President Assad’s forces have been pushed back into the foothills along the Syrian border. With every passing day, allied troops and equipment are strengthening their positions within re-captured Turkish territory (Hatay Province). The provincial capital, Antakya as well the border town of Reyhanli are now securely under Allied control.
The runways at Hatay Airport have been repaired and NATO forces are redeploying front-line CAS aircraft from Incirlik to intensify operations against Syrian forces along the Hatay-Syria border.
Recent interior airstrikes against Syrian industrial targets have been largely successful, but have come at a great cost in terms of US aircraft and crews. Syria’s frontline airfields at Minakh and Abu-al-Duhur are enabling Syrian interceptors to scramble in time to meet NATO airstrikes close to the border and strike packages are having to fight their way in and out of Syrian territory.
In order to ease the pressure on allied aircrews, NATO command wants the airbases in western Syria crippled.
MISSION
VFA-41 has been assigned to launch at 06:30 and carry out a strike against the Syrian fighter base at Abu-al-Duhur, located approximately 30 miles south of Aleppo. The strike’s primary objective is to disable the airport’s main runway.
The airport is home to two veteran Mig-29 and Mig-25 squadrons. Once the runway is disabled, catching any Syrian aircraft out in the open and vulnerable to attack on the ramp would also be a major blow to Assad’s forces. Recent satellite images have shown multiple interceptor class aircraft parked on the ramp adjacent the NW end of the runway.
Simultaneous with VFA-41’s attack, F-15E Strike Eagles out of Incirlik and AV-8Bs from USS TARAWA will be striking the Syrian airbase at Minakh.
The desired Time on Target (TOT) for both strikes is 07:15. It is hoped that both strikes will be carried out before Syria can scramble additional alert fighters from the airfields.
THREATS
As seen in recent missions, Syrian Mig-25s and Mig-29s are still operational and conducting combat air patrols over their country. Both strikes should be prepared to encounter airborne resistance on the way to target. Eliminating the runways first should prevent any additional fighters from scrambling.
Abu-al-Duhur has no known long or medium range SAM threats in immediate area, though Aleppo to the North is still defended by SA-2, SA-3 and SA-6 emplacements. SAM threat over the target itself will be limited to IR manpads and short-range vehicle based optical or IR systems (SA-19 / SA-13).
ROE
Weapons free- All Syrian forces may be engaged as required.
MISSION OVERVIEW
DATE: 13 March, 2022
TIME: 06:30
SUNRISE: 06:54
SUNSET: 18:37
TASK: Airfield strike
WX: 010@09 / Scattered 17,000 Scattered 33,000 / T24 / Q30.07
FLIGHT DURATION: 320 nm
AVAILABLE SQUADRON ASSETS:
Dealer 1: 4 x F/A-18c
Dealer 2: 4 x F/A-18c
Dealer 3: 4 x F/A-18c
Dealer 4: 4 x F-14b
CARRIER:
USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN-73) / BRC 020° / Freq 127.5 [6] / TCN 73X "GWH" / ICLS: 13
SUPPORTING UNITS:
AWACS / E-3D / MAGIC / Freq 266.000 [4]
Mission Tanker / KC-135 / TEXACO / Freq: 251.00 [8]/ TCN 55Y
Recovery Tanker / S-3B / SHELL / Freq 353.00 [10] / TCN:66Y
DIVERT
Hatay AP [WP8]
Rwy: 4/22
VOR: 112.05
ATC: 250.25
BULLSEYE: Hatay Airport [WP8]
DD Week 11 Overview
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Week 11 Target Area Detail
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Abu-al-Duhur Airbase
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Overhead Satellite Image
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Mission Datacard
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