Operation Frigid Foray (Part 5 of 7)
Campaign 4 - The War with UBAN
New World Order series
EC2000 GIUK battleset
Once it became clear that the NSC would be backing UBAN, tensions in the North Atlantic rose sharply. The NSC began overtly shipping large quantities of arms and war materiel to UBAN nations, a considerable portion of which had to pass through the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap. NATO threatened a blockade, and the NSC, of course, promised to retaliate if its merchant convoys were disturbed in any way. The stage was therefore set for a return to the traditional stomping grounds of the navies of the East and West blocs. (Released November 2000).
The heavy bombardment endured by NATO's northern facilities and bases, particularly in southern Norway and the northern UK, pushed the alliance's line of defence further south with each wave of attacking NSC aircraft. The enemy was relentless in its efforts to push out from the Kola Peninsula, with the anticipated goal of freeing up the ocean waters north of Iceland for the eventual transit of the Northern Fleet. Most air attacks involved an initial long-range missile bombardment by Tu-16 Badger bombers armed with AS-4 "Kitchen" missiles, followed by strikes by Fencers and Floggers, some with chemical weapons. Eventually the northern Norwegian airfields and ports were abandoned, and with the exception of special forces and isolated pockets of resistance, NATO forces retreated south. Thus the Northern Fleet was permitted to escape the confining waters of the Barents Sea and move virtually unopposed into Iceland. Newly acquired facilities in northern Norway, Iceland and Jan Mayen have allowed forward basing of Soviet strike aircraft and interceptors to cover the deployment. NATO Task Force 177 was unlucky enough to be caught behind the rapidly-expanding umbrella of enemy forces. In the process of evacuating US Marines and their equipment from Orland, the amphibious ship Saipan suffered a major failure of its propulsion system. The vessel was by now fully loaded with combat-weary troops and their vehicles, and it was too late to transfer this cargo to another ship. Repair efforts led to a critical 7-hour delay of the convoy's escape, and now lead elements of the NSC invasion force were bearing down. NATO was extremely fortunate to have an "ace in the hole" - the newly built Mobile Offshore Base Mitchel, hastily deployed to the Gap.