>>2275247

>Oh he's going to get it now! Murder the damn Flanker, no holds barred.
>Ignore the Soviet, get your Sidewinder off and open the way for the AMRAAMs.
>Other (write in)

>>2275248
>Ignore the Soviet, get your Sidewinder off and open the way for the AMRAAMs.

>>2275248
>Ignore the Soviet, get your Sidewinder off and open the way for the AMRAAMs.
also
>Fleet status dammit!

>>2275248
>Ignore the Soviet, get your Sidewinder off and open the way for the AMRAAMs.

Arresting your roll, you snapped your head back towards the final enemy jammer plane as you turned towards it, you stared at the plane for a couple of seconds for your missile to gain a lock as your boresight edged closer. And as soon as the tone in your headphones changed to a high pitched wail -and the nose of your jet passed over the tail of the enemy bomber- you pressed the button. The missile lanced off your rail, sailing clean and true as you ducked under the bomber formation. The enemy fighter behind you was probably halfway through his turn right now, you couldn't afford to wait.

As you dived, you looked up and watched as the sidewinder tracked through the maze of flares and tracer fire, and slammed into the Blinder's belly, right in between the wing roots. You didn't know what was there, you had guessed that it would hold some kind of jammer system or something. You hadn't expected it to explode though. There must have been a fuel tank in there, as the giant fireball burned a bright orange as it enveloped the broken halves of the jet. As you watched the broken bird fall out of the sky, you switched over to the squadron frequency to tell them that the way was clear.

"Chief! Jammer planes are down, but I've got a flanker on my ass." You barked over the radio as you looked into your rear-facing mirrors. Sure enough, the Flanker was accelerating to catch you.

"We see two-one, hit the deck pilot!"
Dredd ordered as soon as you were finished and you obeyed his order quickly, knowing what your squadmates were probably doing. You quickly forced your aircraft down and hit your afterburners, exchanging your fuel to escape the no escape zone of the incoming missiles. You continued the dive for a good few seconds as the Flanker fell in behind you, but unlike him your lighter jet was able to dive much quicker than him. You watched and waited for a few seconds as the bombers fell away behind you, but the FLanker continued his persuit.

Up until he was blown out of the sky, his jet quickly fragmenting as it was ripped apart by the force of his dive.

"How's the squadron, any losses?" You asked, not skipping a beat as you cut your afterburners and pulled out of your dive, you kept the stick back until your nose was pointing up at a good 30 degrees for a climb.

"No losses... but-" Dredd began, only to be interrupted by your wingmate.

"But I'm leaking fuel, no way to get back to dry land." Weiss interrupted your flight leader, her haggard voice telling you that she had given her all to the fight.

"What about a tanker? Could you refuel enough to reach a base?" You asked, trying to offer a solution to the issue.

"Maybe, if one flies out to meet us, but if not then we're kind of screwed." Dredd replied, his voice solemn. He probably already knew that your chances of a tanker being available was slim to none.

>CONT

>>2276584

>Call up an aircraft controller, see if you can't scare up a tanker.
>Call up the IJN, you'll have to get a SAR unit ready.
>You may have a better idea (write in).
>Other (write in)

>>2276588
I don't suppose there's any conceivable way to transfer fuel from our bird to hers, is there? Do we know of any carriers operating in the area? I remember using the Japanese one to rearm either last thread or the one before that.

>>2276588
>Call up an aircraft controller, see if you can't scare up a tanker.


If we've got no options left and we're feeling especially crazy, we *could* try to replicate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardo%27s_Push

>...both F-4 Phantom IIs were hit by anti-aircraft fire. Aman's plane took the worst damage; his fuel tank had been hit, and he quickly lost most of his fuel. He did not have enough fuel to make it to a KC-135 tanker aircraft over Laos. To avoid having Aman and Houghton bail out over hostile territory, Pardo decided to try pushing the airplane.
>... Pardo then tried to use Aman's tailhook to push the plane .... equipped with a heavy duty tailhook for landings aboard aircraft carriers. Aman lowered his tailhook and Pardo moved behind Aman until the tailhook was against Pardo's windscreen. Aman shut down both of his J79 jet engines. The push worked, reducing the rate of descent considerably, but the tailhook slipped off the windscreen every 15 to 30 seconds, and Pardo would have to reposition his plane. Pardo also struggled with a fire in one of his own engines and eventually had to shut it down.
>In the remaining 10 minutes of flight time, Pardo used the one last engine to slow the descent of both planes. With Pardo's plane running out of fuel after pushing Aman's plane almost 88 miles, the planes reached Laotian airspace at an altitude of 6,000 feet (1,800 m). This left them about two minutes of flying time. The pilots ejected, evaded capture, and were picked up by rescue helicopters.

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>>2276627
Forgot my image.

>>2276614

No, planes need very specialised equipment to transfer fuel to another aircraft. Your planes have the equipment to take fuel from an aircraft with such equipment, but you do not have it to hand. Mostly because it is bulky and not actually integrated on the Tomcat.

You would know that there are no aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan. It's far to close to enemy anti-ship missile batteries. The IJN can't afford to waste carriers by putting them in harms way.

>>2276656
Duly noted. In that case:
>Call up an aircraft controller, see if you can't scare up a tanker.
And if we can't get one, we'll just have to push them home, Vietnam-style.

"I'll call up and see if they have a tanker available." You decided, before cutting out of the squadron network. Of course, that meant contacting the only aircraft control tower nearby, and that was the tower at Komatsu Airport. But given the air search radar that they had, they probably had a tanker or two on their screen and up for tasking.

"Freelancer Two-One to Komatsu Air Trafic Control. Requesting immediate tanker support. One of my wingmates is leaking fuel something fast and isn't going to be able to make it back home." You asked the tower as soon as you were connected, no need to give him many details on your flight right now, you just needed to know if there was help at hand.

"Freelancer Two-One, this is Komatsu Air Traffic Control. We do not have a tanker available for tasking, your wingmate is going to have to ditch." The tower controller quickly replied, as if he had heard this question be asked around a dozen different times today by a dozen different people.

"Komatsu, are you sure you don't even have some guy with a buddy refuelling set? We can't just ditch this fighter and let the reds get a chance to swipe it's valuable tech." You tried again, just to make sure that the ATC controller wasn't trying to hold anything back.

"If I had any kind of refuelling bird up and out there then I would absolutely give it to you. But we have nothing at our disposal. Have your wingmate eject and blow the jet out of the sky once they're clear. We can then send SAR birds to rescue them." The tower controller replied, confirming that he had nothing available to help Weiss in her plight.

"And after that? We're all running low on fuel here." You asked, you needed alternatives right now.

"You will have to try and land at Niigata airport. We already have a pair of Warthog flights and some search and rescue helicopters based out of there, so you should be fine for landing there. You will have landing priority once you arrive." The tower controller explained as you looked down at your fuel reserves. You were doing fairly well on fuel, all things considered. But even then, there was no way you'd make it back to base. You needed the alternative airbase.

"Understood Komatsu Air Traffic Control, Freelancer Two-One out." You confirmed that you had heard what you had been told, before switching back to the squadron network. "Bad news all, there are no tankers available."

"In which case, we'll just have to keep pushing on until Weiss runs out of fuel." Dredd decided, before leading the squadron back to land.

"Tell me when you're on your absolute last drops Weiss." You ordered your wingmate as you looked over to her jet. You could see the damage from here, the pepper spray of shrapnel around her right wing glove was fairly conclusive that she had suffered a very close shave with a missile.

>CONT

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>>2277434
"Of course." Weiss replied, though you could tell by the resignation in her voice that she wasn't expecting to get out of this without needing to ride a rocket. It took a good twenty, going onto thirty minutes before Weiss spoke again. Your flight back having been considerably lengthened as you switched from prioritising speed to instead prioritising fuel economy.

"Alright, I am almost out of fuel." Weiss notified you after close to 25 minutes, and even then you were still flying over the ocean.

"Alright Weiss, hold your current heading and drop your arrestor hook for me." You ordered your wingmate as you began to drop back behind her jet, slowing down and loosing a bit of altitude in order to get into a favourable position.

"If you insist..." Weiss replied doubtfully, the confusion in her voice was palpable, but she still complied with your request.

"What the hell are you..." Zeus began to ask as you moved your aircraft into position just behind and below her jet.

"Zeus, shut the fuck up and let me concentrate." You hissed at your RIO as you slowly edged up closer to the arrestor hook, positioning the arrestor hook so that it would be wedged in place between where the canopy met the nose of your fighter. Finally, after a few seconds of edging closer and closer, the solid piece of steel met your jet with a solid CLUNK as you rammed it home.

"Weiss, shut off your engines." You ordered, keeping a very close eye on where the arrestor hook as been punched in. The force of the impact making a pretty big dent in your nose. It would force the replacement of that entire panel, but it ensured that it would be much harder for the arrestor hook to come loose.

"Way ahead of you." Weiss replied simply. If you were honest, you weren't sure if she had predicted what you were doing, or if her jet had actually ran out of fuel the moment you made contact.

"Are you... pushing her back to base?" Slider asked, observing the spectacle from her position in the flight.

"Yeah, like that airforce guy in 'nam. And that was with a pair of damaged Phantoms. This ought to work."

>Talk with a squadmate (who?)
>Keep focusing on flying to the airfield.

>>2277436
>Keep focusing on flying to the airfield.
Dear god, don't fuck it up.

>>2277436
>Keep focusing on flying to the airfield.

>>2277436
>Talk with Komatsu Air Traffic Control
or
>Talk with Dredd
Your stress level is just too damn high. You need to vent at and blame someone.

No time for proper engagement resolution? I gather we got all of these bombers, right?

>>2277436
>>Keep focusing on flying to the airfield.

Keeping your eyes on the hook that was now sat in a dent in the front of your jet, the minutes seemed to pass like hours as you gently and carefully kept the hook in place. And while you were certainly doing better than that Pardo guy, you were never able to keep the hook in position for more than a minute or so. And with having to push so much extra weight, your fuel consumption took a massive hit too boot. At the very least, Weiss's jet was at least able to generate it's own lift, taking a fair amount of weight off you.

However, there was no escaping the fact that you weren't able to arrest Weiss's decent. Merely slow it, and both you and Weiss had to fly 2-3 times further.

The flight back was long and vary arduous, and you thanked whatever gods was up there for your jet's fuel efficiency when not constantly using your afterburners. At least between prays to that same god for the tailhook not to slip out of the little hole that you had made specifically for it. while it didn't seem like they were answering the latter prayer, they had at least blessed you with a lack of Soviet air cover. Thankfully, after around 45 minutes you were met by the voice of the ATC controller at Niigata. And while it took you a bit of time and a "sniff over" by a pair of waiting A-10 warthogs to confirm just how FUBAR your situation was, the controller swiftly cleared the airspace for you, both of your aircraft now flying at around 3,000 feet off the deck.

"Alright Weiss, you're cleared for landing you are cleared for runway ten. Go ahead and glide her in." You relaid to Weiss as soon as you were off the radio with the tower controller, the nice airforce man having changed his tone after realising that you weren't pulling his leg. Such antics must be common place in that lesser service.

"Will you be landing after me?" Weiss asked with real concern. You weren't sure if that was because Zeus had told her just how jacked your fuel supply was, or if it was just because this was the first time you had talked with her since Dredd and the rest of the squadron made tracks for home.

Technically speaking, the tower controller had authorised you to use both runways. However, that came with it's own issues. Right now, you certainly had the fuel to reach the other runway and line up for a landing. But if you did and you ballsed it up, then you wouldn't have the fuel for another try. Assuming you even had fuel left on landing. And if you ballsed up the landing, you'd be around as dead as the proverbial stick. Regardless of if you punched out or not. Meanwhile, you could land with Weiss and try to use your remaining time in the air as efficiently as possible. You would have fuel remaining for a second try at landing, but that was only assuming that you and Weiss didn't hit each other when trying to land. Dead stick landings were always risky for that exact reason.

>CONT

>>2280563

>Try landing at the same time as Weiss, you may have to use your second chance.
>Land on the second runway, you'll burn out all of your fuel, but you'll have an entire runway to yourself.

>>2280569
>Land on the second runway, you'll burn out all of your fuel, but you'll have an entire runway to yourself.

>>2280563
>Land on the second runway, you'll burn out all of your fuel, but you'll have an entire runway to yourself.
Almost there.

>>2280569
>Try landing at the same time as Weiss, you may have to use your second chance.

Also obligatory thread soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDhvis4-bV0

>>2280569
>>Land on the second runway, you'll burn out all of your fuel, but you'll have an entire runway to yourself.

>>2280569
>Land on the second runway, you'll burn out all of your fuel, but you'll have an entire runway to yourself

>>2280569
>>Land on the second runway, you'll burn out all of your fuel, but you'll have an entire runway to yourself.
Just so we wont crash in to Weiss if she has a problem when landing, hers aint got no spare power

"I'll be landing on runway four, you'll probably touch the ground before me, so make sure that you slow down before you reach the point where the runways meet. I don't fancy running the risk of hitting you." You explained to your wing mate as you made preparations to stop pushing her jet. No doubt that your crew chief would be annoyed by the dent, but you at least hoped that Weiss's crew chief would have your back for bringing back his bird.

"Understood, good luck." Weiss bid you as you finally let your nose drop away from the tail of her jet. You gently edged your throttle forwards and slid your jet up just off her wing.

"You're gliding on your own now Weiss, good luck and I'll see you on the deck." You informed your wingmate as you looked over to her. Both Weiss and her RIO were looking as you as you waggled your wings at them, and broke off towards your allotted runway.

Fortunately, by landing on runway 4 you had the most runway to use before you reached the point where it crossed runway 10. However, while you had a lot of runway to use, you had to fly over a residential area in order to land. If you ran out of fuel before you were lined up then you would run the risk of crashing. As such, you'd have to be very careful. Gently pulling your stick back, you entered a gentle climb up to 5,000 feet while watching your speed. You had to make sure that you had the fuel to at least level off before you ran out of fuel. You couldn't afford to stall, so you couldn't take that risk.

You reached 5,000 feet and flew over the beach. Nobody was out there, which was a shame. You were flying fairly low -even for a plane coming in to land- and Weiss was even lower than you. You could see the airfield in front of you, and the various SAMs and missile batteries that had been set up in order to protect the base form attack. And yet, there was signs that the base had indeed suffered, various craters from failed missile strikes littered some of the land around the runway. And the charcoal-black, burned out hulks of planes sat in a pile by the side of runway 10. The residential area around the base was fairly active though, you could see the dots of cars moving around in large numbers. You continued flying for another minute or so before you began your pylon turn to line up with the runway. You were around 6,000 feet out and 5,000 feet high.

However, almost as soon as you finished your turn, your engines finally spluttered and died. Your powerful engines finally burning their last fuel. And you were at least a bit thankful as you nosed your jet down, if you had ran out of fuel a bit earlier, you could have stalled out.

"Freelancer two-one to Niigata tower, I am beginning my landing run." You radioed the tower as you entered a slightly steeper dive than you would have liked. However, you had to make up a bit more airspeed. Worst case scenario you could just burn off that airspeed on landing with your drogue chute.

>CONT

>>2283610

"Understood Freelancer two-one. We have firefighting teams on standby" The tower controller replied as you levelled off, you were now 2,000 feet off the deck and 4,000 feet out. You couldn't drop much lower without risking crashing into the ground before you reached the runway. As such, you kept your nose just a bit over level in order to not loose too much altitude right now. And you kept it level for a few thousand more feet before you let your nose drop again, allowing you to decrease your altitude just a bit quicker.

You could see the runway much closer now, even being able to make out the markings on the runway. However, you were approaching the runway too quickly. You were flying at just the right height, but at this rate you'd be halfway down the runway by the time you went wheels down. And you couldn't deploy your drogue 'chute right now, lest you loose to much speed and landed too hard.

As such, you made a snap decision, and dropped you nose and flaps.

Quickly burning off most of your altitude, and coming in just a bit too low for a typical landing. You quickly nosed up as you passed over the base's outer fence, just a hundred feet or so from the end of the runway. You were going way too fast, and quickly hit your drogue chute. The small parachute was not a true drogue chute, instead having been designed to help a plane recover from a flat spin. But at this point you needed as much drag as possible as you committed to your landing. Your wheels hit the ground with a thud and screamed as you gently tapped the brakes. You passed the point where the runways met, and only came to a stop just before you reached the absolute end of the runway. The soldiers manning a hawk SAM battery only a few dozen feet away from the end of the runway watched as your jet finally came to a stop.

"Good landing Freelancer, do you want us to repair your birds, or just get you fuelled up to head home?" The tower controller asked as you watched a group of trucks and jeeps race towards your empty plane.

>Have the ground crews quickly refuel both yours and Weiss's planes. You can get proper repairs when you get back to base.
>Let the mechanics make some patches. At the very least it will give you some time to get some coffee.
>Other (write in)

>>2283620
>Let the mechanics make some patches. At the very least it will give you some time to get some coffee.
Let's not have an important bit fall off just yet.

>>2283620
>>Let the mechanics make some patches. At the very least it will give you some time to get some coffee.

"How long would it take to fix them up as best you can. Patch holes and all that." You asked the tower controller as the base's fire engine stopped next to your bird, the men in their silver proximity suits jumped off the engine and approached your jet with hoses at the ready. Only for the men to stop halfway, stare at your jet for a bit and then walk back to their vehicle.

"You'll have to ask one of the crew chiefs once they tow your birds back to their hangers. Keep in mind that they aren't trained on how to repair your planes, so the most they can do is give the planes a once over and make very basic repairs." The tower controller explained as a small aircraft tug began to approach, the driver climbing out of his vehicle as soon as it was positioned under the nose of your plane and making to attach the tug to your nose gear.

"That's fine. My wingmate only has a few fuel tanks that need patching. That should be all, thanks." You replied to the tower controller, before thanking him for his help. You had to wait for another few seconds as the tug driver finished attaching the tug to your plane, but as soon as he was done your plane was slowly tugged towards the hangers and where the rest of the planes were stored.

As you looked out of the canopy at the base, you looked at the base as you passed closer to it. A-10s seemed to make up the base's air wing, both the single and twin-seat models. However, only a few aircraft seemed to be on base right now. Many of them must have been on deployments right now. The rugged planes were survivable and expected to take hits that would kill any other base. And it really showed, with many planes sporting un-repaired scraped and bullet-holes. Others bore miss-coloured body parts. With some panels painted grey as opposed to the standard green low-level camouflage that all aircraft sported. The runway was in a fairly similar state as the planes that called it home, with numerous buildings either having been repaired with mismatching materials or left damaged and wreaked. The runway was not spared this treatment, with the tarmac in some sections mismatching the rest from where missile damage had been filled in. All to be expected of a base of a so close to the enemy.

Soon enough, you were tugged into largest hanger on base, easily wide enough to hold a C-5 heavy transport, your two Tomcats seemed rather small with their wings swung back. You waited until the tug came to a stop before popping the seal on your canopy and opening it. You disembarked as soon as the ground crew came over and put a pair of disembarkation stairs next to your cockpit, allowing you to easily walk down. And just opposite of you was Weiss's bird, with the two crewmen standing around where their plane had been damaged by a missile. They were joined by a short man, who was crouched near their plane.

>CONT

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>>2284341

Letting out a low whistle, the airforce repairman patted the part of Weiss's plane where the missile had gone off. "You know ma'am, this cold have been much worse if not for your engine bay armouring."

"How bad is it?" You asked as you arrived next to your fellow aviators. Weiss and her RIO both nodding to you.

"Not too bad, though if you had been flying a lighter bird then this..." The senior repair man began, before turning to you and presenting a chunk of metal to you. "... then this here chink of missile would have gutted your friend's engine. I'm no expert on your navy planes, but I'm pretty sure that loosing an engine wouldn't have gone well."

"How do you know this is from a missile?" You asked as you took the fragment and flipped it over in your hand. It bore no markings and was smaller than a dollar bill.

"I'm the crew chief for a squadron of warthogs. We tend to see missile fragments lodged in planes all the time." The man shrugged as you passed the fragment off to Weiss, she'd probably want a souvenir.

"How long will the repairs take?" You asked as you looked past the man to the aircraft behind him. And it wouldn't be out of the question to compare it to a perforated cheese grater.

"Give my boys around ten or twenty minutes to give your birds some checks. Un-powered landings are always a strain on the landing gear, and you in particular came in pretty fast compared to your wingmate. We'll call you up at the pilots lounge if you want to head over there. If not then you're welcome to stay here. Just a warning though, the coffee here isn't too good and there is food at the pilots lounge." The chief explained, gesturing over to the men that were now starting to poke and examine both yours and Weiss's aircraft.

>Stay here and chat with the crew chief, if he's anything like your chief, he'll take any excuse to do as little work as possible.
>Stay here and chat with a squadmate (Zeus / Weiss), you might as well stay close to your birds while you wait.
>Head over to pilots lounge, you're hungry as shit.
>Other (write in)

>>2284345
>Head over to pilots lounge, you're hungry as shit.

>>2284345
>Head over to pilots lounge, you're hungry as shit.

>>2284345
>Head over to pilots lounge, you're hungry as shit.

>>2284345
>>Head over to pilots lounge, you're hungry as shit.

if i were a crew chief i'd want them away so i could do my job instead of having some 200 pound gorilla that breaks planes hanging around me

"I think we'll be heading over to the Pilot's lounge then, better let you and your men get on with your work." You decided after a second or two, and in no way motivated by the promise of food and coffee.

Nope, no sir.

"Fine by me, most of the other pilots are out on a mission right now, so chances are that you'll have it all to yourself.” The mechanic nodded, and gestured towards a waiting HUMVEE. You nodded to the man and lead your squadmates towards your ride. And as soon as everyone was in the conversation started.

“So, any ideas on what that white plane was?” You asked Zeus, your sentence punctuated by the sound of your door closing.

“Sorry, what? I never saw a while plane.” Weiss asked, confused at the new conversation.

“We encountered a large Soviet plane flying amongst the blinders. Looked like an upscale Lancer, all painted white too. It had one hell of a jammer onboard and ran as soon as we got close.” You explained as you fastened your seat belt. If this ride was going to be as fast as a ride around Yokota then seat belts wouldn't really be worth the effort. But it's always better to be safe than sorry after all.

“Strategic bomber maybe? If it was painted white then it's likely that it's based out of Siberia. Prime grounds for Soviet bomber bases.” Weiss supplied from the back, sandwiched between the two RIOs.

“If it's a bomber then why did it have such extensive jammers? Things like that aren't standard issue you know.” Zeus pointed out as the armoured truck began to slowly move off. The marines driver obviously not caring for your conversation.

>”It makes sense though. Almost every Soviet jammer plane has been derived from a bomber.”
>”It wouldn't be the first time that the Soviets made an all new bird for a specific role. No matter how niche it's role.”
>”Whatever it is, we'll kill it. Leave the speculation to ONI”
>Other (write in)

>>2287107
>>”It makes sense though. Almost every Soviet jammer plane has been derived from a bomber.”

>>2287107
>”It makes sense though. Almost every Soviet jammer plane has been derived from a bomber.”
Huh. Is this based on a real plane?

>>2287107
>”Whatever it is, we'll kill it. Leave the speculation to ONI”
We no think, we drink coffee and nap

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>>2287107
>”It makes sense though. Almost every Soviet jammer plane has been derived from a bomber.”

>>2287236
'Tis the Tu-160 "Blackjack"

>>2287107
>>”It wouldn't be the first time that the Soviets made an all new bird for a specific role. No matter how niche it's role.”

”It makes sense though. Almost every Soviet jammer plane has been derived from a bomber.” You shrugged as the ride continued, the driver cutting directly across the runway in a gross breach of protocol. Most of the time you would have been annoyed, but this wasn't your base so it wasn't your issue.

"Not really, they have a few platforms based off cargo planes." Zeus pointed out, looking out of the window rather than at you. Probably because he was worried about your driver taking you out onto the runway.

"They have electronic warfare versions of the bear, blinder, brewer and badger. All of those are bombers, so it's only logical to assume that plane is derived from a bomber." Weiss extrapolated your point for you, in spite of her discomfort. Because she was sandwiched in the middle of the light truck, she unable to look out for an incoming plane.

"Especially considering that it bore such a resemblance to the lancer." You continued on with your attention now fully turned to your RIO, who simply shrugged and looked back at you.

"But how often do the Soviets convert their supersonic bombers to electronic warfare versions? Have you ever seen a backfire or a bounder configured especially for jamming?" Zeus asked as your driver took you off the runway, and began to head into the base proper, slowing down as he approached.

"Given the Soviet's supersonic bomber fleet, it makes sense that they would want a jammer plane to keep up." You answered your RIO's question. Then again, you were both just taking educated guesses right now. You doubted that either of you knew the ins and outs of the Soviet bomber fleet, or what assets it had at it's disposal.

"But why not convert an existing bomber type to fill that role? Wouldn't that be easier?" Zeus asked again, pressing deep into the logistics of the issue as he saw it. One of the things that you didn't really line about him.

"Maybe there are issues with the sheer size of the jamming systems? Hell, I don't know. What I do know is that there is no reason to discount a theory just because of a couple of aircraft that don't conform to the rule." You poked at your RIO as the jeep rounded a corner and began to slow down even more. But because you weren't looking forwards, you didn't know if you had really just arrived at your destination or if this road had a particularly slow speed limit.

"Personally, I think that all of this speculation is best left for the spooks. Let's just get some food and drink." Weiss interrupted your conversation as your ride rolled to a stop just outside of a small, single storey building with a flat roof and a sign hung up above it's door.

>CONT

>>2289198

Getting out of the parked HUMVEE, you followed after Zeus as he made his way into the [i]pilots lounge[/i]. Said lounge being named the [i]"Rockeye Bar"[/i] after the cluster bombs that the 'hog was known to use. And indeed, painted either side of it's name on the sign was a pair of said bombs, with the one on the left in mid-deployment with it's outer casing split down the middle. Inside however it didn't resemble any bar that you had ever seen. Sure, there was a small bar in one corner, with a pair of pilots standing near to it, but most of the room seemed to be aid out in a manner similar to any normal rec room. Complete with shitty but comfortable couches, a pair of televisions and an NES. Stacked on top of the console you could just about make out the box for some game called [i]metal gear[/i] underneath a stack of what looked like briefing papers. However, at the other side of the room was a single table with a small buffet laid out. Small sandwiches, assorted crisps and cans of pepsi all set out for whoever wanted it. And from the looks of it, some people had indeed been picking at it.

And that was all the invitation you needed as you made your way towards the table and grabbed yourself a plate. Stacking it as high as you could, you shoved on a few random sandwiches and some crisps to help fill the hole in your stomach. And the pepsi you shoved into one of your pockets would help it all go down easily.

Turning around from the table, you surveyed the room and where everybody had gotten off to. Weiss and Zeus were both sat down on one of the couches, talking to another pair of pilots. And while it looked like the conversation was just beginning, you could tell by how they were sizing each other up that it would not be a friendly chat. Meanwhile, another pilot stood by the impromptu bar. His compatriot having left him to join his fellow on the couch. This man at the bar however seemed far more laid back than the pair that were with Weiss and Zeus, you pegged him automatically as a squadron leader. Vampire on the other hand had decided to sit alone at one of the few tables that filled out the space between the couches and the back wall, instead wanting to keep to herself. The normally friendly and enthusiastic woman seemed fairly reserved and withdrawn. But she hadn't been like that when you flew the naval patrol mission.

>Talk to the squadron leader. You want to see how the other side lives.
>Get stuck into the conversation! You can't just let Zeus and Weiss have all of the fun.
>Talk with Vampire, something's up here and you don't like it.
>Take it easy and enjoy the free food.
>Other (write in)

>>2289204
>>Talk with Vampire, something's up here and you don't like it.
Uh oh.

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>>2289204
>Talk with Vampire, something's up here and you don't like it.

>>2289204
>>Talk to the squadron leader. You want to see how the other side lives.
please let us at least respect AF A-10 pilots

>>2289204
>Talk with Vampire, something's up here and you don't like it.

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Frowning, you grabbed another pepsi and made your way towards the lone RIO. She seemed to be staring into space as you approached, and didn't seem to hear the sound of your boots on the floor as you made your way up behind her.

"Here. Just in case you're thirsty." You offered the pepsi in your free hand to the German, the blonde woman in front of you jumped slightly at your voice, but looked over her shoulder at you as casually as she could.

"Thanks." The RIO nodded at you as you passed the can to her, her voice guarded as her eyes wandered to your laden plate. "I'm going to guess that you're hungry."

"Yeah, you want some?" You replied, offering your plate to her as you walked around the front of her to sit next to her. Your ass hit the cushion gently, so that you didn't drop anything from your otherwise offered plate.

"No thanks." Vampire shook her head at you, remaining very rigid as you took the plate back.

"It's been too long since we last talked, how are you doing?" You asked the German RIO as you fished the can of pepsi out of your pocket and cracked it open, taking a swig as the woman spoke.

"I'm doing well enough I guess... Weiss is being Weiss and all of that." Vampire answered as you drank, opening her drink at the same time. Though you couldn't help but feel that she was feeding you a fable.

"Heard anything from home?" You asked your next question casually, or at least you tried to sound casual as you tried to watch her reaction to the possibly incendiary question.

"It's fine." Vampire replied a bit too quickly, her grip on the opened can increasing for just a second. "It's all fine at home."

Yeah, there was something she wasn't willing to talk about.

>"Karla, you don't have to lie to me. If something's wrong then just say."
>"If you say so."
>Other (write in)

>>2291892
>>"Karla, you don't have to lie to me. If something's wrong then just say."

>>2291892
>"Karla, you don't have to lie to me. If something's wrong then just say."
I thought Scorpion was Karla and Vampire was Minna?

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>>2291892
>"Is something bothering you?"

>>2291934
image related

>>2291934

Wrong way around.

>>2291976
>>2292022
Ah, I stand corrected. Thanks for clearing that up.

Does anybody know if there is an extended version of the /qst/ archive?

>>2291892
>"Karla, you don't have to lie to me. If something's wrong then just say."

"Karla, you don't have to lie to me. If something's wrong then just say." You stated simply, your eyes boring into the RIO next to you. Who simply stared straight forwards for a few seconds, completely silent.

"Not here." Vampire replied forcefully, looking up at you with a stern look in her eyes. "When we're back at base."

Things between the pair of you were quiet for another couple of seconds, before Vampire spoke again. "What about you? How are you doing?"

"Well enough I suppose. My mother is working as part of military intelligence. Meanwhile, my father is helping to train the few pilots that are assigned to fly the reactivated Sky hawks. Helping the new blood avoid an unfortunate meeting with the deck.”

"Speaking of, what happened out there?” A new voice spoke up from just past your friend. Looking past her, you spotted the A-10 pilot from the bar walking up. “We saw you both coming in, you try and going for a swim?”

"Ever heard of Pardo's push?" You asked the warthog driver as he planted his ass in the couch just next to the one that you and Vampire shared.

"Doesn't ring a bell I'm afraid. Why'd you ask?" The Air Force pilot shrugged, admitting defeat without having even bothered to answer.

"So that's where you got that idea from!" Vampire suddenly realised, both impressed and surprised at the same time.

"Well, more like one of dad's stories from 'nam. But still." You shrugged at the German question, before turning towards the perplexed air force pilot. "You ever seen a tail hook before?"

"Yeah, Talons have them. Hell, even used it in training." The senior airman nodded, now back in the realm of things that he had seen and understood.

"Navy tail hooks are beefier. And Razor here made some creative use of it after we were hit during a dogfight." Karla briefly explained why the ‘hook was so significant to the bewildered Air Force pilot.

"They had some fuel tank damage from a near-miss from a Soviet missile. Cracked some fuel tanks that they had reserved for the fuel we needed to get back home. And due to leaking everywhere, they wouldn’t be able make it back to land. As such, I got creative and had them drop their tail hook so I could push them back." You summarised what you had done as you lent back into the couch.

"How the hell were you able to manage that? Wouldn't the stresses involved buckle the tail hook, or whatever part of the aircraft you were pushing?" The A-10 pilot asked, a look of slight disbelief and confusion on his face.

>CONT

>>2293143

"Navy tail hooks are very strong. And I had their hook pressed up against one of the Tomcat's bulkheads. Dented part of the air frame but shouldn't be too hard to buff out. Regardless, it wasn't a good long term solution even with our new engines. Mostly as we both lost altitude as we went. The Tomcat was never meant to keep flying with the equivalent weight of another Tomcat. Pardo"encountered the same issue, but his descent was even quicker as he was pushing both his phantom and his wing mate on a single engine.” You explained further, your eyes locked on the Air Force pilot like a heat seeker. Though for his part, the warthog pilot simply looked confused at your explanation.

"Yeah, well you were damn low when you came in. Didn't you hit a tanker before coming out?" The A-10 pilot asked, warming slightly as he accepted your explanation. Though you mostly attributed that to him not really knowing what you were talking about.

"No, we had to sprint out there as we had to intercept a bomber flight." You clarified to the A-10 pilot. Further putting your previous situation into perspective.

>Keep talking with the A-10 pilot.
>Keep talking with Vampire.
>Head over and join Weiss and Zeus.
>Eat up your food.
>Other (write in)

>>2293148
>>Keep talking with the A-10 pilot.

>>2293148
>>Keep talking with the A-10 pilot.

>>2293148
>>Keep talking with the A-10 pilot.

>>2293148
>Keep talking with the A-10 pilot.

"So, how's the war in the mud?" You asked the warthog pilot as you put your pepsi down, intent of eating your food while you still had time.

"A bit hard to see form twenty thousand feet 'eh?" The warthog pilot asked as you tucked into one of the sandwiches, a basic jam sandwich by the taste of it. "Not too good. A good number of the red tanks have been fitted with basic SAM systems. It's been playing merry hell with our ability to get into gun and bomb range, so instead a lot of the time we're stuck to sitting at range and plinking the SAM-tanks with Mavericks and WASPs. By the time we manage to clear out all of their threats and set up for guns and iron, they manage to get fighters in to keep ruining our runs."

"What are you up to right now?" Vampire asked, all traces of her previous vulnerability gone.

"Right now we're being forced to run interdiction now that the Reds own all of Korea. Mostly just hitting supply trucks or whatever is available. It's not a good use of our birds but it's better than just sitting around with our dicks in our hands." The senior airman shrugged, his hands proverbially tied with doing the terrible job that he had.

"What happened to your bird? There's an awful number of them on the deck, and the crew chief said that most of your boys were off on a mission." You asked, cocking your head in the rough direction of the runway as the pilot listened.

"Took a pair of Iglas during a raid. One blew off the tip of my right wing while the other damaged my port engine. We're waiting on one of the recycling teams at the Atsugi boneyard to strip down the parts from the junked 'hogs that they have there for us, but that's going to take time." The pilot once again shrugged, as if it couldn't be helped. And you sort of understood. While the A-10 had a reputation for being a tough bird, it was by nature a big and priority target for enemy MANPADs. Which by nature were small and incredibly hard to spot before they fired.

"Any idea how much time?" You asked simply, before stuffing another sandwich into your mouth.

"Not really, but considering the few... [i]contributions[/i] we made to their stocks since the beginning of the war, they ought to fast track our orders." The pilot replied simply, a slightly darker tone in his voice, making you wonder at the attrition rate between pilots and aircraft.

You continued talking with the man for a bit longer, and he seemed like a nice enough guy. Even if he did make a pass on Vampire. Yet in spite of her compromised nature, the German RIO simply sidestepped his lazy proposition with a grace that could only be expected from someone who had dealt with pilots on a regular basis. Unfortunately -or fortunately for the pilot's bruised ego- all good things came to an end. And after 50 minutes of leaving the hanger, you and the rest of flight 2 re-entered the hanger.

Said hanger was now more guarded, with a healthy layering of marines, and a sprinkle of spooks.

>CONT

>>2297000

The crew chief from before greeted you first, and explained that his men had found no faults with the aircraft aside from the missile damage to Weiss's aircraft. After patching the damage, her aircraft was clear to fly, though he was keen to specify that Weiss wasn't to go about trying any high-g manoeuvres or attempt to break the sound barrier with her jet, lest it break the patches. As for you, he simply told you that he didn't appreciate that your presence had called the spooks to his hanger, and to be so invasive. You simply shrugged it off and made for your jet, but you didn't get far before you were stopped by a spook. Though if you were a dense man you wouldn't have been able to tell due to the fact that he was in a uniform rather than a suit and shades.

The fact that the man moved too rigidly, and spoke as if somebody had jammed a chainsaw up his ass gave it away.

The spook simply stopped you and made sure to [i]remind you[/i] that staying at any airbase other that Yokota for an extended period of time was not a good idea. Especially when close to the coastline, where Soviet infiltrators could easily see everything that happened. You simply nodded, agreed, and barged your way past the spook. You'd get this shit back on base anyways, so you didn't need little mister field agent to crow on and on when you had places to be. And within 5 minutes of arriving at the hanger, both you and Weiss taxied out to the runway and took off. The flight back to Yokota was short and quiet, but your radios soon broke with chatter as you approached the base.

"Freelancer two-one and two-two. Once you have finished parking your aircraft, you are to wait at your hangers until you are fetched by security teams. We don't want to delay our meeting just because someone wanted to have a nap now do we?" The familiar voice of Admiral Harris radioed your flight as you made to radio the tower to set up your approach into the airspace. His voice both warm, and professional at the same time.

"Negative sir. will you be at the meeting?" You answered to his question, you were sure that he had meant it rhetorically, but it was always good to treat any question from a superior officer as an actual question.

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll see you kids in the office." The Admiral replied, and seemingly paused for a couple of seconds before then adding. "Before I go, ONI would like to have a word with you after the briefing, I want you to be there."

"I wasn't planning in skipping it sir." You assured the CINPAC, mindful that even if you had planned to ignore the spooks beforehand, you wouldn't be able to do it now with the Admiral on base, lest they went to him about it.

"Very good son, the last thing we need is the spooks changing their mind on if miss Vaikinov should be allowed to stay with your unit." The admiral reminded you, his voice taking a darker tone before he signed off. "Admiral Harris out."

>CONT

>>2297005

"A briefing? Don't tell me that we're going off on another flight." Zeus huffed a few seconds after the Admiral disconnected from the line, the weariness in his voice was palpable.

>"Wouldn't make sense, probably an operation tomorrow. Or otherwise in the future."
>"It would make sense, given the mission tempo that we're having to deal with."
>Other (write in)

>>2297011
>"Wouldn't make sense, probably an operation tomorrow. Or otherwise in the future."

>>2297011
>"It would make sense, given the mission tempo that we're having to deal with."

>spoke as if somebody had jammed a chainsaw up his ass
I fail to see how this could be anything but loud, incessant, tortured screaming.

>>2297094
>I fail to see how this could be anything but loud, incessant, tortured screaming.

And it was. The very cautious and methodical spook does not take well to antics of the fighter pilot.

>>2297011
>"Wouldn't make sense, probably an operation tomorrow. Or otherwise in the future."

>>2297011
>>"Wouldn't make sense, probably an operation tomorrow. Or otherwise in the future."

"Wouldn't make sense, probably an operation tomorrow. Or otherwise in the future." You reasoned, and left the conversation at that, both of you knew that you would both find out the specifics soon enough. Thankfully you were fast tracked to landing, you didn't know if it was due to your wingmate's status or your meeting with the admiral.

Regardless, almost as soon as you had powered down your engine, a HUMVEE stopped in front of your hanger. You didn't need to have it spelled out to you, and within a minute of your ass leaving the seat of your fighter, you planted it on one of the seats in the back of the HUMVEE. Your driver waited for Zeus to get in before driving away. A second vehicle behind yours quickly following up behind your truck as it made it's way across base. The ride back was quiet, and you spent your time watching as the skyhawks flew in one by one. The base was very active as crews got to work, but thankfully your drivers were able to get you to the base's command building surprisingly quickly. You disembarked carefully, making sure to watch for traffic as your door had ended up on the side facing into the road. However, it proved to be a non-issue as most of the traffic on base was confined to the runway and hangers for now. You soon entered into the building, and were lead through to the briefing room that your briefing was taking place in. The marines who had retrieved you stopped by the door, and you entered the room first. Inside, Admiral Harris stood at the far end of the room on a small podium. Your squadmates were all already seated, a few of them turning to face you as you entered.

"Everybody here?" The admiral asked as you filtered into the briefing room, you nodded silently in response to his question. "Good, take your seats and listen in."

"Alright, so here's the deal. We had hoped that we could offset this operation for a bit longer so that we could get some more aerial reconnaissance. However, with recent word coming out of China, we have to get moving on this." The admiral began the briefing, signalling to one of the marines at the back of the room. The lights flicked off as the projector switched on, allowing you to see an aerial reconnaissance picture of what looked like a mountain.

>CONT

>>2300651

"This is Mount Beiwudang, it is located in the Lüliang prefecture of Shanxi. Back in sixty-nine, a deal was signed between the East and the West. Where-in both China and Japan would reduce their stores of chemical and biological weapons. The deal was to limit the number of available bombs to an equal level for both countries, while simultaneously putting a number of weapons into a form of storage. The two sites selected for the storage points were Mount Beiwudang and Minami-Tori-shima, otherwise known as Marcus Island. Both sites were to be watched over by the UN, and garrisoned by troops from neutral nations such as Austria and Switzerland with inspections every olympiad." Harris explained as he flicked the slide over, the next one showing a low level picture of both the mountain and an island.

"Now, when the war began, all entrances into both of the facilities were blown closed. Unfortunately, the situation with the Chinese has deteriorated. On the day of the ball, Chinese officials issued a request to the UN to remove their troops at the Mount Beiwudang facility. And believing that the Chinese will have no way into the storage facility, the UN has recalled their guards. By now, the troops have been removed and the facility is now under Chinese control." The admiral continued further with the briefing as he flicked through the next few pictures, leaving them for a few seconds before flipping over to the next. Said pictures mostly showed the base’s defences and some internal shots of the storage facility itself.

"This is a major issue, as aerial reconnaissance from blackbirds and our... unconventional assets has revealed a buildup of Chinese excavation equipment. The UN designers of the facility claim that it is almost impossible to break into. However, with that much equipment, the Chinese are sure to get in soon. And when they do, they will have more than double the number of chemical bombs of Japan." The admiral flicked the slide over to an infographic displaying a pie-chart. Said chart showed that out of China's original stockpile in the 1960s, only 25% of it had been destroyed via the deal. A good 50% of the weapons were listed as “in storage”, most likely in the facility you were being sent to bomb.


"Assuming that they decide to use them. It would be a lose-lose scenario for them." Kenji pointed out rather bluntly, interrupting the admiral.

>CONT

>>2300656


"They can make us and the Japanese lose a lot more than they stand to loose." The admiral shook his head glumly, before continuing his briefing. "This has been accompanied with an increase in air defence assets around the site. So the Chinese want to consolidate their gains and ensure the best possible chance of recovering the bombs."

"This is where Freelancer squadron comes in. As the Navy's premier special fighter and attack unit. You are assigned to handle this mission. Before we get onto the specifics of the mission, are there any questions thus-far." The admiral stopped the briefing for just a bit to let people ask their questions. If they had any.

>Let the admiral continue. You'll save your questions for later.
>Ask about nearby enemy air units, if this is such a big deal then the Soviets are in on it..
>Ask about the Chinese defences, what air defence units will you have to deal with.
>Ask about the facility itself, how can fighter level ordnance penetrate into a mountain?
>Ask about SAR, if one of you goes down you at least want to know that a way out.
>Other (write in)

>>2300662
>>Ask about the facility itself, how can fighter level ordnance penetrate into a mountain?

>>2300662
>>Ask about the facility itself, how can fighter level ordnance penetrate into a mountain?
Supporting A-10's?

>>2300662
>>2300662
>Ask about the facility itself, how can fighter level ordnance penetrate into a mountain?
What, are we going to escort something with a nuke so it can turn the entire excavation site into Cratersencancer, China?

>>2300662
>>Ask about the facility itself, how can fighter level ordnance penetrate into a mountain?

File: breifing room.jpg (52 KB, 800x600)

52 KB JPG

"What do we know about the facility? How exactly are we meant to destroy the facility when it's buried under a mountain?" You asked, taking the opportunity to ask about something that was bothering you.

"Before the UN closed off the facility they released tanks filled with flammable gasses. On it's own, the damage wouldn't be enough to destroy the facility. However, the facility was designed with explosive charges built into the retaining walls, the supports and a number of other places. These charges are sensitive, and would be detonated if the gasses are ignited. As such, if we detonate a single bomb in the facility it will cause a chain reaction that is extremely likely to safely destroy the entire facility and all of the chemical weapons within. If the fireball from the gasses going off doesn't set off the charges, then the pressure wave from such a massive explosion surely will." The admiral explained, nodding as he told you the theory.

"And what are those weapons?" You asked, trying to get an impression for what you, or someone else in the unit had to carry.

"The weapons you'll have access to are the Paveway three and the AGM-one-thirty, both will be fitted with the two-thousand pound hammer warhead. Additionally, you can carry in the GBU-twenty eight if you really want something heavy. However, that will cut into your payload." The admiral flicked through a number of slides, before coming to one that showed the 3 weapons. Along with their respective yields. The Paveway III and the AGM-130 were both 2,000lbs weapons, with the AGM-130 being the heavier of the two by virtue of the rocket booster that gave it it's prized standoff capability. Meanwhile the GBU-28 came in at a whopping 5,000lbs per bomb.

"Enemy anti-aircraft units in the area are thankfully limited. They have two SA-two Guideline long range SAMs, two medium range SA-six Gainful and four SA-eight Gecko short range SAMs. That gives them eight launchers. They also have a number of short range AA guns. Mostly static ZU-twenty-threes and mobile Shilkas. Thankfully, most of their more modern systems are sat around their new gains in Korea, so you path should be clear from them." Admiral Harris continued on with his briefing, flicking backwards through the slides until he came upon another aerial reconnaissance picture, this one showing the SAM and AA sites marked out on the picture.

"For the attack, you will be split up into three sections. The first section will fly CAP and may even provide some limited CAS, though that depends on what your commanding officer decides." Harris nodded to Dredd, as if to remind you about who was in charge. "The second section will fly SEAD. They will clear a path for the third and final section which will be carrying the bombs to attack the facility itself."

>CONT

>>2302723

>Let the admiral continue. You'll save your questions for later.
>Ask about nearby enemy air units, if this is such a big deal then the Soviets are in on it..
>Ask about your loads, what is the recommended ordnance for each section, and how much leeway will you have to change your loads.
>Ask about SAR, if one of you goes down you at least want to know that a way out.
>Other (write in)

>>2302726
>Let the admiral continue. You'll save your questions for later.
Holy shit, this facility was clearly designed by the Chinese.

>>2302726
>>Let the admiral continue. You'll save your questions for later.

>>2302726
>>Let the admiral continue. You'll save your questions for later.

File: Briefing - Solitaire.png (373 KB, 639x361)

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>>2302726
>Let the admiral continue. You'll save your questions for later.

Anyone else getting Ace Combat vibes from this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP0S3xL2S8U

>>2303204
We haven't gone deep and painted our jets black and red.

Yet.

"Ordnance load and how you're going to divide up for your roles for this flight will mostly be up to you, but do keep in mind that the folks flying SEAD are going to have to choose between BVR missiles and HARMs. Similar deal with the third flight, however their issue is going to be due to carry weight rather than available hard points." The admiral continued on, pausing for a second to wait for questions. You kept your mouth shut this time, wanting the briefing to continue.

"How long do we have to plan and decide our loads?" Dredd asked, his voice still subdued but slightly insistent. Not that he was out of line for asking his question.

"You'll be taking off at around two in the morning tomorrow. You are on crew rest from now until then. You should have between now and dinner to get everything sorted out, so you have around an hour or two." The admiral nodded at Dredd with a small smile, before turning back to the rest of you.

"Once you take off, you'll have to fly south to Okinawa. You'll refuel around a hundred kilometers West of Okinawa and penetrate into China at low level to avoid enemy radars and fighter patrols. You will meet up with a flight of Kate twos with buddy refuelling stores to perform a low level refuelling before your mission, once it is complete you will meet up with another flight of Kate twos to refuel one last time to get enough fuel to make it to Okinawa. Keep in mind that you will have to worry about fuel consumption, You can't afford to dogfight with enemy fighters, so keep that in mind when planning your loads." The admiral continued the briefing as he flicked the picture over to show your flight plan, including all of the refuelling stops that you would have to perform. Showing that your first low level refuelling stop was 100km north west of Jinhua, meanwhile the second one was over the Yangtze river.

"Search and Rescue is going to be difficult to say the least, so we'll be updating your survival gear to better suit extended forays in the jungle. If you are shot down, we will not be able to provide a SAR helicopter for a quick retrieval. As such, you will be issued with new emergency locator beacons that are keyed to a special forces frequency. Gather your gear if you can, but most importantly get as far away from the crash site as possible and find somewhere safe to bunker down. Our team in the area will locate you and will get you to evac." The admiral held up what looked like a standard emergency beacon, however it was painted OD green rather than the bright orange of the standard version. The admiral was quiet for a few seconds, before then asking. "Any questions?"

>Ask a question (what?)
>Say nothing, you ought to get planning out of the way as soon as possible.
>Other (write in)

>>2303758
>Say nothing, you ought to get planning out of the way as soon as possible.

>>2303758
>>Say nothing, you ought to get planning out of the way as soon as possible.

>>2303758
>ask about nearby enemy air units

We need to consider what sort of air-to-air we ought to take.

>>2303758
>>2303861
Oh shit right, he didn't tick that one off the list. Switching.

>>2303758
>>2303861
This

"What enemy fighters are we likely to encounter?" You asked, asking your third and final question of the briefing.

"While the Chinese have taken control of the base's small airbase, it isn't suited to fighter jets. Aside from that, there some roaming patrols from enemy MiG twenty ones and twenty threes. However, much of the enemy air defence network relies on a long range radar network, along with supplementary medium and short range systems. We are trying to get some of our assets to engage enemy communications lines in order to increase the amount of time it takes for the defenders to call in that they are getting attacked. As soon as the call goes out that the base has been attacked, the Chinese will mobilise as many fighters as they can to try and take you out. You'll mostly have to worry about MiG twenty fives and twenty threes due to their look-down shoot-down capabilities. The former is faster but further spread out across Chinese airspace, so you might be able to escape before any of them show up. Meanwhile, the latter is more numerous and you have a higher chance of encountering them. However, the twenty three's are easier to kill due to their ineffective ECM systems." The admiral explained, flicking back through the slides to one that showed the map of our flight path. He gestured to Korea and Northeast China, illustrating where most of the enemy fighters were currently concentrated.

"What about flankers? How likely are we to encounter them?" Durendal asked, almost predicting what you were about to ask.

"You shouldn't encounter them as most of them are at the front. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese have a squadron of them as a quick reaction force for the base." The admiral pointed out the location of the nearest airbase to the former UN facility before pausing for a few seconds, waiting for more questions, before nodding to someone at the back of the room. The lights switched on as the admiral patted a pile of folders on the desk next to him. "These folders contain everything we have on this upcoming operation, they are not to leave this room. Read through them, plan your attack, get your dinner and hit the sack. Good luck and safe skies people, I'll leave you to it."

With that, you all stood up and saluted the admiral, who returned the salute before leaving the room. As he left, you all began to make your way to the front of the room.

"So, preliminary ideas?" Dredd asked as your squadron began to muster together in front of the desk, Ahab handing out the briefing packets. Now that the lights were on, it was harder to see the image on the projector. However, now that you had the full briefing packets you could alleviate that.

>CONT

>>2305903

"I think that we should have two planes flying ground attack and nothing more. Both should be armed with AGM-one-thirties for hitting the bunker from standoff range. That way we don't have to risk the planes on a high risk bombing pass. We will need two flights running SEAD in order to deal with all of the AA units, that would leave us with the remaining two flights to fill out the first unit for CAP." Slider proposed, the British pilot speaking up from just next to you as you began to leaf through the collection of assorted reconnaissance pictures.

"Alternately, we could have just a single plane carrying bunker killing ordnance. That way it frees up another plane for either CAP, SEAD or even attacking the AA guns with rocket pods." Kay suggested an alternative for Slider's plan. Meanwhile, you couldn't really figure out much from the pictures. Sure, they contained enemy AA positions, and a layout of the facility relative to the mountain, but it wasn't really useful.

"That will put a lot of strain on that one aircraft, they'd have to carry in those five thousand pound bombs in order to guarantee a kill on the facility. It will also expose them to concentrated AA fire." Slider pointed out the flaws in Kay's plans as you returned to the index at the front of the packet, while the recon pictures were all well and good, they meant nothing without the information to back them up.

>Read through the recommended loads.
>Read through the flight plan.
>Read through the information on the facility.
>Read through the projected enemy strength in the area.
>Listen in to your squadmate's suggestions.
>Other (write in)

>>2305908
>Listen in to your squadmate's suggestions.
Was about to say that not even China wants to fly Chinese, but then I couldn't find the J-7's I swore you've mentioned before.

>>2305908
>>Listen in to your squadmate's suggestions.

"Everybody flying SEAD will need to only carry a light air to air load. We'll need them to carry a pair of HARMs, TALDs and ECM pods. At best they'll only have an AMRAAM or two for BVR, but if we want to ensure optimal suitability for the strike package then they'll just have to go without any sort of BVR weapon system. We're suggested to go for a pair of HARMs, an ECM pod, a TALD and a pair of Mark eighty-twos. However, I think that they should just ditch the Mark eighty twos and carry more TALDs in order to further confuse enemy air defence radars." Dredd read out as he flicked through the packet, adding his own opinion as he went.

"What about the CAP flight?" Kenji asked, his voice stern and flat. He understood the implications of failure almost exactly.

"AMRAAMs only. Phoenixes are too bulky to be useful and the AMRAAMs have better tracking than the sparrow. We can load the CAP birds with eight missiles per plane." Ishmael, Ahabs RIO explained. The short and skinny RIO replied to Kenji's question rather quickly, before anyone else could answer. Not something you'd expect from the man, given how quiet he usually was.

"And the team striking the facility?" You asked as you began to look through the background info on the facility.

"The strike team should go in with paveway threes, they're lighter than all other options and as such open up the ability to carry a decent enough air to air or decoy payload." Weiss suggested, garnering a few small murmurs of both approval and disapproval from the other squad mates.

"What about the one-thirties? They have a good standoff range and can keep the launching aircraft out of range of the enemy short range AA." Slider suggested, reminding the rest of you that you didn't have to run headfirst into a bunch of SAMs and AA guns.

"Their data-link isn't going to work when firing them in such terrain. We'd need a volunteer to act as a relay between the aircraft and the missiles. And they are going to be exposed to the worst of the enemy fire. Not to mention that we may not be able to guarantee that two weapons will hit the target." Kay replied, showing the glaring hole in the British woman's plan.

"We can't guarantee a direct hit on the facility with any of these options." Tatsuko reminded Kay that you were never going to be able to hit the UN facility itself.

"We can practically guarantee it with the paveway threes and twenty-eights. But they don't have standoff range." Kay corrected the Japanese RIO

"Razor, you're fairly quiet, what's your opinion? Should we try and figure out a standoff option, or should we go with the original plan?" Dredd asked you, causing the rest of the unit to turn and look at you expectantly.

>CONT

>>2306534

>"We should stick with the suggested plan, I don't think that we'll be able to figure out a superior alternative in around a few hours."
>"We should try for a standoff strike. The fewer people that have to stray into the line of fire the better."
>"I'm not sure, give me a bit more time to read through the briefing packet while you plan out the standoff attack."
>Other (write in)

>>2306538
>>"We should stick with the suggested plan, I don't think that we'll be able to figure out a superior alternative in around a few hours."

>>2306538
>>"We should stick with the suggested plan, I don't think that we'll be able to figure out a superior alternative in around a few hours."

>>2306538
>"We should stick with the suggested plan, I don't think that we'll be able to figure out a superior alternative in around a few hours."

What is the suggested plan? There's lots of small ideas but no "this is recommended plan A".

>>2307216

Plan A is for the squadron to split up into 3 groups. The first group would fly CAP and kill any enemy fighters both during the attack and while returning to Okinawa, but would be useless for attacking the actual facility. The second flight would fly SEAD to kill as many enemy air defences as possible to open the way for the 3rd flight who will bomb the facility with precision guided bombs.

Plan B is for as many aircraft as possible to carry AGM-130 standoff bombs to saturate the mountain. However, one aircraft would need to fly higher to maintain a ling between the launching aircraft and their missiles. However, due to the lack of aircraft flying SEAD this one aircraft would be incredibly vulnerable to all enemy SAMs.

>>2306538
>>"We should stick with the suggested plan, I don't think that we'll be able to figure out a superior alternative in around a few hours."

so we can have dedicated roles instead of a lot of close but no cigar planes with one big fucking target

"We should stick with the suggested plan, I don't think that we'll be able to figure out a superior alternative in around a few hours." You decided, still leafing through the information available. You knew the chances of a single aircraft surviving in the face of 8 SAM batteries was fairly low, so you would be guaranteed losses if you followed Slider's plan. And given how deep you were going into China, you didn't want anyone to be practically guaranteed to be shot down.

"That still puts at least two aircraft in the enemy's gunsights. And that's just counting the SEAD aircraft." Slider remarked glumly, fixing you with a disappointed look.

"Speaking of aircraft. We have to divide up the roles. We have eight aircraft across four flights and three sections to fill out. The first flight is recommended to be the largest in order to have the maximum air to air load available, and to cover the lack of air to air weapons for the SEAD and strike sections. The CAP section will be armed with six AMRAAMs and a pair of Agiles. We can't use the sidewinders due to their inferior off-boresight capabilities." Dredd completely ignored your British squadmate's dismay, and began to read off the loads available to each role. As guided by the mission planners that had assembled the briefing itself.

"The SEAD flight will have a pair of HARMs, an ECM pod, three TALDs and a pair of Agiles. They'll be the lightest coming out from the fight, but that won't really matter unless we have to directly dogfight an enemy flight. And at which point things will have gone FUBAR." Dredd continued to explain as the squadron's eyes turned to him. You began to dance the pro's and con's of each option in your head as he read them out. "The third flight will have a few options. Their first option is a pair of Paveway threes and five AMRAAMs. Their second option is just a pair of AMRAAMs and a pair of GBU twenty-eights. Both options come with a pair of Agiles."

Finally, the squadron leader finished and looked up at the assembled pilots. "So, who wants what?"

>CAP (x2 AIM-95, x6 AIM-120)
>SEAD (x2 AIM-95, x2 AGM-88, x3 TALDs, x1 ECM Pod)
>STRIKE (x2 AIM-95, x5 AIM-120, x2 Paveway III) OR (x2 AIM-95, x2 AIM-120, x2 GBU-28)

>>2308135
>>STRIKE x2 AIM-95, x2 AIM-120, x2 GBU-28
Bombs away!

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>>2308135
>>STRIKE (x2 AIM-95, x5 AIM-120, x2 Paveway III) OR (x2 AIM-95, x2 AIM-120, x2 GBU-28)
What could possibly go wrong?

>>2308176
You need to select one of the two options, you can either have the first strike option (x2 AIM-95, x5 AIM-120, x2 Paveway III), or the second strike option (x2 AIM-95, x2 AIM-120, x2 GBU-28)

>>2308194
>x2 AIM-95, x5 AIM-120, x2 Paveway III
My bad.

Need a tiebreaker...

>>2308135
>x2 AIM-95, x5 AIM-120, x2 Paveway III
I think separating the options into
>strike (option 1)
>strike (option 2)
would idiot-proof choices like these from people like me

"I'll take up the strike role with a pair of paveway threes. We'll need the extra air to air ordnance to kill enemy fighters before they get into heat seeker range." You decided, looking at the schematics for one of the facility's walls. It was just shallow enough for a pave way to be able to hit it. Or at the very least, blow away enough rock for a follow up strike.

"I guess I'll take the same. We'll only need one bomb to destroy the base, so if we plan our attack well enough then we should be able to get it done." Weiss nodded, trusting your decision and mirroring your load. Dredd simply shrugged in response.

"If you think you're confident enough with your capabilities with precision attack, then go right ahead. You should also have a bit better fuel economy too with the lighter load." Dredd somewhat agreed with your choice, the experienced officer may have had his doubts about your choice. But he had known you long enough to trust your decision.

From there, the roles were further divided up. Kay and Kenji took up the task of SEAD, mostly because the latter of the two had excelled at it during training. That left Dredd, Ahab, Slider and Durendal providing CAP. In total, your unit would have 34 AMRAAMs at it's disposal for this mission. If you were lucky, then you'd arrive at Okinawa with some still left on your pylons. However, you doubted that you would be as lucky. And around an hour after you had arrived for the briefing, you and the rest of the unit left. The briefing packets left behind, but their contents memorised. You all arrived very early for dinner, and quickly ate before the mess hall filled up. And finally, after attending to some other tasks, you returned to your room. You silently regarded the assorted letters and paperwork that you hadn't finished before you were scrambled. The pile of paperwork had grown ever so slightly, and you were sure that even more paperwork would soon join the pile. So you quickly cleaned off and flopped into bed.

As you drifted off to sleep, you could just barely hear the echos of your jet's MAWS unit. The damned wail from the back of your mind being the last thing you heard before you slipped off to sleep.

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I'm gonna call the thread here folks. Sorry for the 2 part run, but issues with me getting posts up for thread 33 resulted in this being much longer than expected. Hopefully things will be back to normal for the next run.

Anyways, if you you have any questions then do feel free to ask them while the thread is still up. If I don't manage to answer you question before the thread falls off the board then I'll answer it either on my twitter account or next thread.

>>2308764
Thanks for running, Thunderhead. See you next time!

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>>2308764
Thanks for the thread, boss. See you again!