Red Stars over the Rhine

[stevep]

  James G ,

  If accurate I'm surprised that the Soviets have already attacked W Berlin as that's a clear sign that they intend war.  Unless their planning on winning and then dictating the propaganda war.  Hoping that NATO will counter attack by say air missions against the gathering attack forces and claim that as an excuse for their invasion.

  Steve

[James G]

Dec 8, 2020 21:43:37 GMT forcon said:

Nice work.

Pop is going to be on the list of NATO kill/capture (almost certainly the former, via airpower) targets. But he won't be that high up though - there are, as you say, eight different air armies with their own commanders.

I do recall the mentioning in another story (maybe Night Witches or TLW?) NATO having its own network in East Germany of resistance fighters that could be activated in wartime with assistance from SAD and the 10th SFG. If something like this existed in Poland or Czechoslovakia, Popov will want to watch his back. Keeping his eyes open for a prowling F-117 would also be wise, if a little futile!

NATO will want to hit commanders like him for certain. His headquarters be on the target list... though only if it is located.
I'm not sure about that. It's nothing something I can recall and, if it was, I'm sure by now there would have been revelations of it from out of Eastern Europe.
Looking out for F-117s? Ha! They'll never see them. Popov will be best off being on the move once the balloon goes up.

[James G]

Dec 9, 2020 16:08:10 GMT stevep said:

  James G ,

  If accurate I'm surprised that the Soviets have already attacked W Berlin as that's a clear sign that they intend war.  Unless their planning on winning and then dictating the propaganda war.  Hoping that NATO will counter attack by say air missions against the gathering attack forces and claim that as an excuse for their invasion.

  Steve

There is a lot of things going on including, what has started this, an undeclared war in the Cuba region with US and Soviet forces engaging each other.
West Berlin for Cuba was always the NATO fear in earlier years of the Cold War. There is a Kremlin war strategy here but it isn't one I am covering in depth. I am thinking that political leaders in the West are doing everything to avoid full-scale war. Some will say we'll have to negotiate about West Berlin - infuriating many seeing as blood would have been spilt - and this will delay things.
Interesting idea there about NATO striking out ahead of the WarPac attack. Spanner in the works there that would be!

[James G]

Six


Lylunin arrives in Slovakia. The First Deputy tells his commander that his own subordinate, the Second Deputy for the Twenty–Fourth Air Army, was arrested by the KGB right before Lylunin departed from Vinnitsa. Popov asks on what charges was the man taken into custody but Lylunin doesn’t know. Momentary rage flashes in Popov. He has idle dreams of attacking Vavilin. Yet, of course, he is too sensible for that. Nothing can be done. The Chekists will do what they want and that is the way of things. Popov would have more luck trying to stop the sun coming up tomorrow morning that going up against the KGB. Talking of first light tomorrow…

In the command bunker underneath Malacky Airbase, Popov is given an urgent briefing by Sozonov soon after Lylunin reaches the air army’s forward headquarters. The GRU has updated information concerning the defences of selective first priority targets to be struck at by the Twenty–Fourth Air Army once tomorrow comes. Popov wants to ask where this has come from but, once again, holds himself in check with that. He tells himself that he will get nowhere and it is unlikely that the GRU would have faulty intelligence. Three of the enemy installations west of the Iron Curtain to be hit in the first moments of war are seeing defences arrayed near to them to guard against attack. The Americans are rapidly deploying their newest air defence missile system, the Patriot, to protect Campbell Barracks, Husterhoeh Kaserne & Taylor Barracks. Sozonov says that batteries from the Patriot training centre across the ocean in New Mexico are being airlifted into West Germany – ahead of troops it seems – to join other batteries already in Europe. Guarding what they regard as key sites, the US Army are deploying these missile units right where Popov is soon to be sending his strikes.

Campbell Barracks is in Heidelberg, a West German city between Frankfurt and Stuttgart. It is not only the headquarters of the US Army Europe but also NATO’s Central Army Group and Fourth Tactical Air Force too. Popov expects that by the time the attack comes, the commanders and their senior staffs will be missing from Campbell Barracks (deploying to mobile headquarters) yet significant activity will still be underway. There will be rear-area staff for these headquarters in Heidelberg as well as other, non-command units at the military base. Husterhoeh Kaserne is much further to the west, over on the other side of the Rhine. Another former Nazi-era military garrison now in American hands, this is a major munitions storage site as well as a storage & staging base for US Army troops flying into Europe. There are chemical weapons below ground there near to the small city of Pirmasens along with conventional weapons. It is also a POMCUS site where a full combat brigade of the US Army has everything it will need to fight once the troops are flown in sitting in warehouses. In Mannheim, back this side of the Rhine and not far from Heidelberg is Taylor Barracks. This facility is home to a wide range of combat support elements for the US Army Europe including many of its tank transporter vehicle units. REFORGER plans which the GRU has seen say that many incoming soldiers will be arriving at Taylor Barracks.

This trio of targets inside NATO’s rear areas, back from the frontlines where other air armies will be operating, are far from the only ones soon to be struck at when Popov takes the Twenty–Fourth Air Army to war. There will be other American military sites and ones also used by the Canadians, the French and the West Germans themselves all throughout the southern half of the latter’s nation. Moreover, there are to be strikes made as part of the opening attack over into France itself too which the Twenty–Fourth Air Army will undertake. Missile defences, to say nothing of NATO fighters, are elsewhere too. However, this intelligence information from Sozonov is important. For the Americans to be air-lifting in air defence units like these to such sites as where they have spotted shows that they aren’t sitting on their hands. Popov’s Intelligence Officer briefs him on the Patriot. This is something new and still very much in development by the Americans. Starting out as a long-range strategic anti-aircraft platform, the US Army has been expanding the system into an anti-missile one too. There are likely to be civilian contractors who have come from New Mexico, Popov is told, on those flights so as to operate the complicated radar systems which the Patriot has to operate in the anti-missile role. Can they stop what is coming their way, Popov asks. His Operations Officer confidentially declares that the Patriot’s supposed anti-missile capabilities are an American maskirovka. A useful anti-aircraft system, he says, though inferior to platforms operated by the Soviet Army with a similar role… and not at all something that can engage either short-range ballistic missiles nor air-launched supersonic cruise missiles either. The Intelligence Officer and Sozonov both disagree with such remarks. The Patriot is rather adept they say and that is why its deployment elsewhere throughout West Germany before this most recent deployment has been factored into the war plans of the Twenty–Fourth Air Army.

Popov sides with the two of them. He instructs Lylunin to oversee preparations made by the Twenty–Fourth Air Army to deal with this new line of defences which they will face. He says this openly so everyone can hear: he wants the Operations Officer to understand that this dismissive attitude of his will not do. Colonel Lisakovich is too confident and Popov believes that he also needs a lesson in who is in-charge here. Since the former air army commander was dismissed and the inadequate Lazarenko was left in command ahead of Popov arriving, Lisakovich had gotten a bit too big for his boots. Cutting him down to size, having the dependable Lylunin on his back, was the best thing for that. The two of them didn’t get on but the Operations Officer would have to do as ordered with the First Deputy over his shoulder.

Not here to manage a comradely group of equals, Popov had his particular way of command and this was it. All that matters is that the Twenty–Fourth Air Army does its job regardless of a few officers upset feelings. Anything else is immaterial.

[stevep]

Dec 11, 2020 19:10:00 GMT James G said:

Dec 9, 2020 16:08:10 GMT stevep said:

  James G ,

  If accurate I'm surprised that the Soviets have already attacked W Berlin as that's a clear sign that they intend war.  Unless their planning on winning and then dictating the propaganda war.  Hoping that NATO will counter attack by say air missions against the gathering attack forces and claim that as an excuse for their invasion.

  Steve

There is a lot of things going on including, what has started this, an undeclared war in the Cuba region with US and Soviet forces engaging each other.
West Berlin for Cuba was always the NATO fear in earlier years of the Cold War. There is a Kremlin war strategy here but it isn't one I am covering in depth. I am thinking that political leaders in the West are doing everything to avoid full-scale war. Some will say we'll have to negotiate about West Berlin - infuriating many seeing as blood would have been spilt - and this will delay things.
Interesting idea there about NATO striking out ahead of the WarPac attack. Spanner in the works there that would be!

  James G,

  Yes there is an undeclared war in and around Cuba and its unclear how much responsibility either/both sides have for starting it.  However that could be seen very much as a proxy war.  Attacking W Berlin means attacking 3-4 depending on how you count them, NATO powers and should bring them up to full war footing.  That's why, especially since NATO obviously will have some intel about the massive Soviet build-up that they should be more ready for war than in most cases.  True there will be some ostriches still arguing war can be avoided by negotiation but even if there are no western agents in a suitable position in the Soviet political or military hierarchy it should be clear to all but the most desperate that war is coming.  However if the NATO commanders have any sense they will be doing everything they can to at least weather the 1st Soviet strike and try and hit forces involved hard. 

  Looking out for F-117s? Ha! They'll never see them. Popov will be best off being on the move once the balloon goes up. 

  Well unless its wet.  Wasn't there a famous case when they sent a stealth a/c over to the Farnborough airshow a few years back and it showed up quite clearing in rain?  One of the problems of doing a lot of your testing in desert areas like the SW US. 

and it is unlikely that the GRU would have faulty intelligence

  Well that's something he would have to say but he may be right.  Suspect he's correct to disagree with his subordinate about the Patriots.  Their probably not as good as the US thinks/hopes but a good bit better than what the Soviet want to believe.  They will probably struggle to intercept ballistic and even more so cruise missiles in a very crowded air space even without a lot of jamming occurring.  Best bet if to hit the a/c before they launch missiles although that could well mean firing long ranged missiles against them from very close to the front line.

  Steve

[James G]

Dec 12, 2020 11:22:45 GMT stevep said:

Dec 11, 2020 19:10:00 GMT James G said:

There is a lot of things going on including, what has started this, an undeclared war in the Cuba region with US and Soviet forces engaging each other.
West Berlin for Cuba was always the NATO fear in earlier years of the Cold War. There is a Kremlin war strategy here but it isn't one I am covering in depth. I am thinking that political leaders in the West are doing everything to avoid full-scale war. Some will say we'll have to negotiate about West Berlin - infuriating many seeing as blood would have been spilt - and this will delay things.
Interesting idea there about NATO striking out ahead of the WarPac attack. Spanner in the works there that would be!

  James G ,

  Yes there is an undeclared war in and around Cuba and its unclear how much responsibility either/both sides have for starting it.  However that could be seen very much as a proxy war.  Attacking W Berlin means attacking 3-4 depending on how you count them, NATO powers and should bring them up to full war footing.  That's why, especially since NATO obviously will have some intel about the massive Soviet build-up that they should be more ready for war than in most cases.  True there will be some ostriches still arguing war can be avoided by negotiation but even if there are no western agents in a suitable position in the Soviet political or military hierarchy it should be clear to all but the most desperate that war is coming.  However if the NATO commanders have any sense they will be doing everything they can to at least weather the 1st Soviet strike and try and hit forces involved hard. 

  Looking out for F-117s? Ha! They'll never see them. Popov will be best off being on the move once the balloon goes up. 

  Well unless its wet.  Wasn't there a famous case when they sent a stealth a/c over to the Farnborough airshow a few years back and it showed up quite clearing in rain?  One of the problems of doing a lot of your testing in desert areas like the SW US. 

and it is unlikely that the GRU would have faulty intelligence

  Well that's something he would have to say but he may be right.  Suspect he's correct to disagree with his subordinate about the Patriots.  Their probably not as good as the US thinks/hopes but a good bit better than what the Soviet want to believe.  They will probably struggle to intercept ballistic and even more so cruise missiles in a very crowded air space even without a lot of jamming occurring.  Best bet if to hit the a/c before they launch missiles although that could well mean firing long ranged missiles against them from very close to the front line.

  Steve

NATO is mobilising, yes. There are those missiles and gonna sure be much more. The Soviets have the lead but it isn't one sided. Taking West Berlin certainly means war and only a few fools in the West would believe otherwise.
I remember something years ago about a F-117 sighted by a Rapier unit. Maybe it was the same story.
The Patriots in 1988 would have more luck with aircraft than missiles: it'll be air-launched cruise missiles which the 24AA will be launching west. For the first strikes, it will be Badgers & Blinders firing Kelts and Kitchens (naval missiles which had a land-attack capability) from inside WarPac territory. However, the huge Su-24 Fencer force with the 24AA going west will come into the target range of Patriots (plus others) and that is a big concern here.

[James G]

Seven


Once evening came, Popov had a light meal. He ate in his makeshift office in the below ground bunker rather than go up to where the officer’s canteen was. He needed peace and quiet, and one of his aides made sure that he got that whilst he filled his stomach. Then, Popov took a nap. Babaev would make sure that he wouldn’t be disturbed while he closed his eyes for two hours. The chief-of-staff had his finger in the face of the major serving as Popov’s aide so he understood that no one but he would disturb the commander of the Twenty–Fourth Air Army. Popov needed the shut-eye. He had no idea when he would get any more sleep, not tonight nor tomorrow. Worried about being unable to sleep, he nonetheless at once drifted off. It felt like only a moment of darkness had come to pass before Babaev shook him back awake. He used the toilet and splashed ice cold water on his face before returning to the command centre. At once his mood darkened.

Up in Poland, there had been a rail crash. One of the freight trains in military service shuttling supplies, munitions especially, from over in the Ukraine towards the deployment base for his 831st Fighter Regiment had derailed. That regiment, with his long-range strike escort Su-27s, had weapons on-hand but the extra missiles and bombs (they had a limited ground attack capability) were still needed: what they had would be quickly used up! The train had come off the tracks a dozen or so miles from the airbase at Deblin. Popov was told that there had been no fire nor explosions reported, but the cargo carried was going nowhere by rail for the time being. Vavilin was speaking of sabotage and punishment for dereliction of duty. The two were the same thing to him. The Poles were to fault, the KGB man said. What exactly had happened there, no one could really be sure as this was recent and in an isolated area. Popov left Vavilin to it. He cared not for the fate of some Poles who might end up shot all because of an accident. The cargo which that train had was important. Moreover, the rail link to Deblin was now blocked. He had another regiment, the reinforcements with the 39th Reconnaissance Regiment, arriving there tomorrow. This was going to be a massive headache. It was one for his Supply Officer to sort out. That man was already on the task but Popov instructed his First Deputy Lylunin to assist in that.

Atop of that accident, there was another one here at Malacky Airbase in Slovakia. Sukhoi-24Ms from one of his many bomber regiments were now calling this facility home and one of them crashed upon arrival not long after Popov found out about the Polish rail crash. The two-crewed aircraft was coming into land but the pilot must have made some sort of error. He skidded off the runway and onto the grass as the landing gear collapsed. As was the case in Poland, there was no fire nor explosion. Both aircrew were to walk away from their aircraft, one which looked likely to be a write-off. There were still casualties though. Right out there on the grass just off the runway itself, a patrol of security troopers were plodding about where they shouldn’t have been. Three of them were killed and another trio wounded. Colonel Morozov, the Twenty–Fourth Air Army’s Security Officer, would provide no decent explanation for what those men were doing there. Their job was base security but it appeared that if they were that close, they must have been entertaining themselves watching jets land. Popov told Morozov to find out who was responsible for that party of men being there, neglecting their other duties, and bring that man to him. Whichever officer it was, Popov intended to strip him of his rank, make him a private soldier and have him assigned to a penal unit!

The loss of that Su-24 here at Malacky added to the growing accident report. Another one of those aircraft had crashed taking off from Starokostyantyniv Airbase while a third had an in-flight emergency leaving the same base and made a hard landing at Cherlyany Airbase. Two MiG-23s – one lost mid-flight and the other putting down without landing gear at a forward base inside Czechia – were further casualties. Five aircraft were out of action before the war began. Not all of the Twenty–Fourth Air Army had yet to get into place so Popov expected a few more losses too, especially during night-time flying. Before seeing war, his command was suffering from such attrition. He asked Colonel Lisakovich for a readiness report when it came to how many aircraft were going to be able to fly come first light tomorrow. The Operations Officer provided a list of figures. Each flying regiment assigned to the Twenty–Fourth Air Army had a number of aircraft which the unit commander stated would be available for combat operations once the shooting started. Popov looked at the figures from certain regiments with disgust. He also cast a suspicious gaze at some of the other numbers, the high ones. One particular regiment, 947th Bomber Regiment, apparently had every single aircraft capable of flight operations. They had moved from Dubno Airbase over to Silac here in Slovakia. All forty Su-24Ms were ready, their commander said. No maintenance issues, no problems during the deployment. On the face of it, that was excellent news. Part of Popov wondered why no other commander could achieve the same thing. But he doubted the truth of the matter. The perfection was too much to believe. Waiting until Vavilin was distracted, he whispered to Babaev to check on this matter. He needed to know whether he was being lied to by an untrustworthy subordinate. If he was, then there would be hell to pay.

The evening turned to night. It was the last day of peace, Popov knew. The countdown to full conflict was in full swing. His mind wandered a bit as he pondered over all that must be going on elsewhere. Cuba, West Berlin and on the other side of the Iron Curtain. NATO must be mobilising like crazy by now, flying in their own jets to forward positions. He knew that his side had the edge there though due to earlier mobilisation. Morozov brought to him the junior officer who was responsible for the actions of those men who were killed here earlier. Popov found the excuses of the senior lieutenant lacking and so exercised his power. No longer an officer, that man was the private which Popov said he was. There were already penal units forming up with Babaev supervising the collections of miscreants to be punished. They would be on latrine digging duty and undertake tasks like that for the time being. This man would join them. Soon enough, Popov knew that he would have penal units doing dangerous work: clearing bomb damage and neutralising mines laid by enemy counter-strikes. Night then came and it was next June 23rd.

A few minutes after midnight, his Communications Officer rushed over. There was an URGENT message for Popov.

[James G]

Eight


American-led imperialist aggression has moved to the newest, deadliest stage. They are attacking peaceful socialist countries.

Popov reads this short introduction to the urgent message he as commander of the Twenty–Fourth Air Army is sent down the command chain from the First German Front. United States aircraft are bombing targets in East Germany in light of the earlier successful seizure of West Berlin. The air attacks started at midnight, Popov is informed, and there is a reported good chance that they will be expanded further away from that country into others as well as involving the military forces of other NATO countries. However, thankfully, Soviet and WarPac forces are ready to respond to this latest act by the war-hungry maniac in Washington. Popov is to continue with the plan and launch the planned series of ‘counter-strikes’ come first light. His momentarily expectation when reading the incoming message had been that he would be ordered to throw the schedule out of the window and attack earlier. His operations team have a plan for that but it isn’t one which he favours. Things will be different with other commands, those forward based in East Germany, Czechia & elsewhere, but for the Twenty–Fourth Air Army, the timetable remains the same.

The end of the message tells Popov to do everything to ensure the safety of his command. His forces are to be protected from enemy action should their bombing campaign spread from East Germany to the south of Poland and throughout portions of Czechoslovakia where he has the Twenty–Fourth Air Army. There already is protection. Popov has air defence units of his own and his security team is co-ordinating efforts with the Czechoslovaks and Poles. Should the Americans start bombing the Twenty–Fourth Air Army as it readies itself, there will also be fighters in the sky too. None of those are from Popov’s own units though. His two regiments of MiG-23s and single one of Sukhoi-27s are to be kept back for strike escort. Part of him wants to send his jets up yet he also wants to keep them on the ground ready to go into action on schedule. Of course, obeying his orders matters more than any of his own wishes. The commander of the First German Front – someone whom he hasn’t met – has told him to keep them in the hardened aircraft shelters and camouflaged in their revetments until they are to go west. There are dedicated fighter units, ones linked into the overall air defence network, which will be flying. Colonel Lylunin, reading his mind somewhat, remarks to him that should their own fighters go up, there is a risk that they would be shot down by their own side… well, the Eastern Europeans anyway. Popov agrees with the First Deputy on that, wholeheartedly.

The hours get later. There are yawns in the command centre among the senior staff. Popov sees one man yawn and, naturally, he cannot help but do the same. Colonel Babaev orders up some strong coffee for everyone and also passes out cigarettes. Caffeine and nicotine is what Popov needs. It helps him keep his eyes open. He is having a smoke provided by his ever-dependable Chief-of-Staff when the news arrives that those American air attacks have reached beyond East Germany. The 230th Bomber Aviation Regiment (Sukhoi-24s) is at Pardubice alongside MiG-23s with the 168th Fighter Aviation Regiment. The two regimental commanders report that Pardubice has been attacked from above. The Czechoslovaks have launched their SAMs and the missilemen carrying man-portable launchers on the ground under Soviet Air Force command have done the same. No confirmed enemy kills have been made though and explosions have rocked the airbase in Moravia. Popov asks for detail on any casualties to his own forces. Pardubice is a big facility though not large enough to ensure that all of his aircraft there are in shelters: he is worried about those outside of the concrete domes. He is told that none of the jets there have been hit. The Americans have bombed the runways, taxiways and facilities as well as killing plenty of those on the ground. The MiG-23s and Su-24s have apparently escaped.

Colonel Lisakovich, Popov’s Operations Officer, expresses concern that maybe some damage is unseen in the darkness and Popov agrees. They’ve had a lucky break though. That doesn’t seem to be the case elsewhere. Though not with any accurate information, it seems that there have been air strikes at other sites. The Thirty–Sixth Air Army – Czechoslovak units included – would have surely been hit harder than his own forces at Pardubice have been. A further report from Pardubice an hour later tells Popov what he and Lisakovich were concerned about is correct. Detailed checks of aircraft parked out in those hastily-constructed revetments have found damage to a trio of the fighters there. The 168th Regiment has both the MiG-23ML & -23MLD version of the versatile fighter and one of the former as well as two of the latter will not be flying come first light. They can be repaired, the regimental commander says but not in time. Popov expected worse.

The time comes for the Twenty–Fourth Air Army to start getting aircraft up. It is still the early hours of June 23rd 1988 with dawn some time off. However, taking off from their home bases back in Belarus and the Ukraine are those big bombers attached to Popov’s command. Long-Range Aviation are keeping their best, greater-ranging aircraft out of action for ‘national strategic purposes’ but he has that division of other aircraft. There are two regiments of Tupolev-16s and one of Tu-22s. Into the skies they go, carrying big cruise missiles. They will launch when further westwards. Incoming reports tell him that a few aircraft didn’t get up due to technical issues but the vast majority are. They are soon in Polish skies and heading towards their launch points. The moment now comes for his forward-based aircraft to start flying. From out of the Malacky Airbase bunker, Popov gives the word for Lisakovich to give the order down the command chain. Acknowledgements from divisional & regimental commanders come in fast. They were all prepared, waiting for the go signal. Up into the sky goes the Twenty–Fourth Air Army.

To war Popov sends them.

[James G]

Nine


Popov receives the first firing reports quickly. The commander of the 15th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, that Long-Range Aviation unit attached to the Twenty–Fourth Air Army for wartime operations, relays information to him at Malacky Airbase. The regiment of twenty Tupolev-22 bombers got eighteen aircraft off the ground at their Belarus airbase with fifteen of them making successful launches of a lone cruise missile each. Those are Kh-22s – what Popov is told NATO calls the ‘Kitchen’ – which flashed across the lightening sky at several times the speed of sound. Their targets were enemy radar sites with the Kh-22s carrying their own anti-radiation warhead to allow them to home-in upon high priority NATO air defence installations. The two regiments of older Tu-16s, also in the raketonosets – missile-carrying – role, launched a pair of cruise missiles each: a mix of KSR-2s and KSR-5s (Kelts and Kingfishes). Three of those aircraft didn’t get airborne and a total of seventy-one firings were made. No information comes to Popov on whether the strikes were as successful as planned. The second wave of missiles, big and fast weapons, were meant to hit more air defences sites across in West Germany with the launching aircraft returning back to the Ukraine without having seen the enemy. He looks at the figures provided by the 15th Guards Division and is unimpressed at what he sees. A quarter of the planned war-load wasn’t shot off! Five of their sixty aircraft didn’t get off the ground and then there were all those failures to get off their missiles. There is no doubt in him that this opening strike by a Twenty–Fourth Air Army hasn’t opened up huge holes in NATO air defences… but he worries now about how effective that damage done has been. Relieving the divisional commander of his duties is an urge he has but that would be difficult and time-consuming due to the coveted, semi-independent status of Long-Range Aviation. His mind turns to more pressing concerns: the rest of his command as they go into action.

Being back in the rear, Popov cannot see how things are going directly as his aircraft cross into NATO airspace. He would like to be right at the front, in one of the attacking aircraft. Of course, that wouldn’t be practical. Being there would give only an illusion of knowing what is going on too. Popov’s flying days are over and he has a command consisting of hundreds of aircraft to lead. For the opening attack, just as his orders from on-high run, Popov throws the majority of his available aircraft forward. He keeps some back and plans to have a fast turnaround with those on the first mission – while the second wave is out – yet it is still a massive attack made. His aircraft go west alongside those of other commands too with the Fourteen & Thirty–Sixth Air Army’s also being up. They have their jets making attacks closer to the frontlines and more tactical-focused: his go further. Popov receives reports from regimental and divisional commanders who have sent their aircraft deep into the enemy’s rear. This includes those who have gone towards targets on the other side of the Rhine as well.

The Sukhoi-24 & -24M bombers with six regiments flew west. Most of two regiments of MiG-23s and one whole regiment of Su-27s went with them for fighter support. A regiment of Yak-28PP electronic jammers flew with them too. Popov starts to receive progress reports delivered through his Operations Officer. Colonel Lisakovich does his best to see that what Popov hears is accurate and as less fragmentary as possible. While understanding this, Popov still pushes him. He is eager to know all that he can. Colonels Lylunin and Babaev (the First Deputy and Chief-of-Staff) aid Lisakovich in trying to sort through all that is coming into Malacky so that their commander can form a correct picture of the situation. A voice inside Popov’s mind keeps urging him to step back but another one, a louder one, demands that he should know everything. Other commanders would do things their own way yet this is how he is going to lead the Twenty–Fourth Air Army.


Su-24Ms with the 947th Bomber Aviation Regiment, covered by one of the squadrons of MiG-23s, report successful attacks on Canadian & Luftwaffe airbases in Baden-Wurttemberg. They’ve hit a few other NATO facilities near to those priority sites too yet focused on the airbases at Baden-Sollingen, Bremgarten and Lahr. There are both fighters and bombers which have been downed though the regimental commander reports that the fighters managed to keep enemy aircraft – French fighters he believes – mostly at bay. As to the air defences, they were very limited in their effectiveness following that cruise missile attack. The 7th Regiment, once more with Su-24Ms, were active in the same general area though went over the Rhine past Baden-Wurttemberg into France along with a squadron of the Su-27s. Those latter aircraft tangled with more French fighters while the former struck at French Army units in Alsace moving towards the bridges over the Rhine. Convoys of armoured vehicles were found where they were expected to be at identified choke points and also near the bridges which the 7th Regiment has struck at too.

That important US military headquarters complex in Heidelberg defended by recently-arrived Patriot SAMs is where the 953rd Regiment has flown with their Su-24s, a squadron of the MiG-23 and with several of the Yak-28s too. The strike has gone after other targets nearby – around Heilbronn and Mannheim – but Campbell Barracks has been the focus. Two of those Kh-22s then half a dozen KSR-5s were all shot towards the Patriot’s reported location plus an identified alternate site for the system. Initial reports coming back aren’t promising at all with the 953rd Regiment. There is better news for Popov with the 230th Regiment. Covered by MiG-23s, the Su-24Ms struck at several Luftwaffe bases in Bavaria. A smile comes to the Popov as he imagines hated Germans being blown up on the ground at Furstenfeldbruck, Lechfeld and Memmingen. The 230th Regiment reports much destruction to their assigned targets there in Bavaria. At Memmingen, Popov is told that many Luftwaffe Tornado IDS strike-bombers were out of their protected shelters when his Su-24Ms arrived overhead dropping bombs.

American airbases in the southern reaches of the Rhineland, those at Bitburg, Hahn, Ramstein & Spangdahlem, as well as the West Germans at Buchel, have been targeted by the 314th and 727th Guards Regiments. Two squadrons of the Su-27s went with all of those Su-24Ms to attack those airbases on the far side of the Rhine. Popov is told that the Americans have put up quite the fight in the air as well as from their ground-based defences. His bombers used stand-off short-range missiles to make their attacks and the fighters came in behind air sweeps made by Fourteenth Air Army fighters. There were meant to have been actions undertaken by Spetsnaz units and strikes by tactical ballistic missiles – none under his control – ahead of the Twenty–Fourth Air Army going after these targets. Whether those have had the desired effect doesn’t look likely from what he hears coming back from his regimental commands. The 831st Fighter Aviation Regiment appears to have come off worse from it all. Popov was certain that faced with his Su-27s, the Americans would be knocked out of the sky yet it doesn’t look that way.

These reports come post-strike, while the aircraft he sent westwards are heading back east. Some numbers are available with regard to losses but it is only partial information. Popov waits to find out his losses. He expects not to hear anything that will please him. In the meantime, he oversees his command staff as they get ready to send out the second, smaller strike by the Twenty–Fourth Air Army. He has that reinforcing division of more tactical bombers yet to see action with another three regiments of Su-24s & -24Ms. There are some more MiG-23s for escort and the task will be to hit American and West German military bases in Bavaria where their armies are rolling out of towards the frontier with Czechoslovakia. Popov expects successes here with these air attacks. Until he is told not to, or he has not a single aircraft to use, Popov will keep the Twenty–Fourth Air Army at war.