CV32

The Ustinov group has been joined by the Project 1541 (NATO Luza) class tanker Kama, and entered the English Channel yesterday. The Russian phibgru was off Sicily yesterday.

If any scenario creator is looking to put together scenarios depicting the evolving situation in Ukraine, I can offer the following information to assist: Spotted yesterday morning off Finnmark by a Norwegian P-3C Orion: Project 1164 (NATO Slava) class missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov, Project 1155 (NATO Udaloy) class destroyer Admiral Kulakov, Project 22350 (NATO Admiral Gorshkov) class frigate Admiral Kasatonov, a Project REF-675 (NATO Kaliningradneft) class tanker Vyazma and Project 712 (NATO Sliva) class rescue tug SB-406. Already in the Mediterranean, Project 864 (NATO Vishnya) intel collector Vasiliy Tatischev. Enroute to the Med, having passed through the English Channel: Landing ships Project 775 (NATO Ropucha II) Minsk and Kaliningrad, the Project 775 (NATO Ropucha III) Korolev, the Project 775 (NATO Ropucha I) Olenegorskiy Gornyak, Project 775 (NATO Ropucha II) Georgiy Pobedonosets, and the Project 11711 (NATO Ivan Gren) class landing ship Pyotr Morgunov. Departed naval base at Baltiysk in the Baltic Sea: Project 20380 (NATO Steregushchy) class missile corvettes Stoykiy and Soobrazitelny. In the Arabian Sea but apparently enroute to the Mediterranean: Project 1164 (NATO Slava) class missile cruiser Varyag, Project 1155 (NATO Udaloy) class destroyer Admiral Tributs and Project 1559 (NATO Boris Chilikin) class fleet oiler Boris Butoma. In the Black Sea: Over 20 Russian Black Sea Fleet’s warships deploy to sea for drills (TASS) These include the following: Minesweepers Project 266M (NATO Natya) Ivan Golubets, Project 12700 (NATO Alexandrit) Ivan Antonov and Project 266ME (NATO Natya) Valentin Pikul Project 1124M (NATO Grisha V) ASW corvettes Suzdalets and Yeysk (or Eysk?) Two other unidentified ASW corvettes? Frigates Project 11356 (NATO Grigorovich/Krivak IV) class Admiral Essen and Project 1135 (NATO Krivak) class Ladny Missile corvettes Project 21631 class Grayvoron and Ingushetia, and Project 12411 (NATO Tarantul) class Naberezhnye Chelny. Aviation OOB information can be found here: How The Russian And Ukrainian Air Forces Stack Up Against Each Other (The War Zone)

A China-US war in space: The after-action report (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

Speaking as a DB editor, its worse than ugly. The last thing you want (again, from the perspective of a DB editor) is for your changes to any single annex entry to have negative effects on the values of multiple other annex entries. To the point of potentially making a scenario unworkable. Speaking as a scenario creator, its worse than ugly.

The "and/or" is important, because many of these ships cannot operate the F-35C.

Stock scenarios will work with the HCDB.

The database uses the H4 data (where available) that was available at the time.

aviator, here is a list of Soviet nuclear powered submarines that were commissioned by 1990 and which were serving with the Northern Fleet at the time: Project 627 (NATO November) SSN: K-3, K-5 (decommissioned in January 1990), K-11, K-21, K-50; decommissioned in April 1990: K-11, K-21, K-50 Pr 658 (Hotel) SSBN: K-16, K-19 (in reserve since 1979, decommissioned April 1990), K-33, K-40, K-145, K-149 (went into reserve fleet in March 1990) Pr 667A (Yankee) SSBN: K-32 (did not deploy after 1986 due to reactor accident), K-137 Leninets (on missile patrol in the North Atlantic from 19 October to 31 December 1990), K-140 (out of service by 17 December 1990), K-214, K-228, K-241, K-245, K-249, K-253 (Yankee Notch conversion), K-395 (in drydock for Yankee Notch conversion), K-403 (sea trials of towed array pod), K-411 (completed Yankee Stretch conversion in 1990), K-418 (removed from active service in 1989), K-420 (Yankee Sidecar SSGN conversion, but torpedoes only by 1989), K-423, K-426, K-444; decommissioned in April 1990: K-32, K-140, K-426 [Note: In 1988 the director of US naval intelligence Adm Studeman told Congress that Yankee class SSBNs had ceased patrols off the US coast in late 1987 and were instead conducting "combat service patrols against theater targets" (i.e. staying close to home), presumably to compensate for the loss of the SS-20 under the INF Treaty.] Pr 667B (Delta I) SSBN: K-279, K-385, K-447, K-450, K-457, K-460, K-465, K-472, K-475 Pr 667BD (Delta II) SSBN: K-92, K-182, K-193, K-421 Pr 667BDR (Delta III) SSBN: K-44 (in post drydock sea trials), K-129 (had powerplant failure in June 1989, may not have been available), K-424, K-449 (went to Pacific Fleet in November 1990), K-487, K-496 Pr 667BDRM (Delta IV) SSBN: K-18, -51, -64, -84, -114, -117, -407 (not commissioned until late November 1990) Pr 670M (Charlie II) SSGN: K-209, -452, -458, -479, -503, -508 Pr 671 (Victor I) SSN: K-38, -53, -69, -147, -306, -323, -367 (did not deploy again after a reactor accident in 1985), -370 (may not have been available for deployment), -398, -438, -462, -481 Pr 671RT (Victor II) SSN: K-371, -387, -467, -488 (never returned to sea after 1988 drydock), -495, -513, -517 Pr 671RTM (Victor III) SSN: K-218, -244, -254, -298, -299, -358, -502, -524, -527 Pr 671RTMK (Improved Victor III) SSN: K-292, K-388, K-138 (operational from January 1990), K-414 (not commissioned until 30 December 1990) Pr 675 (Echo II) SSGN: К-1 (may not have deployed after 1989), K-22, K-28, K-35 (final deployment in 1989), K-47 (in refuel and overhaul, did not return until 1992), K-74, K-104, K-125, K-128 (not in active service after 1989), K-131 (did not deploy after 1984), K-170 (may not have been operational after turbine accident in 1988), K-172 (stayed in port after reactor leak in June 1989); decommissioned in 1990: K-28, K-74, K-128, K-172 (in April) Pr 705 (Alfa) SSN: K-123 (received a new reactor in 1990, probably not operational until 1992), K-316, K-373, K-432, K-463, K-493 (all but K-123 decommissioned in April 1990) Pr 941 (Typhoon) SSBN: TK-12, TK-13, TK-17, TK-20, TK-202, TK-208 Pr 945 (Sierra I) SSN: K-239, K-276 Pr 945A (Sierra II) SSN: K-534 (not commissioned until 26 December 1990) Pr 949 (Oscar I) SSGN: K-206 Minsky Komsomolets, K-525 Pr 949A (Oscar II) SSGN: K-119, K-132 (transferred to Pacific Fleet in late October 1990), K-148, K-410 (not commissioned until 22 December 1990), K-442 (not commissioned until 28 December 1990) Pr 971 (Akula) SSN: K-154 (commissioned but reportedly not operational until December 1993), K-157 (commissioned but reportedly not operational until November 1995), K-317 Pantera (not commissioned until 27 December 1990), K-328 (commissioned but reportedly not operational until December 1992), K-461 (commissioned but reportedly not operational until December 1991), K-480 I will further update this list with information about which boats might have actually been available for service.

It isn't a truly realistic tactical or strategic simulation. And that's not talking smack about a sim I have loved and spent an inordinate amount of time with. It's just the truth.

I have yet to find a commercially available simulation that can come anywhere close to realistically modeling the real life outcome of any military clash of arms on the kind of scale approached by sims such as Harpoon. That includes Command. These sims are far too mechanical, too regimented, too structured to realistically simulate the swirling multi-factorial chaos that is war. But they rank among the best we have, for the moment.

aviator, what's the setting date for your scenario? This would of considerable help in trying to find the right size of your proposed submarine deployment. Even though the Soviets fielded a large number of submarines, the classes and members of those classes that would have been available at any given time would be considerably smaller. Many units of a given class, for example, would have been under construction, under refit or repair, not on deployment (for any number of reasons), or deployed outside the Northern Fleet at any given point in time. I would be happy to help you narrow the field (in terms of trying to achieve the best workable solution for both realism and game play) if you have an idea of the date of your scenario. Scenarios are the lifeblood of the game!

Sorry I could not make it this time around. Previous commitment. Next time!

What Else Haven’t We Been Told about China’s Hypersonic and Nuclear Capabilities? (Real Clear Defense)

China's Mysterious Hypersonic Weapon Can Stay In Orbit According To Space Force General (The War Zone)

China's New Y-20U Tanker Joined Dozens Of Other Warplanes Flying Near Taiwan (The War Zone)

Glad to hear it. Let us know how it goes.

Astute Versus Virginia: Which Nuclear-Powered Sub Is the Best Fit for Australia? (Strategist)

Already posted here by TonyE but another reminder won't hurt. 🙂

Investigation made final conclusions on Kursk submarine tragedy — Kremlin (TASS)

Don is here on the forum (Uncleharpoon) so I expect he would enjoy it.

US Air Force Tests StormBreaker ‘Smart’ Munition on F-35 (Defense Post) Recently discussed in the DB forum.

China’s Growing Aircraft Carrier Force (Real Clear Defense)

That's one of the characteristics of naval ships in general - they tend to abhor empty or unused space.

We get a fair bit of military traffic - aircraft and ships in particular - in this part of the world. I have been privy to a low pass overhead by several Ospreys in formation. It is certainly a memorable sound.

You came to the right place for the info. 😀