Porter, Black Sea and Sea Shield 2017, February 2017. Historical/Alternate History Scenario.

Porter, Black Sea and Sea Shield 2017, February 2017. Historical/Alternate History Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the Mediterranean Battleset and the HCDB2-170326 new standard 1980-2025 Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.

Image: Number 6305, A Romanian MiG-21MF-75 Lancer C firing S-5 air-to-ground rockets during a training exercise in June 18, 2010. Photo by Miha Zamfirescu, took from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/NATO 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.

With the world on the brink of an open war after four years of impending Second Cold War, just after the take of possession and first days of mandate of Donald Trump from January 20, 2017, another repeated point of naval and military operations popped-up again, diverting in the headlines the situation in Eastern Ukraine. After a new intensification of the Russian operations supporting with GRAD rockets bombardment the separatist actions from January 31, 2017 in the Avdiivka sector, from February 1 to 11, 2017, NATO executed exercise Sea Shield 2017.
The exercise was probably combined with isolated Freedom of Navigation (FON) operations by USS Porter (DDG-78), first of the only four SeaRAM equipped Burke-class destroyers of CTF-64, tasked with Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) and forward based in Naval Station Rota, Spain, from April 2015.
As usual in FON operations, USS Porter was buzzed those days by probably Russian Naval Aviation Su-24M, and the exercise finished without notable incidents, in spite of the international and regional situation in Crimea and Ukraine.
This scenario explores the possibilities of something going wrong as consequence of the buzzing by Russian aircrafts, perhaps an autonomous response of SeaRAM at incoming Russian warplanes, and of a limited military conflict with the present forces: components of Sea Shield 2017 exercise, a few other Turkish elements because the internal problems and international posture of Turkey (Perhaps about change sides, after the fake failed 15 July 2016 anti-Erdogan coup, and the subsequent rarefied relations with NATO, US and Russia), Russian naval and aeronaval forces in the Black Sea, units defending the Russian-Occupied Crimea, and a few Russian Air Force elements.
Worth of remembering is, after the full of naval, military and security incidents year of 2014 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), Russian intervention in Syria from 30 September 2015, shoot-down by Turkish F-16 fighters equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM on 24 November 2015 of a Russian Su-24M as consequence of the repeated unlawful overflights of Turkey by Russian warplanes based in Latakia, and after two months of repeated warning, March 2016 detection by the French of a Russian submarine near Bay of Biscay and the SSBN base, the propaganda stunt of the de
ployment of the only one Russian aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov steaming (a lot, literally) from Kola Bay towards Eastern Mediterranean from October 15, 2016, and with constant and multiple Russian overflies with military warplanes entangled in potential incidents with commercial flights in Europe, so far as at the Portuguese shores.
That without counting in other unrelated naval incidents aside the upcoming Second Cold War, just as the Iranian seizure of the merchant Maersk Tigris in 28 April 2015, the shore-based anti-ship missile attacks against the catamaran transport ex Swift (HSV-2) and US destroyers on the Red Sea in October 2016 and the ulterior retaliation, the first military operation of the Trump Administration on January 28, 2017, the MV-22B tiltrotor raid of SEAL Team 6 operating from USS Makin Island (LHD-8) against Houthi Yemen, and later on January 30, an Al-Madinah-class Saudi frigate was attacked and damaged probably by a Houthi suicide or drone boat off Al Hudaydah, Houthi Yemen. (and neither counting in great landlocked actions, as the counter-Daesh operations in Middle East).
And meanwhile, more towards Far East a less perceived and growing problem was China, as reflected in the transfer of the 60% of the USN and USAF combat forces to the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 2012, move to be completed by 2020.
In this scenario the opposed forces are limited, and in a short time must achieve an overwhelming victory against the other side, to prevent extension of the conflict showing their superior capabilities, or failing it.
The depicted Russia and NATO regional orders of battle are the most historical accurate possible at February 2017.

Enrique Mas, 12 March 2017.