Possible Indian Military Scenarios - Part V

Shankar
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Post by Shankar »

DILSHAD KHANS RESIDENCE -KANDAHAR CITY
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Dilshad khan couldnot but marvel at the dibolic plan of the old man . If implemented carefully and correctly it will forever spoil the relationship between pakistan and united states which can benifit only one organisation . They can once again be assured of a safe heaven in the neighbouring country and also assured of rich recriutment ground which had been tapering off lately as influenec of indian affluenec and films were slowly turning the mind of youth from jihad to jazz and discos .Girls were demanding to be educated and not just elementary education but with generous scholarships from kafer indian govt they are even strting to go to leading indian institutes for professional courses .

In the short run indian armed forces will be discredited immensely for thier inability to protect a militant hit right in thier doorstep and which may affect their new found frienship with their new strategic ally -the graet satan.

The whole plan hinged on one thing -timming and communication . He already had recieved a pair of ground to air morotola hansets which will allow himto contact the PAF pilot coded weapon of god for a single precise strike which will make the old man in dessert very very happy .


There have been quite a few speculation regarding the naming of the city .Some believe it is from gandhara a nearby kingdom along kashmir afganistan border or even gandar the seventh satrapy of the persian achaemenid empitre . However most believe it to be localised translation of alexandria which was the generals favourite name given to many cities founded during his conquest.The city was founded around fourth century bc near the ancient city of mundigak and also known as alexandrapolis.Because of its strategic location have been a frequent target of conquest as controlling the city allowed the conqueror to control trade route linking india and southern persia .For a short while the city came under the control of ashoka who erected his trademark pillar with bi lingual insciption in greek and aramaic . Kandahar was dominated both by iranian tribes in its early days but it is the pashtuns who would become more more prominent in later days.

In fact kandahar became part of india when babur annexed in 16th century but his not so competent son humayun lost it and akbar gained it back along with kabul but then subsequent mughal emperors lost the city . In 1708 itbecame part of early pasthum state folloed by turko iranian ruler nadir shah .

In more modern times during soviet occupation of afganistan the city was firmly under soviet control .As the soviets left in 1989 sevearal groups vied for control of this strategic city and in 1994 taliban emerged to conquer the east south and centre of the country.The so called sucess of enduring freedom in removing taliban atleast from public eyes allowed a warlord called gul aga sherzai to consolidate his hold on the city but the talibans under the leadership of trusted followeres like dilshad khan remained popular with local pasthuns residents. As far as kandahar is concerned - central govt control and kabul is but a distant memory .

INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -DELHI
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Shaikh D was the electroincs technician employed with singapore airlines and finished his "routine inspection and servicing " of the a-380 avionics bay .He has been working with singapore airlines for more than 4 years out of which 3 were in delhi . Today he took a some what more time in checking out the instruments and his collegues would remember later he did repalce some transponder modules with a new one as the old one was found to be not in "proper working order"

As he came out of the sprawling hanger and headed out -he did not rush as he hailed an auto for new delhi railway station from where he boarded
an express train to amritsar . His friends will be waiting for him at the bus stand with an air india ticket to london leaving in the night .
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Post by Sudhanshu »

Shanker, I am your story addict.

Let me know when you are writing any print edition.. I will be the first to buy them.
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Post by Shankar »

KABUL- KANDAHAR ROAD - KM 38 - ALPHA FORCE
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Majot srinath looked at his small force of 3 bmp 3 s and four gypsies cruising at seadte 40 kms per hour as maniac afgan drivers rushed passed without concern at over 100 in both direction . His new job was to patrol the new 4 lane expressway with the basic objective of area dominance by a show of visible force to the remaining taliban and other militant units operating in the kabul kandahar axis and also act as a mobile rapid deplyment force along the expressway . As usal squadron leader ranjita saxena and her wing man was his air support but so far he has not needed them . Most of his time was taken up by rescuing acciedent victims and occasional involvement in minor road ambush with stray disorganised militant gangs who were caught unware

Major srinath has met squadron leader ranjits only once since her promotion and he hated her guts for the way she kept on looking at her new white strip on the shoulder while conversing with an obvious attitude of senior combat pilot . He wished army bosses were as quick to grant out of turn promotions like in airforce but also knew that is just wishful thinking

The terrian along the road was starkly beautiful .For a change there are no sagging power lines ,it is just sunbaked mud houses hazy behind the wind blown dust swirls .Irrigation ditches half dry punctuate the landscape.Farmers could be seen squating on the hunches cutting the dried out grasses and shrub to be used as domestic fuel.Occasiionaly you would come across bands of momads who have set up small tent villages by the side of the road complete with camels sheep and goats which graze on the shrubs .In the distance veiled women cook the community food dressed in heavy embroidered dresses embeded with tin and brass pieces which makes a soft jingling sound as they move.

Srinath knew this road cost us almost 250 million dollars but was worth every cent . During enduring freedom it was the life line of kandahar and after that lift blood of canadian troops who were bases there . The resurgence of afgan economy post taliban era to a great extent was due to availability of this infrastructure which allowed fast and timely delivery of gods and services between the national capital and the second largets city of the country.

Major srinath did not know much about transponders and aircraft except his unique love hate relationship with one of the fliers . He has never in his life seen an air bus 380 or iff transponders used in diffrenet types of civilian and military aircraft and definitely had no idea how those gadgets can influence his " peaceful life" ( shooting a couple of militants a week) in the days and hours to come .
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Post by Shankar »

INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -TECHNICAL AREA
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Captain tomy lee finished his long meeting with iaf officials over the proposed flight plan of the united nations relief material and medical personnel to tehran the folowing day . While indian officials wanted him to fly the the high altitude air ways all the way from delhi to tehran capt lee insisted n a shorter route that used bu indian air force transporters resuppying the kandahar garrison since he wanted to be touch with some kind of aerial support pver the skies of pakistan and afganistan at short notice .He did not really put much faith in pakistan air force assurances knowing the extensive penetration of talibans into thier armed forces and more particularly after the attempt by paf mirages to use an air india jumb over arabian sea during last conflict .If not for timely response by indian navy mig 29k pilots all the 400 odd passengers would have been long dead . He insisted that since he has been equipped with latest IFF transponder from NATO he would be safe from an acciedental encounter from PAF in the afgan border region .

He was right and wrong .Right because PAF will not dare to shoot down an aircraft sqwaking nato response code but also wrong since the transponder have been altered and now after a specifice time interval it will be sqwaking a diffrent cry all over the air space as soon as it near afgan pakistan border and that could be distarous for everyone .

For capt lee the short trip over hostile airspace was no big deal after all he has flown singapore airforce f-16s for more than 12 years which included three joint execises with indian air force at gwalior and agra . Only as his carrer prospects seemed rather dim in the small but well equipped singapore airforce that he decided to make the switch to civilian flying as his friends jokingly said hauling rich and bored housewives and all over the world along with their tax evading businessman husbands.

He was ofourse aware of the sam threat in the region and that why have insisted on incorporating a chaff flare dispenser to the air bus 380 which was not very difficult for this mission all paid for by the world body and an emrgency locator beacon to enable rescue force to locate him in any weather in case of any evantuality . On board along with tons of medicines and critical relief supplies were also some of the best surgeons and doctors from across the world and lee did not want to compromise their security . It was his job to deliver them in one piece at tehran and he intended doing that .

KABUL -KANDAHAR ROAD KM 87 ALPHA FORCE
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one of the bmp 3s had blown a track and as the crew got down to repair the damaged links the rest of the group took up defensive position in an eliptical formation . The landscape on this part of the road is barren and some what monotonous and major srinath after a quick check of the defenses joined the repair crew in fixing the bmp after reporting his problem to both bagram and kabul .The air to ground radio crackled to life as the voice of squdron leader ranjita saxena came on line

-alpha 1 - red eye lead - please repeat problem -150 klick out
- red eye lead -alpha one - vehicle temporary break down- expect complete repair - shall appreciate a quick look see of the area .
-roger that alpha1 reaching grid sector kilo alpha 87 in 10 minutes

major srinath could see the two tiny silver specs comming out of the clouds and doing a quick recon of his area at low altitude not more than 500 ft and the radio came alive once again as the voice of squadron leader came on line

- alpha one -we see no ugly guys in the area -do you want us to stay for a while
- negative red eye lead - we are almost thru - thanks for the support

- roger that alpha one said squadron leader ranjita saxena as she banked hard left and lost few hundred feet more altitude as she took the mirage 2000 right over the army convoy and then went vertical dissapearing in to the cotton puff clouds quickly leaving the army group particualrly thier major in a state of shocked disbelief at this unusal stunt .

Upto 35000 ft and as she dialled in the kandahar base co ordinates in the auto pilot ranjita smiled for the first time recollecting the open gaping mouth of major srinath as she passed barely 100ft over his command vehicle in a some what showoffish dispaly of her flying skill .She also hoped the major will not report this incident to her bosses -after all what is the point in flying a mirage if you donot do what others can never do

As she touched down an air force police jeep was waiting for her -base commander wanted to see her immediately .
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Post by Shankar »

IAF STATION -AGRA
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Squadron leader joydeep and group captain nandita sahani went over the latest met report which predicted moderate to heavy rain in kandahar region for the next 48 hrs with cloud celing upto 45000 ft and visibility poor to very poor which meant less than 1000ft at touch down and cross wind can be expected to be as high as 15 knots . Nanita had to take a decision she can call off the sorties till weather improves or carry on with nessecery precautions . Now you donot get to become a group captain in indian air force by playing safe and shying away from bad weather . She gave joydeep the go ahead for the sortie asking him to reduce load to max 35 tons for the outward trip and since she was not having any sortie scheduled next day decided to act as joydeeps xo for the kandahar flight kind of a check ride to see how he handles the aircraft in adverse weather and ofcourse he is ready for the next jump to wing commander.

Their cargo as usal included some 50 soldiers going back to relieve an equal number who have finished thier 3 month afganistan tour of duty along with some senior army general whose name was yet disclosed but rumored to a majorgeneral in charge of afganistan operation and cases and cases of flares and chaff bundles (aluminised polyesters or mylar shreds) for the aircrafts based in pakistan . Also they would be carrying ammo for the ground troops and quite a few boxes of anti tank missiles for the bmp 3 s .On their return trip they will be carrying back close to 40 injured soldiers in air ambulance mode along with quite a few mirage and hawk engines for refurbishment back home.

she knew she has taken the right decision in continuing with the planned flight though the landing might be tricky if the weather continues to worsen but then she can always divert to bagram or tashkhant of for that matter moscow if required -after all range is never a problem for the il 76s .

KANDAHAR CITY - ABOUT THE SAME TIME
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Dilshad khan looked at the dark thunder clouds gathering on the south western horizon and wondered if the sudden change in weather will affect his pland in any way as the first heavy drizzle in three years started washing of the grime and dust of the old city .

On the streets people left all work and came out to rejoice at the unexpected shower which all hoped will be the beginning of a long wet season and make the land fertile once again ending years of drought.A farmer when interviewed on a local tv channel said quote "the thirsty trees and vines are rejoicing and so are we " .The city of kandahar once used to be surrounded by orchards and vineyards before the last of the yrs of draught started to take its toll .The rain continued sporadically and the streets turned to mud as the umbrellas came out of the lockers and dark corners. during the taliban era and few years after that the biggeest hardship for the common afgan people was the draught which crippled agriculture and forced millions to flee and the rest somehow survived on international food aid .The once rich shomali plains north of kabul once abundant with wheat fields and fruit orchards however did turn to brown wasteland as winter rain failed for consecutive years . The taliban destroyed the surviving gardens and orcahrds in vilages they considered hostile . The snow level in the montains around afganistan went up from 6000 ft to almost 12 000 feet and climate changed .With the onset of rains the reversal strted almost immediately. As the temperature dropped thesnow level strted dropping and after a long long time the afgani farmers were seen to smile.A kabul taxi driver once said (it is better to be kabul without gold than without snow".

INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -DELHI
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Loading of the un charter flight was almost complete and tomorrow morning the passengers will be taken on for an early morning departure for the 4 hrs plus flight to tehran . Fuelling was scheduled for 0500 hrs and departure for 0600 hrs . The advance flight plan was filed and approved .
nits
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@Shankar

Post by nits »

Hi Shankar

With every post the excitement increases and hope too increases that next post will appear very soon...

Really Hats off to you... You have really marvelled the art of writing such exciting Military posts... :D
member_8365
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Post by member_8365 »

Shanker can you post your email id. So, that we can send you some good editorials, related to your posts.
menon
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hi

Post by menon »

I really feel that with prper editing the posts can make a really good nove.
ramana
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Post by ramana »

Shankar and Dileep, You guys should archive your episodes and run pdfs. They can be then marketed as e-books at least.
Shankar
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Post by Shankar »

INDIAR GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DEPARTURE TERMINAL
00500 HRS
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The UN chartered singapore airlines was now positioned for fuelling and departure . 4 huge fuel bowsers each carrying close to 100 000 ltrs of jet fuel were being hooked on to the 4 recieving points two under each massive wings . While the captain have asked for 280000 ltrs of jet fuel to be loaded compared to 325000 max permissible four fuel bowsers were pressed into service to finish the marathon fuelling operation completed as quickly as possibel . Captain lee was not sure whether he will be able to refuel on his return trip at tehran international considering the large number of relief flight zeroing in on that area and he did not want to wait half a day only to be told by iranian authorities that jat fuel unavailability sitting on top of one of worlds largetst crude oil reserves .

Captain lee and his team was already inside the space age cockpit electronically ticking off the pre flight check list . While he was aware of a national transportation safety board disatisafaction over the airbuses refusal to integrate fuel tank inerting system like b-787 dream liner . According to national transportation safety board officials system safety assesment upon which the the system for a380 is predicted with the focus on ignition sources is an incomplete approach he really did not think much about it except now while flying into a hostile airspace where his aircraft may be subjecyed to fire from ground sources .

According to NTSB the special review under SFAR 88 does not work while he also added that this does not mean a-380 will be more vulnerable than any other aircraft flying but also hoped the new prodction would be harmonised in terms of european safety agency and federal aviation administartion requirements.Though incorporation of fuel tank inerting is not mandatory B-787 incorporated such system while airbus refused to do so .However according to airbus ignition source prevention features are sufficeant in and of themselves to meet the aircraft safety objectives considering a permanent flammable fuel tank environment by implementing design features which minimise heat transfer to the fuel tanks avoiding unnessecery increase in fuel tank flammability .

Technically both were right though captain lee but flying into afganisatn and iran he would have been more comfortable with automated fuel tank inerting in place . Other than that he he was happy with his automated giant ,second only in size to russian an 225 it could carry upto 853 passengers in single class configuration of 555 in typical 3 class arrangement.In freighter mode the same aircraft can carry an unheard of payload of 150000 kgs to a distance of 15000 kms. The basic cockpit layout was similar to a 320 but some what more spaced out with its flyby wire flight control system linked to side stick cloumn. The improved cockpit dispaly features eight 6x8 inch liquid crystal displays out of which two are designated as primary flight dispalys ,two navigation displays and two multifunctional displays and the balance two used for engine performance and paramters monitoring.The two multifunction displays are linked to the flight management system repalcing the earlier three seperate mfds and include qwerty keyboard and track balls interfacing with graphical point and clik type display navigation system.

The sky was brightening up on the east and the weather was expected to be clear all the way to jammu ,slight overcast skies predicted over srinagar from where again a clear path to peshwar and then bad weather expected over kandahar and then clear weather was expected as he would clear iran border all the way to tehran .

With fuelling complete the medical team were already clearing the imigration formalities and started boarding .In the distance lee could see the early morning flights of local airlines jet ,sahara and indian lining up for the firt take offs of the day .

IAF STATION AGRA - 0530 HRS
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Squadron leader joydeep finished the go around and climbed into the comparitively spacious cockpit of il-76 . Group captain nandita sahani riding along today as co pilot and check pilot was already strpped into the four point harness . As they strted thier 3 page long preflight checklist the soldiers started taking thier respective palce on the bolted benches and strapping in most of them looked scared even though most of them have done this kind of flight many many times .Joydeep could never understand why even the bravest of soldiers felt uncomfortable inside an aircraft while the same soldier will go up without a thought against a heavy machine gun or a main battle tank

It would be a straight forward flight .Take off agra 0600 hrs - enter class d airspace over delhi 0615 hrs - jammu - 0720 hrs - srinagar 0800 hrs -peshwar 0900 hrs and depending on trafic landing kandahar 0930 hrs . Once near airspace and after they have been recognised by afgan center joydeep planned to switch off the transponder since it teneded to attract to much ground attention in that region

Behind him loading was complete and the rear clamshell doorsmove smoothly on its hydralic arms and all the doors came green on the panel .The starter cart was hooke on and nandita initiated the take off protocol with elan born out of more than 1000 such all over the world .

- tower - dirty donkey flight -request VFR ro kandahar
-dirty donkey -tower - VFR to kandahar -flight level 350 -approved -taxi to runway 27 left -contact tower when ready
-roger that tower - taxing to take off position on runway 27 left -using taxi way alpha lima victor zeta - over

Joydeep pushed the throttle forward and all four engines responded with a smooth whine as they pushed the candid for a slow roll of the parking apron into adjoing taxi way and then pulled back the collective as the speed picked up quickly to 30 kms per hour . It was still dark as they rolled into the hammerhead for a final hold before take off clearence .

- tower -dirty donkey flihgt -request clearence for take off
-stand by -dirty donkey - midas on final aproach
- oiler one-tower- you are cleared to land on runway 27 left
- roger that tower -oiler one copies - cleared to land on runway 27

The IL-78 MKI came in for a perfect landing from some night sortie over north east that much joydeep knew more than that he did not know but ofcourse he could make out the souther drawl of its commander and his carrom buddy wing commander nair .
- dirty donkey flight -tower -you are cleared for immediate take off
- tower -dirty donkey -cleared for take off -rolling now over

The engine note changed as he pushed the collective throttle to 50 5 max and the nose wheel moved almost 45 degree as joydeep lined up the il-76 right on the centreline ,one last look at the panels ,flaps set at 15 degree for a normal 15 flap take off ,trim set for take off,hydraulics pressure ok at 207 bar,radar on standby ,primary radio frequency set to ---- secondary radio frequency set to ---- emergency radio frequency set to--
satelite link ok,gps ok and a quick nod to his xo cum check pilot as he stepped on the brake and pushed the throttle to its stops and rewarded immediately as the many thousand horses strted jumping under the wings begging to be let off which he did by taking of the pressure on the brakes and the aircraft moved off the starting block pushed forward and accelerating quickly under the combined thrust of the qudra engines
The ground soonbecame a blurr
- we have V1 rotate
Joydeep pulled on the control yoke pulling the nose up for a ten degree climb
- we have V2 -take off ,the vibration died down as the tyres lost contact with ground
- altitude 300 ft -climb rate 1500 ft per minute
joydeep was all attention as the aircraft pushed into a low cloud bank and visibility suddenly became zero
- 3500 ft -climb rate 1000 ft per minute
They came out of the cloud bank in the distance joydeep could see the the snake like jamuna and by its side the ghsotly white shadow of tajmahal
- up flaps
said he as his reduced power to 80% and eased the aircraft into a gentle 500 ft/min climb and the air speed quickly picked up to 580 kms/hr
- dirty donkey flight -tower - you are leaving my aor space -contact dehi centre on 122.5 over
- tahnks tower -contacting delhi centre on 122.5 -over and out
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Post by Shankar »

KABUL KANDAHAR ROAD -KM 148 -0600 HRS
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Major srinath started the day with selecetd south indian explitives sure unprintable. The heavy rain the night before and the drizzle that continued therafter have initiated a major mudslide on the highway blocking all four lane as it crossed a low hill . It has taken most of the night with help from other loacl drivers and his group to clear two lanes of big rocks . The bmps have gone across without problem on thier tracks designed for just such an obstacle and the first of the two gypsies have gone over also over the muds fine .The third gypsy driver an young captain have "forgotten " to engage the four whel drive and was now stuck miserably for the last half an hour . The fourth gypsy now cannot cross the mud patch till the stuck one is extricated and vulnerable to surprise attack from the militants with rpg equipped toyotas
As he ordered one of the bmp3 s to back up and the tow cable was connected the rains strted again and work became difficult on the slippery road .The bmp s tracks were not also getting much purchase and so all the spare soldiers were loaded on it and only then it couls do some serious pulling and the mud caked gypsy slowly came out into hard surface . The lasy one crosses easily on all wheel drive mode though at times it appeared to stall but the driver was good he managed with a careful balance of clutch and acclerator and at alst the whole group was in hard surface once again .

As he looked at his titan waterproof watch he knew he will have to speed up to meet his deadline of reaching kandahar 0800 hrs but but also knew today he will not win any award for punctuality . The heavy rains have started in earnest once again.He reached for the sat phone to make a position report and eta at destination .

CAVE NO 457 SOMEWHERE NEAR KANDAHAR-0610 HRS
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Dilshad khan talked quitely to the bearded mujahideens inside a sprwaling cave complex whose entrance was acrefully concealed from aerial recon .This has escaped detection of us forces during enduring freedom and more particularly operation python when quite a few were loacetd and destroyed systementically with high explossives by the rangers . His instructions were clear and simple any survivor should be taken into protective custody quickly before the indian forces come to their rescue .The mujahideen force should expect the target to come down within a 100 kms radius of kandahar within few hours . Behind him the spanking new t-72 s four in all and a column of dozen odd nissan pickups were ready for action. The t-72s were recovered from an afgan govt armoury after the talibans took over kabul and have been saved for just susch an evantuality .

ATC INDIARA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - 0630 HRS
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Viru pal was the senior air trafic controller for the morning shift . The usal early morning rush was on and all the controlleres were bent double over thier scope as one aircraft took off every minute mostly domestic flights which originate from delhi but some internatioanl outgoings to which have started thier journey from kolkata and chennai and bangalore and made a stop over at delhi to pick up the full complement of passengers before recoomencing thier onward journey to west .Fortunately the landing load was not heavy which would start in about another hours time .

Down below he could see the giant a-380 closing is doors and the stairs driving off . The large lettred UN marking could be seen even from this distance . The voice of the commander came on line immediately therafter as expected

- tower - med aid flight request IFR to tehran -flight plan no -- pre approved
- med aid flight IFR to tehran approved as filed -flight level 370 -contact ground whenready to taxi -over

In the adjoining desk another was at the same time steering the il-76 around the type D airport airspace

- tower -dirty donkey flight -type india lima 76 - request radar following
- dirty donkey - delhi departure - turn left 290 -flight level 370 -report clear od tower airspace -over
- delhi centre -dirty donkey - turn right 290 -flight level 370 -shall report clear of tower air space

Viru pal smiled as he heard the latest air force call sign .He never stopped wondering at the limit those airforce jocks will go to generate unique call signs .

-Delhi ground - united nationa med aid flight to tehran - request permission to taxi
-med air flight -delhi ground -you are cleared to taxi vide taxi way bravo -delta - lima -charlie - contact tower when ready to take off -atch out for earth mover at intersection of of taxi way lima and charlie -max taxi speed 15 knots -over

In the distance the four engines roared to life and then throttled down as the massive a-380 started taxing to take off position .
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Post by Shankar »

PAF BASE PESWAR -0700 PST
-----------------------
f/l looked the overcast sky thoughtfuly as he ordered his standard american breakfast from the mess . Asgar loved his aircraft,food and money not nessecerily in that order . With lot of pursuationwith promise of abottle of black label he had been able to assign himself the 9-11 cap slot .The indian transport aircraft he was supposed to shoot down for the promised 5 million us dollar bounty was expected to be in the region around 0930 .

Asgar did not anticipate any probelm in the unofficial engagement but the real problem would come after that ,escaping the alerted indian interceptors which may include the dreaded su-30 mkis with its formidable arsnel of air to air missiles ora combination of su-30 and mirage 2000s which indian seem to prefer using over afgan airspace for defending thier bases particularly in kandahar . He will be carrying a normal cap load of 2 sidewinders 9l for the mission and the weather meant he will have to use one his precious sidewinders for the transporter leaving only one more for a chance encounter with the indian interceptors if they can locate him ,which he doubted very much as he made his supersonic dash across southern afagnistan countryside to iranian border .He still has the option for requisitioning 2 more sidewinders but decided against it as that will entail lenghty paperwork and maybe a questioning by the base commanders about why he is intending to start another round of indo pak war single handed.As a part of latest round of confidence building measure between the two countries the maximum number of air to air weapons were restricted to two per aircraft and engagement meant visual identification of any aircraft without approved flight plan and only then from a specific clearence from the ground based intercept controller the onboard weapons could be armed or weapon free status achieved .

His breakfast arrived with all the pomp and grandeure of bygone british days -two large poached eggs with sunny side up,chicken franfurters onthe side,hash brown and brown bread with butter and preserves to be followed by a steaming cup of black indian coffee . Life for asgar so far was definitely good ,in the distance he could see the f-16 being fuelled up for getting to ORP status .

INDIARA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT -0645 HRS
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Captain lee initiated his pre take off check list as his first officer rolled the giant aircraft slowly into the hamerhead of the main runway and throttled down the four rolls royce trent engines to idle power

First he checked up on the approved flight plan on the scrlling map dispaly
- delhi karnal-ambala-chandigarh-pathankot-jammu-srinagar -avantipur then turn left into one of the most heavily defended airspace in the world by crossing the line of control into pakistan occupied kashmir - rawalkot-chakla international-dhamia army-tarabela dam-mihas air base-risalpur kohat airbase turn right into afgan airspace over khost and then a straight forward approach to kandahar international . Satsified he turned his attention to the equipement check

- anti ice - on
- hydraulic resoiver pressure - ok
-fuel pump pressure -ok
-boost fuel pump pressure ok
- strobe -on
-landing light -on
-navigation lights -on
- flaps set at 5 degree -ok
-fuel level 276000 ltrs -ok
- trim set for take off
- slats deployed
- auto throttel on stand by
- auto pilot on stand by
-flight management computer check -ok
- engine rpm 1/2/3/4 ok
-engine exhaust 1/2/3/4 ok
- lube oil pressure -ok

As he went thru the 3 page long checklist in the distance he could see the landing lights of a 747 once the largest commercial aircraft but now dwarfed by his own come in to land with full 40 degree flap as it flashed passed and touched down on the main runway few seconds later he could see the thrust reversers come into action and the 747 slow down quickly to a crawl as it exited the runway

- united nations med aid flight stand by for take off clearence
-roger that delhi tower
- med aid flight -you are cleared for take off
-cleared for take off rolling now

Captain lee released the parking brakes and slowly advance the throttle 25% as the giant aircraft strted rolling into the main runway and slowly came to its take off position right over the runway center line .One last check and lee advanced the throttle all the way forward and the the 4 rolls royce trent engines took over .With more than 374 kn of thrust each it pushed the a-380 smmothly along the concrete rapidly pushing it to its designated take off speed of 160 knots .As the double decked airbus lifted off the runway some what sluggishly at first and faster onec the massive undercarriage retracted to its cruis configuratuion and the altitude indiacted was 500 ft with corresponding air speed of 230 knots climb rate 1500 ft per minute .

-med aid flight -delhi tower -you are leaving my airspace -contact delhi centre on 119.5 -over
- delhi tower -med aid flight - contacting delhi centre - thanks and over
-delhi centre -med aid flight -request flight following
- med aid flight -roger came the reassuring voice of delhi center as the a-380 crosssed over karnal on its way to ambala .
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Post by Shankar »

CAVE NO 457 30 KMS EAST OF KANDAHAR -0700 HRS IST
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Dilshad khan was skittish and nervous. His delhi contacts have confirmed departure of the united nations med aid flight 30 minutes behind schedule . The contact has also assured installation of a mini transponder which will come alive as soon as the a-380 is 3 hrs into flight and its standard nato transponder will go dead.This in simple terms meant for any pakistani aircraft trying to identify the the aircraft from beyond visual range wil percieve it as an indian four engined heavy aircraft .

This was the important part of the game plan . Dilshad knew even for 5 million us dollars no sane paf pilot will shoot down an unarmed united nations relief aircraft going into to deliver medical aid to a brother muslim country but the same pilot will not think much shooting down and iaf aircraft transporter or not for a cool 5 million dollar .

The add on transponder module will start sqawking the same frequency as that in use by iaf candids on thier routing supply missions to kandahar.

He has specifically instructed the paf pilot to make the engagement between khost and kandahar ,an area where he has already pre positioned a number of look outs and mobile attack groups whose sole job would be take in any survivors and recover the wreckage of the doomed aircraft.These photos he intended publishing in all the websites under his control and al za zeera network as a warning to the world with a message to stop the indians getting involved inafgan internal matters .He also hoped there would be a few survivors since they will further help shock the world as masked mujahideens behead them in sequence .

In his own way it was a good fool proof plan but certain events were complicating the expected ressults on the day .First the close proximity of the iaf il 76 more or less on same flight path ,the presence of alpha group on the kabul kandahar highway approaching kandahar ,and most importantly the personality of ex fighter pilot lee who was trained not to give up even in extremely adverse situation .

The four t-72 s started up thier engines and came out of the low cave covered in dessert camo nets slowly made thier way to waypoint one where the med aid flight was expected to come down .

Dilshad has mobilised a large group of jeep mounted militants for this mission ,a total of nearly 200 in a fleet of 4 t-72s. 7 bmp2 (all ex soviet)
and numerous toyota four wheel drives . Dilshad knew he would need lot of manpower to collect all the wreckage and torn apart dead bodies and then the chance of an acciedental indian intervention was always a possibility .The central idea as dictated by the old man was to shock the world and more mutilated the dead bodies are more intense the fire is better it will be for the billions of tv audience all over the world.

In the end he knew indians will leave afganistan just like the americans have done letting the rightful owneres of the land take control -the talibans with warm supprt from thier next door neighbors the pakistanis.


DIRTY DONKEY FLIGHT IL 76 X 1 -OVER JAMMU - 0725 HRS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
At 37000 ft over mean sea level squadron leader joydeep thought the world is a beautiful place though he knew that to be not true . As he slipped over the rolling hills of pir panjal range below he could not but recollect the violent clashes that used to take place down in the valley even a few years back or for that that matter the kargil conflict happening just after a bus visit by the prime minister vajpayee pakistan northern light infantry took over the vacated indian bunkers along the line of control overlooking the strategic leh srinagar road .It was a brurtal battle with nearly 500 dead in indian side and estimated three times that much on the pakistani side fought in some of the highest battle fields of the world . Pakistanis had all the advantages from easier logistics chain to advantage of prepositioned food and ammo supplies plus most importantly the advantage of terrain on thier side . But in the end the indian grit and brute fire power of the fh 77b bofors howitzers won the day duly supported in some what low profile way from the airforce who were given the stupidly funny instruction of not crossing the line of control when striking the mountain stong points of pakistan northern light infantry all equipped with surface to air missiles .

But then that was another day and below him the mountains rose up as if trying to reach up touch him thought joydeep as the overhead radio came alive

- dirty donkey -srinagar tower -do you read
- srinagar tower -dirty donkey -read you 5/5
-dirty donkey -we have some addition pax and equipement for kandahar
-shall appreciate a pick up
- stand by srinagar - checking up loading manifest
- ok srinagar -can do that -35 additional pax max and 4 tons load -is that adequate
- dirty donkey -that will be fine - fly straight in -cargo already on tarmac

Joydeep looked at group captain nandita sahani for confirmation but she was already taking out the landing chacklist and dialing in the coordinates and elevation of srinagar airbase on to the newly installed auto pilot .Joydeep looke at the air speed indiactor and they were flying too fast for a short strip landing and reached to pul back on the collective throttle as the engine nose quitened down reached up and deployed the air brakes for a short while -in the distance about 50 kms to north east he could see the golden kashmir valley and the single airstrip that marked the airforce station srinagar .
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Post by Hari Sud »

Shankar

You have been going on a fish hunt on your last few scenarios.

What the hell you were you thinking when you had built a scenario of India's military involvement in Africa. You wasted quite abit of time. Did you see India as an expansionist power which will have military plans in southern Africa?

Your very good mind is going astray again. You are building an India's involvement in Afghanistan scenario. Again where is your logic? You think that after Russian and an almost American defeat in Afghanistan, India will venture going into Afghanistan.

If none of the above is ever going to be be true, then why are you building these scenarios.


I am going against the current fan base you have built in this forum. But all of you think before you jump to write or support Shankar's scenario.

In my honest opinion you are the very best scenario builder in this forum or any other public access media in India or abroad. You have been led astray by your success.

This is a very positive criticism of the very best talent you have. Put it to a better use.


Hari Sud
Canada.

Note:- All of you guys, who are waiting to pounce upon me for the above, think before you grab the keyboard.
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?

Post by Ankit Desai »

Dear Mr.Sud,

If I am talking about Africa , than Indian Dimond Merchants have business relation with mines and waste no of Indian origin people are living there.As well India used to purchase military hardware from SF. So to protact such inteterest, I cant see any bad decision by Indian "Wise PM".

And in the begining Shanker did say , India is a Major power to recognize, so being the power you cant just seat . You have to do some so called peace keeping work (mainly to protect your interest) which USA doin till than , now its India's turn.

Now about afghanistan, India can control Pakistan as well as China by entering Central asia . One of example is India's Airforce base at one of central asian country, I am sorry I foget its name. As well India has crude oil diplomacy with Iran and Iraq as well India exploring oil in central asia ,so I cant see any bad decision by Wise PM again.

India is controling ISI's operation at Afghanistan so it can stop exporting Afghan fighters at Kashmir.

You are getting free entertainment man than enjoy it .

Good work Shankar, I really appreciate it, specialy your political view for all scenarios.

Sincerely,

Ankit Desai
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Post by Hari Sud »

deleted
Last edited by Hari Sud on 28 Jun 2006 03:56, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by menon »

My dear friend Sud is starting from an insular mentality. We just do not interfere anywhere and we are goodie goodies. Thats far from truth. Earlier we acted goody goody and sat at home because we could not do what we should do.
We can still be goody goody and stand on principles. And we should. There is a lot of injustice and violations all over the world and we should take part in preventing this. Now we have the power and we can do it. Lets do it.
We have a huge contingent in Congo (there were accusations of sexual exploitations by the UN peace keepers theer. But do you know the ONLY contingent with not even one complaint against was the LARGE Indian contingent?. I was proud andevery Indian should be proud of that.)
Soon, as soon as teh Sudanese Government capitulates, UN peace keepers will head for Sudan/Darfur. I am sure that they will also render yoeman service there.
We must respect the very professional and compassionate Indian help in these places. We have been doing these without any thought of reward. It is time we did some things to protect our interests.
Forgive me if I have gone overboard.
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Post by Sudhanshu »

--Deleted-- By Sudhanshu
Last edited by Sudhanshu on 28 Jun 2006 15:35, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Sudhanshu »

Shanker,
We are waiting to hear abt flight dirty donkey :lol: :rotfl:


I could not find such piece of writing... even in books. Keep up the good work!! buddy.
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Post by Hari Sud »

deleted by Hari
Last edited by Hari Sud on 28 Jun 2006 03:55, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Dileep »

Ah, a lot happens when one goes away for a moment!!

In the current version of the thread, anything that happens have a good reason behind it. The Afghan involvement also is made after careful thought process. The general audience will have to wait for the plot to unfold. Those (very) few who cared to participate already knows what is going on.

And believe it or not, there is a connection between every post in this thread. The spy story and Afghan involvement are interconnected. You will see at the end.

And it would help if you read at least my intro pieces as well, because there is linking info embedded somewhere.
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Post by nits »

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Post by Raja Ram »

Just continue guys, it is quite interesting to read. Reminds me of some old simulations and write ups that used to come under the label of "DANK Team" right here on BR. Who knows there might be some connection? 8) :wink:

There is a distinction between national security and national interests. India's strategic interests is not confined to mere physical territory. National Interests is something that is always dynamic and evolving. To protect National Interests, the capability should be there and planned for.

So far the regions mentioned are all inexorably getting linked to expanding sphere of national interests of the GOI.

Hari, I suggest to just bear with boys. They are on to something and let's enjoy the show.
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Post by Hari Sud »

OK Good.

Shankar, please continue. You have a large following. I was only cautioning you about dwelling too much on unlikely scenarios.


May I suggest that your future thinking and scenarios include:

1. Battles shaped by information and plans betrayed by insiders.

2. Build into your story line possible strategic value of long range artillery and its value as a weapon system of choice to inflict a strategic defeat on the enemy.

Both the above can be built into Indo-Pakistan context.


Hari Sud
Canada.
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Post by ramana »

Hari is giving feedback not criticism. Please continue.
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Post by krishnan »

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Post by Sudhanshu »

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Post by Hari Sud »

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Post by Sudhanshu »

I dont want to unnecessarily argue with someone, I just wanted to make my point.

I take your recommendation seriously sir, I GIVE UP :)

But I cannot resist myself to say that wait for one-two yr (or till IRAN US confortation), I will be vindicated.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess, we have hijacked this thread and scared Shanker. :)

Lets end this thing here itself. And wait for some new intriguing details from Shanker.
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Post by ramana »

krishnan and others please delete your posts. Thanks, ramana
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Post by Dileep »

I repeat the first post here.

Any editorial contribution may be e-mailed to me dileepks AT gmail DOT com, and I promise to give due attention to the same. If it is for Shankar, I will make sure he gets it.

Questions, disputes, clarifications, anything related to this thread are also welcome. Let us not use this thread for non story posts. It is distracting.
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Post by menon »

[/quote]If tomorrow Hamid Karzai request Indian troops for deployment... I am damn confident that GOI will send at least one of its brigade, because (as you know) Afganistan has strategic values.[/quote]

are you sure this has not already happened?
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Post by Shankar »

PRIME MINISTERS OFFICES -NEW DELHI- 0700 HRS
---------------------------------------------------------
The soft spoken prome minister of india sipped into his elachi tea as he scanned the morning papers . The increasing deployment of indian armed forces in afganistan following us withdrawal and only a skeletal nato presence was attracting excessively hostile media attention and some papers have also linked the present deployment to the earlier short stint of indian military presence in namibia -south africa terming it as an expansionist move born out of growing military might and boosted by steadily growing nuclar offensive capability .One particular eeditorial also mentioned the estimated cost of such "military adventirism " to the honest tax payers .

The prime minister of second most populous country of the world with million plus all volunteer standing army and fourth largets air force in the world along with perhaps the most efficeant navy in asia pacific region barring us anticipated all these and more. He was very much aware that the namibian adventure as the press often dubbed the indian military support in the region if not extended would have destabilised the world economy in two ways .Firstly even a short term ocuupation of namibia by angolan forces would have seriously endangerd the indias trade in the region which after the nuclear deal with us allowed the country to freely import low enriched uranium from the african continent particularly namibia and more specifically rossing mines . Secondly indian air force have been practising such an extended deployement fore years .Refusal to help south africa and namibia in thier hours of need would have reduced indian credibility in the region to nothing .Secondly south africa happens to be the source of raw diamonds which is polished in india and sole in the world markets providing a big chunk of nations hard currency earning and thousands of jobs in palces like surat and mumbai .Thirdly if the terrorists would have got hold of even a small part of south african/mamibian gold and diamond reserves terrorism all over the world would increased exponentially firther affecting trade and free travel which would have acted as adampner to indias own economic growth which have just touched the magical double digit figure .Slowly the country was transforming from a underdevelped to almost developed status as refelected in booming manufacturing and particularly civil avitation sector.The RBI reserves which stood at 150 billion us in 2006 now almost touched 300 billion.

Along with economic boom also came the added responsibility expected out of a major power in the region and took the form of international policing like in afganisatn and namibia ,providing security to international commerce from aden to singapore ,actively taking part in us sponsered container security initiative and nuclear non proliferation in the asia pacific region which made expansion of the indian navy a pre requisite

The prime minister knew not much of military but he knew economics inside out and a bit more . He knew if the indian economic growth is to maintained energy security have to be assured at any cost .This part of his policy was refelected first in agreement with iran on natural gas pipeline project thru afganistan and pakistan ,then the landmark us -india civilian nuclear cooperation agreement .long term LNG purchase deal with oman and so on .

But then an afflent nation invites unwelcome attention of terrorists .No one knows it better than US which happens to worlds strongest economy despite all the wars and scandals and india perhaps comes a close second in the the list of all fundamentalist organistions sharing the space of honour with united kindom.

The pragmatic prime minister of india knew there is one way of combating the scourge of fundamentalist terror and that is use of overwhelming brute force followed by a healing touch of health care and education to the victims of terror on both sides . So he saw to it all major defense deals goes thru the cabinate even if it takes a few years since the ghost of bofors still haunted the halls of south block.

In the long run the option of using terror as a political tool can only be eliminated if it can be assured people world over has atleast the basisc needs taken care of and that can be done effectively only if it is a free world and basic human rights are respected above everything else .

Comming back to present situation in afganisatan he knew india as a nation cannot allow re talibanisation of afganisatn which if happens maybe ten times more difficult to get rid off than during enduring freedom because this time they may have at thier disposal the ultimate terror weapon - a portable thermonuclear warhead bought in the black market by any of thier sponsers and some day may be actually used in a city like mumbai . The consequences were too horrible to contemplate even in theoritical terms .

The rest of civilised world knew this too and thats why as the indian armed forces moved in slowly and steadily into afganisatn as us with drew to take care of other hot spot like iran and korea along with parenial problamatic iraq -there was no govt level opposition even from peoples republic of china who strangely shared indias economic dreams .

The prime minister grimaced as he looked at the request from the ministry of defense on proposed procurement of 6 more scorpenes and 3 more stealth frigates for the navy over the next five years but inked in his initials neverthless .As he got up to strech his legs he remembered the afternoon meeting with the visiting russsian defense minister on increasing the number of mig 35s to be purchased from 126 as initially agreed to 250 based on current threat perception of the air force .The next batch of 3 phalcons are also expected and final installment also need to arranged without disturbing the currency reserves much.

For the soft spoken prime minister of india life was definitely not easy .


DIRTY DONKEY FLIGHT -AIR FORCE STATION SRINAGAR -0800 HRS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colonel parikh was a soldier thru and thru and he was instructed to reach kandahar with his elite group of paras by 1100 hrs where a deep cover operation was in the offing(he suspected it to be something with cladastine pakisatni nuclear weapons but not sure ).No transport was available as he reached srinagar air force station .A quick call to delhi and within an hour a routine il 76 flight was being diverted to pick up his group enroute to kandahar .Parikh fely lucky and sipped into his coffee mug as the aircraft touched down like silk and then gracefully turned out of the runway into the protected technical area . The rear clam was opening even before the aircraft came to complete halt and the turbine whine died down . By the time colonel parikh boarded the ramp he was the group captain a lady in her early fourties he noticed was already doing a quick go around and giving specific refuelling instructions while a the pilot completed the shut down checklist .

Then all hell broke loose . The paras who boarded at agra stood up to salute thier colonel and none of them where wearing their chutes . To colonel parikh there can be no crime a para can commit when flying over near hostile airspace without a parachute on it like going to school without a pen . The language he used was not exactly parliamentary as he gave a personal dressing down to each of them and hinting what they can expect once they land in kandahar . And then the miracle happened .By the time the rear loading ramp closed and the fuel bowseres disconnected all 85 were chuted up and jump ready which made even the battle hardened colonel smile .

Unknown to any of them this singular act of colonel parikh will save just not thier lives but manu others in the hours to come .
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Post by Shankar »

UN MED AID FLIGHT - CROSSING LINE OF CONTROL -0815 HRS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Captain lee switched on the the cabin announceemnt system as the state of the art autopilot duly assiated by integrated flight management system took inputs from engine parameters,fuel consumption,altitude,wind speed,distance to destination ,weather at destination and enroute and hundreds other information it thought important to ensure maximum commercial viability of a particular flight and safety . As it crossed over the imaginary line on ground which divides the two countries into an airspace considered not safe it prompted the comander to establish radio contact with nearest air trafic control ,rechecked the anti collission transponders were working ,iff transponders were powered up and tarnsmitting and its own position with the satelites that constitute the galileo global positioning system . It did not find anything out of order but still kept checking several times a second for the slightest variation from normal in its fully automated closed loop flight control system .But it was programmed to check the iff transponder emmission frequency simply because till date none of airbuses avionics system designers considered the possibility of an intended undisclosed time /position based change in response frequency over potentially hostile air space .

The automated flight management system also carried out certain routine change in flight parameters like reduced turbine rpm to 75% maximum which slowed down the massive aircraft smoothly to 500 knots and also prompted the pilots for a request of cruise altitude increase to flightlevel 400 or 40000 ft from the air trafic authorities just to save fuel and increase profit for the airline .While the advise of the flight management software was not binding on the commander it would be a foolish commander indeed who would not atleast act on the suggestion without enough read life death situation since then the possibility of him flying air zambia or timbaktu airways was a real possibility next month.

Captain lee had no intention of selling watches in te streets of singapore or flying a vintage dc 3 over timbaktu at the moment so he obeyed his robotic boss and contacted peswar centre .

Down below the un doctors were treated to perhaps the most scenic of places in world the pakistan occupied kashmir ,with snow capped montains and deep emerald green valleys and small icy rivulets flowing in between .In the distance they could see the columns of thunder cloud forming up and slight turbulance as the aircraft passed thru some of the cloud banks .

For all of them it was a flight of a life time - but none of them knew how true that one liner will translate into reality in less than an hour

-peswar centre -un med aid flight request increase in cruise altitude to 40000 ft over
- med aid flight we have you on radar - tou are cleared to climb to flight level 400 - we have a storm warning over kandahar -over
- thanks peswar centre - request radar following
- med aid -your sqwak is 3454 over
- 3454 - acknowledge over

Captain lee dialed in the new altitude and immediately the engine note changed as the robotic brain increased the engine speed ,pitched the nose up by 2.5 degree for a slow economic climb to the new altitude .

Lee remembered the pa system was still on and made the belated annoncement

- ladies and gentlemen .We are now flying over pakistani airspace and close to afgan border as you must have noticed on the gps repeaters before you. While we donot anticipate any hostile action it would be advisable to keep your seat belts fastened at all times till we cross into iran . There are two reasons .Firstly we are flying into some heavy weather and secondly in case any sharp evasive moves are called for to ensure your safety it can be done better with all of you strapped in.

I the passenger deck most of the doctors and nurses did not understand the implication of the annoncement but like all well behaved passengers they obeyed him and by doing that saved thier lives .
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Post by Shankar »

Airbus first began feasibility studies on large capacity aircraft which can rival 747 as early as 19990s principaly with the objective of ending boeings total dominance of large aircraft market and also to nicely round up airbus' s own product porfolio.Initially it was named AXXX but changed to a380 once 50 firm orders were recieved by customers from all over the world. The 8 in the desigantion came from the cross section of the twin decks .Initially air bus engineers did consider a single deck configuration with twin vertical tails however the structural requirements of sitting 12 abreast was not econmically acceptable so the finalised version came in twodeck format with significantly lighter structure reinforcement requirement .

The basic objective of the design team was to create aircraft which can carry more passengers and more cargo and be able to use the existing airport infrastructures like runway and aero bridges which already uses b 747 at the same time at considerably less operating cost .All the objectives were more than achieved with 380 design having nearly 50% more floor spaceand this translated to 355 more seats without sacrificing passenger comfort along with about 155 more range with full load apart from adhering to stricter emmission norm .

The cockpit lay out is almost identicals to a 320/340 type a standard two crew cockpit with pullout keyboards .A proprietory composite material of aluminum fibre glass called GLARE have been extensively to bring down weight.

The a-380project is true international aviation endevour .Apart from prime contractors in france,germany,uk and spain industries from as far away as australia,canada,belgium,south kora,malayasia ,netherlands switzerland and usa participates in this programme .Final assemble ofcourse takes place i toulouse france and interior fitment in germany .

Most of the doctors and nurses in the flight to tehran today was however barely aware of all this ,they were simply enjoying a smooth flight almost 8 miles over the beautiful ground scape of kashmir as the flight attendents began serving 3 course breakfast ,but the seat belt sign did not go off like usal and the pilotslast annoncement was taken in by the highly qualified professionals with the usal pinch of salt .

PAF BASE PESWAR - 0830 HRS
---------------------------------------
F/L asgar walked in his usal jaunty way to the neat row of f-16 block 50s parked on the apron . His cap sortie was scheduled for 0845 hrs and his wingman another f/l has also been brought into confidence about his plan to shoot down the indian il 76 over afganisatn airspace and then then both them have agreed to make a dash to iran border hugging the deck .Of course he will have to share the 5 millio us loot too but then thought f/l asgar two of them together stand a much chance of survival against indian interceptors than all by himself .

Lockheed martin f-16 was chirstened the work horse of dessert storm by usaf and today perhaps the most combat proven aircraft in the world .The production series coded block 50/52 in a way represent the largets configuaration change in the decades old falcon manufacturing history.This includes additional fuel as wella s payload apacity,totally new generation of sensors and avionics .Conformal fuel tanks are now more or less standard with all airforces using block 50s .The lead customer for the f-16 block 50 was the hellenic air force with 50 aircraft,followed by greece 30+10 on option,israeli airforce with its customised f-16i or soufa or storm.One of the salient features is the rear cockpit can be eiether used as instructor seat or weapon system officer station with the flick of a single switch .The common engine bay allows the customeres a choice of 29000 lb class engines and have a modular common inlet duct9which gives them the classic shark mouth appearence . Anothe r basic diffrenec is the on board oxygen generation system replacing the liquid oxygen carry aboard canisters used in earlier versions to provide breathing oxygen for the pilot over almost infinite duration allowing unmatched extended mission capability.

While usaf f-16s uses amraam as default weapon with sindewinders asgars f-16 had only two sidwinder earlier version just like his wingman .Ofcourse he also had at his disposal the six barrel 20 mike mike gattling gun for ground strike or as in this case a last ditch self defense capability should the iaf mirages manage to intercept him over afganistan.

The tower came on line just as f/l asagar finished his preflight and powered up the avionics

-desset falcon flight -cleared for engine start up -fly runway heading -climb to 30000 ft to initiate search patter zeta bravo - stay away from air corridor to kandahar -acknowledge over
- tower dessert falcon lead- understood clear for engine start -shall execute search pattern zeta bravo at 30000 ft -contact when ready for take off -over

Asgar bent over a little as he scanned the multi functional dispalys one last time and pressed on the engine start button and relaxed as the well tuned engine responded immediately with low whine at first and then the trademark throaty growl of a falcon as raw jet fuel got sprayed over the compressed sucked in by the fan and the ignition occured and the hot exhaust rushed out from the back at more than 650 degrees centigrade speeding up the turbine and creating the first of the shock waves as it contacted the cold peswar air outside which soom merged into one another creating the famous growl which is nothing but a series of sudden expansion of cold ambient air in the vicinity of the exhaust expanding suddenly and generating the noise. like a faraway rolling thunder.
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Post by Sudhanshu »

Shankar wrote:with low whine at first and then the trademark throaty growl of a falcon as raw jet fuel got sprayed over the compressed sucked in by the fan and the ignition occured and the hot exhaust rushed out from the back at more than 650 degrees centigrade speeding up the turbine and creating the first of the shock waves as it contacted the cold peswar air outside which soom merged into one another creating the famous growl which is nothing but a series of sudden expansion of cold ambient air in the vicinity of the exhaust expanding suddenly and generating the noise. like a faraway rolling thunder.
Wow!! Such intricacy requires lots of research. Your writing is getting better day by day.

May I suggest, though occasionally you are doing, you would like to infuse some subtle humor too in the story. That makes reading more interesting.

And one more thing I would like to suggest, I am not a pessimist but in real world out there, there can not be always happy ending. At least one Indian soldier (or any important civilian) should die in battles.

I hope you would take my suggestions in healthy way.

I never meant to criticize great author like you.
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Post by Shankar »

ALPHA FORCE -KABUL KANDAHAR ROAD -0800 HRS KM 267
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Major srinath finished watering the perched lanscape of afganistan and looked at the skies once again . The skies have started clearing some what
and he hoped to reach the indian contingent housed in the vicinity of kandahar international airport . So far he has not seen the mirages and corretly presumed the weather maybe the culprit .

He reached for his pack of classic mild as he watched his team get down from thier mounts to strech the legs and like him do the needful . Those in charge of breakfast was already getting out the packets of ready to eat meals made by a small private sector company caled MTR under "guidance "from drdo .he could see small fire already going the subtle aroma of hot sambar strted drifting iver the winds . That cheered him up nothing like the taste of home in a faraway land he hoped like back home todays menu will be idly sambar with lots of prepacked coconut chutney laced with super hot green chilli . As he ambled towards the cooking fire slowly the sky strted darkening again and another hopefully final round of rains were on the way.

The breakfast did not take much long to finish and as the trash was meticulously packed in plastic the two lead gypsies strted off on a semi road clearing type of mission .The soldiers there were carrying hand held metal detectors and imported explossive sniffer which they used to check any doubtful objecet on the road and its shoulders before the heavier bmp3s moved on thier tracks . It was not exactly a full proof method but in taliban land anyhting was better than nothing. At least it has saved them till now.

Major srinath was ofcourse totally unware of the drama about to unfold literally over his head in few minutes time and in the events about to unfold he will paly the lead role without ever volunteering for this role.
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Post by Shankar »

( off story - there is a possibility me in LA -atlanta-minniapolis around 15th september -if i get my b1 - would just love to be with you guys like arun,dileep and sudhansu -shankar)- shank833@yahoo.com
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Post by Sudhanshu »

Sure Shanker,
Minneapolis is not more than 3-4 hrs away from my city. I am just praying university minor exams are not scheduled in between that.
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Post by Shankar »

DESERT FALCON FLIGHT 2XF-16 NEARING AFGAN PAKISTAN BORDER -0900 HRS
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F/L asgar eased up on the throttle as the falcon flight neared its cruise altitude of 28000 ft and the the afgan airspace closed in . He needed to conserve fuel as the quick climb out has used up almost 10% extra and at the moment his fuel tanks were about 83% .The target was still nowhere in sight and he quickly configured the aircraft for max endurance mode which means trimmed for level flight at most economic cruise speed of 450 knots .The pressure on his back eased off confirming the changed flight parameter and falcon started an extended figure eight search pattern effortlessly .Tcloud bank streched to almost 40000 ft as asgar switched on his air search radar at max power .Till now there was no reflection and the radar scope stayed clean

Perhaps the most dramatic combat action ever undertaken by a falcon flight was the destruction of osirak nuclear reactor on the outskirts of bagdad in 1981. The date was june 7th when eight israeli airforce f-16s came in low from a an undisclosed airbas ein sinai flying over jordan and saudi arabia and bombed the iraqi nuclear weapons dream to oblivion .All the falcons went back even before the first anti aircraft shell or missile have been launched . It was dinner time in iraq then and well before the gunners could be in position the falcons were out of harms way . A classic deep penetration strike carried out with flawless precision which would reach the the text books of all majot airforce academies all over the world in few years time .

Some say iraqi nuclear weapons programme was to some extent instigated by the israeli programe for the same purpose.The israelis because of thier teritorial vulnerability started thier own covert nuclear weapons programm in 1960s with french assistance and by the time the osirak strike was carried out already had just over 100 nuclear weapons mostly free fall bombs . This new found capability of israel made all the arab states in region vulnerable and sadam decided to have his own nuclear reactor to make his own nuclear weapons following the same route israel has taken . While he recalled alloverseas iraqi scientists and engineers for an all out effort tomake a nuclear weapon he is also reportedly appoached french president chirac for a nuclear reactor and approximately 75 kgs of enriched weapons grade uranium in exchange of 700 million barrles of crude . To france always energy starved this was a good barter and they agreed.

Mossad came to know of this plan as early as 1977 and at about the same time Begin the hawkish leader became israels prime minister. Begin was determined to destroy osirak and iraqs nuclear programme at any cost.To start with mossad agents bombed sensitive reactor components in a french warehouse just before it was to be shipped to iraq. The total cost of components was estiamated conservatively at 25 million us dollars but this was not enough to stop sadam who accelerated the programm and by 1981 the israeli strike window was becomming smaller by the day .There were at that time only two possible targets ofiraqi bomb -tehran and telaviv . In fact the chairman of iraqi atomic energy commission was once reported said "my minds eye sometimes flickered with the vision of post nuclear tehran or telaviv -charred smouldering holes with hundreds and thousands vaporised "

The only aircraft available to the israeli air force which had the range and capability to do the mission were the f-16s. Though legally they were not supposed to use these falcons in anything other than purely defensive purpose to israeli govt offense always is a form of defense .There was strong opposition within the israeli cabinet on begins plan of covert aerial strike which would surely endanger israels diplomatic relations all ove rthe world including its principal ally united states. However as intel agencies confirmed the possibility of the osirak reactorgoing critical in a weeks time the cabinet gave its go ahead for the strike .

The rest as they say was history.

-Desert falcon -tower - report position over -we see you too clsoe to to afgan airspace - back off immediately and confirm -the voice of the younfgair trafic controller was visibly tense ,thought f/l asgar as he calmly switched of the vhf set and resumed his search for the indian transport aircraft .

He will not have to wait long . While the IL-76 code named dirty donkey was still some way off the un med aid flight the four engined a-380 just like the candid would look more less the same on radar and f/l asgar was abot to make the most fateful mistake of his younfg life .
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