New Command scenario: Spanish Guinea

May 18, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Author: Jorm
BACKGROUND:

Oil exploration and production has boomed in the Gulf of Guinea. The once Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea’s corrupt government has asked for Spanish assistance with protection of the countries offshore oil and gas platforms.

Tensions with Nigeria have escalated as they continue to press their claims on the offshore oil fields.

A minefield has been detected stopping all access to oil platforms. Spanish mine sweepers have arrived…

The oil wealth of Nigeria has attracted military support from the Dutch who have assisted with acquisition of spare parts and technical assistance in restoring the Nigerian air force.

Unfortunately the region is also West Africa’s most pirates riddled waters.

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Design Notes:

Much of the Nigerian air force and navy is not included, I’ve used other nations ships and planes as direct  substitutes. Where small patrol vessels could not be directly  matched I’ve chosen a very similar class and edited  it to match. I’ve used JANES as a resource for the NAVY all aircraft used are those that Nigeria had in its OOB at the time.

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Mission:

Using the three Aggressive class mine sweepers, sweep the area marked bounding the oil platforms to the north and east of Malabo. It may be easier of section the area into two  patrol zones.

Protect the mine sweepers using F81 Santa Maria and F35 Cazadora.

Air assets are very limited.

Conduct anti-pirate patrols using F31 Descubuerta and limited air assets at Bata.

An engineering battalion loaded onto L 41 Herman Cortez with its heavy equipment is bound for Bata. Protect this vessel at all costs.

Operation:

The region is thick with civil and commercial traffic and oil wells. Take great care to identify targets.

Nigeria have declared hostilities by attacking our oil platforms , all Nigerian vessels are to be considered hostile.

There are  two pirate ‘mother ships’ operating in the region. Both are 800ton trawlers; find and destroy both of them if possible.

Most of Nigeria’s air force is known to be based at Makurdi AB.

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New Command scenario: Chillied Sea Slugs

May 18, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Author: Jorm

Background

The background of this dispute goes back to the mid-1980s. In 1985, the then Foreign Minister of Peru,  first addressed this issue formally with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile.

The Chilean–Peruvian maritime dispute was a territorial dispute between the South American republics of Peru and Chile over the sovereignty of an area at sea in the Pacific Ocean approximately 37,900 square kilometres (14,600 sq mi) in size. Peru contends that its maritime boundary delimitation with Chile was not fixed, but Chile claimed that it holds no outstanding border issues with Peru. The dispute primarily concerned an area at sea between the parallel that crosses the end point of the land border between Chile and Peru, and the bisecting line perpendicular to the coasts of Chile and Peru. This line was formed by the overlapping of the baselines of both countries, forming a trapezoid of 67,139.4 square kilometres (25,922.7 sq mi). Peru requested an equitable division of the maritime territory, but Chile demanded sovereignty over approximately 38,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi) of the territory. On a secondary level, the dispute included the status of a maritime triangle to the left of the aforementioned trapezoid, approximately 28,471.86 square kilometres (10,993.05 sq mi) in size, which Chile considered part of the high seas and Peru as part of its maritime domain.

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MISSION

Use the heavy guns of our CL O’Higgins the intimidate the Peruvian fishing vessels and attempt to shepherd them back into Peruvian national waters.

Use aviation assets from Iquique to patrol the area to track the movements of the Peruvian navy

Group Prat is available to assist shepherding the fishing fleet, at least 6 have been tracked into our waters.

WEAPONS TIGHT. Do not fire unless fired upon.

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Scenario notes

I had to use the Argentinian General Belgrano which is also a Brooklyn class CL, the Chilean vessel is not in the data base. Same for the D25 Segui the SUMNER class destroyer. The weapons layout has been edited to correct for Chilean loadouts.

Let the scenario run for about 30 seconds before doing too much.

Scoring is not enabled.

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New Command scenario: Mururoa 1973

May 18, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Author: Jorm

Historical Background: Following France’s refusal to accept an International Court of Justice injunction against its atmospheric nuclear testing based at Mururoa Atoll, the New Zealand government decided to station two frigates, HMNZS Canterbury and Otago, in international waters outside the test area. Cabinet minister Colman would accompany this daring protest. 

The Otago arrived off Mururoa in time to witness the first French test. Colman transferred to HMNZS Canterbury when it arrived to relieve the Otago on 25 July, and he and the crew of the Canterbury watched the second test.

http://www.mururoavet.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Scenario background: Australia has joined the south pacific nations in protest and has sent HMAS Melbourne and escorts  to support the protest. The political situation has deteriorated and the pacific nations have demanded you stop the next nuclear test using a show of force.

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Mission: The New Zealand Otago group support by HMAS Perth is ordered to close to the atoll and destroy the test facility and infrastructure.

HMAS Supply is to exit the area but remain close for immediate RAS as our forces exit the area. It is vital Supply remains safe.

HMAS Melbourne task Force is to provide ASW coverage to the Otago group. The A-4’s can be used to strike the atoll. Remember the A-4G can carry Sidewinders and provide CAP but are no match for a dedicated fighter.

Enemy Forces: Expect strong submarine resistance from a picket line suspected in the region between Otago and Mururoa.

Expect strong surface forces and support ships around Mururoa. There are no neutral forces in the area.

The French maintain strong maritime patrol capability at Tahiti and we have been shadowed by Neptune aircraft for the last 2 days.

The French carrier Clemenceau is escorting A 646 Foudre which is carrying the nuclear test device and is expected to stop at Tahiti for resupply before delivering the nuclear device to the atoll in the next few days.

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New Command scenario: Regaining Honor

May 18, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Author: Coiler12
Date: April 2, 2015

The turmoil in the Middle East has produced a change in Yemen’s government. With the failure of multiple regimes in rapid succession and fear of an outright Islamist takeover, a unity government of all but the most hardline parties has been formed. Unfortunately, that unity government contains a mixture of "moderates" and old anti-Western socialists, and the Yemeni president and prime minister face political pressure from inside and out.

At the same time, the instability within Yemen has led to the United States stationing increasingly large numbers of troops and equipment in nearby Djibouti and dramatically increasing drone activity. Several collateral damage incidents and the constant presence of UAVs have angered both the Yemeni public and politicians.

Faced with this pressure, the Yemeni minister of defense has proposed a limited show of strength, to "restore his country’s honor"…

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Communique from Yemen Minister of Defense:

TOP SECRET:

-My apologies for the informal tone of this "briefing", however time is short.

-Yemen is under much pressure. The prime minister-our third in two years-has barely survived a confidence vote. Everyone is condemning the American attacks, and failure to respond might lead to him being brought down and yet another cabinet shuffle. At the same time, the Americans are anticipating our government’s complete collapse, and are preparing for at least a limited intervention, likely on behalf of a strongman.

-The government does not trust the army to not launch a coup, and thus has not mobilized it near the capitol. However, the air force has been readied, with much effort devoted to getting it capable of squadron-sized operations again. This we have accomplished.

-The prime minister views the air force’s role as bombing any troop columns approaching Sana’a. However, I have a plan that could hold off the crisis. Our unit commanders have been told to ready every aircraft available for air-to-air loadouts. You are to engage any drones that enter our airspace.

-The Americans will protest, but are highly unlikely to escalate over drone shootdowns. In the event that they do, it will likely take the form of a limited cruise missile strike. The country’s most modern defense systems have been deployed. For political reasons, a deputy is set up to take the fall-I shall claim it was an unauthorized order from him and he will resign if necessary.

-Should American fighters enter Yemeni airspace, you are to engage unless they present an overwhelming danger. However, do not shoot down any AWACS with large numbers of crew inside and be careful not to target civilian craft flying over Yemen.

-May we regain our honor in the eyes of our people.

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New Command scenario: Deter, Detect, Defend

May 18, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Author: Christopher Comars aka Randomizer.

Defending North America, August 1962

Even before the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, a big fear of North Americans was the threat of manned bombers attacking from the Soviet Union.  Concern over a "Bomber Gap" and "Missile Gap" and worry over the vulnerability of American cities to nuclear attack were very real.  School kids and adult workers alike practiced "Duck and Cover" drills as the immediate action should an atomic attack occur.  Government, business and private fallout shelters were everywhere, many stocked with food and water in anticipation of an attack.  And civil defence authorities drummed it into the population that an attack could happen at any time and with very little notice.

In 1958 the United States and Canada created the North American Air Defence Command (NORAD) and although the Canadian military contribution was minor compared to that of the USAF, by virtue of geography Canada was essential to America’s air defence and was an equal partner in the NORAD command structure.  Both the RCAF and USAF Air Defense Commands were subordinated to NORAD HQ.

NORAD’s motto and Mission Statement was Deter, Detect and Defend.  It was to remain a model of a successful bilateral defence treaty for decades.

In this scenario, you are Commander of NORAD Region 25 headquartered at McChord AFB near Tacoma WA.  A full scale nuclear attack is anticipated and DEFCON 1 has been ordered.  You will get radar information from stations including those on the Pinetree Line as well as radar picket ships and aircraft over the Pacific ocean.  The crisis has escalated into nuclear war very fast so your interceptor squadrons are largely at peacetime alert status.  This was generally two aircraft at Ready +5, two or four at Ready +60 and the remainder unarmed and unready unless conducting training flights.

Release of nuclear weapons has been authorized and confirmed by the National Command Authority.  We do not know or care what sequence of political or military events spawned this full-scale nuclear war or even which side is actually striking first.

Defend the named cities in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia from the incoming Soviet bombers.  SAC has commenced offensive operations in accordance with SIOP-62 so there are no tankers or EW assets to support your mission but the Army’s Nike Hercules batteries have been placed under your command in accordance with the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system.

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Scenario Designer’s Notes:

Deter, Detect, Defend is of course entirely fictional and probably impossible even had the Soviets been willing to initiate a nuclear first strike.  At this time (mid-1962) there was certainly a bomber and a missile gap but one that found the United States possessing overwhelming superiority in deliverable weapons and delivery systems.  The Soviet long-ranged bombing force numbered in the low hundreds with very few tankers and none of the bombers had the unrefuelled range to reach the CONUS.  Their Strategic Rocket forces had operational ICBMs probably numbering in the single digits.  By way of contrast the Strategic Air Command (SAC) had over 2000 B-47 bombers alone supported by almost 1000 tankers.  Atlas, Titan, Minuteman and Polaris missiles completed the nuclear triad.  SAC estimated that they could deliver more than 2000 megatons onto the Soviet Union within 48-hours.

It is said that when JFK and his people were briefed in 1961 by the outgoing Eisenhower administration on the actual state of the USA-USSR nuclear arsenals they refused to believe that America’s strategic superiority was so great.  After all, the Democrats had successfully campaigned on the basis of America’s "criminal" weakness in all things nuclear.  Of course these facts were kept secret from the general public but gradually most of the interceptors and all the air-defence missile batteries passed from the scene.  This scenario was designed to see what may have happened had they been put to the ultimate test against the Soviet threat as it was perceived to exist at the time.

Under the provisions of Scenario Author’s Licence, RCAF Comox and 409 All-Weather Interceptor Squadron (the Nighthawks) equipped with their brand new CF-101B Voodoos is under command of the NORAD 25th Region HQ.  That said, the USAF fighter-interceptor squadrons and active Nike-Hercules battery locations should be correct for mid-1962.  However the US radar net is representative rather than absolutely accurate as I was unable to locate those details for the time-frame of the scenario.  The locations of the Pinetree Line radar stations is accurate but their radars are essentially generic.

Thanks for playing and any suggestions for improving he scenario are most welcome.

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