The Second Battle of Britain - a Soviet Sealion

[stevep]

Jan 9, 2020 20:55:12 GMT lordroel said:

Jan 9, 2020 20:25:18 GMT James G said:

168 – Foxbats from Finow, Aardvarks to Finow


Flying from Finow Airbase in East Germany’s historic Brandenburg, the 787th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Force (VVS) operated MiG-25 Foxbats. The -25PD version of this particular MiG were first-rate interceptors. Complicated to fly and maintain, but excellent for the task allotted to them. Dogfighting wasn’t one of those missions flown by 787 FAR aircrew. Instead, their role was to conduct high-speed, high-level intercepts with missile-launches made at distance. Throughout the war, the Foxbats flying from Finow had seen plenty of action with losses having accumulated to the aircraft, their pilots and the ground crews: the latter occurred when American aircraft had bombed their base after fighting their way through many air defences. Almost two dozen of the single-seat interceptors were still flying though and they were busy. Tonight, four of them lifted off from the patched-up runway and into the dark skies over Europe. They were under the operational control of one of the many ground stations – this one a mobile facility active across in West Germany – and the mission for the Foxbats was to attack priority airborne targets some distance away. Jamming aircraft were already flying and the interceptors themselves flew with their own radars switched off to deny a fix on them to the enemy. NATO was out to do that. There were several AWACS aircraft flying far back away from the current frontlines and their radars saw deep into hostile territory. Tracks were made on the four interceptors despite jamming efforts. Courses for them were plotted. The Foxbats were coming direct for the two of the AWACS aircraft.

Lancing through the sky at maximum speed and thus doing terrible damage to their engines, the Foxbats went over the divided Germanies, above Belgium and then into French skies. They had formed into two pairs with each pair targeting a different airborne radar and command-&-control aircraft flying high above the earth. Those AWACS aircraft were US Air Force E-3B Sentrys with combat controllers aboard them directing friendly fighters towards those inbound enemy aircraft. Belgian Mirages and American F-16s were the nearest and most available defenders which could be called upon to get in the way of this daring attack. Those NATO jets were taken under fire though. There were other Soviet fighters flying tonight with the VVS having other MiGs up. Those suddenly broke away from other tasks and into this fight. It had all be planned that way and NATO now saw it. Such a realisation came very late though. Mirages and F-16s clashed with MiG-23s and -29s while the Foxbats kept on coming. Luftwaffe F-4s – flying from French bases due to so much of West Germany being under occupation – were providing close-in protection for the AWACS aircraft. Several remained close while others shot forward to meet the enemy aircraft as far away as possible. Behind them, the targeted larger aircraft turned away to the south and west. These were conversions of Boeing-707s. A rotating radar-dome was positioned high above the aircraft’s fuselage with computers, radios and battle staffs within. Defenceless themselves, it would reasonably said that they were worth dozens upon dozens of fighters. There were flights of French Mirages climbing out of bases to come up and aid to their protection as towards them the AWACS aircraft went. Their wider missions were now postponed as they fled for safety. As fast as they went though, they were still be closed in upon by those Foxbats: the speed difference was immense.

The Foxbats fired on the West German fighters when their radars went active. Calls from behind and below had come to them from their ground controllers who were monitoring the airborne situation via a network of mobile radars spread far and wide. Those men on the ground spotted the F-4s moving towards the VVS interceptors as well as keeping track of where those priority targets were going. Experience gained during previous attacks on similar aircraft was being put to use throughout this mission which they were controlling. It was the senior officer on the ground, not the Foxbat pilots, who made the call to attack the West Germans when they did. Those off in distant skies were told what to do with everything concerning their flights. Three F-4s were hit while a fourth evaded in spectacular fashion with twists and turns. It’s pilot returned fire after closing in upon one of the Foxbats and managed to get a kill in. That downed Soviet interceptor’s wingman was already out ahead though. He was on his own going after one AWACS aircraft but the other two were still together chasing the second target. At a time of the choosing again from a colonel far away who was seeing all that was going on through a very complicated radar picture, the surviving Foxbat pilots fired once more. They were flying with many air-to-air missiles being carried and instructed to launch most of them towards their targets while only keeping a few for their long journey home. Multiple launches were made against the diving E-3s. The surviving Luftwaffe pilot again got into the fight and took out another Foxbat (he was having an excellent war: this was his fifth kill making him an ace) but by then it was too late. Each of the two AWACS aircraft had been hit and they were going down. A lot of mess was going to be made on the ground when they struck the earth below.

There was another E-3 flying tonight – this one of those few remaining NATO-crewed models that hadn’t been wiped out by commandos in the war’s first few minutes when on the ground – and its crew took over the duties of the battle staffs from the now two lost ones. This was an almighty challenge. The skies were full of friendly and hostile aircraft and a job for three was now being done by one. Sending a direct interception towards the pair of retreating Foxbats (each alone) wasn’t a priority when there was so much else going on. The Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies were getting many more aircraft aloft to interfere with ongoing NATO air missions and make their own attacks. The attack undertaken with those Foxbats had been carefully done and when successful, it opened up the skies. Flying alone after each had lost his wingman, the two Soviet pilots flew back east. They were still flying at great speed and had turned their radars back off. Ground crews guided them towards home with the hope in each man that he would make it. Alas, that wasn’t to be for either of them. The French got one and then the other ran into American F-15s who encountered it by chance. More aircraft crashed to the ground though with this last engagement, there was one pilot who managed to eject in time from his doomed aircraft unlike his trio of comrades who each had been killed when their interceptors blew up upon missile impact. He’d land behind friendly lines too, eventually making his way back to Finow in the coming days. Upon arrival, he’d discover what had happened while he was away.


It was only a coincidence that Finow was on the target list tonight for a major NATO air strike. The airbase had been hit before and there were still enemy aircraft flying from there so another go was had at attempting to shut down operations from there. The 787 FAR had been joined at Finow by other MiG-25s since the outbreak of war. These were from a Moscow Military District unit reinforcing the Sixteenth Air Army stationed in West Germany. The VVS unit had the -25RB version of the Foxbat and these were reconnaissance-bombers: they had special equipment for many intelligence gathering tasks while also being capable of undertaking precision bombing too. The 47th Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment – which had air defence suppression Sukhois detached to another airbase in East Germany since their arrival – was causing NATO all sorts of problems with its own Foxbats alongside those 787 FAR ones. The recon flights were one thing but the high-level bombing runs, where despite a small payload the damage was significant, had been far worse. To stop their activities was just as important as putting a dent in interceptor activities from Finow.

Coming from their base in Britain, the US Air Force F-111s headed towards Finow on an indirect routing. Eight of them had left RAF Upper Heyford though one had turned back over the North Sea with a serious mechanical issue. The other seven stayed low over the water and went above Denmark before coming into East Germany from the Baltic. All of the aircrew had been on attack missions deep over enemy territory on the European mainland before with some of them too flying the night beforehand against targets in occupied portions of Norfolk. Back to the far side of the Iron Curtain they were now though, one a true deep strike such as the Americans had been doing throughout the war. Enemy ground-based radars didn’t spot them and neither did the lone Soviet AWACS aircraft (they didn’t have many) flying in the skies near to Berlin. Those F-111s – Aardvarks they were called unofficially – were in pairs as well as the one by itself down low flying with their radars off and in radio silence. Penetration was made of the enemy shoreline and then inland at a terrifying low altitude where terrain masking was used. With pitch black darkness outside, the aircrews wore night vision goggles. One mistake and they’d smear themselves into the ground as other Aardvark crews had done recently. Tonight, terrain wasn’t what wouldn’t kill them. A mobile SAM system, undetected by pre-flight intelligence, spotted one of the pairs. With standing orders to fire on hostile aircraft without waiting for confirmation, missiles were lofted not very far away from Finow. An American low-level bomber was hit with both aircrew ejecting before the wreckage of their jet hit the ground: the other one got away. An alert instantly went out from the SAM crew. This was too late though. The remaining six Aardvarks were almost there.

They converged upon the airbase from several directions all at once. Despite being on the highest state of alert, the air defences were taken by surprise when these attackers suddenly appeared. Bombs fell away from the Aardvarks during their one pass over Finow. There were cluster munitions used against spotted SAM launchers and anti-runway bombs dropped over the paved runway. High-explosive contact bombs were employed against the main hangar area where there were maintenance and administration facilities. Fantastic explosions ripped through Finow but there were time-delayed munitions as well that were due to go off later. Immense damage was done. There were a few Foxbats which were caught exposed. However, many others were in the hardened aircraft shelters where anything less than a direct hit by a big bomb with a penetration warhead wouldn’t get them. The runway was out of action for the time being, that being a bonus for the US Air Force, and chaos caused elsewhere. The dead and injured were many with more deaths soon to occur from secondary blasts from those delayed munitions.

Back home the Aardvarks went. They remained low and fast as they carried on making use of terrain to stay hidden. Ground-based air defences were avoided and so too were fighters brought in from nearby. However, the VVS weren’t amateurs. They were aware that those attackers would be flying back towards the sea aiming to get away. Several flights of MiGs were soon above the Baltic and close to Danish skies. There were Danes up there in their F-16s and missile exchanges were made with MiG-23s. Through the same skies, trying to avoid that fighting, came the Aardvarks fresh from their success over Finow. Two of them were hit by Soviet missiles with this time all aircrew – four men – being killed in those instances rather than getting a chance to escape. The surviving Aardvark crews would find out afterwards that the Danes had taken out at least a trio of MiGs while losing two of their own number as well. Fellow pilots and weapons systems operators flying the Aardvarks from the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing were dead and missing: that was their primary focus for the time being when back on the ground at their Oxfordshire flying station.

Good update James G .

  Agreed.  Overall a bad day for NATO as they will miss the two AWACs more than the Soviets will miss their a/c but bloody all around.

[amir]

James- great series of updates!

It sounds like NATOs deep strikers are getting to the end of their tether. If you figure 50% losses on each sortie across the iron curtain, they’ll be running low on A/C and crews pretty soon. NATO will be faced with some hard decisions about continuing deep strikes or husbanding a nuclear reserve. I’d imagine the Pact is in similar territory at a 100% loss rate for their cross-FLOT mission. While not as much is written about NATO air defenses they had a multilayered system is SAMs, interceptors, and point defenses just like the Pact- as has been seen in this story.

I’d imagine that at these loss rates the skies are going to become increasingly empty if the conflict is protracted.

[Dan]

I wonder how long it is before the Soviets are bringing MiG-17s and the USAF break out the F-105 Thunderchief?
The type was retired in 1984 but still a capable aircraft and would work well as a fast, low level bomb delivery truck.
The 466th Tactical Fighter Squadron were the last unit to fly them.

[James G]

Jan 9, 2020 20:55:12 GMT lordroel said:

Jan 9, 2020 20:25:18 GMT James G said:

168 – Foxbats from Finow, Aardvarks to Finow


Flying from Finow Airbase in East Germany’s historic Brandenburg, the 787th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Force (VVS) operated MiG-25 Foxbats. The -25PD version of this particular MiG were first-rate interceptors. Complicated to fly and maintain, but excellent for the task allotted to them. Dogfighting wasn’t one of those missions flown by 787 FAR aircrew. Instead, their role was to conduct high-speed, high-level intercepts with missile-launches made at distance. Throughout the war, the Foxbats flying from Finow had seen plenty of action with losses having accumulated to the aircraft, their pilots and the ground crews: the latter occurred when American aircraft had bombed their base after fighting their way through many air defences. Almost two dozen of the single-seat interceptors were still flying though and they were busy. Tonight, four of them lifted off from the patched-up runway and into the dark skies over Europe. They were under the operational control of one of the many ground stations – this one a mobile facility active across in West Germany – and the mission for the Foxbats was to attack priority airborne targets some distance away. Jamming aircraft were already flying and the interceptors themselves flew with their own radars switched off to deny a fix on them to the enemy. NATO was out to do that. There were several AWACS aircraft flying far back away from the current frontlines and their radars saw deep into hostile territory. Tracks were made on the four interceptors despite jamming efforts. Courses for them were plotted. The Foxbats were coming direct for the two of the AWACS aircraft.

Lancing through the sky at maximum speed and thus doing terrible damage to their engines, the Foxbats went over the divided Germanies, above Belgium and then into French skies. They had formed into two pairs with each pair targeting a different airborne radar and command-&-control aircraft flying high above the earth. Those AWACS aircraft were US Air Force E-3B Sentrys with combat controllers aboard them directing friendly fighters towards those inbound enemy aircraft. Belgian Mirages and American F-16s were the nearest and most available defenders which could be called upon to get in the way of this daring attack. Those NATO jets were taken under fire though. There were other Soviet fighters flying tonight with the VVS having other MiGs up. Those suddenly broke away from other tasks and into this fight. It had all be planned that way and NATO now saw it. Such a realisation came very late though. Mirages and F-16s clashed with MiG-23s and -29s while the Foxbats kept on coming. Luftwaffe F-4s – flying from French bases due to so much of West Germany being under occupation – were providing close-in protection for the AWACS aircraft. Several remained close while others shot forward to meet the enemy aircraft as far away as possible. Behind them, the targeted larger aircraft turned away to the south and west. These were conversions of Boeing-707s. A rotating radar-dome was positioned high above the aircraft’s fuselage with computers, radios and battle staffs within. Defenceless themselves, it would reasonably said that they were worth dozens upon dozens of fighters. There were flights of French Mirages climbing out of bases to come up and aid to their protection as towards them the AWACS aircraft went. Their wider missions were now postponed as they fled for safety. As fast as they went though, they were still be closed in upon by those Foxbats: the speed difference was immense.

The Foxbats fired on the West German fighters when their radars went active. Calls from behind and below had come to them from their ground controllers who were monitoring the airborne situation via a network of mobile radars spread far and wide. Those men on the ground spotted the F-4s moving towards the VVS interceptors as well as keeping track of where those priority targets were going. Experience gained during previous attacks on similar aircraft was being put to use throughout this mission which they were controlling. It was the senior officer on the ground, not the Foxbat pilots, who made the call to attack the West Germans when they did. Those off in distant skies were told what to do with everything concerning their flights. Three F-4s were hit while a fourth evaded in spectacular fashion with twists and turns. It’s pilot returned fire after closing in upon one of the Foxbats and managed to get a kill in. That downed Soviet interceptor’s wingman was already out ahead though. He was on his own going after one AWACS aircraft but the other two were still together chasing the second target. At a time of the choosing again from a colonel far away who was seeing all that was going on through a very complicated radar picture, the surviving Foxbat pilots fired once more. They were flying with many air-to-air missiles being carried and instructed to launch most of them towards their targets while only keeping a few for their long journey home. Multiple launches were made against the diving E-3s. The surviving Luftwaffe pilot again got into the fight and took out another Foxbat (he was having an excellent war: this was his fifth kill making him an ace) but by then it was too late. Each of the two AWACS aircraft had been hit and they were going down. A lot of mess was going to be made on the ground when they struck the earth below.

There was another E-3 flying tonight – this one of those few remaining NATO-crewed models that hadn’t been wiped out by commandos in the war’s first few minutes when on the ground – and its crew took over the duties of the battle staffs from the now two lost ones. This was an almighty challenge. The skies were full of friendly and hostile aircraft and a job for three was now being done by one. Sending a direct interception towards the pair of retreating Foxbats (each alone) wasn’t a priority when there was so much else going on. The Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies were getting many more aircraft aloft to interfere with ongoing NATO air missions and make their own attacks. The attack undertaken with those Foxbats had been carefully done and when successful, it opened up the skies. Flying alone after each had lost his wingman, the two Soviet pilots flew back east. They were still flying at great speed and had turned their radars back off. Ground crews guided them towards home with the hope in each man that he would make it. Alas, that wasn’t to be for either of them. The French got one and then the other ran into American F-15s who encountered it by chance. More aircraft crashed to the ground though with this last engagement, there was one pilot who managed to eject in time from his doomed aircraft unlike his trio of comrades who each had been killed when their interceptors blew up upon missile impact. He’d land behind friendly lines too, eventually making his way back to Finow in the coming days. Upon arrival, he’d discover what had happened while he was away.


It was only a coincidence that Finow was on the target list tonight for a major NATO air strike. The airbase had been hit before and there were still enemy aircraft flying from there so another go was had at attempting to shut down operations from there. The 787 FAR had been joined at Finow by other MiG-25s since the outbreak of war. These were from a Moscow Military District unit reinforcing the Sixteenth Air Army stationed in West Germany. The VVS unit had the -25RB version of the Foxbat and these were reconnaissance-bombers: they had special equipment for many intelligence gathering tasks while also being capable of undertaking precision bombing too. The 47th Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment – which had air defence suppression Sukhois detached to another airbase in East Germany since their arrival – was causing NATO all sorts of problems with its own Foxbats alongside those 787 FAR ones. The recon flights were one thing but the high-level bombing runs, where despite a small payload the damage was significant, had been far worse. To stop their activities was just as important as putting a dent in interceptor activities from Finow.

Coming from their base in Britain, the US Air Force F-111s headed towards Finow on an indirect routing. Eight of them had left RAF Upper Heyford though one had turned back over the North Sea with a serious mechanical issue. The other seven stayed low over the water and went above Denmark before coming into East Germany from the Baltic. All of the aircrew had been on attack missions deep over enemy territory on the European mainland before with some of them too flying the night beforehand against targets in occupied portions of Norfolk. Back to the far side of the Iron Curtain they were now though, one a true deep strike such as the Americans had been doing throughout the war. Enemy ground-based radars didn’t spot them and neither did the lone Soviet AWACS aircraft (they didn’t have many) flying in the skies near to Berlin. Those F-111s – Aardvarks they were called unofficially – were in pairs as well as the one by itself down low flying with their radars off and in radio silence. Penetration was made of the enemy shoreline and then inland at a terrifying low altitude where terrain masking was used. With pitch black darkness outside, the aircrews wore night vision goggles. One mistake and they’d smear themselves into the ground as other Aardvark crews had done recently. Tonight, terrain wasn’t what wouldn’t kill them. A mobile SAM system, undetected by pre-flight intelligence, spotted one of the pairs. With standing orders to fire on hostile aircraft without waiting for confirmation, missiles were lofted not very far away from Finow. An American low-level bomber was hit with both aircrew ejecting before the wreckage of their jet hit the ground: the other one got away. An alert instantly went out from the SAM crew. This was too late though. The remaining six Aardvarks were almost there.

They converged upon the airbase from several directions all at once. Despite being on the highest state of alert, the air defences were taken by surprise when these attackers suddenly appeared. Bombs fell away from the Aardvarks during their one pass over Finow. There were cluster munitions used against spotted SAM launchers and anti-runway bombs dropped over the paved runway. High-explosive contact bombs were employed against the main hangar area where there were maintenance and administration facilities. Fantastic explosions ripped through Finow but there were time-delayed munitions as well that were due to go off later. Immense damage was done. There were a few Foxbats which were caught exposed. However, many others were in the hardened aircraft shelters where anything less than a direct hit by a big bomb with a penetration warhead wouldn’t get them. The runway was out of action for the time being, that being a bonus for the US Air Force, and chaos caused elsewhere. The dead and injured were many with more deaths soon to occur from secondary blasts from those delayed munitions.

Back home the Aardvarks went. They remained low and fast as they carried on making use of terrain to stay hidden. Ground-based air defences were avoided and so too were fighters brought in from nearby. However, the VVS weren’t amateurs. They were aware that those attackers would be flying back towards the sea aiming to get away. Several flights of MiGs were soon above the Baltic and close to Danish skies. There were Danes up there in their F-16s and missile exchanges were made with MiG-23s. Through the same skies, trying to avoid that fighting, came the Aardvarks fresh from their success over Finow. Two of them were hit by Soviet missiles with this time all aircrew – four men – being killed in those instances rather than getting a chance to escape. The surviving Aardvark crews would find out afterwards that the Danes had taken out at least a trio of MiGs while losing two of their own number as well. Fellow pilots and weapons systems operators flying the Aardvarks from the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing were dead and missing: that was their primary focus for the time being when back on the ground at their Oxfordshire flying station.

Good update James G .

Thank you.
More to follow!

[James G]

Jan 9, 2020 23:03:15 GMT stevep said:

Jan 9, 2020 20:55:12 GMT lordroel said:

Good update James G .

  Agreed.  Overall a bad day for NATO as they will miss the two AWACs more than the Soviets will miss their a/c but bloody all around.

The Soviets have been going after the AWACS since the beginning, knowing the value of them. There were those hit on the ground at their West German base as the war opened and the RAF Shackleton force - very old piston-driven aircraft! - were also targeted in the skies. The MiG-25 was a damn fast jet and catching an AWACS 'safe' over France was doable but meant going very far into unfriendly skies.

Jan 10, 2020 1:53:10 GMT amir said:

James- great series of updates!

It sounds like NATOs deep strikers are getting to the end of their tether. If you figure 50% losses on each sortie across the iron curtain, they’ll be running low on A/C and crews pretty soon. NATO will be faced with some hard decisions about continuing deep strikes or husbanding a nuclear reserve. I’d imagine the Pact is in similar territory at a 100% loss rate for their cross-FLOT mission. While not as much is written about NATO air defenses they had a multilayered system is SAMs, interceptors, and point defenses just like the Pact- as has been seen in this story.

I’d imagine that at these loss rates the skies are going to become increasingly empty if the conflict is protracted.

Thank you.
Each side is taking terrible losses. Those were just stunning examples of losses but show what is faced to those sent far out ahead.
The nuclear air reserve numbers have gone down, down, down!
There will be still much of the NATO air defence network in Europe but a heck of a lot of it would have been lost when Soviet tanks overrun much of West Germany. Nike-Hercules units were technically mobile but that was a fudge. There will be some Patriots though not too many. Shorter-range NATO SAMs will be more numerous.
Ah, each side has air reserves but those will be from the Americans and the Soviets. The British and European powers will be scrapping the barrel after five days of warfare (where we are now) and losses will keep on coming.

Jan 10, 2020 7:30:05 GMT Dan said:

I wonder how long it is before the Soviets are bringing MiG-17s and the USAF break out the F-105 Thunderchief?
The type was retired in 1984 but still a capable aircraft and would work well as a fast, low level bomb delivery truck.
The 466th Tactical Fighter Squadron were the last unit to fly them.

I was going to write something else this evening but this update got me thinking and I moved today's planned on to tomorrow.
Thank you for the inspiration, Commander Mop.
I'm not sure about the MiG-17. I found some training units in the Urals with them in 1987 but they cannot even fire missiles. I discovered a large force of reported MiG-21s instead - which was still being flown by VVS units in East Germany at the time too as a frontline jet - to use.
If the war goes into the several weeks stage, those MiG-17s would have to be used though!

[James G]

169 – Shorter lines of communication


On the western side of Lancashire, British Aerospace had several important facilities located in a cluster down the length of the lower reaches of the River Ribble. The aviation company – privatised six years beforehand – had a major factory in the town of Preston as well as airfields it operated either side at Samlesbury and Warton. These had been targeted by Soviet cruise missile strikes during the war. British Aerospace was working to support the UK war effort and was a legitimate target but to those on the receiving end of their air-launched missiles, especially when an off-target weapon exploded in residential eastern Preston, it felt to them that these attacks were war crimes. Regardless, these sites were hit by the Soviets several times because public opinion of those on the ground was hardly going to matter to them. Employees of British Aerospace were joined by military personnel in repairing aircraft here in Lancashire. There were some which had war damage though most of that sort of work was done at RAF airbases. The majority needing repairs had damage and problems brought about by non-combat incidents. Everything was thrown at getting those aircraft back in the skies whether or not they were built by British Aerospace (or its predecessors) in the past.

There were former RAF combat aircraft that British Aerospace had with them in Lancashire when the war started. These were Lightning interceptors and not very long ago frontline aircraft. The Lightning was in the process of being phased out of RAF service – many were still flying though – to be replaced by the air defence version of the Tornado. British Aerospace had taken custody of those replaced to see each aircraft refurbished and sold on aboard by the British Government. Old they might be, outdated even, but they were still capable and useful aircraft. The RAF’s interceptor force had taken wartime losses and these aircraft would be mightily handy to have back in service. This was being done with work underway at the three sites near to the Ribble and then also at other air facilities nearby due to the attacks made here. At Blackpool Airport and also up at Barrow Airport too, there was some work being done on more aircraft to spread that out with the hope that further Soviet attacks wouldn’t have as much of an impact as the first ones had. To each location, along with civilian and military engineers, technicians and contractors came pilots for the Lightnings. These were often retired aircrew who needed quick refresher training though there were also serving pilots sent too. The Lightnings were slowly being dispatched to RAF bases where they would be flying in combat roles.


The British had paltry, almost insignificant aircraft reserves in comparison to what their allies across the North Atlantic had. There were seemingly endless reinforcements of combat aircraft that the Americans could call upon. Ahead of World War Three breaking out, when there had been conflict with Iraq and then Iran, and while global tensions were rising too, the Pentagon had raised the alert status of Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units. All across the United States, there were these second-line formations of which many flew some of the very latest combat aircraft despite their reserve status. There had been deployments of several Air Force Reserve units to the Middle East with Air National Guard units mobilised to move overseas at short notice. When the fighting started with the Soviets and the regular US Air Force began deploying overseas, these reserve units were quick to begin reinforcing them. A trans-Atlantic air bridge was in-place to see combat aircraft make the flight from the United States to Europe. Aircraft carried external fuel tanks and made use of refuelling stops such as those available in the Azores, Bermuda and Iceland but they would also be refuelled in-flight by tanker aircraft up over the ocean. The transfer of American reserve air power to Europe was still underway. The pre-war alert units had gone first while behind them came so much else. There were other American aircraft staying at home or deploying elsewhere in the world – towards the fight with Cuba or to Japan – but many of them were going over to Western Europe. They were really needed there.

Neither the British, any other member of NATO nor even the Soviets had anything like AMARC. Located in Arizona at Davis–Monthan AFB, there was an immense outdoor storage site for retired aircraft. The dry conditions were perfect for keeping them here without corrosion where they were spread over a massive area. This was America’s inactive air reserve. There was now a lot of activity here. Plenty of these aircraft were still combat capable and could be used in the ongoing war. They needed a refurb before doing so and that was underway. Military personnel and civilian contractors were all across AMARC where they were working getting many aircraft back into either a flyable condition to get themselves out of here or to be taken by road elsewhere to complete the process of seeing them ready to later fly. The range of aircraft which the Americans were looking at putting into temporary wartime service was extensive. There were B-52 bombers. F-4 multi-role fighters were stored at AMARC. A-4, A-6 & A-7 attack aircraft were present. In current service were others of the same type though of a different age and condition. What else was stored here in Arizona were aircraft where the complete type had not long ago been retired. F-8 naval fighters, F-105 attack-fighters and F-106 interceptors were all going to be being pulled from storage like those others. This was just the combat aircraft: there were supporting aircraft, transports and helicopters too. In addition, not far away at Pinal Airpark there were civilian airliners also stored at a non-military site after being retired by commercial carriers. Some of them too were likewise being accessed by the military for the possibility of using them.

Those at work here in Arizona were almost exclusively unaware of what had happened a few days beforehand just south of the nearby border with Mexico. On the other side of the international frontier there had been a shootout on the edges of the town of Nogales. Mexican Army soldiers had engaged ‘suspected foreign commandos’ illegally active on their soil. The calling of the Soviet Spetsnaz team by the Mexicans themselves as such a thing was a deliberate move. Mexico was struggling to maintain its neutrality in the growing war and didn’t want to come out in public to say what had happened. It was their soldiers who went up against those Soviet commandos after an outright refusal from Mexico City to allow the United States to take action. The Americans were tracking those commandos as they headed towards Arizona and wanted to send in Green Berets. Mexico had said no and dispatched their own men: it cost them heavily in terms of lives lost but Mexico wasn’t going to have its sovereignty violated.


Marshal Ogarkov had been expecting that once the war started and it was confirmed that the Chinese weren’t going to take action against the Soviet Union, there would be a transfer from Siberia of significant numbers of air units to be made available for Western-TVD operations which he commanded. He had only been told the very basics of current Sino-Soviet relations with mention made or a secret agreement ahead of the fighting with the West with the additional comments coming from Stavka that they wanted to make sure that China wasn’t about to betray that agreement of neutrality leading to that delay to ensure it didn’t happen. As far as Ogarkov was aware, China wasn’t at war with anyone and he was expecting those reinforcements. The Twenty–Third Air Army in the Trans-Baikal Military District had several divisions of MiGs & Sukhois which would be vital additions to Soviet air power in European skies. Ogarkov was tonight told that they weren’t coming west. He pressed the issue, asking one of the friendly figures on the General Staff (there were many there who respected his abilities but not his personality) why this was the case, and was told that they were going to the Soviet Far East where the Pacific coastline was a battlefield. Instead, different air reinforcements were being sent to the Western-TVD. These weren’t combat units from the Caucasus or Central Asia as Ogarkov might have expected: such reinforcements were sent instead to the fighting raging to the south above Turkey and the Middle East. What Ogarkov received were training units from the Seventeenth Air Army in the eastern half of the Ukraine. Those were MiG-21s. Hundreds of them were available with single-seat fighter and two-seat advanced training fighters being sent. The MiG-21 was a fine aircraft but it was dated. Ogarkov had wanted those MiG-23s, -27s, Sukhoi-17s & -24s from the Twenty–Third Air Army. He would get what he was given by the Seventeenth Air Army though and would just have to accept that.

This went against everything that Ogarkov had been told before the war, beyond just available combat aircraft. He had been assured that the European theatre of war, especially Western Europe over the northern & southern reaches, was of primary importance ahead of everything else. The conflict against the West was to be won on such a battlefield. Everywhere else was supposed to be secondary. Ogarkov had little information on what was going on elsewhere in the world away from his area of operations. That information was kept from him unless it directly affected operations underway by the Western-TVD. One of his trusted intelligence staffers had avoided the watching eyes and listening ears of the KGB to gain a view on external sources: Western propaganda. From what was heard, there was fighting all across the world which the Soviet Union had been drawn into. To them was where many of his promised extra resources had been diverted. So much for Western Europe being all that mattered over everything else… Still, despite the let down on that transfer of those units flying modern aircraft, Ogarkov would put to use all those additional MiGs coming from the Ukraine. They would be flown by experienced instructors, not newbie pilots. Such fighters would be put into the skies over Europe to make up for the losses taken to the air power of the Western-TVD. Those had been many and were outrageously high. Day and night, aircraft were lost in the skies and on the ground to NATO opposition. His air units were getting their own licks on though along with ground-based air defences too. From his own intelligence sources, much of that confirmed by secondary sources, NATO had taken terrible losses of their own aircraft. The Americans were sending aircraft across the Atlantic – they had more than their European allies combined – but Ogarkov had shorter lines of communication: he could get his reinforcements into battle first.

[forcon]

In relation to the air war update, 80s/90s ers war TLs are interesting because of the variety. You had the modern stuff like F-15s & Su-27s in service, but both sides also used F-4s & MiG-21s and other outdated stuff. We get to see Su-27s against old Phantoms and F-16s against ancient Su-15s; it's an interesting variety.

Same applies to the ground war of course. You can have US Army units with M-60s and M113s (did anyone still use the M-48 in the 80s?) getting torn apart by units with T-80s and BMP-2s and then the reverse with M1s and Bradleys going up against T-55s and BTR-60s.

[lordroel]

The thread is older than the war i think by bow.

[usnvet]

On the A-5s, the A-5A strike variant was retired in the early 60s, as it had no conventional capability. It was a pure nuclear striker. What remained in service until the early 80s was the RA-5C, a very fast and capable tactical reconnaissance aircraft. The F-8 Crusaders would be useful though, as would the remaining Thuds. The Thud suffered extremely high losses over North Vietnam with half of those built being lost in combat. This was no fault of the aircraft or its pilots, but due to political restrictions put on its use. I doubt those would come into play in this war. Then there’s the F-106, which to this day holds speed and altitude records for a single engine fighter, and was pretty maneuverable on top of that.

[stevep]

Jan 10, 2020 18:56:50 GMT James G said:

169 – Shorter lines of communication


On the western side of Lancashire, British Aerospace had several important facilities located in a cluster down the length of the lower reaches of the River Ribble. The aviation company – privatised six years beforehand – had a major factory in the town of Preston as well as airfields it operated either side at Samlesbury and Warton. These had been targeted by Soviet cruise missile strikes during the war. British Aerospace was working to support the UK war effort and was a legitimate target but to those on the receiving end of their air-launched missiles, especially when an off-target weapon exploded in residential eastern Preston, it felt to them that these attacks were war crimes. Regardless, these sites were hit by the Soviets several because ^a public opinion of those on the ground was hardly going to matter to them. Employees of British Aerospace were joined by military personnel in repairing aircraft here in Lancashire. There were some which had war damage though most of that sort of work was done at RAF airbases. The majority needing repairs had damage and problems brought about by non-combat incidents. Everything was thrown at getting those aircraft back in the skies whether or not they were built by British Aerospace (or its predecessors) in the past.

....


The British, any other member of NATO nor even the Soviets had anything like AMARC. ^b Located in Arizona at Davis–Monthan AFB, there was an immense outdoor storage site for retired aircraft. The dry conditions were perfect for keeping them here without corrosion where they were spread over a massive area. This was America’s inactive air reserve. There was now a lot of activity here. Plenty of these aircraft were still combat capable and could be used in the ongoing war. They needed a refurb before doing so and that was underway. Military personnel and civilian contractors were all across AMARC where they were working getting many aircraft back into either a flyable condition to get themselves out of here or to be taken by road elsewhere to complete the process of seeing them ready to later fly. The range of aircraft which the Americans were looking at putting into temporary wartime service was extensive. There were B-52 bombers. F-4 multi-role fighters were stored at AMARC. A-6 and A-7 attack aircraft were present. In current service were others of the same type though of a different age and condition. What else was stored here in Arizona were aircraft where the complete type had not long ago been retired. A-5 tactical strike aircraft, F-8 naval fighters, F-105 attack-fighters and F-106 interceptors were all going to be being pulled from storage like those others. This was just the combat aircraft: there were supporting aircraft, transports and helicopters too. In addition, not far away at Pinal Airpark there were civilian airliners also stored at a non-military site after being retired by commercial carriers. Some of them too were likewise being accessed by the military for the possibility of using them.

......

   James

    Sounds like the Soviet political leadership is taking its eye off the ball.  At this point they should have kept to their original plans as that is really where the Soviets need to 'win'.  Denying Ogarkov the planned reinforcements for this could cost them if Ogarkov can't win with those older units, albeit that victory still looks pretty certain for them.  [Provided of course that nukes don't get used. ]  One question with so many older aircraft is can both sides find the men and spares to operate and support them?  Have a feeling that the Soviets might have a greater problem here than the US.

  Can't really see BaE repairs, let alone new construction having any significant impact on the conflict in the likely timescale even without Soviet attack but its probably worth the latter for morale purposes and the longer term.

  Think there might be a couple of small typos:

a)  suspect a 'times' missing here.

b)  Should there be something like 'neither' at the start of this sentence?

  Another informative chapter about how big an impact the war is having on the forces involved.

  Steve

[Dan]

I could see it now, in the post war book boom, (ala Gulf War 1 OTL), in amongst the various "my incredible, (and mostly fictional), exploits behind enemy lines" books will be one, probably by Bill Gunston called "Thunder and Lightning" and will detail the recall of retired aircraft back to frontline duty during WWIII.

[James G]

Jan 10, 2020 21:44:35 GMT forcon said:

In relation to the air war update, 80s/90s ers war TLs are interesting because of the variety. You had the modern stuff like F-15s & Su-27s in service, but both sides also used F-4s & MiG-21s and other outdated stuff. We get to see Su-27s against old Phantoms and F-16s against ancient Su-15s; it's an interesting variety.

Same applies to the ground war of course. You can have US Army units with M-60s and M113s (did anyone still use the M-48 in the 80s?) getting torn apart by units with T-80s and BMP-2s and then the reverse with M1s and Bradleys going up against T-55s and BTR-60s.

There will be mixes like that all over the place including at sea. Everything is going to be employed where necessary though because old gear can still function.
Imagine sending T-55s up against M-1A1s. The former lose big time but if there are nearby M-113s with those tanks, and there will be, they can rip them apart.
M-48s were used by many US Army National Guard formations in the time period though there were none in US service in Europe. West German reservists had some and so too did the Greek, Spanish & Turkish armies. The Iranians would have been using some in Iraq as well.

Jan 10, 2020 21:47:41 GMT lordroel said:

The thread is older than the war i think by bow.

The war is in its sixth day now (with the update below) in the story and I've been writing since last decade... so yep!

Jan 10, 2020 23:25:38 GMT usnvet said:

On the A-5s, the A-5A strike variant was retired in the early 60s, as it had no conventional capability. It was a pure nuclear striker. What remained in service until the early 80s was the RA-5C, a very fast and capable tactical reconnaissance aircraft. The F-8 Crusaders would be useful though, as would the remaining Thuds. The Thud suffered extremely high losses over North Vietnam with half of those built being lost in combat. This was no fault of the aircraft or its pilots, but due to political restrictions put on its use. I doubt those would come into play in this war. Then there’s the F-106, which to this day holds speed and altitude records for a single engine fighter, and was pretty maneuverable on top of that.

Ah, damn. I'll edit out the A-5. Thank you for this. My info there was sketchy and I am glad for the correction.
The Crusaders and Thuds look useful even with the forming land-based naval squadrons rather than going on carriers. I'd imagine few political restrictions are being imposed by the US in this war with attacking having been made since early on against the USSR proper.
The F-106 was still flying US air defence missions in 87 if my info is correct. There were some F-15s doing the same and I'd think that maybe some of them could be sent elsewhere with the arrival of additional F-106s.
Something I have always loved about this aircraft: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornfield_Bomber

Jan 11, 2020 11:46:24 GMT stevep said:

   James

    Sounds like the Soviet political leadership is taking its eye off the ball.  At this point they should have kept to their original plans as that is really where the Soviets need to 'win'.  Denying Ogarkov the planned reinforcements for this could cost them if Ogarkov can't win with those older units, albeit that victory still looks pretty certain for them.  [Provided of course that nukes don't get used. ]  One question with so many older aircraft is can both sides find the men and spares to operate and support them?  Have a feeling that the Soviets might have a greater problem here than the US.

  Can't really see BaE repairs, let alone new construction having any significant impact on the conflict in the likely timescale even without Soviet attack but its probably worth the latter for morale purposes and the longer term.

  Think there might be a couple of small typos:

a)  suspect a 'times' missing here.

b)  Should there be something like 'neither' at the start of this sentence?

  Another informative chapter about how big an impact the war is having on the forces involved.

  Steve

They are doing that a bit but the war did spread beyond their control. As long as they are still going forward in Europe though, they are on course for a win there.
There will be retired pilots everywhere - flying commercial airliners before recall. Spares might be a bigger issue. For the Soviets, seeing as they and Eastern European allies still fly the MiG-21 that is less of a problem but still there I guess.
That issue with the British jets will make little difference. Maybe twenty aircraft. It really is all about morale and politics.
Seen the typos and have fixed: thank you.

Jan 11, 2020 13:57:05 GMT Dan said:

I could see it now, in the post war book boom, (ala Gulf War 1 OTL), in amongst the various "my incredible, (and mostly fictional), exploits behind enemy lines" books will be one, probably by Bill Gunston called "Thunder and Lightning" and will detail the recall of retired aircraft back to frontline duty during WWIII.

There will be loads of that! Plenty of Walter Mitty's with some 'great' stories to tell.

[James G]

170 – Inducements to surrender


The KGB had in their custody the only son of the commander of the Dutch forces in the Ems Pocket. A young officer captured in the brief fighting through the Northern Netherlands, the high-value captive was identified for who his father was and taken away. The intention was to use him to induce his father to surrender trapped Dutch forces surrounded along a stretch of the Ems River back over in West Germany. Such things had been done in the preceding days with family members of West German officers by the KGB where they used the threat of direct harm to a loved one to force opponents to do as they wished. That was on a smaller scale and hadn’t face opposition ahead of time like it did with this planned attempt. Stavka got wind of it after Ogarkov clued them in and managed to apply the correct pressure to stop that. It was not the way that the Soviet Army wanted to see things done. There had been other battles with the KGB lost but this one was won. The captive was unfortunately soon ‘shot when trying to escape’ but neither Ogarkov nor Stavka cared for his fate. It wasn’t about that: this was a matter of doing things right. To eliminate the resistance from the Ems Pocket, they used military force instead.

There were Dutch troops there from the Netherlands’ 4th Infantry Division, a reserve brigade and an ad hoc wartime grouping of West German Territorials. They had been trying to break out and the Dutch Government, which the KGB believed was in France now, had even diverted Royal Netherlands Air Force fighter-bombers away from NATO missions to try and assist them. An end was put to that. Through last night and into this morning, Soviet forces with the Second Guards Tank Army left in the rear were used to finish off that resistance. Big guns and rockets pounded those inside relentlessly. Artillery units with low stocks of ammunition left and not enough fuel to make any real manoeuvre towards the main frontlines far away were diverted here. The barrage went on with the artillery units going through their entire stocks until they were silenced. They had tried to hit every square meter of the surrounded area before they had nothing left to fire. None of this was responded to: the Dutch were long out of ammo themselves for their own artillery. Finally, the artillery was silent. A radio message was sent direct to those inside the pocket in (rather poor) Dutch calling on a surrender to occur. A time and place was stated for a meeting to discuss the terms of the surrender which the Dutch would be making. No reply was sought for over the airwaves and an attendance was demanded. Whispering among themselves, several of the Second Guards Tank Army headquarters staff didn’t think the Dutch would give in. They wondered what their commander would do in response. Such an issue never come about though. There were a trio of Dutchmen who turned up when and where they were supposed to on the southern end of the pocket. Within the hour, then thousands of Dutch and West German soldiers near to the flattened town which once had been Rheine started laying down their weapons as they entered custody. These men had a few days before stopped an attacking tank division cold in a fantastic victory… before being outflanked and surrounded by the failures of others elsewhere. Now they were in the custody of their enemy. Their surrender came after being induced to do it, without the actions of Chekists, but by good old-fashioned mass firepower followed by the (empty) threat of more of that.

Around Hamburg, West German forces there would surrender the same morning. The Heer’s 7th Panzergrenadier Brigade along with portions of the 61st Reserve Brigade from the Territorialheer had been fighting for five plus days against all the odds to hold on. They were surrounded in a larger pocket than the one of the Ems with over a million and a half civilians behind them. Being able to hold out had only succeed due Hamburg being bypassed at the start of the war because it was unimportant in a military sense. That thinking had changed from the Soviet point of view. They saw it as somewhere that NATO forces were using as an insertion point for special forces operations (commandos would be parachuted into the Hamburg area, land safety and then move out) as well as somewhere to escape to for others. Transport links around Hamburg connected much of the northern part of West Germany and they too were wanted to be taken due to them being generally intact. Alas, those weren’t the only reasons. Politically, the symbol of resistance from Hamburg was considered by those back in Moscow to be a beacon of hope for West Germany which they wished to extinguish: those military considerations were agreed to but they were thinking of politics.

Instructions were sent to East German reserve units who were near Hannover to direct them northwards. Their 17th Motorised Infantry Division was chosen for this task. An attack begun just before first light with most of the division in the fight over a wide area with only part kept back for exploitation once a breakthrough came: not much of one was expected. That thinking was accurate. The West Germans wouldn’t crack. They were dug-in very well to defend against whatever form of attack came against them. However, they didn’t have much ammunition left. In fighting off this attack, forcing the East Germans to break it off when they got nowhere, the 7th Brigade went through almost the last of their remaining ammo stocks. There was no way that they could beat off another attack like that again. The senior officer, an Oberst who’d done his duty, didn’t want to see anyone else die for what would be a waste of sure to be many more lives. He would contact the East Germans and quickly arrange for his men to lay down their arms. What he wouldn’t discover afterwards – and he wouldn’t want to know – was that the fight that the 17th Division had received had meant that wouldn’t be able to repeat that. There was no sign of weakness when they entered Hamburg though to take the surrender. Seizing the opportunity, those held back units were used to make an impression upon surrendering enemy less there was a refusal to obey their commander’s order. Hamburg’s defenders had given up. All of those civilians in there now faced dealing with an occupation by their ‘fellow Germans’.

Over in the Netherlands’ region of Limburg, there were troops from several NATO nations surrounded here. The British 19th Infantry Brigade, American national guardsmen with the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment and Belgians from their Para–Commando Regiment were trapped alongside with a scattering of lightly-armed Dutch reservists & military police. Small portions of Belgium to the west and West Germany on the eastern side were also held by these defenders while all around them was the Soviet Army. The latter’s attention as currently on their advances through Belgium and the Rhineland but those trapped in Limburg knew that would soon be directed towards them. They were shortening their lines and digging-in, waiting for the fight sure to come to them to bring an end to their resistance here in the enemy’s rear. Everywhere was being fortified. The British brigadier was the senior officer among his peers (based upon length of service) and he took overall command of those defences. There was a sharing out of ammunition in a few cases though more cooperation was sought in building an effective defensive plan where they could all fight together. Efforts were made to keep morale up among all of those trapped here. No outright lies were told about hypothetical relief efforts coming their way from advancing NATO armies… but anyone who wanted to believe that wasn’t dissuaded of such a notion. In private though, when meeting with the colonels leading the American and Belgian contingents, plus the Dutch Luitenant-Kolonel with his NATRES & Gendarmerie units, there was an understanding that it wouldn’t be long that they could hold out against a real attack. Supplies of ammunition, fuel and medical stocks were almost out. There were civilians everywhere – many West Germans among the Dutch too – as well. No surrender would be made though until either there was no longer any ability to properly resist or among those civilians the casualties being sustained due to fighting became too many to ignore.

Back over in West Germany and down in the Ruhr, there was the recently surrounded pocket too. Belgian, British and West German troops were surrounded on the wrong side of the Rhine. For the Belgians, this was the last of their regular forces (excluding those in Limburg) who were cut-off with no hope of relief; the remaining parts of the pre-war British Army of the Rhine was in the Ruhr Pocket too. There were many West Germans with them, including a Heer panzer brigade, though the majority of their men were non-combat soldiers now fighting as riflemen. The Twentieth Army attacked them this morning. Up until yesterday, this had been the Twentieth Guards Army. On Stavka orders, that honorific had been stripped from the field army’s name along with those divisions and regiments below. The poor showing from components of the Twentieth Army – not the whole force – had caused this. They had only advanced this far through West Germany due to NATO withdrawals following an initial disaster where they had been near stopped cold on the Inner-German Border. If NATO had been in a better shape overall, the Twentieth Army could have been easily chased back into East Germany. With a new command staff and morale meant to have been improved by the stripping away of prestigious titles, the Twentieth Army was supposed to redeem itself and win here. A full attack was made against the northern and eastern sides of the pocket. This fell heavily upon the British and West Germans. Efforts to pin the Belgians in-place to the south failed though and they were able to provide some relief. There was still much territory lost and lives taken among the defenders though. They went through significant amounts of their remaining stocks of ammunition. Radio messages were broadcast afterwards into the Ruhr Pocket demanding a surrender. Good treatment was promised for POWs as an inducement to surrender. In response, several batteries of Belgian M-110 heavy guns fired 203mm high-explosive shells towards the broadcasting antenna when they were identified to silence them. Perhaps that ammunition could have been saved for a better task… but it felt good at the time. The defiance was something yet it only hid the reality. Another big attack, supported by air cover, would see the Ruhr Pocket break. Unless something completely unexpected happened, there would have to be a laying down of arms tomorrow in the face of another big attack. Heart the defenders had, supplies to carry on they did not.

[hussar01]

something like? Nukes?

[stevep]

Jan 11, 2020 22:03:50 GMT hussar01 said:

something like? Nukes?

  That's about the only possibility outside ASB intervention.  Mind you by this stage the likely Soviet response would probably be to nuke the pocket and other areas.  Especially if your talking about someone in the pocket using tactical nukes without higher approval.  At this stage even 2nd level political use, i.e. a warning shot against a military target in the USSR coupled with a demand for a ceasefire and Soviet withdrawal is very likely to fail.