Things are getting complicated. Intelligence has located a huge arsenal of rebel forces located near the Georgian town of Dzhvari. The “silent” support of the Georgian government seems to be not so silent with such a sophisticated and well armed rebel force. The briefing also indicates that at Georgia’s behest a wing of Turkish F-16s is now being based at the central Georgia airfield at Kutaisi. This conflict is starting to spread to include the larger proxy parties. Our mission is to destroy the armored units at the supply compound in Dzhvari.



We will take off from the newly liberated FARP “Shorpa” and we will proceed south to cross the high mountain pass before descending down to the coastal plains. An An-30 prop plane will coordinate the attack. SEAD and other strike aircraft will also be overhead as well as a CAP flight to provide cover in case of activity by the Turkish F-16s.



The site is ringed with anti-aircraft defenses. Of notable concern are the two SA-8 sites followed by the SA-13 and ZSU-23 air defense vehicles.







We depart our FARP “Shorpa” in the late afternoon and stagger upward toward the high mountain pass. With full combat load and 100% fuel it takes maximum power and forward translational lift to reach an altitude sufficient to make it over the high peaks.





Twenty minutes later we are dropping down into the final valley that drains down toward the coast. As I evaluate the pre-loaded ABRIS route I decide to arc around and follow the river down to the reservoir in order to assure I stay out of view of the enemy air defenses. The SA-8, with an engagement range of up to 15km, is not to be trifled with.







In the closed in walls of the river valley and steep canyon containing the reservoir I notice my ABRIS has gone from “3D” to PDOP 3D (Positional Dilution of Precision) which means that our ABRIS navigation accuracy has dropped off slightly, likely because of lack of line of sight to enough satellites. The ABRIS satellite status page confirms this. Not a big factor since our PVI-800 INS is still fine and the accuracy of the ABRIS is still good enough unless more satellites become shadowed. (DCS is a sim-nerds ultimate fantasy!)



As I approach the ingress point the on-scene commander in the An-30 radios to hold my position while the SEAD flight attempts a takedown of the SA-8 sites.



An Su-34 zips across the sky overhead and drops a pair of some sort of anti-radar missile which does the job of taking out the SA-8 units.





I creep forward until I’m just past the dam holding back the reservoir and slew my optics down toward the target site. The light is fading as the sun dips behind the mountains to the west. What I see takes my breath away as I spot the burning SA-8 wreckage and dozens of armor units of all types lined up awaiting deployment. This is a ground pounders dream target!!





As I slew my seeker around taking inventory of the vehicles and trying to classify threats I’m surprised to see the area suddenly illuminate as an Su-25 overflies the target and drops flares which slowly drift down. Awesome!! In the failing light this is a HUGE help.





I find the SA-13 sites and ZSU-23 sites as I consult the briefing map (in BS2 you can now pull up the briefing mid-mission – a BIG improvement over BS1!) and I fire my first few Vikhrs at the air defense threats.





I hear a radio call of “Splash” and am puzzled by that one. Apparently the Turkish F-16s did decide to come play and our CAP of Su-27s has destroyed them with little fanfare.





With the (visible) air defense threats eliminated I go to work methodically on the static vehicles that are parked in the laager area. I start going for the main battle tanks first since they have the heaviest armor. Vikhr missile penetration has vastly improved in BS2 and each requires only a single shot. As the flares sputter out overhead the site is plunged into dimness as the light continues to fade. Fortunately the Su-25s continue their flare runs and the blackouts are temporary. The difficulty in targeting without the light from the flare is illustrated in the comparison shots below.







A fairly stiff breeze is blowing us ever closer to the target area and I try to remain cognizant of our range as I engage each target. With no idea of MANPAD or other hidden threats I don’t want to lose advantage of our stand-off capability so I reset us back to a more reasonable distance.

Soon I’ve exhausted all 16 of my Vikhr missiles and there are still plenty of targets left. Overhead two pairs of Su-24 aircraft drop precision guided bombs on the warehouses within the compound setting of even more explosions and smoke.







I start directing my wingman to engage certain targets and he drifts in a bit too close. I get a rude awakening when he calls out a SAM launch (not sure if it was he or I that was targeted) and we dump flares and retreat to a safe distance.



From further out I once again order my wingman to engage the ground targets and I’m amazed by his stunning proficiency. He ripple fires four Vikhrs in quick succession and does an admirable job of picking off targets on his own.



I let my wingman have a little bit of leeway and cringe a bit when he rolls in for a rocket attack. After a couple passes I rein him in fearing he will get shot down.



Just as I give the order I can see tracer fire erupt from the compound and chase him across the sky. That’s not good!



To my great surprise (although I shouldn’t be), the line of enemy BMPs isn’t static at all. I suddenly realize their turrets are moving and they are shooting back! For some reason I thought they were unoccupied and not a threat.



I put my Shkval on the location of the tracers, but smoke from the other burning vehicles obscures my view and I’m not able to lock on the BMPs to give my wingman the engage target command. I perform a pedal turn and move slightly further to the southwest to give me a better angle at the compound.





With a clear field of view I can see the line of BMPs but both my wingman and I are out of missiles. I creep forward until I’m in maximum cannon range and switch my cannon to the low cycle setting to preserve shells. I blip the trigger and send a few rounds at a time toward the BMPs which take some hits and start burning.



Through the Shkval I notice one is firing back at me! A hear the tick-tick of rounds hitting my fuselage and the EKRAN shouts a warning. Oh crap. I dump the nose and pedal turn away but the helicopter gyrates wildly and I am very close to losing control.



A glance at the external view shows I’ve lost my rudder and smoke or fluid trails from the right side of the airframe. The EKRAN says my Doppler NAV has been affected. As I gain speed the aircraft stabilizes somewhat probably due to the slipstream straightening us out and I realize part of the controllability problem is that the stability system channels have been knocked offline. I retrim the aircraft and reengage the SAS channels and things smooth out considerably.



I punch in a direct course to our FARP and hope that there are no cascading failures associated with my fluid loss. I glance at all of the instruments in the cockpit looking for a falling fuel, hydraulic, or rising temperature and can see no malfunctions.





The Su-25 is still overhead dropping flares as the sun sets behind him. With my damaged aircraft I fear the mission will now be unsuccessful. I briefly consider giving my wingman the weapons free/continue mission command but worry he will be easy pickings for the gunners at the compound.



The Su-27 is also done and he heads for home in the dwindling light as well.



I shepherd my stricken aircraft over the high pass toward our FARP and descend into the valley. As I slow for the approach the aircraft becomes less controllable and I find I need to keep a fair bit of momentum to maintain the best control. Fortunately the coaxial rotor design can use different rotor inputs for yaw control – the only thing I’ve lose is the extra yaw authority that the movable rudder imparts. The helo wants to fly slightly sideways though and control is tenuous. I overfly the FARP landing pads, make a gentle turn to lose altitude and come in with some forward velocity until the last second then unceremoniously plop the helo onto the pad, slightly bending the nosewheel strut in the process.



I start the APU and shut down the engines and I’m greatly relieved to see the “REPAIR” timer activate. I ask the ground maintenance for new weapons, full fuel, and I switch out my HMS for NVG equipment so that I can continue the mission (better late than never!).



Back in business!! (And equipped for night ops!)





We make the now routine flight back over the high pass and drop back toward the area of operations. All of our support aircraft have long departed the scene and I no longer have the benefit of an Su-25 dropping flares to illuminate the scene. I’m just super excited to have a second chance to finish up the mission.



Over the hill I can see there is still smoke rising from the supply area.



We turn our navigation, rotor tip, and beacons lights off and embrace the dark as we descend out of the highlands.



I set up a hover and pull up my Skhval display and arm my Vikhr missiles. Once the TV display comes on the cockpit is flooded with brightness that washes out my NVG imagery and it takes me a few minutes to figure out all the proper dimness, contrast, and brightness settings on the panel to get a workable image. Even still, the targeting bracket on the Shkval is too bright. I’m not able to obtain locks with my Shkval but fire the Vikhrs and manually guide them onto each target with good success.







Soon things are exploding and I’m in my happy place.

The light of the burning vehicles washes out the NVG image and I find I can actually engage targets using just the ambient light from the flames.



The one problem with NVG use is you tend to get focused on a small area. I’m fortunate to hear (and be able to process) the low altitude chime and I turn to see that I’ve drifted toward a high ridge to our left. That was close!



As I continue killing vehicles eventually the code word comes through that the mission is complete! I was worried that without the An-30 on station the mission might be a dead end. I'm relieved that all of the additional flying was not wasted effort.



Although there are quite a few soft sided targets remaining (supply trucks and fuel trucks) I chalk it up and am just weary and tense so we head for base and leave them to live to fight another day.



The little things still delight me in this sim and when I call the FARP to land I think it is cool that they turn on the landing pad lights.



My wingman settles in to the pad across from me and I pick up his landing in my landing light. What an awesome mission and a thoroughly exhausting one.



Combined we’ve killed more than 30 vehicles and lost no friendlies during the mission. Total flight time is a shoulder numbing 2 hours and 41 minutes. I’ve GOT to get a real flight seat where I can mount my HOTAS.



Brilliant mission design and just fun as can be. It would be a really cool multiplayer coop mission too.

BeachAV8R

It's never too late to learn something new (or relearn it). I was watching one of the original BS training videos a bit ago and realized that I had been engaging the BMP with HE rounds instead of armor piercing rounds (I forgot about that switch).

Priceless

Cheers, Beach! These are superbly entertaining reads!

A

Thank you Beach for all the wonderful AARs u have written.


kaRadi

Felt like I was right there with you.


Wheels

You need Ben Gay for your shoulders too!!?? LOL..

(I really did..man..I was sore. I have the worst HOTAS desk setup in the world right now. My arms have to be elevated about six inches below my shoulder level. Painful for helo flying..

We appreciate you sacrificing your body for us.


Wheels

Thanks for a great AAR! Dammit, I have to fly this campaign again - it truly is one of the (if not THE) best ever