter : Taitennek
I am in command of a small Russian SAG, centred on the Admiral Kuznetsov, and a submarine [Akula II].
My orders are to reach the operational area, marked by ref. points 9-12.
I also must destroy at least 2 enemy aircraft carriers.
Fighters [MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-30 Flanker] and helicopters [Helix] are aboard the Kuznetsov and her escorts. They carry various weapons.
Game on!
First impressions:
Intelligence reports that the Royal Navy has put in two of their VTOL carriers; the HMS Invincible [R05] and HMS Ark Royal [R09]. The French are presented with the R100 Charles de Gaulle, and finally the Italian/Spanish TF; including the VTOL carriers, the R551 Giuseppe Garibaldi and the R11 Principe de Asturias.
A hard nut to crack, realizing the fact that both Spain and the UK have put their most modern equipment to sea [the Daring-class air defence destroyer, and the Spanish Aegis FFG].
My surface assets are perhaps dangerous opponents that are well fitted for naval combat, but in fact, the 956A is aged. The FFG is relatively modern, but I wonder how she will perform in naval combat situation. Especially when it comes to short-range or point defence against incoming missiles.
Distance to the Operation area is about 320nm. With a maximum speed of 21 kts, the journey takes at least 15 hours. The Drakon [Akula II] is operating northeast of the Azores without a clear target, I cannot use it in her role as ASuW platform, so, for the time being, I will keep my sub at maximum depth with 20 kts on a southwest course .
My air assets can handle the Harriers onboard the 4 VTOL carriers. But I fear the French Rafale fighters most.
It is my tactic to ‘ignore’ the French and stay away from their fighters all the time.
First, I re-armed 4 Flankers with the best possible configuration 8 x Alamo A/D and 4 AA-11 Archer.
My Tactical decisions:
I have to reach the Operations area intact with the Admiral Kuznetsov, as part of the exercise.
Regarding my orders to destroy two enemy VTOL-Carriers, I have three options:
Attack with aircraft, attack with shipboard ASM, and, last, but not least, attack with the submarines torpedoes.
I will use all three components to be assured of a successful exercise.
Game on!
23:00:00 – 08:00:00 Zulu Time
Immediately after game start, the Spetsnaz Demolition Unit on the Azores reported explosions. [I only can observe since ROE does not allow demolition operations for this unit].
As soon the Helix AEW was airborne, several contacts appear on my screen: Mainly surface contacts, but some air contacts as well. The contacts disappeared with the same speed as they appeared.
Flight Deck is operational at 23:30:00.
Scheduled are Recon/CAP with 2 Flankers and 1 Fulcrum, and 1 AEW Patrol.
The SAG operates north of the Azores and is approaching the Operations Area. ETA: some 15 hours.
The Drakon is about to enter the Operations Area as well, but I have other things in mind. I plot a course south of the Azores to intercept one of the enemy Carrier Groups.
Finally, the Helix-AEW picked up a jamming surface contact, roughly west of the Azores. I ordered 1 Flanker to investigate the contact. More and more contacts appeared on the screen, I turned radar on and there she was, the Spanish/Italian carrier group. I managed to destroy 3 helicopters that were patrolling above the enemy carrier-group.
Right after discovery of the enemy group, I launched my all attack aircraft for a first raid on the Spanish/Italian group.
8 Su-30 Flankers with AS-18 Moskit ASM, 4 Flankers with AS-14 Kegler ARM, and finally 4 MiG-29 Fulcrum, also armed with as-14 Kegler [ARM]. It is my tactic to attack with ASM first to force enemy units to use their radar, then I attack with ARM against the combatants that tuned on their radars. Simply and hopefully effective…….. [I hope].
Meanwhile, radar picked up more airborne contacts. 1 particular group of contacts is interesting, 4 aircraft grouped together. I directed a Flanker to the area to intercept the newly discovered planes. I could not locate the 4 aircraft, but I managed to destroy a French E-2 Hawkeye.
5 minutes past 01:00, I was able to launch the Kh-41 Moskit ASM. 4 against the Italian VTOL carrier, and 4 against the Spanish carrier. As soon the warships turned on radar, I launched AS-14 Kegler ARM and managed to damage 3 escorts. All my aircraft returned home safe. Re-arming the aircraft takes 5 and a half hours. I changed configuration for the 4 MiG-29 Fulcrum; 6 FAB 500KG bombs instead of the AS-14……
When the aircraft are ready for action again, I also am able to launch my shipboard SS-N-19 Shipwrecks against the Spanish/Italian Carrier Group.
[Rough] Distance is still over 300nm, maximum range for the SS-N-19 is 300nm…..
The next hours, I focussed on hunting down aircraft with the 4 Su-30 Flankers. Most important is to keep enemy aircraft away from my SAG.
The submarine is operation about 50nm east of the Operations Area, at a safe depth of 900 meters. So far, the submarine has not detected enemy submarines. I wonder where they are located.
I have increased ASW-operations around my SAG, because I expect submarine threat within or nearby the Operations Zone.
08:00:00 Zulu Time.
9 hours after the start of the exercise, a lot of events took place. So far, my aircraft [especially the Su-33] performed very well…
With only 4 Flankers and 4 MiG-29 Fulcrum available, I managed to destroy many enemy aircraft. The Alamo AAM took out majority of the enemy planes. The Alamo’s are rather successful in BOL situations.
It takes another 30 minutes before I can launch another ASM raid against an enemy group. The Kuznetsov Group is still fully armed for anti-ship missions. The group is approaching the Operations Zone; distance 220nm.
Distance to the Italian/Spanish Carrier Group is 240nm. The submarine is heading on a southwest course. So far, the submarine has not come into action.
The submarine threat is confirmed. My ASW helicopters are patrolling up to 40nm ahead of the surface units, but so far, no enemy submerged contacts were picked up.
The position of the Spanish/Italian Group is clear, as well as the composition of the Group.
2 VTOL Carriers, 2 Replenishment ships, escorted by 3 DDG and FFG. All three escorts were damaged by the first attack with the onboard Flankers and Fulcrums. The Spanish Frigate Alvaro de Bazan is not defending itself; 2 Fulcrums were able to hit the Frigate with cannon fire. The frigate did not return fire. The result of the successful ARM attack?
Another Surface group is operating southeast of the Italian/Spanish Group.
The composition of this group is unclear: all I know is that it is the British Carrier Group.
The French surface group? Some ships are operating southeast of the British group. Faint contacts only; it could be the French group, but on the other hand, it could be neutral vessels as well.
At 08:30:00, my aircraft aboard the Kuznetsov were all ready for a second raid at the enemy Groups.
I launched them all. 8 Su-30 armed with KH-41 and 4 with KH-31P Krypton ARM to attack the British Group, and 4 MiG-29, armed with FAB 500 KG bombs, to attack the Spanish/Italian Group. 15 minutes later, I launched 16 SS-19-N Shipwrecks at the 4 main targets of the Spanish/Italian group, the 2 VTOL carriers and the Replenishment ships. Minutes later, the first SS-N-19 hit its target, the Giuseppe Garibaldi, seconds later, the other 3 targets were hit as well.
At 09:45:00, the 4 Fulcrums with their bombs flew in to finish the job. I managed to destroy all remaining ships. One of the Victory conditions has been achieved; destroy three viable targets…..
The air strike on the English carrier group was not a success….. Only 1 ship [The HMS Invincible] was damaged by the KH-41-Moskit. All my aircraft survived the attack, so, I could launch a third attack. The Drakon is closing in as well, and to tell the truth, I hate it when my submarine commander cannot drill his crew. Conclusion……. The Russian Navy, with its old ships, must prove that it is quite capable to engage more than 1 enemy group with the equipment available.
Back to the exercise.
Short before noon, a submerged contact appeared on my screen, as well as a torpedo. The Drakon finally has been detected. I immediately set course away from the contact at maximum speed. The incoming torpedo did not hit my submarine. Within minutes, more torpedoes whizzed through the water. The Royal Navy assists in the search with helicopters. Too bad for these helicopters because 1 of the measures I always take to protect my submarines, is to guard them with fighters. Ciao, to the Sea King HAS.6 and French Eurocopter.
Minutes later, the unknown submarine disappeared from my screen.
During the following hours, my assets approached their areas. The Kuznetsov Group needs 2-3 hours to reach the Operations Area, the Drakon is closing in for a perfect ambush position to kill the British Group.
A single unknown aircraft is patrolling southeast of the Kuznetsov Group. During the time that it was on my screen, I noticed that the aircraft is doing 295 mph. That must be a French Hawkeye! I cannot ignore such contacts, so, I directed a MiG-29 to the spot to intercept this high value target.
Minutes later, the contact was gone, but I know where the aircraft is, it is a matter of time before I relocate the aircraft again. And that was exactly what happened. I destroyed the Hawkeye with 2x 30mm bursts [I’m not going to waste missiles on a harmless target].
At 15:45:00 hrs., I started the attack on the British Carrier Group. The first victim was the HMS Invincible. The ship was already damaged after the air-strike earlier that day. One after another, ships were hit by torpedoes and none of the enemy ships survived the incoming torpedoes. Just after 16:00:00, there was just an empty sea.
One torpedo was fired by the HMS Daring, but successful countermeasures with ensonification bubbles got rid of the incoming fish. Even when the Akula was destroyed by torpedoes, it was worth.
Meanwhile, the Kuznetsov Group entered the Operation zone intact [ViCo #2].
I have reached Victory conditions after a challenging exercise.
First the losses:
Spain/Italy:
42 aircraft/helicopters
6 ships
UK:
46 aircraft /helicopters
7 ships
France:
14 Aircraft/helicopters
Russia:
7 aircraft
My comments:
My surface forces did not fire a single SAM, my forward defence worked perfectly: keep the enemy out north of the Azores. My losses were minimal due to the fact that I do not attack enemy contacts like a mad bull:
I only had 8 fighters to work with and they performed excellently.
I avoided engaging the French Rafale, and I took advantage of the Alamo missiles [let the missiles do their job, especially the Infrared version, which performed above expectations!] All my losses were caused by these fighters. I managed to kill some Rafale with overkill [at least 4 AAM per aircraft]. The enemy Harriers were no threat at all, not to mention the enemy helicopters.
Thanks Freek for sharing this challenging scenario with us.
Greetings,
Taitennek. 
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AAR CarCrash [Carrier Exercise] - 
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