10 OCT 2021 Gauntlet 26
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 6:21 pm
VFA-41 was tasked with destruction of a SA-5 site near Bandar Abbas. Primary targets were the radar units.
Two flights were dispatched. Dealer 2 with a high level ingress armed with HARMs and Dealer 1 with a low level route and iron bombs. Dealer 1 would ingress low level intending to arrive shortly after Dealer 2s HARMs made impact. Dealer 2 was able to get in range and launch HARMs at the targets. However two aircraft were lost in the process. Only the tracking radar was destroyed, the search radar was not hit, nor any of the launchers.
Dealer 1 did not fair any better. Dealer 1 was able to ingress to the target area but only the lead aircraft was able to drop bombs in the target area and all missed. Just prior to Dealer 1s arrival 3 Migs were scrambled and were undetected until Dealer 1 arrived at the target area. Dealer 1-2 was shot down by one of the Migs while an his bombing run. At that point Dealer 1, 3 & 4 broke off their attack runs and switched to A/A. Unfortunately, a misidentification occurred and 1-4 was killed by fratricide. Hearing this Dealer 1-1 and the remaining Dealer 2 aircraft reengaged, each shooting down one of the Migs, allowing all remaining aircraft to egress the area.
All remaining aircraft were able to return to the carrier and land.
Hard to call this mission any sort of success, but one of the two primary objectives was destroyed.
Dealer 1:
Trim - 1x Mig-21; Trapped
Rhino - Shot down by Mig-21
Ticman - Trapped
Nocs - Shot down by friendly
Dealer 2:
Lion - Ground Target Hit; Shot down by SA-5
Mad Dog - Ground Target Hit; Trapped
Hedgehog - Ground Target Hit; Shot down by SA-5
Iceberg - 1x Mig-21; Trapped
Two flights were dispatched. Dealer 2 with a high level ingress armed with HARMs and Dealer 1 with a low level route and iron bombs. Dealer 1 would ingress low level intending to arrive shortly after Dealer 2s HARMs made impact. Dealer 2 was able to get in range and launch HARMs at the targets. However two aircraft were lost in the process. Only the tracking radar was destroyed, the search radar was not hit, nor any of the launchers.
Dealer 1 did not fair any better. Dealer 1 was able to ingress to the target area but only the lead aircraft was able to drop bombs in the target area and all missed. Just prior to Dealer 1s arrival 3 Migs were scrambled and were undetected until Dealer 1 arrived at the target area. Dealer 1-2 was shot down by one of the Migs while an his bombing run. At that point Dealer 1, 3 & 4 broke off their attack runs and switched to A/A. Unfortunately, a misidentification occurred and 1-4 was killed by fratricide. Hearing this Dealer 1-1 and the remaining Dealer 2 aircraft reengaged, each shooting down one of the Migs, allowing all remaining aircraft to egress the area.
All remaining aircraft were able to return to the carrier and land.
Hard to call this mission any sort of success, but one of the two primary objectives was destroyed.
Dealer 1:
Trim - 1x Mig-21; Trapped
Rhino - Shot down by Mig-21
Ticman - Trapped
Nocs - Shot down by friendly
Dealer 2:
Lion - Ground Target Hit; Shot down by SA-5
Mad Dog - Ground Target Hit; Trapped
Hedgehog - Ground Target Hit; Shot down by SA-5
Iceberg - 1x Mig-21; Trapped