Crap. Just Crap. So thought Admiral Konstantin Sidenko as he slid the vodka bottle away across the desk and looked

at the telex one more time. Japanese at Yuznho-Kurilsk, and I have to kick them out. And just three months until a

nice retirement, the Black Sea villa, the wine cellar, the mistress, oh, the mistress...Crap! What rotten luck. I

wonder who told them what lousy shape we're in. He stood up, put the bottle in the cabinet across the room. No more

of that for a while. He put some water in the samovar for tea and assessed the situation. In a large sense, he was

"screwed" as the Americans put it. Years of low budgets and corruption had sapped the Far East command. The Air

Force commander spent more time on the phone with his Mafia friends than he did with his subordinates, and could

provide barely forty serviceable attack and fighter aircraft, many of them Cold War relics.The best units he could

provide were the four new MiG-35's, six SU27SM's, and the two top secret PAK-50's. The rest, Sidenko thought, was

junk. Old SU-27's with lousy radars, MiG-29's with short legs, and neither able to refuel from tankers. At least he

had three of those, old IL-76's. There were a number of SU-25's as well, with the newer SM version capable of

refueling and carrying ship killer missiles. The Air Force could also provide an A-50 AEW jet, and a number of

transport aircraft. At least getting the little green animals to Burevestnik would be their problem. Fortunately,

the Air Force logistics staff had stocked Burevestnik with plenty of weapons. The PVO had been warned, and SAM

defences were supplied and alert. Things were looking up, and then he looked at his own assets. And reached for the

vodka bottle again. The supply group for Burevestnik had sailed, with a peacetime escort of one Udaloy destroyer.

The situation at Vladivostok was hopeless, the Varyag was undergoing a turbine overhaul, The Marshal Shaposhnikov

was in Singapore, and the other Udaloys were down with a virus to their combat systems. The Bystryy was out of

position after a training cruise, but was at least available. The two Nanuchka corvettes were returning to

Burevestnik at best speed as well. There were also two subs, a Kilo badly out of position, and the Narval, heading

to Burevestnik. Naval Aviation presented a better picture. They could provide two SU-34's, fast and capable, eight

Mig 31's, four old and four new, and, most importantly, four long range ASW aircraft. Four venerable but useful SU-24's.

And two Tu-22M3 Backfires.

Konsantin's protoge in aviation, Captian Ignatieff, young and energetic, had fought Moscow to retain not only the

two TU-22's, but as many as forty of the old KH22 missiles. These had been refitted with the low altitude seeker

heads in the 1990's, and Sidenko said a silent prayer of thanks to all of the airmen who kept those hydrazine

powered horrors serviceable for all those years. Although not capable of the high altitude approach anymore, these

would be crucial to his plans. And plans he had.He considered his opponents. The JSDF was all that the Russian

military was not. Well funded, vital, supplied with modern weaponry, and led by Admiral B. Leytugo, a brilliant

tactician, who "sank" an American carrier last summer as part of their joint excercises, they were one of the best

military organizations on the planet. Commanding as many as two hundred modern fighter and attack aircraft, and

having Ageis destroyers and excellent submarines, they seemed invincible. The jewel in the JSDF crown was the new

F-35 stealth fighter. Traditional Russian doctrine had no plan for this aircraft. Sidenko thought about

heading across the room for the vodka bottle again. And then he thought "a stealth fighter with his radar on is...

just a slow airplane".. so, how do we get the Japanese stealth fighters to light up? When they are detected (not

likely) or when they SHOOT.. And so Konstantin's plan took shape. (to be continued)...

An AAR with a storyline ... I like.

 

Even better, Leytugo and Ignatieff are on opposite sides.

 

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

I think I'll give up playing my own and just read this,

Admiral Konstantin Sidenko took a big pull of vodka and gave the sigh a working man gives after a long day in the fields, or the factory. Things seem less hopeless, he thought, when you have finished a plan and set it into motion. He had thought it through and came up with the following:

Goals- (A)To drive the Japanese from Yuzhno-Kurilsk, and to ( protect the resupply convoy

 

ORDERS:

Russian Air Force and Naval Aviation to complete the following ferry missions to provide:

Burevestnik: 1-A-50, 4-SU-24, 2-SU-34, 4-SU-25BM, 2-MiG29, 4 SU-27, 4-SU-35

Chuguevka 2- May, 2-TU-142,4-MiG31-BM, 2-SU-50

 

This will leave the TU-22's at Petroplavosk because you cannot ferry the AS-6 in a cargo aircraft. GP loadouts for the Tu-22 MAY be used from Burevestnik.

 

Orders:

Chuguevka: Provide CAP and AsuW CAP for convoy. Provide ASW support as soon as ferry operations permit.

 

Burevestnik : Ferry helos to FARP to help with AEW support. Provide local CAP to protect base. Set traps for F-35's

Set up traditional AEW setup when A-50 arrives

 

 

Mistral Group-(AES) set ASW patrols, strict EMCON. Ready all KA-50 helos to escort. Launch KA29TB's as ELINT platforms to detect hostile radars

 

Nanuchkas(AIS)- Head for the gap north of Hokkaido, and wait to join the Mistral group

Bystryy- South to join Mistral group, use high speed.

 

 

 

And he remembered the following things-

When dealing with stealth aircraft, traditional AEW has failings. The attacking aircraft may shoot at your AEW bird before it detects them. What do you do? He thought through Leytugo's tactical philosophy. Current JSDF doctrine requires A) Activate radars when there is a risk of detection Activate radars when an enemy unit is in AAW range, and C) Return to base if you cannot intercept an aircraft at its current speed.

 

And so he decided: For each vulnerable base, set up an aircraft on an expected axis of attack, that was faster than the F-35, with its radar active. Also have at least two ESM capable A/C nearby to detect and identify hostile radars. Have another group of fighters loitering nearby. When either the radar or the missile is detected, have the "AEW" fighter flee on burner. The have the other fighters pounce on the F-35's as they return to base.

 

It seemed to Sidenko that the key was to keep the amphib group undetected, as the above tactic would lead to its detection.. Hmmm.. One thing at a time, Lord or Lenin willing, he thought. Tomorrow is another day..