The 3M9M is radio-command guided. They must keep Vasily locked as the missile flies. He frantically manuevers as I call encouragement to him. The first SAM, he beams. It cannot match his flight-path and finally falls short.
 |
“Keep it up, two! Target in sight, in hot!” |
 |
“Roger. Missile launch, two o’clock. Going defensive.”Another SAM in the air. |
 |
I see it blast off its tracked launcher through my HUD as I concentrate on the bomb-run.Behind me, Vasily ducks over a ridge-line, foiling the lock again as I close, at an oblique angle with the airfield. |
 |
I am too low to maintain the “NP” drop-cue. I will have to bunt the nose just before target and hold it long enough to stabilize. It is a procedure fraught with risk. I may pitch long. But it is the only way. If I ascend, I will be the SAM’s next target.“Pickle!”I ram the throttles into their stops as the bomblets drop free… |
 |
… and afterburn my way across the target just as a third missile launches beneath me. I hold my breath and pull back on the stick as the MiG claws for the sky.I pull a six-g turn to put my nose into position for a rocket run, ignoring bright yellow tracer from the Shilka gun.Did I get him? |
My SPO-15 blares defeat at me, and drops silent, as Vasily calls out “SAM launch, four o’clock. Going defensive.”
“I missed him!”
“Roger. Running in.”
Vasily is lining up for a rocket strike as well. I must stop the SAM from firing a fifth time. Vasily is vulnerable, as am I now. The SAM cannot fire at us both.
Related Posts:
Related posts:
A LOMAC Mission Report: It Happened So Fast! Page 3
A LOMAC Mission Report: Red Lady Down
A LOMAC Mission Report: Red Lady Down Page 2
A LOMAC Mission Report: Red Lady Down Page 3
A LOMAC Mission Report: Red Lady Down Page 4
A LOMAC Mission Report: Red Lady Down Page 6
A LOMAC Mission Report: Red Lady Down Page 7
A LOMAC Mission Report: The Great Escape Page 10
