Northern Fury 4: A Cold and Lonely Place - a CMANO AAR

Started by Airborne Rifles, July 18, 2015, 03:14:31 PM

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Airborne Rifles

This scenario takes place starting at 1300 on the second day of WWIII, 14 February 1994. See my other two AARs for some of the back story and the events that occurred around the North Cape on the first day. Bottom line, the Soviets have established air superiority over northern Norway and the Red Banner Northern Fleet, including two Kuznetsov-class CVs, two Kirov-class battlecruisers, two Kiev-class carriers, and a strong amphibious group have broken out into the Norwegian Sea, destination unknown (for the sake of the storyline, I don't think the subs on X-Ray station were supposed to have sunk any of the Russian capital ships, so for this story I'm pretending that that didn't happen). Keflavik on Iceland was hit and put out of action by a massive submarine-launched missile attack. 

The Norwegian-owned volcanic island of Jan Mayen lies north of the arctic circle in the Norwegian Sea between Greenland, Iceland, and Norway. It boasts a population of 18 who are outnumbered two to one by the platoon of Norwegian signal troops who man and operate the radar and tracking array there. On the first day of the war the Norwegian Minister of Defense (recall the King and Prime Minister were killed in a terrorist attack yesterday) ordered a C-130 to fly to Jan Mayen and deliver a small group of ground crewmen who would operate four F-5A Freedom Fighters and a P-3 Orion who also arrived at the island's airfield, Jan Mayensfeld. If the Russians choose to occupy the island, there is really nothing NATO can do about it at this point. Regardless, the Russians are unlikely to waste amphibious resources on the rock, so any invasion will almost certainly be airborne. To this end, the C-130 also delivered three teams of RBS-70 MANPADS, and a capable Norwegian Army major by the name of Nansen to coordinate the island's defenses. The hope is that the small detachment of fighters and SAMS should come as a nasty surprise to any Russian intruders expecting the island to be abandoned.

Jan Mayen does serve one important purpose for NATO, however. If the Russians come, it will be clear evidence that they intend to try to invade Iceland. Intel indicates that the Soviet's Kiev battle group is nearby. Unknown to Major Nansen, an American submarine, the USS Jacksonville (SSN 699, captained by Commander Dickel) has been dispatched to intercept this group, and the Norwegian Kobben-class diesel boat Sklinna (Kaptein Bulls) is patrolling of Jan Mayen's southeast coast. The signal platoon is at the radar facility, and the three RBS-70 teams are spread around the airfield trying to keep warm in some of the outbuildings, listening to their personal radios for the call to run outside into the arctic day and defend their posts.

To complicate things, the commercial fishing fleet in the area is fleeing southwest under the escort of the Danish coast guard frigate HMDS Vaedderen (F359). There are also some unidentified container ships and a cruise ship whose location are not currently known, Regardless, the forces on Jan Mayen are unable to offer them meaningful assistance.

And that's it. This place is certainly cold, and it's certainly lonely. Let's see what the Russians plan to throw at Major Nansen and his doughty band of missileers, signaleers, fighter jocks, and ASW techs.

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus


Airborne Rifles


The set up at the start. Jan Mayen in the lower right, fishing fleet to the west, USS Jacksonvill to the north, and the Sknlinna just off the southeast coast.



A couple pictures of Jan Mayen...in the summer.

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

Airborne Rifles

Major Nansen sat at the flimsy metal table in the corrugated metal hut at Jan Mayensfeld that served as his provisional HQ for defending the island. The C-130 that had brought him had left him and his small band of reinforcements on this cold rock hours before hours before, and he was beginning to feel the loneliness of the place. The Hurc had also dropped off enough ordnance for his four F-5s to conduct six sorties with air-to-air Sidewinders and two sorties with the radio-guided AGM-12B Bullpup air-to-ground missiles. It wasn't much, but he was hoping that it would come as an unpleasant surprise for any Russians who wanted to venture his way. His three MANPAD teams each had five missiles a piece as well to deter any low-level intruders.


(Norwegian Air Force F-5A Freedom Fighter)

He went over the plan he had just briefed to the air crew and to the platoon leader and platoon sergeant of the ground troops before sending them all to their posts. The plan for the defense of his rock reflected his scarce resources. Four nearly obsolete fighters was nowhere near enough to keep a CAP over the island at all times, especially in this brutal arctic weather. Instead, one pilot would sit in his cockpit on five minute notice to take off and vector to any incoming threat. The LORAN-C radar that was the whole point of defending the island should give them enough warning of any incoming bogeys, provided they didn't come in supersonic...Besides, keeping a fighter in the air might ruin the surprise. The RBS-70 teams were arrayed around the airfield with orders to engage only low-flying transports in case the Russians tried an airborne assault, and the P-3 crew were in pre-flight check. They would take off in about thirty minutes and start sweeping the seas around the island with their radar. Before he'd left Bodo he'd received a message from J2 saying that the Kiev could be somewhere to the north. What was he supposed to do about that? Well, he could only worry about what he could effect.

He didn't have to wait long past 1300 to deal with his first crisis. The LORAN-C radar picked up to small contacts due north of the island at a range of about 150 kilometers, moving south at 480 kts.

"Order the ready fighter up," said Nansen.

Moments later the twin-engine F-5A roared up the gravel runway and rotated up into the deep blue arctic winter sky, then banked and turned north. The pilot, a junior captain who had been assigned to lead the four-ship element sent to Jan Mayen the previous day, was embarking on his first combat sortie. He and his fellow pilots had missed the brutal combat over northern Norway on the previous day in which more than a few of the captain's close friends had been either killed or gone missing. Add to that the cowardly and shocking terrorist attack that had killed the king along with much of the parliament and the prime minister, and the captain was more than ready to strike back at the Russians. Whoever these bogeys were, if they had red stars painted on, he was going to splash them, he had no doubt about that. But first he had to find them.

The F-5A has no radar, so the young captain was receiving direction from the LORAN-C radar on the island. This sensor had the drawback of only being 2D, meaning that the ground controllers could give him a distance and direction to the incoming contacts, but not an altitude. A light layer of high clouds at about 7,000 meters meant that he would have to search two strata of the sky. He decided to stay below the cloud layer while ascending to just below the cloud layer on an off-bearing approach to the bogeys, then if he didn't see them he would climb up through the clouds, reverse course, and come up on the intruders' tails.

The lone F-5A streaked north, the captain scanning the skies in front f him, seeing nothing. Eventually he leveled out at just under 6,000 meters. The ground controllers vectored him around behind the incoming bogeys, who were now obviously on a course for the meteorology station at the southwest end of the airfield. As the F-5A settled into a southerly course, the captain also ascended through the wispy clouds. His jet passed through the top layer of white and the captain's eyes immediately locked onto two gray and white painted fighter-sized objects three kilometers in front and several thousand meters above him.

He continued to climb, and shortly radioed back to Jan Mayenfeld, "they're Forgers, Yak-38s. Tallyho."


(RUssian Yak-38 Forger)

Just as the ground controllers received this report, they picked up another pair of incoming bogeys behind the first element, though these ones hadn't been detected until much closer to the island.

Rising to 10,000 meters, the captain closed with the two Russian VTOL aircraft until he could make out the green bombs slung underneath their stubby wings. They obviously weren't expecting enemy fighters in the area. He lined up one in his sights, waited for the warble that told him his Sidewinder had locked on, then squeezed the trigger. His first missile leapt off the rails, but he didn't watch it. The captain was already putting his sights onto the second Russian jet. He quickly launched his second missile of the engagement. This time he did watch. The two white smoke trails covered the two kilometers of distance quickly. Neither Russian pilot even knew he was under attack. The trailing Forger exploded first, tumbling out of the sky. Just as the second pilot was looking back to see what had suddenly happened to his wingman, the second missile struck, shredding his aircrafts wings from the body. He managed to eject as his plane disintegrated around him, but as his parachute opened above he quickly realized that his fate in an open raft on the Arctic ocean in February would not be pleasant, no matter what happened.

The Norwegian captain had little time to celebrate. As soon as he saw the second Yak start to tumble into through the clouds he began asking for a vector to the second pair of bogeys. They were now closer than the first, on a heading for the LORAN-C radar site. The ground controllers told him to descend, banking on the analysis that this pair was at low altitude since they had been detected later.

The captain swung his fighter in a wide loop to bring himself behind the bogeys, then dove through the clouds. By this point the contacts were within 30 kilometers of the island. If they were able to hit the radar site then the whole mission of the garrison of Jan Mayen would be essentially moot. As he passed beneath the clouds he spotted two light-colored shapes flying at low-altitude above the dark ocean. More Forgers. Kiev couldn't be far off. These jets had short legs, especially when carrying any sort of ordnance.

Once again, the captain lined up the trail Yak in his sights and squeezed the trigger. Another Sidewinder streaked away. He lined up the second Russian and squeezed again. This time nothing happened. His fourth and last missile had malfunctioned. The captain cursed as his third Sidewinder blew a third Russian jet out of the sky, and pushed his throttles forward to close to gun range with the sole survivor.

He closed to within several hundred meters, and squeezed off a long burst from his 20mm cannon. Just a he did so, however, the Russian pilot, finally realizing his peril, banked right, and the shell and tracers missed. The Norwegian turned with him. At this low altitude the Russian's ability to evade was close to nil, and the captain lined up a second burst that peppered the Russian's canopy. The Yak abruptly yawed right, which caused it to dive and cartwheel into the sea. Elated, the captain pulled up and began climbing. He was out of missiles and down to half of his cannon ammo, but he had killed four Russians in the span of five minutes. He was almost an ace!

With no more threats showing on their radars, the ground crew ordered the captain to land and rearm.

Airborne Rifles

Over 100 miles to the northwest, the Danish ocean patrol frigate HMDS Vaedderen was trying to shepherd a large group of commercial fishing vessels out of the way of the oncoming Russian fleet, wherever it was. This mission was a tall order for a single vessel. The Vaedderen could barely defend herself against a sophisticated opponent, much less defend anyone else. Not that any of the fishing trawlers were likely to be a target for a Russian missile or torpedo anyway, but that didn't really make her captain feel any better. His ship's heaviest armament was a single 76mm gun compliment by two 40mm Bofors mounts. He was in fact better equipped to take part in the last world war as opposed to this one. And now he had a problem.

The Vaedderen had been operating under EMCON except to send terse radio signals to the fishing fleet to guide them southward. Minutes before his ECM crew had picked up a single airborne radar of a type he had not previously seen. Vaedderen was familiar with these waters and had seen Russian maritime patrol aircraft aplenty. This was not one of those. As the Danish crew watched, the source of the strange, short-ranged air-to-air and air-to-ground radar approached the fishing fleet, descended, and flew low over the northern-most fishing vessel. Soon the fisherman was on the radio excitedly saying that it had been a Russian fighter jet.

"That doesn't make sense," puzzled the captain. "Kiev is supposed to be nearby, but she should just have Forgers onboard. Those don't have radars. The big Russian carriers couldn't have gotten here yet. That's what you get for relying on amateurs for information"

A few minutes later the strange solitary bogey descended again towards a second fishing trawler, buzzing this one at low altitude as well. Soon a second civilian captain was on the radio, saying the same as the first. It had been a Russian fighter. Yes, he was sure, he had seen the red star on the wing. Did the navy think he was blind?

"Sir," the XO said, "we got word yesterday that the second Russian carrier was at sea when it should have still been in drydock. Maybe the rushed their new VTOL aircraft into service as well?"

"Hmm...that makes sense," said the captain. "If it's true then that's bad news for us."

The Russian aircraft, uninterested in the fishing vessels, turned towards the next blip on its radar screen. As luck would have it, this was the Vaedderen.

"Sir, the bogey is heading towards us," reported the sensor crew.

The Russian aircraft was indeed their new VTOL aircraft, the Yak-141, NATO reporting name Freestyle, which had been rushed into production and service aboard the Soviet helicopter carriers in the build-up to the outbreak of hostilities. It possessed a short-range radar and was an order of magnitude more dangerous than the stubby Forgers. This particular pilot's mission was to recon the sea lanes in front of the oncoming Kiev to ensure no enemy surface units were hiding in and among the commercial ships.


(Yak-141 Freestyle)

The Vaedderen was at battle stations as the Russian jet came on. At a few kilometers range the Russian ascended and banked away, having apparently identified the Danish warship.

"Let us see what he has to throw at us," muttered the Vaedderen's captain.

They didn't have long to wait. The Yakovlev jet continued banking until it had come around once again on a course directly for the Danish ship at a range of ten kilometers. The two objects detached from under its wings and ignited.


(Kh-31 missile)

The Kh-31 missile (NATO reporting name AS-17 Krypton) was a tactical radar homing anti-ship missile with a speed of Mach 3.5. Two had been targeted on the Vaedderen by the Russian pilot. Fortunately for the Danes, one missile malfunctioned immediately after launch, swerving away 90 degrees to the left and streaking away to nowhere. The second missile, however, bored in. Vaedderen's main and secondary armament hammered away with the rhythmic crack of the 76mm cannon and the rapid pounding of the Bofors, but the chances of hitting the speeding missile over open sights was almost nil. Not of the shells or shrapnel connected. Just as the missile was beginning its terminal dive, the Vaedderen's captain ordered two chaff rockets launched. These exploded into clouds of reflective metal strips around the small warship, confusing the missile. The Kh-31 struck the water several hundred meters behind the ship, and the Danish crew let out a collective sigh of relief.

They had little time to celebrate, however. The Russian jet was following its missiles in with the intent of strafing the enemy vessel. The 76mm and Bofors resumed their hammering, again to little effect. The Soviet pilot streaked by without firing and pulled his fighter into a sharp turn to bring his aircraft to bear once more on the frigate.

This time, as the Yak-141 approached, a lucky shell from the 76mm gun exploded just to the side of the canopy. The explosion and shrapnel actually caused very little damage, but the Russian pilot, flying at wave-top level for his gun run, jerked his stick to the side, then corrected too late. one wing struck the water, and the jet tumbled violently in an explosion of white salty froth.

The Vaedderen's firing ceased immediately. Her crew could hardly believe their luck. They were completely un-equipped to deal with a modern aerial threat, and yet they had survived a missile attack and destroyed their attacker.

Vaedderen's captain, not wanting to press his luck, immediately ordered the ship to full speed and plotted a course southeast.   


Airborne Rifles

Back at Jan Mayenfeld, Major Nansen was dealing with a renewed and more dangerous threat to his post. A message had come in from J2 at Akershus fortress that a Russian container ship, the SKR Azov, was attempting to transit south in the confusion of the fleeing fishermen and merchantmen. This particular Soviet container ship had been modified with a helicopter landing pad and was reported to be carrying barges and a marine landing force, destination unknown. Nansen didn't want to know how they gotten that intel. Regardless, J2 was passing along that if they located the Azov they were to do what they could to damage or sink her. That was a tall order, given that his air-to-surface arsenal consisted of exactly four obsolescent Bullpup missiles with inadequate warheads.

Nansen ordered the commander of his lone P-3, whose crew was busy on the frigid gravel tarmac preparing their aircraft for an ASW mission, to sweep the ocean around Jan Mayen with his radar once he was airborne and to investigate visually any unidentified surface contacts.

Of more immediate concern were the six contacts in close formation that had just appeared on his technicians' radar screen approaching from the northeast.

Nansen ordered his second ready F-5A to launch. The first was just entering its landing pattern after splashing the four Yak-38s. This aircraft landed and taxied. The captain, despite the cold, opened his canopy and pumped his fist to celebrate his four victories, the stopped as the second F-5A roared past him and rotated up into the dark blue sky. This second pilot, also a young captain, was no less eager than his commander to hurt the Russians who had attacked his country.

He headed northeast, staying below the clouds, and guided by directions from the ground radar station. Just as he closed with the formation of intruders he ascended, passed through the clouds...and found himself passing through the middle of a formation of Tu-16 Badger jet bombers.

He flashed upwards, right the through the middle of the surprised Soviet air crews, the banked hard and dove onto their tails, loosing one Sidewinder after another. The enemy formation was just crossing over the coat of Jan Mayen on a course for their airfield. The Norwegian watched with satisfaction as three of the bombers crumpled, their wings folding in on themselves with gouts of flame exploding from their fuel tanks. Then he cursed. His fourth missile had malfunctioned, streaking off towards the dim winter sun. He closed and walked a stream of cannon shells into a fourth bomber, but the surviving two were already disgorging their bomb loads over the island. The captain watched in horror as two sticks of green bombs fell through the clouds towards his temporary home.

Major Nansen didn't have any warning of the bombs descending towards the airfield. He caught sight of black objects falling through the clouds with just enough time to throw himself on the ground and shout a warning to the other people in the warming shack with him. 

The Russians, thrown off by the savage and unanticipated attack, and also bombing blind, had released their bomb loads with under less than ideal conditions. One stick fell into the lagoon to the southeast of the narrow neck of the island. The other stick fell somewhat more accurately, straddling the north end of the runway and causing shrapnel damage to one of the fuel tanks, but thankfully not igniting it.

The Russian bombers turned east and pushed their throttles to the max to escape. The Norwegian F-5A's pilot had expended his remaining cannon ammunition at this point and could do nothing to impede their escape. Nansen, relieved that his post had survived yet another attack, ordered him to land.

"Well," said Major Nansen, "I guess that means their coming. The would not have bombed us for the fun of it. And next time, they will know that we have more here than a few radar technicians..."

mirth

That's one lucky Danish frigate.
"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

Airborne Rifles

#10
Quote from: mirth on July 29, 2015, 08:24:06 AM
That's one luck Danish frigate.

Tell me about it! Just wait until you hear about a later engagement. The crew of that boat should all buy lottery tickets.

(Just a note about the die rolls, the 76mm shell that took out the Yak-141 had a 1% chance of hit, and the computer rolled a 1)

Sir Slash

That'd get you shot in Vegas. Or maybe a trip to see desert along "Wit De Freakin Wize-Guys".
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

mirth

Quote from: Airborne Rifles on July 29, 2015, 10:13:17 AM
Quote from: mirth on July 29, 2015, 08:24:06 AM
That's one luck Danish frigate.

Tell me about it! Just wait until you hear about a later engagement. The crew of that boat should all buy lottery tickets.

(Just a note about the die rolls, the 76mm shell that took out the Yak-141 had a 1% chance of hit, and the computer rolled a 1)

It's better to be lucky than good.
"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

Airborne Rifles

About this time, a second Yak-141 was making its short take-off role from the Kiev and heading southwest to try to accomplish what the first Yak-141 pilot had astonishingly failed to do: sink the exposed and under-armed Danish patrol frigate Vaedderen.

The Vaedderen's crew. still operating under EMCON, detected the oncoming Russian jet by the Yakovlev's short-range radar emissions some several dozen miles out and the captain ordered the ship to action stations. They didn't have long to wait. The Freestyle pressed in until its captain was sure of his target. He then targeted and launched his two Kh-31 missiles at the nearly defenseless ship. This time both missiles acquired their target and began their terminal attack dive at the ship. Once again the Vaedderen's meager guns pounded away at the air in a vain attempt to knock the supersonic missiles down.

At the last second, the Vaedderen's captain once again ordered chaff rockets launched. Two shot out of the ships launchers and exploded, enveloping the vessel in a cloud of reflective metal strips. One of the missiles lost its lock and streaked over the Danish vessel's deck at an altitude of several hundred feet, eventually impacting the water several kilometers beyond. The second missile's radar maintained a weak lock on the frigate and continued to dive. Time stood still for the Vaedderen's crew as those on deck all watched the small object that was tormenting them come on. Many forgot to duck as the weapon closed the last few hundred meters...and impacted the water just 15 meters short of the ship, exploding on impact and showering the Vaedderen in frigid water and white salty foam.

The Danish Captain, who had been cringing as he anticipated the destruction of his small ship, let out a long, ragged breath as he realized that he had somehow managed to evade yet another attack with his vessel unscathed. This sort of luck couldn't possible last.


Back at Jan Mayensfeld, the island's lone P-3 finally bumped down the gravel runway and lifted off into the sky on its dual mission of using radar to scan the waters around the island and then to begin laying sonar buoys to try detect any transiting Soviet subs. The aircraft banked north and began to climb as the radar technician energized his powerful search radar. The sensor immediately began detecting numerous contacts to the north and northwest.

The contacts to the northwest the P-3's crew knew to be vessels of the fleeing fishing fleet and their weak Danish escort. What interested them initially were those they saw to the north. First they picked up a lone surface contact moving southwest at fifteen knots. This would need to be investigated as possibly being the Russian container ship Azov. More interesting contacts began to appear about 120 kilometers beyond this solitary vessel. Seven blips were arranged with six in a rough circle around two larger blips in the middle. This could only be the Kiev battle group, as no other contacts would have been close enough to launch the Forgers that the island's fighters had splashed earlier.

Additionally, the Orion's passive sensors were picking up radar emissions from several ASW helicopters around the formation as well as two more Yak-141s that seemed to be pulling CAP over the vessels.

The Orion's crew flew towards the lone southernmost contact and managed to  identify it as a large tanker through their binoculars. This contact, at least, as not the Azov. Not wanting to get any closer to the enemy battle group and its CAP, the P-3's pilot banked his aircraft and headed southeast to sweep the seas to the east of Jan Mayen. He was rewarded with two further contacts to investigate, one to the northeast and one to the east of the island, both moving southwest at 15 knots. The P-3 flew to the northernmost contact first and descended to visually identify. The crew quickly realized that the vessel matched the description of the Russian container ship Azov, and the helicopter deck rigged amidships confirmed her as the enemy in sheep's clothing. The P-3's commander radioed back to Major Nansen to report that he had located the sneaky Russian.

Upon receiving the news, Nansen ordered one of his two Bullpup-armed F-5As to launch and vector towards the vessel, and to attack it. Minutes later the third Freedom Fighter roared down the gravel strip and rotated into the sky, maintaining a low altitude and northeast course towards the Azov.

The lone F-5A closed the distance to the Russian container ship rapidly, and once the pilot had the vessel in sight high launched both of his radio-guided AGM-12Bs at it. The weapons dropped free, and one immediately malfunctioned, turned south a flew off on a vector to nowhere. Cursing, the Norwegian pilot guided his remaining missile into the medium-sized Soviet container ship. The Bullpup impacted directly amidships and exploded, but its 250lb warhead was far too small to be fatal to the large cargo ship. The most serious damage occurred when the explosion punctured the fuel tanks of the diminutive W-3 Anakonda utility helicopter that had been tethered to the jury-rigged flight deck and ignited the spilling fuel, causing a fire that belched black smoke into the frigid air as the on-board naval infantry battled to control the damage.

The F-5's pilot flew close enough to confirm that his attack had not been fatal, then reversed course and ascended to pull CAP over the island with his remaining cannon ammunition.

Back at the airfield, Major Nansen, disappointed with the outcome of his attack, ordered his second AGM-12B-armed F-5A into the air. This one too took off and maintained a northeast course to the stricken Russian vessel, locating it easily because of the oily black column of smoke rising from the burning helicopter. He lined up and launched both of his own missiles, and watched as both flew true towards the ship. The Russian captain had luck of his own, however, and a last minute radical course change caused both Bullpups to miss, though one impacted the water only ten yards from the Azov, peppering the ship's steel hull with shrapnel. With that, the entire air-to-surface arsenal on Jan Mayen had been expended, to little effect.

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus