AAR: Bad Moon Rising [Spoiler Alert]

AAR: Bad Moon Rising [spoiler Alert]

A Harpoon Classic scenario

By Brad Leyte

The launch of a Chinese lunar module experiment has failed, with the spacecraft returning to earth somewhere in the central Sea of Okhotsk (according to USAF Space Command). What is alarming, however, is that a scientist from the Chinese space program has defected to Japan, and he has some ominous news. He claims that the rocket was actually carrying an anti-satellite weapon that was being launched by the PRC as a prelude to an impending attack against Taiwan. The race is on to recover the module.

I decided right away that recovery was too risky since there was virtually no possibility of air coverage of any of the surface elements. They would be too exposed in the heart of the Russian / Chinese strike range. I ordered the submarine tenders and rescue ships to stay well away from the Kuriles and gambled with the submarines.

A CAP [Combat Air Patrol] was sent up to cover the Frank Cable. They were engaged by Flankers and returned fire when fired upon. It turned out that the Russians were going to be very sensitive to any and all flights in the northern Pacific and were "defending" their airspace very aggressively. Four more Flankers were shot down after trying to engage Falcons on patrol. I thought about leaving the area to them, but these were international waters and the Russians had no right to be firing upon planes from another nation. Only after twenty Flankers and Fulcrum were destroyed did the Russians finally realize that the waters of the north Pacific were not theirs to administer. No additional confrontations were encountered for Petropavlovsk.

I tried to penetrate the Sea of Okhotsk with my Global Hawk UAVs, but they didn’t last long as the area was heavily patrolled by Flankers and Fulcrums. After two of my three available UAVs were destroyed, I held back with the third until the Raptors could win aerial superiority. Although the Raptors were operating at nearly the range of their endurance, the Russians were co-operative and eagerly sought combat. A few AMRAAM volleys were sufficient to clear most of the skies around the Kuriles. Once the fighter cover was down, the MPA [Maritime Patrol Aircraft] never stood a chance against the AIM-9X. Several May and Bears were subsequently shot down and the surviving Global Hawk did its reconnaissance of the area. Only a few patrol boats were spotted and nothing to indicate the location of the missing satellite. I ended up trading recon assets with the OpFor. He killed my Global Hawks and I killed his Mainstays, Curls, and Foxbats.

The Kuriles were very heavily patrolled. I didn't see any way of penetrating with the submarine tenders and rescue elements without calling all the attention of the Russian Eastern air force command. It was one thing to have an ‘unfortunate aerial incident’ whereby a fighter or two is shot down over international airspace, but it is quite another to shoot my way into the Sea of Okhotsk and lay waste to all the areas defences in order to do so. Pictures of patrol boats ablaze and sinking in the Pacific do not play well with the American public.

The submarines Hawaii and Cheyenne penetrated the defences quite easily. Once inside, they reduced speed to try and locate the downed satellite. SSN Hawaii detected a submerged contact and moved in to investigate. She was able to pinpoint the position of the contact, but was not able to clearly identify it. At this point, I made a guess that since it was a Red unit, it represented the satellite. According to orders, I was to stay in the vicinity for 8 hours. As she sat on the bottom transmitting the self-destruct code to the satellite, she was suddenly destroyed by an unknown assailant. At this point, the mission was declared a failure and victory was awarded to the PLAN.

Thanks for a very innovative scenario that takes into account real world conditions. I know that I could have ‘shot my way’ into the Sea of Okhotsk, but that would have appeared to provoke a war instead of preventing it.

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