Herman

Both, I suppose. The vehicles, for example, have the appropriate cannon and machine gun armament. I do remember an early encounter between some ground units. I was trying to run them down and trying to engage with my tanks. Unfortunately, both the truck convoy that I was chasing and the Tank force that I was driving were capable of 30 knots. I chased them all over the Korean Peninsula and never caught them. I think that this 'avoidance' behaviour has been changed since I played that scenario, but I cannot be certain.

The truck convoy arrived with only an hour to spare. They quickly loaded onto the surviving transports and the convoy immediately set sail, much to the relief of the Admiral in charge. This relief was short lived. The approaching carrier battle group consisted of the Conte di Cavour CVH and they had some very dangerous SSMs aboard the group. Instead of risking a direct confrontation with the more powerful CVHBG, the evacuation fleet ran UP the Adriatic until the aircraft could even the odds. The Sea Skua-armed helos easily dealt with a flotilla of Sparviero missile boats. However, any attempt to launch a helo-borne attack against the surface group was deemed suicidal as it was protected by the Sylver SAM system. Repeated HARM strikes from distant Poland finally degraded the Italian SAM defences sufficiently that the Harpoons from the convoy's escorts could penetrate and sink the SSM-armed vessels. With no further opposition, the convoy ran for the relative safety of the Mediterranean. One group of evacuees was safely on their way. However, another was just about to face its crucible. Another sizable armoured force was converging on Belgrade. Unfortunately, the tank-busting Apaches were based at the airfield in Tuzla and they had just finished off another mechanized force threatening their airfield. The tank force was heading to the airfield. The transports were inbound and they had already passed the point-of-no-return. They simply had to land at Belgrade. There were no other options. If the tank force could close or destroy the airfield, the second group of refugees from Petrovec would be stranded. The Apaches were ordered to eliminate the armour. It was a very close race, indeed. The Apaches arrived just as the tank column began deployment onto the road to the airport. They were destroyed at the very approaches to the runways in a hail of Hellfire AGMs. Races do not get ANY closer than that. Without realizing just how close they came to having no landing field and running out of fuel, the planes of the evacuation landed and loaded up with grateful refugees. Once re-loaded, they quickly made a hasty departure for Ramat David. As they flew over the Aegean, victory was awarded. Another very fine scenario. The situation of Fulcrum vs. Fulcrum or AMRAAM vs. AMRAAM will likely be more and more possible as these weapons are sold to countries that were formerly allied with East/West blocs. Check it out on: HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB. SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

AAR: LaGrange 6 [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Brad Leyte The crisis had arisen almost too quickly for the newspapers to report. Military intelligence was caught behind the curve and failed to provide sufficient warning of impending events. When the pot boiled over, few units were ready and those that were ready were dispersed throughout the Mediterranean theatre. The Makin Island PhibRon was, literally, caught between a rock and a hard place. She found herself neatly sandwiched between the immense Russian base of Krasnodar and the Romanian base at Kogalceanu. A Fencer E jammer was immediately despatched to cover the Makin Island PhibRon. Hopefully, her powerful ECM systems would keep the enemy blind to the whereabouts of the vulnerable PhibRon. As they had only been on an exercise, the PhibRon only had a single Aegis cruiser as an escort. Flankers were assigned to cover her front door while Fulcrums would watch the Krasnodar threat axis. Ramat David was a LONG ways away, but the commander elected to gamble and launched relief / evacuation flights immediately and hoped that there would be some place for them to land. The apprehension level rose as the first SCUD attack arrived on the Freedom Beachead. The "balloon" had gone up and the enemy was planning to wipe out the tiny commands scattered throughout Europe. The truck evacuation convoys were ordered to put the "pedal to the metal!". "Drive like your lives depended on it because they do". Gripens launching from Prevov, Czech Republic, came under immediate missile attack from Fulcrums over Slovakia. Even though the two republics shared a common history, today, they would find themselves on opposite sides of the fence. The Gripens returned fire with AMRAAM and knocked the Fulcrums from the sky. Furious airbattles broke out throughout Eastern Europe as soon as planes launched due to the close proximity of the bases. SSN Ambush detected an enemy group sitting directly astride the Strait of Otranto. This was the evacuation route for the ships currently awaiting the evacuees' truck convoy at Beachead Freedom in Yugoslavia. The Adriatic was, essentially, bottled up. Ambush would try and release the cork. Falcons from Poland rushed towards Belgrade. The airport were the only link to the outside world. It could not be allowed to fall. An enemy column was detected approaching Belgrade and subsequently destroyed by Falcons/Gripen using Maverick AGMs and GBU-10 LGBs. Another was charging for Tuzla where WAH Apaches demolished them with Hellfire AGMs. A Falcon passing overhead reported minefield and obstacles directly in the path of the evacuation convoy bound for Freedom Beachead. Detours were immediately ordered for both truck convoys. The enemy evidently anticipated the planned evacation route. The truck convoys would take more circuitous secondary highways in hopes of avoiding these ambuscades. It was a "dog's breakfast" over Tuzla; much like the political situation. The situation in the Black Sea was just as desperate. Odessa came under AS-16 Kickback attack from bombers based at Krasnodar. Her radar was destroyed and the follow-up missiles did major damage. The Makin PhibRon looked like it was going to be crushed between the two bases. A flotilla of missile boats unleased a hail of Surface-to-Surface missiles [sSMs] that were brought down by the Aegis system. They were well timed and covered by a Fencer E that provided jamming support. Only luck allowed the flotilla to be spotted in time by a Fulcrum in overflight. Another flotilla was detected in the other direction. Some sailors began to grimly refer to their PhibRon as Fort Apache. Luckily, the timing of the attacks by the two flotillas was not perfect. This allowed them each to be destroyed piecemeal by the Su-25 Frogfoots and Su-24 Fencers based at Odessa. A third flotilla showed up to the Southeast. Without a coordinated effort from the two groups already destroyed, she stood no hope of success and the little ships died under a storm of Kh-29T Kedge AShM [Anti-Ship Missiles]. The evacuation of Eastern Europe consisted of many foot races. The evacuees scheduled for a maritime departure were hurried along by anxious ship captains. The 'Cork' that had been at the head of the Adriatic had moved down into the bottle and was heading towards the vulnerable beachead. If they could destroy the docks, the evacuees would be stranded in Yugoslavia and subject to destruction at the hands of the superior Yugoslavian ground forces.

Walking softly and sticking to big carriers The U.S. military is more cautious than wary as China rearms and challenges for regional dominance 2005-11-20 / The Christian Science Monitor / By Robert Marquand TaiwanNews An F/A-18C Hornet attempts an arrested landing aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) in this file photo. The Kitty Hawk is based in Yokusuka, Japan. / Knight ridder This 30-mile-long volcanic island appears on a map like stray bit of tropical spackling flung out in the Pacific. Honolulu is eight hours east, Tokyo four hours north, Hong Kong and Jakarta four hours west and south. The rest is ocean. Guam has been a sleepy supply depot for decades. But it is now becoming known as the "tip of the spear" of U.S. Pacific forces. This U.S. territorial outpost no longer means just "fuel and ammo" but "subs and bombers" as well. Some officers say Guam's new priority is a result of diverse missions in the Pacific, like tsunami relief. But most agree it has its source in the "unknowns" in East Asia - code language for Pentagon concerns about the rise of China - with its claims on Taiwan and rivalry with Japan - and a region with friction over oil rights, North Korea. "[Guam] hasn't had a continuous bomber presence since Vietnam," says Lt. Col. Hans Lageschulte, a flight operations officer here. "But things changed two years ago." At that time, about 12,000 military aircraft were landing on the longest runway in the Pacific. Last year, that figure was 26,000. Bulldozers are flattening earth for a second parallel runway. Parked wing to wing on Andersen's tarmac are seven B-1B Lancer bombers with names like "Night Hawk and "Live Free or Die." Their gray swept-back forms now carry JDAMs, or guided munitions. Each plane carries the payload of three B-52 bombers, the military's cargo workhorse. "We [u.S. forces] are developing an ops [operations] mentality in the Pacific," says David Crockett, as he stands inside a B1 cockpit loaded with upgrades. A B1 squad leader who wears titanium Armani glasses, Colonel Crockett is a veteran of Kosovo and Afghanistan. "We are training more and staying out longer." China's military is beginning to show signs of serious capability, as it rises and spends in tandem with its new-wealth economy . As China's submarines and destroyers begin to navigate the Pacific Ocean currents, U.S. forces in Asia are becoming more robust and watchful - even as the Pentagon seeks better ties with the PLA. The PLA has reformed 15 percent of itself into a core modern force capable of giving the U.S. trouble around Taiwan. It has newly effective cruise missiles, three new classes of submarines, and a significant new defense industrial base from which to develop advanced weapons. China lags behind the U.S. in areas like stealth technology and the ability to project power But this does not mean China now has a state-of-the-art Army, nor that China is on the verge of Pacific military parity with the U.S.. To take one example, the PLA currently can "lift" or move only one division, about 15,000 personnel. It has no carrier force. In fact, there are so many wide gaps between China and the U.S. - from stealth technology to "battlefield vision" - that some experts say China lags 20 years behind in the area of purely military matchups. In the past year, however, a dawning realization of new Chinese military capability has been so surprising that many analysts warn of overcompensating, and of attributing to China far more threat than there is. They point to fearful commentary about Chinese ambitions and warmaking ability that is largely based on lists of Chinese hardware planes, missiles, tanks, subs. Yet few serious military planners feel such lists are a genuine method of assessing military prowess. As one Pentagon source noted, quoting an old CIA joke, "no one ever lost their job here by analyzing a threat." "To predict anything with certainty about the PLA or its intent is really irresponsible," says a senior U.S. expert on China's military. "I don't think the PLA knows which way it is headed. I think there are just too many question marks." "I view China as a challenge, I would like to put it that way," says Guam's air commander, Col. Michael Boera. "I don't yet know if they are a problem." Problems for China: sustaining an attack on Taiwan and a U.S. 'revolution in military force' In interviews in Hawaii, Guam, Taiwan, and Tokyo, generals and pilots, analysts and experts offered two fundamental points about China and the U.S. in Asia. First, while China has turned its 1970s-era military technology into late 1980s-era technology, it is still 1980s-early-90s technology, and remains untested in combat conditions. China's high-tech training of officers and enlisted personnel is still considered very modest. High tech Moreover, while China is creating the kind of high-tech battle force that will allow its ships, planes, missiles, and operations centers to coordinate with precision and speed, it does not yet have this hard-earned capability. Nor does it have advanced satellites and AWACS-enhanced battlefield vision (though China is purchasing up to four AWACS-type Russian A-50 planes.) In the short term, China faces two real problems. One, in the most serious and potentially catastrophic scenario - a PLA attack on Taiwan - it is far from clear that China can sustain an attack, once it meets advanced resistance. Second, U.S. Pacific forces are not sitting dormant. China, for example, may be reforming, but it has not undergone the kind of "revolution in military affairs" that U.S. forces have in the past decade. Moreover, should it come to a serious dustup in the Pacific, China might be required to face both U.S. and Japanese forces. Japan has state-of-the-art systems that are mostly compatible with U.S. systems. From atop the slender control tower here at Anderson, with its "Prepared to Prevail" inscription, officers are busy managing a live example of how U.S. forces are adapting. Aircraft from three military branches work together: Ke-135 bomber refuelers, B-52s, Navy P-3s, and Navy H860 helicopters. A set of stealthy B2 bombers was here last week, and Marine F-18 jets arrive next week. Lumbering C-17s buzz around like oversize bumblebees. Rapid response This is a composite picture of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's idea of "interoperability" - where military branches act in concert. The concept will be further enhanced this month when a new "Kenney War Fighting Center" starts up in Honolulu. The center will oversee a rapid-response Air Force team throughout the Pacific. Here in Guam, the Kenney center will deploy three sophisticated "Global Hawk" unmanned reconnaissance planes. Global Hawk replaces the U-2 spy plane, and will fly reconnaissance missions of 24 hours or more at 54,000 feet above the 100 million square miles and along the 43 countries that make up the Pacific command region. "Flexibility, speed, quick response ... is what we seek," says Lt. Col. Jason Salata of Pacific Command. Last summer, U.S. and Japanese planes conducted joint bombing runs off Guam - the first time Japanese planes dropped munitions here since WW II. Guam's downside is vulnerability to what is called a "single point failure." That is, many assets could be wiped out in a single event, like an earthquake or a hostile submarine with tactical nuclear weapons. Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, was nearly a "single point failure." One gap between China's military aims and its actual ability is the officer corps. China is developing a high-tech army. Yet it is unclear whether enough high-tech officers are available. A colonel in the PLA makes about US$500 a month, less than the salary of many office clerks in Beijing's joint-venture firms. One Western expert who has spent time at PLA schools says that while China may be purchasing a modern army, it is not clear that enough officers are "modern in their heads ... a lot of them are still fairly local. They like hanging out in karaoke bars and don't want a lot of trouble." Andrew Yang, one of Taiwan's foremost military experts, says that on a trip to Beijing this summer, he felt the PLA "officers are not at a high level, and they are still losing talent to the private sector." The sky is falling One sharp critic of a "Chicken Little attitude" about China is analyst Richard Bitzinger, now at the Asia-Pacific Center for Strategic Studies. Mr. Bitzinger argues that precise appraisals of the PLA are nearly impossible, since the Chinese do not share much information. He argues that many China hawks substitute their own fears for what they don't know about China's capability. Yet he says it is possible to use common sense in taking some basic appraisals of the PLA. To quickly become the dominant power in Asia, China would have to sharply increase its military budget For example, he says, for China to develop quickly into the dominant military power in Asia would require PLA commanders to focus on every area at the same time - research, training, weapons manufacture, deployment, and the creation of high-tech communications that even U.S. forces find daunting. Such a full-out buildup would require China to even more sharply increase its already whopping budget. "The problem for the PLA goes to the old saying, 'You can't make everything a priority,' " Bitzinger says. "They can't upgrade at all the levels needed and still spend only 3 percent at most of GDP." China's Aegis Moreover, for PLA generals to simply go on a shopping spree and obtain cutting-edge aerospace, boats, and missiles, doesn't necessarily mean much, Bitzinger argues. Modern militaries require "sweating the details" to make very unusual and hard-to-duplicate military systems and subsystems work. This takes years. "You can't just go out, buy stuff, and expect to plug and play [sophisticated hardware]," Bitzinger says. "I blame Star Trek for these assumptions," he adds, "where Captain Kirk and Spock can build anything out of nothing. You may want an Aegis system, but you can't buy it off the shelf. "We see a smooth plating on China's new 053 destroyer that looks like our Aegis system," Bitzinger says, "and some military analysts decide China does have an Aegis. But that assumes too much, in my view." Many PLA watchers say that despite China's modernization, many critical details are not addressed. For example, relations between the Chinese Army and Navy have long been so bitter that they sometimes don't speak to each other. While Chinese pilots now get a standard 200 hours training, that training is not advanced. In a Taiwan scenario, too, the battle China has been planning for, there are many unsolved problems. Military commanders who have "war gamed" Taiwan point out that an invasion force of at least 250,000 to 300,000 is required. Yet China can't deliver that many men to Taiwan's shores in a first assault. While China may be able to bloody the U.S. Navy if it comes close to China's shores, the U.S. Navy no longer employs this tactic in a Taiwan scenario, analysts say. One active Japanese army general who has war-gamed Taiwan many times says that China has only bad outcomes at present. If China tries to sink U.S. ships with waves of aircraft, it will probably lose much of its Air Force, he states: "As a military planner you have to live to fight another day.... I have done the gaming many times from the Chinese side, and I've never won. My worst nightmare job is to be the Chinese operational planner for a Taiwan invasion. I have questioned whether China would sink a single U.S. ship." Beijing can now potentially sink an aircraft carrier that gets too close to the Taiwan strait. But so far its cruise missiles, which are similar to the U.S. Harpoon or French Exocet, are still 1970s vintage. These missiles can hit a ship. But more than 40 navies in the world use this type of weapon, and U.S. ships are practiced in countermeasures. "People talk about Chinese cruise missiles as if one missile could stop the U.S. Navy," says Bitzinger. "I really question that. For starters there are countermeasures. In a real scenario, the Navy isn't sitting on its hands." Missiles aimed at Taiwan are not a decisive military threat Then there are those 600-800 Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan from Fujian province in China. U.S. commanders, Taiwanese politicians, and journalists often describe these missiles as if they are a decisive military threat. In fact, they are more likely symbolic. As a munitions expert told the Monitor, 700 missiles is "nothing. For a military attack that is supposed to incapacitate and paralyze a country, it is not impressive." Each missile carries about a half-ton of explosive. Some 1,000 of them represent 500 tons. That amount is smaller than U.S. forces dropped on Tokyo in two days, March 9-10, 1945, in an early futile effort to get Japan to surrender. Pearl Harbor In an eerily prescient PLA book that came out before Sept. 11, 2001, two PLA officers argue that many future conflicts would be organized around "asymmetric warfare," also called "assassin's mace." The tactic itself sounds unsettling, based on deception and trickery. Yet some U.S. strategists point out that military tactics from the Trojan Horse to Pearl Harbor have relied on surprise and hitting the enemy in vulnerable places. One said, "I think maybe only the British in the 19th century deigned not to attack in a vulnerable or dishonorable place. Everyone else has and does, and plans for it. I don't think China has a corner on that market. Unfortunately, many assessments about China's military can only be proven in war. Such an event would probably be catastrophic. Many sources for this report, including some that confess they simply "don't trust China," nonetheless abhor the assumption that conflict is inevitable in the Pacific. Keep talking Future relations envision everything from a U.S. and allies "containing" China to a future where both the U.S. and China find a way realistically to share the security of the Pacific. Admiral William Fallon, head of the Pacific Command, pointed out in Beijing in September that the stakes are too great for U.S. and Chinese military relations to remain chilly, and cloudy. "If I were to encounter an issue with most of the countries in the Asia Pacific right now," he told reporters. "I would merely have to pick up the telephone and call someone I already know, I've already met, had a dialogue with...." Fallon continued that he felt it, "important for more than just the U.S.-Chinese relationship" to develop a new and serious rapport. It is important for the entire region of Asia, he stated.

Maybe the premise behind Red Storm Rising isn't so far fetched, after all. Now, how can we work this into a scenario..... CIA slipped bugs to Soviets Memoir recounts Cold War technological sabotage MORE ON WASHINGTONPOST.COM By David E. Hoffman Updated: 12:13 a.m. ET Feb. 27, 2004 In January 1982, President Ronald Reagan approved a CIA plan to sabotage the economy of the Soviet Union through covert transfers of technology that contained hidden malfunctions, including software that later triggered a huge explosion in a Siberian natural gas pipeline, according to a new memoir by a Reagan White House official. Thomas C. Reed, a former Air Force secretary who was serving in the National Security Council at the time, describes the episode in "At the Abyss: An Insider's History of the Cold War," to be published next month by Ballantine Books. Reed writes that the pipeline explosion was just one example of "cold-eyed economic warfare" against the Soviet Union that the CIA carried out under Director William J. Casey during the final years of the Cold War. At the time, the United States was attempting to block Western Europe from importing Soviet natural gas. There were also signs that the Soviets were trying to steal a wide variety of Western technology. Then, a KGB insider revealed the specific shopping list and the CIA slipped the flawed software to the Soviets in a way they would not detect it. 'Programmed to go haywire' "In order to disrupt the Soviet gas supply, its hard currency earnings from the West, and the internal Russian economy, the pipeline software that was to run the pumps, turbines, and valves was programmed to go haywire, after a decent interval, to reset pump speeds and valve settings to produce pressures far beyond those acceptable to pipeline joints and welds," Reed writes. "The result was the most monumental non-nuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space," he recalls, adding that U.S. satellites picked up the explosion. Reed said in an interview that the blast occurred in the summer of 1982. "While there were no physical casualties from the pipeline explosion, there was significant damage to the Soviet economy," he writes. "Its ultimate bankruptcy, not a bloody battle or nuclear exchange, is what brought the Cold War to an end. In time the Soviets came to understand that they had been stealing bogus technology, but now what were they to do? By implication, every cell of the Soviet leviathan might be infected. They had no way of knowing which equipment was sound, which was bogus. All was suspect, which was the intended endgame for the entire operation." Reed said he obtained CIA approval to publish details about the operation. The CIA learned of the full extent of the KGB's pursuit of Western technology in an intelligence operation known as the Farewell Dossier. Portions of the operation have been disclosed earlier, including in a 1996 paper in Studies in Intelligence, a CIA journal. The paper was written by Gus W. Weiss, an expert on technology and intelligence who was instrumental in devising the plan to send the flawed materials and served with Reed on the National Security Council. Weiss died Nov. 25 at 72. According to the Weiss article and Reed's book, the Soviet authorities in 1970 set up a new KGB section, known as Directorate T, to plumb Western research and development for badly needed technology. Directorate T's operating arm to steal the technology was known as Line X. Its spies were often sprinkled throughout Soviet delegations to the United States; on one visit to a Boeing plant, "a Soviet guest applied adhesive to his shoes to obtain metal samples," Weiss recalled in his article. Then, at a July 1981 economic summit in Ottawa, President Francois Mitterrand of France told Reagan that French intelligence had obtained the services of an agent they dubbed "Farewell," Col. Vladimir Vetrov, a 53-year-old engineer who was assigned to evaluate the intelligence collected by Directorate T. Vetrov, who Weiss recalled had provided his services for ideological reasons, photographed and supplied 4,000 documents on the program. The documents revealed the names of more than 200 Line X officers around the world and showed how the Soviets were carrying out a broad-based effort to steal Western technology. 'Caused a storm' "Reagan expressed great interest in Mitterrand's sensitive revelations and was grateful for his offer to make the material available to the U.S. administration," Reed writes. The Farewell Dossier arrived at the CIA in August 1981. "It immediately caused a storm," Reed says in the book. "The files were incredibly explicit. They set forth the extent of Soviet penetration into U.S. and other Western laboratories, factories and government agencies." "Reading the material caused my worst nightmares to come true," Weiss recalled. The documents showed the Soviets had stolen valuable data on radar, computers, machine tools and semiconductors, he wrote. "Our science was supporting their national defense." The Farewell Dossier included a shopping list of future Soviet priorities. In January 1982, Weiss said he proposed to Casey a program to slip the Soviets technology that would work for a while, then fail. Reed said the CIA "would add 'extra ingredients' to the software and hardware on the KGB's shopping list." "Reagan received the plan enthusiastically," Reed writes. "Casey was given a go." According to Weiss, "American industry helped in the preparation of items to be 'marketed' to Line X." Some details about the flawed technology were reported in Aviation Week and Space Technology in 1986 and in a 1995 book by Peter Schweizer, "Victory: The Reagan Administration's Secret Strategy that Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union." The sabotage of the gas pipeline has not been previously disclosed, and at the time was a closely guarded secret. When the pipeline exploded, Reed writes, the first reports caused concern in the U.S. military and at the White House. "NORAD feared a missile liftoff from a place where no rockets were known to be based," he said, referring to North American Air Defense Command. "Or perhaps it was the detonation of a small nuclear device." However, satellites did not pick up any telltale signs of a nuclear explosion. "Before these conflicting indicators could turn into an international crisis," he added, "Gus Weiss came down the hall to tell his fellow NSC staffers not to worry." The role that Reagan and the United States played in the collapse of the Soviet Union is still a matter of intense debate. Some argue that U.S. policy was the key factor -- Reagan's military buildup; the Strategic Defense Initiative, Reagan's proposed missile defense system; confronting the Soviets in regional conflicts; and rapid advances in U.S. high technology. But others say that internal Soviet factors were more important, including economic decline and President Mikhail Gorbachev's revolutionary policies of glasnost and perestroika. Reed, who served in the National Security Council from January 1982 to June 1983, said the United States and its NATO allies later "rolled up the entire Line X collection network, both in the U.S. and overseas." Weiss said "the heart of Soviet technology collection crumbled and would not recover." However, Vetrov's espionage was discovered by the KGB, and he was executed in 1983.

That's the beauty of probability. Even if a player plans to deliver enough ordnance to destroy a target three or four times over, when the dice are rolled, they can still all MISS! This calculative method, IMO, is more evident in Brad's latest scenarios. When I play them, the assets are often quite limited and the player is required to do a great deal with few platforms. This is an observation and not a complaint. Because so much is expected of the player, I find that I simply must maximize the biggest 'bang for the buck' that I can muster. Daydreaming Heretic!

AAR: First Contact [spoiler Alert] By Ragnar Emsoy Reports were received from all throughout the Norwegian Sea: many unidentified ships and aircraft were spotted closing in on the Norwegian coast. Fighters had been scrambled, but we needed to conduct a proper surface search. As four Orion P-3s of the 17th Maritime Patrol Squadron prepared to launch from Andoya, most of the unidentified contacts were localized through ESM efforts. Some contacts were easily classified as Kresta cruisers and others as Sovremenny/Hangzhou destroyers. Northern Command ordered us to ascertain the identities and intentions of these contacts. While waiting for the P-3s to arrive on station, the F-16s aloft were ordered to close on the contacts for a visual search. Lieutenants Sivertson and Matheson soon reported 2 separate groups of fast attack craft. Each consisted of 6 Nanuchka/Osa IIs operating at high speed. Although the pilots had been scanned with radar in a hostile manner, no other action had been taken against them. The regional commander could not conclude that they had been fired upon and, according to the ROE, did not order any retaliatory action. The Orions began to arrive on station and were able to learn additional information but were unable to classify the contacts from radar alone. The TACCO wanted to conduct a visual search. However, the aircraft commander overruled her and ordered the fighters to conduct a visual search. Major Lundh later reported that he had a suspicious feeling that day. He said, "They were all formed up in pretty columns with what appeared to be a screen of escorts. If the situation soured, the fast movers would stand a much better chance of survival. After all these years of getting of taking crap for flying an aircraft unable to break Mach 1, it is time for the fighter jocks to earn their pay." As Lt. Sivertson's flight sped in to investigate the group nearing Andoya, many thing began to happen. Bad things. Radar had been tracking the Lt.'s plane, but now a fire control set had begun radiating and the RWR announced that a SAM had been launched and was tracking the aircraft. The Lt. immediately went to afterburner and began evasive maneuvers while punching out flares and chaff. The nearest Orion detected the launch and was now able to classify the contact definitively as a Soviet DDG Sovremenny. A Flash report was immediately sent up the chain of command to the COMNON HQ and a response was received in less than 90 seconds. However, in war, 90 seconds is a lifetime... A Royal Navy ASW group was conducting exercises north of Andoya when the AEW helo reported multiple inbound high speed air contacts. The Commodore immediately ordered general quarters and for all ships to radiate and maneuver to unmask batteries. Secondly, he ordered a flash-priority warning to all commands. His chief of staff cut him off and told him that they had just received the warning. Damn. A penny short... All decks were to be cleared of aircraft. The helos launched immediately, but the Harriers had just been recovered from an exercise and were still in the process of fuelling. Commodore Ralston muttered, "Now I know how Nagumo felt at Midway." The escorts began launching SAMs, but there were only a pair of fire control directors on each of the Invincible and DDG Exeter and almost 30 missiles inbound. Anyone could see that 30 of a kind would beat 2 pair any day. The frigates Phoebe and Argonaut were the first to go down. They preceded the DDG Exeter by mere seconds. The Invincible put up a valiant defense. However, even with assistance from the Exeter, there were still 6 missiles remaining when the SAMs were no longer able to engage. It only takes one to ruin your day. All 6 missiles made today Commodore Ralston's "Mother of All Bad Days". The first missile hit the hangar just above a fueled Harrier that was being wrestled labouriously by a crew into launch position. The next 5 followed in quick succession. The Invincible had fought just 97 seconds of the Third World War. COMNON Lt. General Lium ordered NATO units to engage all Soviet forces with priority given to landing ships. He thought that he put it simply by saying, "If it flies the Soviet Red Star, It Dies." Little did the General suspect of the confusion that the specificity of his orders would create. Lt. Siverson was approaching the group off Bodo when his radar detected the launch of several missiles. The TACCO quickly classified them as Sandbox SSMs and Gadfly SAMs. After Siverson took defensive measures and evaded, he requested weapons release and permission to attack the ship. To his dismay, the TACCO refused. Her reply, "That ship is either a Soviet Sovremenny DDG or a Chinese Hangzhou DDG. I am unable to positively classify at this time. Request denied. We are not going to run the risk of starting a war with the Red Chinese." Siverson's wingman, as always covering his leader's six position, quickly piped in with, "If that's a Chinese boat down there, somebody better tell them that they are in the wrong ocean and that getting into a war is the least of their problems! The only Chinese out here are in that restaurant on Drammensveien." "Yeah, and in the Egg Foo Young noodles in your head, TACCO", Siverson added subconsciously. The F-16s continued to close on the target. Meanwhile, the MTBs had unleashed a volley of Penguin missiles at the Nanuchkas and Osas. Final score of that round went to the Norwegians who sank all 12 PMs for the loss of 2 MTBs. While bringing the strike-configured flight of P-3s to the Bodo bound group, TACCO ordered the fighters to investigate the helos and send them to meet Karl Marx if they were Soviet. "Blind the *******s," she said. Eight helos were shot down in short order. For all her shortcomings through strict adherence to orders, TACCO was brilliant. She plotted the suspect group and noticed that the thundering herd was screened only in the west, south, and east. There seemed to be no escorts in the north. She directed all of the fighters and Strike-P-3s to congregate there. On the attack, the F-16s raced in on afterburners while the P-3s cruised in cautiously. Siverson led the way and bore in on his arch-nemesis; Sovremenny/Hangzhou. When he was fired upon once again, the other F-16s were able to visually identify the main body of ships as Soviet and immediately selected amphibious assault ships as targets for their strafing runs. The Orions each selected a Ro/Ro vessel and fired their ASMs. Togther, the F-16s and Orions were able to sink 2 landing ships for an amazing zero friendly casualty rate. However, one LST remained and it was pointed directly at Bodo. The Norwegian pilots were winchester and frustrated when the TACCO came up with brilliant idea number 2; her annual quota. She heard the reported loss of the Invincible and asked if there were any aircraft in the area with ordnance. The Harrier pilots were heading for Bodo and replied most enthusiastically that they still had full loads for their cannon but that they were _Very_ skeptical of getting close enough to the target and could they provide an escort. The Norwegian pilots reported unanimously that their weapons were totally depleted. What do you want us to do? Be living missile shields and bullet catchers?!! General Lium had been monitoring the situation and came on the radio to say, "In armor, there is an expression. 'If you run out of fuel, become a pillbox. If you run out of ammunition, become a bunker. If you run out of hope, become a hero.' I cannot order you on this mission, but I can only say that that remaining landing ship might make the difference in the entire campaign if we can stop them butt cold. I am looking for volunteers." To a man, the pilots of the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron agreed. Some would rather not do so, but they were all fighter pilots and followed the creed, "It is better to die than to look bad". There would be many Heroes in the Norwegian Sea, today. As the pilots planned their ingress from the north, two MTBs blew up a Kresta II cruiser. The back door exit lay open. The pilots slowly increased speed to full military power. The F-16s went in on afterburner again and were immediately engaged by the escorts. The agility of their aircraft prevented a single loss. However, when the escorts soon began to target the Harriers, the TACCO ordered the Vipers to match the speed of their charges. To this order, Siverson replied, "Why don’t you tell us to bend over and grab our ankles while we are at it!" The TACCO was non-plussed. She told him that, "You get paid to do it. Not to like it." The living missile shields worked. The Harriers were able to exact a terrible revenge for the loss of their shipmates. The amphibious group arrived at Bodo without the 455th infantry regiment lost at sea. Four Vipers, Lt. Siverson's included, made the ultimate sacrifice. They were each awarded the Order of St. Olaf, Norway's highest decoration for valor. SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

Guess that I'll have to be the voice of dissent, as usual. If a military doesn't have some idea of how much damage an installation is likely to be able to withstand, then what has their intelligence arm been doing with all of their time before the war started? They should have lots of that stuff squirrelled away in file cabinets, already. It might not be perfect information, but it should be close. Like some explosive experts say, "There are no problems in the world that cannot be solved by the detonation of the proper amount of explosives." The combat elements would be establishing doctrine against various types of targets and have a pretty good idea how many of Aircraft Type X are going to be needed to suppress Target Type Y. Since we are only playing a game, this kind of stuff should be made known to the player as it is probably known to professionals in real life. I know, it isn't anything but more wishful thinking on my part.

I took a look in the GE and agree that I can't find out the number of damage points for any particular installation. However, it is possible to see the damage level for attached units like SAMs and Mobile Land units if you select the unit in the window and then hit either Full Display or Display.

I would disagree on the depth. At periscope, they might get spotted by radar and this wouldn't be realistic. I know that in H3, subs at Deep depth cannot be detected by MAD. I don't know if this restriction applies to HCG or not. I'll be testing for it, soon. However, I think that it might be better to always move the mines to Deep depth in order ot make it more difficult for detection by player assets.

AAR: Syrian WMD [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 Scenario By Scott Mackenzie Admiral Forrester read the Intel report one last time. Well, he thought, we've finally found where those WMDs, originally reported in Iraq, have ended up. We may not have found the weapons, themselves, but we certainly have located the technology for producing them. Those boys in the Agency finally got one right after all these years and now the USN was being called in to do what they do best - blow things up. As always, the AEW [Airborne Early Warning] aircraft were sent aloft first to establish the radar picture over the region. With all eight aircraft available, the resolution was going to equal a High Definition television program. However, the EW [Electronic Warfare] aircraft were held back on the deck. Instead of blinding the Syrians, Adm. Forrester wanted them to come out over the Mediterannean where he could kill them more easily as they would be out of support from their GCI [Ground Controlled Intercept] radar stations. He recognized that this would be a gamble, but he also knew that the AMRAAM magazines on his carriers were limited and he wanted to save the Slammers for when his boys went downtown. In order to properly bait the trap, one CG from each CVBG was ordered to radiate. Hopefully, the thought of engaging an Aegis cruiser would simply be too tempting for the Syrians to resist. The two carriers were re-organized into one CVBG with the extra escorts sent on towards the coast for naval gunfire bombardment of Latakia and Tartus. With only 48 hours and limited magazines, Forrester was going to need every weapon capable of deliver HE on target. This way, the helos could contribute their Hellfire AGMs more effectively. While his plan was not to level the entire country, there were only about 90 targets within the 8 complexes identified on his target list: - Tadmur CW Facilities - Aleppo CW Facilities - Homs CW Facilities - Latakia CW Facilities - Homs Nuclear Plant - Al Safir Scud Base - Hamah Scud Base - Hamah Scud Manufacturing He planned to blast a wide hole in the IADS [integrated Air Defence System] by annihilating the defences along the coast between Latakia and Tartus. This would open a corridor to the more centrally located facilities. He intended to leave the air bases in the south unmolested and kill the Syrian air force only when it took to the air. The eastern Mediterannean appeared to be pretty quiet. Everyone guessed that the entire world knew that something was brewing when the news on WMD was reported on CNN. A group of ships appeared to sortie from Latakia naval base. SSN Pittsburgh was assigned to identify and, if necessary, neutralize them. They were all making 34kts. so it was very unlikely that they were civilian vessels. Slotback radar from MiG-29 Fulcrums was detected over Syria and Hornets armed with AMRAAM were sent in to sweep them from the sky. Instead of a stealthy approach, the Hornets were ordered to radiate and reveal themselves. Intelligence had reported SA-5 in the Syrian OoB and CAG was hoping that the Syrians would be trigger-happy and fire these at long range. The AMRAAMs quickly and effortlessly shot the Fulcrums and Foxbats out of the air without them even realizing that they were under attack. The SAM crews showed their nervousness and loosed their SA-5 Gammon from long range. The Hornets quickly pulled into a loop and fled on afterburner. The SA-5s did not have sufficient fuel to intercept and soon dropped into the sea. This provocative manoeuvre was repeated until the Syrians had depleted their entire Gammon inventory. The previously unknown ships were soon identified as Osa missile boats. SSN Pittsburgh sent a Mk48 torpedo to welcome them. The charge from the Osa squadron was a valiant gesture, but it had been centuries since warfare awarded points for gallantry. Results were all that counted. One torpedo / boat was all that was necessary to wipe out the little squadron. With local air superiority estabilished, the SEAD aircraft were sent in to turn out some lights. They concentrated their HARMs against search and fire-control radar so that strike elements like the Vikings could deliver their payloads unmolested. Although decimated, the Syrian air force still tried their best to inflict a propaganda victory by attacking the CVBGs with their Fencer bombers. However, the fleet's 'eyes in the sky' gave very prompt warning of their approach. The defending CAP [Combat Air Patrols] held their fire and closed to within Sidewinder range before sending them to meet their compatriots in the Fulcrums and Foxbats. Once a breach was established, the waves of strikers poured through. These were escorted by Prowlers that degraded the SAM systems to the point of near ineffectiveness. With much of the IADS in shambles, the TLAM were finally unleashed. Instead of leading the attack with TLAM, they were held until now so that the Syrians would not have many systems left to attempt to shoot them down. These deep-strike instruments devastated the strategic targets while the aircraft continued to hammer secondary targets. The NGFS [Naval Gunfire Support] group arrived at Tartus and proceeded to level the entire area before moving up the coast to Latakia and repeating the process. Like their predecessors over Vietnam, the aviators from the Truman and the Roosevelt cycled through wave after wave of attacks and exhausted the PGMs [Precision-Guided Munitions] before resorting to iron bombs. With virtually no opposition, the carrier air wings bombed mercilessly and left much of Syria resembling a moonscape of craters. After 46 hours, the Syrian government contacted the UN and agreed to submit to UN-supervised destruction of remaining CBR [Chemical, Biological, Radiological] weapons within the country. Once again, US naval aviation had proven itself instrumental in persuading a nation to modify its behaviour. Congratulations to Scott on his first scenario and thanks for sharing it with the community.

You are right if a player can quickly identify a contact as a mine, but when a sub contact is first detected, it usually just shows up as unknown. The player cannot know if it is a mine or a sub.

Hey Akula, Great to see you jumping into Scen Design. Here is a consideration for you: There is a known minefield bug. Check it out on the bug list. This might just be my idiosyncracy, but I think that the best mine fields might be ones consisting of a single mine. From my experience, I seem to find that when one sub unit in a group is detected, the remaining units appear to show up almost instantly afterwards. Not always, but usually pretty quickly. This is not true in all cases. Sometimes, I am able to detect just a few mines with the others remaining hidden. I haven't done any testing for it.

Hey Pete, If you like, I can try and take a look at your file and maybe both of us can run down the problem, together. You can either mail me the file directly to me or you can post it to Files of ScenShare. Cheers.

Over 350 new aircraft, ships, submarines, facilities, and weapons have been added to the PlayersDB. Get it at StrategyZoneOnline . Features include: - AS-4 Kitchen missiles with various ranges so that designers and players are no longer restricted to release from one range - God's Bow ManPADs for the ROK - New Kidd-class DDGs for the ROK - 500lb GBU-38(V)1/B, Mjolner, SPICE, and Delilah munitions added - Updates to USN, Chilean, Qatar, Thai, Singaporean, Burmese, Dutch, and Filipino Orders of Battle - countless changes and improvements guaranteed not to crash any earlier scenario built with the PlayersDB SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB FilesOfScenShare

49th scenario posted this year! Another superb effort from one of the community's masters. This is the seventh scenario in his 21st Century Ocean Wars battleset. Malakka Strait The NATO-Russian war is 4 weeks old. Russia's naval aviation forces and US Carriers have fought several bloody battles around Japan. Japan has defended its islands well, but is now very vulnerable to the closure of its SLOC's. The Chinese navy has left port but has stayed out of the battle. The US losses in the Pacific and Atlantic theatres have forced it to withdraw the Seventh Fleet from the IO. Only Diego Garcia remains as a stronghold there. The task of providing security for the Malakka Strait has been handed over to India, Thailand, and Singapore. India and Thailand will use their baby-carriers to escort tankers through the IO. The War in the Pacific has interrupted oil shipments to Japan and China for several weeks now and resumption of the oil trade has now become a strategic imperative. Author: Freek Schepers This scenario requires the latest release of the PlayersDB v5.9.7 Get it via: StrategyZoneOnline, HarpGamer, SimHQ, PlayersDB Depot, SubSim, CombatAce, or Frugal's World of Simulation. Check it out at: SZO file archives or at FilesOfScenShare

I'm sure that you are right. My goof. Glad to see that someone reads my AARs.

AAR: Thunder Dragon [spoiler Alert] By Brad Leyte Operation Thunder Dragon was in full effect; the hunting and trapping of an entire USN carrier battlegroup. I checked my forces and found that I had a fair number of aircraft and ships. Unfortunately, most of them were near or past obsolescence. However, to paraphrase Comrade Stalin, "Quantity is a quality in and of itself." My patrol assets were sent aloft immediately in hopes of catching a sniff of electronic emissions from the CVBG. Intelligence had reported that there was a CVBG in the area, but could not be more specific. Almost right after takeoff, the enemy emissions were detected smack in the middle of the Yellow Sea. This was both a curse and a blessing. While she was technically 'surrounded' by my airbases, most of my aircraft would not be able to reach her. Their legs were that short. Once the general area of the CVBG was established, the Maritime Patrol Aircraft [MPA] dove for the deck. They were already in the estimated envelope of the enemy SAMs. No sense in giving them easy targets. I decided that only a full force effort would suffice in breaching the layered defences of a CVBG. Firstly, the outer air battle against AMRAAM-armed Hornets would have to be won. Then, the ring of SAMs thrown up by the Aegis escorts would be the next layer. Finally, the short-ranged point-defense missiles like Sea Sparrow and RAM [Rolling Airframe Missile] would round out the CVBG defences. They were formidable indeed. I decided that even if many of my aircraft were obsolescent, the enemy would still need at least one missile to destroy them. Since those missiles were going to be fired regardless, they may as well kill old planes with their cadet pilots instead of the few modern planes in the PLAAF inventory. With very few standoff weapons or ARMs [Anti-Radiation Missiles], I sent the old and slow planes toward the suspected CVBG's position. They went in at high altitude with their puny radar searching desperately for the enemy. I expected the radar emissions to attract the enemy Hornets the same way that sugar attracts real Hornets. The more modern Flankers, J-10, and bombers stole in at low level and under EmCon [Emissions Control]. I was trying to coordinate a Time-Over Target [TOT] attack that would have most of my assets arriving over the target at relatively the same time in order to swamp the defences. The employment of my sacrificial lambs worked. Most of the defending Combat Air Patrols [CAPs] were drawn to them and engaged with AMRAAM from maximum range. The price was high, but not crippling. Once the AMRAAMS were depleted, my Flankers were able to close and kill the defenders with their own Alamo AAMs. While the aircraft made their approach, the flotillas of missile boats started blinking off of the screen. They immediately turned on their radar to discover swarms of inbound Surface-to-Surface missiles [sSMs]. Without any meaningful air defences, a score of the puny boats disappeared in massive explosions and still the enemy ships were hidden. As the bombers closed the range, a contact report was received! I wanted to precede the approach of the strikers with a salvo of ARMs in hopes of taking out some of the enemy SAM defences. However, the enemy was not co-operating with my plan. They refused to radiate their radar and thus offered no targets for my ARMs. Since I had their approximate location, I decided to coax the enemy into radiating their radar by firing a few SSMs on Bearing-Only Launch [bOL]. I was hoping that they simply could and would not ignore an inbound flight of missiles. My tactic worked well beyond my highest expectations. From a flight of eight missiles, 2 struck the DDG Hopper and killed her since the enemy had elected to remain under EmCon and was thus denied many active defences. But, with every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The enemy group was now thoroughly warned and SAMs flew from the VLS magazines. ARMs were immediately released and one managed to hit the CVN but only did 2% damage. A flight of missile-armed JH-7s tried to close and release their Anti-Ship Missiles [AShMs] but they were quickly plucked from the sky by SAMs before they could open fire. The 'sacrificial lambs' were ordered to try and blind the enemy by shooting down his AEW and helo assets. They were wiped out, but managed to distract the SAM shooters while the Beagle bombers crept in at low altitude. The Beagles ran through the gap created by the destruction of DDG Hopper. The commander of PLAAF Bomber Squadron 8 ordered his command of 15 Beagles to ignore the enemy and concentrate on 'putting their pickles into the target'. He and his crew died in a fireball seconds later. The rest of his command continued to close on the enemy carrier. One by one, they were torn from the sky by Sea Sparrows and Standard SAMs until there was only one left. The last Beagle doggedly flew on and had just released its bombload when it was destroyed by a SAM. The crew would never know that their stick of bombs had fallen just short of their target. All of this action was witnessed by Ensign Gai as he floated in the water after being one of the first planes shot down. He would watch the rest of the battle from this front row seat. He never knew that this battle was happening exactly 65 years after another famous battle, The Battle of Midway. The date was June 4, 2007. After his rescue, Ensign Gai would learn that the sacrifice made by his squadron was not in vain. The enemy had exhausted many missiles to destroy Bomber Squadron Eight. A follow-on flight of Badgers were able to release their 10 AShMs which all struck the CVN and left her ablaze from bow to stern. The CVBG was basically dead in the water and limping along at only 5 knots. This allowed the flotillas of the East China Sea fleet to close the distance and launch their Seersucker and Sardine SSMs which promptly sank the now defenceless survivors. Over 7,000 sailors and airmen died this day in ironic contrast to the Incredible Victory won 65 years prior around Midway Island. Thanks for another cool scenario. I enjoy playing the Red side. It was a huge challenge to go up against the might of a US CVBG and survive! The situation really reminded me of the old spaghetti westerns where an embattled wagon train (or Custer) is surrounded by swirling masses of indians. Check it out on the HarpGamer.com - Home of the HCDB. SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB or at FilesOfScenShare

I wonder if this might have the same implications as the sale of manufacturing equipment by Toshiba to the Soviet Union? It gave them huge advances in the quieting of their SSNs. Chinese Nationals Held in Alleged Scheme By GILLIAN FLACCUS The Associated Press Monday, November 7, 2005; 10:57 PM WashingtonPost SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A federal judge on Monday denied bail for two Chinese nationals accused of conspiring to steal sensitive documents on U.S. Navy warship technology and smuggle them to China. Tai Wang Mak, a broadcast and engineering director for the Phoenix North American Chinese Channel, and his wife, Fuk Heung Li, were arrested Oct. 28 in Los Angeles as they prepared to board a flight to China. In Li's luggage, authorities found a disk that contained information on U.S. technology designed to suppress the noise of submarine propulsion systems, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Deirdre Eliot. The disk had been encrypted with a Chinese code. Mak's attorney, John Early, argued that prosecutors hadn't proved the information was classified and stressed that his client had not been charged with espionage. U.S. Magistrate Judge Marc Goldman scheduled a hearing for Nov. 15, after a grand jury hears evidence in the case. Also charged in the case are Mak's brother, Chi Mak, a naturalized U.S. citizen from China, and his wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, an American of Chinese descent. The four face charges of stealing government property, aiding and abetting, transportation of stolen goods and conspiracy. Chi Mak allegedly took computer disks from Anaheim defense contractor Power Paragon, where he was lead engineer on a sensitive research project involving Navy warships. Authorities said his wife helped copy the information. As of Monday, she had not posted the $300,000 bail set last week. Chi Mak was ordered held without bail. Eliot said authorities recovered restricted documents on the DDX Destroyer, considered the destroyer of the future, that were marked "for official use only." They also found two lists in Chinese asking Chi Mak to get documents about submarine torpedo technology, electromagnetic artillery systems, weapon standardization, early warning technology to detect incoming missiles and defenses against nuclear attack, Eliot said. She said the information was to be fed to China's science and technology committee, "basically equivalent to the government itself." Authorities believe Chi Mak has been feeding information to the committee since 1983, including highly sensitive information about Aegis warships, Eliot said.

Very High Altitude --- GE HCCE B09 When a plane is in flight and the player orders it to fly at a speed slower than loiter speed, the altitude displayed is VRY. I don't know if this means Very High Altitude, but the plane appears to be invincible. Nothing appears to be able to intercept it. Manual Sonobuoy deployment --- GE HCCE B09 When an aircraft is flying at high altitude and the player orders it to manually deploy a sonobuoy with the "." hotkey, the plane dives to low altitude. However, the player must hit the "Deploy" hotkey again in order to actually deploy the sonobuoy. Null groups --- SE HCCE B09 When using the SE, if a designer creates a group (Cntl+G) and then fails to add any units to that group, a Null Group is created. Unless it is deleted, the Empty group will remain in the scenario and crash it when a player attempts to open it with the Game Engine. This behaviour was run down and isolated in collaboration with Brad Leyte and Thomas Ponta. MiG-17F gun engagement --- GE HCCE B09 Aircraft will not conduct 'normal' interception procedure unless manually placed in proximity of target.

Cruise at full speed --- GE HCCE B09 Throttle shows Cruise consumption when unit at full speed. EW planes do not jam --- GE HCCE B09 EW aircraft that do not have a radar system will not jam enemy systems. The Jamming symbol shows up, but the aircraft are not jammed. They see everything. SE Count bug --- GE HCCE B09 Test scenario has ViCond set at the destruction of two bases. Victory is granted after just one base is destroyed. Shot down during landing --- GE HCCE B09 The first aircraft in a group to land are left in limbo if the last aircraft in the group is shot down before it can land.

Ships sail over land Ships are sometimes able to sail over land. EmCon at Waypoints Aircraft will obey waypoint EmCon commands if the plane is currently either ACTIVE or PASSIVE (not intermittent). Once the aircraft receives a command to radiate Intermittently, either at the start or at a waypoint, no other EmCon commands will be accepted at future waypoints. Hovering group moves Group of helicopters is given a plotted path and then ordered to hover. When one of them is destroyed, the rest start moving along the path at cruise speed. Active sonar at Creep Active sonar from MCM vessels cannot locate an object while the MCM is moving at Creep speed. However, once the ship starts moving at Cruise Speed, the sub contact magically appears.

Bearing-Only Launch Weapons --- GE HCCE B09 The Staff Assistant will allow the player to attempt a BOL-attack even when no such weapons are available. Also, when weapons are available, the range circle depicted is often much larger than the range of the actual weapons. Game crashes from flame-out --- GE HCCE B09 Game can sometimes crash when aircraft run out of fuel or flame-out. Planes in limbo --- GE HCCE B09 Sometimes, planes land and are then made unavailable to the player. He may neither re-arm nor re-launch them.

Aircraft unable to locate Runways Aircraft directly inserted into a scenario are unable to locate appropriate runways to land on their own initiative. Aircraft that normally require Large runways to launch/land will only land on Very Large runways. If only Large runways are available, they will crash. Aircraft requiring Medium runways will only land on Large runways when directly inserted. This is applicable for all aircraft directly inserted. They need a runway one size larger than the length specified in the database. Aircraft launching from bases and aircraft ordered by the designer to land are not affected by this bug. Facilities cannot be indexed Subs, aircraft, and ships are indexed in the PlayersDB. Some facilities were indexed for Belarus. However, when using the SE and indexation feature and trying to select facilities for insertion, the wrong facility always appears. Individual plane evasion Lone aircraft will automatically evade when confronted with ANY missiles. Single fighters are unable to approach a stream of TLAM from the front. They automatically dive and attempt to evade. They are able to engage from the flanks. Groups of aircraft do not suffer from this problem. Under-ice TLAM launch TLAM are able to launch when under the ice cap. Weapon ranges less than one ignored Any weapon that has a range less than 1.0 nm, cannot be fired by the AI. However, the player is able to utilize these weapons manually and they appear to operate at the correct range. I do not know if missions created by the player will suffer this restriction, but I suspect that they will since Missions are under AI control. Fire and land immediately Any aircraft that fire while not assigned to a mission, will immediately land even if they have plentiful ammunition / fuel remaining. Work-around solution: Ensure that all aircraft have at least a Plotted mission before firing. Naval Ground Strike Mission Ships that are grouped together and on a ground strike mission will fire missiles, but will not close on the target to engage with naval gunfire. Work-around solution: Individual ships do not suffer from this bug. Either delete and re-insert the ships or else the group can be broken down by using the "Detach Unit" function in the Formation Editor.

How can someone know if a plane is armed with guns or not? I am looking in the editor and I can't tell which planes have guns and which don't. Can someone fill me in? I was trying something out on Thunder Dragon and I can't get the MiG-17F Fresco C to intercept the American aircraft. Normally, the Staff will show me the distance and ask me if I want to intercept regardless if the plane has insufficient range to actually carry out the mission. However, I can't even get that far. I've tried to move them closer before trying to attack again, but still no luck. Could it be that they have no armament? Can you take a look at this platform, please?