The Black Aces were tasked with a strike mission on Iranian ammunition depots and fuel storage on Abu Musa Island in the Persian Gulf. Two flights were sortied with GPS-guided and laser-guided weapons. An escort flight of Mirage 2000s was provided from the UAE.
It may have been some sort of Middle Eastern holiday or something, because the Mirages were not interested in engaging the Iranian F-14 Tomcats that launched from Abu Musa. More interestingly, the F-14s flew right past the Mirages, ignoring them, to engage our flights. Kinda makes you wonder whom you can trust in the region.
Dealer 1 and Dealer 2 aircraft engaged flights of F-14s and MiG-29s that scrambled from Abu Musa, downing several. As Dealer 1 approached the island to deliver air-to-ground ordnance, they came under fire from multiple SAM emitters that are within range. HARMs were employed, but not enough to neutralize the threats. Some GPS-guided ground ordnance was release, but not enough to accomplish all assigned objectives.
Based upon the continued air-to-air and ground-to-air threats at the target area, the Mission Commander deemed that the objectives could not safely be met with remaining resources and ordered RTB.
Dealer 1
1 - Hedgehog: Pri tgt, SA-2, trapped.
2 - Sunshine: 1x F-14, 2x MiG-29, trapped.
3 - Trim: 1x Igla, trapped.
4 - Rhino: Pri tgt, 1x MiG-29, trapped.
Dealer 2
1 - Mad Dog: 1x F-14, trapped.
2 - Mr. Bean: trapped.
3 - Lion: trapped.
4 - Raid: trapped.
Mission partial success. All mission aircraft recovered safely to fight another day.
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22 AUG 2021 Gauntlet-20
Re: 22 AUG 2021 Gauntlet-20
Pilot records and Greenie Board updated.