1 = Vu Cha Railroad bridge
2 = Bac Giang POL storage
3 = Doung Nham POL storage
4,5 = Haiphong POL storage
6 = Co Trai Railroad bridge
The target roll was a 2, so the target is the Bac Giang POL site, which is close to Kep Airfield.
I had previously decided which complexes the located SAMs would be in and I rolled for the actual placement hex which gives the following:
2315
1122
1129
1138
2626
Onto the raid planning itself. The USS Ranger Air Wing is a lot (in this time frame) different from that on the Oriskany that flew earlier. It is a big deck carrier operating the F-4B and the RA-5C in place of the Crusaders. Its two skyhawk equipped attack squadrons have different models of aircraft with A-4C and A-4E being available. For this mission I selected the following
Pre-Raid Jamming
2 x {1} EA-1F, Jamming
Iron Hand
2 x {2} , A-4E, SEAD
2 x {2} , F-4B, Armed Escort
MiGCAP
2 x {2} F-4B, CAP
Strike Mission
2 x {4} A-4C, Bombing
2 x {4} A-4E, Bombing
2 x {2} , F-4B, Armed Escort
Post Raid Recon
1 x {2} RA-5C
I also chose to site the USN Rescue Helo and because I can I have changed the composition to include
2 x {2} A-1, Rescue Support
The scenario notes only let the SEAD and the Jammers to have RWR There are no deceptive jammers available and the Shrike shortage is still in force so the A-4Es carry half loads of ARM.
This still means that only SEAD aircraft can conduct Anti-RADAR tactics so the remainder are still exposed to the SAM threat. With the change in target and lessons from the Oriskany raid I hope to be able to do a lot better than the last raid.
In terms of defences pretty much the same set up faces me and I am not going to put myself over the area of Haiphong in a rush. That said Entry Point 7 actually puts me in range of more SAMs and with a high BSAN it is going to get ugly early. The Airfields at Kien An and Gia Lam are likely to be where the MiGs come rather than Kien An/Kep in the last game. I am also likely to generate more FIRE CAN as I will be over land a lot quicker. My benefit in the this game is that I have F-4B Armed Escort flights which can at least deal with the SAM threat easier than the Crusaders. CBU might be in order.
The defensive layout doesn't help at all. Bac Giang is ringed with SAMs from Hanoi and the Medium AAA from Kep and Vu Chua don't help either. That tempting open piece in the South East is just a SAM trap waiting to happen so I might have to bite the bullet and come at this in the same way that I did for the Oriskany. This time keeping a bit further East of Haiphong, then let the Iron Hand drop down Westwards roughly in line with Thud Ridge. I might also lead in with the SEAD as well and use the RWR to help. This means they might be the bait for a while to let the F-4B Armed Escorts in. I only have four Shrike shots to protect the whole force and at least 10 SAMs to deal with. Egress needs to come back up behind Phantom Ridge and then back out to the Gulf.
So I have decided to go East of Haiphong (again)
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