SimHQ.com - Air Combat Zone - Feature: South of the Border

It does seem like a long time indeed since I took to the skies, to bring justice to the mujahid, no? Ah, you see! I take myself too seriously after all, for it has been too long since we spoke. We have been busy here at Sochi, you know. I have had a chance to fly a new jet for the Rodina, and you will find out all about it. And I am a captain, now, as is Vasily! Our promotions were long overdue. After all, I have been six years out of Academy now and it is five since Ethiopia, my first combat assignment, soon after which I was promoted Senior Lieutenant. So I am now Sniper Pilot, Captain Alexandra Andreeva! But we have been busy, and our armed forces have gone through a time of great turmoil these past few years.

You know, of course, that we have been fighting over Abkhazia, which in Soviet times was an autonomous region within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. And the fight goes on. It is autumn now in Russia, and when you see the pictures Vasily took on our mission you will see a subtle difference in the color of the land, not the verdant green of summer anymore. We have spent these last several weeks training on the new aircraft brought to us by our masters in Moscow, the Su-25T. No, no, my friends, we will not be converting to the Rook, after all we are an IAP, a fighter regiment. What we are doing, however, is obtaining mission-specific aircraft to handle those missions our MiG fighters are not good at, such as precision strikes, and anti-radar missions. And a detachment of our sister regiment, the 588th OShAP, known as the “Night Witches,” is here too and we will fly with them from time to time. The Rook’s tank-killer version has such capability, thanks to its Shkval video system and the Fantasmagoriya ETS pod. Our 9-13 MiGs are not capable of using these advanced targeting systems.

And our Commander had another surprise for Vasily and I, as we sipped bitter Turkish arrack in his office last afternoon. The V-VS high command fears the return of Iranian aircraft to the theater. In a recent mission by the 503rd, Alexei and Dmitri apparently tangled with another of the Mirages. The 9-13 is a wonderful aircraft, but for serious interceptor work one must turn either to the American Eagle, or our own Crane. There are only five Eagles with us now, and they cannot be everywhere. They have been largely detailed to protect Captain Scarlet, our eye in the sky from the NATO powers. So, Vasily, the Commander, myself, and another of our pilots will soon go to the storage at Sevastopol and retrieve our Cranes from there for use in air patrols! I am joyous at this, I miss my old friend greatly. He was built in 1987, one of the first Su-27S models the V-VS received, and I have flown him since I trained the Ethiopians, you see. His N-001 radar is old and has not the two-target engagement capability that the post Batch-18 Cranes have, but it is yet strong and if well used, he is dangerous still. You will see. But not today.

The Commander brought me back to Earth in a hurry, passing over a clipboard with a dark and foreboding look in his grey eyes. I read, and swallowed, for it indeed held dark portents.

“A new outrage has been perpetrated by Muqtadeh and his cronies. Look here.”

The Commander pulled down the hanging map on his wall and picked up a laser pointer.

“You see here the tactical situation. The 41st Guards Tank Division and the Georgian forces hold northern Abkhazia, more or less from the Gumista river north. Gudauta city is well-garrisoned, but these motherless fiends mingle with the population and set off bombs, and fire mortars at random. They have made Gudauta airbase untenable, and for this reason 433 Squadron is now based with us, here at Sochi, and the Georgian Su-25s have been moved to Tbilisi. A battalion of Georgian marines now holds the airbase, to keep the field open for use as a divert airstrip, but for our safety and the aircraft as well, we will operate from Sochi, on Russian soil.”

The Commander paused to light a cigarette. He drew deeply, thinking for a moment.

“Now, as you have read on that communiqué we received this morning, the mujahids, curse them, have taken this as a sign and are celebrating by declaring a new emirate, the Islamic Emirate of Abkhazia. And they have closed the north-south highway at the Gumista river bridge, here. Near the airbase. We will not let that stand, Sacha, Vasily. The road must be opened. We will open it.”

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The Commander handed a sheaf of photographs to Vasily, who leafed through them and passed them to me. “It seems simple enough, sir. This is a roadside checkpoint. We will bomb it?”

“Da. But as always when dealing with the IRLF dogs, there is more. Our friends from Iran and Syria are ever active in stirring up trouble and smuggling in arms. They get in despite our best efforts, we think through Azerbaijan for the vehicles. The Georgians do not wish our help in sealing their porous borders; our soldiers in Abkhazia have them nervous enough. And so the IRLF have yet another of the ZSU-23/4 mobile guns, that seem to fall upon them like the manna that Orthodox priests say fell upon the Israelites.”

The Commander’s lean, ascetic face wore a most sarcastic expression. Like my father, he too secretly longs for the old Soviet Union.

I broke in, placing the photo of the checkpoint on the Commander’s coffee table.

“But they are too overconfident, sir! See here, how the ZSU gun is parked inside this courtyard, closely surrounded by the checkpoint’s buildings. For maintenance? We should advantage ourselves of this.”

Vasily, ever the air-to-ground specialist, nodded.

“I agree, sir. We should use the new Rooks for this. And attack first with the Shkval, using either optical or laser weapons. Not the Vikhr, but larger weapons, to demolish the buildings as well as immobilize the gun platform. We will do what Colonel Martin calls the “Shock and Awe” approach. See, this BTR-70 also has a large 14.5mm gun, and we can expect our foes to have infrared SAMs as well, from the old Iraqi stocks looted by the Shi’ites during the Iraq invasion.”

“There is one more thing,” said the Commander, nodding in approval.

"Look at this. Here, across the Gumista, is an IRLF supply point. It is the place where their convoys have been going in this region, Sacha, you bombed one coming from there some weeks ago, when you and Vasily struck the local radio station. Two large bunkers, and a communications center of some kind, are here. These will be your secondary targets; once the AA gun and the checkpoint are finished, strike these. If either holds ammunition, the explosion will be... 'satisfying'.”

We drove to the meteorologist’s office to receive our briefing, and Kolya as usual was all smiles, as sunny as the day outside. We would have good weather, with minimal turbulence and clouds in the sky to hide us from observation on the ground, if we chose to use them. We went to the flight-line from there, to pick our armament. At the depot, we had the good fortune to meet Alexei and Dmitri from the 503rd, as I discussed our armament choices with Gennedy, who often works the ammunition section when he is not arming Alexei and Dmitri for their missions. Of course, I had a hug for Alexei, and we chatted a bit before he carried on with his mission. They showed me their modified Su-33 last week, and it is marvelous! I missed my faithful Su-27 even more after that and I am glad he will be home soon. We will have dinner tonight together, when Vasily and I get back from Abkhazia again.

“If I did not know better, I would think something was still going on with you and your peacock there, Sacha.”

“Are you still jealous, Vasily Ivanovich?” I could not help but giggle. “Your eyes are green…”

“Nyet.” Vasily made a dismissive gesture and tossed his flight bag into the GAZ jeep. “They are fine pilots, indeed, but I think he trifles with your affections. I wrote to Sergei…”

I interrupted at that. “You and Sergei have been trying to run my life since Komsomol! When Pavel and I were close, you remember? You should be more concerned for Alexei!”

Vasily slid in and punched the starter button. “Just so. You are too impetuous, Sacha. You need a stable influence in your life, Sergei Dimitrievich and I, we agree on this.”

“You, perhaps? Ha!” I turn in mock severity. This is an old game with us. My brother and Vasily were schoolmates. We were in Komsomol, the Soviet youth organization, before the Party lost control of our country. I am a little older than they, and for a time in grade school I was close with another of our friends, Pavel, who is a tank gunner now with Sergei in Yugoslavia. We joke that Pavel was my first boyfriend, though at that age I had other things on my mind; though, we were involved for a time later, before I went to the air force academy in St. Petersburg. Vasily was jealous then, too, I bet…I hope Pavel and Sergei are well.

On the flight-line, I surveyed the aircraft. This Su-25T is to us what the American A-10 is to the Western powers. His prowess in the air to ground battle is unsurpassed. He has the Sukhogruz infrared jammer in his tail, which will fox the IRLF shoulder-fired SAMS, and his Shkval laser/optical targeting system is combat-proven all over the world. He can carry all our latest munitions. I have chosen a mixed loadout for this flight. I will carry two Zvezda Kh-29T optical-guided missiles, a pair of S-25L 280mm laser-guided rockets, and free-fall munitions-two 100kg bombs and two of the unifed containers of small loads-the KMGU-2, loaded with PTAB bomblets to scatter over the Sheikh’s men like deadly rain. To protect myself from the ZSU’s radar, I will load the MPS-410 twin jammer. I would prefer the SPS-141 for this application, as it only takes one station, but Vasily recommended the newer system. I also select two R-73 missiles in case we are bounced, as the Americans say, by Muqtadeh’s Iranian allies.

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“Sochi departure, Angel 1 flight of two ready to taxi, IFR with information Foxtrot, flight plan as filed.”

Did you know that we operate from the international airport of what is, after all, a resort city on the Black Sea? Our President, Vladimir Vladimirovich, he was here, just some weeks ago, on his vacation. He recently was re-elected to lead us. We even have a Marriott hotel, downtown, it is where Uncle Grigoriy and I met. They have a casino, but I do not gamble. Uncle Grigoriy does, though, and he is very good at the chemin-de-fer.

“Angel 1 cleared for takeoff. Contact Captain Scarlet on 121.9 when you pass the outer marker.”

The Su-25T is very different to handle on the takeoff run than you may be used to. The problem, even with a balanced loadout, is that it has a large 30mm twin-barrel GSh cannon just offset to the left. There is really no way to compensate for this. Due to the cannon, the aircraft will tend to pull to the left during takeoff and landing. It takes all my concentration to keep him on the straight and narrow during the takeoff run. Soon, though, I smoothly rotate off the runway at 280 kph and retract landing gear. Landing speed in the Su-25T is a sedate 250 kph, and if one follows the two circles of the ILS system, keeping the small circle centered inside the large one, and keeps her speed carefully at what it should be as indicated on the HUD, landing is a snap! The Rook is balanced and handles very well on the approach. It responds slowly to throttle input, and is easy to keep at the appropriate speed. And low-speed handling is generous and smooth. But before we concern ourselves with the landing, we must first survive the day.

Gudauta is seventy kilometers away or so. It is but a short hop. I contact the AWACS, Captain Scarlet, and am cleared onto the range.

“Angel 1, fence check.”

We have taken many habits from the Americans who are with us, including our comms discipline now. The A-10 and F-15 crews, led by Colonel Martin, have influenced us greatly. They are in large part our advisors now. We have learned that Soviet-era tactics did not come without their price. Our Commander is determined that we shall learn all we can from our former enemies, while we still are friends. One does not know who one can trust, tomorrow.

Vasily reports all is well. We pass over Gantiadi, where the Buk SAM battery hides with the headquarters of the 41st Division. It registers on the SPO-15LM receiver by my right knee, in its accustomed place, the same as in the MiG or Crane I usually fly. It is good to be in another of Sukhoi’s fighters again, even if it is what you would call a “mud mover” rather than my beautiful Crane. But now, to business.

“Angel 1, IP.”

“1-2, running in.”

“Roger. Music on.”

We activate our radar and IR jamming gear. The Rook is most survivable on the modern battlefield. The MPS-410 or SPS-141, combined with the Sukhogruz, make us hard to see by air defense systems. And now, it is time.

I select zem-lya mode, the air-to-ground submode. Unlike the basic Su-25, the Su-25T is advanced and has many of the submodes familiar to those of you who have flown our fast jets such as the Crane. The T version has all the same navigation modes, FIO mode for missile combat in the air, the air to ground zem-lya mode, and the “Setka” grid for when the system is damaged. In air-to-ground mode, I turn the switch on the Shkval and see the IT-23M television display on the right eyebrow panel light up with an optical view of the world in shades of grey. Unlike the Maverick TVM on the excellent A-10, the Su-25T’s monitor can be used all the time, not just when a missile is on board. It is helpful in many ways. We can load the Mercuriy pod for low-light-level work, allowing use of night-vision via the television screen! It is an LLLTV, low-light-level television, an image-intensification device.

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We are close to the roadblock. I thumb the cursor across the HUD, and watch its twin move on the Shkval display. I place it near to the HUD diamond that is the place where we set the location of the Gumista river bridges in the inertial navigation system, and ground-stabilize. The system locks, showing the legend “KC” at the top of the TV screen. Of course, these are Cyrillic letters. You would say “KS,” I think.

“Seventy seconds.” We are close. I can make out the shape of the checkpoint buildings. By my knee, the Beryoza SPO-15LM is ominously beeping, the indicator showing a short-range SAM system in search mode. The gun system, I think.

Now, the Shkval has its target! The grey square suddenly shrinks, and “KS” changes to “AS” at the top of the TV display. The system is now in Attack mode. I have the maximum-minimum range carats on the HUD now, counting down. I have selected the Kh-29T missile for this attack. It is, you would say “fire and forget,” da? When the “Pe-Er” range cue lights, squeeze the “pickle” and the Kh-29T does the rest!

In the display I can also see an ammunition bunker looming across the river. I will fire two missiles on this pass. I launch the first, then thumb the cursor, still ground-stabilized, to the ammunition bunker, and fire again, then bank steeply left, dispensing flares and chaff against any SAMs from the area. And not a moment too soon!

HUD Symbology for the Kh-29T. Vasily calls me, urgency in his voice.

“SAM launch! Two in the air!”

“I see them, Vasily.” Over my left shoulder I see the missiles rising toward me. I carefully turn the Sukhogruz toward them and cut power to my engines. “Hand-held. Possibly an American Stinger.” The missiles, confused by the jammer, lose contact.

“Two. Rifle.” Vasily is launching the laser-guided Kh-29 missiles he carries. The Kh-29 is much like your Maverick type “G,” and like the Maverick in general, has both optical and laser versions. We do not have a solely imaging IR version, however, and this is something that we lobby our arms manufacturing concerns for.

At the site, a BTR-70 armored car and BMP personnel carrier guard the IRLF’s new entry point, along with the ZSU gun. We will show these dogs that this is Georgia, our brotherly republic, and not a terrorist’s fantasy nation. Three Kh-29 missiles explode in deafening cadence, the enemy vehicles burning.

While this was in progress, my lone missile aimed at the ammunition storage seems to have found a place in the sun too! As I wheel north of the site, over Gudauta airbase, I see plumes of smoke and spewing flares, ammunition secondary explosions!

“Vasily, it is an ammuntion storage!”

“Da, and you have cleanly hit it! Have you stores left?”

“Da. I will try for the communications hard-site. Cover me.”

I roll in with rockets armed. These are not like the Hydra free-flight rockets, or our own S-8 or S-13 rockets you may be used to. The S-25L is the bigger, meaner brother of the 280mm S-25 you have seen before. It is laser guided, meaning it is a precision weapon! I have two, and their launch procedure is identical to the optically-launched missiles, with one exception: you have to lock on the Prichal laser illuminator to give the weapon something to home on.

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I center the communications bunker in the Shkval screen and ground-stabilize. Activating the laser, I see in the HUD the sigil “El-Pe,” on the left next to the range indicator. I now have max-min range cues, and the authorized-launch “Pe-Er” symbol follows on the HUD and TV screen both.

As I steady for the launch, again the SAM operators on the ground launch missiles. Coming from the front, these IR missiles have very little signature, and cannot home on the aircraft. The Sukhogruz’s emissions are directed aft like a jet exhaust, and confuse their logic.

There is a great difference in employing missiles like the Kh-29 and rockets like the S-25L. The Kh-29 is transported on the AKU-58 launch rail. It kicks the missile off with two large feet, and the missile drops free before the turbojet ignites for a brief flight.

Rockets are not so subtle. The S-25L blasts free of its tube with a great fire and dramatic roar! I launch both, and unlike with the optical missile I cannot turn too far away lest I lose laser lock! I see impact, and I decide to add insult to injury by loosing the two FAB-100 bombs I carry as I pass.

“No effect! Sacha, the rockets did very little damage! And you’re pitching the bombs long, do not go into Aero mode so low to the ground!”

“Roger.” How did Vasily know I had selected Aeronautical mode on the run-in? I did not have a good CCIP cursor when the bombs came up ready and had to act fast. And the bombs pitched long, impacting just short of the second ammo bunker. Wasted!

Well, I have two KMGU canisters, and I will try them! Though the PTAB munitions will be also wasted against the bunker. Perhaps, though, the napalm-like flames will smoke out the mujahids, like the rats that they so resemble!

I line up for the KMGU drop, coming from the sea. In my HUD, I see flashes from the area of the burned out checkpoint, and between two Mi-8 helicopters on the ammo dump that have miraculously survived this far. More enemy SAMs.

“How many do those cursed thugs have?!”

“You are being impetuous again, Sacha, we are overstaying our welcome here!”

“Yes, yes, my sweet. But first, I must leave the Sheikh a pretty present of PTAB bomblets. Look here, my friends, I have something nice for you….”

When I press the pickle, doors in the KMGU pod slide open, exposing our portable bomb-bay for what it is. Many small bomblets now fall free!

Bomblets

These PTAB bomblets, and the AO-2.5 bombs we also use, date directly from the Great Patriotic War. They were used to line the wings of Ilyushin-2 Sturmovik aircraft, and fell like rain upon the Germans. Now, they fall like rain on the IRLF, and help the mujahids find paradise a little sooner than they had planned. These stitch a nice, neat line from the surviving ammo bunker over the command tower and oops…over the railway bridge to the north too, which now sprouts a merry flame. I hope there are no trains coming.

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“Ha! You will again be named a war criminal for that one, Sacha! You will see!”

I ignore this. It seems that cluster weapons and I do not mix well; this is what happened when I dropped RBK cassettes here in Gudauta onto an IRLF munitions convoy a few months ago. Now, we’re bombing their destination, it seems. Only Muqtadeh would be so vile as to build his storage sites near to civilians, who are right across the railroad tracks and probably are thinking about replacing their windows even now. One more pass to make with PTAB bomblets, and this time I pickle long in Aero mode again, and close my ears to Vasily’s jibes as the bomblets fall into the bunker I’ve already destroyed! He is right, you know. We have stayed too long. But I cannot let those helicopters go, and as I passed over, I thought I could see... the IRLF rocket-technical man!

“Ah ha!”

“And what have you seen, little falcon?”

“Cover me, Vasily. I will strafe those helicopters. Tell me if there is another missile. I wish to draw his fire.”

“You think the SAM is there?”

“One of them. He has had five or six tries at us. Now it is our turn.”

I roll in on the copters, but this time, no missiles! Using my Shkval, I pan across the site as I approach. Are the mujahids out of missiles?

The 30mm cannon shells spark and jump around the Mil helicopters, and as I flash by I see several dead terrorists around them, lit by the flares of secondary explosions from the ammo bunker that continues to burn.

It is easier to kill them when you do not see them die, I think. I shiver a little as I remember the foul-breathed, bearded man at Sukhumi airbase, the one with the beard who pushed me at the waiting Syrian MiG. And I think of Kemal, who saved my life that day. I wonder again if he lives, for we have not heard from him since that day.

“Let us go, Vasily. We have shown enough of the Sheikh’s men the door to Paradise today.”

Fly it! Download the mission file here (24 kb).
Note: this mission is only for LOMAC v1.1.

Download a pdf of this article here (x kb).

System Specs

AMD Athlon 3000+ processor
MachSpeed N2PAP-Lite motherboard with onboard Aureal AC97 sound
PNY Technologies Verto GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
1GB Kingston PC2700 DDR DRAM
Creative 12x CD-ROM
Maxtor 40GB main drive
DirectX Version 9.0a
Windows 2000 with SP4

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