Desert Storm - Mission 07 - Jaguar v. Silkworm

[beachav8r 360]

 

The RAF brought a diverse selection of aircraft to the Gulf War including the Jaguar GR.Mk 1. The Jaguar is definitely one of those cool looking, rugged airplanes that looks the part of being a rubble bouncer. Primarily flying daylight interdiction sorties, the Jaguar flew over 600 sorties with no losses.

 

Our mission for today replicates some sorties that the Jaguars were tasked for several times during the war:  the destruction of coastal anti-ship Silkworm batteries that posed a threat to Coalition naval forces.

 

 

With the extremely short flight distance to the combat area, I elect to lighten our loads and give myself a 50% fuel load and my wingman a 75% fuel load. The Jaguar normally carried the CRV7 rocket and later in the war was cleared to carry the CBU-87 cluster bomb. In my SF2 install I could not find either of those weapons as available (I'm not a skilled modder, but I'm sure you can edit the weapons.ini file to fix that or something), so I improvised and used CBU-52/B and a different type of rocket pod for my wingman.

 

 

Off we go..!

 

 

The unique top wing mounted Sidewinders give the Jaguar an unusual silhouette...

 

( Note: Sundowner's Jaguar Package: HERE! )

 

 

Further inland the Iraqi Air Force is sending up MiG-29s. In reality, they were just as likely to flee east over the border to seek asylum in Iran, but in the early days of the war they were a little more game to engage...

 

 

But the kill ratio was always skewed to the extreme toward Coalition air power...

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we work our way east toward the coast we are circumventing some of the air defense units that have been set up in Kuwait. An SA-8 searches for us just to the north. I do notice that the Jaguar seems to have a more aggressive fuel burn than what I was expecting, and the fuel totalizer ticks down at a fairly rapid pace...

 

 

Meanwhile the Tornados continue to pay a high price for their mission tasking...

 

 

At the IP we prepare to turn north. I set pull up my CBUs, set them to drop in a pair, and set the maximum ripple interval. I'm not sure if the interval works for opposite side releases or if it only works for paired releases...

 

 

Nose art...

 

 

Coming up the coast we soon spot the Silkworm missile site...

 

 

To keep my wingman safe, I put him into high cover while I make the initial attack run...

 

 

I set up to make the attack down the axis of the missile revetments...

 

 

Though the RWR is only showing distant search radars, I use flares as I pull off in case there are any MANPADS down there...

 

 

The bombs ripple across the site destroying three of the four missile launchers...

 

 

 

I pull hard to the south over the relative safety of the Gulf and look over my shoulder. I see the remaining missile battery is undamaged so I give my wingman the command to strike.

 

 

He rolls in with his rockets but his aim is a bit off as his rockets come up short...

 

 

 

I send him back again and this time his rockets damage some support buildings, but again miss the Silkworm launcher...

 

 

Sometimes you just have to do the job yourself...

 

 

 

 

A quick flyby BDA shows all the missile launchers are destroyed and some of the support vehicles and buildings are damaged too...

 

 

As I order my wingman to rejoin I take a glance at my fuel gauge and am surprised to see how little I have left..I guess that 50% fuel loadout was a mistake!

 

 

In order to shave a bit of flight time off, we cut the corner on the way back to base, but that takes us across occupied Kuwait...

 

 

I climb and pull the throttle back to try to reduce the fuel flow to an economy setting...

 

 

Even though home base is only about 30 miles away, it is a bridge to far so I'm forced to divert to another airfield that is closer. The squadron mates will never let me live this one down...

 

 

The divert field appears out of the haze. I order my wingman to RTB since he has more fuel (presumably)...

 

 

 

 

I pull up to the ramp to beg, borrow, or steal some fuel...

 

 

Another fun and unique mission. The designers of the ODS theater did a good job of populating the region with interesting and historically significant target areas.

 

BeachAV8R

 

[Centurion-1 1,228]

Hah, running out of fuel happens more times than I'd like to admit in SF2, especially if you try to fly MiG-21s or 23s which only seem to have enough fuel to get airborne.

[Stratos 3,192]

Great AAR! Looking forward for more! Hope you can visit WW3 one day.

 

Hah, running out of fuel happens more times than I'd like to admit in SF2, especially if you try to fly MiG-21s or 23s which only seem to have enough fuel to get airborne.

 

You should carry more fuel and less weapons!!

[Antares81 16]

Jaguar is a GOOD Fighter-Bomber but need to be improved the cockpit ..... nice mission

[+streakeagle 871]

My son used to love the Jaguar. After the A-10, it was his favorite jet.

[KJakker 901]

I found out why you did not have the CBU-87 available. The Jaguar GR Mk1A has all its Weapon Stations set with "AttachmentType=NATO,UK" while the CBU-87 is set with "AttachmentType=USAF,USN".

 

Also you can find the CRV7 rockets in the "Royal New Zealand Navy Fleet Air Arm Skyhawks and HMNZS New Zealand Aircraft Carrier." download.

[Wrench 9,848]

shouldn't the Jags have BL-755 clusters? And SNEB pods?

[beachav8r 360]

shouldn't the Jags have BL-755 clusters? And SNEB pods?

 

I had to Google "BL-755" and was pleasantly surprised to see this video (NSFW):

 

 

Right on..those definitely need to be in my SF2 install..!

 

BeachAV8R

Edited March 31, 2014 by beachav8r

[Evildeadmeat 153]

 

I had to Google "BL-755" and was pleasantly surprised to see this video (NSFW):

 

 

Right on..those definitely need to be in my SF2 install..!

 

BeachAV8R

 

Not really a cluster bomb but definitely deadly   ;)