Good day all, Orders for the upcoming Sunday Squad Ops as follows:
Objective:[/u]
Bomb the airfields A30 (primary) & A33 (secondary) within the Ruhr valley area. These targets look like airfields, but they represent strategic targets such as factories and munitions manufacturing facilities.
Enemy Intel:[/u]
We have a big problem. Latest Intel reports indicate that the Luftwaffe is far from being a spent force as we wanted to believe. We have confirmed indications that they are amassing aircraft at their airfields in anticipation of our strike due to the good weather conditions above fortress europe. We believe the Luftwaffe will be employing their latest Me-262 jet fighter plane and Me-163 rocket interceptor in large numbers. In our very latest photo reconaissance, Intelligence department aerial photo development teams have confirmed to count no less then 8 x Me-262s and 8 x Me-163 being readied on the launch pads and fueling areas of various fields around our target area... this will be no cake walk !
Method/Tactics:[/u]
Its going to be a hard fight, we will be up against Doras, 109G-10's , and worst of all, around 16 x Me-163's & Me-262's ! All these enemy aircraft have a clear performance advantage over our allied fighters in a large portion of the flight envelope which we operate within. While in some cases we might be able to out turn most of these fighters, our fighter's performance is clearly disadvantaged in top speed at alt, and max climb performance. This will unfortunately cause us to be fighting on their terms most of the time, and they will be able to engage and disengage at will, due to their ability to be faster then us.
In order to complete the mission objectives the tactics I have chosen is that our secondary objective strike force (inbound directly from the West) will be the force which will entice the entire LW (i hope) to come out and play. This force will consist of our fastest bombers, and almost all of our fighter escort, with part of it sweeping ahead. The primary objective strike force will arrive later, after some serious attrition has set in - hopefully to the LW side more then to ours. This will be a long flight and there probably won't be a chance to rtb refuel & reup. Escorting squadrons should plan to maximise their endurance by launching later then the bombers, and rv'ing with the bombers while over the channel. 332 Sqn, 880 Sqn, 56th FG, & MAG33 should launch only when the 308 Sqn B-26's are inside the 6,10 sector (a couple of minutes after the B-26s pass over A47).
The 56th FG & MAG33 in P-47s will sweep one to two sectors ahead of the 308 Sqn bombers and engage at first sight anything they come by. The objective is to cause as much attrition as possible to the LW, and as early as possible. We will force the LW to come down from their high altitude if they wish to attempt to stop our bombers. Therefore, 308 Sqn B-26 bombers will fly at 17k, where their top speed of 275mph is attainable (B-26b top speed is at 16k). The Mustangs will plan to fly top escort at 25-27k (top speed of the P-51D is at 24k) and the P-47s will sweep at the highest altitude they can achieve (30k+). This will allow the Mustangs and Jugs a fighting chance to dive down and catch the Komets & Schwalbes should they attempt to make strafing runs on the bombers of 308 sqn. All this while the primary target strike force with a token escort of P-51s will be making a dogleg up over the North Sea and come down to arrive over the primary target about 90 minutes into the frame.
Communications:[/u]
Text- Country channel will be the command and general channel for all forces. Please make sure to designate a person in your squad who's job is to type in your squad's location and status every 5 minutes.
Vox- Squadrons will be using preassigned numeric channels for voice comms, NOT the default channel 4 squad vox channel. This will enable us to switch channels as necessary to coordinate with each other, especially the flight leaders.
Squad Specific Assignments:[/u]
880 Sqn:[/u]
Vox Channel: 133
Field: A54 South West runway. Launch when the bombers of 308 Sqn have overflown A47 enroute to target.
Equipment: P-51D
Loadout: air to air, no ground ordenance.
Fuel: Maximum + all the drop tanks you can carry.
Flight plan: as per map (blue color) .
Objective: Top escort for 308 Sqn B-26's. Once over the target turn NW to rv & escort the inbound primary strike from the North West. RTB at Co's discretion. Fly at an altitude of aprox 28k, keep in mind that the Mustangs best performance is at 24k.
308 Sqn:[/u]
Vox Channel: 144 (channel 123 for any Mustang pilots joining the Northern Mustang escort force).
Field: A52 South East runway.
Equipment: B-26B
Loadout: 500 lb bomb use delay 0.5 and salvo all on target.
Fuel: 100%
Flight Plan: as per map (yellow color).
Objective: Secondary target (A33) strike force. Fly at 17k for best speed of B26B (refer to the AH aircraft charts for verification). I also suggest that you break the 8 bomber formations into 2 groups of 4 formations each, about half a sector in trail in order to further confuse and confound the LW interceptors.
****Important: Field a minimum of 8 bombers formations. If you have more then 8 pilots, the extra may take Mustangs and join the Northern escort force (red color on map) launching from A56.
332 Sqn:[/u]
Vox Channel: 155
Field: A54 South East runway. Launch when the bombers of 308 Sqn have overflown A47 enroute to target.
Equipment: P-51D.
Loadout: air to air, no ground ordenance.
Fuel: 100% + all the drop tanks you can carry.
Flight plan: as per map (green color).
Objective: Top escort for 308 Sqn B-26's. Once over the target continue to escort the 308 Sqn on their rtb leg. RTB at Co's discretion. Fly at an altitude of aprox 28k, keep in mind that the Mustangs best performance is at 24k.
56th FG:[/u]
Vox channel: 166
Field: A40 South runway. Launch when the bombers of 308 Sqn have overflown A47 enroute to target.
Equipment: P-47D
Loadout: I strongly suggest taking the 8*267 rpg gun loadout to lighten your aircraft, & improve your hi alt performance as much as possible.
Fuel: 100% + all the drop tanks you can carry.
Flight Plan: as per map (purple color). Note that the wide purple opaque area is your designated sweep zone.
Objective: High altitude forward sweep. Your squad will be the first in contact with enemy fighters. Your objective is to engage with full ferocity any sizeable force you encounter, INCLUDING ANY SCOUTS ! We want to make sure the LW believe that the brunt of the attack is coming in from the direct West. Fully take advantage of the P-47's performance capability at high altitudes. Coordinate your efforts with the MAG33 Sqn as they will be operating in your same area.
MAG33:[/u]
Vox channel: 177
Field: A40 North runway. Launch when the bombers of 308 Sqn have overflown A47 enroute to target.
Equipment: P-47D
Loadout: I strongly suggest taking the 8*267 rpg gun loadout to lighten your aircraft, & improve your hi alt performance as much as possible.
Fuel: 100% + all the drop tanks you can carry.
Flight Plan: as per map (purple color). Note that the wide purple opaque area is your designated sweep zone.
Objective: High altitude forward sweep. Your squad will be the first in contact with enemy fighters. Your objective is to engage with full ferocity any sizeable force you encounter, INCLUDING ANY SCOUTS ! We want to make sure the LW believe that the brunt of the attack is coming in from the direct West. Fully take advantage of the P-47's performance capability at high altitudes. Coordinate your efforts with the 56th FG Sqn as they will be operating in your same area.
101 Sqn[/u]
Vox Channel: 122 (123 for the small Northern Mustang Escort force)
Field: A56 North runway.
Equipment B-17G + a few Mustangs as escort.
Loadout: 12 x 500 lb bombs. (Mustangs take max fuel + all the drop tanks they can carry)
Fuel: 100%
Flight Plan: as per map (red color).
Objective: This is the fat lady. Lets hope she gets a chance to sing. 101 Sqn will be fielding 8 bombers and following the dogleg flight plan as per map. In order to maximise the Northern escort force's fuel endurance, the small Mustang escort will hold on the runway until cleared for takeoff, and will RV with the 101 Sqn bombers over the North Sea.
Can anybody post the map of operations i sent ?
