Situation: As the ongoing war in Ukraine drags on, Russian forces are being supplemented by North Korean ground troops battling in and around the Kursk region. Already there have been reports of thousands of North Korean soldiers killed on the battlefield and Pyongyang appears ready to double down on their assistance to Putin's Russia. Western intelligence has received credible information that a new shipment of North Korean personnel, armor, and ammunition has arrived in the Russian port city of Novorossiysk.
NATO cannot risk further escalation and intervention by North Korea, and the decision has been made to strike at the North Korean reinforcements at their disembarkation point, before they can disperse and be put to use on the battlefield.
Unfortunately inclement winter weather in the Black Sea region and multiple days of heavy cloud cover have prevented accurate satellite imagery and target identification. Therefore, tonight's strike will be against the port of Novorossiysk itself with unguided munitions, in an attempt to disrupt the unloading of any further Korean supplies, and destroy any North Korean equipment still peirside.
Mission VFA-41 will launch at 00:30 from the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN steaming off of the Georgian coast. DEALER 1 will be an escort/fighter sweep flight, and DEALER 2 & 3 will be loaded out with 4x MK-83 iron bombs for an auto delivery on WP3. Due to the poor weather and distance involved, all jets will be outfitted with three fuel tanks.
All DEALER jets will rendezvous and hold at WP1 once airborne. A flight of three B-1B bombers that launched earlier out of Incerlik AFB will also be inbound at Angels 30 to participate in the strike. The B-1s will be coming from the south and will overfly WP1 enroute to Novorossiysk. The B-1's are scheduled to arrive over target at 01:30L (21:30Z) and DEALER 2 and 3 should plan to push from WP1 in order to arrive over the target (WP3) simultaneously with the B-1s. DEALER 1 should push ahead of the strike flights to clear the skies of any Russian CAP protecting the port.
After bomb drop, all aircraft will make a left turn and egress back to the south via WP4.
The weather in the region continues to be poor, with low ceilings, periodic snow showers, and the potential for periods of fog down to 1/2 mile visibility. The LINCOLN will have its ACLS up and available should it be required to safely recover aircraft. Kobuleti will be the primary divert (WP5), approximately 80nm to the east of the LINCOLN. An Air Force KC-135 (TEXACO) will be on station north of the CSG, as well as the usual recovery tanker.
Threats As already mentioned, there is the the possibility for Russian fighters patrolling the northern Black Sea. Also, expect the port facility itself to be protected by AAA and short range mobile SAMs. The weather should preclude any threat of IR or visually tracked surface to air missiles, but ELINT assets have detected the possible presence of mobile SA-8 systems in the Novorossiysk area. All flights should plan to stay at a safe altitude for bomb delivery.
- ZMDC.png (88.15 KiB) Viewed 1228 times
- Route.png (4.18 MiB) Viewed 1228 times