Possible Indian Military Scenarios - Part IX

Shankar
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Post by Shankar »

DARWIN LNG PLANT -DARWIN HARBOR-AUSTRALIA

Jim looked carefully left and right as he slowly eased into the highway with his massive load of 75000 ltrs of liquefied natural gas destined for sunrise dam gold mine near Perth which used LNG imported from Darwin to meet its entire power need. It would be long journey, Jim knew and he was well prepared with cases of good beer in the overhead cold box and plenty of prime Australian beef sandwich and a good collection of music on the changeable CD player of his massive 60 ft articulated tanker truck. The road conditions were expected to be good and he would soon be engaging the cruise lever and relax as the end miles go by, so typical of arid Australian landscape.
Anglo gold Ashanti Australia’s sunrise gold mine is located ina remote and arid area on the eastern shores of lake Carey 770 kms north east of Perth. The search for a clean and cheap energy made them get into an agreement with Darwin LNG for a daily supply of 200 tons of liquid methane by road in 2006.The demand was met by a fleet of ultra large transport tankers each taking more than 10 days to make a round trip. Since its inception the Sunrise dam mine have relied on captive power generation from a number of diesel fuelled power generators to meet the energy needs of underground mine, processing plant and other surface infrastructure with an average production of 15 MW.During 2006 an alternative fuel source for the powerhouse was investigated and reviewed as the rising cost of high speed diesel pushed the production cost skywards.In the first few years following 2006 the LNG demand was met by nearby Perth LNG plant but as the mine production increase to keep the world gold buyers happy long distance transportation by road tankers from Darwin was resorted to.The application of natural gas for power generation in a remote mine site was lauded by one and all and also provided a platform to reduce emission of green house gases and reduced cost associated with long distance gas pipeline and diesel fuel.


KAKADU NATIONAL PARK –NORTHERN TERRITORIES -AUSTRALIA

Hanif khan have used his short stay in kangaroo land well and also knew a fully loaded LNG tanker will pass the selected highway every 6 hrs or so and some of them will invariably stop at the non descript truckers stop near the Kakadu national park for Dinner before embarking on the long journey southwards
To implement his plan he has already enrolled the services of two locals in exchange of hard cash provided by the old man in Saudi Yemen border. They were both native born Australians having a strong religious bent of mind and stupid enough not to question the objective of hijacking the LNG tanker tonight .Once they have served the purpose ,Hanif knew they will have to go upwards with a 0.44 bullet between their eyes but then he also felt sorry for them .
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Post by Shankar »

Liquefied natural gas is created by cooling natural gas to approx minus 160 degree C .At this low temperature the gas mostly methane with a spattering of higher hydrocarbons like ethane and traces of propane and an assortment of well impurities .At the liquefaction temperature the a volume reduction to the order of 600 fold takes place making it cost efficient to transport over long distances where natural gas pipelines do not exist or the gas demand is not big enough to justify a cross country gas pipeline like HBJ and at the same time raising the concept of virtual pipeline .The road tankers used for transportation of LNG or liquid methane is double walled vacuum jacketed to minimize product loss from ambient heat leakage into super cold fluid being transported in the inner product container .The thermal insulation is critical and as such multi layer radiation shielding with highly reflective aluminum foils with low conductivity thermal spacers between each layer of reflecting foils is provided. The pressure in the LNG tanker during transportation is low usually less than 3.5 bar and as such quite safe .Contrary to popular conception LNG does not catch fire easily and even if the vaporized fluid catches fire it does not explode like other more unstable high energy hydrocarbons like acetylene or even propane(LPG).LNG is colorless ,odorless non corrosive and non toxic all properties which make it a sfer cleaner alternative fuel option to diesel or LPG .When vaporized or re gasified as the term is it will burn only within a narrow concentration band of 5-15% in air .The biggest advantage of LNG is its low cost and also happens to be the cleanest burning fossil fuel available today.
Hanif khan was not very comfortable with these technical details but he had no option .His specific mission assigned by the old man was to stop the uranium convoy from Ranger Mine to Darwin port and take it too an yet undisclosed isolated beach in northern Australia where it will be picked up by yet identified means of transportation for its final journey to India.

He decided to carry out the actual snatch as the Americans call it of the LPG tanker around mid night and then place it in position on the uranium convoy route by next morning .He was sure a massive LNG tanker on fire will surely stop any high security truck convoy ,giving him and his accomplices time to take out few hundred kgs of yellow cake or uranium oxide – so very important to fulfill the dream of the great old man .
Unknown to Hanif khan –the promised assured transportation for the uranium and himself was already compromised .He did not know the transport will never be allowed to touch Australian shore.
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Post by asbchakri »

p_saggu wrote:Wow! Vivek Ahuja, you can write.

Send me that file too at omlettebread at yahoo.com
Ajay and Sagu i have sent the docs to u'r mails enjoy :D

Ajay seems some problem to u'r mail, it came back. send another id.
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Post by Shankar »

RAAF FLIGHT -KANGAROO ONE –750 KMS SOUTH WEST OF CUCOS ISLAND – INDIAN OCEAN

Squadron leader Scott hunched down on his Martin baker ejection seat trying to work out a shoulder cramp as he tried to finalize a search plan utilizing the considerable inventory of sensors at his disposal .
To start with he could use in any combination 5 different kinds of sono buoys
BT or bathythermograph buoy to generate a temperature gradient actual in the search area .It has no depth preset option and simply will sink to maximum depth in the drop area generating an accurate temperature profile of the water around
DICASS or directional command activated sonobuoy system and according to most sub hunters from air the most important sensor in anti submarine game. It does not have greater detection range than the VLAD type but is also the only buoy with both active and passive mode option, particularly useful in detecting ultra quite diesel electric submarines in shallow coastal waters.

DIFAR or directional frequency and ranging buoy is the sensor system of choice in littoral waters or simply shallow waters .The capabilities are similar to VLAD type though due to environmental limitations its detection range is shorter compared to VLAD.A maximum range of 10 kms can be expected under ideal conditions.

VLAD or vertical line array directional frequency analysis and recording buoy is the sensor system of choice in deep blue or open ocean submarine hunting.It works best in depth exceeding 1500 ft and has the greatest passive detection range of all sono buyos . When on a sub hunt which has gone real deep say 700 ft or more and the ocean floor is down 2000ft or deeper The VLAD would be surely selected by squadron leader Scott to locate if not actually track the enemy submarine since it has the capability to go below most thermo cline layers but Scott also was experienced enough to know he cannot use it in shallow waters where the buoy will get buried in mud and signal transmission will be practically zero .
LOFAR or low frequency analysis and recording buoy were also available but only a couple of them today
Scott had to balance the deployment time and sensor range of a particular type of the buoy against current need and threat perception along with available deployment depth and background information on water salinity for fine tuning purpose. Shallow buoys take usally 2 minutes to deploy and start sending data from the moment they hit water. Deep submergence buoys take almost 4 minutes to deply and send back acoustic data of their surrounding ocean. Deploying the buoys in correct spacing was critical and for that Scott used the golden 3 minute rule which stated simply is
Distance travelled in meters in 3 minutes =speed in knots (actual ground speed and not indicated air speed) x100
Once deployed the buoys have a life span of just over 2 hrs or 125 minutes to be exact before they run out of juice and sink to ocean bottom. And also important is the fact that contact with his buoys will depend on direct line of sight communication at all times. Which meant if the aircraft goes out of visual horizon or transmitting buoy –an out of range indication will glow on the multifunctional display.
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Post by Shankar »

IRANIAN KILO 787 –APPROACHING DARWIN COASTLINE -450FT BELOW MSL

Captain Imtiaz knew all his skills would be put to test in the coming days. With some of the worlds most capable anti submarine forces in the area, a confrontation was inevitable and the odds were not in his favor . He just hoped and prayed the Australian substantial anti submarine capability do not get augmented by their new found Indian navy buddies who presented a clear and present danger situation due to their extensive exposure to diesel electric submarine operation particularly the Kilos and Akulas in shallow waters. The last thing he wanted was an Indian Akula joining the search along with a couple of Tu142 or Il 38S again arguable some of the most effective anti submarine aircraft flying the skies.

He knew about the capabilities of P-3 Orions ,having played cat mouse games with them in the Persian Gulf all along his career. He knew as an opponent they were formidable .With a stock of 84 sono buoys aboard of a wide variety both passive and active and some incorporating dual ops mode , Orions were bad news anywhere .He also knew apart from Australia ,Japan also maintained a large fleet of P-3s about 80 f them expressly for the purpose of detecting Russian submarines in its northern seas .There were several attempts to cut down the fleet size while Japan incorporated PAC 3 based anti missile system and wanted to cut down on its conventional forces to pay for the extra investment. But several dramatic detection soon after made Japan Govt drop the plan. Imtiaz knew If the Japs join the hunt ,the scenario for him will turn from difficult to very difficult

But what worried him most was still the aged Russian anti submarine aircrafts of Indian navy ,with their long very long loiter time and capability to carry a large inventory of anti submarine sensors and weapons including tail mounted magnetic anomaly detector assembly –was surely the most serious threat.

So far he knew ,no Indian navy aircraft was in the area and that made him feel little comfortable ,though he knew things can change for the worse any minute .

For once he was dead right – His destiny was flying in at 29500 ft and the claws of death were already out
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Post by vivek_ahuja »

HAMMER-WOLF FLIGHT (12x SU-30MKI)
AIRSPACE OVER TIBET
0315 HRS FRIDAY


The twelve Indian aircrafts were now deep inside Tibet. Their general movement direction was to the northwest. They were getting regular updates on the Chinese aircrafts in front of them via HAMMER-HEAAD-ONE, not TWO, as they had gone beyond the coverage of the latter and entered that of the former. Their targets were aligned roughly in a north to north-east straight line axis, with the four H-6 Tankers to the northern end of the line and the KJ-200 and the Y-8 ECM aircrafts to the southern end. But that was of little concern to the Indian pilots. What was of concern was that twelve Chinese J-8II fighters were approaching towards them from multiple directions. This was something that the Indian flight commander had realized immediately after receiving their first update from the Phalcon. It was indicative of something that could be taken advantage of.

The J-8 force protecting the Chinese Support birds over Tibet had not been expected to get into such a situation as far as the PLAAF had been concerned. They had been depending upon their highly capable SU-27s to keep the IAF CAC under check and only in the direst circumstances were the J-8s to be surged forward. It was not to say that the Chinese had not been expecting the IAF to go after their Support aircrafts over Tibet in the first place. It was just that the superiority of the Indian SU-30MKI over their SU-27s had not been known until a short while ago. In the battles over Arunachal Pradesh, the first such signs had come forward from the way that the Indian Sukhois had slashed through the Chinese ones in large numbers. Now, over Tibet, this had been made utterly clear to the PLAAF High Command. The Indian Sukhoi was more formidable than the Chinese one. And that changed things dramatically.

The problem was, with long range BVR action now becoming the norm for both sides, it had started to resemble the medieval battles where both armies massed in front of each other before launching volleys of arrows. Any army that was dispersed when facing the massed army, eventually lost. Such had been the rules of the game as dictated by the technology of the day. So it was here. The Indians were surging their Sukhois with a clear thought out plan. All twelve aircrafts were in line abreast formation and charging on full afterburners now.

The Chinese were still recuperating and coming to terms with the situation. As a result, their plan was not a well organized one, rather a knee-jerk kind. Consequently, the Chinese force, divided into smaller groups of three each to protect the individual support groups, was the dispersed army. It was still trying to get together to form a wall between the Indians and the Chinese support birds. This now allowed the Indian flight commander to engage the smaller group of his choice and thus utilize his four to one numerical advantage. It was a cold hearted plan, and everybody knew it, all the way to the CAC commander. But the Indian side didn’t give a damn about it. They had driven a knife up the Chinese Tibetan air force, and now was the time to twist it…

The first volley of twelve missiles from the Indians was launched in a small span of two seconds, and their targets were three of the southernmost Chinese J-8s. With each Chinese aircraft being locked on by up to four Indian Astra missiles, their escape options were limited at best. It didn’t take long for the missiles to find the targets and each of the first three J-8s deteriorated under multiple impacts, literally being blown to smithereens over the cold skies of Tibet. Then the Indian side began mopping up the now folding Chinese air defences by moving south to north, engaging the J-8s as they came into range. It was a turkey shoot all the way.

The next three Chinese were sent to see their maker without much trouble, but the last six finally were able to get together and charge southwards towards the Indian fighters while firing their missiles at extreme range to try and break up the invincible wall that the twelve Sukhois presented. The Indian response was much more massive, but similar. The Indian flight commander was in no mood to play along with the J-8s while with every passing second the KJ-200 was breaking away to the north. This time twenty four Indian missiles were launched, two from each aircraft and with the sky literally filling with Indian Astra missiles, there was little that the J-8s could do but to break up, dive, dump chaff and flares in the dozens, and hope to get some hills between them and their killers.

Three of them disintegrated before they could reach the cover of the hills below them. Two others received near misses from several missiles before their aircraft finally broke up under the severe structural damage from the missile shards and debris. The whereabouts of the last J-8 were unknown by the time the last of the missiles ran their course and slammed into the hills below. The Indian losses were for a single Sukhoi that received a direct hit from the top while trying to evade the missiles in the hills below. The Indian side was organized enough to realize that with six missiles heading towards their twelve aircraft, it was very easy to tell which aircrafts were being targeted once they looked at their radars. The affected six were literally baiting the missiles to go after them and they were the ones to break from the formation and dive below. The other six had another job to do.

The death sentences for the crews of the KJ-200 and the Y-8 ECM was now written on the wall, so to speak. They had lost all their last remaining cover. Their aircrafts were not nearly as fast or manoeuvrable as their opponents. And six of them had managed to come across to them and were now within range for the missiles. After the immense planning and combat operations in the CAC, it all came down to this. The Indian aircrafts broke up into smaller groups of two each. One group went after the KJ-200 and the Y-8ECM. The other two attempted to take out the now escaping H-6 tankers to the far north. The Indian flight leader realized what all had been done to arrive where he was now, with his fingers twiddling on the launch button. A second later the Astra punched off from under the Sukhoi and launched itself away, heading northeast towards the most important target over Tibet; the KJ-200.

The pilots onboard the modified transport aircraft knew there was no escape. Even so, they dumped out flares in the last ditch hope that they might be spared. The Pilot was busy flying the aircraft and screaming for assistance from any available friendlies. The Chinese commanders in Chengdu Military district knew that there was none. But that didn’t prevent their pilots from desperately shouting out on the R/Ts for support. The Co-pilot on board the KJ-200 was busy stretching to see from the starboard window try and spot the missile approaching. In the cabin behind, the mission controllers were trying to get together the J-8s that were now scrambling off from Lhasa, but most knew it was too late. Many of them had now removed their headphones and were looking outside the few starboard windows. It was still dark out there, and with the lighting onboard, it was near impossible for the human eye to spot the incoming trail of smoke. And from the front the exhaust flames of the missile cannot be seen.

It was only in the last second that all those watching were able to spot a sudden movement behind the starboard wing before a massive flash erupted and the aircraft was literally thrown to the side from the force of the impact. The people inside were thrown all over the cabin by the sudden impact, and the whole aircraft went into a steep downward dive with major pieces of the starboard wing breaking apart in mid air. The outermost engine on the starboard wing was no longer there. The second engine there was in flames. The wing surfaces had gone and there was a large section of the fuselage side that had broken up, revealing the cabin to the outside and sucking the air outside the pressurized cabin. Inside equipment was literally sucked out by the pressure loss, and so were several of the crewmen. The aircraft was now spinning as it dived, leaving a large trail of smoke and fire behind it. The pilot was still alive, but the Co-pilot was not.

In his last desperate moves, the pilot attempted to bring the aircraft back to level flight, but it was impossible. He finally gave up when he saw dark hills of the Tibetan Plateau appear suddenly in front of him in the darkness…

*********

The Y-8 ECM had met a similar death, albeit less gruesome, as the aircraft had simply detonated in mid air after the missile had struck not the wing but the fuselage itself. To the north, two out of the four H-6 tankers were struck, the other two being lucky after having outrun the Indian fighters. That had been because of the large original gap in the first place and something that the last disappointed pair of Indian fighters had not been able to close. The flight commander ordered all aircrafts to form up back into formation. It was time to escape. They were taking a different route for escape, following the paths of the ARC B-707 to the south before heading towards the peaks of Nanda Devi and crossing over into Indian Territory along with their EW escort.

As the news filtered out back down to CAC headquarters, there was jubilation all around. The Chinese Aerial ISR network over Tibet had been smashed, along with a significant number of fighters. Phase two of PIVOT-HAMMER was now over. The CAC Commander was soon on the line with the CAS, who was aboard PATRIOT-EAGLE C3I. The response from both ends of the conversation was mature and sober, unlike the scene where younger officers were present. It had been a significant victory. Nothing more. Nothing less. The first major battle for the skies over Tibet was over. Others would take place as the Chinese would definitely attempt to take back their loss. However, one thing was clear. If the Chinese came here again, they could only now do so at the cost of sacrificing operations against Arunachal Pradesh, relieving the pressure there and also thus completing the most important part that the CAC was to play in support of the EAC.

The EAC was now free to support the Indian Army in their battles north of Tawang and to the east near the Walong sectors. Now the skies were clear for the long awaited airborne insertion of the SFF, and while the Indian CAC mopped up the battles in the skies above, the battle for the soul of Tibet was only just beginning.
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Post by parshuram »

Great Going Vivek ... GO GET ' EM TIGER
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Post by ksmahesh »

Shankar,
What a scenario....... Lets capture some of these pukis alive (atleast hanif khan).....

Vivek,
Great victory, Sad we missed 2 tankers.................
Hope now we can concentrate on eastern front and kick the hell out of chinese bum.
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Post by Hari Sud »

Guys

Any guesses as to how deep was Indian air penetration during the above battle?


hari
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Post by Shankar »

OCEAN BLUE FLIGHT – 1860 KMS NORTH WEST OF DARWIN

Commander Dixit checked on the moving map display and knew it is time to contact with his Australian counterpart and prevent any unintended happening from the trigger happy hornet pilots patrolling the region. He checked the frequency setting and changed it to pre agreed frequency assigned for this mission. A look on the digital fuel gauge made him draw back on the collective throttle by two notches and the four AL 20M turbo props changed note as their power output dropped down to 75% full military power or just about 13500 HP and the massive winged bird dipped her nose and then regained its attitude as the auto pilot kicked in with corrective input by a marginal increase in horizontal stabilizer depression and reducing speed by about 50 kms/hr .

- Kangaroo one –ocean blue –entering outer search zone –grid sector delta romeo –acknowledge –over
- Ocean blue- kangaroo one –read you 5/5 – confirm ready to execute plan Tasmanian tiger –over .The heavy Australian drawl floated out of the over head speaker

Commander Dixit was relieved .He knew that voice well ,who he partnered with during last Malabar series on exercises in the Indian ocean and knew to be very competent naval aviator specializing in diesel electric submarine tracking and hunting. Tasmania tiger was the mission code which meant simply the locating and bracketing of the sub will be done by the Orion with its load of higher sensitivity buoys as long as the kilo was in open ocean . The order for “killâ€
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Post by vivek_ahuja »

PHASE LINE ALPHA
NORTHWEST OF TAWANG,
ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA
0317 HRS FRIDAY


The valley was quiet at the moment. Not a sound. The artillery barrage had ceased an hour ago. The artillery batteries at Tawang were restocking their supplies after hours of intensive usage of existing supplies. The use of ammunition had been profligate. This had been noticed only when combat had begun. All existing supplies at Tawang had been created with the thought that artillery fire would only be brought down on the enemy when in contact with friendly forces. That is, when eyes were physically on the targets. And for that the supplies were generous. However, changes in modern warfare techniques affect the smallest of details. Now, the enemy was in contact all the time with the army’s UAVs flying overhead and providing the “eye’s on targetâ€
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Post by SK Ram »

kindly mail me the files too ... to sandeepkram at gmaildotcom :)
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Post by Hari Sud »

Vivek

I like the way you have switched from air war in the central sector to ground war in the eastern sector.

Just love it.

Waiting for the outcome of battle of Twang.

Cheers


Hari Sud
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Post by Shankar »

The IL-38 had always been the darling of indian navy though the larger Tu 142 always managed to hog the limelight in most marine recon operations role because of its longer patrol range and payload.While both are capable of both recon and anti sub/surface strike the somewhat easier operation characteristics and low altitude flight stability of IL -38 made it the platform of choice for anti submarine operations in the Arabian sea where as the Bears were assigned the longer patrols over indian ocean and once in a while bay of Bengal zone. As a direct result of this preference IL 38S were the first batch of naval aircraft to be upgraded with sea dragon avionics suite and also the first naval aircraft to be armed with supersonic Barhmos anti ship missiles .When an understanding was reached with Sri Lankan govt on basing facility for Indian navy aircraft in Colombo outskirts in close proximity to the international airport but using the same air traffic control facility the Mays were first of the naval aircrafts to be based overseas .
Like P-3 s the IL-38 are also an evolution of a passenger aircraft IL 20 and about ten years more modern than equivalent P-3 Orions. Unlike the P3 the IL 38 initially carried any under wing hard points as the soviet navy had in the cold world era many other choices in that area but in mid 2009 once the sea dragon systems teething glitches were taken care of after much bickering and successful air launching of the nuclear tipped brahmos from IAF Sukhois ,navy wanted to go all the way to have a share of strategic and long range strike capability modeled after Russian navy . As the first squadron of Backfires flew into to Karwar naval air station so did the first batch of IL-38 flew out for a fit up for air launched Brahmos missiles .The IL -38s were always intended to be used in anti submarine role in the Barents sea region and in the Arabian sea region by the Indian navy. The fully digital SEA DRAGON avionics suitegave the IL--38s of navy not just the capability to kill submarines in shallow coastal water but also covered up some of its shortcomings like ability to carry out surface strike and carry out ELINT missions and some amount of air to air capability by incorporation of upgraded R-73s guided by pilots helmet mounted cueing system .
The conversion of first IL-38 to carry Brahmos was completed by end of 2008 and first successful launch about 6 months later when a decommissioned tanker was sunk off the coast of Lakshadweep with a single brahmos fired from a distance of “more than 300 kmâ€
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Post by asbchakri »

SK Ram wrote:kindly mail me the files too ... to sandeepkram at gmaildotcom :)
Sent them. enjoy :)
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Post by p_saggu »

Dear Vivek_Ahuja

Any News on the Myanmar front???

Is the Indian Navy also going to get into the action?
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Post by vivek_ahuja »

THE HILLS OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH
NORTHWEST OF TAWANG,
0335 HRS FRIDAY


The movement downward from the slope on their side was uneventful. On the way down Major Patel and his men cam across some of the Combat Engineers who were busy laying mines and booby traps among the snow and rocks all the way down to the road from Bum-La. There was a small corridor within this minefield that had been marked with small red flags that was to be the path that Patel and his infantry group would use to move back and forth to the Indian lines. Once their job had been completed, the engineers had been ordered to seal up this remaining corridor as well. They would leave the flags behind, though, hoping to fool any Chinese soldier or officer who might think that the Indian Combat engineers had forgotten to close up this path. In this war, among all the high tech gizmos and weapons, you still took all the chances you get to lay your hands on. The smallest of detail mattered. Major Patel simply nodded to a Captain of the Engineers as they passed by his unit and in return they stared at Patel quietly while thinking about the sanity of the men who were passing them on their way to the north. The Captain had been at Zero Line before the combat had begun, creating the positions for the Indian defences, and he had bothered to keep in touch with what all had happened there. He knew the man he saw passing by him with his INSAS clasped in his hands had been the one whom he had met briefly at Bum-La before all this madness had started. He wished him luck and got back to work to complete his second defensive line in three days.

Major Patel himself was unaware of the young Captain’s identity. He had other things in mind. They were approaching the road now, and beyond it was the upward slope covered with trees that he had to clear out all the way to the top and if necessary, beyond. Once they reached the road, it was going to be all uphill for them, and if the Chinese had already established themselves there, it was going to be one hard night time battle. Patel ordered his men to spread out as they approached the road. His INSAS was up at shoulder level now, safety was off, and fire selection was on single rounds only. He reached a tree trunk that was barely metres away from the road, but he wasn’t looking at the road itself, but at the trees on the other side. Still no movement…

For once Major Patel thanked his stars for the quietness. There was literally no sound now, and as he kept on his knees behind the trunk of that tree, he swept his rifle and the slope beyond the road with his eyes, his vision being assisted by the Night Vision Optics. Only when one stands at the foot of a mountain or a hill does he realize its magnitude, and here it was close to that. The road represented the lowermost point in the valley. From here, the slope they were to head up on seemed higher than ever before. He looked to his left and right and saw that his force of Mountain infantry soldiers were also stooped behind tree trunks and aiming their INSAS rifles up that quiet hill. Patel gave his objective one last look. The topmost point of his objective was about the same height as the hill they had just come down from. This meant that he had some limited support from the T-90 sitting in hull down position behind, and above, him. He saw his Lieutenants facing him in the darkness. There was no need for words. He nodded simply and gave out the universal hand signal for the troops to advance.

And with that, all of a sudden, the Indian soldiers moved out from behind the trees on the south side of the road and ran through the snow and the darkness into the open space of the road and then towards that first line of trees at the other end. The Major was in front, and while he could have sent a force to do the job of scouting for him, he wasn’t that kind of a man. The movement across that open and vulnerable open space was uneventful. There was no return fire from the enemy. Now came the hard part. The journey up the slope, feet deep in slippery snow, at night, and with enough trees all around to block fields of fire to not more than several metres. If the Chinese Recon troops were here, they were going to fight it hand to hand in the darkness…

The Indian force was roughly about two platoons strong. The Chinese Recon force was of unknown strength, and the Searcher-II had only seen them for a small glimpse to be certain, but it was certain that they weren’t more than Platoon strength strong if their job had indeed been Reconnaissance. More likely, they could even be as small as squad size, but that seemed unlikely to men like Major Patel. They knew how the Chinese fought, and more importantly, think. But out here, as the Indian soldiers struggled up the snow covered slopes, Patel couldn’t help but wonder if there were any troops here at all. There was literally no movement up the slope, except for the falling snow, that is. Patel ordered for a halt to the upward movement as he called up his Radioman who was behind him. The Radioman came up through the snow and dropped on his stomach behind Patel, who himself was taking the cover of a fallen tree trunk. The talk was all in whispers only. He took the headset from the Radioman.

“Get me Command.â€
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Post by JCage »

Excellent!

1 clarification: HEAT= High Explosive Anti-Tank

T-90S would likely use HE, ie HE-FRAG:

http://russianarmor.info/Tanks/ARM/apers/overview.html
http://russianarmor.info/Tanks/ARM/apers/ammo.html

Also, T90S doesnt have CITV. :(
But for the purposes of the scenario, lets just say that the commander has a hand held Thermal imager! ;)
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Post by Sudhanshu »

Good job Vivek.

Minor nitpick , if I were in place of the sniper, I would have targeted the person who is talking on radio than the radioman itself.

:) but nobody wants to lose Major Patel.

May be he was not trained to observe and take out high value targets, or lost his patience thought to target anyone he sees first or anything. He was cheap chinese soldier, we cannot expect quality :)
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Post by mdhoat »

It can't get better than....keep it coming Vivek....yeh dil mangee more chinee Kh**n :lol: :lol:
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Post by KiranM »

Sudanshu, Major patel was behing the trunk of a tree. The radio man was only lying prone. Not exactly not-being-visible to a sniper. Though, if i was that sniper, i would have taken that radio out of commission even if i had Patel in sight. Cut communications and the confusion among Patel and his men that would have ensued. :twisted:
Last edited by KiranM on 23 Sep 2007 16:28, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Shankar »

THE INDIAN OCEAN KILL ZONE –IRANIAN KILO 787

Maurice Ewing was the physicist who predicted and then verified the existence of SOFAR sound channels in oceans meaning sound fixing and ranging .The SOFAR sound channel is is a layer in the oceans about 1000 mtr from the surface and somewhat acoustically isolated from its environment. Sound produced at this depth tends to travel long distances without any significant amount ever reaching the surface. Similarly sound created in the surface from both ships and waves does not easily get into the sound channel. The origin of the sound channel is the way the velocity of sound varies in water as a function of depth or more accurately water density. Sound speed also decreases with decrease in water temperature about 5 mtrs/sec for every degree change in water temperature, thru which it is travelling. If this effect dominated the propagation of sound under water than with increase in depth the sound speed would decrease .But then also we have to consider the effect of pressure on sound velocity and sound velocity increase with increase in water pressure which means water depth in which it is travelling. The salinity effect is also important but only in relatively shallow water where the salinity of water varies significantly from location to location and also depth in the same location.
As a result of these physical property variation of water,which happens to be the media thru which sound has to propagate exerting contrary effects on its speed ,sound created at this depth at an up or down angle is bent back to this particular zone and in a way gets trapped .Since sound has no good way to leave this layer it also has no path to enter this layer. This layer thus becomes very quite layer in the oceans of the world. The only sound you can hear is the mating or calling sound of the whales who frequent the depth and the whales do use this layer to communicate over thousands of kilometers, particularly the Hump back whale.
During World war 2 Ewing proposed that the channel can be used for emergency communications .A small metal sphere dropped in the ocean designed to crush ay 1 km depth (the water pressure at this depth is about 100 times atmospheric and only a select group of submarines can ever reach and operate at this depth).The sound produced during the crushing of the metallic sphere could be heard by a other hydrophones placed at similar depth far away .With at least 3 such hydrophones recording the time of arrival the location could be measured with acceptable level of accuracy – more or less the same principle of triangulation is used by the GPS receivers only using radio beacons from satellites instead of acoustic beacons from dedicated sound sources .At the end of second world war the SOFAR system was upgraded to LOFAR system or low frequency analysis and ranging and was used to particularly low frequency sound coming from submarine engines mainly the older nuclear submarines of Soviet union and vice versa. The US ultimately built a multibillion dollar SOSUS or sound surveillance system network and this was followed by putting sensitive hydrophones on submarines and on long lines trailing the ships and submarines giving rise to the towed array sonar concept.

Any good submariner worth his salt would do anything, not to get into the sound channel where detection is almost certain but ranging may not be very accurate by the hostile forces . Captain Imtiaz knew this only too well as he leveled off at 560 ft below the waves as he turned towards Darwin in an almost 90 degree course change heading straight for harbor entrance and – the sub sea natural gas pipeline with its un marked exposed loop
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Post by Shankar »

KAKADY NATIONAL PARK –TRUCKERS STOP


Hanif khan carefully reversed the massive LNG tanker into the parking slot. Getting control of the tanker was not difficult but very time consuming. Though he knew about the schedule of the tankers crossing the deserted part of the Arnhem highway connecting Darwin with the rest of the country and used by the heavy road trains and tankers without fail creating enough distraction at the right time and at the right time took all his ingenuity.
First he had to catch and kill a large enough crocodile. For that he took help of local hunters who made a wire cage and used live chicken as bait .Once ready the cage was dragged to a particularly notorious stretch of south alligator river and left overnight .As expected next morning the hunters were rewarded with the sight of a furious 20 ft long salt water crocodile or salty as the locals call these pre historic beasts of prey .The cage was dragged up the sandy shores of the river and croc killed with a high dose of anesthetic as used for transporting dangerous animals long distances . By the time the local hunters have finished their work ,they too got their rewards – a single bullet in the back of their heads and the still bleeding bodies were thrown into the same alligator infested river ,ensuring no trace ever remains of this grizzly murder .By the time Hanif Khan left the river bank ,several ugly snouts were already breaking the water surface barely few yards away ,inching towards the still warm but bleeding bodies of his local “helpersâ€
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Post by Shankar »

RAAF FLIGHT -KANGAROO ONE –350 KMS NORTH WEST OF DARWIN – INDIAN OCEAN

Squadron leader Scott was now ready to initiate the search .The water data from the initial BT buoys were in and the sonar console have already factored in the variables which affect the sound velocity in the region.The IL-38 from Indian navy was few hours and expected to join the search as soon as possible .He has been given to understand that they will be weapons free if the unidentified submarine shows any "hostile "intent and that for him meant they or the Indians were both free to sink it to the bottom of Indian ocean ,as per their mutually agreed "considered:" opinion ,which in simple terms meant the sub lurking below was "dead meat"

Sonar operation is essentially dependant on accurate determination of sound speed in any particular water body, usually a particular region of the ocean. Sound speed is less in fresh water than in sea water .The a primary characteristic of water which affects the sound velocity is its density. Density of the water media is again dependent on temperature ,salinity(dissolved molecules)and pressure (depth)The speed of sound is approximately equal to 4388+(11.25x temp in deg F +0.0182xdepth in feet+salinity in parts per thousand. This is an empirically derived approximation equation that is found to be reasonable accurate for normal temperature, concentration of dissolved molecules or salinity and range of most ocean depths. Ocean temperature varies with depth but between 30 and 100 meters there is often a marked change called thermo cline dividing the warmer surface water from the cold deeper water that make up most of the ocean. This can be particularly frustrating for any sonar operator as the sound originating from one side of the thermo cline tends to get refracted off the thermo cline .The thermo cline may also be present in shallow coastal water but the constant wave action tends to mix up the thermal layers and eliminate the thermo clines. Water pressure also affects the sound velocity .Increased pressure increases the sound velocity by increasing the water density. Increase in sound velocity can cause the sound waves to refract away from the area of higher velocity as mathematically modeled in Snell’s Law. Sound waves that are radiated down into the ocean depths back up to the surface in great arcs due to effect of pressure on radiating and reflected sound .The ocean must be at least 6000 ft deep or the sound waves will echo off the bottom instead of refracting of backwards .Under right conditions these waves will then be focused near the surface ,refracted back down and repeat another arc. Each arc is called a convergence zone. Where an arc intersects the surface a convergence annulus is formed .The diameter of the convergence depends on the temperature and salinity of the ocean zone. In north Atlantic for example convergence zones are found every 33 nautical miles or approximately 61 km depending on the season forming a pair of concentric circles around the sound source. This results in detection of acoustic energy hundreds of miles away where normally it would not have been detectable even few miles away because of the presence of convergence zones. For military sonar detection first, second and third convergence zone are quite useful after that the sound signal is too weak to be of any practical value and the thermal conditions are too unstable reducing the reliability of the signals even further. The signals are naturally attenuated by distance but this drawback is usually taken care of by large highly sensitive hydrophones and signal amplification capability of modern sonars.
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Post by vivek_ahuja »

THE HILLS OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH
NORTHWEST OF TAWANG,
0355 HRS FRIDAY


The running was excruciatingly slow, being uphill and through a feet of snow. The Indian troopers running up the hill were already breathing heavily, and in the cold, the small puffs of breath could be seen as they went along. The ground they were running up was entirely white, being almost pure, and the air was clean. There was no other sound other than their own, but as they ran and covered the distance all the way to the top of the hill, the white snow covered ground started to turn into a peppered black and white color as soot had fallen on top it. in addition, there were broken pieces of branches and wood everywhere, most of them emanating smoke. A little further and the ground was now entirely black, and there were burning pieces of tree trunks lying around on the soot covered snow. And then, finally, the first signs that man had been here: the empty cartridges for bullets lying around the half prepared Chinese positions…

One of the first Indian soldiers to burst through the remains of these Chinese positions was Major Patel. His INSAS in his hand, he was almost three seconds ahead of his main force that was running with him. This objective was not yet secure. There was still a little way to go before they reached the top of the hill and then they had to clear out the remaining Chinese Recon Troopers who were on the other slope. The running became slower now, as the first signs of Chinese occupation came into view. Lying in the snow was the half buried body of a Chinese Recon Trooper.

That forced Major Patel to halt for a second and as he stared at the dead body of the Chinese soldier he caught his breath. He looked around, and sure enough, there were other dead Chinese soldiers littering the positions. He looked back to see the hills to the south and saw that the Indian T-90 had had an extremely clear view of things from where it had been. Too bad these commies had not known that fact beforehand… Major Patel thought as he signalled his men to sweep clear what remained of the Chinese defences here. It didn’t take long, and after he received the “clearâ€
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Post by Shankar »

QUANTAS .FLIGHT 3415 –APRAOCHING DARWIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Group captain Md Abdul shifted nervously in his spacious business class seat and nervously sipped the coke, served to him in a tall glass, served for the 5th time by a beautiful blonde Australian air hostess. An ex Pakistani air force F-16 pilot was recruited to the cause about a 14 months and 13 days back .His mission was simple and direct . He was to escape the aero bridge thru the side access door into the tarmac and under cover of darkness make way to the mass of parked F-18s on the other side of the runway. He was not carrying a false Syrian passport and also a set of modified printed cards usually used for arming and fire control of AMRAAM missiles when in flight .His intention was to replace the set of 3 cards used for automatic engine start and stabilization before after burner can kick in with the ones he was carrying in his breast pocket and the net result would be to arm and launch the entire set of missiles just when the pilot would push the throttle past the reheat gate.

That was the easy part of the job. More difficult was to hard wire the after burner control signal wires to the missile launch control cards under cover of darkness so that missiles will launch exactly when the F-18 commits itself to take with full after burner ,facing the mass of parked civilian jest on the civilian side of the airport .

The result he knew will be devastating .Problem was if the sharp pilot aborted taxi if any of the warning lights came on during engine start sequence. But from his experience, he also knew pilots have a habit of ignoring such warning lights on the console, particularly when he himself has not armed the missiles. The success of his mission depended on human vanity and sense of infallibility of combat pilots world over.

About the same time on ground,Anwar an Australian born was tense and casual at the same time .He has been paid 20000 USD just to keep the locks to side access door open during disembarkation of this particular flight and close it after all the passengers have disembarked and go home to his family. He was also told by his unknown benefactor, not to watch too closely if some passenger does not go all the way to immigration and decides to take a short cut across the tarmac . He did not worry about what the intention of the passenger might be but assumed it to be some kind fugitive under country’s law. For him it was good money for an evenings work

Abdul was feeling hot even in the well air-conditioned cabin and uncomfortable for the RAAF maintenance coverall he was wearing under the business suite . He knew he would have to get rid of the suit he was wearing over the coverall quickly once out of the aero bridge .Once again he prayed his unknown accomplice has completed his part of the deal well .His ears started popping as the 747 came out of holding pattern over the airport and started her final approach

-Quantas 3415-Darwin approach-you are cleared to land on runway 27 right –winds 7 knots at 235-visibility 10 miles –no 1 for landing-acknowledge –over
-Darwin approach – Quantas 3415 –cleared to land –runway 27 right-number one for landing-over and out
The experienced pilot moved with practiced ease as he took the aircraft off auto pilot ,deployed flaps first to approach setting, deployed slats, armed the thrust reversers, checked the air speed as his first officer quickly deployed the massive landing gears and the jumbo shuddered at new found turbulence, as the commander lined up the heavy aircraft into the runway center line and correct glide path to touch down point. The 10500 ft long runway rushed up to meet him as he adjusted the nose up attitude one last time as she crossed the runway threshold and cut engine .The 747 flared up and touched the ground with soft whoosh .As he brought the nose wheel down gently the thrust reversors kicked in and speed bled off quickly and it was safe to apply the wheel brakes as he smoothly turned the lumbering giant in to a near by taxiway off the busy main landing runway ,towards aerobridge gate no 13.

Not far from him Abdul was already getting ready to get off and have already loosened his jacket .No one noticed the mechanics coverall beneath the expensive business suite, as the aircraft slowly pulled besides the passenger gate.
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Post by Shankar »

DARWIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT –NORTHERN TERITORIES -AUSTRALIA


Equivalent in size to France, Italy and Spain combined, Australia's Outback Northern Territory is bordered by Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.
Blessed with an abundance of natural environments the NT is famous for its spectacular wildlife.
This is an environment that ebbs and flows with the seasons, of contrast and colour, where change is the only constant. Of awe inspiring iconic wonders - the World Heritage National Parks of Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta (Ayers Rock). Of flora and fauna as diverse as desert blooms are to lotus lilies and the fearsome saltwater crocodile is to the Brolga, the elegant dancing bird that is our emblem.
Our indigenous culture, the Aboriginal people, hold a deeply spiritual connection to the land that dates back tens of thousands of years, yet can still be shared in the present day - through commercial art galleries, a walk in the desert in search of bush tucker, a visit to the ancient rock art sites, community events or touring that involves a story-telling session.
Wing commander Md Abdul looked at the glossy tourist brochure handed over the smiling air hostess along with the dis- embarkation card, as the giant aircraft turned slowly into the gate area. In the distance he could see the bright lights of the RAAF base (his real destination) with a lack of interest like any other travel weary business man.
He could see it was busy time on the tarmac with 2 other 777s inching towards gate one with the distinctive Virgin Atlantic logo on tail and the other possibly an Air Boeing 777 Delhi as finally the assigned gate for his aircraft was free and the four engines whined for one last time as they gently pushed the 747 into the parking slot .
Abdul knew about the plan to hijack uranium shipment from ranger mine on its way to India .But he did not know the details and the timings. He knew he will not escape and will be lucky to be alive after the mission of tonight but still for him it did not matter. After all he knew those who die for religion all meet in paradise, and pleasures denied this life are all returned many fold up there.
The gates were now open and Md Abdul pushed himself up smartly, pulled down the overnight case from overhead bin and headed for the aero bridge .

RANGER MINE –NORTHERN TERRITORIES –AUSTRALIA


Peter Pollock checked the number of drums of uranium oxide loaded on to the first of a long line of 20ft container trucks .Not much known to general public uranium ore concentrate or more commonly called yellow cake can be safely transported in standard 55 gallon drums.The radioactivity of uranium oxide is has very little penetration power and as such do not require any specialized shielding of the container. Mines all over the world produce more than 40000 tons of concentrated ore every year and the same mode of transportation is followed .Each 20 ft ISO container can carry 36 drums of ore concentrate each containing approximately 400 kg of uranium compound.
The Ranger mine was the first new mine to get the go ahead in the second wave of uranium mining in Australia and also happen to hold a significant place in the history of indigenous land rights in that country. Despite an aboriginal land rights enquiry, Ranger uranium environmental enquiry ,strong public opposition ,determined opposition from traditional owners and political dissent within the Australian labor party Rangers commenced full scale production of uranium oxide in 1980s.Energy resources Australia has created according to some reports more than 16 million tons of radioactive tailings and all their attempts to keep the contamination within mine boundaries beginning to fail. Because of Kakadus heavy monsoonal rain discharge of radioactive water have plagued the mine right from the beginning. The local traditional owners were made to sign the Ranger agreement under considerable duress and over the years have seen all the promised benefits to their community slowly disappear into thin air.
The second truck loading was completed and the first truck ,already loaded and sealed and carrying 36 drums of uranium oxide exited the mine gate and started its overnight journey to Darwin Port

KAKADU NATIONAL PARK –ARNHEM HIGHWAY-NORTHERN TERITORIES

Hanif khan looked at his gold omega –a gift from the old man. If everything was on time he expected Abdul to be on ground now and either doing what he was supposed to do or already dead ,he knew Australian airport security like counter terror forces all over the world have a very very itchy finger
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Post by vivek_ahuja »

CHUSHUL
THE LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL (LAC)
LADDAKH
0425 HRS FRIDAY


This had been a quiet front for the last few days. While all out war was being waged throughout the skies, all the way from the Air Defence zones over New Delhi to the northern areas of Tibet, from the easternmost tip of India to western Tibet, the skies over Laddakh had been quiet for far too long, and tension was thick in the air. While both India and China fought to come to terms with the war and the way it had now spread from the skies of Myanmar to over Western Tibet in less than three days was, in retrospect, beyond normal comprehension. In Laddakh, the Indian Army sat facing their Chinese counterparts as both sides planned their movements here. For the Indian army, however, the fight northeast of Tawang was not going well. The Chinese were forcing their way south towards the town, and GHQ was busy trying to get enough troops there to hold the Chinese at bay. Even if they managed to hold them there, the Chinese were already several kilometres inside Indian Territory. The situation there was grim.

Out here, however, the Indian Army’s XIV Corps was now deployed in the field. Elements of XV Corps were now deploying, and the IAF bases in Kashmir were filling up with close support aircrafts for the ground missions. Even so, the Lieutenant General in command of the region was unable to convince his superiors that they should open up the front along the LAC while the Chinese were still preparing. While the quibbling went on at General HQ, the men of the Indian XIV Corps sat in their bunkers and trenches among the snow and the darkness of the northern Himalayas.
The defence of the area east of Chushul was being taken care of by a Brigade of Troops, along with some airlifted armour support.

It was a far cry from the battles of 1962 when the Indian army had been deployed in the region in small groups of Companies and Battalions. Even so, it was here that, for the first time in that war, the Indian army had stopped the Chinese dead in their tracks, quite literally, in fact. It was here again that the Indian army stood, in much larger numbers, facing the PLA. Much to the chagrin of the local commanders, who were waiting for the chance to go on the offensive here and avenge the defeat of 1962, the indecision at the command level gave the Chinese that much needed initiative, however slim, to go on the offensive.

The starlit sky vanished as the ground shuddered under the feet of the Indian soldiers and the skies to the northeast turned orange as the full might of the Chinese artillery went into action, waking everybody from the frontlines all the way to the Regional command in Leh. At the frontline, the Indian soldiers were running into their bunkers and the trenches even as the first sounds of the man made thunder came through. Then came the sounds that every soldier dreaded: the incoming shells. A few seconds later the ground shook more violently than ever as the first shells impacted within the Indian lines. The entire LAC was soon lit up with flashes of light as position after position along the LAC came under fire from the Chinese guns. The first targets had been the Indian Battalion and Regimental command centres, followed by the shelling of all major supply routes coming into the region. Within seconds of fire, the most Indian positions were covered in dust clouds and smoke, and all communication was intermittent or non-existent. But that was temporary for the major node points. All systems had redundancy built it. Within seconds the communications were back up once again. But several posts along the LAC had lost contact. Their communications had been hit and were now cut off.

The Indian response was swift. The strategically placed Counter-Battery radars swung into action almost as soon as the first shells were aloft, and the computer screen showing the locations of the Chinese guns lit up immediately. The locations were then compared with tactical maps and the artillery coordinates were plotted out automatically within seconds. A few seconds after that the information was being sent out to all Indian Counter-Artillery designated weapon platforms as the first Indian counterstroke woke up from its slumber. One of these designated units were several Batteries of the Pinaka MLRS. These trucks had been kept moving from one place to another to avoid the Chinese from fixing their positions.

Now, as their onboard communication systems received the data from the Indian Artillery Command, the launchers moved out to the open ground in valleys behind the Indian lines and got into their pre-designated launch positions. The onboard FCS was fed with the pre-calculated data for the launching position and the computer compared the present location and the target location sent to it and calculated the launch angle and bearing. It was all handled from the command centres as the launchers mounted on the back of the trucks swung into the correct setting and locked themselves there. A second later the Officer in command of the vehicle confirmed that all settings were accurate and flipped open the cover on the launch button.

A second after that his thumb depressed the button and the vehicle shuddered around him…

THE NATIONAL AIRBORNE COMMAND CENTRE (CALL SIGN: PATRIOT EAGLE)
ON FINAL APPROACH AT LOHEGAON AFB, PUNE
0450 HRS FRIDAY


The undercarriage touched the tarmac and immediately left a puff of smoke and began rolling before taking the weight of the aircraft. The aircraft nose wheel touched a few seconds later and the aircraft was fully on the ground. The spoilers on the wing upper surfaces were brought into action and the immediate lost of lift brought the aircraft to completely rest on the concrete tarmac before the brakes brought an appreciable reduction in aircraft speed. The three MIG-29s which had been flying as escort for the Aircraft now screamed overhead and engaged afterburner to retain their patrol altitude after having escorted their objective all the way down to the airfield. Onboard the aircraft, the Defence Minister and the PM were sitting with their seatbelts clasped in the conference room of the aircraft along with the chiefs of the Army and the Air Force. The aircraft finished its landing roll and now moved off the runway towards the tarmac.

The security was tight. Even while the aircraft moved forward, several ground vehicles were moving on the taxiway both ahead and behind it. Even though it was darkness outside, it was still possible to make out the dozens of military vehicles parked along the airfield perimeter and the soldiers patrolling the grass on both sides of the fence in their dozens. The pilots of the BBJ switched off the aircraft lights that had given it the look of an ordinary airline aircraft landing in the early morning. The aircraft then moved into the Military side of the airfield and was signalled towards a location on the tarmac. The aircraft was brought into position by the pilots under the guidance of the ground crewmen and the aircraft came to a stop. The engines were shut down and the whining noise of the Turbines and compressors of the engines reduced continuously until they were barely audible. Several vehicles now approached the aircraft and the door was opened.

While the base commander and other senior officers of the Air Force greeted the PM as he briskly walked with his entourage towards the secure location he was being taken to within the base, the Defence Minister was still on board the aircraft as yet another urgent briefing was on the way. This time it was the COAS. Inwardly, the Defence Minister wondered what else could go wrong at Tawang when he was jolted out of his thoughts as General Sinha moved the digital Map towards the region showing the Aksai Chin. Minutes later he was convinced that the Chinese had indeed opened up a new front along the border.

The battle for Laddakh had just started…
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Post by disha »

Vivek - Brilliant!
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Post by mdhoat »

Master War-craft... Vivek, you definitely have a best seller in the making...once you wrap up the scenario, please make sure to publish it into a book. The whole book has lessons for the taking for any future confrontation, honestly it cannot get real than this. Every minute detail is well thought and presented superbly. Kudos to your writing style.
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Post by Kiran.Rao »

Next episodes ?
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Post by vivek_ahuja »

INDIAN ARMY POSITIONS
LOCATION: 34°21'3.62"N, 78°52'31.66"E
THE LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL (LAC)
EAST OF LEH, LADDAKH
0520 HRS FRIDAY


Their deaths must have come instantly…quick, like lightening. They probably didn’t know what hit them, and…

Bullshit!

Don’t try to justify this to yourself, damn it! They are dead, and that’s it! Nothing more, nothing less. Only thing is, they have taken the radios with them where they have gone. Not their fault, but there it is. You still have a battalion to lead... Get to it, damn it! Move…come on!


Lieutenant-Colonel Baweja spoke to himself in his thoughts. He told himself that his inner voice was correct in all aspects. He forced himself to look away from the bodies of his staff lying within the rubble of what had been his command bunker. It had taken one very lucky shell, or unlucky, depending on which way you looked at it, to take out the entrenched bunker where it stood among the falling shells. But that was how fate had dealt its hand, and the result was that Baweja’s Battalion was now cut off from the rest of the regimental CP further back westwards. The Lt-Colonel rested his INSAS over his shoulder while holding it in one hand, the way he liked it, and moved on through the trenches to see how his men were holding out against the falling shells.

This position, among many others, were the ones positioned along the entire LAC in a manner similar to the positions along the LOC with Pakistan. But unlike the current deployments along the LOC, which were within sight of each other, both the Indian and Chinese positions had been evacuated after the commencement of hostilities three days ago. Now, all that remained along the LAC were small observation teams making sure that there were no unexpected movements. But now the Chinese were on the offensive, and the artillery had been falling for an hour now. The morning sun may have been up, but there was no way of knowing for sure amongst the smoke clouds that denied a person the sight of his hand in front of his face. And the noise of the incoming shells were horrifying enough without the explosions that were adding to the deadly cacophony.

The Indian lines were holding for the moment. There had been several casualties during the initial minutes of the bombardment, but after the Indian soldiers had scuttled into their trenches, there had been few deaths…until ten minutes ago, that is. That was when the Battalion CP had been obliterated in a massive explosion of dust and smoke as the law of probability finally caught up with the men hunkering in their positions.

Their commanding officer, Lt-Colonel Baweja, and several medics, were moving within the trenches to check up on the casualties. Everybody was covered with dust now, and any signs that there had been snow here was gone. Baweja did not like what he was seeing. The men were sitting in the positions almost silent, and some were beginning to show the classic signs of mental trauma, as they sat huddled, staring into infinity. He took it upon himself to speak to these men, and told their neighbours to continue to do so after he had gone. There was one realisation for the Colonel as he walked, huddled, and that was that these men needed an enemy they could see, one whom they could fight and repel, and one who did not take life so randomly as these falling shells were seemingly doing.

That the enemy was coming was a certainty. The artillery shelling had been going on for an hour now, and that was some serious amount of ammunition spent. And something that would not be spent in vain.

It is the fire before the storm…Baweja told himself, and something that referred to the almost certain human waves that the Chinese commanders would be sending out to storm the Indian positions all along the LAC. His position was more exposed than others, basically because he was sitting at the junction of two natural valleys and where it provided a nice little attacking route all the way to his position from the Chinese side of the LAC. He had extensive line of sight from here, and the same went for the Chinese. Only difference was that he was entrenched, while the Chinese would have to come through the open ground to him. He had dedicated artillery assigned to him, but that option died along with his staff at the Battalion CP.

His companies were spread out over several positions, and before he had lost radio contact, he had confirmed that they too were taking fire but were under cover. Here he had two companies under his direct command, and had initially been positioned here to curb any Chinese movement along the valleys towards the Indian side, and conversely, to secure the same paths from Chinese defences in case of any push by the Indian army went eastwards. But thinking about that was the job of the higher brass. His job at the moment, and as far as he was concerned, his only job, was to defend this position and lead his men.

His ears suddenly confirmed what his eyes did a few seconds later: the artillery was slackening off. And sure enough, the explosions within the dust clouds that occupied his positions suddenly ceased with an abrupt pause. He wasn’t the only one who poked his head over the trenches when this happened. The noise had stopped but the ears were still ringing for everybody. Everybody was busy dusting off their uniforms and getting their ears to stop ringing when the first movement over the top of the trenches behind the Indian defenses were several Medics running about. Several other men were running with empty stretchers towards the trenches only to return with a blood-soaked body lying on them. But Lt-Colonel Baweja was not looking behind, he was looking forward. He had his binoculars to his eyes, and even though the dust cloud was still settling down, the views were relatively clear. There was only one reason why the artillery fire had stopped, and it wasn’t because the Chinese had run out of ammunition…

“Movement!!...we have movement!â€
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Post by gauravjkale »

excellent builtup vivek

what a way to start a week, keep the posts comming
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Post by nits »

Shankar... Where are you... Sharks of Indian Ocean are waiting for there Iranian food... :twisted:
Anantz
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Post by Anantz »

Hi Mr Shankar/Mr Vivek.. I have gone thru almost all of ur Military Scenarios from the beginning, but whenever there has been a scenario involving AA combat at BVR, u have never used the EW system or SPJ in your combat stories.... I mean for a trainee like me, most of the things get really clear when you pen it down in ur stories.. that way it seems more real n more questions get answered that way... I hope that sometime in your future scenarios, u will invovle the concept of ECCM or SPJ during BVR engaements between Indian Sukhois n whatever enemies u throw at them.... 8) By the way, your stories are really informative... n helps us newbies learn a lot about warfare, more than we learn by going thru those technical specs... keep up! :P
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Post by gopal.suri »

:D nice nice, shankar and vivek a, keep it up.
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Post by vivek_ahuja »

CHAPTER 4: THE WAR FOR LADDAKH

INDIAN AIRBASE AT LEH
LEH, LADDAKH
0525 HRS FRIDAY


The Klaxons were sounding off all around the base. The battle for Laddakh had begun this morning, the third day of the war, and the Indian air force was responding. Ground crews and pilots were scrambling to get all available aircrafts off the ground.

The airbase was the main hub for the daily airlifts that brought in supplies for the region and also maintained an aerial logistical node point for the Indian army. As a result, for the last few days the airbase was teeming with large numbers of AN-32s and IL-76s from Agra and Chandigarh who were providing a wartime re-supply effort for the Indian army whose numbers had been surged many times their peacetime number to deal with this crisis. This created a problem, however. The airfield had only one usable runway, and relatively small parking space to deal with the incoming flights, let alone to house the needed numbers of ground attack aircrafts or air defense fighters on the ground. A method to clear space for stationing these aircrafts had been developed and was in essence a racetrack from Chandigarh to Leh. Aircrafts going to Leh were on one segment of the racetrack while those departing Leh were kept on the other segment of the track to form a closed loop.

On the ground, the ground-crews were working like pit-stop crews and turning around aircrafts for their return flights as soon as they came to a stop. To further create problems was the fact that the local civilian carriers, especially Indian Airlines, were still flying in aircraft to evacuate the civilians from the region to further safety to the south on the orders of the Government. Laddakh was rapidly being drained of its non-local civilian population to be replaced by much larger numbers of people moving around in combat fatigues. And while the Indian air force commanders had protested to the government heads against this decision, mostly on the grounds that it was impeding military flights to the airfield already struggling with low tarmac space, the decision still stood.

One of the reasons the decision still stood was the fear in some departments that akin to the 1962 war, the Indian army might not be able to hold back the Chinese advance in the region. The only difference this time, was that the there were lot more civilians here this time around. It had therefore been decided to evacuate these people from the region to prevent them from being caught at the frontlines of the battle, or worse, behind the Chinese lines. It reflected the institutional lack of faith in the Indian army being displayed by the government leaders both at the national level as well as the regional one, and something that was vastly irritating and frustrating to the local army commanders.

What was worse, however, was that the local government establishment, which had always been fragile because of the fact that the Indian government had never truly paid much attention to it as it did throughout the rest of the country, was now beginning to show signs of failing. There were no directives to the local population outside Leh from this body, mainly because it had considered Leh to be the epitome of Laddakh, and as a result, the outside regions were rarely visited or reached out to. This job had been left to the Indian army, and while it worked during peacetime, during the last few hours it had shown that it did not work during wartime, mainly because the Indian army was still coming to grips with the tactical situations to even begin to think on broader terms. More importantly, the lack of proper functioning of the local governance meant that many villages close to the LAC had never even received warnings for evacuation or in general, to be ready for evacuation. As a result, several villages in the region closer to the LAC had been bombarded by the Chinese army on suspicion that the Indian army was there, only to end up hitting these civilian occupied dilapidated communities with heavy caliber artillery and cause extensive loss of life.

The details of these attacks were being brought in army units as they moved in convoys towards the LAC and passed the burning remains of what had been peaceful communities. In many cases there were only few survivors, looking for their loved ones and cursing the Indian government for its negligence. Further, in stark contrast to the Indian armed forces, who were willingly and even enthusiastically moving towards the front, the civilian government officials, many of the senior ones, had been on the first Indian Airlines flight to Srinagar, ostensibly to reestablish control from there. How they intended to maintain civilian control from all the way in Srinagar to Laddakh was not being discussed, and the local Indian army commanders couldn’t care less at the moment. They had a war to fight, and it had come knocking on its doorsteps.

Apart from the transport flights coming and leaving Leh, there were also some fighters deployed at the airbase. Two flights of MIG-29s belonging to the No. 223 Squadron were on Quick reaction alert or QRA at the airbase readiness platforms. Within minutes of the klaxons sounding off, the pilots were already strapping into their cockpits within the few hardened aircraft shelters that were available and soon afterwards, three MIG-29s roared out of their shelters and moved towards the end of the runway even as the first rays of sunlight appeared over the airbase. On the other side of the airbase an IL-76 of 44 Squadron was told to stand on ‘holding’ status to allow the fighters to take off.

The three aircrafts scrambled off the ground within seconds of each other, and they constituted the first CAP mission of the day. Three more fighters were on five minute standby to take over once the first group landed or take off in case of any enemy contact and support the original group of three.

After the IL-76 had taken off behind the fighters, the next aircraft to lift off Leh were several Searcher UAVs of the local resident UAV Squadron. The Indian army had lost contact with some of its units near the LAC soon after the artillery bombardment had started. Now, the Indian air force had been told to go over and take a look even as the ground contact was reestablished. One of these Searchers went east by southeast. It was soon over what appeared to be dust clouds covering whole mountain slopes.

The unmanned aircraft soon established a flight pattern over the region as the ground controllers back in Leh zoomed into various sectors using the advanced optics to “seeâ€
Raymond
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Post by Raymond »

Isnt "Laddakh" actually "Ladakh"?

Official spelling here..

http://india.gov.in/maps/jammu.php

Here is the official site for Leh district.

http://leh.nic.in/profile.htm
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Post by vivek_ahuja »

INDIAN ARMY POSITIONS
LOCATION: 34°21'3.62"N, 78°52'31.66"E
THE LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL (LAC)
EAST OF LEH, LADAKH
0555 HRS FRIDAY


The piles of empty cartridge shells were piling up within the trenches. And so were the bodies of fallen comrades. But not nearly as heavily or quickly as the number of Chinese soldiers that now lay motionless on the snow covered rocks outside the trenches and in front of the Indian defences. The air was filled with sounds of assault weapons and explosions. The blue sky above was now interrupted by columns of smoke and dust. The sun was up, and in another world it would have been a beautiful morning. But not here today…and certainly not now.

The battle was raging in full intensity as the Indian defences under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Baweja were battling the invading Chinese forces of much larger numbers from within their trenches. There was still no radio contact, but Baweja had dispatched a couple of runners with the required information back towards Regimental HQ before the attacks had begun. He was sure that Command must have already got some kind of aerial coverage for this battle, and that he would get some support from some place pretty soon. He just had to hold on for some more time. He knew that if he could do that, this initial Chinese offensive in front of him would be crushed. Not that he had any choice in the matter anyway, but hope was something you clung on to under these circumstances, for they were the one definite support platform that you could count on.

Baweja was standing inside his trench which had been further lined with bundles of sandbags. His INSAS was resting on the ground in a small gap between two sandbags which narrowed his fields of fire but provided much more cover. That was how it worked. You restricted your vision and concentrated on a given sector of fire and let your comrades do the same for other sectors. It was known as teamwork. Baweja’s eyes were focussed on the metallic aim on his rifle and it was this that he adjusted slightly by moving the rifle each time he shifted his aim. All he had to do was bring this metallic aim in front of a charging Chinese soldier and let his finger pull the trigger.

Each time he did this, his shoulder and his body shook with the recoil and his eyes were momentarily blinded by a flash. But at the end of this time, which was barely more than two seconds, his eyes again shifted back on the metallic aim only to see that the charging Chinese soldier was face down in the snow a hundred metres in front of him. It was all about single shots and small bursts, unlike the movies where the epitome of a fire-fight was the use of automatic fire fired without taking aim. Reality was different, but just as deadly. The dozens of dead Chinese soldiers that now lay in front of the Indian defences could testify that had they still been alive. Unfortunately for them, that was no longer the case.

Despite the personal satisfaction of seeing the Chinese fall for every bullet he was expending, Lt-Colonel Baweja had to face a hard truth. And it was that for every Chinese soldier that he and his men were killing, there were a dozen more behind. And for every dozen or so Chinese soldier being killed, he was losing one of his own. Worse, because of the massive momentum that heavy numerical superiority gave to the Chinese, they were rapidly closing the distance between them and him. He had begun the engagement at two hundred metres, and that was long enough under such cases, but it was now closing up and he was already shooting at Chinese soldiers that were within a hundred metres from him. If he failed to receive support soon, he would be soon be fighting the Chinese within his own trenches.

If he had had artillery support with him, he could have called in heavy concentrated fire even if it meant endangering his own people, and that would have levelled the Chinese on the open ground they stood on. But that was unfortunately not to be the case, and he was on his own. Baweja continued to fire single accurate shots at the enemy even as he thought through his options. The Chinese were running from rock to rock, using the cover to move closer and closer while continuing to return fire. Some of them were within fifty metres now. The situation was no longer remaining tactical: it was man to man now.

Baweja fired another shot that left another Chinese soldier with a bullet in his chest and fallen within the snow, or what remained of the snow. That was when a single Chinese bullet hit the sandbag next to Baweja’s head, and that told him that he was being targeted by some non-charging Chinese soldier. And sure enough, a small peek to the left sent a burst of fire smashing into the sandbags again.

So, this commie is no fool. But he just revealed his position…the poor ********. Time for a barrel grenade…

Baweja pulled a UBGL Grenade and loaded his INSAS mounted grenade launcher before taking aim for that one group of rocks. A second later the rifle recoiled back and sent a fast moving grenade into the small pile of rocks behind which his adversary was hiding. The explosion sent fragments of the rock flying into the air and left a hanging dust cloud where the Chinese soldier had been.

But there were more, and a second later another group of charging enemy soldiers emerged from behind the dust cloud. Half a dozen of them…and while Baweja sent another Chinese soldier into the ground with yet another accurate shot, the rest of the group were suddenly strafed with LMG bullets that left all five of them motionless after the dust cleared. Baweja looked to his right and gave the approving nod to the crew of the LMG who were several metres away, in a separate foxhole, as they resumed their burst fire against another group of Chinese soldiers. The weapons fire continued for some more seconds and left another half dozen Chinese soldiers dead before the fire slackened off, and both sides ceased fire.

The first wave of Chinese infantry had been halted by the Indian defences, and the response from the Indian side was led by a bunch of hoarse shouts of exhilaration as the Indian troopers celebrated the momentary victory.
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Post by parshuram »

Keep them coming vivek .. can't wait ..

and shankar where are you ..... No hiberantion syndrome please ????
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