Here’s how the rest of it went.
STRIKE – PHASE 1, FIGHTER PUSH
Our tankers start taking off at 1830Z, heading towards refuelling stations near Baghdad, followed by our fighters, EF-111s, F-16 SEAD planes and finally our F-15E strike aircraft. The B-1s are already on the scene, loitering in Iraqi airspace while they top up from tankers which they brought from Spain.
Our fighters head in while the rest of the strike is still arriving to refuel, fighting off MiG-21s and assorted MiG-29s, plus two lone F-14s (thankfully these have only shown up as singles), while fending off a quartet of F-4s which are making gestures from Hamedan. Unfortunately, we’re running out of missiles quickly, especially when facing the nimble MiG-29s; two of the F-15s are already headed home empty, and the strike hasn’t arrived yet. The bulk of our F-15s only have light loadouts, with two AMRAAMs and two Sidewinders, which is great for fuel economy, but rotten for combat endurance. I’m starting to think I should have changed some of them over to heavy Sparrow loads, and thus allowed the rest to carry heavy AMRAAM loads. Fortunately, all our strike aircraft carry a pair of AMRAAMs too, so they should be able to help defend themselves when they arrive.
Our strike comes off the tankers and starts moving in, as our fighters keep trying to hold the airspace they need to advance. The F-4s get knocked down, another F-14 arrives and dies, and we start picking up Flanker radars over the Caspian, and their AEW too. Our fighters advance, with two flights of F-15s and an EF-111 heading for each of the inland targets (Fordow and Natanz), while the remainder guard the north side of the strike route. Four more F-4s make a short-lived sortie from Hamedan, and two pairs of MiG-29s take off from Meherebad. We manage to get three of the MiG-29s, but the fourth escapes back home into SAM cover. One enterprising Eagle pilot, however, gets a glimpse of the Adnan AEW on radar, and it’s less than 80 miles away. A brief afterburner dash puts him in front of the converted cargo jet, and his last Sidewinder neatly punches through the cockpit window, sending their best surveillance asset plummeting to the ground.
Multiple F-15s are heading home without missiles now, as the strike keeps heading east, and naturally that’s when more fighters pop up behind us: F-7s at Sanandaj, and MiG-29s at Kermanshah. Our trailing F-15s move in to intercept them, which works, but there go the last of my good rearguard missiles. If there’s much more of this, my strike planes will have to start defending themselves.
STRIKE – PHASE 2, ARAK
The closest (and largest) target is the reactor complex at Arak, so it naturally attracts the majority of our resources. All four of the B-1s are headed here, as are the bulk of our F-15Es. The HARM-carrying F-16s are divided equally (four each) among the three targets, but all six of the Maverick carrying ones go to Arak.
The F-16s arrive ahead of the strike, but nothing’s radiating, so the first flight of Maverick-armed planes dives in to engage a cluster of four densely packed ‘3-strength’ units west of Arak. The thought is that they might be light SAMs, and engaging them might force any other hidden SAMs to light up. Four Mavericks go hurtling in, getting a couple of hits, and small radars do indeed light up throughout the region, but they turn out to be Skyguards, for 35mm AAA, not SAMs. Knowing that helps complete the picture. There are several more clusters around Arak which are presumably other Skyguard units, but there are also two isolated units, one east and one west of the complex, which never lit up a radar. Those are very likely RBS-70s, a particularly nasty laser-beam riding heavy MANPADs system, which we have met before in Iran. The rest of the F-16s turn their focus on those, and destroy them with more Mavericks, while staying safely above their ceiling.
At 2137Z the four sleek B-1s drop to 3650m, make a final course adjustment, swing their wings back and engage their afterburners. Ground-mapping radars turn on, OECM starts blaring, and supersonic shockwaves pummel the ground behind them. They streak over the Arak complex above the light AAA ceiling, laying strings of iron bombs across the densely packed electrical equipment south-east of the reactor, and in moments they are gone into the night.
The lines of crashing explosions light up the night in a spectacular storm of destruction, and it’s almost as good as we’d hoped. The lines of Mk 82s were beautifully placed, accounting for all twelve of the transformers, and one stick of Mk 84s dropped between the generators and transfer plants accounts for eleven targets, leaving only one generator standing. (Although the F-15Es contest this, claiming collateral damage from their own bombing had already destroyed one of the transfer plants and damaged the others.) The last stick of Mk 84s, aimed at the power lines, misses to the right, causing heavy damage to the towers, but leaving them standing. Their open structure is apparently quite resistant to blast and frag damage. (Normally you would aim across a linear feature at a slight angle, to avoid misses like this, but in this situation I want absolutely no part of the bomb string pointing anywhere remotely near the reactor, so this is the result.)
The F-15Es complete the bombardment of the area, and a combination of heavy and light LGBs are dropped from the complete safety of high altitude, on trajectories which do not point towards the reactor. Systematic destruction follows, and the careful choice of aimpoints leaves the facilities in ruins, while the reactor is still intact.
STRIKE – PHASE 3, FORDOW & NATANZ
The other two target sites are considerably smaller than Arak, and in both cases their “hot” nuclear facilities are well buried, so collateral damage is less of a concern.
A single flight of F-15Es is sent to Fordow, arriving at 2145Z, and it manages to account for most of the aimpoints with heavy LGBs. Several bombs malfunction, unfortunately, so the reserve flight has to be called in from Arak, and they finish off the targets without difficulty. No enemy fighters interfere, and I suspect the loss of their AEW plane means they don’t have good contacts on us. There is a Rapier SAM at Fordow, but it is completely incapable of engaging the incoming weapons, so it is bombed and destroyed on the way out, as a matter of principle.
Natanz is assigned two flights of F-15Es, one with heavy LGBs and the other with light LGBs, arriving at 2150Z. Unlike Fordow, our strike on Natanz does attract enemy attention, and an intermittent string of F-14s take off from nearby Khatami. Fortunately, they’re only appearing one at a time, and we have four F-15s on station to repel them. The Iranian missiles do outrange ours, but while one of our planes is turning and outrunning the incoming weapon, the other three can close in and engage the enemy, so the F-14s are shot down without loss. Meanwhile our F-15Es destroy their assigned aimpoints, as well as the Rapier here too. (It would be rude not to.)
The HARM-carrying F-16s overwatching Natanz ask for permission to engage some of the radars down at Khatami, where an SA-10, two SA-11s, and a surveillance radar have been detected. It’s tempting, but probably wouldn’t cause any decisive damage, so the request is denied. Better to save the missiles for later.
HOMEWARD BOUND
The strike is complete by 2215Z, with all aimpoints reported destroyed, and our long string of aircraft turn and head west for the tankers and home. Some F-15Es, with plenty of gas left and all their AA missiles still unused, form a rearguard, escorting the strike to safety. Two last brave MiG-21 pilots take off from Kermanshah as the retiring strike passes by, but the response is swift, and they are shot down within a few miles of their base.
By 2300Z, all our planes have crossed the border back into Iraqi airspace. Some (primarily the F-16s) need to pause at the tankers, but many have enough fuel to head directly back to Cairo. The bombers top up, and prepare for the excruciatingly long trip back to the continental USA, and I bring the scenario to a close. HQ seems pleased with the result, and it’s time to focus on the next mission.
Thanks for another fine scenario.
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