Welcome to a playthrough AAR of the grand campaign in Jane's F/A-18 Super Hornet simulator! I didn't see many (read: almost none!) JF-18 AARs round here so I thought I'd do one, and do it big! :p The entire campaign is roughly 30 missions, and kind of random in that you might get a different mission each time you play through. The unique aspect about the grand campaign is that there are several missions spaced throughout the campaign that if you lose that particular one, the entire campaign ends in failure and you have to restart at the beginning. No second chances!


BACKGROUND:

A Soviet leader has been elected/appointed that miraculously does not want a global communist revolution brought upon by war and suffering. This liberal-minded leader of the USSR is unfortunately assassinated at some peace conference, and the Soviet Union descends into anarchy and civil war as Soviet military hard-liners and freedom-loving Russian reformers begin a bitter battle for control. These two sides are named, coincidentally, the Red Russians and the Blue Russians, respectively. The United States has seen fit to deploy a carrier battle group to the waters off the Kola Peninsula, near Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The Russian city of Murmansk is located in the Kola Peninsula, and is a key strategical port for the Red Russian Navy, as well as suspected location for many of the USSR's nuclear stockpile, which makes this area of operations very significant.

We begin our story on the United States aircraft carrier, the USS Thomas Jefferson, and our first mission is to locate and escort away a snooping Red Russian TU-142 F Bear reconnaissance aircraft, attempting to locate the carrier battle group.

Aircraft loadout for this mission comprises of:

eight AIM-120C "AMRAAMs" radar-guided medium range air-to-air missiles,
two AIM-7MH "Sparrow" radar-guided short-medium range air-to-air missiles,
four AIM-9X "Sidewinder" heat-seeking short range air-to-air missiles,
and one 3300 pound fuel tank, attached to the fuselage on the underside.

All the weapons are completely for self-defense, as the Rules of Engagement (ROEs) state a weapons hold - in other words, DO NOT SHOOT unless fired upon.

We start out on the number 3 catapult, ready to configure the aircraft for takeoff:



Set weapons to safe, situational awareness page to data-link three (all friendlies and enemies on screen), SA page to scale 40 nautical miles, set air-to-air radar to range-while-search mode, six bars of elevation, 80 NM range, non-cooperative target recognition (NCTR) on, multi-sensor integration (MSI) on, azimuth scale 140 degrees, set horizontal situation indicator (HSI) on the central multi color display function, full color map mode, 40 nm scale, waypoint sequencing on, local time in the heads up display on, switch sensors to on, set bingo setting to 4,000 pounds.

Aside from some minor variations, this is basically what I will do for every takeoff check from here on out.

Satisfied with the before takeoff checks (BTCs), I push the throttles to full military power and release the brakes, which in JF-18 is the equivalent of saluting the cat officer and declaring i'm good to launch.

A few seconds pass, and then with a roar of sound and steam my Rhino accelerates to two hundred knots and claws upward for altitude.



Banking my aircraft right as I keep climbing, I head to the first waypoint at 350 knots for angels 5. As I get there, my wingman forms up aft on my starboard wing, and we bank left toward the next waypoint, this time climbing to angels 25 at speed 400.



Glancing at my SA page, I see the airspace around the CBG is absolutely cluttered. Dozens of aircraft are in the air, doing combat air patrols and other such missions. As our flight continues on, about 175 nm from waypoint two, I almost immediately notice a hostile contact has appeared, 80 nm and 15 degrees to port. Considering the contact is currently heading in the direction of the CBG and does not appear to be originating from the Russian border, I conclude this must be the Bear, especially since it's only doing Mach 0.6 and is at angels 25. But just to be on the safe side, I call AWACS, declare the contact, and they confirm it is hostile.



As we fly closer to waypoint two, still keeping a radar lock on the Bear, I note it has not changed heading at all. At this point I decide to turn parallel to the Bear so as to prepare for an intercept.

At 59 miles from the Bear, we are doing 385 knots and at angels 8.7, heading directly into the blazing Sun.



Time flies by and we are now 30 miles from each other. Our flight is at angels 23, still heading into a blinding Sun and now we are dealing with cloud or fog cover as well, making this practically a day-time instrument approach/intercept. Our closing velocity 816 knots.





Our two Super Hornets and the Bear close to within 10 NM, so I roll left and make a hard, tight turn to come up on the tail of the Bear.



We close up and intercept the Bear, nosing up on their starboard wing and edging past them. Must have spooked them, because they immediately turned away and headed in the opposite direction of the battle group.



Our mission completed, we turn back and head towards the carrier. We enter the pattern, and I release my wingman to RTB.
Coming around on to final, I make an almost-perfect approach and trap - grabbed the third wire, but left-of-centerline.

Moments just before trapping:




Mission #2 tomorrow!

Good times! Fantastic game for its day.

Much appreciated! Well done.



K´mute

MISSION BRIEFING:

The Red Russian faction, in addition to having a large stockpile of battlefield-deliverable nuclear weapons in the Kola Peninsula, has a few ballistic submarines in port at Polyarnyy, also capable of launching nukes. My orders today are to escort an F-14 Tomcat armed with a TARPS and go play candid camera over the submarine pen there. Deciding two escorts are better than one, I re-assign a wingman for me today. Always take a buddy with you on field trips, kids!

I start off in my aircraft like yesterday's mission. For this mission we are carrying:



six AMRAAMs,
two Sidewinders,
two High Speed Anti Radiation Missiles (HARMs),
and three 3300 pound fuel tanks.

This loadout is the default "Escort" layout provided. In hindsight, probably should have put something more useful than fuel tanks... <_<

BTCs are essentially the same as yesterday's, with minor variations in regards to weapons systems. Everything looking good, the throttles are pushed to full military, release the brakes, and wait for the cat to launch.



And there I go!



Raising gear and flaps, I bank right and climb for angels 5, and wait for my wingman to form up. He soon does, and we fly towards the other waypoint in this mission - the rendezvous point with the F-14. My wingman and I soon reach the point and quickly locate the package. They're circling, waiting for us. We check in, and the F-14 quickly accelerates toward Polyarnyy in the distance.



Our flight drops in behind the F-14 in a trail formation, and as soon as we see clear coasts and mountains, I pick up a hostile contact off to the north east. It's moving low and slow, which can either mean a transport or a helicopter. RAID identifies it as two targets, so it's likely a helo flight. Unfortunately, my RWR also notifies me of a Su-27 Flanker contact in the exact same direction. Even more unfortunately, both targets are pretty much directly in the path of the escort.



Deciding this counts as a threat to the mission, I select A2A mode, AIM-120s, and my computerized voice calls out, "Fox Three! Fox Three!"



My RWR beeps. A couple of SAMs have popped up directly in our path. Selecting A2G, and HARMs, I fire off one of them at the center-most, a "Tin Shield" contact. "Magnum!" is called out.



Getting closer to the sub pens, flying at angels 2.4, and now only scant feet behind and below the F-14, I lock up what appears to be an Su-27 contact from the east, and also note the multiple SAM and AAA contacts coming alive. I release my wing man to conduct air defense suppression and continue to fly with the F-14, both of us doing approximately 460 knots now.

Then it happens. The Tomcat starts popping flares and Betty starts screaming "FLARE! FLARE!" at me, so I whack the dispenser button for flares. At that moment, my RWR starts screaming at me - SAM launch at six o'clock! Rolling left and yanking back on the stick, I maneuver the aircraft to put the missile abeam and simultaneously deploy chaff bundles. I look around for the package, it's still popping flares and now diving for the deck, aiming for the sub pen in the distance. AWACS suddenly calls out with worse news: "New airborne targets bearing 173, seventeen miles!"

I look down into my RWR while trying to evade another SAM launch - there are now five Su-27 contacts on the screen. And just earlier I heard my wingman call out he's ejecting.



Sweating profusely, I put my head on a swivel and locate a Flanker on my 4 o'clock, trying to get in behind me. I immediately jack the throttles to full afterburner and try to get in around him instead.



It's not going great. After the mission I realize I'd forgotten to drop the fuel tanks - probably would have helped.



Finally, I get in a position where I can fire, and do so, releasing a 9X Sidewinder into his tailpipe.



Unfortunately, he dodges it, so I fire another one. By this point, I've taken several hits and emptied out my flares dodging all their heat-seekers.



Splash bandit! He goes down. Unfortunately, three missiles and several gun rounds slam into my aircraft, and I go down too, hitting eject.



Later it turns out the F-14 went down as well.

Dang nammit!

MISSION BRIEFING:

Despite the failure of the last mission and that one of our squadron's pilots, Vincent Nemeth is still Missing In Action, the campaign continues! Our tasking today is to "visually identify any ships running the Murmansk fjord blockade." The National Security Council back home has decided, that since Murmansk is such a vital part of the Red Russian strategy, and it's role as a logistics center for the Kola Peninsula, it must be blockaded to prevent the Commies from dispersing munitions and supplies from it.

Looking at the briefing map, looks like we'll be running a low level ingress and then diving for the deck around the entrance to the fjord to avoid enemy surface defenses. Default waypoint altitudes call for us to fly at 500 feet for the objective point. 500 feet? No problem! Taking a look at the map and intelligence sheets, supposedly there is only Tin Shield radar coverage with a possible SA-10B threat, along with the usual Red Russian air force threat.

Loadout for this mission:

two Sidewinders,
four HARMs,
six Slammers,
and one 4,800 pound fuel tank, mounted on the centerline.

Outside, it's 1625 local time, and the sky is a blazing mix of red and orange hues. Almost immediately, AWACS calls out three groups of new airborne contacts south of Murmansk, each one a bit further out than the rest.
In my Rhino, I conduct the usual BTCs and launch off the carrier, moments before my wing man does, and we head towards the first waypoint for angels 5 and 350 knots. Turning south we head down to angels 1 and a speed of 485, preparing for our high speed low level twilight search.




Halfway down to angels 1, we pick up the hostile contacts AWACS called out earlier. They're at least 80 miles away and high, so no need to worry just yet. As we approach waypoint three, the entrance to the fjord, surface defense threats are picked up. Let's see.. triple A, triple A... SA-13! This wasn't mentioned in the briefing! Way to go, intelligence. D:




We reach way point three (dropped centerline tank to gain some speed), my HARM TDC firmly on the SA-13. If it were up to me, I'd shoot one now, but unfortunately we have to give the enemy the advantage here. Damn ROEs. As we hit 500 knots and 500 feet of altitude, banking hard right to way point four, the SA-13 fires at me, I pop flares, and launch a HARM right back at him.



Swerving around bright green AAA tracer fire flashing past my cockpit, I head down for the treeline, aiming for just 50 feet above the ground.



As I start heading toward way point five, a "S6" SAM is launched at me. I'm not sure what an S6 is, but my countermeasure automatic deployment system thingy starts pumping out chaff.



All missiles evaded, I start heading toward way point six, north west and the hell away from this "low-level-visually-identify-don't-shoot-first-and-don't-get-shot-down" mess. On the way, I spot an SA-11 emitter contact on my RWR. Five seconds later, it launches a missile at me and I start mentally cursing intelligence again.



Dodged that only to see some enterprising young Red Russian SAM operator has launched another heat-seeker at my not-really-caring-behind as I continue to fly at dangerously low altitudes really fast. Flares pop out behind me anyway.



Another SA-11 is launched and evaded. Finally, a small period of peace as I encounter very little surface resistance as I clear the area. Then, four miles to way point six, a Su-27 launches at me. Fortunately, i'm still flying at around 200 feet, so the missile quickly loses radar lock. He tries again moments later, and again misses. Now en route to way point seven, the egress point, I order my completely-useless wing man to return to base and spend the rest of the journey furtively looking behind at me, trying to spot any Flankers sneaking up on me. None do.



Moments before another successful trap.

I'm not normally much of a fan of fixed-wing sims, but after having some playtime in Jane's F/A-18 myself, I did enjoy these AARs. As much as I love combat helicopters, there's not that sense of speed or urgency like in modern day combat jet sims - and the close-in dogfighting with cannon and Sidewinder's always looks like a real adrenaline rush. Sure seems like a real thrill if you can get into it and understand it all.

Nice work!

Amen to that. I played this sim a lot, and would usually take 4 or even 5 HARMs (leaving 4 AIM-120s and 2 9xs for air-to-air). Plus you rarely/never need external fuel tanks b/c most of the missions take place pretty close (unrealistically, even) to the carrier. Your AI wingies aren't so hot deploying stand off weapons against SAMs, so your best bet is to handle them yourself. I also fly a bit ahead or abreast of the plane I'm escorting, so I can engage the SAMs before they engage the package. You can also assign even 1 or 2 other plans in your flight, concentrate on taking out the SAMs, and sick your flight on the airborne threats. You can also often replace the centerline tank with 2 MK20s or, even you are flying high altitude, 1 TALD, which I think is supposed to fool the enemy. I would launch it and hang back a bit if I had time to spare.

Any other JF-18 veterans care to comment on the use of TALD, and on how the in-game enemy AI reacts to it?

Cool AAR. Never played JF-18, but had wonderful time in JF-15.

Great read! Very well done.

I haven't yet had the time to do some in-game testing of the TALD... I guess that will be my next after the SAM research!

EDIT: Turns out TALDs buy a few miles worth before the SAMs start shooting. In some cases, they even fire SAMs at the decoy. Trust me, I was surprised. :3

MISSION BRIEFING:

The Murmansk blockade is still in effect, Russians are still trying to run it, and we've finally been ordered to bomb instead of take pretty pictures.
Also, Vincent Nemeth is still MIA inside hostile territory. :<
Up to this point, we've lost two aircraft, one's damaged and hopefully in maintenance. That leaves us with eleven total aircraft for a whole lot more pilots in the squadron.

I take a look at the briefing papers. We'll be taking off at approximately 2020 local time, so taking a NAVFLIR/ATFLIR is a certainty. The weather is... overcast, ROEs are "shoot at them before they shoot at you," and Murmansk is still bullseye.

Call signs for this mission:
- we are PLUTO 40
- AWACS is PANHEAD 11
- An EA-6B is BLADE 31
- x2 F/A-18C is COBRA 20 (SEAD)
- x2 F-14B is MANTA 21 (CAP)

Mission loadout:

x2 Sidewinders
x2 HARMs
x3 Slammers
x2 Mk 84 (2000-pound iron unguided bombs)
NAV/ATFLIR
x1 4,800 pound fuel tank

In our Rhinos, BTCs are conducted. AWACS calls out new airborne contacts 85 NM south of Murmansk. I hope we don't run into them.
My Rhino is launched just a few seconds before 2020 local.



I head for way point one off the carrier, 15000 feet and 350 knots, heading 280, the air once again filled with aircraft from the carrier battle group.



Twenty seconds later, Hornet CAP reports they are on station. Another twenty seconds pass by, and a Su-27 Flanker starts painting me with radar 55 NM to the southwest. The radios are abuzz with chatter from other aircraft requesting vectors to the carrier, calling the meatball, calling mud spikes, or engaging bandits. I lock up unknown targets on my radar who don't respond to my IFF squawks, and call AWACS. Hostiles confirmed!



Twenty miles from way point two, I lock up what I suspect to be a Su-27 directly in my path. I fire a Slammer at him as soon as he comes into maximum range. Once again, in hindsight, probably shouldn't have - he was doing .3 mach and losing altitude. Probably already shot down.



At 7.5 miles to way point two, another hostile is locked up 75 miles away, nose-on. He's doing .5 Mach and angels 15. Still locked on, I reach way point two and turn right towards way point three. We are now on the ingress and "fenced in," inside hostile territory. Way point three is the Initial Point, meaning way point four is the Objective Point.
30 miles from way point three.



As I approach way point three, I locate a probable blockade-runner and lock him up on the ground radar, simultaneously selecting Mk 84s. Over the radio, I notice the Search And Rescue helo flight has just taken off and the F-14 CAP flight has engaged bandits.

Just a few miles from way point three, I lock up a hostile contact coming head on and doing mach .7, at 3000 feet. At ten miles out, I decide he's can't dodge this missile and launch my second Slammer at him.



Utilizing the AIM-120's handy "fire and forget" mode, I proceed to forget about the target and turn back towards the blockade runners, selecting my Mk 84s again and locking up a target. Heading towards way point four, the entrance to the fjord and the ports, I face a runner head on and begin my attack run.





My CCIP marker crosses the deck of the first big cargo ship and I drop a 2000 pounder on him. Only having to make minor corrections in bank and altitude, I immediately drop the other bomb on the cargo ship running right behind the first target.

Switching way point markers to way point five, I accelerate and get the hell out of there. On my way out, I notice a couple of SAM batteries and decide to help further degrade the Russian's air defence network. Rolling in on them, I lock up one of those "S6" radars that I still don't know what they are and fire off a HARM. Switching to the next one, I lock up a SAM mounted on one the Communists' warships and let loose with my other HARM.




As the Anti-Radiation Missile streaks off into the night sky, I lock up a bandit at 50 miles. As I close the range, AWACS calls out new airborne targets south of Murmansk. Noting my bandit's speed has dropped dramatically, I call it quits and definitely head for home this time.

Once again on my way home, I find a hostile contact. This time, he's running from me.. or he hasn't detected me painting him with radar at all. Whatever. Fox three, you little punk.





The Flanker begins evasive manuevers way too late and winds up as a rapidly expanding ball of fire and debris, but the pilot managed to eject in the nick of time.

Finally on my way home, I realize entirely too late I've forgotten to utilize my wing man. Oops.



At last we reach the CBG, and I release my wing man to RTB. I enter the carrier landing pattern, and enter into final approach.



Six miles from mother, on speed and on glideslope.



Moments before another successful tra-



BOLTER! No worries, night landings on a carrier are rated pretty high on the "pucker factor" for fighter pilots. I fly upwind for a few miles, turn back downwind, and enter final approach a second time with the carrier. As I'm doing that, I look around (while also noticing that Su-35 emitter contact that just popped up...) and see the other aircraft returning and landing.





Lookin' good...!



BOLTER!... again. Still no worries, though a lil shaken up. Back up and around for a third pass.



"Waveoff, foul deck!" Aircraft still in path of other landing aircraft, so once again I power up the engines and make a go around.



Approach number four, looking good.





Trapped at last!



Just kidding!


That makes it bolter #3. I think my approaches are a little too high. With 7.6 hundred pounds of fuel left, I re-enter the pattern...

Approach number five starts looking good when that god damned bandit pops up 30 miles from the carrier. I immediately raise gear and flaps and push to MIL power, Sidewinders selected and armed, and fly to the aid of the BARCAP.



Fortunately, it isn't too long before I lose radar lock and hear the BARCAP calling splash bandit. I also hear my wing man calling the ball on approach to mother. Making my way back downwind, I notice the bow of the carrier has a lot more christmas lights on it.



Final approach... (number six for those of you counting)





BOLTER! My afterburning Superhornet blazes past the Christmas lights on the bow and re-enters the pattern yet again.



This time I turn on my NAVFLIR in hopes that will correct whatever problem I am dealing with here. Left of centerline again, but glideslope is looking good! Come on, you can do it...!



BOLTER! My really low on fuel Superhornet blazes past yet even more Christmas lights filling the bow of the carrier. I'm really determined to land on this next approach, because I do not want to go through the stress of a night time aerial refueling.



Pluto one one, Superhornet ball, state 4.4...



TRAPPED! God almighty, it's about damn time.



I finally join up with the rest of my squadron in this nest of navigation lights.


Well, that concludes our first night time strike mission. The strike part was relatively easy. The landing back on the carrier, not so great. I still can't believe I had five bolters, plus that foul deck waveoff and that lunatic revenge-seeking bandit coming after the BARCAP.

Next mission looks almost like this one, except it seems the Russians have decided to start escorting their cargo ships with warships... D:

Nice aar! Ever try the autopilot landing?

Auto carrier landing does not work with modern computers due to the processor speed. All landings must be made manually. :P

CAMPAIGN UPDATE:

I have played all the way up to Mission #11. Missions #10 and #11 will adequately explain why this campaign is such a P.I.T.A!

Awesome AARs!

CAMPAIGN UPDATE:

Repeated attempts by Red Russian forces to break the blockade around Murmansk have failed, and NATO spokesmen are calling Red losses "heavy". With the blockade now firmly in place, NATO opens a "Neutralization" phase, which is designed to eliminate Red Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) stockpiles and further reduces Red offensive options.

A high ranking Red leader warned NATO that such attacks could have "Grave consequences", and hinted that if threatened, the Red military will not hesitate to use such weapons. However, NATO intelligence believes Red forces currently lack the means to deliver such weapons in large quantities, and are hoping to destroy them before they can be employed.

Elsewhere in Russia, Blue forces defeated Red troops near Moscow after fierce fighting. The Red survivors were last reported fleeing northwards with Blue units in pursuit.


---

This AAR is back! Yay!

And phase one has been completed without losing it! Bigger yay!

Great stuff, NPO!

MISSION BRIEFING:








We've got the techs and mechanics busy on this cruise...!








We start off on the deck, another stormy day ahead of us. The aircraft is configured for the mission and launched post-haste!



For this mission, we've got 4 HARMs, 5 AMRAAMs and 2 Sidewinders, with a 480 tank on the underside plus FLIR. It doesn't take long for the escort flight to form up on the F-14, but unfortunately it takes what feels like thirty minutes for the F-14 to start ingressing on the sub pens. After flying around for awhile we finally start moving in on the peninsula.



Surprisingly, not a whole lot happens on this one, as the flights ahead of us do their jobs for once and sweep the skies clear of threats. A few minutes out from the sub pens, an SA-8 threat emitter pops up from the ships moored at the port and I launch a HARM at it, releasing my section to deal with any other air defenses. The F-14 soars over the sub pens effortlessly and turns toward home as AWACS informs me there are new hostiles inbound thirteen miles south of Murmansk. This being actually about twenty miles south of our position, I turn back towards them, check the skies for any friendly aircraft, and on finding none, let loose a couple of AIM-120s mad dog. Our flight reforms back out over sea and climb to 30,000 feet and on the way back home.









Mission success!

Please, sir, please!! I implore you to stop posting these screens!
I have a wife, two kids, and a job...

And a modern combat flight sim you're already addicted to?

I have no idea what you are talking about, good sir. I was asleep when that happened!

MISSION BRIEFING:








We still have waaaaaaaay more pilots than aircraft.


Here we can see our stocks! I'd like to invest in some more 9X Sidewinders, please, and sell off those Walleyes!



Systems check complete, master arm SAFE, GBU-31 JDAM programs configured, HARM page set to LIMIT, BINGO setting to six point oh, radar azimuth and scope expanded, moving map display set to color and scale forty, and anti-collision and formation lights are glowin'! Hornets, Prowlers, Vikings, Super Tomcats and Super Hornets all have their engines spooling up or roaring in the flight deck symphony around me. Waiting until the F-14D and F/A-18C on Catapults #1 and #2 shoot into the air in front of me, I release the brakes and join my comrades in the air as we prepare to launch a massive strike at Red Russia's nuclear ballistic submarine force.


Weapons loadout across the flight for this mission: 2x GBU-31 JDAM, 2x AGM-88C HARM, 3x AIM-120C AMRAAM, 2x AIM-9X SIDEWINDER, 1x 330 fuel tank, 1x FLIR


There are seven other Superhornets in this flight with me, so after doing a quick climb with full afterburner to 15,000 feet I bank right 30 degrees and switch on the autopilot while issuing a command for the flight to form up. While circling, chatter comes in from the other flights of an air battle raging just southeast of our position. Looking up, I spot a smoker in the distance. Hope it's not a friendly.


Look just a bit to the left from the topside wingtip of the Hornet. Yeah, distant air battle.


After making one full circle across the top of the carrier, the rest of the flight forms up and we head towards waypoint one, beginning our odyssey to the sub pens.




About time. Still faster than that F-14 last mission though...

Switching to waypoint two and preparing to go to 1000 feet for waypoint three, Rattler 9-1, a pair of F/A-18C joins up with us to provide additional SEAD protection.


Well hey thar fellas...

Due to me not using FRAPS for some reason anymore, there are no screenshots of the following narrated action. Whoops. D:

At waypoint four, we turn due south east and start running at a full 500 knots and pop up to altitude of 8000 feet. A SA-15 and SA-11 pop up directly in front of us and off go my two HARMs. Then AWACS has the nerve to inform us of a new hostile flight that has taken off just southeast of the target area, and switching to A2A mode, I spot a radar blip that is not responding to IFF squawks. While locking it up and declaring the target to AWACS and waiting for a reply, a MiG-31 threat emitter pops up on my RWR on the same bearing as the bogey. AWACS comes back a moment later confirming it to be hostile. By this time we are about 25 nm out from the target area and I release my flight to begin their bombing run on the primary targets. Minutes later I fire two AMRAAMs at the Foxhound as its still in its climb out phase and dont want it accelerating to its crazy Mach 2+ speed.

At last, I see it go down and switch back to air-to-ground mode. Just as I'm entering the 5 nm range of the target, #%&*$# Betty screams out a heat seeker launch and I'm turning and burning away from the sub pens. I also hear a particular rattling sound behind me and notice I've lost oil pressure in my left engine. I look up and there's a bloody Foxhound diving in front of me! #%&*$# snuck up, launched a heater at me and tried to gun me down! Quickly selecting AA mode and a 9X sidewinder, I uncage it and let it fly. Its near 180-degree off boresight capabilities let it fly off and make a very tight turn to smack that Foxhound out of the sky.

Turning around back toward the sub pens once more, I finally get in range and pickle my two penetrating JDAMs. Both score direct hits and I get a brief glimpse of the explosion before my RWR goes nuts again. As I'm diving toward the ground, my left engine abruptly catches fire and I'm forced to shut it down after extinguishing the fire. Angling my aircraft toward the carrier group, I'm surprised as my aircraft bursts into flame and my cockpit lights up with its glare and error messages across the board.

Five seconds later, I'm hanging from a parachute, watching as we lose another airframe, and drifting down into enemy territory. Gonna be a long creep back towards Norway... D:


Fortunately, the mission was a complete success otherwise.

MISSION BRIEFING:

Apparently in-game screenshot taking and FRAPS hate each other. Also, this post will be picture heavy as opposed to the narration from last one.

REAL MISSION BRIEFING:

We've been tasked to bomb the ever loving heck out of the port facilities and submarine repair facilities at Polyarnyy. You know, so they can't put their ruined submarines back together..

Onwards to the pretty pictures!



Two laser-guided Mk 84s oughta do the job...



Photo provided by J.J. Abrams.



The flight tasked with bombing the port itself curving around and joining up. (We get the submarine repair facilities).



Sunset over the Ronald Reagan battle group.



Pluto and Mercury formation flight.





The ever persistent Red Russian air force comes out to challenge us...



Desperately lonely HARM seeking threatening fire control radar emitter.



Target acquired, locked, and lined up for CCRP bombing!



Pickle!



Air defenses starting to get a little too close...



8 seconds to impact... LASER on!



SAM has locked on, dispensing chaff, come on, where the hell is my explosion?!



BAM. Time to get the hell out of Dodge!



A brief glimpse of the furball in front of me. About 14 aircraft, at least two confirmed bandits, all mixing in with each other at close range!




Completing my disengagement from the target area, I spot two lone bandits and fire off some AMRAAMs.



At which point the SA-15s in the area light me up and try to blow me up.



Egressing at 500 feet and 551 knots, I pass a flaming wreck of something. Probably a SAM site.



Ahh its just a harmless BB gun site. What could go wrong?




Okay, not too bad. Just don't go above 10,000 feet, right?



14000 feet. Who needs an OBOGS anyway?!



Oh #%&*$#! Air cops heard that remark!



Firing a radar guided missile back at that cop on asphalt roads is not recommended.



Uh oh, lost oil pressure in the left engine...



... and my radar warning receiver goes out two seconds later! Time to shut down the left engine.



Finally start greying out at 17,000 feet and I begin a rapid descent back to under 10,000.



Finally make it back to the carrier and about one second away from making a near perfect trap back aboard with just one engine.



Made it!



Hard to see, but I nailed the third wire, too!



An exciting mission. Unfortunately, it looks like I hit the wrong thing, because I got a mission failed screen. Fortunately, not the end of the campaign...

Brings back good memories. Thanks.

If only this sim could be updated to today's graphics, a la Falcon 4 BMS. Time for another superhornet sim developers!

Enjoying the AAR. I've had a lot of trouble getting this to run well on my rig...but the gameplay is amazing.

Great AARs, keep em coming! This was my number one sim before I (re)discovered Falcon.

This brings back great memories, especially the night traps! Beeeeeeg respect for the US Navy fly boys. I'm surprised they don't have separate cockpits just for their cajones

Sorry for the temp break, I've been stuck on playing with the DCS:A-10C mission editor!

MISSION BRIEFING:













One thing. The briefing sort of forgot to mention it was pitch black outside. In Jane's F/A-18, the programmers simulated total darkness with just the carrier as the only source of tiny light in the ocean really, really well.

It doesn't take us too long from flying the waypoints to find the strike force:






What happens next is essentially thirty people trying to stick a knife each other on a platform over the waters in a completely dark room. Several times while avoiding missiles and bandits I become disoriented and have to spend a few precious seconds trying to figure out if I am diving towards the water upside down or rocketing into the sky right side up.



That image was not one of those times, sadly.

After what seems like hours, which in reality was about ten minutes of hurling several hundred pounds of rocket-fueled explosive death at each other, people stop shooting at us. On the way back to the carrier, I take some more screenshots demonstrating how utterly black it is outside:



That is not a picture of black wallpaper I just created. That was me looking out the right side of my cockpit. Look! You can see a few stars in the top left.




Maximum burners lit for comparison!

Sadly, on the way back to the carrier, we encountered a surprise group of MiG-29s from the mainland and I was shot down.



MISSION DEBRIEFING:

Outstanding work! Despite their best effort, the Red Russians were unable to break the shield you put around the battle group. The Su-33 squadron took heavy losses in its attempt to sink your carrier and will have difficulty in mounting subsequent attacks.

According to the kills screen, I hit 2 Su-33s and killed 1.
My wingman struck 7 and killed 7.
The rest of my flight killed a total of 8 others.

Basically, out of 20 Su-33s on the Kuznetsov, our single 8-man flight destroyed 75% of their squadron.

AWESOME!

Warning: Picture heavy! Text light!

MISSION BRIEFING:


Again. But this time in day time!




We are really running out of missiles... damn Russians!


Still more pilots...


... than airframes!


Takeoff checks complete, lets hunt down some Super Flankers!




Hostile forces detected. On that note, wow, talk about picture quality degradation...


Climbing rapidly to meet the threat.


BRING IT. Also, it looks like the Kuznetsov got reinforced overnight. Drat.


"Three and four, engage bandits!"


If last mission was a knife fight in the dark, this one is turning out to be a jousting match.


Break! Break!


Fox three Flanker.



Jousting match just turned into a sword fight.


Tumbling, flaming wrecks everywhere. Oh, and missile launches down at the bottom right...


When was the last time you F/A-18 pilots used the boresight mode on the AIM-120?



My fingers hit the countermeasures program for "FLARES FLARES FLARES" and I turn hard into the heater.


Ha! Take that, heat seeking missile!


And take that, heat seeking missile launching aircraft!





Die die die die die!


Splash another bandit!



Its indistinguishable in this picture, but I am holding down the g-limit override key and pulling 9.2 Gs. Nothing breaks, either!


Gasp, gasp, wheeze, gasp.


Damn, one cruise missile got through and hit the carrier.


Flanker go boom.


I've fired approximately $3.2 million in AMRAAMs today. Tell your Congressman!


Coming home at last, momma.


Final approach.


What's that faint, engine-sounding noise I hear...?


"!!!"


A classic example of air rage.


Just kidding!


Eurgh, what a terrible approach.


And yet still bafflingly, I snag the third wire.


Also, the AWACS got damaged.





Awwwwww yeeeeeeeeah!

I just love these!

Awesome AARs! Thanks for taking the time.

Holyyy dang it's been awhile since I updated this. Fortunately since reading a Navy book I got the spark to start updating this and flying more often. :p

I thought I'd do a different style of after action report for this mission...






In summer of 2004 the war had just begun
The Russians had the juiciest ship that had the ski deck
The Kuznetsov was the sneakiest ship that ever sailed the sea
On her decks were Flankers as big as bears and Exocets as big as trees

Out of the cold and foggy night came the American ship the Reagan
And every American seaman he knew and understood
They had to sink the Kuznetsov the terror of the sea
Stop those planes as big as bears and those Exocets as big as trees
We'll find the Russian carrier that's makin' such a fuss
We gotta sink the Kuznetsov cause the world depends on us
Yeah hit the decks a runnin' boys and spin those planes around
When we find the Kuznetsov we gotta cut him down

The fog was gone the seventieth mile and they saw the morning sun
Ten hours away from homeland the Kuznetsov made its run
The Admiral of the American fleet said turn those planes around
We found that Russian carrier and we're gonna cut him down
The Americans harpoons were aimed and the bombs were coming fast
The first bomb hit the Kuznetsov they knew he couldn't last
That mighty Russian carrier is just a memory
Sink the Kuznetsov was the battle cry that shook the North Cape
We found the Russian carrier t'was makin' such a fuss
We had to sink the Kuznetsov cause the world depends on us
We hit the flight deck a runnin' and we spun those planes around
Yeah we found the mighty Kuznetsov and then we cut him down
We found the Russian carrier...


(Terribly sorry, Mr. Horton! )