Flight Safety for the Ka-50: Autorotation with Engines at Idle

One of the myths about helicopter flying is that if your engine(s) quit, you are gone. Actually, helicopters can "autorotate", wiht the rotor blades moving like a windmill and providing limited lift. Autorotation is an important emergency procedure and real helicopter pilots practice it. In this entry, a practice autorotation with the engines at the idle position ...

Thunder Run from Hell: Captain Billotte's "Amokfahrt" at Stonne

Stonne, France, May 16th 1940.
The Wehrmacht panzers have miraculously made it through the Ardennes and France's front door at Sedan is about to be open wide. Crucial to the hard-earned bridgehead at Sedan is the control of the ridiculously small village of Stonne ...

"Operation Phantom Fury: The Assault and Capture of Fallujah, Iraq" by Dick Camp

"Operation Phantom Fury" came out in the US past Friday. I have a few books about the second battle of Fallujah, but this one caught me by surprise. Written by a retired Marine officer, the perspective of the narrative covers the operational, grand tactical and tactical levels of the battle that the US Marines fought so hard. It is really a pleasure to read military history books written by servicemen.The physical book itself is just great ...

Great Tank Platoons are Made, not Born: Gary Owen's New Steel Beasts Scenario Series

When Gary Owen speaks, I listen. This guy was in the US Cavalry and also involved in the development of Steel Beasts ProPE. Now he released a series of scenarios for this simulator so we can practice tank platoon drills. The first scenario is about tactical movement ...

The Blog goes Naval ... Sinks Shortly Thereafter

Naval warfare was for me one of those "maybe later" topics. Not for lack of interest but actually for lack of time. In particular, the complex, high tech nature of modern naval warfare always fascinated me. So, this week I decided to get "Larry Bond's Harpoon: Advanced Naval Warfare" from Matrix Games and finally get into the virtual seas.

War Gaming the Air Ops During the 2006 Lebanon War with HPS's "War over the Mideast"

The game: HPS's "War over the Mideast"

The mission: Attack Hezbollah concentrations in Lebanon

From the game's scenario description.

The 2006 Lebanon War was a 33-day military conflict between Hezbollah paramilitary forces Lebanon and Israel. Conflict started on 12 July 2006 The conflict began when Hezbollah militants fired rockets at Israeli border towns and terminated on 14 August 2006.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes on civilian towns and infrastructure targets throughout Lebanon.  The airstrikes were coupled with a ground invasion of southern Lebanon where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) engaged Hezbollah militants, who resisted using unconventional warfare techniques from hardened positions. After the ceasefire, some parts of Southern Lebanon remained uninhabitable due to unexploded cluster bomblets.

 When you load this scenario, it appears like the whole affair is going to be a turkey shoot. However, the mission objectives are quite demanding. Moreover, depending what you do with your Israeli aircraft, the Syrian Air Force gets really nervous and scrambles interceptors right away.

I can see Syria from here! The blue area on the right is a no fly-zone (yeah right, like flying over Lebanon was not no enough to piss off other Arab countries). Click the image to expand it.

See the red triangles coming from Syria? Interceptors! Click on the image to expand it.

Back to the drawing board here. I have to plan for air superiority. Who would have thought that attacking terrorists would need that?

Cheers,

Good War Gaming Times Ahead: Schwerpunkt's "Middle East 1946-2006"

Last night, at the Wargamer.com forums, Ron Dockal posted a list of scenarios of his upcoming war game "Middle East 1946-2006".

1. Israeli War of Independence, to 1st Truce
2. Israeli War of Independence, to 2nd Truce
3. Israeli War of Independence, to Armistice
4. Sinai Campaign 1956
5. Six Day War 1967
6. Yom Kippur War 1973 - Sinai
7. Yom Kippur War 1973 - Golan
8. Yom Kippur War 1973
9. Israeli War with Lebanon 1982
10. Iran - Iraq War, Iraq Invades Sep 1980
11. Iran-Iraq War, Susangerd Jan 1981
12. Iran-Iraq War, Abadan Sep 1981
13. Iran-Iraq War, Operation Jerusalem Way, Nov 1981
14. Iran-Iraq War, Operation Undeniable Victory, Mar 1982
15. Iran-Iraq War, Operation Jerusalem, Apr 1982
16. Iran-Iraq War, Iran Invades Iraq, Jul 1982
17. Iran-Iraq War, Target Basra, Feb 1984
18. Iran-Iraq War, Iran Captures Faw Peninsula, Feb 1986
19. Iran-Iraq War, Last Attempt at Basra, Dec 1986
20. Iran-Iraq War, Iraq Recaptures Faw Peninsula, April 1988
21.  Desert Storm 1991
22.  Cobra II 2003
23.  What If Scenario Builds
24.  Middle East 2010 (will contain the most current OOB in the public domain)

Some screenshots of this game are available here.

I always liked and played Schwerpunkt games. Even when in general I tend to dismiss war games designed with a philosophy of "replicating the board game experience" (what the hell is that supposed to mean? Building motorcycles with saddles and bad shocks so they bump your rear like a horse?).

The games from Schwerpunkt have an AI that will retreat if the odds are bad or if they are to be turned/outflanked. They also have a scale that allows you to play an entire, army-group level operation in a couple of hours.

So, my hat goes off to you, Ron. I'd pay full price for just the "Desert Storm" and "Cobra II" scenarios alone.

And I am very happy that every once and then you can read something war-gamish at the Wargamer.com. Now they can go back to the usual dragons, elfs and science fiction chatter. :)

Cheers,

"Why We Fight Now", a Documentary About The Green Berets and the War on Terror

This film is getting some moderate attention in the US media. Featured here the first part, please go to Youtube.com to see the whole film divided in 6 parts.

I'm guessing this film will generate some moderate friction between the US special operations forces. The many special forces branches in the US are currently competing for funding and the film appears to be putting forward the idea that the Green Berets are specially apt for fighting insurgencies.

Cheers,

DCS A-10C, Hands on Look at SimHQ

Oh man, the A-10C simulator from Eagle Dynamics has gotten me all excited now!

In this SimHQ feature, "Cat" describes her first hand experience with the simulator. Great article!

I'm very excited about this (bold is mine):

But wait: there's more. How would you like to see an AI tactical ground controller that will mark targets for you with smoke and give you a full 9-line brief? I saw it, guys. Artificial intelligence for wingmen is enhanced over what we've seen in the past, and you have more commands than ever before.

It seems like Eagle Dynamics is putting their act together about the ground component of the simulation. Given the nature of the missions of the A-10C (thinking of close air support here), it's almost a no brainer. In DCS-Black Shark, the missing tactical air control (either ground or air based) is a glaring omission.

Good times coming up!

Cheers,

The Soviet 65th Army at Parichi, 1944

I've been reading about the massive, multi-front Soviet offensive on Belorussia during the summer of 1944. Mainly from these two books:



HPS Simulations offers Minsk 44, an equally massive PC war game that allows you to command either the German or Soviet armies during those trying weeks. The amount of historical detail in this (and any other of the Panzer Campaign series) war game is simply astounding.

Minsk 44 has a particular scenario that features the opening moves of the Soviet 65th Army at Parichi.

The Parichi scenario in Minsk 44. The entire Soviet 65th Army is shown as brown and redish icons. The grey icons are the German units. I'm playing this with fog of war enabled, so only the German units that are seen by the Russians are represented. Click the image for an expanded view.

I've played this scenario a couple several times as the Soviets. I would ussually put the main effort on the northern half of the 65th Army's sector, right on the road that goes to Parichi. If you see the game screen shot above, the southern half of the sector features more restrictive terrain.

The surprising thing is that in real life the Soviet 65th Army used that very restrictive terrain in the southern part of its assigned sector. Take a look at the map below.

This map is from Glant's Belorussia 1944, ebook version. Note the 65th Army's sector denoted as "65A" and how it advanced into German-held territory very much ignoring Parichi. Click the image for an expanded view.

Indeed, Parichi was taken by the Russians way long into the offensive. I've been puzzled about this for a while: why the 65th Army wouldn't advance straight into Parichi and rather use the poor terrain south of this city to advance? Maybe the maps in the Minsk 44 war game are miss-representing the terrain?

I don't know the definitive answer to that. But something is certain: the 65th and the 28th Soviet Armies (see 28A in the map above) leaned on each other for the offensive. In that way the main effort of the whole front was actually near the sector limits between both Armies.

Cheers,