SF2 Series After Action Reports

[+ST0RM]

Enduring Freedom: Armed Recon

 

Banshee 11/12

F/A-18F VFA-213

2xAIM-9X, 2xAux Tanks, 2xGBU-38, 1xGBU-12D

 

We were scheduled for the first go of the day, patrolling the area just north of Kabul. Having no direct tasking, our mixed armament allowed us to deal with nearly any ground target we may encounter. Takeoff was normal and we proceeded north.

 

Our mission required some long on-station time, so a tanker was tasked to top us off.

Python 37

 

"Banshee 11, left observation, nose cold, switches safe"

 

"Cleared astern"

 

"Contact, fuel flowing"

 

We thank the tanker crew as the boom operator snaps some pics of us on the wing. After we bid them farewell, the four of us continue north to our working area.

 

Prior to our arrival, Pyramid Control alerts us of a Troops in Contact (TIC) in a valley to our north/west. From what we hear, the Taliban is using an old BTR-60 to pin down an infantry patrol.

 

After I make a high pass to confirm friendly lines, I clear my wingman to drop on the BTR. They select a single GBU-12D and release from 5 miles out.

 

Their drop is a success and allows us to target a group of Taliban that escaped the initial strike. Working with my WSO, we lock the western group of troops and release a single GBU-38 JDAM.

 

Coming off target high and to the East, we pop defensive flares to fool any IR SAMs that have been reported in the area.

 

Both strikes are successful and forces the remaining enemy to flee toward the mountains. We provide over-watch as our #2 rolls in to strafe.

 

As we regroup, Banshee 12 reports their jet has an engine oil pressure light illuminated. Purely as a precaution, we elect to divert to Kandahar. Here is the picture the Transient Alert guys took of us as we pulled into parking. Amazing to see some derelict An-12s still dotting the ramp.

[+daddyairplanes]

cool AAR Storm but the Cubs at KAF are chopped in a field to the side. the IL-76s though, while looking derelict do take off!

[Slartibartfast]

cool AAR Storm but the Cubs at KAF are chopped in a field to the side. the IL-76s though, while looking derelict do take off!

Love that do take off I presume that the IL-76's land successfully...

[+daddyairplanes]

like most russian equipment i've ever seen.... damn rough but it works

[dast24]

Letter´s of a German Mig-29 Pilot from the Front in Dhimar:

 

Dear Dad,

 

i´ve recieved your letter, but the cookies from mom are FUBAR.

Nice to hear that everything is fine at home.

 

today was a really hard and busy day in the "Office".

 

The Tornado Squadrons and Dhimar Attack Squadrons were tasked with Strikes on other targets,

Lt. Ambs and I were tasked to Destroy a Oil Tank near ******.

 

Our CO decided a 2 ship Formation is enough, so I and Lt Ambs were the only ones from JG73 in the Air for this Mission.

 

After take off we headed ***** to ****** and leave the Radar switch on Standby. The flight was really un-eventful for us, except of the radio chatter.Sounds like Paran decided to throw everthing that flies in the Air to Intercept our strike packages. 17km away from the target GCI of the Airfield ******* called out "bandits". This Bandits were on a Attack-Run on exactly that Airfield. These guys were only 8km ahead of us and coming from our left to our right. So we decided to help out. We turned into a lag pursuit and come out of it directly behind the bandits. we switched to our helmet mounted sight and shot 4 Su-20´s down. unfortunatly 2 of them were able to release there bomb load and destroyed one M163 and damaged the end of the runway. for this last 2 Su-20 we were to close for missiles but i get lucky and was able to gun them down with short bursts. Lt. Ambs and i were really happy about the easy Turkey shoot, but we´ve forgot the fighter escort.

 

Our RWR began to do alot of that annoying "beeping" that announces a missile launch.

We dropped Counter Measures turned 180degrees switch the radars to TWS mode locked up our targets and fired R-27´s

The R27 from Lt. Ambs went dumb and hit the ground. So he tried it again and the missile went dumb again. My R-27 hits the designated target and the Mig-23 gets vaporized. i fired my last R-27 and destroyed another Flogger. we dropped our fueltanks and seconds later we merged with them. the dogfight with the remaining 10! Mig-23 was a really hard one but our HMD and our training gave us a huge advantage. I shoot down another 2 Mig´s with the Archer Missiles so no missiles left.

on my Red Diva.

 

i got in gun position behind another Flogger. Lt Ambs told me to break hard right i pressed the trigger and shot a short burst at the mig 23 in front of me and breaked hard to the right and blacked out for second. in this second the gun rounds hit the mig 23 in front of me and brought it down. Lt.Ambs fired a Archer on the mig that was the reason for my hard break and destroyed it. I turned back into the furball. shortly after that i got behind another flogger this guy fired a missile at Lt. Ambs. I told him to drop flares and break left.he did it immediatly and was able to get the missile of his tail. i was in a good position to nail that guy with the gun and did it with a short burst.

 

After that kill the remaining Mig-23s breaked an headed home except of one guy. i was able to shoot at him and his Mig-23 starts to burn a little bit and then exploded in a huge fireball.

 

Lt. Ambs told me to report Status. Fuel was okay and Gun Ammo down to 74 Rounds.

Lt. Ambs has one Missile left and all his gun Ammo, Fuel was okay too so we decided to finish our mission to destroy the Oil tank. it was only 20km away from our current position. on our ingress heavy triple A starts to produce clouds all over the place. 5 km away from the Target LT Ambs was hit by triple A fire. we breaked of to do a damage assesment. his left engine was shredded. he decided to head home and told me to try to destroy the Oil Tank.

 

so i go up to 6000meters hight and towards the oil tank again. 5 km away the Triple-A starts to fire. 3 km away from the target i roll over and dive towards the Oil Tank. i got it directly under the pipper and fired 10 rounds and break hard to the right to evade the Triple-A fire. the Oil tank was hit and exploded in a huge fireball.

 

So it was time to go home and get a little R&R...but Red Crown decided otherwise.

Red Crown asked all Fighters in the area to Support a Dhimar Tank Division. the Tanks were attacked by Su-25.

 

No Fighter Escort was reported so i decided to help out, because it wasn´t far away from me and it was on my way home.

 

I arrived 3 Minutes later on the scene. i picked one of the 4 Su-25´s. He was so fixed on the tanks that he doesnt know what hit him. immediatly after taking down the first Su-25 i flew a half loop followed by a half roll and got behind another Su-25 and brought him down with the gun. Still 2 Su-25´s Left and only 17 Rounds in the Gun. i´ve to decide which one will be the next and the last. shortly after my left turn to get behind a su-25, i recvied a very short warning from my RWR. i thought that this was a sam site or something, but after the su-25 exploded in Mid-air and the other one went also down. it was clear to me that this must be a lock up by friendly aircraft.

 

JG 71 F-4F contacted me shortly after the destruction of the Frogfoot´s and they told me that they will provide top cover for the tanks now. I wished them Luck and headed home.

 

I reached our Airbase on Fuel Reserve, but savely.

first i thought that Lt. Ambs crashed or something, because his A/C was not on the plate.

 

After the intense fighting i was not able to get out of the cockpit. they had to help me to get out.

I asked everyone about Lt. Ambs and they told me he landed savely and his A/C is in the Hangar for Repair´s.

 

In the evening hours we´ve done the debriefing with the whole squadron.

Because of our report, the CO decided that he will plan the next Flight for 4 or more Aircrafts.

 

After that we have a little bit of a party here to celebrate the mission success and to honour the KIA´s on both sides

 

 

As you can see it is not very boring in Dhimar and the Mig-29 is not so bad at all.

Please dont tell mom excactly what happened, just tell her that i love her and that i´m still fine.

 

regards

David

[AvalancheDiode]

Part two:

[malibu43]

See here for the AAR for mission #1:

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3494690/VA_25_A_1J_Southeast_Asia_1965.html#Post3494690

Can't repost it easily since the images are actually hosted at SimHQ.

 

Finally got around to mission number 2. It was very uneventful, so therefore the AAR will be pretty short.

 

Today’s mission:

 

Wingman and I on the catapults ready for launch, each with a full load of M117’s.

 

Formed up over South Vietnam:

 

The ingress was very uneventful. I picked up some A-4’s over the radio working in the area before we got there. I’m not sure if they were hitting guns before we got there, or working some other nearby targets.

 

Once the A-4’s cleared the area, I circled our target from a safe altitude to get a good look. I kept waiting to see tracers or maybe some small caliber flak coming up, but I never saw anything. Perhaps the A-4’s took out the guns before we got there.

 

I rolled in from my high orbit and pickled all 8 of my M117’s off over the target. Shack! Still no AAA.

 

I pulled off target and circled, checking back again for any AAA. Still none. I picked out a truck still in the target area and ordered #2 to hit it. Here is a shot I took while waiting for #2 to drop. You can see that I actually still had ordinance coming off the racks when I pulled out of my dive during the bomb run. Those 5 bombs ended up being flung off into the jungle well past the target! I forgot that on the ingress I had set my ripple interval to 500ms, which meant the bomb releases were spaced well apart instead of coming off almost all at once (which is what I thought was going to happen when I rolled in on the target).

 

#2 nailed the target area as well. We formed up and head back out over the water.

 

Carrier in sight:

 

BDA revealed that we decimated the target area. Lots of trucks, fuel tanks, and other light targets destroyed:

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2012 by malibu43

[vivtho]

...

As we flew into the target area, I started getting RWR warnings for HAWK SAM radars, so I dove for the deck. I could see several SAM launches on the coast and deepened my dive angle, looking to get under 100 metres altitude to break the radar lock in the clutter from the sea. The SAMs streaked in, passing over my canopy and nailing my wingman, who had been slower to start to dive. He took about 3 direct hits and it was just debris that came out of the explosion - no ejection and no chute.

 

I leveled off at 60m AGL and heard the search radars lose me. There weren't any fighters that I could see, but I wasn't willing to wait around and find out. I pushed the throttle up to full military power and streaked towards the target and the coast.

...

How do you get the mini-window for the RWR? I've been trying to bring it up but I just can't figure out how.

[malibu43]

See here for the AAR for mission #1:

http://simhq.com/for...tml#Post3494690

Can't repost it easily since the images are actually hosted at SimHQ.

 

Finally got around to mission number 2. It was very uneventful, so therefore the AAR will be pretty short.

 

...

 

 

 

 

Missions 3 and 4 are up at SimHQ:

 

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3494690/2/VA_25_A_1J_Southeast_Asia_1965.html

[AvalancheDiode]

 

Heck, why not?