CV32

F-35Cs Make First Carrier Landings (Aviation Week)

4 November 1979 A mob of Iranian students storm the US Embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages, including more than 60 American diplomats and citizens who would be held captive for 444 days.

Great stuff, Enrique.

3 November 1982 A fire caused by an exploding fuel tanker inside the Salang Tunnel, in Afghanistan, causes a major traffic jam between two Soviet convoys. Smoke and carbon monoxide kill as many as 700 Soviet soldiers and 2,000 Afghan civilians.

Yes, against targets in Tanzania (a single sortie) and later in Chad and Sudan. Also, by Iraq against Iran.

Keeping in mind that the SS-N-14 Silex is just the missile carrying a torpedo payload (AT-1, AT-2 or UMGT-1, depending on version).

To game something like a Backfire raid ... I think a paper rules based, umpire managed and multi-player based wargame (using H4.1 or something akin to it) is probably much superior to anything available in the way of a computerized game like HCE, H3, CMANO, etc. Don't get me wrong, it certainly easier (and visually attractive) to have a computer crunch the numbers and run the scenario. But you miss out on many of the small nuances and quirks that add true realism to the battle. Like whether a human brain is going to be fooled by your attempted deception.

We used Su-35s during the Global Thunder MBX. Many of the other described tactics were also employed. In HCE, yes, I've often used fighters to soak up F-14 and F/A-18 defences if the carriers were close to the North Cape.

A-10’s Delayed Retirement Threatens to Push Back F-35 Program (DOD Buzz) Oh, the irony.

31 October 1958 In one of three incidents involving RB-47s in the fall of 1958, a US Air Force RB-47 Stratojet is bounced by Soviet fighters over the Black Sea. The aircraft was able to return to base safely.

North Korea: Test Stand for Vertical Launch of Sea-Based Ballistic Missiles Spotted (38 North) Is North Korea Developing Sea-Based Ballistic Missiles? (The Diplomat)

Great quote from the Kamikazes article:

A series of articles and discussions about Tu-22M (NATO Backfire) strategy and tactics. Kamikazes - The Soviet Legacy (Naval War College Review, Winter 2014) Deception and the Backfire Bomber: Reexamining the Late Cold War Struggle Between Soviet Maritime Reconnaissance and U.S. Navy Countertargeting (Information Dissemination) Deception and the Backfire Bomber, Part II (Information Dissemination) Deception and the Backfire Bomber, Part III (Information Dissemination) Deception and the Backfire Bomber, the Finale (Information Dissemination)

I must have missed this discussion. Very interesting stuff.

30 October 1961 The Soviet Union drops its 'Tsar Bomba' hydrogen bomb from a Tu-95V test aircraft over the Novaya Zemya archipelago. The bomb explodes at an altitude of about 4 km, with a yield of between 50 and 58 megatons, and creating a fireball visible from nearly 1,000 km away.

Improved Russian Nuclear Attack Submarine Kazan to Deliver in 2016 (USNI Blog)

Pentagon Acquisition Chief Doubts UMSC’s July F-35 IOC Target (Aviation Week)

29 October 1956 Israel launches Operation Kadesh, invading the Egyptian Sinai and sparking the Suez Crisis.

Probably Harpoon II?

There are three kinds of animations in HCE, all available under the Settings/Game Options tab: Launch, Area Defense, and Hit Animations. (There are no animations for launching helicopters.) You can check or uncheck these boxes to enable/disable these.

Russian nuclear-powered cruiser to undergo overhaul (Jane's)

28 October 1962 Soviet President Nikita Krushchev orders the removal of Soviet medium range ballistic missiles from Cuba, effectively ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Sounds promising, Enrique.

27 October 1981 Soviet Project 613 (NATO Whiskey) class patrol submarine S-363 (hull number 137) runs aground on rocks near the naval base at Karlskrona, Sweden, in the Baltic Sea, sparking a Cold War incident now known as "Whiskey on the Rocks".

24 October 1960 At the Baikonur complex, a test launch of the R-16 (NATO SS-7 Saddler) ICBM goes horribly wrong when the second stage engines accidentally ignite, causing an explosion that kills dozens, including Chief Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin, commanding officer of the Soviet Union's Strategic Rocket Forces (who was sitting less than 20 meters away). His death is reported as having been a plane crash.