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Feature
What Grrlz Are Made Of
A Lock On: Flaming Cliffs
Mission Report
by Cat
I have
a new call-sign!
I have before remarked on the Americans’
habit of changing their call-signs so often and that they
use them to commemorate embarrassing incidents. This is the
American sense of humor. And I appear to have met this tradition
head-on! This, I blame on my new wingman.
Her name is Shaniqua Deitz, who the
Americans all call “Sugar.” She is from Birmingham,
Alabama. If that raises your eyebrows, that I now have an
American’s wing, I suppose that is because you do not
know that I have taken up my liaison duties to the 27th Fighter
Squadron again, for a time. There are few of the “Fighting
Eagles” from the Langley Air Force Base here at Sochi
with us. Their number has in the past fluctuated between four
and seven.  Their
primary duty has been the safety of Captain Scarlet, the E-3A
that the NATO powers have sent to us to watch the skies. Now,
with the Germans here with their F-4 and MiG-29 9-12 aircraft
that duty is rotating among the interceptor units here. As
the Eagles are now going to be in missions over the Sheikh’s
fledgling Emirate, I returned to help them.
Their color schemes have changed.
Now that the 41st Division’s SAM gunners are used to
seeing the F-15 and have the Americans programmed into their
IFF systems, they have had their candy-stripes taken off and
all are back in the strange grey over light grey air camouflage
that the Americans favor. My 82-711 that I flew last year
is still with them. The Americans still do not totally trust
me and of course this aircraft has now had sensitive, highly
classified equipment like the Link 16 taken out. Of course,
we do know about your Western JTIDS and other wonderful equipment
and we have an equivalent in our own aircraft. Fortunately,
the Americans I fly with have access to the AWACS’ data
feed and so this is not a problem. I have been thoroughly
drilled by my own air force in working with the air controllers
without the aid of such technology, so I will not be seriously
handicapped by the JTIDS’ absence.
After I re-familiarized myself with
your wonderful American Eagle aircraft, I began to fly missions
with Shaniqua over the Emirate. We will maintain air superiority.
We have not seen more of the Mirage aircraft, but Iran and
Syria continue to smuggle in MiG fighters to the IRLF force
at Suhumi and this is a problem. I am continually amazed that
the Georgians cannot stop the enemy aircraft from getting
here! To get to Abkhazia, surely they have to fly over Georgia.
We do have a tense relationship with the Georgians, though;
they fear our influence in this region nearly as much as they
fear the Sheikh.
Today, the mission is a new one for
me! I have not flown dedicated combat air patrol in quite
some time. Our mission in the 586th has been close-air support
and precision strikes on ground targets for the most part.
The Eagles have a briefing room set up in their building here
at the Sochi-Adler international airport. It has a screen
on the wall for Power Point presentations and rows of desks,
like those we had in school. They do mission briefings here.
My own Commander usually attends, though for the present I
report to Major Curtis, who is the 27th Squadron’s detachment
commander.
For this flight, we had two of the
Hornet pilots from 433 Squadron with us and some of the higher
leaders in the coalition force. Among them is a new friend,
Lt. Commander Mark Mitchell of the American Navy. Mark works
with the headquarters staff as a tactical officer and liaison
for the U.S. Navy forces in our region and is on loan from
the “Valions,” one of the Navy Hornet squadrons.
Do you know that I correspond with a U.S. Naval aviator? He
is with the VFA-103, fighting in Iran even now and commands
a squadron of your new Super Hornets. Mark knows him and both
of them are most interested in how 433 Squadron employs its
Hornets here. Mark had a most smug expression on his face
as we gathered and when I asked him about it he almost broke
into laughter! When I asked him what was funny, he could only
look over my shoulder at the Canadian pilots getting cups
of coffee and shake his head.
“You’ll see.”
 A
general officer of the staff entered and someone called us
all to strict attention. This would be our briefer for this
mission. He gave us leave to be seated and the lights dimmed
as he started paging through the Power Point. This apparently
was a much anticipated mission!
“Okay. You all know that we
got run out of the Gudauta airbase last month by IRLF rocket
artillery. We’ve been looking for some payback ever since
and now, our Canadian partners are going to be the ones to
deliver the mail.”
A change of slide, to a photo of the
BM-21 “Grad,” a truck carrying a multiple rocket
launcher.
“This is your target. A platoon
of BM-21 122mm launcher vehicles. They’re set up in a
tree line, couple klicks south of the Gumista river. The coordinates
of this site are in your brief. Simple mission: Search and
destroy.”
The next slide showed an overhead
view of the target site.
“You’ll ingress from
the north, at low altitude. Be on the lookout for MANPADS
in the area. The IRLF are known to carry the SA-16 man-portable
missile system. You don’t want anything coming to you
from Russia, with love.”
That provoked a tense chuckle from
this captive audience and the general winced, then looked
at me.
“No offense, Captain Andreeva.”
“I take none, sir!”
“Okay. 433 Squadron
will be covered by F-15 Charlies from the 27th, Andreeva and
Deitz, right?”
Major Curtis nodded and the
briefing continued.
“You two need to be
on your toes for bandits out of Suhumi. Intel has it that
more MiGs are there, Syrian again and Iranian. They’ll
be inside 25 nautical miles of you at wheels-up if they scramble,
so you won’t be BVR long if that happens. Make the most
of what you’ve got — the far better aircraft and
missiles. God knows how they’re managing to split their
air force like this with the hell the Navy’s giving them
down in Iran right now.”
“Hooooo-AH, sir!”
That brought a smile to the general’s
shadowed face.
“Indeed so, Commander Mitchell.
All right, people. You’re burning daylight.”
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 It
was time for the walk-around. My F-15 is loaded out with an
extra fuel tank, two of the AIM-120 “AMRAAM” missiles,
two Sparrows and four of the Sidewinder-M. I carefully walk
all around him and pull on them to make sure all is tightly
secured to the airframe. This Eagle is even older than my
very own Su-27S, which was built in late 1987 in the 18th
batch. But it is rather more advanced in many ways.
The American aircrew assists me in
strapping into the tight-fitting cockpit. By this time, they
have become used to a Russian flying their prized airplane!
Unlike Lt. Kulikov, here the plane captain is a young enlisted
man, what the Americans call a “senior airman.”
He is very professional and very nice and very knowledgeable
for one so young, not long out of secondary school. I am continually
amazed at the professionalism and initiative of the American
enlisted ranks. I believe this comes from your all-volunteer
force.
I start the engines one after another
and taxi out to follow Sugar to the runway. As I taxi out,
I pass two of 433 Squadron’s Hornets completing their
preflight checks and I see now what it was that Mark Mitchell
found so funny: the Canadian aircraft are carrying external
fuel tanks and on each of them in bold black paint is the
word “Valions”. A good joke, but one I am sure the
Canadians do not see the humor in!
 On
the runway I take the nominal lead and throttle up, feeling
the General Electric engines’ power beneath me. The bird
yearns for the sky, his natural element!
At last we're clear to take off! I
select military power and the Eagle darts toward the end of
the runway. In my mirrors, Sugar lifts off first.
“Y’all stuck to that
runway down there, girlfriend? C’mon, punch it and let’s
get at them terrorist mo-fos!”
Smoothly, I rotate 711’s nose
up. In our air force, we are trained to save reheat for times
of greater need; we do not use it for takeoff. The Americans,
on the other hand, routinely use reheat for takeoff. I believe
that this is in part because of the Americans’ great
proficiency in air refueling. Unlike them, most of our front
line aircraft have no provision for refueling. This is being
corrected in later models of the Su-27 and Su-30 and of course,
the Su-33. I have refueled in the air only a few times. It
is one of the things that we are working on together; even
the way the U.S. Air Force does this is different from ours.
Like the American Navy, we use a probe and basket, rather
than the flying boom the American air force prefers. It is
most tricky to master. I am not proficient-yet. I will have
to become proficient, however. I am told that we may be flying
far to the south, soon, over Georgia and Armenia, to help
the American Navy in its fight against the Iranians! To take
the fight to Iran, that would be something.
We check in with Captain Scarlet as
Colt 1, a flight of two and are cleared to 15,000 feet as
I clear my mind and remember to think in feet rather than
meters. It can be confusing. On my radar sweep, I see jamming
strobes to the right of the scan pattern, a beep from the
Tactical Electronic Warfare System, the TEWS, signifies the
presence of the E-3 aircraft.
 “That
you down there, Sugar?”
The voice is not a controller, it
is from another F-15, on our squadron common frequency. One
of the E-3’s escorts, which is operating its onboard
ECM.
“Roger that. We’s in
the game today.”
“Rog. Get one for us, lucky
girl. We’re still drilling holes in the sky up here.”
We swing south with me in the lead,
clearing the path for the F/A-18s following us, behind and
below our altitude.
“Colt 1, fence check.”
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Into Abkhazia, over the 41st Division
staff at Gantiadi. Gudauta is five minutes south, so close.
We cross over Gudauta airbase and with the Gumista river in
sight Sugar and I begin to curve a lazy circle that will enable
us to cover the Canadian flight. Suddenly, we hear a new,
deep bass voice, over the GUARD distress frequency!
 “Now,
Yankee pigs, we will see what you are made of! Allahu Akbar!
Death to Western infidels!”
“What the hell was that?”
Sugar sounded more exasperated than
apprehensive.
“I am certain that it is the
cursed mujahids, trying to frighten us.”
“Oh, yeah?” Sugar
came up on GUARD herself. “Yo’ mama didn’t
teach you what lil’ grrrlz 'r made of? Lemme ‘splain
it to ya. We’re made of sugar and spice and everything
nice!”
“Colt 1, Captain Scarlet-cut
the chatter!” One of the AWACS controllers, excited.
“Snap 195! Bandit bandit, flight of two, bullseye 095,
range 29 nautical miles, low, hot.”
“I-i-i-i-i-i-i-t’s showtime!”
Sugar sounded excited too.
“You have the lead.”
“Roger.”
I smacked down my tinted visor and
pushed the comm. switch for the E-3.
“Colt 1, request clearance
to target.”
“Colt 1 cleared hot.”
“Roger. Colt 12, master arm
on. Weapons free. Start the music.”
“Two.”
I set the Westinghouse APG-63 radar’s
dedicated display to 20 nautical miles and select TWS mode.
Using the F-15’s excellent hands-on stick and throttle,
I narrow the azimuth scan for faster target updating and thumb
the radar beam down to cover a volume of sky from ground to
approximately 15,000 feet.
“One, what’s your status?”
“I see them now.”
My TEWS is chirping enemy search radar,
identified as the RP-29 radar of two MiG-29s. It is as the
general suspected.
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“Go high to take the leader.
Chainsaw! One, shooter.”
I can hear the Hornets as Sugar and
I set up on the incoming MiGs. They are starting their target
runs!
 “Enfield
11, rifle!”
The Hornets are launching AGM-65 Mavericks
at the three Grad launchers!
“Colt 1, watch our backs.
We’re inbound to target.”
“Roger. Colt 11 engaging bandits.”
I designate both targets. I will release
both my AIM-120s on this pass and thereby force them defensive.
Our ECM is preventing a target lock but knowing the MiGs have
lock-on-jam capability, we must fire and deny them the shot
with an R-27!
“Fox three. Two in the air.”
 “Roger.
Fox one.” Sugar has fired a Sparrow.
The lead Hornet’s Maverick is
on target, as are the two fired by his wingman.
The Canadians are in the process of
a bomb-damage assessment over the mujahid compound, a dangerous
task, as it is shrouded in woods and an air battle is happening
only a couple of miles south of them! I am well inside RTR
now and my AIM-120 missiles are active as they come off the
pylons. I switch to single-target track mode on the wingman
and see him immediately change course.
 “Both
missed on the leader! Fox two, dammit, guns, guns from two!”
The lead MiG-29 is savagely maneuvering!
He forced both the inbound AMRAAM
and the inbound Sparrow to overshoot him. Sugar fires a Sidewinder,
but the MiG pops flares and rolls inverted, pulling across
the missile and forcing it too to miss by mere feet.
In so doing, though, the MiG lead
pilot has placed himself in Sugar’s gunsight. The Vulcan
cannon in her right wing root buzzes angrily and a swarm of
phosphorous tracers reach for the MiG, a Syrian from the same
squadron as the MiG I stole last year, ripping through one
of the horizontal stabilizers!
 The
second MiG is Iranian, as I found out later. It has defeated
my Slammer with a violent maneuver, pitching down and then
up at the last second and forcing the missile to miss low
as it tried to match his angle. He pulls through and commits
a fatal error, I can see the light of his afterburners.
I have a Sidewinder selected, screaming
in my headphones for me to release it. Instead, I maintain
STT lock and fire a Sparrow. So close and with the Iranian’s
energy depleted, he has no hope of evasion.
“Two, fox two!” Sugar
is still engaged with the Syrian, a dogged fighter.
As he explodes, I pull into the vertical,
with full reheat selected. Coming over the top, I am in vertical
scan dogfight mode and still inverted as the APG-63 locks
the Syrian fighter in STT, two miles away and crossing me
at an oblique angle.
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“Two, back off! I have him-fox
one!”
 I
do not want to risk a heat-seeking Sidewinder locking onto
Sugar, who is also downrange, looping in for a head-on pass!
“Oh, hell no, girlfriend!
I’m closer! Guns, guns from two!”
Again, yellow tracer envelops the
enemy fighter, bringing fire and doom for the Syrian pilot.
I see him eject as the MiG drops off my radar.
“Pitbull! Two, watch out!”
 “It’s
cool. That Sparrow’ll go dumb now, less’n y’all’re
FLOODing me!”
To be sure, I “freeze”
the radar, ending all emissions so that the Sparrow will self-destruct.
“Colt 1, picture.”
“Hallo, Destiny Angel! Picture
is clear. Well done!”
It is the British controller,
who I know from previous missions.
“Destiny Angel?!” This
from one of the F-15 escorts, coming up on our squadron common
channel. “NOT! More like Spice! As in ‘Sugar and
Spice and everything nice!’ You baaaad girl, Sugar!”
 “All
right, can it.”
The squadron exec was flying on the
escort mission for Captain Scarlet today.
“Good work, Sugar ‘n
Spice! Now herd those Canucks back home, pronto!”
“Colt 12, join.”
“Roger that.”
 I
can see the orbiting Hornets now, coming in to check target
damage. Sugar’s eyes are sharper, however and she snaps
a warning to the Canadians.
“Enfield 1, Colt 12! Break
left NOW! SAM launch!”
Two enemy missiles leap up
from the ground at the Hornets, as they immediately maneuver
hard to the left and up! I swallow and curse inwardly —
this Eagle has no air-to-ground facility.
“We can strafe the cursed
mujahid with cannon….”
 “Veto!”
Sugar was definite and continued, “It’d feel
good to get our butts in a sling. Those guys can defend themselves
just fine and I wanna be eating real food and not field rations
in a hole someplace hiding from your pals down there tonight.”
“Yes.....”
She is right. The Eagle is an
interceptor, not an attack fighter.
It is time to return home.
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We follow the Canadians in and
are cleared first onto the field. It is an uneventful flight
back to Sochi and it is good as always to see our home again.
And I will have much to explain to my 586th comrades, with
my new call-sign.
I am sure that Vasily, Alexei,
and Dmitri will have much to say about that.
Fly it! Download the
mission file here (x 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 / NVIDIA v66.93 drivers
- 1GB
Kingston PC2700 DDR DRAM
- Creative
12x CD-ROM
- Maxtor
40GB main drive
- DirectX Version 9.0c
- Windows
XP Home with SP2
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