Kola Peninsula 1962 - Test run AAR

[acbennett3]

This is an AAR of a test run I did against Soviet defenses of the Kola Peninsula set in my Kola 1962 Scenario. To setup the Soviets I used the 1965 Radar inst file and the 61-64 Air Defense inst file. This gives a mix of SA-2c Guidelines and SA-3a Goa SAM sites clustered around numerous bases on the Peninsula. There are also still 5 PVO airbases - with 3 in the main northern area of the Peninsula. Based on my limited web research of the time the PVO squadrons are made up of a mix of Mig-17's and Mig-19's. Some are straight A/B versions (Fresco/Farmer) armed only w/cannons and some are D versions armed w/AA-1 Alkali AAM missiles.
AA-1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AA-1_Alkali

Below is an image of a small portion of the Soviet Defenses showing both flavors of SAM sites and what appears to be a Mig-19PM Farmer D armed w/4 AA-1's. Not a friendly place for US Bombers.

[acbennett3]

For the US I arbitrarily created 12 B-52D's flying over Norway at low altitude towards the Kola Peninsula with jammers/ECM on. Per below they are armed with 4 B-28 Strat Bombs (1.45mT - still too great a yield as we'll see later), 2 AGM-28 Hound Dog nuclear cruise missiles and 2 ADM-20B Quail decoys - which I haven't figured out how to deploy yet (and would have come in handy later in the scenario).
AGM-28B Hound Dog
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-28_Hound_Dog
ADM-20B Quail
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADM-20_Quail

[acbennett3]

For the attack run I started the 12 B-52D's in a vertical line coming over Norway/Sweden on an easterly course. Initially I had them at low altitude to avoid Soviet radars but found they needed to be at 5000ft min alt to launch the Hound Dogs. In the below image they are starting their attack run and climbing to 5000ft to launch the first wave of Hound Dogs. They have not been detected by any (ground or airborne) Soviet radars yet.

[image01]

[acbennett3]

My plan for the Hound Dogs (w/up to approx 600nm range) was to launch them in 2 waves of 12. The first would be targeted at the border radar stations and the 3 closest PVO airbases in an attempt to destroy the Soviet early warning and fighter defenses. The 2nd wave would then be launched to cleanup anything missed in the first wave and also target bases with hi concentrations of defending SAM sites. Nice plan - but like any plan upon contact with the enemy…

Below is an image from the US side showing the first wave well on its way after climbing to max altitude and speed (55k/600kts)

[acbennett3]

Below is an image from the Soviet side detecting the first wave (but no B-52's yet) and the patrolling fighters responding/attempting to intercept the vampires.

[acbennett3]

The problem with the Hound Dogs was their attack profile - after launch they climb to 55k ft and max spd of 600kts. They then proceed to close to the target and descend quickly and air burst above the target at low altitude. While the 55k ft altitude took them above the reach of the 40k ft/cannon armed Migs I quickly found out that the AA-1 Alkali AAM's could easily makeup the altitude difference.

Below is an image of a Mig intercepting a Hound Dog and launching 2 AA-1's. The first we can see climbing to attack the oncoming vampire - and it ultimately succeeds.

[acbennett3]

While most of the Migs are busy chasing vampires the first B-52 is detected by Soviet radar. The furthest west Mig turns to investigate. The B-52's need to start thinking about launching the 2nd wave of Hound Dogs so they can get down on the deck to evade the Soviet radars.

[acbennett3]

In the below image many things are happening. In the far north the small white circle is the initial detonation of a Hound Dog above a border radar station. Great for the US, but on the downside many of the northern Hound Dogs/vampires have been successfully shot down, with only 3 left in the south. Also, the 2nd wave of Hound Dogs have been launched and are beginning to be detected by the Soviets. Finally, more B-52's are being detected, so after each one launches its 2nd Hound Dog it returns to low altitude to get off the Soviet radar screens.

[acbennett3]

This image is from the US side and shows the furthest north Hound Dog descending on its target (passing thru 25k at 600kts) right before it air bursts. Of 24 Hound Dogs only the previous and this Hound Dog reached their targets and detonated.

To the south are 2 Hound Dogs real close to their targets and being shadowed/chased by cannon only armed Migs. Unfortunately since the Migs have the speed to keep up with the 600kt Hound Dogs and the Dogs have to descend to their targets they are both picked off by the Migs as they go below 40k ft. Just in time…

[acbennett3]

Below is a closeup of another just in time kill as the Hound Dog is on final descent.

[acbennett3]

Below is the remainder of the 2nd wave being hotly pursued by numerous Migs. More troubling, other Migs are sniffing around the now low altitude B-52's.

[acbennett3]

Even targeting 2 Hound Dogs at a single target did not ensure success. One Hound Dog is about to be shot down by an AA-1 and the 2nd is not far behind it w/3 more Migs in pursuit. So close and yet so far…

[acbennett3]

At this point all the Hound Dogs except the 2 that reached their targets have been shot down. Below we see the B-52's beginning their bomb runs. Now it's time for a tough decision - if the B-52's stay down in the weeds it is extremely hard for the Soviet land and pre-look down airborne radars to track them. But since they are armed with 1.45mT bombs, at that altitude they are doing suicide runs - no chance of escaping the blast radius. On the other hand if they climb to a safe altitude (12k-25k) they will be detected by the Soviet radars - both fighters and SAM - and probably easily snapped up and destroyed. I need a smaller bomb.

Since the US SAC ROE does not include suicide runs (that I am aware of), I set most of the B-52's to start climbing as they approach their targets - a few I keep in the weeds.

[acbennett3]

Below we see the result of climbing - the Soviets detect the B-52 currently passing thru 10k ft, and 2 Migs are vectoring in to attack. Normally it would be a race - but now the SAM's/SA-2c make their appearance. Two sites lock on in spite of the jamming and launch missiles - the first destroys the B-52…

[acbennett3]

Below we finally see a successful bomb run. The target is one of the 3 PVO airbases on the Peninsula (full of Migs). The bombs are represented by the red lines/streaks behind the B-52 descending toward the target. While the attack will destroy the base, because of the B-52's altitude (too low), it will go with the base in the blast…

[acbennett3]

Here is a another successful bomb run on a PVO airbase full of Migs. Two down one to go. Unfortunately this B-52 is also doomed. Ironically the Soviets had no SAM sites around these bases making them easier to attack.

[acbennett3]

Below we see the attacking B-52 about to be consumed in its bombs blast. The other B-52 to the south was also destroyed as the blast expanded - my bad.

[acbennett3]

Below is the last image and last 2 B-52's. The northwestern B-52 is about to be shot down by pursuing Migs. The southeastern B-52 is about to bomb its target - and be destroyed in the blast…

[acbennett3]

Below is the summary/results of the scenario test run. While 5 bases/airfields and 58 Migs (mainly on the ground) were destroyed, the entire B-52 attack force was destroyed and only 2 of the 24 Hound Dogs reached their targets. Finally, the Soviet SAM site system was untouched and in its only test found to be deadly.

[acbennett3]

With SAM's, AAM's and ALGM's this is a whole different game then my previous Kola scenarios that were primarily guns and bombs. The Soviet defenses (SAMs/AAM armed Migs) are much tougher to crack and require a layered approach. Some lessons learned for the next run:

1. Launch all the ALGM's at the same time in an attempt to saturate the Soviet defenses. A few PVO airbases and some SAM site concentrations destroyed before the B-52's entered Soviet airspace would have changed things greatly.

2. The current attack profile of the Hound Dog is not ideal. 55k and 600kts means it is easily detected by radar and closed/intercepted by the faster Migs. No info yet on how the SAM sites would have handled them. In my limited research (wikipedia) the Hound Dog apparently had multiple attack profiles selectable by the crew. The middle 2 profiles below would have delayed detection - but made them immediately vulnerable to the cannon armed fighters. Anyway to update the DB to reflect these?:

"The Hound Dog could be launched from the B-52 Stratofortress at high altitudes or low altitudes, but not below 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) in altitude. Initially, three different flight profiles for the Hound Dog were available for selection by the commander and the bombardier of the bomber (though other options were added later):
○ High Altitude Attack: The Hound Dog would have flown at a high altitude (up to 17,000 metres (56,000 ft) depending on the amount of jet fuel on board the missile) all the way to the immediate area of its target, then diving to its nuclear warhead's preset detonation altitude.
○ Low Altitude Attack: The Hound Dog would have flown at a low altitude - below 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) (air-pressure altitude) to its target where its nuclear warhead would have detonated. In this mode of operation, the Hound Dog had a shortened range of about 640 kilometres (400 mi) when this flight profile was used. The missile would not carry out terrain following in this flight profile. No major terrain obstructions could exist at the preset altitude along the missile's flight path.
○ Low Altitude Attack: The GAM-77B (later AGM-28B) could fly a low RADAR altitude, from 910 to 30 metres (3,000 to 100 ft) above the ground. As mentioned above in the GAM-77A model description, this shortened range. However, the improvement of "flying in the weeds", was such that the missile could be flown down in ground clutter thus nearly invisible to radar detection. Eventually, all A model GAM-77s were given this modification as well.
○ A Dogleg Attack: The Hound Dog would have flown along a designated heading (at either high or low altitudes) to a preset location. At that location the missile would have turned left or right and then proceeded to its target. The intention of this maneuver was to attempt to draw defensive fighter planes away from the missile's target.

From <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-28> "

3. The B-52's need to stay in the weeds to evade detection as long as possible. Also, a smaller yield bomb is a better choice so the bomber can stay as low as possible during the attack run and egress. Will investigate that in the DB.

4. No idea how to launch the ADM-20 Quail decoy. They probably would have come in handy, especially in the 62 era. Later more advanced radars made them obsolete per my research. Anyone know how to launch the decoys?

Once again, many thanks to the Devs for creating a simulation that allows recreation of these hypothetical battles. Just can't stop fiddling with this product…