Latakia Bastion advanced base, October 2015. Historical Scenario.

Latakia Bastion advanced base, October 2015. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for The Middle East Battleset and the HCDB-150928 standard 1980-2015 Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/Israel side or from the Red/Russian side. To avoid a few spoilers you should play a few times first the Blue side, and only later play the Red side.

Image: Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback strike fighter, in Russian service from 21 March 2014. Photo taked by Dmitry Terekhov in 30 August 2015 at MAKS 2015, retrieved from Wikipedia Commons.

After the full of naval, military and security incidents year of 2014 and the not less eventful first eight months of 2015, the World was beginning the so-called Second Cold War. Mostly as result of President of Russia Vladimir Putin (ex-KGB lieutenant colonel) actions, provoking in succession the Crimea, Ukraine, Donetsk, Baltic States, October 2014 Swedish submarine incursion, G-20 Brisbane meeting naval crisis, November 2014 Faslane submarine incident, frigate Yaroslav Mudryy February "Channel Dash", April 2015 Finnish submarine incursion (for many observers causing the pre-mobilization of Finland reserve forces), and with constant and multiple overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe. That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents, just as the Iranian seizure of the Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015 (and neither counting in landlocked actions, as the ISIS operations in Middle East).
At last at the start of September 2015, and in face of the mild Western answer at his previous action (but aside constant and intensive military drills worldwide) Vladimir Putin decides to higher his stakes, His last decision surprised the World and was centred in a new theatre of operations for Russia: That was Syria and his four-year long civil unrest and war.
With the alibi of destroy the Islamists of Islamic State/Daesh, Putin start to place considerable warplane assets in Bassel Al-Assad International Airport (a simple and small base now called Khmeimim AB) and to fortify it. The base is near Latakia and Tartus, both Syrian Mediterranean ports of call with a discrete previous Russian military presence, limited mostly to intelligence and support dedicated ships. But actually the alibi was only aimed to neutralize and destroy with ground attacks not the Islamic State/Daesh forces, but other Syrian rebel forces, not so Islamist, menacing Russian ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the own Russian global strategic position.
But that's public excuses and covert actions could be a calculus error and more dangerous for Putin ambitions than he expects, as the region politics and power balances are all less easy. Probably at long run a decision more erroneous than the limited US support to Afghanistan Mujahideen in the 1980s, and one feeding growing concern in Israel ...
Note: this scenario was initially inspired in current fake claims posted in dubious Internet sites about the Israeli fighters fleeing as consequence of the presence of Russian fighters.

Enrique Mas, October 15, 2015.