27 April 2022 - Damascus Dawn week 15.5 (Weds pickup)
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2022 9:07 am
VFA-41 was tasked with striking an ammunition and supply depot on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo yesterday.
Two flights were launched, each carrying a full loadout of Mk-82Y chute-retarded iron bombs. Dealer 1 consisted of two F/A-18C Hornets and Dealer 2 consisted of two F-14B Tomcats.
Due to mid-layer cloud cover and heavy AAA defenses in and around the target, a low level, 500kt ingress and egress was chosen to surprise the Syrian gunners and deny them the time/ability to visually acquire or track the inbound aircraft.
Dealer flights diverged after coast-in and followed different routes to target in order to strike the facility from two different directions in short succession. All four Dealer aircraft ingressed undetected and released their full compliment of Mk-82s which devastated the main warehouses at the target facility. Unfortunately, one Dealer 2 Tomcat spontaneously combusted just after weapon's release. No AAA was observed in the area and it is unknown at this time what brought the Tomcat down.
All remaining aircraft egressed to the west and observed numerous secondary explosions at site of the destroyed ammunition warehouses.
Weather off the coast was sufficient for a Case I recovery aboard the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CNV-73). One Dealer 1 Hornet suffered a mishap on landing and the aircraft ended up in the water short of the carrier.
The targeted supply facility suffered extensive damage and met mission objectives, however the success of the mission was dampened by the loss of two squadron aircraft.
DEALER 1
1-1 Rhino - Ground targets, crashed on recovery
1-2 Chaos - Ground targets, trapped
DEALER 2
2-1 Mr. Bean- Ground targets, trapped
2-2 Lion - Ground targets, lost over target (suspected fragmentation damage from bomb impact)
Two flights were launched, each carrying a full loadout of Mk-82Y chute-retarded iron bombs. Dealer 1 consisted of two F/A-18C Hornets and Dealer 2 consisted of two F-14B Tomcats.
Due to mid-layer cloud cover and heavy AAA defenses in and around the target, a low level, 500kt ingress and egress was chosen to surprise the Syrian gunners and deny them the time/ability to visually acquire or track the inbound aircraft.
Dealer flights diverged after coast-in and followed different routes to target in order to strike the facility from two different directions in short succession. All four Dealer aircraft ingressed undetected and released their full compliment of Mk-82s which devastated the main warehouses at the target facility. Unfortunately, one Dealer 2 Tomcat spontaneously combusted just after weapon's release. No AAA was observed in the area and it is unknown at this time what brought the Tomcat down.
All remaining aircraft egressed to the west and observed numerous secondary explosions at site of the destroyed ammunition warehouses.
Weather off the coast was sufficient for a Case I recovery aboard the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CNV-73). One Dealer 1 Hornet suffered a mishap on landing and the aircraft ended up in the water short of the carrier.
The targeted supply facility suffered extensive damage and met mission objectives, however the success of the mission was dampened by the loss of two squadron aircraft.
DEALER 1
1-1 Rhino - Ground targets, crashed on recovery
1-2 Chaos - Ground targets, trapped
DEALER 2
2-1 Mr. Bean- Ground targets, trapped
2-2 Lion - Ground targets, lost over target (suspected fragmentation damage from bomb impact)
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