NationStates Jolt Archive

The ANL-Sonora Border

Suddenly, the border sprung into life. All over the miles-long stretch of land, engines roared to life. Within minutes, thousands of Traveller ATV’s began crossing the border, spread out across hundreds of miles – not a human wave, rather an angry swarm of locusts, yet spread out enough to avoid being destroyed entriely by machineguns.

Marshal Anatoly Ashkenazi flinched at the hot Mexican sun as he glanced at ten Assault Brigades speed towards the horizon, then lowered his binoculars and waved his right hand.

Immediately, at the various bases along the border, helicopters and AV-6’s roared to life, filled with Air Assault troops, and started into Sonora, flying low to avoid radar detection. Between the helis and AV-6’s flew, like angry wasps, more Air Assault troops wearing personal flight devices. Again, they were spread out all over the border – and so 59,000 troops were not an easy target. Still, they would terrify those who saw them – yet those who saw them would not fear for long – they would not live long, in fact.

High above them – yet slower, of course- went ten thousand Mirkaian mercenaries, indetectible to most types of Radar because – of course- they flew by their own wings and not any form of engines – they didn’t need any.

The force was heading to the various AA stations in Sonora. Each unit was given a location of a different Sonoran AA unit, and it was going there, the strike force spread evenly between the different THAAD stations in the area. The aim was to strip the enemy naked – and then to strike him.

LtCol. Jason Nevins watched out the window as several fighters took to the air. He stood, stretched, and smiled. The one hundred and fifty F/A-96Es under his command had been loaded and ready to rock. Fifty of them would be flying top cover to engage enemy fighters. Another 50 were armed with the mix strike load, with a combonation of air to air and air to gorund weapons. The last 50 were armed in a mix ground strike, with both radar, heat, and laser hunting weapons loaded and armed.

Jason strolled out to his fighter, which would lfly top cover. He watched as the first wave of Archangelsks took off. His would be airborne soon. It took just under 30 minutes to get all 150 fighters in the air. They joined up just before crossing the border, the top cover fighters breaking away to go to intercept, arming their long range Pheonix missiles, and medium ranged AIM-120s. The Athena Active Stealth systems rendered them invisible to radar, and the Xikar radar systems activated prevented radar traces on the fighters.

The 50 armed for mix strike, however, went in wide open. They had the most dangerous job of flying without any form of stealth, literally screaming to get shot at. Their job was to take out the radar sites on the ground, using HARM(A) missles. The other 50, armed for mix air and ground strikes, would be flying cover for the Wild Weasel fighters, taking out interceptors, as well as THAAD systems without the radar activated. Their overwhelming strike numbers and ability to out manuver the missles would proove difficult for the THAAD systems to counter act. The Archangelsk pilots had been tasked to take out Air defenses, and would do so.

Meanwhile, while the fighters took off, three black painted MH-22Is landed at bases along the border. On board each was a full compliment of special operation specialists from the 22nd SOTF. They would carry out their mission soon, once the air defenses were weakend.