Dragon's Fury - Dragon's Breath Part 17

Meanwhile, the four AMRAAM missiles had destroyed another three MIGs. Now, one MiG-29 faced one remaining F-15, a mere twelve miles apart.

The last F-15 launched its last AMRAAM at the MiG-29, and then turned away from the oncoming SU-27's in an effort to egress the area as more missile launch warnings appeared on the pilot's HUD.

"Overseer, this is the Jinx from Bravo flight. Be advised we have three aircraft down, bandits still approaching. I am attempting to disengage."

But the warning was too late. The SU-27's had already launched four R-27 missiles and before it could complete its turn it was destroyed.

At this point, the second flight of F-15's came within range.

November 2nd, 2005 04:55 SU-27 GIR Flight, 37,000 ft over Kurdistan South of Mosul, Kurdistan "Missile launch! Perform evasive maneuver three on my command...Now!"

The flight leader for the twelve SU-27's, a more capable fighter aircraft than the MiG-29, quickly had his entire flight of twelve aircraft perform their evasive tactics in the face of eight oncoming AMRAAM missiles. The maneuver was performed successfully, but the deadly AMRAAM missiles found their marks and SU-27's fell in flames.

As the remaining eight SU-27's turned to continue their approach, the Americans launched another eight AMRAAM missiles. By this time, the distance had closed to the point where the SU-27's could lock onto the Americans and launch their own radar and infrared-guided missiles if they chose to press the attack. In the face of the deadly threat of the oncoming AMRAAMs, the disciplined and well-trained GIR flight leader made a fateful decision.

"Do not evade. I repeat do not evade. Obtain lock and launch two missiles each at the oncoming targets."

The SU-27 carried a longer-range version of the R-27 missile than the MiG-29, which included a radar homing version, R-27R1 and an infrared version, R-27T1. Quickly, twelve of these missiles were in the air, targeted on the F-15's from Charlie flight.

November 2nd, 2005 05:05 local time E3 Sentry "Overseer," 35,000 ft over Zakho Kurdistan Frontier with Turkey "Home plate, this is Overseer. I am declaring an air emergency! Repeat: air emergency! We have just picked up many bandits approaching from the east over Lake Zan. Count is over one hundred and growing."

"Alpha flight, vector oh-niner-three, angels 20, weapons free."

"Home plate, scramble all ready aircraft. We now have a ma.s.sive raid approaching from the east in addition to those approaching from the south. Bravo and Charlie flights are down. I repeat: both flights are down. Bandits continue to approach."

As the controller communicated this warning, he noticed that twenty aircraft had broken from the formation approaching over Lake Zan, and were vectoring towards his aircraft. Keying the local frequency, he informed the pilot and his own escort.

"Colonel, we have a flight of twenty bandits vectoring towards our position. Our escorts should vector at one-two-five degrees at angles 20 to intercept. We are going to have to evade back towards Home plate ASAP.".

Colonel Frank realized he and his crew were in mortal danger. The GIR was pulling out all the stops to overwhelm their layered defense. Nothing remotely similar to this had ever occurred in Desert Storm.

"OK. Get strapped in back there. We are headed for the deck. Inform Home plate and alert Starlight and their escort that they'd best RTB."

November 2nd, 2005 05:20 local time Control Tower Incirlik Airbase. Turkey "Sir, we have that large raid approaching from the east and the two smaller groups approaching from the southeast. Overseer is off the air. Alpha, Bravo and Charlie flights are all down, Sir; 100% down. Our two reserve flights have engaged and expended all missiles. Of those eight reserve aircraft, two are left and they are attempting to RTB. Our strike aircraft are engaging the mechanized columns that are moving towards Mosul, but they are suffering significant attrition due to GIR air in those areas. After their munitions are expended, or when their position becomes untenable, they are going to egress to the Turkish airfield at Diyarbakir.

"Enemy strength remains high and they are continuing to press their advantage. Our current a.n.a.lysis indicates that our own efforts and the two intercepts performed by the Turks have eliminated over eighty of their aircraft at a loss of eighteen of our own fighters and twelve Turkish. In addition, Overseer is off the air and presumed down and we have lost Starlight, the JOINT STAR aircraft. The raid strength from the east appears to be at over two hundred and fifty aircraft, and there are over one hundred and twenty combined aircraft approaching from the southeast."

At this report, General Howell looked grimly at the screens and reports. The loss of the E-3 Sentry and the E-8 were tragic, and would have made the entire GIR effort worth it from their perspective. But the GIR was clearly intent on more than eliminating critical a.s.sets over the battlefield. They were intent on eliminating U.S. air superiority altogether in the region. Within twenty minutes all h.e.l.l was going to break loose at Incirlik.

The general considered his remaining a.s.sets. He had his remaining fifteen F-15's up on a barrier CAP forty miles out from the base. His B-1's, KC-135's and remaining two reserve E-3's were supposed to be airborne already, and en route away from Incirlik. His last remaining E-3 was airborne and fifty miles to the west of Incirlik with an escort of four F-15's. That E-3 AWACS aircraft would help control the coming battle.

As the raid approached, the General was trying desperately to rearm his F-15E's and F-16's for air-to-air, but the raid was going to arrive before he was complete. Still, it would be a near thing and if those F-15's could delay things for even a few minutes, there was a chance.

"OK, ensure that our airborne F-15's remain well outside the twenty mile free fire zone we have set up for our ground-based AAW defenses. Make sure the Hawk and Patriot batteries understand that they will have free fire authorization from us within the next few minutes. Make sure our ground defense forces understand the same with their shoulder-launched Stingers and their Avenger air defense systems."

"Are the B-1's, E-3's and KC-135's and their escorts away?"

Before replying, the Major checked his notes and information on his palmtop computer. Then replying to the General he said, "Yes, Sir. Those aircraft and their escort have cleared the free fire zone and are en route to Izmir. Izmir is providing a CAP two hundred miles out along the axis of their approach. Between that CAP and their own escorts, I feel they are as safe as we can make them"

"Good, pa.s.s the order on to the air defense batteries informing that they are weapons free within the free fire zone, and get everyone into the shelters-particularly those news people. I'll be down in the command center."

November 2nd, 2005 05:40 local time 25,000 ft., GIR Raid, 110 Miles East of Incirlik Airbase. Turkey General Mahdavi Ardakani, the commander of the GIR raid on Incirlik and the individual responsible for developing the plan, surveyed his accompanying aircraft. The four U.S. Air Force F-15's had taken out five of his MiG-21 and seven of his MiG-29 aircraft, but all of the F-15's had been destroyed in the process. The two Turkish attacks had destroyed another eight of his MiG-21 aircraft and seven of his Mig-27 attack aircraft while all twelve of the Turkish F-16 and F-5 aircraft were destroyed. This left the general with two hundred and sixty-two aircraft for his raid on Incirlik.

He knew that there were approximately ten to fifteen F-15's prepared to meet him, and then there would be the air defense at the base itself. As a result of the heavy jamming from off to the west, it was difficult to tell at this point. For the ground attack, he had twenty SU-24 Fencers, twenty-four SU-27's, twenty-four MiG-29's, sixty MiG-21's forty MiG-27's and forty of his own American built F-5's.

Escorting all of these he had a total of fifty-four other MiG-29's, SU-27's and MiG-21's outfitted for air-to-air combat.

It was the latter that he was about to employ against the F-15's that were defending the air base. It was the General's hope to blow a hole through those defenses and allow his attack aircraft to pulverize the base.

"Flights C through G, this is command. Perform pincer three on my mark...three, two, one...mark!"

"Attack flights A and B, and flights L through Q, await my order for execution of OPLAN order four C.".

On his order, eight SU-27's and six MiG-29's split to the north while ten SU-27's and six more MiG-29's split south. They all went to full combat throttle and wheeled around to come at the defending F-15's from the resulting pincer positions. As this was occurring, twenty-two escorting MiG-21's went to afterburner and shot ahead of the attack group towards the F-15's. Over two hundred attack aircraft continued relentlessly towards Incirlik.

Each of the attacking SU-24's carried two Kh-59 TV-command guided missiles, which had a range of sixty miles. The General was betting that all of them could get within range of Incirlik and launch those missiles before being intercepted by any surviving F-15's. He had positioned the SU-24's forward, near the center of his attack formations. In the next few seconds, the General would order them to full combat throttle so they could dash forward, launch their Kh-59 missiles and then egress quickly towards GIR territory with an escort of six SU-27's.

November 2nd, 2005 05:45 local time 30,000 ft., Barrier CAP F-15's 30 Miles East of Incirlik Airbase. Turkey Colonel Jim Phillips immediately saw the developing situation. The GIR was trying to run a cla.s.sic pincer maneuver on him. In addition to the advantageous positioning they were attempting, they had overwhelming numbers on their side. He desperately needed to break through the oncoming fighters so he could get to the attack aircraft and perform some significant attrition on them before they could reach the base.

Things were going to be desperate for their base and they all knew it. The sheer numbers of the oncoming GIR raids were going to inundate the defenses well past the point of saturation. The desperation was beginning to show somewhat in their voices and in their protocol.

"Bob, on my mark take your flight and break left to those bogies coming down from the north. Jerry, take your flight and break right to those bogies coming in from the south. Everyone else, follow me. On my mark we're going to attempt to break through the middle and get to those attack aircraft."

"All units, use Watchtower for targeting and guidance as long as possible. Watchtower, Home plate, do you copy?"

The E-3 Sentry did indeed copy, as did the controller at the tower at Incirlik.

"We copy, Lone Star. Good luck. Even up those numbers for us."

Setting his resolve and focus, Colonel Phillips concentrated on the timing of his ordered maneuvers.

"...three, two, one...mark!"

"Good shooting, and may G.o.d have mercy on us all."

November 2nd, 2005 same time WNN Broadcast Studios New York City, New York, WNN "We interrupt this program to bring you aSpecial News Report ."

On TV screens across America and around the world, David Krenshaw's face appeared as WNN interrupted normal programming.

"Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. We have reports of military activity and are cutting live to our on-scene reporter, Maria Gomez. Go ahead, Maria."

The feed cut to a night picture of a young Spanish American female reporter. Her hair was blowing in a gusty wind and she had her ear to her headset. In the background, crews were seen feverishly working on an F-15E Strike Eagle. Maria looked up into the camera and began speaking.

"Yes, David, this is Maria Gomez at the U.S. Air Force base at Incirlik in Turkey. We are about one hundred yards away from the command center here in an area that has been set up for the press to view aircraft as they taxi and then take off. Earlier this evening there was significant activity on the line which we have on video and will share with you later."

"Right now, we are experiencing high tension and frantic action here as many aircraft are being feverishly readied in the background."

"Within the past five minutes we have witnessed the launch of several dozen missiles from what we presume to be anti-air batteries. Several of them were Patriot missile launches. Incirlik base appears to be under attack."

"BLAMMMmmm"

"Joe, get that explosion over to our right, about one half mile over. Several of the missile launches earlier originated in that area. Apparently one of those batteries was just destroyed after what could only be a missile streaked in at unbelievable speed and exploded."

"You can hear the sirens in the background which have been going off incessantly for the last ten to fifteen minutes. As they started, we were stopped by Air Force security and asked to seek shelter, but when they had to rush off to another location, Joe and I made our way back here to get as much of the attack as possible on video.

"Oh! Another set of missiles is coming in! Joe, pan left!"

As the camera panned left, two exhaust trails were clearly visible, leading from the ground about a mile distant and trailing up behind two rapidly climbing missiles. As the missiles got higher and more distant, the cameraman expertly zoomed in and videoed the destruction of a GIR MiG-27 "Flogger" aircraft in a tremendous explosion when its fuel and ordinance ignited simultaneously with the impact of one of the missiles.

"Unbelievable! David, did you catch that? Ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing a live GIR air attack on Incirlik airbase. Quickly, Joe, over there on the runway, there's a flight of four Strike Eagles just taking off."

Again the cameraman panned and caught four F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft as they took off under full afterburner thrust and rocketed almost straight up into the night sky. They had risen no more than three thousand feet when the aircraft on the far left of the formation was. .h.i.t by a missile and exploded in a brilliant flash of light and burning debris. There was no chute.

"My G.o.d! They took out one of those F-15E's!"

The scene became more hectic as the cameraman swung back to catch as much of the action on the flight line as possible. There were numerous explosions on the taxiways where aircraft were being rearmed and several ejection seats lifted off from those positions. Many more didn't.

"Look, Joe, quickly pan towards the far end of the runway. Do you see them? Those are unmistakably MiG-29 aircraft coming towards us. Look, they are releasing some type of missiles or bombs. Joe, are you catching this? Now, they are rocketing almost completely vertical. Oh. No! Joe, get down, one of those bombs is homing in on the Command Center!"

On the screen, the unmistakable image of a bomb came flying towards the news crew as Joe zoomed in directly on it. The weapon flew off at a slight angle towards the Command Center when suddenly there was an incredibly bright flash, and then nothing but static.

"...Ladies and gentlemen, we seem to have lost our feed from Incirlik. We will try to reconnect with Maria momentarily and continue with the on-scene report of the action there in Turkey."

November 2nd, 2005 06:15 local time Incirlik Airbase.

Turkey Within the thirty minutes, it was over.

Colonel Phillips' force on barrier CAP gave an excellent account of itself. The GIR pincer movement failed to capture and destroy all of the American aircraft before they could engage the GIR attack aircraft formations. All eight of the F-15's sent to foil that pincer maneuver were destroyed, but not before they shot down eight GIR MiG-29's and ten SU-27's. This still left four MiG-29's and eight SU-27's to fly CAP over the attacking forces as at that moment no more U.S. defenders were in the air, outside of the four F-15's protecting the last E-3 Sentry.

Colonel Phillips himself penetrated the main GIR formation with his seven aircraft and was able to get into range before the twenty-two MiG-21's and their R-73 missiles could counter them. Colonel Phillips and his flight launched twenty-eight AMRAAM missiles into the oncoming horde of GIR aircraft. The AMRAAMs were launched just as the SU-24 aircraft, which had surged slightly ahead of the main attack group, launched forty-eight air-to-ground Kh-59 missiles and then turned away. While the American AMRAAMs were flying towards their targets, the MiG-21's came into range and launched eighteen R-73 "Archer" infrared missiles at the F-15's. In the resulting "dog fight," five of Colonel Phillips' aircraft were destroyed, including the Colonel's own. His last living thought had come while sighting on a MiG-29 attack aircraft. He announced "Fox-2" as he launched a Sidewinder missile, just an instant before being destroyed by two "Archer" missiles launched from two of the four MiG-21's that were targeting him.

Altogether eighteen GIR attack aircraft and ten of the escorting MiG-21's were destroyed by Colonel Phillips' attack. His disregard for his own life in the face of overwhelming odds would later earn him, posthumously, the Medal of Honor.

As the WNN news crew observed, the longer-range Patriot missile batteries and the Hawk missile batteries engaged the Kh-59 missiles first. These were fast, anti-radiation (or anti-radar) missiles that had been designed specifically to attack anti-air missile defenses. The resulting "engagement" destroyed 50% of Incirlik's Patriot and Hawk missile sites, and caused another 25% to expend their missiles defending themselves. Nonetheless, the remaining Hawk systems and the Patriot systems exacted a heavy toll on the GIR attack aircraft before they reached the base, destroying twelve MiG-27's, eight F-5's and fourteen MiG-21's. At this point, the shoulder-fired Stinger missiles and the Avenger missile systems came into play.

Just as the GIR attack aircraft appeared over the base proper, the first flight of re-armed F-15E strike eagles took off. As related in theSpecial Broadcast , their takeoff and the vivid destruction of one of their number was seen around the world as a result of Maria Gomez's reporting and the live video captured by her cameraman, Joe. The three remaining aircraft, armed with four AMRAAM and four Sidewinder missiles, had to fight their way to alt.i.tude in order to launch their missiles. They succeeded and engaged the first wave of MiG-27 "Flogger"

attack aircraft which were making their bombing runs on the runways. These Strike Eagles destroyed fourteen aircraft in a wild, twisting and confusing dogfight, before they were destroyed themselves. These were the last American aircraft to get into the air from Incirlik that day, or for the remainder of the battle for Kurdistan.

The MiG-27's caught twenty F-16's and twelve F-15E's on the ground at Incirlik as they were rearming. Tremendous secondary explosions occurred as GIR munitions exploded amongst these aircraft on the taxiways and runways. Several pilots were able to eject from their aircraft and survived, but most were killed where they sat. While performing these ground attacks, another eighteen GIR aircraft were destroyed by the shoulder-fired Stinger missiles and the Avenger missile systems among the defense forces.

As the MiG-27's completed their work on the runway, two flights of twelve MiG-29's, fitted for ground attack, appeared unmolested over the airfield. These were the fateful aircraft that Maria Gomez described. Each carried one Fuel Air Explosive (FAE) device used to attack the command and control facilities, the fuel dumps, the barracks, the hangars and revetments.

FAE devices create huge detonations by spraying a fine mist of highly explosive liquid into the atmosphere, and then igniting it to produce extremely large, lethal explosions. Such detonations could level almost any structure within hundreds of yards. The resulting twenty-four ma.s.sive detonations destroyed most of the structures on the base, killing the entire command staff in the command center, including Brigadier General Howell. That same explosion also killed Maria Gomez and her cameraman, Joe, of WNN as they caught their own impending demise on film.

While these ground attacks were going on, the dozens of remaining MiG-21 and F-5 aircraft were making run after run against the ground defense forces and more attacks against the air base's runways.

This resulted in numerous US casualties on the ground.

When this large raid from the East completed its attack and departed, right behind it came the one hundred aircraft from the Southeast. These aircraft were completely unopposed, except for the remaining light, but effective, Stinger missiles defenses among the ground forces. These defenses accounted for ten more GIR aircraft, but another dozen FAE explosions and scores of bombing and strafing runs ensured the already definitive results of the earlier attack. For all intents and purposes, Incirlik was completely out of commission.

November 2nd, 2005 Republic of Kurdistan The result of the ma.s.sive pre-dawn raid on Incirlik was that the GIR, with the exception of some early morning engagements, enjoyed total air superiority in its operations against Mosul and against Karkuk that day. Both a.s.saults on Mosul, the one from Bayji and the one from Al Qa'im, achieved their goals with little impediment, once the initial F-15E's and F-16's had expended their munitions. In these attacks, and the resulting dog fights with supporting GIR aircraft, another eight F-16's and six F-15E's were lost, along with twelve MiG-29 and eight SU-27 aircraft.

The Kurdistan 1st Mechanized Division near Mosul, with no air support, and little chance for effective reconnaissance, was caught out in the open as it made its enveloping move towards Karkuk. Their light armor and APC's could not compete with the heavy armor divisions in the corps-sized GIR a.s.sault on Mosul. Well before the end of the day, except for a few straggler units which had been lucky enough to escape, the Kurdish 1st Mechanized Division ceased to exist as a fighting force.

Given the air support the GIR mechanized columns experienced, damage to them was limited to the loss of twenty-two tanks and approximately thirty armored personnel carriers and trucks. By the end of the day, the two a.s.sault forces had combined into a ma.s.sive force that took up positions within, and to the north of, Mosul. GIR aircraft were landing and being refueled and rearmed at the former Iraqi air base there that night.

The GIR a.s.sault on Karkuk also enjoyed tremendous success and was carried out completely unhindered by U.S. or allied air forces. Although much of the rapid advance by the GIR was due to the Kurd plan of falling back in a mock retreat, nonetheless, the speed of the advance was so great that it almost caused the "mock" retreat to fail. The Kurd forces were almost overrun, as they could not "retreat" fast enough.

Despite this, the Kurd forces did inflict some damage on the advancing GIR armored columns. These losses added up to a dozen tanks and eighteen armored personnel carriers.

When night fell, except for local resistance in and around Karkuk, the GIR forces had bypa.s.sed the city and reached the Little Zab River where they stopped to re-provision. Their plans called for the crossing of the Little Zab to occur very early the next morning using the two bridges they had captured intact, and to proceed towards the Kurdistan capital of Irbil.

November 2nd, 2005, 07:30 Situation Room, The White House Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

It was General Jeremy Stone's sad duty to brief the President and his closest advisors on yesterday morning's engagements in Turkey and Kurdistan. He didn't look forward to it. Quite frankly, he was somewhat shocked by the disturbing content of his briefing, but it was nonetheless his duty and one he was bound to fulfill.

"Sir, we have reviewed what we know and the results are devastating."

"Incirlik has been destroyed. We physically hold the base and there has been no ground incursion into Turkey, but the base is completely non-functional, and antic.i.p.ating further air attacks tomorrow."

"The first indications of the attack came from large numbers of aircraft coming up from the south, from bases north of Baghdad, in what appeared to be supporting air for ground a.s.saults into Kurdistan from Bayji and Al Qa'im. When our aircraft crossed the border to intercept, roughly half of those aircraft engaged our aircraft."

"When they did, a ma.s.sive raid of what appeared to be approximately three hundred aircraft was picked up coming out of the GIR over Tabriz and then Lake Van. This group caught our aircraft out of position and was able to destroy both the forward E-3 Sentry and our Joint Star aircraft and their escorts while en route to Incirlik."

"From there, things developed into essentially a two-p.r.o.nged attack on Incirlik. As the second larger group proceeded towards Incirlik, the first group overwhelmed the twelve aircraft we had sent to intercept them. These two forces then converged on Incirlik, one after another, from two different directions in a ma.s.sive and well-coordinated attack."

"Regrettably, General Howell was killed in that attack and we lost approximately three hundred and fifty personnel on the ground. "

"Of the over four hundred aircraft used by the GIR to attack Incirlik, we estimate that we destroyed over one hundred and sixty. Our losses amounted to forty-three aircraft in the air and thirty-two more aircraft on the ground. The British lost a total of twelve of their Tornados."

Audible intakes of breath could be heard all around the table. The President's face was impa.s.sive. This was the worst day for the U.S. Air Forces in its entire history. It was the worst day for U.S. Air Power since World War II when it had been called the Army Air Corps. Although they had inflicted severe damage on the GIR's attacking forces, the GIR had achieved all of its operational goals and prevented the United States from achieving any of theirs. In addition, a pivotal base had been destroyed and it would take time to rebuild it...a rebuilding that would have to occur under fire. The real loss to the United States and its allies was in their ability to inflict damage on the forces that were occupying Kurdistan, and the loss of time...of which Kurdistan had precious little.

"OK, this is devastating and I will have to talk to the American people this evening. We will miss General Howell. His loss, in itself, is a national tragedy. I want to ensure that the sincerest of condolences are pa.s.sed to his wife and family. Jeremy, please see to this personally, and, if need be, I will also speak with Joan."

"In the meantime, what can we do from the south? Can we send aircraft from the south around the eastern border of Saudi to get at the GIR in the north? How about escorted B-52 strikes from Diego Garcia or Carrier strikes from the Reagan in the Gulf? What can the Turks do to help us?

Secretary of State Reissinger took the opportunity to answer the President's questions regarding Turkey.

"Mr. President, regarding the situation with Turkey, I was on line with their Foreign Minister this morning. They condemn the actions of the GIR, and will beef up their air defenses in their eastern provinces to more capably intercept any future GIR incursions. They are moving forces to help ensure this now. They are also calling up reserve units and moving ground forces to ensure that their borders are secure. But, one thing they will not do is attack GIR forces in Kurdistan. But they continue to fully support our efforts to do so through the use of forces now based in Turkey."

General Stone a.s.sessed the military options.

"Mr. President, we could probably put together a package from the Ronald Reagan supporting heavies from Diego Garcia. The problem is, they would be fighting their way through, both coming and going."

"The GIR is not asleep at the wheel. They have significant forces in Theater, and they have proven themselves willing to carry the fight to us. I believe such an effort would suffer terrific attrition, and may not effectively provide the support we desire."

"I recommend that we not bring the Ronald Reagan any closer in towards the Gulf. In fact, I believe we should move the Reagan and its battle group away from the Gulf and give them more room to maneuver in the Arabian Sea. With the number of aircraft the GIR is apparently willing to lose, it is not worth the risk."