Story 14

by Ken Fishkin

It's about a week into Operation "Fallen Crescent", and the fighting has been fast and furious. On the ground, after some early retreats the front has stabilised, and we're starting to retake territory. In the air, my squadron, "The Weed Whackers", has done a good job of hammering enemy air defense systems, but paid a heavy price - we've been losing pilots and heli's at an unacceptable rate. Many our casualties have been due to enemy Havocs, who are seemingly everywhere!

I scan the mission board, looking at the Weed Whackers next set of missions. We're due to fly before dawn - good news, the low visibility should help. I see a Strike, a Strike, Close Air Support, and another Strike. Wait a minute - the last Strike is being flown with a Kiowa in support?! I flip through the briefing, and see that Flight 4 is down to it's last Longbow, and a non-radar one at that. While replacements are due to arrive soon, I decide we can't risk losing that solitary longbow - what if the replacements are delayed?

The mission appears a relatively easy one - hammer an enemy reserve tank battalion, a few clicks behind the front lines. Our previous work against air defense systems seems to have borne fruit - no enemy air defense is shown in the area. I load up the Kiowa with some HE missiles (I can never hit the broad side of a barn with 'em, maybe he can show me how it's done), and two Stingers. I decide to compensate for the lack of punch in the Kiowa and pack my bird with 100% laser hellfires. And off we go!

The first few clicks are uneventful, and then, still well behind friendly lines I spot a lone Iranian tank making mischief. I'd like to give that bad boy a spanking, but decide to exercise fire discipline and leave him be.

A few clicks later, still well behind friendly lines, I'm going about 60 knots, climbing up a mountainside, when I hear battalion say those dreaded words, "...we have enemy helicopters sighted in your area". In my experience, battalion is a master of understatement - what they really mean is "you're about to get jumped"! I come to a hover, about 3/4 of the way up the mountainside, at 50 feet, and order my wingman to go air-to-air mode, weapons free, spread formation, while I switch to Stingers. I plan to peek over the mountain and see if I can spot them before they spot me. Before I can even start the rise, my intercom crackles into life: "enemy helicopters - 3 o'clock"! Two Havocs are coming around the mountain to my right! Using the rudders, I wheel my helicopter to my right. An eternity later, I see the two Havocs, both just over a kilometer away and closing rapidly. I snap-shot a Stinger at each: one nearly dead ahead, the other about 30 degrees off to my right. I'm too busy to see if the right one hits - the left one hits, but the Havoc keeps coming, dropping altitude and firing at me. I lock him up with my chain gun, and a few seconds later he crashes. Whew! TADS shows no targets, I start turning back to climb up the mountain, when I hear the sound of gunfire. Whoops! Ever...so ...slowly... I crank my bird around, and see the second Havoc, with smoke pouring out of it, strafing the Kiowa. Either I didn't really give the Kiowa "Weapons Free", or only 1 of our 3 Stingers hit. There'll be time to find out later, after the mission is over - right now, it's clobberin' time! I lase onto the Havoc, and a few seconds of chain gun later he also goes down in flames.

I figure my Kiowa escort, a rookie on my first flight, has had enough excitement for one day - I order him home, an order he obeys with alacrity! I continue on with the mission. Everything goes quietly until I'm nearly at my final waypoint. I'm in the middle of a deep valley, with a very big, very steep mountain between me and the enemy armor. I decide to climb partway up the mountain, and then pop-up and throw a surprise party. But how close to the summit should I get? I've been burned before by reverse-slope surprises - I decide to go only about 2/3 of the way up the mountain and then rise. I make it up the mountain, and do a quick 360 to make sure there are no more surprises sneaking up on me. I begin to rise: 100 feet....200...300...I'm even with the mountain top now...400...500...600! Just over 600 feet, I _finally_ hear "enemy targets in sight, 10 o'clock". There they are, 10 primaries all huddled together at the base of the other side of the mountain. An absolutely perfect time for ripple-firing, but I don't have radar-guided Hellfires. There's a lot of debate amongst us as to whether or not ripple-firing laser-guided Hellfires works - I decide now's not the best time to test the theory. I fire one Hellfire at the first target, and wince when I see "time to impact: 14" show up in my HUD. I'm going to be up here a long time! 140 seconds later, all the enemy primaries are destroyed, but I've been sitting stationary, at 600 feet, for over 2 minutes - time to get out of Dodge. I turn back around, diving steeply and gaining speed - 10 knots, 20 knots, 30 knots...I see another enemy tank, and decide to let one loose, slowing my rate of increase in speed. 6 seconds later, scratch another T-72. I continue across the valley, towards the other side - 40 knots, 50 knots, 60 knots,70 knots, 80 knots....I'm at about 90 knots, and just a bit shy of the mountaintop, when I hear "missile launch"! Oh god, somebody must be behind me paying me a visit! For once, lady luck smiles on me, as I'm just a second away from the mountaintop. I race over the mountaintop and drop, and hear a "crump" as the missile impacts behind me on the other side of the mountain! I frantically review my options - running won't work if it's a jet, let's try hiding. I yank back hard on the stick, reducing collective so I won't "balloon" into the air, while switching back to Stingers. My tactic works to perfection, as just a few seconds later another Havoc flies _right over me_! I send a Stinger right up his tailpipe, and watch with grim satisfaction as he explodes just a few hundred meters in front of me. Hey, better you than me, buddy. Just a second later, though, I hear a strange sound, like the gears are getting stripped in a huge auto, and hear "tail rotor damaged". With all this going on, I forgot to go into hover mode! my tail had banged into the side of the hill. I grit my teeth and resume my journey home, the bird bucking and weaving like a drunk bronco.

I whip the bronco towards home, a few kilometers away, at the bottom of yet another deep valley just over yet another steep mountain. I come over the last hill, friendly FARP in sight, and what do my eyes behold but... yet _another_ Havoc attacking the FARP! I fire my last Stinger at the Havoc. The Havoc drops flares and drops towards the ground - the Stinger misses! I'd gotten careless so close to home, I'm going around 90 knots at around 300 feet. Enough's enough! I point my nose straight at him, and make a high-speed pass directly at him. At a click away, I open up with chain gun, and a few seconds later my fourth Havoc of the mission goes down!
Finally, I set down, and wobbily climb out of the cockpit. My kills for the mission: 7 armor, 3 supporting vehicles, and 4 Havocs. Just another day at the office....