New Scenario for Testing - IOF #5 Hormuz Hoedown

[Gunner98]

Here's another one for testing. This one has COW on for air damage as it adds an interesting level of suspense. I will put out a version that works without CoW with the final version.

You’re commanding the newly formed CTF 154 centered on the USS Saratoga CVBG and combining all forces in the Persian Gulf region. Your primary task is to open the Straits of Hormuz to unrestricted navigation, but a critical and essential secondary task is to tie down Soviet and Soviet aligned forces (primarily Iran) so they cannot interfere in other theatres, particularly Syria and the Mediterranean. Finally, you must impress Saudi Arabia to commit to the conflict on our side, while preventing the spread of the war.

The Indian Ocean is a secondary theater and cannot expect many reinforcements. Commander 5th Fleet will deploy to Socotra Island once it is clear, from there he will fight the larger battles in the Pentagon, but right now more forces and supplies are leaving the area then are arriving.


As always, please pass on your comments and critiques.

B

Final version uploaded

[trebor6669]

Gunner

Thanks
I'm still plugging away on Red Gate.
Now to decide, this one or the Northern Fury on next.

Great work.

[AndrewJ]

India and Pakistan both on the map. Uh-oh...

Edit: And the Sara's 90 miles away from its closest Tico. Never a good feeling.

Edit 2: French heavy ASCM helicopters - neat!

[s]Edit 3: Are the ammo bunkers at Masirah and Al Dhafra supposed to be outside the local airfield group?[/s]
Never mind! All makes sense when I turn group mode on. D'oh!

[Gunner98]

Both the French Frigate La Fayette and her helicopters are a couple years ahead of their time but, what the heck! Her stealth and Block II Exocet won't giver her any real advantage in this setting, but the next Gen Crotale might. The Panther is nice but not armed.

90 miles from the closest and only Tico! I think you just witnessed a Belknap's capabilities in the North Atlantic, the Virginia, crap - that should be CGN-39 Texas - is a 'double ender' and is much better. Both IO CVBGs, the Nimitz and the Sara only have one Tyco each, the Gettysburg (and Reeves) went off with the Nimitz leaving Sara pretty bare until the Philippine Sea arrives, that's the main reason she hasn't been pounding on the Iranian door days ago.

The double magazines at some of the bases is a left-over from Persian Pounch when I was doing a bit of a dance with sides.

I'm sure I only put India and Pakistan there for aesthetic reasons [;)]

Enjoy

[AndrewJ]

It looks like the mines in the straits are going to be self-sweeping, due to the large numbers of Iranian small craft in the area. I haven't taken a detailed look from the enemy side yet, but I keep seeing explosion icons flashing in the straits, and the losses and expenditures log shows 8 sunk Boghammers, although I have not engaged anything in that area yet. Maybe they they need no-navigate zones to avoid the mines? Although that may take a prohibitive amount of processor time given the number of vessels involved.

[Gunner98]

I tried stopping that by limiting their missions. Will check again, thanks.

B

[tjhkkr]

Thank you!

[AndrewJ]

It looks like the Saudi Aircraft Destroyed event is a direct clone of the Soviet Aircraft Destroyed event, so it triggers when a Soviet plane is shot down and gives NATO points.

I'm switching it over to trigger when a Saudi plane is lost. What value of points should the Saudis lose when one of their planes goes down?

[Gunner98]

The Saudi point count should go Up by 25. Its a counter which eventually means Saudi commitment.

B

[Badlandz]

Gunner,
I’m about 3 hours into the scenario. I’ve beaten up the Iranian forces pretty well. Even did a low level raid on Shiraz with F-15E’s. I have not opened the editor on this one. The raid encountered no SAM’s. Maybe some MANPADs?

-Other than the Saudi’s point score the Iranian sub east of Doha was spotted on the surface. I identified it with an SH-2 and sunk it with a Harpoon. The
depth there was only -39ft. Maybe that sub’s patrol zone should be restricted to deeper waters.
-I also have 4 Boghammers sunk for unknown reasons.
Anyway, that’s it from here for now. Back to the straights of Hormuz.

As always, thanks for doing these.

[Gunner98]

Hmmm

OK I'll have to put some Soviet SAMs in to protect Shiraz. Playing that the Iranian IADs got slammed pretty hard by all those TLAMs you don't have [:D]. But they would be protecting their Su-24s from a cocky American Eagle driver!

Good catch on the sub, will move it. The Boghammers probably wandered into the minefield - plenty more where they come from. I'll tidy that one up as well.

Thanks

Glad your enjoying it.

[Badlandz]

Gunner,
I presumed that the SAM’s were reduced in the opening salvo. That’s why I was thinking along the line of MANPAD.

Regarding the Iranian AWACS: there looks to be a F-4 CAP north of Qatar and a MIG-29 one North of Kish Is. I took out the F-4s with BAAF F-16s the shot a pair of F-15Cs at low level through the gap. This didn’t provoke any reaction from the MiGs. Zone restrictions to model command issues on the Iran side?


To give you an idea of what I have done in the northern gulf: I started with a recon from Kuwait of one Tornado (Alarm equipped) escorted by a pair of F-15s. A pair of F-16 w/AMRAAM provided North flank security. The Tornado/F-15 combo begain engaging F-4s. The F-4s were totally outclassed. Many hits mostly kills but damaged as well. At about 15-20nm west of Bushehr the SAM defenses began firing. Initially the SA-5 battery. An ALARM was used in response. That apparently provoked 3 other batteries to respond. In the end all the available aircraft in Kuwait were dragged in to the fight along with a pair of French Jaguars. The Jaguar mission was to bomb the SA-5 site. I discovered the close proximity of the one Hawk batteries. I split the attack and bombed both batteries. The last SAM fired hit one Jaguar while egressing at low level. Sadly, no chute. This was the only loss to the attack. One F-15 was hit by an AIM-9 and damaged. It will be out of action for a bit more than a day.

Enemy losses were severe. 3 out of four known SAM batteries are damaged and out of action. 6 F-5, 8 F-4 and 2 F-14 claimed. Several others damaged as well.

Down in Indian Ocean:
-One Kilo tracked and sunk by the Buffalo. That Kilo never had a chance. The Buffalo got in the Kilo baffles and fired from 1NM.

-A Victor was found by the Nicholson Sonar. Prosecuted by several helicopters and one S-3. Mr Victor took 4 torpedos before succumbing to the attack.

Char Bahar is knocked out as well as 2 missile boats sunk.

As to TLAMs: I count 83 available.....hmmm, how best to use them? Clearly they are destined for the 98th BDE and Bandar Abbas....

Ok, enough talk. Back to the IO

Thanks again!

[Gunner98]

Badlandz

Thanks, you've given me a couple ideas to tighten things up. The Iranians are certainly restricted in their defense zones, but an SA-6 or Rapier protecting those HAWKs would be a bit of a surprise. Perhaps a little more aggression from the F-14s would help as well.

Char Bahar is a sitting duck after its IADS was removed, I figured that would be the first to go in the opening day. However if you don't spend the time to shut it down, there are some nasty surprises that could show up.

How is your A2A missile count in the northern Gulf?

B

[B52H]

An SSK popped up out of the water around 50 miles east of Doha and was picked up by the American frigate SE of Qatar. I presume it popped up to recharge its battery but it became a sitting duck for one of my ASW birds. Might want to check it out.

Also, the A/C damage feature resulted in some very interesting dogfights. I sent up the lone HARM-equipped F-16 out of Bahrain with two Bahraini F-16s as escorts to strike the SA-5 battery at Bushehr. 6 F-4s on CAP soon picked up my A/C and I scrambled some F-15s and F-16s out of Kuwait to intercept them. In the following air battle, the Bahraini F-16s had knocked out 1 F-4 and sent the remaining 5 back to base in exchange for some slight shrapnel damage. The HARM F-16 vectored in to launch its HARMs at the SA-5 site, but the SA-6 and HAWK made a nasty surprise. The F-15s made quick work of the remaining F-4s. Soon, a volley of unknown air contacts took off from Shiraz and headed towards the Gulf. I scrambled even more A/C from Qatar and the French F.1s at the Saudi base. The Qatari Mirages damaged one F-14 and shot down another without their opponents firing a shot. The French Mirages were not so lucky, and one was knocked out by a Sparrow from an F-14, which in turn was knocked out by another Mirage. A few other random dogfights happened so far, all NATO victories.

So far, my losses have only been the single F.1. The Iranians have lost 1 MiG-29, 7 F-4s (with probably 7-9 more damaged), and 2 F-14s. The Soviets have lost a TU-16 but I'm unsure where, maybe inflicted by the Saratoga CAP?

I'd suggest adding a few more helicopters to the Qatari Navy as they had taken delivery of 10 Sea Kings in the mid 80s. Also, the Kuwaiti AF would have its entire F/A-18 fleet delivered by now, although the addition of 32 F/A-18s would throw off balance in the scenario by quite a bit. My losses in IOF 1 were not that expansive as compared to those modeled in the scenario, so I added the ESPS Santa Maria and the TG Montgomery in addition to a few A/C. However, I did delete the La Fayette as it succumbed to a few Soviet missiles earlier on in my play through.

I am worried about the Soviet bases north of Iran... my few remaining ships in the Gulf and the commercial ships will probably succumb to the Soviet bombers stationed there.

B52H

[Gunner98]

Thanks B52H

I think that SSK is patrolling shallow water, will fix.

Roger on the Qatari Navy Sea Kings, I think they were in IOF 1, will put some back in play.

No go on the Hornets though - the US is not 'casting off' any and keeping all of them and all F-16s. The last Foreign Military Sales of those two were in 88/89. You raise a good point however and Kuwait should have some old Mirage and Scooters to play with, not many but some.

Sounds like the 'fur-ball' over Bushehr was quite the fracas!

Appreciate the report.

B

[Badlandz]

Gunner,

Missile inventories as dawn rises on the 19 February.

Kuwait

AIM-120: 56
AIM-7: 71
AIm-9: 97

Sheik Isa
AIM-120: 66
AIM-7M: 56
AIM-9M: 158

Al Dhafra
AIM-120: 96
AIM-9M: 143

The inventories information was determine from the # Available MAGS+A/C column.

As a note I started converting the F-16s in Kuwait to A2G role, excluding the optional AIM-120. The F-15C are switching to the mixed load out to keep them useful. It’s my opinion that in the game the F-16 block 40+ are a deadly combination with AMRAAM. Their wide radar arc gives them a better engagement envelope. Still, I need to have gainful employment for the Eagle drivers.

Hope this helps.

[Gunner98]

Roger that helps

Just gaging the arrival of the Ammo resuply ship vs missile usage.

Thanks

[AndrewJ]

Here's a bit of AAR, midway through the first morning...


THE SITUATION

After the initial flight of forces from the Gulf, and the closure of the Straits of Hormuz, I have been instructed to take control in the air, re-open the straits, and recommence the transit of supertankers in and out of the Gulf.

I have a small pack of tankers sheltered in the Gulf itself, and a much larger group of them holding south in the Indian ocean, which must be protected and escorted about their business. In order to do this, I have an assortment of aircraft along the length of the Gulf, with varying degrees of ammo shortage, some minesweepers sheltering in Oman, a single SSN, an ASW group and the Saratoga group in the Indian Ocean, and two sets of important logistical ships heading north to meet them.

Within 5 days I must have tanker traffic flowing through the Gulf again.


THE PLAN

My southern logistical ships are isolated, weakly defended, but very important, particularly the cargo ship with the ordnance for my air forces in the Gulf. While they’re unlikely to get attacked by air, subs are a very real threat. Each of the groups is assigned a dedicated patrol of either P-3s or S-3s to clear their path. The tankers loitering in the Indian Ocean also get an S-3 patrol, although I question its effectiveness given the large area they cover, and the little frigate steams around the area to show the flag. It won’t have much other use.

The Sara will steam slowly north while its Tico rushes to catch up, and the isolated Spruance moves over to join it from Pakistan. My aircraft have plenty of range, so there’s no need to hurry the carrier into the Gulf. After forming up the Sara will gradually head NW towards Oman, which should give me a bit more clearance from anything Soviet coming out of southern Iran or India. (Speaking of which, I intend to stay well clear of Indian and Pakistani shores whenever possible.)

The ASW group will consolidate a little, and head towards the Gulf hunting for subs en-route, and the SSN will work cautiously towards the straits. The minesweepers will hold for the moment. The two warships up in the Gulf are ordered to make very close barrier patrol with active sonar, hoping to protect the tankers there from anything sneaking in along the shore.

Airpower will begin with probing attacks at either end of the Gulf, intending to provoke fights there and knock down as much of the peripheral enemy air force as possible, as cheaply as possible. (My low missile stocks are definitely a concern.) The Straits of Hormuz are very heavily guarded, so I won’t tackle them immediately. Instead I will try and give myself freedom of maneuver, so when the time comes I can attack unmolested. I’ll probably begin engaging targets in/around the straits sometime on Day 2, and then begin clearing it on Day 3.


NIGHT 1

I’m the first to open hostilities, making probes against the weaker ends of the Iranian air force. Sparrow-carrying F-18s from the Sara head north with a jammer in attendance to tackle the Phantoms in the Chah Bahar area (as well as getting a Badger hunting for my ships). At the same time, I start probing out of Kuwait to engage aircraft from Omidiyeh, and the F-16s do a very nice job against the F-5s loitering there, closing in to use Sidewinders when possible. It’s also relatively easy to beat up on the Phantoms operating out of Bushehr, without expending large amounts of missiles. However, when the Mig-29s start popping up things get a lot more difficult, so I have to ease off to preserve my missile stocks. I don’t want to be out of ammo in the event of an attack.

Down south, I pick up the emissions of another powerful airborne surface search radar off the Indian coast, in the gap between the Sara and my logistics ships. My initial impulse is to shoot it down immediately, but then I consider that this could be an Indian airplane, so best to leave it alone. As I’m congratulating myself on showing diplomatic restraint more information comes in confirming that it really is a Soviet Badger, so it does get shot down after all (two F-18s and a KA-6 tanker), but it does raise the concern of where it came from. Are the Soviets operating out of an Indian base?

The Iranians make the next move, using their F-14s to press towards my coast of the Gulf, and by their courses it looks like they’re tracking my valuable support aircraft. If they still have a Phoenix or two then this could be a real problem for clumsy AWACS or ELINT planes. Their aggressive actions come when many of my better fighters are recycling, and my lesser planes don’t have the range to tackle them safely. Fortunately, the belt of Patriot missiles is well placed to deal with them as they press in, and the SAM gunners rack up a good score, particularly the crew in Bahrain. Hopefully the missiles I’ve used up here won’t be needed in the event of a Soviet missile attack.

After their F-14s are down, two of mine arrive, refuel, and then make an afterburner dash across the Gulf to knock down their Mainstay with a long range Phoenix shot. I would have willingly traded several fighters for that target, but the Iranians are temporarily down, so my planes get away with it unopposed.

As this goes on overhead an SSK surfaces in the Gulf, to the east of the assembled tankers there, and is immediately spotted on radar. He’s far enough offshore that he can’t see my ships, but his presence is alarming all the same. He’s swiftly sunk by a helicopter before he can make his escape.

My surface search radars have also picked up some isolated naval contacts sitting motionless very close along the eastern Iranian coast. Now that the Phantoms out of Chah Bahar seem to be down for the moment, a British helicopter with Sea Skua and good night vision goes sneaking in at wavetop level for a peek. The ship turns out to be a La Combattante, and the helicopter sinks it with a barrage of missiles before sneaking home again. With this information in hand, the others are sunk over the course of the night by a combination of Harpoons and LGBs.

My next move is a heavy strike against the airfields at Chah Bahar and Jask, in order to secure the open end of the Gulf of Oman. The majority of the attackers come from the Sara, but the Tornadoes and F-15Es also fly in to contribute. I’d feared pop-up SAMs, but it looks like previous fighting got rid of most of those, and the bombardment is unopposed. The runways are cratered, ammo bunkers are destroyed, and aircraft in open parking are eliminated. I don’t go after the hardened shelters, since it would take too many bombs, but with the runways cratered any survivors are trapped for the moment. I should have air control over this end of Iran now, and the closest active airfield is Bandar Abbas. This should greatly reduce the risks of air strikes on incoming tankers.


DAY 1

Shortly before dawn I start getting numerous airborne contacts deep in central Iran, roughly in the Isfahan area. There are a dozen of them, loitering in a tight orbit at very low speed. This can only mean one thing: tankers!
At first, I’m baffled about how I can even see that far, since none of my radars can reach there. Looking around I see the alarming sight of the Saudi E-3 almost half way across the Persian Gulf, en-route to my tankers over the Gulf of Oman! High command immediately directs the Saudis to turn back, rather than make a one-plane overflight of Bandar Abbas, and clarifies that they are not, repeat not, to seek further refuelling from us.

Regardless of how it was spotted, a tanker track is too valuable a target to ignore. It probably means an incoming bomber strike from distant airfields is in the making, so I need to move quickly. A decent force of my F-15s and F-16s launch out of Kuwait, intending to brush aside the two fighters on CAP near Omidiyeh and proceed on a direct path to the tankers. Mistake! The two planes on CAP die as expected, but swarms and swarms of Mig-29s come boiling up out of Omidiyeh, and the north end of the Gulf soon becomes a massive dogfight. I’m outnumbered, and I have to launch more and more planes from Kuwait to try and rescue the situation. The Fulcrums are difficult targets, and it usually takes multiple AMRAAMs to achieve a single hit, and soon I’m burnering in fighters from Bahrain to try and break through.

I eventually win the fight, but most of my planes are heading home Winchester, and the few that proceed don’t have full missile loadouts any more. The first pilot to reach the tanker area gapes in amazement at the large planes silhouetted against the bright horizon. They aren’t tankers. They’re Bears! Engaging as quickly as they can, my pilots manage to achieve gun and missile hits, but the Bears are extremely (some would say absurdly) tough, and many of them take multiple missile hits and keep flying. The majority are shot down, but some manage to make their escape
despite gaping holes in their fuselage, and they fly away deeper into north-east Iran.

Remember that bit about preserving precious missiles? Engaging as cheaply as possible? Not here! This engagement totally blew that plan away. There are only 17 AMRAAMs left in all of Kuwait, and most of those are on aircraft already. My F-16s are loaded Sidewinder heavy, and the F-15 pilots are trying to remember how to use Sparrows. Any further engagements with the Mig-29s will be on an even footing at best, or far worse in the case of the F-16s. Hopefully I won’t have to do any anti-missile duty, with one-target-at-a-time Sparrows. That supply ship is going to be really important.

Out at sea, the Spruance leading the Sara group has picked up a few submerged contacts using active sonar. They mostly turn out to be false targets, but this morning one of them turns out to be a Victor, lurking motionless below the layer, and very close to where the tankers will eventually have to go. It’s sunk by helicopter. Meanwhile in the Gulf of Oman, my creeping SSN picks up a passive contact, but unlike all the other false contacts and fish, it’s only momentary, which makes me very suspicious. Did something briefly run its engines? Was that a launch transient? After several minutes of indecision, hoping for the contact to re-emerge, my paranoia gets the best of me and I send a torpedo downrange below the layer popping it up when it gets closer to the contact. That gets a response! The SSK tries to flee, but does not escape.

My ships have all consolidated in their groups by now, and with them comes increasingly concerning information about war preparations in India and Pakistan. I’ve been monitoring the Indian May, flying up and down its coast, as well as fighters and ASW helicopter radars. The possibility of Russians coming at me from behind is alarming (where did that Badger come from?), and the latest intel makes me even more nervous. The replenishment group is ordered to angle further east, into the tanker swarm and away from India, and I’m considering sending a CAP way down south just in case.

The last thing I need is getting caught up in a regional hot war with a capable force like India.

[Gunner98]

Thanks Andrew

Interesting report, looks like you're hitting all the hightlights!

I'll adjust the Saudi E-3...

B

[Badlandz]

Gunner,

Just a quick question: What’s The role of Iraq in this scenario? I was planning on dragging a group of Jaguars north to have them low level attack Omidiyeh from the northwest.

A suggestion: the database says there are Iranian scuds since 1988........