October 30, 201411 yr 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)
October 30, 201411 yr Author Great quote from the Kamikazes article: The following conversation in the ready room of the MRA ’s 183rd Air Regiment, Pacific Fleet NAF, which occurred in the mid 1980s ...A young second lieutenant, a Backfire WSO fresh from the air college, asked the senior navigator of the regiment, an old major: “Sir, tell me why we have a detailed flight plan to the target over the vast ocean, but only a rough dot-and-dash line across Hokkaido Island on way back?” “Son,” answered the major calmly, “if your crew manages to get the plane back out of the sky over the carrier by any means, on half a wing broken by a Phoenix and a screaming prayer, no matter whether it’s somewhere over Hokkaido or directly through the moon, it’ll be the greatest possible thing in your entire life!”
October 31, 201411 yr Original article is well worth a read too; especially giving the Backfire crews' perspective on things. I note the author's comment on the use of the Blinder for the photorecce role only may be true for Soviet use, IIRC it was used in combat (with some losses) by Gaddafi's Libya.
October 31, 201411 yr Great articles; has anyone here ever tried in-game escorts with Tu-128s or Su-15s as per the first article?
October 31, 201411 yr Author Great articles; has anyone here ever tried in-game escorts with Tu-128s or Su-15s as per the first article? 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.
October 31, 201411 yr Author 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.
November 1, 201411 yr Author Original article is well worth a read too; especially giving the Backfire crews' perspective on things. I note the author's comment on the use of the Blinder for the photorecce role only may be true for Soviet use, IIRC it was used in combat (with some losses) by Gaddafi's Libya. Yes, against targets in Tanzania (a single sortie) and later in Chad and Sudan. Also, by Iraq against Iran.
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