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marksi10 -> Uk-Pakistan? (2/26/2016 10:04:14 PM)
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Iīve been looking for a good scenario to test the UKīs expeditionary warfare capability in the 2020s, which should be much more advanced than our current capability. The best test (that is even halfway plausible) I could think of is a UK-Pakistan conflict. For argument/backgroundīs sake, letīs say the US and China have gone to war in the Pacific, and so the USA has to rely on its ally to interdict Chinaīs oil supply by seizing/destroying Gwadar. If the second, it could be a couple of scenarios, the first scenario dealing with the UKīs attempt to gain air superiority, and the second with the amphibious assault on Gwadar.
I think this should just about be achievable for the UK in the 2020s - there is no way we have enough troops to win a land war with Pakistan, unless it is over a very small, relatively sparsely inhabited region such as Gwadar and the surrounding area. The crucial factors that would determine the outcome of such a conflict seem to be: the UK having two carriers available; the UK using all available tanking capacity to support Eurofighter stand-off strikes with Storm Shadow from Diego Garcia, where AWACS, Rivet Joint and P-8s would also need to be located (in the Gulf War Diego Garcia supported 32 B-52s!); a potential UK purchase of Ospreys (recently mentioned as a possibility) to allow the carriers to stand off by tanking for the F-35s; the amount of Tomahawks available to the UK; a potential Pakistan purchase of 30-40 J-31 to provide the Pakistan Air Force with a cutting edge; whether the range of the Shaheen-III can be extended so that it can threaten Diego Garcia; China possibly supplying Pakistan with DF-21 missiles to counter the carrier threat (perhaps with Chinese crews, a la the Cuban Missile Crisis); whether the UK buys SM-3s for the Type 45s to counter such threats.
I see such a conflict as being somewhat analogous to the Falklands conflict: the UK with its carriers, overseas bases and amphibious warfare capability against an opponent without much of a naval threat but with a large, technologically comparable air force that because of the location of the conflict is able to bring all its forces to bear on the enemy.
Now comes the problem: I donīt know how to make scenarios. I plan to learn sometime, but if someone wanted to have a stab at making this, I would love to play it!
Any ideas/suggestions for how to make this scenario more finely balanced/plausible/interesting would be much appreciated!
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