CV32

Was that tied to one of the SSGNs?

Yes, I believe so. At least the cruise missile part of the platform (dunno about spec ops).

Yes, apparently USS Florida is in the area?

Everybody is going to get a chance to test their newish weaponry, huh. AASM, Tactom, etc.

I vote Antaeus!

Deadly on parked aircraft. Apparently calling this Operation Odyssey Dawn (at least from the US perspective), with the Tomahawks targeted against air defense sites around Tripoli, Misratah and Sirte.

File Name: Linebacker File Submitter: CV32 File Submitted: 19 Mar 2011 File Updated: 21 Mar 2011 File Category: Custom DB Used: HCCW-110319 Authors: Brad Leyte Battleset: Indochina (Custom) Battleset-Custom: .scz - Custom BS - Custom BS Linebacker A Harpoon Commanders Edition (HCE) scenario for the Indochina Battleset and the HCCW database (HCCW-110319 or later). This scenario is designed for play by the BLUE side only. Disrupting the critical flow of men and materiel south was a primary objective of the US Air Force throughout the Vietnam war. Lacking good road and highway links, the North relied heavily on its railroad to support its offensive. Despite repeated and systematic bombing by the Americans against the rail network, however, the North had become quite adept at making rapid repairs and building bypasses. It seemed the craters were filled in and the new track was laid almost as quickly as American jets faded out of sight. One of the most critical parts to escape heavy damage was the Paul Doumer Bridge over the Red River, just northeast of Hanoi. Four of the major railways met here. It had thus far been off limits to the bombing campaign, but in Summer 1967, President Johnson finally agreed to a list of targets that would include the Paul Doumer Bridge. The list was a critical component of Operation Rolling Thunder, Phase IV. The bridge was no easy target, however, being somewhat of an engineering marvel, not to mention being heavily defended. The first serious attempt at dropping the bridge came on 11 August 1967, when a large force of F-105D Thunderchiefs carrying 3000 lb bombs were sent north. Hammering the bridge with over 90 tons of explosives, they managed to drop three spans and brought all truck and rail traffic into Hanoi to a halt. Inside two months, however, the North Vietnamese had put the bridge back into operation. On 25 October the F-105s struck again, and again knocked out the bridge. Within a month, it was back up. Twice more in December the F-105s dumped bombs on the bridge and inflicted more damage. The North Vietnamese began to compensate by building a pontoon bridge downriver, but this too was struck by a Navy Intruder. Nearly 400 more tons of bombs were dropped on the Paul Doumer Bridge before President Johnson halted the bombing campaign in the North in late 1968. The reprieve gave the enemy just what it needed: time to repair the bridge and bolster the defences around it. It was not until Spring 1972, under the auspices of Operation Linebacker, that US Air Force jets returned to try and finally bring down the Paul Doumer Bridge once and for all. This time they brought a new weapon, the smart bomb. Click here to download this file

A new version of the Harpoon Commander's Edition (HCE) 'Cold War' Database (HCCW-110319) is now available. Get it in the Downloads section of the HarpGamer website. New additions include: Aircraft: EB-66E Destroyer - USA EP-3B Batrack - USA F-4D Phantom II - USA HC-130H - USA HH-53C Super Jolly - USA J-6 Farmer C - Vietnam, North MiG-17F Fresco C - Vietnam, North MiG-21F-13 Fishbed C - Vietnam, North MiG-21PFL Fishbed D - Vietnam, North MiG-21PFM Fishbed F - Vietnam, North RC-135D Rivet Brass - USA RC-135M Rivet Card - USA U-2R Dragon Lady - USA Installations: Bien Hoa - Vietnam, South Cat Bi - Vietnam, North Don Muang - Thailand Gia Lam - Vietnam, North Hoa Lac - Vietnam, North Kadena - Japan Nha Trang - Vietnam, South Phuc Yen - Vietnam, North Takhli - Thailand Tan Son Nhut - Vietnam, South Ubon - Thailand Udorn - Thailand Yen Vien Railyard - Vietnam, North Ships: Albany (1970) CG - USA Baltimore (68/1) CG - USA Boston (1955) CAG - USA Boston (1963) CAG - USA Boston (1968) CA - USA Canberra (1969) CA - USA Chicago (1972) CG - USA Columbus (1963) CG - USA Leahy (1962/1) DLG - USA Leahy (1967/1) DLG - USA Leahy (1970) CG - USA Little Rock (1960) CLG - USA Little Rock (1965) CG - USA Oklahoma City (60) CLG - USA Oklahoma City (65) CG - USA Salem (1960) CA - USA Yarnell (1963) DLG - USA Yarnell (1967) DLG - USA Yarnell (1970) CG - USA Mobile Land Units (MLUs): AAA M1939 Bty - USSR Enjoy.

Looks like Rafales of EC 1/7 'Provence' out of Saint-Dizier might have the claim of being first. Good for them, they need the marketing exposure.

I see BBC has good video and pictures of the MiG-23. And, oy, that was an awfully low altitude ejection. Including pics of EA-18G Growlers at Aviano, apparently. That's awfully far away from the action. Canadian CF-18s passed through Prestwick last night enroute to Trapani airbase in Italy.

Definitely a MiG-23. I didn't see a smoke trail from the ground, but it was quite distant.

Yep, mine was run at night, around 02:30. Good catch. If we can blame it on visual spotting by the neutrals, then I'd like to know if Joe only experiences this phenomenon only when neutrals are involved and a chance of them spotting or detecting his units. If so, then Joe gets some vindication, finally! And we get to squash (I hope) a bug that I had thought we had dealt with quite awhile ago.

Yes. You need the "AS (360 degree)" flag to avoid that.

Well, let's see ... I ran the Thanh Hoa Bridge scenario myself, using the HCE Demo and trying to replicate Joe's observations. Here is a screenshot of my E-2B taking off and heading off to the northeast, just as Joe's did, staying radar silent and outside the range of North Vietnamese radars. You can see a frenzy of North Vietnamese formation patrols in the Unit Map, including a pair of MiG-17s and a pair of MiG-21s in the Gulf of Tonkin (inside the blue circle). There is also a long range patrol by a pair of MiG-21s just off the southwest coast of Hainan, which is visible on both the Unit and Group Maps (inside the blue square). There's another long range patrol just off the Vietnamese coast. Neither of these showed the slightest interest in my E-2B. Why? Because they had no idea it was there. The next screenshot shows me loitering the E-2B right off the west side of Hainan at High altitude, still radar silent. And, again, no intercept coming to get me. Now, watch what happens when I run the scenario again. This time I energize the radar of my E-2B (Group ACA) upon launch and I move northeast just as before. Almost immediately I attract the attention of not just one, but two, separate groups of enemy aircraft moving east over the Gulf of Tonkin in an attempt to intercept me. (The third group just to their south is the long range patrol mentioned above). Now it gets real interesting. When I shut down my E-2B's radar, and select one of the two enemy interceptor groups (in this case, ZGR), I can see that despite my radar being off it is still on an intercept course. Why is that? Because the enemy interceptors are still working off my last known position. They have an uncertainty zone now that I can't see, but rest assured it is there. So even though I have an E-2B sitting radar silent and outside enemy radar range, I am still being subjected to an intercept. I suspect this is not a surprise for most of you. I've attached my savegame from when the E-2B was radar silent and NOT attracting any enemy attention. THB_BL.zip

The F-4D version was introduced without the AIM-9 Sidewinder (later adopting it), but this was in the Vietnam era and I am doubtful if it was ever reflected in OEM databases/scenarios.

The clause could be interpreted any number of ways, and usually is, for one reason or another. One wonders, for example, why the same standards aren't applied to what is happening in places like the Ivory Coast.

Yeah, but where we gonna get the Matildas and the Tommies to drive em?

Text of the UN Security Council Resolution 1973 can be viewed here, courtesy of Information Dissemination.

Anyone have a credible source for reload time for the RIM-8 Talos missile from the Mk 7 GMLS?

Its clunky, but workable.

From Aviation Week [excerpt]

Yes, I'm aware of that, from the air at least. But ...

This is the critical flaw in any 'no fly zone', imho. Even without air, there are other ways to exert painful pressure on a rebel force. And, even if airpower is brought to bear against pro Qaddafi forces, eventually those aircraft will go away. And the Libyans are back to shooting at each other, or whatever other weapon they can get their hands on. My cynical two cents. In the interim, I will offer 'good luck' and prayers to the CF-18 flyboys as they head off. Who wouldn't want to go to the Mediterranean in the middle of a Canadian March?

Much of their air force is either inoperational or in storage. I suspect a fairly small number of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters (and pilots) are performing the bulk of the air strikes reported in the news. HG member HUD3 posted a rundown here. Sean O'Connor over at the IMINT & Analysis blog did an overview of the Libyan SAM network back in May 2010. You can find that here.