Since the F15E was announced for DCS, I was looking forward to flying challenging low-level missions at night in poor weather conditions.
I couldn’t find any readily available missions, so I made my own, which evolved over a few weeks to this current version.
I acknowledge that such a mission is improbable in real life, especially with so many short legs used for WP navigation through the valleys. But I found it to be a nice balance between challenging and fun, so hope you will too.
I added voice overs that called out the turns (and provided other tidbits) which helped ease the navigation workload. But because my voice might not be to everyone’s taste (NZ accent and all), I have added a F10 menu option so you can turn it off (except for a few mission-critical callouts).
SITUATION:
There has been a recent uprising of insurgents in Georgia. They appear to have access to military hardware which has been used to carry out several brutal attacks against various elected members of Parliament, which has shocked the country.
We have Human Intel that terrorists associated with the insurgency are getting supplies of Russian weapons fr om a depot near the Russian town of Terek, located on the right bank of the Terek River, 37 miles east of Nalchik.
They appear to be using small boats to smuggle in supplies from Mozdok, using the Terek River to deliver them to the depot. The weapons are then being distributed locally using trucks.
Appeals for Russians to intervene have fallen on deaf ears. Instability in Georgia is not a concern for them, so they prefer to look the other way while the terrorists go about their business.
The Georgian defence force is therefore taking matters into its own hands by taking advantage of the inclement weather to launch as strike at night to destroy the supply depot. One of Georgia allies have agreed to supply a single F-15E Strike Eagle to destroy the depot and all personnel based there. This is anticipated to have a significant impact on the terrorist operation.
Russians have not been informed of this operation, despite it the target area being well within their airspace. This is strictly an under the radar operation, with the single low flying aircraft being in and out so quickly that it can't be properly traced, therefore allowing plausible deniability.
MISSION TASKS:
Take off and follow the waypoints to the target area (TP 27).
The route provides good terrain masking all the way to the IP (WP26), so you shouldn't be detected as long as you stay low from WP4 onward.
We only have the approximate location of the target. You will therefore need to pop up at the IP (WP26) and use your A2G radar and/or TGP to find the exact location and prosecute the strike. The Primary Target is the two large tent structures which contain key personnel and equipment, but you may also destroy any other targets of opportunity in the area if safe to do so.
Waypoints 1 - 26 provide a low-level ingress using valleys as cover. The route must be followed precisely, otherwise a collision with the terrain is likely.
It is important to note that F15E waypoints are locked at ground level. It is therefore imperative that for any legs wh ere you can't see the ground in front of you, the HUD Flight Path Marker must be placed above the waypoint (circle) marker.
Egress is via WP 28 to 40. Again, this is a precise route through valleys back to safety.
Given that it is nighttime and such poor weather, we do not anticipate any serious threats from either the Terrorists or Russians. Be aware however that the target area is almost in range of Russian airfield SAMs (at Beslan, Naichik and Mozdok) if you are detected.
Default weapons load out is 2 x Mk84 Air for the depot with 4 x Mk82 Snake Eye in reserve for TOO. You may change this prior to take-off if you desire.
