File Name: Four Minute Warning

File Submitter: CV32

File Submitted: 15 Sep 2014

File Category: GIUK

 

 

From 1953, British citizens were told that they could expect four minutes of warning before an impending Soviet nuclear attack. Once the alert was given, television and radio networks all over the country would be interrupted by a broadcast warning, as well as activation of the national air raid siren system. In practise, the warning would have likely been much less than four minutes. The RAF Bomber Command Main Force, and its V class bombers - the Valiant, Vulcan, and Victor - was intended to guard against this threat and to prevent the neutralization of British nuclear retaliation capability. The V bomber force, and especially the Avro Vulcan, were intended to be kept at high readiness and also to be capable of flushing to their dispersal airfields within the four minute warning.

 

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 saw Vulcans lined up on their runways, bombs loaded and engines running, ready to take off at two minutes notice. The Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) station at Fylingdales in North Yorkshire would not be operational until September 1963. The period between late 1962 and late 1963 could therefore arguably be measured as the most dangerous test of the four minute warning.

 

 

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Very intriguing, but I'm travelling this week, I hope this night see the scenario ...

Just downloaded it. After start I got weird messages regarding the airbases. Looks like I use the wrong database?

Ok, got it. I forgot to switch to the HCCW DB.

Mmmmmm, Thor ...

I see some SA-5a/V-200 SAM missile batteries, but this long range system was in service only from 1966

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SA-5_Gammon

I see some SA-5a/V-200 SAM missile batteries, but this long range system was in service only from 1966

 

Trials of the S-200 began in 1963 in Estonia.

Great!

About the Thor missile sites, as states James N. Gibson, Nuclear Weapons of the United States, An Illustrated History, pp. 167-168, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, PA, 1996, they were emplaced in the RAF bases of Feltwell, Hemswell, Driffield and North Luffenham with five missile complex in each, seaparated between them 12 miles, and with three launchers in each missile complex (as depicted on the CWDB)to a grand total of 60 Thor emplaced on UK. All the four bases were completed on 22 April 1960. After the lauch order, the missiles were refueled for eight minutes, and were capable to be launched two minutes after, with a total of ten minutes after the lauch order. Only if we want to counterweight the UK forces, I hope to play the scenario today or tomorrow.

The single Thor site is as depicted, for a reason. The scenario is about the V bombers, not about Thor.

Ok, thanks for a very evocative scenario!

The hope was to evoke at least a little of the flavour of the era in trying to flush bombers while under nuclear threat.

 

I may try to build the scenario in CMANO as well.

At last starting the scenario (btw, after some days tuning-up all the platforms displayed on the scenario. Incidentally in CMANO all the V-bombers types have the same speeds!!!). (but not cheating reading the victory conditions or force disposition previously,only analyzing the platforms).

 

And with a lot of real life incidences and interruptions.

 

It's one of the more evocative scenario ever.

 

 

SPOILER ALERT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First try, only two and half hours of game time.

- Mínimum defeat, because the Soviets poured the limited Lighting defence and did nuke RAF Waddington and the Thor missile site!!! (three bases , RAF Waddington, Thor missile site and RAF Dunholme Lodge, 1xfixed and 2xmobile SAM emplacements destroyed by a single Tu-16A nuclear bomb. Also to point in my personal CWDW the decoys as in the Tu-16A are enhanced from 5% to 10%, and the Firestreak PK lowered from 20% to 18%)

- Some 6xTu-16A and 6xTu-16 EW (many types) shoot-down.

- One Lighting shoot-down by an unseen enemy (By an armed Tu-16? By a long range Yak-25?).

- Some Soviet submarine launched missiles received, but without damage perceived because them.

 

- My main error was to disperse the scarce Lighting fighters chasing Soviet Tu-16 EW/pathfinders previously to the Soviet bombers coming. And after was impossible to stop the true bombers because many of the fighters were unavailable.

 

- The main lesson, probably also in the real world because the limited supply of nuclear bombs in 1962: A very credible employ of EW planes and bombers with GP bombs previously against the same targets to be attacked later (with a short interval, some 20 minutes) by a small number of nuclear bombers (some two to each target), to disperse the defending fighters, and to force the enemy to shoot SAM missiles and expend them.

Thanks, Enrique. This one was in the queue for quite a while.

Fascinating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPOILERS ALERT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another try (and remember, the Soviet bombers coming at Low height, and the Bloodhound 1 and Thunderbird 1 SAMs only can be shot at targets from Medium height and over).

 

 

After one hour and three minutes of play time I've loss some six Vulcan bombers, shoot-down by long-range Tu-16Ye Badger-H (60) (1960+)OECM planes! Casually I ever reduce on my DB the number of shots of defensive guns in bombers to only one shot by barrel (on this case 6x23mm guns) but casually when I did tune-up the CWDB I did change from 22 to 6 the number of 23mm shots in the Tu-16Ye (1970+) and in the Tu-16Ye (1957+), but not in the Tu-16Ye (1960+) present on this scenario shooting down my poor and armless nuclear bombers!!!

 

On the first minutes of play SLBM did smash one of the RAF bases, but then all the V-Bombers were on flight, far of the land bases.

As consequence, I get nuclear reléase and can fire the Thor missiles and were obliterated Kaliningrad, Leipaija, and almost destroyed Riga (75%) and Splive (96%), with 38 Soviet fighters and bombers, some destroyed in flight, and two Air Defence placements.

But with the V-Bombers losses mounting over Denmark to 10 V-Bombers (by Tu-16Ye action! The V-Bombers sere flying in formations from 2 to planes) after another minute of play, I will probably stop the scenario, change values on the Tu-16Ye, and start tomorrow the scenario another time ...