The Last War: 371.

[Bernard Woolley]

With thanks to Jotun.

*

D+28

*


2031 hours GMT. Southeast of Braunschweig, FRG.
The five remaining AS90 howitzers of A Battery (The Chestnut Troop),1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, carefully manoeuvred themselves into the new firing position. From their new positions they would be able to hit targets in Helmstedt.

Despite being three howitzers down, Major Curtis felt that The Chestnut Troop was relatively lucky. E Battery, for example, was down to three howitzers. Only one of A Battery’s AS90s had actually been knocked out by enemy action, having been flipped on its side by a nearby explosion of a 152mm shell. Another had run over an anti-tank mine during the recent advance. To add insult to injury, it had turned out to have been an AT2, probably fired by one of 1st Artillery Brigade’s MLRS equipped regiments. The third howitzer had been put out of action only a few hours ago. The battery had been cautiously making its way down a road damaged by enemy shell fire when the road had collapsed under the right track of the last AS90, causing it to roll over into a ditch. The battery’s REME detachment was working hard to extract the stuck AFV, so at least it should rejoin at some point in the near future.

However, it was unlikely that the battery would be brought back up to full-strength in the short term. There were just not enough spare operational AS90 left. Reflecting how critical things were, Curtis had heard that a battery in 2nd Field Regiment, RA, had been reequipped with the older variant of the AS90 taken from War Maintenance Reserve that had a 39-calibre barrel.

*

Unknown to Curtis, at least for the moment, something was being done to address the shortage of AS90. Damaged howitzers had been gathered by salvage units, alongside other armoured vehicles. Where a vehicle was beyond repair, it would be used as a source of spares to make less damaged AS90s operational. Moreover, a number of older AS90s taken from WMR and training units were being upgraded to ‘Braveheart’ standard by the relatively simple expedient of fitting them with 52-calibre barrels taken from AS90s beyond repair. Some of the more badly damaged vehicles would be returned to VSEL to be rebuilt.

*

As his battery prepared to receive its next fire mission, Curtis reflected that at least they had not been issued with any more American M687 shells. He had a deep distaste of using chemical weapons. After the exchange of chemical weapons earlier in the war, both the Warsaw Pact and NATO had essentially given up on using them. Relearning the lessons that chemical weapons became increasingly less effective after first use.

Having checked on the readiness of each of his howitzers, Curtis was remounting his Warrior Battery Command Vehicle when he heard the sound of approaching helicopters. He looked up and spotted a formation of Lynx helicopters, Mark 7s from their fixed skids. A few RAF Chinooks and Merlins followed on, with the formation being shepherded by some Apaches.

“Good luck, lads.” Curtis muttered as he dropped down into the commander’s hatch.

2101 hours. Outside St. Anne, Alderney, Bailiwick of Guernsey.
Sitting off the Cotentin Peninsula, the island of Alderney was the third largest of the Channel Islands. While part of the Bailiwick of Gurnsey, the island enjoyed full autonomy in law (barring foreign affairs and defence). Although, some services, known as ‘transferred services’, such as policing and health, were provided by the States of Guernsey. [1] Alderney did also have an unusual claim to fame – it had the only remaining railway in the Channel Islands giving a timetabled public service. On a darker note, Alderney had been the site of the only German slave labour and concentration camps on British soil.

Even on this small island, the Third World War had an impact. The island’s Civil Protection Unit, part of Guernsey Civil Protection, and had manned their headquarters. Built by the Germans during the Last War, the bunker also served as the H.Q of the Royal Alderney Militia. Which had also been called to the colours. [2]
While the earliest known militia unit on the island had been formed around 1657, the current unit had been established in 1984 as part of the Army Cadet Force. The militia had effectively been in a state of ‘suspended animation’ between 1929 and 1984, bar a temporary revival in 1935 for the Jubilee of King George V. [3]

For most of the two decades between its revival and the outbreak of war, the militia had carried on as a cadet unit, providing a training outlet for the island’s young people. Those who wanted to join adult part-time military units would sign up with the Royal Jersey Militia, or latterly the Royal Guernsey Militia. Others would leave for the mainland if they wanted to pursue a regular military career. However, in 1998, shortly after Guernsey reformed its militia, the States of Alderney decided that the adult instructors of the ACF should form the cadre of a platoon sized Home Defence unit. For administrative purposes it would be part of the Guernsey militia but would continue to wear the Alderney militia cap badge. After some recruitment, the militia was able to form a twenty-eight strong platoon, which when the cadets who were seventeen and a half years old and above added, rose to thirty-nine.

Weapons wise the militia had the L98A2 Cadet GP Rifle variant of the SA80, plus some L81A2 Cadet Target Rifles, a cadet variant of the Parker-Hale M82, and old No.8 rifle, a member of the Lee-Enfield family chambered in .22. During the Transition to War, the Royal Alderney Militia had sent a ‘shopping list’ of equipment it felt that it needed to the MoD. The response had come in the form of three L86A2 LSW, and some helmets and body armour sets, and a suggestion that any other equipment deficits should be made up by the Guernsey militia. The MoD’s assessment was that Alderney was not exactly high on the Soviet target list.

*

During the Transition to War and the first week of the war, both the five police officers of the Guernsey Police who policed the island (including two Special Constables), the fire and ambulance service, and the militia had been put on constant full-time duty. However, by the beginning of the second week it became clear that not only was that not necessary, but it was also unsustainable. Shift systems had been adopted, with the militia having a ‘duty section’ available at all times, plus a small detachment at platoon H.Q, while the rest of the platoon was off duty, but available to rapidly report to duty.

As part of their various taskings, the duty section was checking the island’s beaches, in this case by patrolling along the Rue de Beaumont. One member of the section spotted what looked like a yellow inflatable dingy just offshore in Braye Bay. The corporal turned a pair of binoculars on the object and confirmed that it was an aircrew survival dingy, with what looked like a pilot in it. They radioed the coast guard, who alerted the Alderney RNLI station. With the possibility that the pilot might be Soviet, a couple of members of the militia were put aboard the Trent class lifeboat, Roy Barker I, before it was launched.

The lifeboat did not have far to go from its berth before it reached the drifting dingy. Since the occupant was non-responsive, the crew launched the small XP-class lifeboat. The unconscious pilot was transferred from his dingy to the bigger lifeboat, allowing the crew to perform first-aid.

“Looks like he’s a Russkie, then.” One of the two militiamen said, on taking custody of the pilot’s pistol and survival knife.”
“We need to take him to Guernsey.” One of the lifeboat crew, a nurse, treating the pilot stated. “He’ll be better off at the Princess Elizabeth than at Mignot Memorial.”
“Got it.” The coxswain replied. “I’ll let the coast guard know.”

While Alderney did have its own small hospital, the Mignot Memorial Hospital, but those requiring urgent emergency care were transferred to the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in Guernsey. It was not uncommon for the RNLI to assist with these transfers.

On arrival in Guernsey, the pilot would be rushed to hospital under military guard. He would be identified as a Su-24 pilot from the formation that had attacked HMS Fearless. Somehow, his dingy had drifted down the Channel, before ending up in Braye Bay.

2131 hours GMT. Helmstedt, FRG.
Acting Sergeant William ‘Bill’ Connolly leapt out of the Lynx AH.7 just after it touched down. The helicopters had dropped the Toms of 15 Para onto some open ground to the southeast of the town. Once the battalion group was fully on the ground it pushed through the trees until it reached the autobahn, before taking up defensive positions. 15 Para and its sister battalion, 4 Para, which was landed by the second helicopter lift, would be the first NATO troops to reach the Inner German Border.
The third helicopter lift would bring in 10 Para, plus the balance of the supporting units of the Parachute Regiment Group, minus the two light armoured reconnaissance squadrons. Who would need to make their way to Helmstedt by road, a somewhat challenging task currently. The HAC Gun Troop would also be held back until the Landing Zone was judged secure.

*

During the period after the withdrawal from Hildesheim, the Parachute Regiment Group had been reorganised. 4 and 10 Para had suffered enough losses to warrant each disbanding one of their rifle companies to make good the losses in the other three. The two Gurkha companies had been attached to the battalions as replacements. Normally, the Paras would have bristled at the idea of attaching non-airborne soldiers to their units, but no ‘Tom’ would dream of calling a Gurkha a ‘Crap-hat’ to his face. At least not more than once. Additional reinforcement had come from 1st Leeds Rifles Battalion (V), The Prince of Wales Own Regiment of Yorkshire, which had been freed up from its Line of Communications role. [4]
The reorganisation had seen 6 Platoon’s sergeant, Stanley Baxter, moved to a new platoon made up of members of the disbanded rifle company. Connolly had been promoted to Acting Sergeant and had taken over as platoon sergeant.

After landing, B Company, 15 Para, had infiltrated through the woods, alongside the autobahn, until they reached the remains of Checkpoint Alpha. The buildings looked very much the worse for wear, largely being burned out. What looked like East German troops with light armoured vehicles had occupied the site. While the government of the DDR had claimed that any part of West Germany occupied by the Warsaw Pact was now part of ‘democratic Germany’, in practise they were still maintaining a border.

“What’ve we got, Sergeant?” The platoon commander, Lieutenant Kevin Bridges, asked, as he dropped down beside Connolly.
“East Germans, Grenztruppen by the look of them.” Connolly said, with evident disgust. Everyone knew about the reputation of the East German border guards. “With four of those wee APCs they use.”
“They’re armed with a couple of machine-guns in their turret, as I recall.” Bridges replied. “Well, the checkpoint is the limit of exploitation for the company, and we can’t have those shites hanging about near us, so we’ll take them oot. I’ll check with the Boss Man first, but get the platoon ready to go, Sergeant.”
“Nae dramas, Sir.”

Major Gregor Fisher, O.C B Company, evidently agreed and the rest of the company moved up to mount an assault, with Support Company providing cover from the Mortar and Anti-Tank Platoons. In the event, the four SPW-PSH APCs were taken out with LAW-80s, rather than using the more expensive Javelin ATGW. The company took Checkpoint Alpha in a short, sharp engagement that left the Grenztruppen dead, or prisoner. B Company then pulled back to more defensible positions and began to dig in.

4 Para also took up defensive position outside of Helmstedt, after also fighting a short engagement with some Soviet support troops. Leaving 10 Para and the Leeds Rifles to clear the town itself. To their surprise, there were very few Soviet and East German troops in Helmstedt and only a small proportion of them were actually combat troops. From interrogations it seemed that the Warsaw Pact reserves that had been held around Helmstedt had been sent west to counter the advance of the 1st and 3rd Armoured Divisions. The PRG’s commander was able to report to H.Q 1st Armoured Division that the town was secure and that his troops were now astride a very important enemy supply artery.

2325 hours. CFB Baden–Soellingen, FRG.
Captain Gordon Wilson had been at the Forward Operating Location at Inuvik (Mike Zubko) Airport when he had received word that he had been posted back to Baden-Soellingen. Subject to him being medically cleared, of course. It had taken two days to get to Ottawa, where he was to have his medical, never mind actually get to West Germany. The RCAF doctor at NDHQ had studied an X-Ray of his left ankle, which had been badly twisted when he had been forced to eject on Day 4 of the war. He had told Wilson that his ankle appeared to be fully healed, but that if he had any trouble, he should immediately let his squadron M.O know. It had taken another two days of hanging around before he managed to secure a flight to Europe and a third day of travel before he found himself back with 421 Tactical Fighter Squadron.

*

“Good to see you back, Gordon.” Major René Tremblay, the commander of B Flight said, when Wilson had arrived back with the flight. “We’ve missed you.”
“How have things been, Chef?” Wilson had asked.
“Hectic, very hectic.” Tremblay had replied. “We’ve mainly been doing the air defence and escort missions. Means we’ve been up against Fulcrums, mainly Soviet and East German, but with the occasional Czech plane when we’ve been over their territory. The base has been hit a few times by ‘Fencers’ and ‘Fullbacks’, but nothing that’s put us out of action.”

Tremblay had next gone on to brief Wilson on Baden-Soellingen’s air defences.

“We take our turn with the French and West Germans in contributing to these CAP racetracks.” He said, indicating on a map, pointing to positions to the east of Stuttgart. “The Hawks fly point defence in this arc from the base.” Tremblay went on, his right hand moving closer to Baden-Soellingen itself. “The ADATS tracks operate in the arc marked here; they move around quite a bit. The guns and Starstreak missiles are the last in the line. They’re positioned on base itself.” The Major paused to tap a pair of lines marked on the map of the area around the base. “These are the safe passage lanes at the moment. They do change regularly, so make sure you know them before take-off, because if you don’t use them when you come back the gunners are likely to shoot you down. Also, watch you don’t go too far southeast because you’ll run into French HAWK batteries protecting Strasbourg and the Rhine crossings. They certainly operate on the basis of ‘shoot ‘em all down and sort it out on the ground’ principle.”
“What sort of ground defences do we have?” Wilson asked.
“An infantry company of The Brockville Rifles is responsible for defending us. The Pat’s Pet’s Battle Casualty Replacement pool is also based here and would be available to react to any attack, as is everybody on base to be honest.”

*

Wilson had Tremblay’s briefing in his head as he strapped into the Martin Baker Mk.10LH ejection seat in the rear cockpit of a Hawk CT-155 that belonged to the Group Training and Transport Flight. Major Tremblay had ordered that for his first sortie that Wilson should ride in the rear cockpit of a Hawk assigned to a point defence patrol of the base. It would give him the chance to acquaint himself with the area around Baden-Soellingen before he started flying operations.

“Have you sorted the issue with the ADEN cannon?” Wilson asked the pilot once he had finished with the ejection seat.
“Yeah, we have.” Lieutenant Charlie MacLean replied. “Had to get the Brits to send over some of their technical people, though, eh. They installed some new software, or something in the jets and now we can shoot the wings off a gnat!”

As the Hawk taxied to the end of the runway, MacLean continued to chat whenever he had a second, or two spare.

“Course, intercepting a ‘Fencer’, or ‘Fullback’ going full chat at low-level is no easy thing in a Hawk. No reheat in this baby. It’s why we patrol at relatively high altitude, so we can dive on the enemy. Our tactic is to generally shoot them in the face, then turn and dive on them as they pass us. We could do with a better weapon than the Nine Lima; don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but it just doesn’t quite have the range. Something like the ASRAAM the Brits use would be great.”
“Night flying must be fun too!” Wilson observed.

MacLean chuckled.

“Yeah, this is going to be one of the few times we do a night patrol! Using NVGs is like looking down a pair of carboard tubes! We’ll maintain a very loose formation with the other jet.”

Since the night patrol was going to be relatively short, the Hawks were carrying a full load of six AIM-9L Sidewinders, rather than the more usual load of four missiles, plus a pair of 500-litre drop tanks. NATO SIGNIT and ELINT assets had detected signs that Soviet aircraft were likely to launch a raid on the area around Baden-Soellingen and Strasbourg area. Hence the Hawks being launched for a night patrol, when they usually only flew just before dawn to shortly after dusk.

The two aircraft had been flying in their assigned racetracks for half an hour when they were alerted by a Fighter Controller that bandits were headed their way. A large formation of twelve Su-24s had been intercepted by French Mirage 2000-5F. Five ‘Fencers’ had been brought down before the Mirages had been engaged by Su-27s, which had been supposed to be flying escort, but had gotten separated from their charges. The seven surviving enemy bombers had spread out, heading for at least two different targets, with four definitely heading towards the Canadian air base.

2345 hours GMT. Extract from a KGB internal report.
From an early report drafted by the KGB 2nd Chief Directorate (Internal Security of the USSR) regarding the sabotage of the Raduga Design Bureau

“[…] must be stated that the explosion in the warhead storage facility constituted at least fifty metric tons of explosives, based on the amount and types of warheads present at the time. The resulting explosion obliterated the storage bunker and created a crater of twenty meters depth and nearly 120 metres in diameter. The explosion destroyed virtually all gas mains in the complex, ruptured half a dozen diesel tanks with fuel for the emergency generators and led to a conflagration that destroyed every building but the main administrative wing, which was saved by the city fire brigade, with the plant’s fire brigade having been rendered ineffective by the explosions.

Flying debris damaged several dozen buildings in a radius of 1000 metres and killed at least fifty people, with hundreds having been injured to varying degrees.
[…]

The Raduga Design Bureau has for all intents and purposes been completely destroyed. The electronic documentations and plans of the various missile types were wiped out by the subject. The archive with the physical copies survived the explosion and the resulting fires but was severely damaged by water from burst pipes and runoff from the fire extinguishing efforts.

In all likelihood, the main suspect, revealed to be a naturalized Great Russian of Latvian extraction [see annex A] managed to penetrate and/or subvert all electronic security measures thanks to his abilities as a programming technician and – an oversight of no small proportions – the person mainly responsible for implementing modern security measures in the Raduga plant and, alarmingly, several other missile design bureaus across the country. Ironically, the suspect had been awarded the Order of Socialist Labor for his efforts in that area.

The chairman of Raduga MKB and the officer heading the investigation into the destruction of the Long-Range Aviation assets of Air Force and Navy were both killed while trying to apprehend the suspect. It is unfortunate that the chairman cannot be punished for his criminal neglectfulness. The head of investigations should posthumously be awarded the order of Hero of the Soviet Union.
[…]

The preliminary analysis of the contents of the suspect’s office, office computer and the surviving servers in the Raduga main building as well as his apartment in the city of Dubna strongly suggests that a high number of personnel in several Design and Production bureaus and facilities were recruited by the sabotage suspect and may be preparing to attempt similar actions. Refer to annex B for details.

It is strongly recommended to apprehend the individuals in question and submit them to intensive interrogation so as to root out the clear and present danger to the Motherland’s weapons production capabilities.

Signed,

Filitov, Leonid Pavlovich, Major General and deputy head of Internal Security.

2355 hours GMT. Near Helmstedt, FRG.
Captain Rachel ‘Firekitten’ White reflected that she had never been this far east in an Apache. The British Army had a standing policy in peacetime of not flying its attack helicopters close to the IGB. Instead, Apache pilots and gunners were given orientation flights in Gazelles and Lynx. So, she knew the ground very well, though her knowledge of the terrain beyond the ‘Trace’ was based on reconnaissance photos and pictures taken by BRIXMIS ‘tours’.

White’s Apache and a second helicopter had been assigned to support the Parachute Regiment in holding Helmstedt. Once again, her Apache was loaded with Hellfires, rather than the longer-ranged Brimstones that she preferred. That meant that the flight of two Apaches she was leading would need to get that bit nearer to their targets than White would like.

A Forward Air Controller assigned to one of the infantry battle groups of the Parachute Regiment had requested support in stopping a Panzer regiment of the East German army, which was advancing towards the Helmstedt – Marienborn border crossing.

The two attack helicopters had skirted the southern edge of the town. Keeping an eye out for any missiles that might be fired by ‘Cloud Punchers’ with itchy trigger fingers. They crossed the IGB at low altitude, intending to attack the enemy from the read. Where they would, hopefully, be least expecting it.

“Give me a couple of sweeps of the radar, Dav.” White asked her gunner, as she brought the Apache into the hover behind the cover of some trees.
“Got it, Rach.” Staff Sergeant David ‘Dav’ Jones replied.

The Longbow radar picked up a good number of targets, which White’s Apache shared with the second helicopter. While the second Apache took up position, White allowed her helicopter to rise slowly so that the two AGM-114L Hellfire missiles she was about to fire would clear the trees.

“Missiles away!”

As soon as the second Hellfire had cleared the rail, White dropped the Apache back down into cover and dipped away to the left, heading for the second firing point. Meanwhile, her wingman fired two more missiles.

For the next ten minutes the two Apaches played a deadly game of ‘Hide-and-Seek’ with the East German Panzer regiment. On a couple of occasions there were narrow squeaks, as White had to avoid SA-13 ‘Gopher’ (9K35 Strela-10) missiles fired at her Apache. While on another occasion, an ZSU-23-4 shredded the trees that until a moment ago her wingman had been sheltering behind. Finally, with their missiles expended and not wanting to chance their luck attacking with CVR-7 rockets, or cannon, both Apaches headed back to re-arm.

*

A small team of NVA anti-aircraft gunners equipped with 9K310 Igla-1 (SA-16) MANPADS positioned near the autobahn heard the two helicopters approach. They only had a few seconds to line up and fire at the first enemy helicopter. They did not see whether they were successful, because the gunner of the second NATO helicopter was able to get off a long burst of 30mm shells before it had passed overhead. Which shredded the East German soldiers.

*

“Missile! Break right!” White heard in her earphones.

She instinctively stamped on the right rudder, turning into the missile. The Apache’s defensive aids sub-system punched out chaff and flares as it detected the approaching missile.

2359 hours GMT. Tartu Air Base, Estonian SSR.
“Ёб твою мать!” Generál-leytenánt Vitaly Zdorovetskiy, commander of the 326th Tarnopolskaya Order of Kutuzov Heavy Bomber Aviation Division said with feeling as he read the message handed to him by the visitor from the 46th Air Army.

Zdorovetskiy was already grumpy about being wakened from his bead to meet the Colonel who had arrived from higher headquarters. What could be so vital that it would be brought by someone rather too senior to be a courier? In the middle of the night too!

“So, ‘all missiles provided by the Raduga MKB are no longer to be employed by aircraft under your command until they have been inspected by technical experts. This message is urgent, and any sorties planned using missiles from the above design bureau must be cancelled and aircraft airborne should be ordered to jettison their weapons and return to base immediately. This order should not be interpreted as excusing you from carrying out current orders to attack enemy targets supplied by this headquarters.’
“So, Comrade Colonel, since this order reduces me to using unguided bombs, just how the ебать am I supposed to carry out my current orders without losing most of my division overnight.”

Before the Colonel could reply, Zdorovetskiy heard the sound of jet engines being run up outside.

“дерьмо!” He exclaimed, snatching up the phone on his desk. “There are bombers getting ready to take off!” He snapped into the handset. “Get them back to their stands and unloaded, and the missiles…what? Well, don’t let any more take off! Those that have are to jettison their missiles over the sea and return to base!”

He slammed the handset down hard enough to cause the Colonel to flinch.

“This screw-up better not kill any more of my people!” Zdorovetskiy thundered. He remembered his earlier question to his visitor. “Well, Comrade?”
“I am sorry, Comrade General. I am just the messenger.” The Colonel said apologetically.

Zdorovetskiy muttered something that questioned whether the Colonel’s parents were married at the time of his birth.

“Very well, inform Comrade General Malinovsky that this division will immediately comply with his orders. We wait the arrival of the technical experts.”

Once the Colonel had left, Zdorovetskiy began to seriously think about how he was supposed to continue to service the targets the 46th Air Army expected him to attack. For example, the flight of Tu-22M4 that he had recalled were supposed to attack military targets in southern Sweden. Loaded with Kh-22M missiles, it would have been a short mission, with the bombers able to launch their missiles well beyond the range of Swedish air defences. Now, if he was to attack those same targets, it would need to be with free-fall bombs. Which would put the Tu-22M4 within the range of fighters and Ground Based Air Defence. Yet should he query the orders, or argue with them, he would be relieved of command. Zdorovetskiy knew that he had no choice but to get on with orders that he knew were difficult, if not nearly impossible to carry out.

***

1) Wiki has an article on the Politics of Alderney here.

2) Information on the bunker can be found here.

3) Some information on the history of the Royal Alderney Militia can be found here.

4) Order of battle for the Helmstedt operation:

Parachute Regiment Group
- Group H.Q and Signals Troop, Royal Signals
- North Irish Horse Squadron/1st Armoured Cavalry Squadron, Irish Army (to follow on by road)
- Gun Troop, HAC (6x L118)
- 3xTroops, 105 Air Defence Regiment (including BADLO party)
- Field Troop, Royal Engineers
- Pioneer Squadron, Royal Logistic Corps
- 16 (Lincoln) Company (detached from 4 PARA to serve as patrol/recce company)
- 4 (V) Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (-)
- 10 (V) Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (-) (+)
-- Gurkha Company (Mandalay)
- 15 (Scottish Volunteer) Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (-) (+)
-- Gurkha Company (Sittang)
- 1st Leeds Rifles Battalion (V), The Prince of Wales Own Regiment of Yorkshire

[Bernard Woolley]

Accompanying Pictures

[Jotun]

The preliminary analysis of the contents of the suspect’s office, office computer and the surviving servers in the Raduga main building as well as his apartment in the city of Dubna strongly suggests that a high number of personnel in several Design and Production bureaus and facilities

…were recruited by the sabotage suspect and may be preparing to attempt similar actions.

Sorry, I forgot half a sentence, apparently.

[Bernard Woolley]

Have added that half sentence.

[Eaglenine2]

That sound not fun for the Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.

[Bernard Woolley]

Quite the understatement!

[jemhouston]

That sound not fun for the Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.

It sounds like an early Christmas for Air Defense.

[Bernard Woolley]

LOL!

[jemhouston]

As anyone made Ace in a Day by shooting down five Backfires?

[Bernard Woolley]

Not sure to be honest.

[Belushi TD]

The saboteur certainly did!

Belushi TD

[Bernard Woolley]

[Simon Darkshade]

Very well done across the board. The British advances were well structured and the Soviet travails regarding Balts in their (missile production) way were nicely detailed. The mention of Hawks gave me some vague hope that JBG and I will one day make it off Craggy Island.

[Matt Wiser]

Good one! BZ as usual to the two of you, and so on to business:

Raduga is out of commission for good, it seems. Now, can the Soviets reassemble the archives with the plans for the various missiles (AS-4, AS-6, etc.) and reestablish production somewhere? Or will they have to do it the old-fashioned way, and take some apart and produce new engineering drawings? And Comrade Putin will tell the remaining missile production facilities to make up the shortfall-or else. With the Badger being retired in the '90s, there should be AS-6 Kingfish in storage, as the weapon was compatible with the Backfire....Now, will some fighter pilots become aces in a day splashing Backfires over Europe? Time will tell.

NORAD's probably wishing some of those Hawks were on this side of the pond....Given the identified need for those kinds of fighters in North America.

Even if they're forced to withdraw, those British air-assault troopers have blocked a key MSR, and there will be a violent Soviet and East German reaction.

Good work, and get with 372!

[Cihatari]

Always glad to see this back.

A cliff-hanger and another potential one being set up.

Also enjoyable to have some AS90 action when the replacement for OTL AS90 is currently trending.

[Jotun]

Good one! BZ as usual to the two of you, and so on to business:

Raduga is out of commission for good, it seems. Now, can the Soviets reassemble the archives with the plans for the various missiles (AS-4, AS-6, etc.) and reestablish production somewhere? Or will they have to do it the old-fashioned way, and take some apart and produce new engineering drawings? And Comrade Putin will tell the remaining missile production facilities to make up the shortfall-or else. With the Badger being retired in the '90s, there should be AS-6 Kingfish in storage, as the weapon was compatible with the Backfire....Now, will some fighter pilots become aces in a day splashing Backfires over Europe? Time will tell.

NORAD's probably wishing some of those Hawks were on this side of the pond....Given the identified need for those kinds of fighters in North America.

Even if they're forced to withdraw, those British air-assault troopers have blocked a key MSR, and there will be a violent Soviet and East German reaction.

Good work, and get with 372!

The AS-6 could become interesting. If it really has been out of commission for a decade or so, the missiles are going to be much degraded, especially taking into account what we now know about Soviet/Russian practices...
Now imagine an AS-6 detonating under a Backfire, simply from a leaky fuel line (they were liquid propellant, right?) or something like that. Just one. What is going to happen on the ground, taking into account what happened at Raduga?

[Bernard Woolley]

Very well done across the board. The British advances were well structured and the Soviet travails regarding Balts in their (missile production) way were nicely detailed.

Thanks very much. Appreciate that!

The mention of Hawks gave me some vague hope that JBG and I will one day make it off Craggy Island.

JGB might, but you are on a permanent posting! Yes, I know that money was just resting in your account!

Good one! BZ as usual to the two of you, and so on to business:

Thank you.

With the Badger being retired in the '90s, there should be AS-6 Kingfish in storage, as the weapon was compatible with the Backfire....

The AS-6 could become interesting. If it really has been out of commission for a decade or so, the missiles are going to be much degraded, especially taking into account what we now know about Soviet/Russian practices...

Any Kingfish are not likely to be in great condition. OTOH, they might have gone in for a regular service. Though, guess which factory would be responsible for maintenance? Even without active sabotage, I'm not sure I would trust an AS-6, given their likely age!

NORAD's probably wishing some of those Hawks were on this side of the pond....Given the identified need for those kinds of fighters in North America.

Some CT-155s of 419 Tactical Fighter Training Squadron are assigned to NORAD. But, they're only operating in the Canadian Sectors of NORAD.

Even if they're forced to withdraw, those British air-assault troopers have blocked a key MSR, and there will be a violent Soviet and East German reaction.

They only really need to hold on until 1st Armoured Division can link up. Least this is no Market Garden.

Always glad to see this back.

It's always a pleasure to see that people still enjoy this.

A cliff-hanger and another potential one being set up.

Love a good cliff-hanger, me.

Also enjoyable to have some AS90 action when the replacement for OTL AS90 is currently trending.

From what I've read, the Ukranians really do love their AS90s. Sadly, we have flogged ours to death and I guess that the Ukranians are getting those that are still operational. Personally, I had hoped that we would buy the AHS Krab as a replacement in @. Since it is basically an AS90 'Braveheart' turret on a K-9 chassis.

[Bernard Woolley]

For those that haven't seen it, this map which our very own Jimlad2 found in TNA may be of interest. I was quite surprised that the Blinder apparently had a longer range than the Backfire!

[Lordroel]

For those that haven't seen it, this map which our very own Jimlad2 found in TNA may be of interest.

Jimlad2 as in Sir Humphrey on Twitter.

[Bernard Woolley]

Yes, one and the same.