COMMAND: Northern Inferno Scenario 13: Deliverance Part 1

Introduction
Over the last few weeks intense fighting has broken out along all fronts in Europe. NATO forces in Germany are fighting a delaying action in the Fulda Gap area, halting Soviet armour and mechanized units but with heavy loss in men and equipment.

Massive naval engagements, including US and UK carrier groups, have resulted in the loss of HMS Ark Royal and US carriers. On the other hand the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet has been practically decimated in the Norwegian Sea and North Cape area. Both sides are reaching the end of their reserves.

Soviet-occupied Iceland over the recent few months has been under constant attack by NATO Forces. Even after these attacks the airfields are still operational, but restricted in their ability to launch or recover anything larger than a Su-24 Fencer or MiG-23 Flogger. The remains of the 61st Kirkinesskaya Red Banner Marine Brigade are dug in around Reykjavik and Reykjanesbaer near Keflavik.

Iceland still remains a thorn in NATO's side. The Oriskany CVBG, Clemenceau CVBG and the Iowa MEU have been ordered to retake Iceland. All forces are now in position to the west of Iceland to conduct an air- and sea-borne assault to retake the island.

Whoever prevails, the rocky western shores are sure to turn bloody red...

NOTE: This scenario includes the USS Iowa configured as a "Heavy Assault Amphibious Battleship", from a conversion proposed in 1966.

Orders for Cmdr NATO Forces
Situation
Iceland over the last few weeks has been under constant attack by NATO forces. Even after these attacks the airfields are still operational, but restricted in their ability to launch or recover anything larger than an Su-24 Fencer or MiG-23 Flogger. The remains of the 61st Kirkinesskaya Red Banner Marine Brigade are dug in around Reykjavik and Reykjanesbaer near Keflavik.

NATO task groups have been ordered to retake Iceland at all costs.

Enemy Forces
Air : MiG-23 Flogger, Su-24 Fencer.
SAM / AAA : SA-6 Gainful, SA-7 Grail, SA-9 Gaskin, ZSU-23.

Surface : Unknown.

Subsurface : Unknown.

Land Forces : 61st Kirkinesskaya Red Banner Marine Brigade

• 874th Marine Battalion
• 1611th Self-propelled Artillery Battalion
• 1617th Anti-aircraft Missile and Artillery Battalion

Friendly Forces
Task Group 20.01 : USS Oriskany CV, USS Dale CG, USS Dewey DDG, USS Semmes DDG, USS William R. Rush DD, USS Robert A. Owens DD, USS Voge FFH, USS Lang FFH, USS Truckee AO, USS Butte AE.

Task Group 20.02 : USS Iowa BB, USS Harry E. Yarnell CG, USS Farragut DDG, USS Sellers DDG, USS Spruance DD, USS Pensacola LSD, USS Plymouth Rock, LSD, USS Shreveport LPD.

Task Group 20.03 : FS Clemenceau CV, FS Du Chayla DDG, FS Suffren DDG, FS Maille-Breze DD, FS Torville FFH, FS Le Bearnais FFL, FS Le Savoyard FFL.

26th Marine Amphibious Unit Embarked in Task Group 20.02

• 3rd Battalion 2nd Marines
• 2nd Tank Battalion
• 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion

Mission
Remove Soviet presence on Iceland and establish NATO control over the island.

Execution
1. Safe transit of Task Group 20.02 to area marked "Amphib Zone".
2. Task Group 20.01 and Task Group 20.03 to support Task Group 20.02 against air, surface and subsurface threats and engage as required.
3. Neutralize Soviet presence on Iceland with destruction of land forces and air assets.

Recon imagery of Keflavik airbase

Landing Zone One Force Allocation:
1. USS Shreveport once in Amphib Zone will deploy LVT-7 A Company.
2. Alpha and Bravo Company with 1st, Second Mortar and Redeye Sections will be landed by:

• UH-1N Huey HML-367 #1
• UH-1N Huey HML-367 #2
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #1
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #2
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #3
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #4
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #5
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #6
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #7
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #8
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #9
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #10
• CH-53D Sea Stallion HMH-361 #1
• CH-53D Sea Stallion HMH-361 #2

Landing Zone Two Force Allocation:
1. USS Pensacola once in Amphib Zone will deploy M60A1 Tank Platoons.
2. Charlie Company with 1st, Second Mortar and Redeye Sections will be landed by:

• UH-1N Huey HML-367 #3
• UH-1N Huey HML-367 #4
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #11
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #12
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #13
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #14
• CH-46F Sea Knight HMM-764 #15
• CH-53D Sea Stallion HMH-361 #3
• CH-53D Sea Stallion HMH-361 #4

Command and EMCON
Command: USS Iowa.
EMCON: Alpha-limited emissions.

October 15, 1975, 0600Z

Initial positions

First thing I have to do is get the Task Groups sorted. I quickly find out that the Task Groups on the map aren't the same as the ones in the briefing. The briefing states the that the Oriskany Task Group is 20.01, while on the map it's 20.03.  Same for the other two, the briefing says that the Iowa group is 20.02, while it's really 20.04, and Clemenceau's 20.03 is really 20.05.

Now that that's figured out, I can start planning stuff. The Iowa group will make a beeline to the Amphib Zone. The other two groups will maneuver on parallel courses. All three will commence ASW operations immediately, and I will begin to plan my strikes on Keflavik and Reykjavik, starting with fighter sweeps to eliminate any air assets.

063222Z I detect a Tu-95RT Bear D to the northeast.  I launch a pair of F-8s from the Oriskany to go after it.

Contact!

064749Z My E-1B Tracer, still on its way to its station, detects a pair of bogeys over northwest Iceland.

Two more contacts.

065329Z Two more bogeys are detected, just north of Keflavik; I wonder if this is the beginning of a strike against my surface groups, or if it just fighters.

The two groups of fighters appear to be circling, so perhaps they are just a CAP.

070226Z My E-1B Tracer detects a submarine contact with its AN/APR-9, which is a passive sensor, it perhaps the submarine is using its radar on the surface?

A submarine using its surface search radar?

I spot two more aircraft over Iceland, so there are now six, and they appear to be flying a patrol over western Iceland. I'm still waiting for most of my aircraft to be readied, and my task groups have a long way to go, so going after them isn't urgent.

F-8 Crusader launching

075000Z A large raid appears to be forming at Keflavik. Most of my fighters aren't ready yet, and it will be over an hour until they are, which will probably be too late. I can launch what I have, however, and hope that I can at least thin it out.

A large raid launches from Keflavik

075131Z To the north one of my F-8 Crusaders intercepts the Tu-95RT Bear D on its patrol. (the first pair I sent ran out of fuel early, so I sent them home, and this one is a subsequent one I send alone)

Fox Two!

Unbelievably, the Crusader misses with all four of its Sidewinders. After two guns passes that are also failures, the Crusader returns home, its tail between its legs.

To the south, my CAP begins to engage the approaching raid.

The CAP runs into the raid's MiG-23 escorts

Unfortunately the MiG-23 Flogger escorts have longer ranged missiles than the F-8 Crusaders, so my fighters are at a disadvantage. The first two missiles miss. The second pair of missiles take out one of the Crusaders.

Two French Crusaders from Clemenceau arrive on the scene. The American Crusader is bingo fuel, and so has to RTB, not a very pleasant situation with a half a dozen MiGs on your tail. The MiGs open fire on the French Crusaders, which dodge the first pair of missiles. Then the second American Crusader's luck runs out and it is shot down.

The second F-8 Crusader is shot down

Right now I'm thinking that some F-4s or better yet, F-14s would be very welcome...

The French Crusaders dodge a second pair of missiles, and the third, and then a seventh missile.

The French Crusaders are caught in a furball

One of the French Crusaders is shot down, but then seconds later its wingman shoots down a Flogger. Seconds after that, the second French Crusader is shot down.

French aircraft carrier Clemenceau

In the meantime, Clemenceau launches the all of its Crusaders that are ready (2), and Oriskany launches all of its Crusaders that are ready (3). The E-1B Tracer, with no air cover, turns tail and goes to full military power, a mere 210kts.  Fortunately, it looks like the MiG-23 escorts are all RTB, leaving the strike package unprotected. Hopefully my next wave of fighters will do better.

The Oriskany Crusaders intercept the strike package and shoot down a MiG-27 Flogger.

Splash One

In rapid succession the Crusaders gut the strike package, shooting down ten more MiG-27s. That leaves one single Flogger left for the pair of French Crusaders that arrive on the scene. The French Crusaders have difficulty locating the Flogger with their inferior radar, which closes uncomfortably close to the Iowa group.  The Iowa group lights off its radar. USS Harry E. Yarnell fires a RIM-67A at the Flogger, bringing it down.

However, lighting off the group's radars might have had an unintended consequence, as multiple vampires are detected. Possibly from a submarine that has been lying in wait, and the radar emissions from the surface group tipped it off.

Vampire! Vampire!

Eight vampires are inbound. Once they get in range, USS Harry E. Yarnell and USS Farragut begin firing SAMs.

Eight Vampires inbound

Soon after, USS Sellers also fires its SAMs. Most of the SAMs are shot down, but one gets relatively close to Sellers, and a volley from both Sellers and Yarnell bring it down.

If the Soviets just launched a strike, their MiG-23 escorts will be out of action for several hours, so it behooves me to launch my own strike on Keflavik as soon as possible. But...

083445Z My E-1B Tracer detects multiple aircraft taking off from Keflavik. I wonder if this is relief for the CAP, or if another strike is forming up. If it's a strike, my ships will be on their own, as all the fighter aircraft are still being readied.

The Iowa group's radars have already been lit off, so I know that the Soviets know where it is. I decide to do the same to the Oriskany group, in the hopes that additional targets will make it more difficult for the Soviets to decide which target is more high-value.

Over the next several minutes my Tracer detects many more aircraft launching from Keflavik, so this is definitely looking like another strike.

In the meantime, I detect a pair of cruise missiles heading north west in the general direction of the Iowa group.

Another strike forms up near Keflavik

The strike package appears to be twelve aircraft, and based on their speeds, I think it might consist of ten MiG-27 Flogger D attack aircraft with two MiG-23 escorts.

The strike is closing at 480kts, and it is still ten minutes or so until I can launch any fighters...

090000Z The strike is closing in, and based on its course, it's unclear that it knows which target its going after. Six F-8 Crusaders on Oriskany are ready, so I scramble them and send them after the strike.

The strike is closing in

Then something comes to me. The first strike package consisted of twelve MiG-27s with half a dozen MiG-23 escorts. The second is twelve aircraft, with a group of ten moving at 480kts at 200 feet, its target uncertain, and a pair of aircraft moving at 580kts at 200 feet towards the Iowa group. At first I thought they were more MiG-23 escorts, but they aren't acting like escorts. If they were, they'd be closer to the strike group, and higher in altitude... I begin to suspect they are more MiG-27s... I quickly scan the database, and discover what I feared. MiG-27s are nuclear capable. They can carry the RN-40 30kT tactical nuclear bomb. Given how profligate the Soviets have been with nuclear weapons in this war, I would be foolish to discount the possibility that they are trying again.

MiG-27 Flogger

Still, I can't help but think that attacking the Iowa group, with its three SAM ships, is something of a suicide mission. That doesn't mean I won't take the threat seriously, however.

090333Z The first pair of F-8 Crusaders is airborne, and they immediately go to afterburner. USS Harry E. Yarnell begins launching SAMs. The main group of Soviet strike fighters changes course northwest, apparently going after the Iowa group. To top if off, my E-1B Tracer picks up what is looking to be another strike launching from Keflavik.

Yarnell launches SAMs at the first two strike aircraft, while the second package approaches from the southeast. 

The two strike aircraft break right and left as the SAMs approach, successfully evading them. Yarnell immediately launches two more SAMs. The second pair of SAMs miss as well, and both aircraft turn away. Did they launch missiles?  Looking at the database again, it's possible they launched AS-12 Kegler anti-radiation missiles, which have a 20nm range, and they just barely got that close to Yarnell before turning away.

The new strike that my Tracer has detected is shaping up to be pretty scary--I detect no less than 28 aircraft headed my way. But right now I have to deal with the first raid.

USS Henry E. Yarnell

By now I would have expected that if the first two fighters launched missiles, I would have detected them by now. However, The MiG-27 Flogger has a 270nm strike radius loadout with the AS-12 Kegler. I quickly measure the distance from where they turned around back to Keflavik...it's almost exactly 270nm. So perhaps they didn't launch, but rather they're bingo!

I ID the first of the strikers now closing in as MiG-27s. My first F-8s are getting into firing position, and Yarnell begins firing SAMs. Yarnell shoots down one, but as one Flogger reaches 14nm away, it launches a Vampire.

Missiles are filling the sky.

The SAMs are succeeding in shooting down MiGs, but unfortunately, they're getting their missiles off. Farragut and Sellers add their SAMs to the fray, going after the Vampires while Yarnell  continues firing on the MiGs.

The Vampires close in...

My Crusaders launch Sidewinders at the Floggers, but have very poor luck in hitting anything. Two Vampires close in on Yarnell, which resorts to firing its guns, while two SAMs from Farragut come to help.

Yarnell is in serious danger...

The SAMs miss, and Yarnell is hit by two Keglers. At the same instant, one of the F-8 Crusaders is shot down by a Flogger. So far, the fighters have been utterly useless in breaking up the attack.

Yarnell is set ablaze and suffers damage to its UHF radios and some of its radar systems.
Damage Report:
324mm Mk32 TT Triple:  Damaged
AN/SPG-55B [Mk76 Mod 8 FCS]:  Destroyed
AN/SPG-55B [Mk76 Mod 8 FCS]:  Destroyed
AN/SPG-55B [Mk76 Mod 8 FCS]:  Damaged
AN/SPS-43: Damaged
UHF Radio [Secure]: Damaged
UHF Radio [Unsecure]: Damaged
Open Parking (1x Medium Aircraft(12.1-18m Long)): Operation, Reduced Capacity
Pad (1x Medium Aircraft (12.1-18m Long)): Operational, Reduced Capacity

Yarnell still has one AN/SPG-55B still operational, so she can still fire SAMs, which she proceeds to do. But two more missiles are inbound to Yarnell, and her capacity to protect herself is greatly reduced. Yarnell is hit again. Both of the Sea Sprites are destroyed, and Yarnell suffers a major fire and minor flooding.

Damage Report:
324mm Mk32 TT Triple:  Damaged
324mm Mk32 TT Triple:  Damaged
Redeye MANPADS: Damaged
AN/SPG-55B [Mk76 Mod 8 FCS]:  Destroyed
AN/SPG-55B [Mk76 Mod 8 FCS]:  Damaged
AN/SPG-55B [Mk76 Mod 8 FCS]:  Destroyed
AN/SPG-55B [Mk76 Mod 8 FCS]:  Damaged
AN/SPS-43: Damaged
AN/WLR-1: Damaged
AN/SQD-23: Damaged
HF Radio [Secure]: Damaged
UHF Radio [Secure]: Damaged
VHF Radio [Secure]: Damaged
UHF Radio [Unsecure]: Damaged
Open Parking (1x Medium Aircraft(12.1-18m Long)): Operation, Reduced Capacity
Pad (1x Medium Aircraft (12.1-18m Long)): Operational, Reduced Capacity

Finally the Crusaders start shooting down MiGs, with the help of Farragut and Sellers. Ten Floggers are shot down in total, bringing the total to 22 MiG-27 Flogger Ds shot down so far. At least those ones won't be striking again. Yarnell slows down and detachs from the group, as now it has its own problems and can no longer fight. The Iowa group slows to 5 kts so it can reform, with Farragut accelerating to moving to position along the primary air defense axis. I direct the Oriskany group to change course to converge with Iowa to provide some more protection.

But I have a new raid to worry about, which looks to be thirty aircraft. And not only that. During the fight to defend Iowa, several cruise missiles, probably submarine launched, are sent after the Oriskany group.

Cruise missiles close in on the Oriskany group, while a massive new raid approaches from the east

The leading two cruise missiles veer off course and go into search mode, fortunately their course is nowhere near the Oriskany. SAMs launched from USS Dale shoot down one, and the second apparently self-destructs...in a 200kT nuclear fireball!

The cruise missile, an SS-N-9 Siren [P-120 Malakhit, 200kT Nuclear] detonates over the open ocean.

One of the F-8 Crusaders, RTB Winchester, is barely far enough away to survive the blast. This development makes it critical that I shoot down the two cruise missiles still inbound. Both cruise missiles turn northwest again, and Dale shoots down one. If the second continues on its present course, it will not be a danger and will likely self-destruct like the other one did. Then another SAM from Dale takes it out.

This raid is over, but an even bigger one is on the way...

Continued in Part Two.