NationStates Jolt Archive

Four Royal Isselmere-Nieland Navy fleets (the 1st to 4th Rapid Reaction Fleets), the Royal Isselmere-Nieland Aerospace Force, and the Isselmere-Nieland Army are embarking on the largest peacetime mobilisation since the Sarzonian expedition.

"We've neglected to train in such large formations for such a long time, it will be good to engage in large scale battles to ensure that our senior commanders are up to snuff," Fleet Admiral Horace Fotheringay, Second Lord of the Admiralty noted, announced.

These will be the first exercises with the RINDF's latest equipment, such as the Badger IFV, the Swordfish S.1 aircraft, and the Treaty-class battleship.

This has been Sarah Plehvin for INBC 1 News.

Upon RINAF airbases, six squadrons of Vulcan B.1 bombers and their supporting tankers readied for flight. The Vulcans were armed with a variety of weapons, from air-launched Hurricane missiles to iron bombs, to engage all sorts of enemy positions. From space satellites began targetting "enemy" positions for the bombers and strike craft that would soon be coming from the carriers.

Seventy-two Vulcan B.1 bombers cruised at altitude with their tanks refilled. Within, the offensive and defensive systems operators checked and re-checked the electronics to counter any bugs that might hamper the mission. The ARU.241 forward and ARS.242 rear radar sets were working perfectly in conjunction with the ALQ.239 ECM system, each cycling perfectly to allow the other to function. The crews kept the ARS.242 on passive detection and the ALQ.239 on standby, counting on their Scimitar F.1 escorts to gain air superiority against the "enemy" air threat.

At sea, Peel-class carriers began launching their strike packages. Sea Sceptre FA.1s took the escort-strike CAP role, Sea Sceptre FA.2s would perform a fighter-bomber role, ready to take out ships patrolling the area, with Sea Vampires and Sea Wraiths would blind the "enemy's" air defences. Swordfish strike aircraft would then burst through to engage other high priority targets.

*tag*

[OOC: The forum (http://s4.invisionfree.com/Woodstock_Pact) for the Woodstock Pact is now up. :)]

A small flotilla of recently reactivated vessels produced all the signs of life, moving about at five knots and projecting signals above and below water. Old fighter aircraft converted into drones flew overhead. For a war exercise, it wouldn't be exceptionally realistic, but at least it was live-fire.

Hundreds of nautical miles away, the fleets prepared themselves for war. The carriers turned once more into the wind to launch the remainder of the strike packages as the Fleet CAPs ranged overhead. Even now the AEW aircraft and ASW patrols sensed nothing, but the satellites above knew what lurked about beyond the radar horizon and sent their wisdom sea- and sky-ward.

In the distance, far to the east, the Vulcan bombers gradually descended to their operational altitude, leaving their long range escorts, not yet detectable themselves, above ready to pounce on any hapless foe.

First in on the assault, however, were the Tern attack drones. Flying at wavetop height, the Terns had so far been undetected. Yet as they approached the "enemy" fleet, they picked up strong signals from the Puffin airborne early warning helicopter drones on picket. Receiving last second telemetry on the enemy fleet positions from satellite, the lead drone of each section -- equipped with powerful jammers instead of ordnance -- began broadcasting to blanket their movements.

As expected, the "enemy" Puffins directed the drone CAPs onto the Terns based on the strength of the jamming emissions. Once inside the zone of heavy jamming, the drone interceptors could no longer receive intercept data and would have to guide onto the Terns as well as they could. One fourth of the Terns, however, increased velocity and headed towards the last known position of the Puffins, ready to activate their small radars once their own detection was certain.

Well away to the east, one squadron of Vulcans, 1,000 km from the "enemy" coastline, rose to altitude and released their Hurricane missiles before dropping down once more to the back of the bomber stream.

To the west, the Swordfish hurtled behind the Terns, following the black hole created by the jamming Terns. If the planners had organised the strike package correctly, the effect would be similar to a creeping barrage, with the Terns knocking out "enemy" radars with Pigeon missiles and continuing onward to drop Robin small diameter bombs on enemy warships. The Swordfish and some of the Sea Sceptre FA.2s, armed with long range Pelican missiles, would follow the drone assault. Further waves of Sea Sceptres and Swordfish would prosecute the "enemy" fleet in detail long before the two fleets were in gun range of one another.

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OOC: Each Peel-class carrier (of which there are eight in total for this exercise) launched the following strike package:
1 squadron of Sea Sceptre FA.1 (1 flight (4 aircraft) per strike element)
2 squadrons of Sea Sceptre FA.2 (strike elements B and C)
3 flights of Sea Vampire ADS.1 (1 flight per strike element)
3 elements of Sea Wraith EW.1 (2 aircraft per strike element)
1 squadron of Swordfish S.1 (strike element A)

Thus,
Strike Element A
4 x Sea Sceptre FA.1
4 x Sea Vampire ADS.1
2 x Sea Wraith EW.1
12 x Swordfish S.1

Strike Element B
4 x Sea Sceptre FA.1
12 x Sea Sceptre FA.2
4 x Sea Vampire ADS.1
2 x Sea Wraith EW.1

Strike Element C
4 x Sea Sceptre FA.1
12 x Sea Sceptre FA.2
4 x Sea Vampire ADS.1
2 x Sea Wraith EW.1

The Terns tasked with package escort managed some successes against the drone fighters despite only being equipped with short-range GWS.65A2 Kite infra-red missiles. The 2:1 kill ratio may not have been stellar, but it did permit much of the attacking force to attain striking distance for the Pigeon missiles. Those Terns so equipped launched those ARMs and sped quickly back to base while the "bomber" Terns continued onward.

The eight strike element A's advanced towards the enemy fleet based on information gained through satellite links. This link was severed forcing the strike packages to base their assault on the last computed position and INS information. The loss of the satellite information meant that the Swordfish and Sea Sceptre strike aircraft would have to range in closer than usual.

The Swordfish pilots advanced their throttles to full military power as they skittered along the deck at high subsonic speed. Slightly overhead, the Sea Vampires did the same, overtaking the more heavily laden strike aircraft. According to the computed positions, the strike packages were nearing the release points for their weapons. The fighter escort began rising to altitude to illuminate the "enemy" fleet for the strike package when they began receiving radar emissions from the Vulcan bombers. Some swift communications via datalink later and some rechecking to ensure no navigational adjustments needed to be made and the strike packages had the latest information for their assault.

The Sea Wraiths began blanketing the enemy radars with their high powered jammers as the air defence suppression aircraft selected enemy shipborne radars to destroy. The drone fighters changed their targets and propelled towards the strike packages, away from the Terns which continued to press onward. The fighter escort fired their long-range Goshawk missiles at the defenders and closed in for the kill.

Using sensor data collected from the other members of the strike packages, the Swordfish selected their targets. Each fired two GWS.52A Pelican anti-ship missiles after passing the targetting solutions to the missiles' laser INS. Slightly aft, the attacking Sea Sceptre FA.2s each prepared to launch their single Pelican missile.

Meanwhile, twenty-four Hurricane missiles, launched earlier by the Vulcan bombers, began to traverse at high supersonic speed towards enemy naval targets. An old Monarch-class warship, steaming at 4 knots, fired a plethora of old SAMs -- Aster 30s and 15s, VL-MICA, and the like -- at the Hurricanes, only to be riddled by four of the missiles, breaking the bow, shattering through the turret, tearing into the engine room through the funnel, and collapsing the hangar. Its back broken, the ship was consumed by an enormous fireball as the missiles detonated within the hull, setting off additional obsolete munitions that were intended to simulate war loads.

Further explosions broke the gentle sounds of waves lapping the slow moving drone-ships of the "enemy" fleet as it attempted to defend itself against the onrush of anti-ship missiles. The earlier model SAMs did their best to counter the threat, but the newer anti-ship missiles wove, jinked, and even ejected countermeasures to defeat the defending systems. More importantly, the weight of numbers counted against the defenders, which grew even worse as the Pigeon anti-radar missiles came into the fray.

Eight hundred nautical miles out, the battleships, Port-class submarines, and Peel-class carriers began launching their own Hurricane missiles on land attack missions to defeat emplaced coastal defence targets. The missiles were to engage in vertical puncturing attacks, accelerating to great speeds from high altitude to make the most of their armour piercing warheads. It was also hoped that the extreme angle of attack and velocities would nullify the opposing air defences somewhat.

The two Vulcan squadrons equipped with Pelican missiles began their attacks as well, firing off a welter at the enemy ships, loosing off four from the forward bomb bays and four from the wing stations, covering the sky with another 192 missiles driving hard and fast towards the enemy.

The Goshawk missiles, despite being very agile, had been designed to defeat enemy bombers and maritime patrol aircraft. Thus, when encountering the "enemy" fighters, the missiles disintegrated the targets they struck instantly. From space, UKIN spy satellites monitoring the battle transmitted images of the brutal assault to the Ministry of Defence.

"It's like Space Invaders," the Minister declared, showing his age by that comment more obviously than his greying hair ever could. Yet it was an entirely accurate simile.

The fighter escort jettisoned their fuel tanks and closed in for the kill. The drone fighters from the "enemy" fleet were not smart enough nor capable of making discreet kills through passive detection. The Sea Spectres, however, could. The flights traded targetting information amongst themselves before deciding upon the best plan of attack. Their heaviest load gone, the Sea Spectres supercruised towards the enemy, unleashing a fresh onslaught of air-to-air missiles, this time GWS.74A Kestrels, towards the enemy aircraft.

The datalinks shared between the fighter escorts ensured no missile was wasted, but the AI within the "enemy" drone fighters wouldn't permit easy kills. If this was to be a proper exercise, the RINN and RINAF pilots would have to work hard for their kills. Explosions from the Kestrel BVRAAM rent the sky taking care of a fair portion of the drone fighters still left from the Tern drone and Goshawk LRAAM attack.

[more later...]