06 August 2023 - Operation Enduring Resolve Week 7

Post by **Hedgehog** » Mon Aug 07, 2023 10:44 am

Mission aircraft were sortied in three early morning flights to follow familiar flight paths and be ready to engage strategic and tactical targets of opportunity that would be relayed in flight.

Dealer 1
Directed to an enemy-held airfield to locate and destroy SAM launchers at an identified repair facility. Substantial cloud cover obscured the area making ATFLIR search and targeting difficult. GBU-12 laser-guided bombs were employed to destroy 'suspicious' looking vehicles and industrial buildings at the site. It is unclear whether the intended SAM launchers and repair facility were actually destroyed, but a lot of stuff at the site went boom.
1 - Hedgehog: gnd tgts, trapped.
2 - Mr. Bean: gnd tgts, trapped.

Dealer 2
Directed to coordinates to locate and destroy enemy armored vehicles. Accomplished. Flight required air-to-air refueling to get back to the carrier. One pilot was unable to refuel and landed at a neutral airfield. Repair and recovery efforts are underway.
1 - Maniac: gnd tgts, trapped.
2 - Crash: gnd tgts, diverted to neutral airfield.
3 - Chaos: gnd tgts, trapped.

Dealer 3
Responded to emergency tasking to provide air cover for search & rescue operations of a downed C-130. Unfortunately they were 170 nm away from the site when tasking was received, and the SAR helo was already inbound, as well as enemy forces. Enemy forces evidently got the the site first, attacking and downing the SAR helo. The fate of those crews remains unknown. Mission aircraft destroyed the C-130 as directed, as well as exacting revenge on enemy units.
1 - Rhino: gnd tgts, trapped.
2 - Lion: gnd tgts, trapped.
3 - Trim: gnd tgts, trapped.

Some mission objectives were met.