Duel in the English Channel, mid-February 2015.

Duel in the English Channel, mid-February 2015. Alternate history scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the EC2003 Battle for GIUK Gap Battleset and the HCDB-140909 1980-2015 era Platform Database.

Image: HMS Argyll in 2009, UK MoD photo, from Wikipedia Commons. Author: LA(Phot) Caz Davies.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/UK side or from the Red/Russia side. Is a very simple and introductory scenario, but you should play first a few times the Blue/UK side to avoid possible spoilers, and only later play the Red/Russia side.

After the eventful year of 2014 and with the World beginning the so-called Second Cold War, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) was showing clearly his plan to recover the Russian Empire and later Soviet territories for reinstitute the greatness of his Russia, and to guarantee his passage on the History as savior of the Rodina.

From May 2014 Putin provoked in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, and constant and multiple overflies with military warplanes causing potential incidents with commercial flights.

After UK did retire all the Nimrod MR.2 ASW and maritime patrol aircrafts in 2010 (and his ill-fated projected replacement Nimrod MRA.4 in 2012), the island nation was hopeless without a credible defence even of his nearest sea lanes (we can add to these very erroneous decisions others recent ones, losing full weapon capabilities in others fields, as the air-launched Sea Eagle anti-ship missile in 2000, the Sea Harrier in 2006, the Harrier in 2009 and the anti-radar ALARM missile in December 2013).

Also, from near 2010 only a warships was available for "escort" foreign or potentially enemy ships sailing the English Channel.

One of the first naval incidents of 2015 was the 17 February "Channel Dash" by the Neustrashimyy-class frigate Yaroslav Mudryy, returning to her Baltiysk base near Kaliningrad.

This scenario shows as the incident did could go wrong.

Enrique Mas, March 2015.