broncepulido

File Name: Operation Opera, June 7, 1981. Historical Scenario. File Submitter: broncepulido File Submitted: 28 May 2017 File Category: Middle East Operation Opera, June 7, 1981. Historical Scenario. A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for The Middle East Battleset and the new HCDB2-170522 1980-2025 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later. Image: Israeli Air Force F-16A Netz '243', aircraft flown by Colonel Ilan Ramon in Operation Opera. This was the eighth and last to drop its bombs onto the reactor. CIAF, Brno-Turany, 4 September 2004. Image by KGyST, took from Wikipedia Commons. This scenario is designed to be played only from the Blue/Israeli side. The Red/Iraqi Saudi side is programmed, but not fully playable. Operation Opera was a historical strategic long-range operation of the Israeli Air Force, aimed to prevent the supposed use by Saddam Hussein's Iraq of a French supplied nuclear reactor to build nuclear weapons. The experimental reactor Osiraq (Or Osirak, composite word of the Osiris type reactor and Iraq or Irak) was placed at Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Center, near Bagdad. The reactor was previously attacked without results by the Islamic Republic of Iran with F-4E Phantom on September 30, 1980 (Operation Scorch Sword), as only were attacked the auxiliary installations to avoid the risk of radioactive fallout, because the limited intelligence on the target status. Also previously to the Israeli attack, another Islamic Republic of Iran Air force attack against the H-3 airfields complex, on 4 April 1981, degraded the capabilities of the Iraqi Air Force. Operation Opera was executed by the first batch of brand new F-16A, received by Israel from July 1980. Were employed only Mk84 dumb bombs, two carried by each F-16A, but at least eight of the 16 bombs launched hit the reactor dome, a notable achievement. Some bombs were equipped with very long time delayed fuses, to prevent reconstruction attempts. At last, the reactor was destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War, including the Package Q Strike attack of 19 January. Could you replicate the Israeli achievement in this apparently simple scenario? Enrique Mas, 28 May 2017. Click here to download this file

On the "Airfield secret" issue, see here (perhaps related with its classification as "Air Defence" (to avoid "in the map" detection) and not as "Base", but previously it did work in older scenarios): http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?/tracker/issue-185-failure-editing-airfield-secret/

Installation 52603 Airbase Small has 1xSmall Aircraft runway, ATC Radar SR and DP=1000 Installation 51431 Dispersement airfield has 1xSmall Aircraft runway, ATC Radar SR, 2xStinger RMP MANPADS, ... but DP=4000 I think a dispersement airfield should have less or the same damage points than a small airbase, but it's open to other considerations. (I will put later another question on "Airfield secret" in the issue tracker).

Modification 23 May 2017: - Added new scenario version for use with the new HCDB2-170522 1980-2025 New Standard Database. - Changed P-3C Orion variant to Update III, probably VP-62 was one of the latest USN units employed that variant.

Royal Navy aircraft 8754 Phantom FG.1 88 is erroneously asigned "Country" as USA, and not UK (A casual find, no working in any scenario with it).

Modifications 21 May 2017: - Added scenario version for the HCDB2 1980-2025 new standard Database. - Ship names fixed. - Very little text changes.

I think USN OH Perry entries should have capacity for 2xHelicopters, not only 1xHelicopter as now. (Found rebuilding the 1990' Alternative Naval Prelude to Desert Storm scenario, based in the Andy Doty scenario published in SITREP 49 were he fits 2xSH-60 in FFG30 USS Reid, and with his permission)

Modification May 21, 2017: - Added version for HCDB2-170507 1980-2025 New Standard Database. - Very slight text modifications. - For more fun the Admiral Kuznetsov carrier air wing is keeped, even when historically was probably of only 10xSu-33, 4xMIG-29KR/KUBR, some 2/3xKa-29RLD, some 4xKa-27, and only 1xKa-52K.

A simple typo in Loadout 53321 (Only employed by 10977 Typhoon F.2 06), 18703 IRIS-T (Not employed by RAF) should be 18596 AIM-132 ASRAAM (Found revamping the Kuznetsov at Bay scenario). Also, the very useful Loadout 53615 (Tornado GR.4 16) probably should have 2xAIM-132, no 1xAIM-132.

No, my idea is to show a progressive smaller signature (with a sucession of progresively smaller Luneberg lenses) in a crisis to cheat the adversary, to not unveil the actual dimension of real stealth, only at last in case of total war.

Or it's provision to use gradually decreasing Luneberg lenses in those cases or in a progressive escalade???

Another interesting point, Luneberg lenses: http://www.usarmy4life.com/strange-mod-f-35-kills-stealth-near-russian-defenses-theres-good-reason/

F-35A cleared for more aerobatics: https://theaviationist.com/2017/05/19/f-35a-apparently-cleared-for-more-aerobatics-during-airshows-new-video-shows-a-full-aileron-roll-eventually-added-to-the-display/

In short, from my own notes of many sources: Notes: - In August 2016 F-35A and F-35B Block 2B/3i are only armed with AIM-120C, GBU-31/32 JDAM, and E/GBU-12. Gun capability and AIM-9X will be added in 2017 (or gun in F-35B in 2019?), B61-12 nuke in F-35A in 2018, AIM-120D in 2019, and SDB near 2017-2022. - Also, I think the capability to carry 6xAIM-120 in the internal bays (and not only four, as now) will be added only from 2019 with the incorporation of AIM-120D (This is only an informed guess, based in the Norway's F-35A forecasted evolution, AIM-120D and the capability to carry 6xAIM-120 will be add only in 2019).

F-35 should be limited a lot before Block 3F, to be implemented in 2017. HCDB2 is even generous with the initial variants Block 2B (Not to be used operationally) and 2015-2016 Block 3i.

I think the only other torpedo with BSL=0 is Weapon 26750 G-7e (T-3a).

Weapon 26713 Stingray Mod 1 has BSL=0

Apparently a no news case, as its presence was were previously referenced in "Stennis Compromise" and "Reagan Against China" scenarios. KJ-500H is the naval variant of KJ-500 (based in the transport Y-9), with three AESA radar faces in a fixed rotodome: http://www.defensenews.com/articles/satellite-image-shows-chinese-deployment-of-new-aircraft-to-south-china-sea?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2005.15.2017&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

Spoiler alert 15 May 2017: Similar Chinese naval KJ-500H AWACS movements from Hainan Island, as forecasted in the scenario: http://www.defensenews.com/articles/satellite-image-shows-chinese-deployment-of-new-aircraft-to-south-china-sea?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2005.15.2017&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

Spoiler alert 15 May 2017: Similar Chinese naval KJ-500H AWACS movements from Hainan Island, as forecasted in the scenario: http://www.defensenews.com/articles/satellite-image-shows-chinese-deployment-of-new-aircraft-to-south-china-sea?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2005.15.2017&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

Hurrah, no more aircraft with no loadouts detected! (As suspected, very few indeed, great work Brad!).

Aircraft entry 9103 Il-76MD Candid B 87 (India) has not loadout. Aircraft entry 9422 KC-767J 09 (Japan) has not loadout.

Aircraft entry 9668 CH-47C Chinook 80 (Argentina) has not loadout (I will try to revise the 3034 entries loadout presence this weekend).

I did see from years (think ever, from the Computer Harpoon start) when an ASW aircraft has two or more types of sonobuoys, in each flight stop it drops one sonobuoy of each type, depleting its magazines faster than in I think more realistic drop of only one sonobuoy in each stop (To avoid this behaviour, in my personal DBs I change the loadouts to have only a single type of sonobuoy). Just observed again in a new little scenario in preparation. Toughts?