The USS Truman Carrier Strike Group has established itself on station in the southeastern Black Sea and is ready to begin combat operations. The situation in western Georgia is tense. As previously mentioned, the invasion into this region of the country from Abkhazia was more swift than in the central and eastern area of operations. More Russian and more Abkhazian forces allowed the invading armies to push much further from the border region. The primary Georgian military base in the west at Senaki was overrun within the first two weeks of the conflict and is now firmly under Russian/Abkhazian control. The current front line in the western AO is currently located just west of the Kutaisi International Airport along the Tskhenistskali River. The Georgians have once again managed to halt the Russian and separatist advance for the time being, but the western regional capital city of Kutaisi is under threat.
While Senaki is an airbase, the runway was in extremely poor condition even prior to the outbreak of hostilities and is even worse now. As such, no fixed wing aircraft have been operating there, but Russian and Abkhazian helicopters are currently based there. The other primary Russian logistical hubs in the immediate area are their base at Gudauta and the Sukhumi Airport, both in Abkhazia.
An extensive Early Warning Radar and SAM network is present all along the Black Sea coast from Abkhazia north to Novorossiysk and over onto the Crimean Peninsula. In addition, the Russian VKS is operating fighter and attack aircraft out of at least three bases within range of the coastal areas including Gudauta, Maykop and Krymsk. Lastly, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is active in the region as well and poses a significant threat to our strike group.
MISSION
The Russian EW Radar coverage consists of three known 1L13 Box Spring sites positioned along the coast. One each near Sokhumi, Novorossiysk and on the southern coast of Crimea northeast of Yalta. These three primary EW radars have overlapping coverage with a range which encompasses nearly the entire eastern two-thirds of the Black Sea. The first order of business for the strike group is to start rolling back the Russian Integrated Air Defense System. To that end, today’s mission is a large force SEAD/DEAD strike to destroy the Early Warning Radar facilities in the three aforementioned sectors.
Each of the EW Radar sites is positioned within the coverage of at least one S-300 (SA-10) SAM site. Air Wing Hornets will launch to suppress the SA-10s with TALD and HARM. VFA-192 Golden Dragons (Hawk Flights) have been assigned the Sokhumi sector while VFA-14 Tophatters (Roman Flights) have been assigned the Novorossiysk sector. VFA-41 Black Aces are assigned to the Crimea sector. A single EA-6B Prowler (Uzi Flights) has been assigned to each sector for standoff jamming and sections of VF-211 Tomcats (Colt Flights) will provide BARCAP. At 09:30 hours, the strike group escorts will launch Tomahawk cruise missiles (TLAM) to destroy the radar sites. The flight time for the TLAMs to the Crimean target is approximately twenty eight minutes.
VFA-41 Black Aces are assigned to suppress two SA-10 sites, the first at WP4 (SAM1) closer to Sevastopol, and the second at WP6 (SAM2) near Feodosia. The Crimean EW Radar site is at WP5 (RADAR). HARM Codes for Pre-Briefed mode are on your kneeboards. The Time on Target for the TLAMs is 0958 hours. The SA-10’s must be suppressed before they arrive. Once the TLAMs strike the target, CAG wants us to get our ATFLIRs on the site for Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) [Screen Shot]. Once the BDA is complete, we’re cleared to return to Mother, but should provide escort to our Uzi 1-1 Prowler to WP7 before recovering.
THREATS
The S-300/SA-10s pose a threat to both the strike aircraft and the TLAMs as they ingress to their targets. Attacks with TALD and HARMs along with the Prowler jamming should suppress the sites enough to allow the TLAMs to get through. Additionally, expect Russian aircraft to be vectored toward your flight once airborne, as the EW radars will give them plenty of notice of our launches. F-14 BARCAPs should help with this threat, but be prepared to defend yourselves as well. Lastly, the exact position of Russian warships in the AO is not known. Current intelligence shows the most capable ships in the area are Grigorovich-class frigates which are armed with Shtil-1 SAMs, a naval variant of the SA-11 Buk system, with a 25 nm engagement range.
ROE
Weapons Free on any Russian SAM or aircraft threatening the mission. Russian warships should be avoided if possible.
MISSION OVERVIEW
DATE: 18 December, 2022
TIME: 0900 local
SUNRISE: 0904 local
SUNSET: 1745 local
MOON:
TASK: SEAD/DEAD
WX: 120@06kt / SCT 8,000 / SCT 23,000 / T13 / Q29.82
FLIGHT DURATION: ~400 nm plus some loiter for BDA tasking
RECOMMENDED LOADOUT
-Two Hornets per division with x 3 HARM, x 2 Fuel Tanks (double ugly) + standard A2A & ATFLIR
-Two Hornets per division with x 6 TALD, x 2 AIM-120c, x 2 Fuel Tanks (double ugly) + standard A2A & ATFLIR
-If more than eight airframes, the third division should CAP Air to Air with 2 fuel tanks and the second sections of Hornets can swap the extra AIM-120’s for an additional HARM.
AVAILABLE SQUADRON:
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 HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN-75) / Freq 127.500 [6] / TCN: 75X / ICLS: 5
SUPPORTING UNITS:
AWACS / E-2D / Overlord / Freq 266.000 [5]
Mission Tanker / / / Freq: []/ TCN:
Recovery Tanker / S-3B / Texaco 1-1 / Freq 353.000 [10] / TCN: 61Y “RTK”
Recovery Tanker / S-3B / Shell 2-1 / Freq 255.000 [9] / TCN: 62Y "RT2"
DIVERT:
NONE-Blue Water Ops [WP]
Rwy: /
VOR:
ATC: []
BULLSEYE: Sochi Harbor [WP8]
THREAT MAP:
- Threats Map.PNG (7.11 MiB) Viewed 581 times
- Threats Overview.PNG (4.14 MiB) Viewed 581 times
ROUTE OVERVIEW:
- Route Overview.PNG (3.6 MiB) Viewed 581 times
TARGET DETAIL:
- Target Detail.PNG (1.75 MiB) Viewed 581 times
RECON PHOTOS:
- Sevastopol SA-10.jpg (672.33 KiB) Viewed 581 times
- Crimea Radar WP5.jpg (694.29 KiB) Viewed 581 times
- Feodosia SA-10.jpg (694.51 KiB) Viewed 581 times
- Admiral Makarov.jpg (507.12 KiB) Viewed 581 times
MISSION DATA CARD:
- Z_Mission Data Card.PNG (64.87 KiB) Viewed 556 times