30 April, 2023 - Operation Noble Tempest Week 25

Rhino · Post by **Rhino** » Fri Apr 28, 2023 11:29 am

SITUATION

In response to the downing of all eight Il-76 transports last week, the Russian government has lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations accusing the U.S. of war crimes for destroying, what they claim were, humanitarian supply flights bound for some of its allies in Armenia. Of course, the United States UN ambassador has responded to these accusations with vigor and called them out for the lies that they are. It now appears the Russian war effort in western Georgia is truly on the verge of complete collapse. They have not been able to resupply food, munitions, or other material to replace their mounting battlefield losses and are under constant pressure by both NATO and Georgian airpower, as well as Georgian ground assault.

In the east, the Georgian army has entered and now secured the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. Remaining Russian and separatist forces have fled north into the mountains and it will likely take months, if not years for the Georgian military to root them all out. In more welcome news, as part of the securing of Tskhinvali, the suspected POW camp at the stadium was liberated by Georgian forces. Among the camps' many prisoners, 22 survivors of the sinking of USS Porter were found alive, albeit in very poor health. They have all been moved to Tbilisi and will be transported to Germany as soon as possible for further medical care.

Other than lodging their complaint at the UN, the Russian government has been unresponsive to any and all diplomatic efforts from the West to bring this conflict to a close. EUCOM knows CSG-8 and specifically the Black Aces have been on station in this theater for a long time now, and the rumor is 6th fleet is lobbying to have the Truman Strike Group relieved soon. However, in the meantime our tasking continues and we will continue to take the fight to the Russians.

MISSION

Despite numerous international sanctions on Russian oil and gas in the wake of their invasions of both Ukraine and Georgia, the Russian Federation is still finding buyers for their heavily discounted petroleum products. Russia operates two major oil distribution hubs on the Black Sea, one being a crude oil terminal in the port of Novorossiysk and the other a refining and bulk storage facility in the port city of Tuapse, located about halfway between Novorossiysk and Sochi.

Today’s target is the Tuapse oil refinery facility. VFA-41 has been assigned four specific targeting points, all of which are raw material processing buildings. They are located at WP3 through WP6 and are individually GPS targetable. Intelligence does not know if the structures are hardened in any way, so to be sure, use of one GBU-31 v4s with penetrator warheads, OR two GBU-31 v2/s per target building are recommended. Any other buildings or structures within the refinery complex are also deemed valid targets if the number of available airframes allow, there are numerous storage tanks and other infrastructure that can be attacked (See recon and satellite photos below for target area).

In addition to our strike, a flight of B-1B’s (Callsign Vader 2-1) out of Ellsworth, AFB in South Dakota have been making the long flight over and will drop ordinance on the facility as well. They are briefed to be at Angles 24 for the duration of their flight.

Due to SAM threat considerations, VFA-41 should hold at WP1 (PUSH) until 0625 hours to allow SEAD efforts to suppress enemy air defenses. .

THREATS

There are SA-11 Buk SAM batteries located north and south of the target area. Sections of Hornets from VFA-192 and VFA-14 will launch just ahead of us to provide SEAD/DEAD of those air defenses. A pair of Prowlers from VAQ-138 are also launching to provide stand off jamming of the Buk’s as well as the S-300 that is still active at Novorossiysk. As such, any egress north of the target area is not recommended as Tuapse is just at the edge of the S-300 engagement range. Again, Black Aces should hold offshore at WP 1 until 0625 hours to allow the SEAD guys to do their thing.

An attack this far north puts us in easy range of the VKS bases at Krymsk and Maykop, so be alert for a response from the Russian Air Force. However, given the losses of air frames they’ve suffered as of late, it’s unknown how much of a force they’ll be able to muster. A section of VF-211 F-14’s is already airborne and will be on station overhead for TARCAP.

Lastly, while we’ve dedicated assets for the higher threat Buk systems, Tuapse is likely to have SHORAD air defenses of its own. AAA and MANPAD teams are a given and even SA-19 and/or Shilkas could be present as well. It’s best to remain above 12,000 feet minimum to avoid ground threats.

ROE

Restricted. Only targets within the designated refinery area may be engaged (see facility outlined in YELLOW below), with the exception of any positively identified SAM or AAA position. Russian aircraft may be engaged as required.

MISSION OVERVIEW

DATE: 30 April, 2023

TIME: 0545 local

SUNRISE: 0627 local
SUNSET: 2026 local
MOON: None

TASK: Precision Strike

WX: 150@08kt / SCT 11,000 / FEW 27,000 / T9.5 / Q30.00

FLIGHT DURATION: ~ 300nm + loiter prior to push time

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 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 / KC-135 / SHELL / Freq:251.000 [8]/ TCN:35Y
Recovery Tanker / S-3B / TEXACO / Freq 353.000 [10] / TCN:61Y
SEAD / F-18c / ROMAN & HAWK / Freq 305.000 [20]
EW / EA-6B / UZI / Freq 305.000 [20]
Strike / B-1B / VADER / Freq 305.000 [20]

DIVERT:
Batumi [WP]
Rwy: 13/31
VOR: TACAN 16X
ATC: 131.000 [16]

BULLSEYE: Sochi Harbor [WP8]

ROUTE OVERVIEW: