Posted: 25 Dec 2004 09:34
I have missed a lot, so dont know whats been happening. but heres what
I managed to write up during my long absense. its quite difficult getting
a reliable inet cafe in my city. pardon the very poor formatting as I copied it from a txt file ( I find maximising the IE to its full window size fixes
some of the line wraps for me)
I will have better (corporate) internet access from next month but
expect to maintain a low profile until I settle down properly and find
acco etc. in blore.
Operation Black Raven
=====================
Guwahati airbase has a village almost abutting the western wall of the
facility. Used to pairs of Flankers going off on training sorties all through
the night, its residents were however rudely awakened by the muted thunder
of *dozens* of Lyulka-saturn engines at 2:00AM. something was different tonight
but nobody knew what, so after murmuring for a few moments people drifted
back to sleep, tired mothers patting and shushing their infants disturbed by
the noise. the village dogs barked and registered their protest as usual.
****
Orders direct from DG air operations had arrived at the Base CO's office
by personal courier at 6:00PM. he had read it twice, then per the letter itself
burned its contents and ground out the ashes. First he had a heart to heart
talk with the seniormost pilots Jacob, Das (newly promoted to Sqdn ldr) and four
others for nearly an hour...he being a non-flying post the mission would depend
on mostly the sagacity and improvisation of the key contributors. Next they
had a long and joint staff meeting with the full cadre of squadron pilots and
Jacob held a separate session with the four rookies present among them. Though
not strictly called for, he always made it a point to make every rookie
feel welcome and help with their mental preparation prior to every test. everyone
who came in was physically fit and a good flyer, but winning as always also
required the right frame of mind..atleast thats what he felt.
Nobody could be left behind, the mission demanded 100% resource utilization.
The hangers and revetments which had camo nets spread over them on systems of
wires and pulleys presented a air of controlled frenzy in the few hours left.
dozens of munitions trucks and bheema munition loading trolleys laboured with
their crews to fill each of the 16 Flankers upto the specified mission load.
Sweating technical crews ran through last minute checks, using the BITE
wherever provided on the LRUs. Engine crews raced the clock to make three under
repair Flankers ready for service using a stock of spare engines which had
fortunately been topped up with a shipment from Koraput just two days before.
Fuel trucks slunk around dropping tons of fuel into underground tanks for
piping into the capacious 9ton fuel tanks. the Garuda force people on red alert,
carefully screened the perimeter with portable NVG devices and the QRT stood
ready to rush at a moments notice.
Two of the flankers were loaded up with a new kind of munition previously never
fired by the IAF in anger. Their pilots Shankar and Amitabh received a separate
briefing over a videoconference VPN link from a weapons scientist at DARE to
resolve any last minute doubts. There hadnt been any time to permit planned
tests at the tezpur range due to a transient engine shortage and other pressing
commitments. They did have some simulator time with the weapon on two palleted
simulators made by a bangalore company(in collab with IAPO and using COTS
hw) that had been flown in from Pune in initial phase of the deployment.
Shankar and Amitabh were naturally more tense than the rest. The younger pilots
were uniformly all on edge. No phone calls or movement to-from the base was
permitted once the base Co received the cable, guwahati airbase would remain in
lockdown mode for the mission duration.
*****
At 2:15Am the lead pair of flankers Jacob and Das released throttles and
the four cones of flame receded into the distance .... behind them on the
parallel taxiway the next pair turned into the runway...six more pairs waited
their turn patiently. By 2:30am every plane was airborne and formed unto into
two units of 8 each flying snake formation at low level of 2000ft. Using the
Litening pods and tucked in a zig-zag fashion in two lines of 8 planes each,
the squadron flew into the meghalaya hills and began negotiating their radar
masked approach to the southern meghalaya region.
Das's plane proudly sported two black falcon kill symbols just behind the radome.
for Jacob the painters had come up with a new symbol given the unusual nature
of his deed. It consisted of a black snake inside the outline of a bag with a
rope tied around the bag's neck, thus signifying a capture. Jacob as usual had
no public comment on this and 'meekly' took what was painted...though Biswas did
catch a pleased look in the boss's eye talking about it later in the dormitory.
*****
Phalcon01 took off from Nagpur at 2:00AM and proceeded to the east for its
patrol station over eastern bihar state. Phalcon02 took off from Tezpur and headed
southwest to the north cachar hills. Phalcon03 stood ready reserve at Nagpur.
Half a batallion of base security troops on red alert prowled the base,
checking every noise and smell of the night. wild-eyed alsatians strained at
their leashes , noses keenlyseeking any hint of intruders as their handlers led
them around the perimeter. There was one false alarm, as a contact triggered a frenzy
among the mutts who were released only to have the patrol party come upon a hapless
wild boar torn apart by the excited dogs. A call on the walkie-talkie held off the
jeep borne QRT just about to depart the central garrison camp.
Midas01 and Midas02 with full fuel tanks assumed a hot standby posture inside
their capacious hangers in Agra base. They were expected to be needed before the
night was over.
Six AAR equipped Mig29S based in patna which would be the Phalcon
escort got airborne and flew to their rendezvous point with the big bird
flying silently towards them from the west. The sleek nosecones of six Adders
peeked out from the beneath the wings of each bird. A centerline fuel tank
and a Elta ECM pod distinguised these as having some sort of unknown upgrade.
IAF had been known to be tinkering with semi-approved upgrades of many types
on the Mig29 fleet to figure out what they wanted when the Mig29K production
line became available from the IN.
*****
Base CO guwahati observed his full squadron take off clean from the ATC
office and walked across the building to the secure comms room, dialing a
subsidiary of the DG air operations in Delhi. Unknown to him, the call was
patched through into the air control room of the national emergency command
center buried 150mts below ground somewhere west of delhi.
*****
At 2:45Am, 50% of the flanker squandron at silchar took off and the airport
being in a plateau, immediately descended into the deep ravines of the north
cachar hills to wait for the call. Speed was kept slow to conserve fuel.
****************
Regular late night international traffic at IGI airport was stopped for a
15 minute duration between 2-2:15AM to permit a Govt flight to Mumbai to
takeoff. The incoming Swissair flight made a couple of extra circuits before
landing safely as usual. The passengers thought it was due to extra
The B737-800 of the IAF VVIP sdqn that took off had defence minister Sen
and home minister Dighe onboard. It flew directly south rather than south-wes
to mumbai. With its light passenger load and mission payload it had a unrefuelled
endurance of around 8 hours, for it had been designed for 6 hr trips between
east-west coasts of north america with a full passenger and cargo load. It was
unofficially called NEACP01. Another sister plane was being constructed but for now
it was the only one India had.
******************
Brig George had completed his visit to Raven base east of raipur a week
ago. To mask his movement to anyone interested, a commercial flight to Raipur
followed by a nondescript road transport in civilian garb had been provided.
for all intents, a civil engineer from delhi had come to consult with a mining
exploration team camped inside the dense sal wood forest near lohapur village.
He had flown back quite satisfied with the state of affairs though there was
still some glaring shortcomings in the technology level of the equipment he
had available for the boys. New types of ultralight helment mounted night
sights for one..the old ones were a little on heavier side though far better
than the early models which came to fame in the first gulf war.
His report back in Delhi to CCS had finally set the wheels in motion, some
of which were the IAF missions...
Four Mi17 and four Dhruv's had taken off around midnight and flown steadily
east in a single pack, heading for panagarh in north bengal. Reserve machines
were available but the mechanics had been extra careful with the fleet and
no troubles developed after launch so they all continued on to the east. Lacking
in external fuel tank system for the Mi17s, a quickfix solution had been found
in thick-walled rubber bladders filled with fuel and lashed to the floor of
the passenger compartment. Men could walk around freely on this 'waterbed'
and equipment boxes upto a certain weight limit were permissible. The Dhruvs
which were the armed Army versin had two external fuel tanks on pylons, chin
machine gun turret, nose mounted FLIR housing and two rocket pods on the
outboard wing pylons. in addition thay also had a fuel bladder inside the
empty passenger compartment. Mi35s had been considered for the mission, but
their size, fuel guzzling nature and noise had been deemed unsuitable.
There were 100 fully armed men crammed inside the eight Mi17. A mix of NSG-SAG
and Para Cdo veterans, they had been selected for their experience both in
simulated training and in the countless shadowy COIN black-wars that went on
in the background in kashmir, NE, lanka, afghanistan etc. The men were not
very young, but seasoned by age and harsh conditions. The Dhruvs carried
only 2 unarmed troopers inside the cabin, nursemaiding some extra boxes of
small arms ammunition and Milan ATGM reloads which couldnt be fitted into the
Mi17s.
Two hours later, after crossing the hills of northern Jharkhand the flock
finally reached panagarh and settled down for a while to refuel and undergo
a check of all essential eqpt before the final jumpoff. In the dim starlight of
2 AM, tense section leaders went over final consultations with their teams,
making each man repeat for the last time his assigned initial role, the
operation plan and the backup plan should things go wrong. Men fingered
their INSAS and Tavor rifles nervously and the Milan teams checked their
active and spare batteries for the laser sights. Two qualified pilots for
each machine came onboard here, not part of the mission training but a
last minute addition during Brig George's final round of discussion...the
main sets of pilots could get wounded and thus compromise both the mission
and the fate of their approx 20 troopers. The backup crew could fly the
craft home at full speed though they werent trained to do the active part of
the mission itself. They received the most dense 10 min briefing of their
careers as the main crew filled them in on the full details of the flight plan.
The snipers, always a surly and aloof lot smoked a last cigarette together
after checking their PSG-1 rifles.
At 2:45 AM the flotilla went airborne again and laid a course for the north
suburbs of Dhaka.
Major Brinde Doley (1 Para Cdo) the overall raid leader calmly clutched his
short barrel INSAS carbine and dozed lightly. Son of a schoolteacher , he hailed
from a Baghmara village east of Bhalukpung in Tezpur district of Assam. His tribe,
the Mising straddled both sides of the assam-arunachal border and had lived in
the region for centuries past, preserving their own culture and language
as did the hundreds of unique tribes in the region. Blessed with a massive
'rogue warrior' type physique by good genetics, honed by years of hard work
in the rough terrain and forest, his main claim to notoriety before joining
the army had been cutting the hand off a fellow tribesman who had attempted to
molest his sister at the annual Darrangi mela. He had done it carefully, first
befriending the half drunk man, drawing him into the forest with the promise of
some marijuana and 'willing' tibetan girls, then breaking his jaw to subdue him
and using the traditional dao to sever the culprits right paw quickly. He had
left him there to die bleeding and alone. No remorse. That Dao , with various
dents and notches from past operations and brawls occupied a black leather
scabbard affixed to his left belt...he fingered the handle for emotional comfort
as he dozed, much like a infant sucking on the pacifier.
The paw hadnt been the only blood tasted by the dao, there had been many in the
years since he entered 1 para. Much had been jihadi blood, with a small slice of
ulfa and fellow travellers thrown in. He was not liked much by the more cerebral
types in the SF management chain, but the more earthy types got along rather well
with his bluntness and simple honesty. He dozed with a certain peace of mind, his
parents were gone, his sister had met a tragic road accident soon after marriage
in which his best friend (her husband) had also fallen. There was nobody waiting
if he came home in a bag, he could deal with that. In a way he was glad as he looked
around him and saw the eyes of men he knew had kin back home and worst of all who
didnt even know on the dangerous jaunts these quiet and competent men went about
routinely. Something felt like some wouldnt be making the return trip alive, he
only hoped their widows would get the paltry compensation on time atleast without
having to bribe anyone and that the media vultures and socialist intellectuals
would leave them to grieve alone.
The darkened armada with all lights and radios off thundered on through the
thick fog of north bengal created the scores of small rivers and lakes in the
region. The Dhruv pilots used their GPS nav kits and 3D terrain map MFDs
coupled to the FLIR to pilot their mounts low and fast over the rice paddies
and swamps. The Mi17s lacked such gear and their pilots simply concentrated on
tailing the Dhruvs closely as safely possible.
After passing 15km south of Malda, they reduced speed and went down to treetop
level as the IB was crossed...
The flight leader a group captain of army aviation wing sent a brief encrypted
message on his portable data terminal , shut down the device and focussed on the
task ahead.
There was no going back now.
*******
Group captain Arshad Khan the F-16 unit leader at Dhaka was just done attending
a reception for PAF officers organized by the local Dhaka embassy and Friends of
Pakistan society. Initially reluctant to waste a night on this, he had relented after
some pressing by the embassy people and finally took eight of his boys in one of the
chartered minibuses they used to trips to the town. A full quota of ready room pilots
had to be left behind ofcourse, no chances could be taken after the incident with the
Flankers. Four planes stood on hot standby at all hours these days and additional
MANPADS and a Crotale battery flown in from Chaklala guarded his base day and night.
So they had gone off around 8:00pm and were now returning around 2:30am...some pilots
were dozing a little, trying to sleep off the liquor which had been of good quality
He had a unhappy feeling in the stomach, perhaps a onset of the 'runs' that had ravaged
his squadron lately....he cursed himself for letting the local deputy mayor talk him
into eating too much of the grilled hilsa fillets, spiced with green chilies, coriander
and mustard seeds. excellent stuff but only if consumed in moderation. He disliked the
younger unmarried pilots who had run like wolves around the elegant society ladies
in attendence, well I suppose they have a right to try and forget the conditions in this
miserable country! he missed Pakistan, missed the whisper smooth expanse of the lahore
islamabad motorway where every weekend he'd take out his Hyuandai accent (a marriage
gift from his exporter father) and roar along at 150kmph to squeals of pleasure from
his two kids, missed the superb facilities and the officers mess in sargodha where the
elite' of the elite' of PAF gathered around the fire and above all he missed the cool
climate of his part of the world. here it was the hated humidity and heat and mosquitoes
all round the year. Men lost pounds of weight if they didnt hydrate themselves properly
here, the base was shabby and there wasnt any money to improve it quickly, no life, no
family , no fun. The scrawny, dark BAF pilots who hung around trying to pickup tips from
his pilots he treated with a special contempt. The horde of thin, dirty looking
bangladeshi traders who hung around the base gate attempting to sell cloth, cheap plastic
goods, pirated music and above all the hated fishes had made life miserable for
the expat detachment. There was no entertainment worthy of a real man like wild boar
hunting or going for long drives to hill stations.
His thoughts turned by and by to the day ahead, a round of exercises were scheduled
for tomorrow morning. they had belatedly started to work
on some joint training and co-ordination concepts with the chinese sukhoi squadrons
posted at the other airbase. As he had been told to expect by PAF people who had
visited china before, their training and general caliber was well below PAF standards.
PAF pilots in general got the better of them , though obviously the sukhois were
at a overwhelming advantage in BVR mode. Still, the F16 jocks did manage to develop some
tactics to negate the advantage and level the field. Especially after the 'incidents'
over the jaintia hills , Khan had laid stress of DACT with the sukhois with an aim to
understand all aspects of the big bird. He now felt comfortable they would give a
bloody nose should the indian flankers ever dare to cross the line again. Modern lockheed
L-88 tethered radars given under the war on terrorism package had been flown to the
theater and these gave a good coverage on the hilly terrain of north bangladesh, the area
where the delta started sloping up to the khasi, garo and jaintia hills of meghalaya and
the chittagong-cachar hill tracts.
The bus slowed down and turned off the highway into the airbase. The pilots were dropped
off at the dormitory, Khan decided to head for the combat planning room to go over the
details of the coming exercise before retiring for the night. He found Sqdn leaders Imran
and Orakzai on duty in the ready room watching PTV video tapes, the two other standing
pilots were resting in a darkened room off the hallway. He settled down comfortably
with some strong coffee and a couple of files. the time on the old wallclock read 3:00am.
************************
Hedayatpur military camp was a 200 acre facility located 50km north of Dhaka and
home to the BD army intelligence HQ, two batallions of logistical units, one company of
light infantry guards and a stray small units in regular times. It stretched in a I-shape along a
major highway leading into the city with 4 entry gates along a 0.5km stretch of frontage.
At night only the main gate was left open. Each gate was well guarded for the main occupant
BD army intelligence had a lot of things to protect and hide. Heavy machine controlled steel
gates, concrete pillars that forced a would-be gatecrasher to slow down, a MG nests presented
a imposing barrier to entry. Unusually for a BD army camp, the entire boundary wall was floodlit
from inside and metal sentry towers were emplaced at 200m distances all along the perimeter.
The reason for this abnormal level of security were two - this was the main center where
political and religious enemies of the state were brought captive for incarceration, torture,
secret trials and secret executions. A well constructed underground jail block catered to
the steady stream of 'spies and traitors' fingered by whoever controlled the BD army of the
day. of late, business had picked up markedly under Gen Jaffars patronage. The second reason
were two 'guesthouses' run directly by BD army intel where honoured guests like visiting
ISI agents, indian terrorist leaders, myanmar rebel leaders and chinese advisers were
provided lodge and board for duration of stay in Dhaka. This centralized system permitted
keeping tabs on their movements and also kept them perfectly safe from their numerous
enemies including rival factions, indian govt agents, criminals paid by india and the
more activist sections of the media.
Slush funds from the BD armys numerous business activities and payments from narcotics
and terrorist entrepreneurs facilitated the running costs of the camp and left a healthy
surplus for the BD army's top brass to fund their lavish lifestyles including summer
hols in Europe/USA and foreign education for their children. It had been a hit with everyone
from the moment the 'corporate guest house' services had opened and a steady stream of
discerning visitors made use of it. It wasnt cheap at 4000 Taka a night for a double room
but the security, privacy, excellent food & drink, gym, conferencing facility and provision
for high quality female companion(s) attracted the discerning among the terrorist and terror
master corporate elite.
Behind the camp lay a stretch of water hyacinth covered marshland, pools of darkish water
with outcrops of land scattered around. it was hard to know where was solid land because
everything had a solid cover of water hyacinth, tall grass and other such vegetation.
The marshland gave way to clearer pools of water and eventually 1km away the sandbars and
shore of the huge Meghna river. This was the river formed by the combined power of the
Ganga and Brahmaputra river valley watersheds and its destructive fury in the monsoons was
not pretty. But now was winter and the water was placid. Dozens of darkened fishing boats
lay at anchor in deep water casting nets and lines for the world famous hilda, eelish,
rohu, river eels and other fishes that were exported worldwide. No tree had ever managed to
take root in the marsh because the marsh was natural, not a man made lake that overtopped
some old forest. Slivers of fog curled and pooled in the area, reducing visibility from
the guard towers along the back wall. Still, the searchlights reached out for 200m and turned
night into day along this belt. The only creatures awake at this hour were the fishing
owls, fishes, frogs and other reptilian residents. The frogs made quite a throaty racket
as a couple of species were in full mating season.
**********
3:00AM
The RAW-ARC B737-200 flying 100km south of Bagdogra over north bengal finished its
ELINT mission, executed a gentle turn to the west and headed back home to Charbatia.
A exploitation officer at a data console prepared a short list of GPS coordinates of
the two known L88 locations and the one 3D radar and sent it out via the satcom link to
base station in charbatia.
Ten minutes later, a officer at the naval section of the NECC(national emergency command
center) somewhere-west-of-delhi got the flash message on his console and glanced over
at his army counterpart nearby who had got a CC: on it. He dialed up Maj Gen Kaul who
was the duty officer tonight.
The CCS minus the airborne Sen and Dighe were in session at another level below the
NECC command center and received the news shortly thereafter. PM Arora took the call on
speakerphone with the NEACP01 patched in and personally gave the "Go" order.
The co-ordinates and orders went out over the ether again to two units - one on land
and the other waiting at sea. the VLF facility at trivandrum calling forth the submerged
vessel to periscope depth for the actual order data.
**********
Unit777s comm truck got the order and the commander personally marched to a
TEL parked 50 mts away under the thick canopy of a banyan tree, bordering a reserve
forest 61km north of Malda, around 5km off the national highway. Passing the muffled
challenge thrown by the guards he sat himself down inside the operating compartment
of the TEL and watched as the crew busied themselves with the pre-flight checks and
launch sequence. Electric power flooded through the slim black tubes, three of which
were stacked inclined along the back of the huge Tatra vehicle.
The driver took his vehicle out 20 mts from the forest. The navigation system alignment
procedures started to give an accurate starting point the projectiles. 4 mins later
the big motors hummed and the tube assembly swung at an angle to the side.
At 3:20AM as per instructions the commander gave the launch order.
Big boom and a sheet of flame erupted from the mouth of the first tube as the lead
Brahmos missile left its canister and roared away into the night, low and fast. Few
seconds later the second and third missile left their tubes.
100mts away another TEL in the unit networked into the first launch vehicle unleased
its load almost simultaneously and did another TEL parked 50mts on the other side along
the edge of the dark forest.
The nine Brahmos missiles settled into their low and flat trajectory, crossed the first
waypoint and headed into their programmed course. terrain modelling data from CARTOSAT1
stored in their memories dictated their height control module and they sped over the
odd hill maintaining a nearly constant distance above the ground.
**************
Phalcon01 now on station over eastern bihar picked up the nine low flying tracks
immediately and did nothing. the radar data was already blended into the big screen at
NECC. It started broadcasting the radar picture to all listening nodes on its coded
id network via the satcom dish.
Deep in the valleys of meghalaya the Flankers finally started receiving the entire
radar picture on the Phalcons 600km radius of search. Jacob noted the nine tracks and
made his own estimate about the implications of what seemed to be outgoing cruise missiles.
Phalcon02 also logged into the network and downrelayed the picture to its own brood of
#39 squadron flankers prowling slowly east of silchar.
**************
3:41AM
the first of the brahmos salvo reached the set co-ordinates of the L88 radar fed to
it by the combined work of the ARC boeing and a Samyukta unit camped on the border
in west bengals maldah district. At a height of 20 meters and distance of 100m from
its target point the radio altimeter fuse directed the warhead release. tiny pyrobolts
blew away the missile casing around the warhead section and a shower of impact fused
HE bomblets were blown out by radial bottles of compressed inert gas. This 'cloud' of
bomblets covered the remaining 100mts in miliseconds and impacted like a monsoon
rainstorm around the radar tethering truck, logistics vehicle and a guard truck parked
in a cluster. following seconds behind the leader, the next two missiles had been
rigged to hit two different areas based on TES imagery of the site. Brahmos2 homed in
on a wooded area about 500mts from the radar tether site which housed two large trailers
for the control and communication station. The warhead this time was a unitary HE 300kg
primed for airburst right at the target location. A devastating shock wave of shrapnel
and flame ripped the heart out from the flimsy unarmoured trailers, the equipment and
the occupants. Brahmos3 made a beeline for a camping area nearby with prefab huts that
housed the approx 100 Pak army people operating the site on a continuous basis. Other than
10 inside the trailers, 5 at the radar tether and 10 on perimeter guard duty the rest
75 people consisting of officers, specialists, engineers, guards, cooks and supply people
were catching a good nights sleep. However 300kg of pre-frag HE warhead put a painful
end to any idea of restful sleep, though perpetual sleep did claim most.
His clothes on fire, a man ran screaming away into the darkness seeking to jump into
any water he could find. A two-man MANPADS team jumped to their feet from their site
about a kilometer away and started jogging down the road looking for help at a BD
army station located nearby...the three huge explosions gave them a 'feeling' that a
lot of medical help would soon be needed. They left their Anza2 missiles behind, no warning
had been given and no targeting was possible on low flying mach2.5 missiles...they had
heard the roar of ramjet engines a few moments before the hits and managed to drag themselves
to their feet but the missiles themselves needed a 20 sec warmup time and then one had to
actually lock the IR seeker on target before release. hopeless.
covering around 41km every minute the second salvo of brahmos sped on past the flames
of the first site to the second L88 site. Here the camp area also had a couple of fuel
trucks dropping off kerosene and cooking gas to the garrison, so the results were more
luminous.
Cut from their tethers , the baloons carrying the radar antennas floated aimlessly
around for a while then drifted to the north east with the prevailing wind at 15000ft.
The third trio had the longest to cover and flew for another 2 mins before reaching
3D radar site located on a hillock east of the river meghna. this time all three missiles
were directed to explode right atop the static radar since TES had revealed the control
trailers were parked right next to it, perhaps due to a shortage of the necessary cabling.
Being a high value target a truck mounted Crotale battery was indeed present onsite
and on alert, but the batterys targetting radar was unable to get a good look until too
late on the low flying and small-RCS incomers so no Crotale2000 missiles could be
released in response. The air defence unit being located upstream from the radar survived
intact and its commander put in the emergency call to Group capt Khan at the Dhaka
control room.
"3D radar confirmed destroyed by missile strike. withdrawing unit to Dhaka and arranging
for medical treatment to any survivors"
The secretive work on the land-attack version of Brahmos had finally cleared its first
battle test. for long only existing in the wild eyed speculation of nationalist internet
forums, it had in reality been worked on in parallel right from day1 and been tested
disguised as a ship-attack version in between tests of the real ASM version to 'soothe'
those that needed to be soothed.
***************
3:30AM
INS Sindhuraj which had detached a week ago from its task force and prowling alone
east of new moore island got its firing orders after coming up on the VLF flash message
to periscope depth. the firing procedures took four minutes to complete and in the meantime
the submarine maintained a missile firing depth of 30 meters beneath the muddy silt laden
Meghna estuarine waters slowly pushing into the bay of bengal. A quick passive radar
check and IR scan via the periscope plus the passive sonar confirmed nothing in the vicinity
but for a medium container ship droning on towards its destination chittagong.
Commander Shetty patiently waited until the tubes were all ready and released tubes 1,2,3
and 4 a few seconds apart. seawater flooded in, the compressed gas generators got to
work and ejected the huge black painted Klub capsules away and up from the submarine. Leaving
the water at a 45' angle, the capsules sensed the lack of water pressure and dropped away.
Accelerometers sensed the inert missile beginning to slow and ignited the sustainer rocket
motor. The sleek missiles unfolded their spring loaded fins and vanished into the
darkness like a trio of prehistoric birds.
Sindhuraj sent a short burst into the satcom channel, dived to 100 meters which was the
deepest safe depth in this area of the estuarine shelf and crept away at a quiet 8 knots.
The missiles headed right into the mouth of the Meghna along a axis of nonexistent radar
coverage identified a month ago by ESM missions from a ARC 737 flying innocently over
international waters on a 'ferry mission' to Port Blair. Unlike the ASM version, these
missiles kept low around 100ft above the calm water and flew subsonically up the river
towards Dhaka, the well designed high lift stub wings providing a economical lift to
help the small engines conserve fuel.
Around 50km away from the F16 base in Dhaka, the onboard mission computers activated
IIR seeker, increased the burn rate to speed up the missiles and dropped the altitude
to 50ft above the river level. the IIR seekers started to 'see' imagery already stored
in onboard memory as the missiles adopted a new bearing to avoid flying over a known
radar site west of dhaka and over some heavily populated areas.
Group Captain Khan had just got off the phone with the Crotale commander, sent his four
ready pilots running to their waiting jets, raised the base alarm siren and was on the
phone again to the dormitory to arrange for all available pilots to reach the briefing
area on the double when the first missile executed a greaceful banking turn from the
east, overflew the base housing area and smashed into the ATC-control room building
as directed by the IIR seeker which had easily id'ed the target from the shape of the
control tower and ATC radar atop. For added insurance the second missile had been directed
to hit the same target from another direction, it came in a longer loop from the north and
completed the destruction of the structure.
The third missile which had been directed to engage a hanger believed to house six of the
F16s flew towards its target at the far end of the base. Unfortunately for it, a newly
relocated Crotale battery was directly below its path and the well drilled crew managed to
release three missiles after detecting the incoming Klubs still 10km away. The first missile
narrowly missed intercepting Klub2 , the second missile scored a clear kill on Klub3 since
they were approaching each other from opposite directions generating a good interception
solution. The third crotale hit the fireball of the second.
At 3:33AM the first of the four heavily armed F-16s raced airborne followed quickly by
the other three. Back at base, another eight pilots hastily made ready to get airborne
in the next few minutes trying to block out the pain of their leader's probably demise.
The mood was ugly, but discipline and training was tight and men went about their task
calmly. They were the elite of the PAF and it showed in the lack of panic, the measured
nature of their preparation, the initiative of the ground crews who already had everything
lined up on six Falcons and were working like mad to prepare another two Falcons for
departure.
At 3:45AM the first of the second batch roared off the runway followed in short order
by the other seven. Working to a patrol plan they split into two units and headed at
supersonic speed to the north aiming to catch up with the first set of four as
soon as possible.
Meantime the deputy Cmdr W.Hassan informed the PLAAF counterpart and could do little to
choke back his fury when a insolent sounding junior officer demanded to know why he
wanted the base CO on the line asap. After a few expletives the orderly went on in his
typical chinese way of pretending not to understand a scolding and agreed to rouse his CO.
A sleepy sounding Col Li came on the line in a few mins and upon hearing of the grave
matter set about scrambling his four ready Flankers immediately and preparing more for duty.
Col Li put his phone down and first got on the horn to his two Tor-M batteries
to look sharp and be ready before giving the scramble order to his ready room pilots.
Cursing and swearing under his breath , he set about rustling up another eight pilots from
his sleeping pool of twenty all of whom were rather tired after a day of classroom exercises and
politically directed (stupid he thought) lessons in bangladeshi and islamic culture
delivered by a dreadful fat pig from the BD culture ministry. God he wished he use his
genuine leather boots to kick the crap out of that braying donkey himself. Four hours of
stuff nobody was interested in with no tea breaks. right at that moment he wished he was
back at his tame Harbin posting resting in the arms of his wife. the f***ing indians and
his whole shindig was far too unpredictable to be of his liking, right now he could be
making money on the booming china stock market. His miserable cousin Wang with that perpetual
grin on his face and a beautiful young wife was minting a fortune on property speculation
per what he heard on the phone from his wife and parents. Screw you cousin wang, I am going
to deal with you good and proper if you ever show up to insult me in your new passat!
The departing roar of his four Flankers interrupted his train of thought and he quickly
left in a jeep for the command trailer of his YLC2 3D radar camouflaged in a remote part
of the base. the walkie talkie informed him soon that more pilots were awake and starting to
arrive at the briefing room. Deputy Tong already knew what to do, he was more interested
in finding out what exactly was happening and taking steps to contain the situation before
the so-called Paki "allies" drove it out of control. orders from beijing had been to try
and soothe the hothead allies as much as possible and refrain from getting provoked by the
indians. He intented to follow that to the letter.
********
Confidential Air Tasking Order 2008/BR/1204/01
To: #20 Lightning Squadron
From: DG Operations Vayu Sena Office
Signed: Air Commodore Jaswant Singh Basra (Assistant DGAO)
Salient points
* This tasking order must be treated at level-A1 confidentiality
* essential personnel only (pilots and WSO) made known of its contents, no ground crew to
be privy other than munitions loadout details
* Total air superiority sweep presence over north bangladesh on a line north of Dhaka
for a period of 3 hours between 3:00AM and 6:00AM on selected Day of Op-Raven
* Intent is to protect the ingress and egress of a SF force meant to rescue high value
hostage from a intel facility 50km north of Dhaka center
* Hostile response from both the PAF and PLAAF detachment should be assumed.
* You are authorized to launch preemptive attacks on any non-indian hostile flying vehicle
fixed wing or rotary within this operational zone for the duration of mission
* You are authorized to defend with deadly force
* You are *not* authorized to launch attacks on ground targets other than AAA/SAM sites
directly of threat to you
* Engagement with the PLAAF is to be avoided unless directly threatened, engagement preferably
a decisive morale sapping one is to be sought with the PAF with the intent to render
them ineffective as a combat force in the near future. It is upto you to come up locally with
such a plan.
* in all circumstances , protection of the indian raiding party is of utmost importance even
at the cost of declining combat with the enemy.
* missile strikes based on ELINT and IMINT data will be carried out against the three main radar
sites we know of prior to commencement of the operational phase
* Mirage2000s from Panagarh will be on orbit with ARMs to target any new radars that may
suddenly become activated, other Mirage2000s will be escorting so your squadron will not be
called on to protect them.
* we will place two Phalcons in theatre, one for you, the other flying from Tezpur to support
#39 off Silchar which will be the flying combat reserve should your formation need additional
support. You may expect atleast 50% of #39 to be available during the mission over the NC hills
grid box 91.201 patrol area
* AAR support cannot be provided due to shortage of airframes and need to refuel Mig29 escorts
and the Phalcons themselves. So 90% fuel fraction should be planned for. For emergency recovery
all airbases in eastern command would be available , bubble protected by Bisons. A single Midas
will be available under #39 incase of dire need.
* Munitions carried should be suitable for both WVR and BVR engagements. Two airframes should
carry the Mk.101 munition (4 each) for targeting of a high value complex part of
the target site (only) after the successful egress of all indian units. You are free to arrange
escort as necessary.
***********
3:45-4:00AM
the GCI control trailer which fortunately had been parked well away from the ATC building
now took over as the main C3I node. Equipped with used but very good equipment furnished from
surplus USAF stocks it quickly discovered that the three radars feeding it the data had all
gone offline and all attempts to call them directly didnt work. Someone recalled the AD units
had separate radio sets and quickly managed to raise the commander of the Crotale units to get
the full details.
This left the YLC2 at the chinese base as the main radar for control of BD airspacea and again,
the farsighted Khan had managed to get his chinese couterpart to lay a few kilometers of cable
and some high banhdwidth radio links to get the YLC2 data into his own GCI trailer as well.
While radio operators contacted the 12 F16s flying north about the outage of their radars and
told them the YLC2 was still available, a very tight watch was mounted on the 3D radar imagery
for any signs of intruding planes. The 12 Falcons were clearly visible and so were the 4 Flankers
now airborne and orbiting over Dhaka, three commercial aircraft heading for the civilian part of
Dhaka airport were warned off and told to head towards Kolkata, off to the west tracks of other
large ac heading towards Kolkata were evident, some other large ac presumably military could be
seen at high level far away over eastern bihar, 4 smaller returns presumably fighters with
one of these contacts.....it became clear within seconds it was a Phalcon or Midas probably a
Phalcon because no other ac required such a heavy escort....a few fighter type tracks off near
panagarh presumably mirages.
Few minutes later the officer at a ground based ESM site near the assam border
using british Marconi equipment called in to report his equipment picking up distinctive
emissions of the Phalcon radar.
Almost at the same time, another Phalcon and four fighter tracks became visible as the powerful
YLC2 ramped up to its massive full power on indstructions by the PLAAF commander. Flying over
central assam Nagaon district it seemed to be flying a racetrack holding pattern at 41,000ft.
Confirmation from another ESM site in the CHT region came in soon.
After a brief telephonic talk on the hotline, Col Li decided to scramble four Flankers immediately
and hold another eight as a ready reserve. Technicians scrambled to roll out the missiles and
get them loaded onto the sleek humpbacked J-11s waiting on the flight line. in the ready room, pilots
got a running commentary of the radar situation and made last minute checks on maps of BD topography,
recovery areas, engagement procedures and seniors ceaselessly worked to calm the wound up junior
pilots and get them prepared.
Over the PAF base, mechanics worked to arm and prepare eight more Falcons as the ready reserve. The
pilots , all of them long since awake grabbed some coffee and hot food while awaiting further
instructions.
************
Commander Bhartendu Sinha and the 25 men of Marcos detachment Raven sat quietly as the two
heavily modified CG griffon hovercrafts , lights out and engines throttled back to reduce
noise cruised quietly down the sluggish course of the Jumna river as the brahmaputra was
called in BD. It had been easy to engineer their ingress past the lone BD ranger water patrol
by starting a small incident of firing on one shore, waiting until the motorboat
had rushed past to investigate then emerging from thick cover on the shore of opposite bank.
The river being around 2km wide at the border with numerous grassy sandbars ensured nobody would
notice the two black craft, low in the water sliding past the gate. the BSF water patrols had
been told to stay out of the area that night.
Night fishermen along the route did see the two strange vessels but bereft of knowledge as to
their origin or any means of communication, their sense of puzzlement remained localized.
It had been a tedious journey from gujrat for the vessels, modifications had started on the
transport ship itself and nearly completed by the time they reached GRSE. first the austere
CG navcomm suite was supplemented by new high power secure radios, night vision gear for the
operators to permit sailing without lights, side armour skirts for the passenger compartment
and a armour coating for the white house. Extra fuel tanks added. old life rafts thrown out to
be replaced with marcos assault rubber boats. all this made the craft heavier and slower, which
wasnt a problem because speed wasnt a big requirement.
behind each vessel they towed a flat bottomed airboat of the type seen in florida everglades.
the only modifications were a menacing looking MMG mount low in the front and a Milan/Shipon
mount higher up the rear just infront of the driver who had been given a lower seat than the
elevated seat of the florida boats.
So they had sailed down the Jumna and then the Meghna for nearly 8 hours now, creeping quietly
to the shore whenever a significant threat of discovery like a large passenger ferry appeared on
the low power radar.
Reaching a point around 1km upstream from the Hedayatpur compound around 2:15AM Cmdr Sinha ordered
a halt until the next order....the helsmen consulted their GPS devices complete with terrain maps
helpfully supplied by ISRO and per the plan steered into a quiet creek on the west shore screened from
view by 10 foot tall river grass. The engines shut and they lay dead in the water.
********
at 3:46 AM Cmdr Sinha finally received the coded message on his radio and the nerve wracking
approach phase started . Fans silent, they used a small outboard electric motor to creep at
5 knots downriver using the current to maximum effect and finally arrived at a spot 1km from
the compound wall with only the marshes and sandbars separating them now.
Five men from each boat mounted the airboats, leaving eight men on each Griffon. the quiet clinks
of weapons and missile tubes being given final once over, of night vision devices trained all
over the place.
*********
4:10AM
While the Mi17s remained behind hovering over a forest, the Dhruvs commenced
their final attack run from 7kms away to the west. Everything depended on achieving the initial
impact on the target since the assault force was very small for the task.
Dhruv1 the team leader approached to 3km, climbed upto 200 ft for a good look then climbed down
again to treetop height before going forward gently again. A few seconds later line abreast, the
four appeared from the mist on a line perpendicular to the highway passing infront of the camp.
Dhruv2 swivelled the nose cannon and emptied a long burst into the guardhouse and sandbags guarding
the main gate. for good measure a couple of grenades from the co-axial AGL was also sent out.
Dhruv2,3,4 flew over the wall and headed for the biggest threat inside the camp - three buildings
that housed the dormitories of almost the entire troops based at the camp. Using their NVG to locate
targets in the gloom around 100 small caliber rockets and hundreds of rounds of cannon fire were
unleashed at these sleeping inhabitants. A store of cooking gas went off that collapsed
one building in a cloud of cement dust , tin scrap and broken wood. Moving on they turned their
attention to the motor pool area adjacent housing around 15 light vehicles and 25 trucks. Scores of
cannon shells and a few AGL rounds applied to this badly damaged most vehicles within a minute.
Dhruv1 meantime flew lengthwise down the front wall of the compound gunning down the terrified
sentries in the four guard towers with accurate rounds from its stabilized cannon. A important
looking guard hut at the intersection of the front and side walls got a AGL grenade. Dhruv1 now
started down one side wall , while Dhruv4 did the same on the other side wall. Dhruv2 and 3 flew
a circle around the inner citadel of the campus housing a large building proudly bearing the
flags of the BD army and BD intel unit. Here and there the NVGs revealed figures scurrying around
from building to building, any body of troopers attempting to approach the inner citadel were
targeted with cannon and grenade fire. The two troopers in the back of each dhruv also slid back
one side door to reveal a ugly looking beltfed MMG with which they took shots at any targets of
opportunity.
At the rear wall, the shocked sentries feeling very vulnerable were quickly climbing down the
ladders and had already vacated their posts when the two Dhruvs intersected over the midpoint of
of the rear wall.
With the outer layer peeled away, both the Mi17s and the Marcos detachment received the call.
The hovercrafts and airboats now at full power charged up over the swamp vegetation and easily
roared over the shallow sandbars as they appeared in their path. Arriving at the wall, a hail of
machine gun and Shipon rockets soon quelled the morale of a hardy section of defenders who had
organized and were firing from behind a section of the rampart.
Black rubber covered ladders came out and 20 men crossed over quickly,leaving 5 men supported
by Dhruvs 1 and 4 to watch over the equipment. It was around 200meters to the intel citadel
and they achieved it at a easy loping run, scanning right and left with night vision sights
before taking cover below the boundary wall of the citadel. People seemed to be running around
inside and the hornets nest was very active...flashes of fire from the windows and roof indicated
defenders taking shots at the Dhruvs circling overhead as they were yet unaware of where exactly
the breachers of the rear wall were headed. A group of four smart BD troopers appeared from nowhere
right behind the position and the situation nearly went out of control as a confused short range
gunbattle erupted. Two Marcos men got hit in the neck and face and were lost leaving only eighteen.
All around the campus there were signs of activity as the recovering defenders gathered their
wits and guns and started heading on the double towards the most obvious target - the intel compound.
Mi17-1 disgorged a Milan missile and MMG team around 1km south from the campus on the highway leading
into Dhaka and remained airborne with 4 rocket pods in support. Mi17-2 did the same at a place 1km
north of the campus in the other direction of the highway. Mi17-3 and 4 headed directly for the
campus. At the main gate , Mi17-3 hovered briefly as the diversionary force of 25 men fast roped
down heavily laden with explosive charges. They got to work quickly, running through the campus
shooting and throwing charges at any structure or strongpoint to engage the defenders in a running
battle. Using memorized map of the compound, care was taken to keep within stone's throw of the
compound wall however to avoid getting encircled and trapped.
Mi17-4 disgorged 20 men onto the roof of the intel building, using a burst of rocket fire
to sweep it clean a few moments beforehand. the two supporting Dhruvs conserved their ammo
but maintained the vigil.
Major Doley was the first man on his rope and touched down almost at the same time as the lead
men on the three other ropes. sweeping the roof for remnants of defenders they paused briefly
to let the full squad catch up before heading in two teams of ten men each down the pair of
staircases leading down. They poked their heads around the doorway and withdrew right away as
bursts of gunfire greeted them from the dark passages below. Doley spoke briefly into his
mouthpiece radio and lay quiet and Dhruv2 took a risk and hovered down vertically right next
to building. it swivelled its cannon and raked the top floor of the three storey building
from end to end with cannon fire, adding 5 rounds of grenades for good measure before climbing
up swiftly again to a safer height. it was now out of ammo for the cannon but still had a
few grenades and the door gunner left.
Doley's team started down again, sweeping through the third floor shooting dead stray
survivors of the assault, room by room the twin teams swept the second floor clean, mostly
offices occupied by high ranking staffers it looked like from the furniture. Two men were
detailed to use supplied tools and strip out the hard disks from all PCs they could see
to mine for information later. The 16 remaining for 2 had fallen in the battle for the second
floor headed for the first floor on the double. Leaving behind 4 men to guard the stairwell
and block anyone prowling on the first floor they continued on down into the basement.
The lights went out, perhaps some smart member of the defence team seeking to make it
more difficult for the attackers.
A very bloody battle in the basement by the dim light of the somewhat cumbersome
NVG eyepieces as the ten men crept into the confined space. Flashes of gunfire so close
eventually made the NVGs useless and the six surviving of the ten finally switched to
hi-power torches out of necessity as they kept pressing on into the inner sanctum of
the interrogation complex.
Doley spoke into his radio again calling for the Marcos unit which was lying low to
come up and provide support on the ground floor to his four troopers left behind alone
and the two sweeping the floor above.
room by room they searched and sometimes found terrified prisoners clinging to their
beds and hiding under the tables. ignoring them they continued searching for their quarry.
A grenade rolled down by a clever enemy claimed another two jawans which left only four.
Finally they reached a larger than usual set of rooms that seemed fitted out like a
comfortable apartment for a long stay rather than a holding pen before a quick execution.
Doley decided to take a risk and creep in alone rather than chance a firefight that
might hurt their quarry and render the whole mission useless. So far he hoped the guess
that the captors wouldnt kill the quarry at the first sign of trouble was right because
they had shed so much blood in vain otherwise.
Leaving aside his INSAS carbine he drew the silenced beretta pistol and darted his head around
the doorway into the apartment drawing-cum-dining room. Madam was there, surrounded by two
vicious looking guards, the kind who didnt fight much but took some pleasure in torturing and
executing people. One of them seemed to have placed a noose around Madams neck to control her
movements better, she looked dishevelled like just being dragged froms. Both carried their
sidearms and both saw Doley as they let loose a few rounds in his general direction. Fortunately
the walls were solid concrete and didnt let the low velocity rounds through.
Doley waited for their initial enthusiasm to abate and then dived into the room towards a corner,
rising upto his knees he fired a single shot at the noose guys head, missing him by a couple
of inches as the target instinctively ducked.
and then his pistol jammed, but there was no time to think anymore just years of training
and instinct giving him the edge as the second guy fired another two shots at him missing his
diving frame by inches, his six round mag now empty and fingers frantically feeling his pocket for
another clip. Doley was a blur as as he first threw his jammed pistol at one man and
covered the fifteen feet separating them , callused rough hand reaching across to the left for the Dao
handle, unsheating of the heavy broad blade
and the final killing angular hacking blow from high up on the right going diagonally across the
neck and ripping deep into the rib cavity. ignoring the wash of warm blood on his hands, turned
on the second man to find him running away into one of the bedrooms. Uttering a oath and Dao raised
for the strike Doley ran after his victim and felled him at the bathroom door just as the
terrified torture jockey turned around with a deer in the headlights look, pants wet with warm urine.
Doley dragged a mute and speechless looking madam out to the doorway where another trooper put a
bulletproof jacket and helmet on her and continued to drag and guide her to the basement stairs. She
weakly wiped some vomit from her throat and attempted to focus on the immediate issues rather than
the gory scenes she had just witnessed.
The Marcos had taken care of a band of ground floor defenders by simply firing carl gustaf rockets
into their rooms and were now in full control of the ground floor and the citadel compound itself
but the crackle of fire from nearby buildings indicated resistance was still present.
A huge explosion overhead signaled that some bright lad had finally nailed their Mi17-4
with a RPG round and the people outside hastily ran in to escape the falling debris and burning
oil.
Surrounded by a close screen of eight troopers and the two Dhruvs coming in low to blast away
at flashes of gunfire on the sides, Madam was taken from the building with the remaining of
the assault teams fanning out in a loose circle and all moving towards the rear wall where the
Marcos vehicles awaited. Two more men fell to wild gunfire during the withdrawal. the sack of
salvaged hard disks was dragged along by the two men who had ripped apart many of the PCs on the
second floor.
Exit over the wall was uncontested and all the surplus grenades and Shipon rockets were unloaded
in the general direction of their pursuers to discourage ideas of close pursuit.
With extra people somehow crammed in by keeping ten Marcos people on the airboats, the little
armada finally came off the wall and headed for the river at full speed. The airboats brought
up the rear moving in zig-zag fashion to permit their MMGs to bear and blaze away at anyone
seen on the rampart. Finally they were out of small arms range and went quiet.
The two road blocking parties hadnt had much to do, one side had waylaid a colourful marriage
party and a bunch of small trucks without violence. The other side had smashed a convoy of big
trucks with Milan missiles which on inspection turned out to be just commercial vehicles. Mi17s
soon appeared to pick them up. the diversion party who had gone in via the gate came out after
blasting a hole in the wall and their Mi17 swooped in to pick them up. All three Mi17s formed up
and headed for the rendezvous point with the Marcos on the river around 5km upstream.
Of the four Dhruvs one had engine damage from ground fire and crashlanded into a sandbar on the
swamp. One of the others picked up its crew, while another Dhruv put a couple grenades into the
hulk. The three Dhruvs again departed behind the Mi17s.
Arriving at the rendezvous spot, the hovercrafts and airboats were abandoned and emplaced with
delayed charges, the passengers all distributed quickly among the six helos, all extra equipment
thrown into the river to lighten the weight and the six helos departed in three identical
subgroups of a Dhruv+Mi17 on three separate routes all heading for the west bengal border at
maximum possible speed and treetop level to evade ground and fighter radars in lookdown mode.
Maj Doley sat down for some rest and to wipe his Dao clean. He looked
across at Madam who seemed to have recovered some composure and was asking Cmdr Sinha about
all the details of the who/why/how. He overheard her thanking Cmdr Sinha and all the team
as he drifted to sleep in the dark cabin. He vaguely hoped all the blood of his friends lost
tonight would be worth it.
90 mins later, all three subgroups would cross unharmed over the invisible border across
the rice paddies and head for secretive recovery zones prepared beforehand with choppers waiting
to ferry the team back to Raipur and Madam under heavy protection to a Govt guest house in
Maneswar, Haryana next to the NSG facility.
At Raipur, people were already winding up the camp.
********
The YLC2 pumping up at full power and GCI communications from the PLAAF base to its airborne
Flankers as well as the PAF GCI comms was duly noted by Phalcon02 and this fact passed
on up the decision making loop to NECC.
CCS consulted for five minutes and concurred that the clause stating no preemptive attack on
the chinese be withdrawn given the potent nature of the threat and need to cause the chinese
some embarassment too, as also ensure the protection of the egress helicopters which right now
were forming up in the recovery area for the escape to west bengal.
Unit777 had gotten one hour to withdraw and reload its nine tubes before the order
and targeting data came down at 4:20AM. it took about 5 minutes to program the missiles and
warm the systems up for imminent launch. Again the TELs crept out of the forest canopy and
inclined their tubes eastward.
One by one, nine missiles erupted and disappeared as blobs of flame into the dark eastern sky.
Approximately ten minutes later, the first wave of four missiles approached the flanker base
from the south, the second wave of five missiles took separate final approach paths from the
north. The alpha strike was designed to overload any SAM defences of the YLC site. short range
radar picked up the bogies 10km out flying low and fast at the treetops. Both Tor batteries
tracking radars picked up targets and moved to engage, unleashing nine of the sleek
VLS interceptor missiles five to the north and four to the south. Regardless of paper claims
which the PLAAF had been unable to verify, the Tor system was not really built to deal with
mach2.5 low-RCS low-level multiple quadrant targets ...esp as the brahmos began their evasive
3D S-curve manouvers to increase the crossing velocity and complicate the intercepts. Only
two brahmos were knocked out and another suffered a marginal blow which sent it into the ground.
The remaining six Brahmos bored in from all points of the compass on the YLC2 antenna and its
attached trailer which belatedly was now being shut off and attempting to move away. however the
IIR seekers of the Brahmos saw it clearly against the ground clutter and other vehicles nearby
and didnt miss the mark. nearly 2 tons of high explosive left a huge crater and little else
intact.
At 4:30AM the PAF-PLAAF detachment lost its final element of GCI coverage. The PAF acting cmdr
urgently radioed his pilots of the situation and ordered a cautious racetrack patrol just
north of Dhaka. Col Li ordered his pilots to land immediately and await further orders..he wasnt
about to commit them to a blind night fight without even a semblence of ground cover. He noted
with some malice the Pak deputy commanders action and hoped the Pakis learnt a good lesson.
The total absense of any indian a.c so far or attempt to attack his parked a/c with missiles
convinced him the indians just wanted to shut the radar down. Done for the night, Col Li made
sure to relocate to a dispensary on the premises to treat some 'wounds' from the Brahmos attack
though his trailer being 400m away on a cable had escaped the blasts around the antenna. He
figured that would be the safest place to spend the rest of the miserable night.
******
NECC continued to get a constant stream of updates as the twin Phalcons noted the destruction
of the last remaining big radar, the patrol pattern of the Falcons and the four Flankers withdrawing
for a landing. [continued below]
I managed to write up during my long absense. its quite difficult getting
a reliable inet cafe in my city. pardon the very poor formatting as I copied it from a txt file ( I find maximising the IE to its full window size fixes
some of the line wraps for me)
I will have better (corporate) internet access from next month but
expect to maintain a low profile until I settle down properly and find
acco etc. in blore.
Operation Black Raven
=====================
Guwahati airbase has a village almost abutting the western wall of the
facility. Used to pairs of Flankers going off on training sorties all through
the night, its residents were however rudely awakened by the muted thunder
of *dozens* of Lyulka-saturn engines at 2:00AM. something was different tonight
but nobody knew what, so after murmuring for a few moments people drifted
back to sleep, tired mothers patting and shushing their infants disturbed by
the noise. the village dogs barked and registered their protest as usual.
****
Orders direct from DG air operations had arrived at the Base CO's office
by personal courier at 6:00PM. he had read it twice, then per the letter itself
burned its contents and ground out the ashes. First he had a heart to heart
talk with the seniormost pilots Jacob, Das (newly promoted to Sqdn ldr) and four
others for nearly an hour...he being a non-flying post the mission would depend
on mostly the sagacity and improvisation of the key contributors. Next they
had a long and joint staff meeting with the full cadre of squadron pilots and
Jacob held a separate session with the four rookies present among them. Though
not strictly called for, he always made it a point to make every rookie
feel welcome and help with their mental preparation prior to every test. everyone
who came in was physically fit and a good flyer, but winning as always also
required the right frame of mind..atleast thats what he felt.
Nobody could be left behind, the mission demanded 100% resource utilization.
The hangers and revetments which had camo nets spread over them on systems of
wires and pulleys presented a air of controlled frenzy in the few hours left.
dozens of munitions trucks and bheema munition loading trolleys laboured with
their crews to fill each of the 16 Flankers upto the specified mission load.
Sweating technical crews ran through last minute checks, using the BITE
wherever provided on the LRUs. Engine crews raced the clock to make three under
repair Flankers ready for service using a stock of spare engines which had
fortunately been topped up with a shipment from Koraput just two days before.
Fuel trucks slunk around dropping tons of fuel into underground tanks for
piping into the capacious 9ton fuel tanks. the Garuda force people on red alert,
carefully screened the perimeter with portable NVG devices and the QRT stood
ready to rush at a moments notice.
Two of the flankers were loaded up with a new kind of munition previously never
fired by the IAF in anger. Their pilots Shankar and Amitabh received a separate
briefing over a videoconference VPN link from a weapons scientist at DARE to
resolve any last minute doubts. There hadnt been any time to permit planned
tests at the tezpur range due to a transient engine shortage and other pressing
commitments. They did have some simulator time with the weapon on two palleted
simulators made by a bangalore company(in collab with IAPO and using COTS
hw) that had been flown in from Pune in initial phase of the deployment.
Shankar and Amitabh were naturally more tense than the rest. The younger pilots
were uniformly all on edge. No phone calls or movement to-from the base was
permitted once the base Co received the cable, guwahati airbase would remain in
lockdown mode for the mission duration.
*****
At 2:15Am the lead pair of flankers Jacob and Das released throttles and
the four cones of flame receded into the distance .... behind them on the
parallel taxiway the next pair turned into the runway...six more pairs waited
their turn patiently. By 2:30am every plane was airborne and formed unto into
two units of 8 each flying snake formation at low level of 2000ft. Using the
Litening pods and tucked in a zig-zag fashion in two lines of 8 planes each,
the squadron flew into the meghalaya hills and began negotiating their radar
masked approach to the southern meghalaya region.
Das's plane proudly sported two black falcon kill symbols just behind the radome.
for Jacob the painters had come up with a new symbol given the unusual nature
of his deed. It consisted of a black snake inside the outline of a bag with a
rope tied around the bag's neck, thus signifying a capture. Jacob as usual had
no public comment on this and 'meekly' took what was painted...though Biswas did
catch a pleased look in the boss's eye talking about it later in the dormitory.
*****
Phalcon01 took off from Nagpur at 2:00AM and proceeded to the east for its
patrol station over eastern bihar state. Phalcon02 took off from Tezpur and headed
southwest to the north cachar hills. Phalcon03 stood ready reserve at Nagpur.
Half a batallion of base security troops on red alert prowled the base,
checking every noise and smell of the night. wild-eyed alsatians strained at
their leashes , noses keenlyseeking any hint of intruders as their handlers led
them around the perimeter. There was one false alarm, as a contact triggered a frenzy
among the mutts who were released only to have the patrol party come upon a hapless
wild boar torn apart by the excited dogs. A call on the walkie-talkie held off the
jeep borne QRT just about to depart the central garrison camp.
Midas01 and Midas02 with full fuel tanks assumed a hot standby posture inside
their capacious hangers in Agra base. They were expected to be needed before the
night was over.
Six AAR equipped Mig29S based in patna which would be the Phalcon
escort got airborne and flew to their rendezvous point with the big bird
flying silently towards them from the west. The sleek nosecones of six Adders
peeked out from the beneath the wings of each bird. A centerline fuel tank
and a Elta ECM pod distinguised these as having some sort of unknown upgrade.
IAF had been known to be tinkering with semi-approved upgrades of many types
on the Mig29 fleet to figure out what they wanted when the Mig29K production
line became available from the IN.
*****
Base CO guwahati observed his full squadron take off clean from the ATC
office and walked across the building to the secure comms room, dialing a
subsidiary of the DG air operations in Delhi. Unknown to him, the call was
patched through into the air control room of the national emergency command
center buried 150mts below ground somewhere west of delhi.
*****
At 2:45Am, 50% of the flanker squandron at silchar took off and the airport
being in a plateau, immediately descended into the deep ravines of the north
cachar hills to wait for the call. Speed was kept slow to conserve fuel.
****************
Regular late night international traffic at IGI airport was stopped for a
15 minute duration between 2-2:15AM to permit a Govt flight to Mumbai to
takeoff. The incoming Swissair flight made a couple of extra circuits before
landing safely as usual. The passengers thought it was due to extra
The B737-800 of the IAF VVIP sdqn that took off had defence minister Sen
and home minister Dighe onboard. It flew directly south rather than south-wes
to mumbai. With its light passenger load and mission payload it had a unrefuelled
endurance of around 8 hours, for it had been designed for 6 hr trips between
east-west coasts of north america with a full passenger and cargo load. It was
unofficially called NEACP01. Another sister plane was being constructed but for now
it was the only one India had.
******************
Brig George had completed his visit to Raven base east of raipur a week
ago. To mask his movement to anyone interested, a commercial flight to Raipur
followed by a nondescript road transport in civilian garb had been provided.
for all intents, a civil engineer from delhi had come to consult with a mining
exploration team camped inside the dense sal wood forest near lohapur village.
He had flown back quite satisfied with the state of affairs though there was
still some glaring shortcomings in the technology level of the equipment he
had available for the boys. New types of ultralight helment mounted night
sights for one..the old ones were a little on heavier side though far better
than the early models which came to fame in the first gulf war.
His report back in Delhi to CCS had finally set the wheels in motion, some
of which were the IAF missions...
Four Mi17 and four Dhruv's had taken off around midnight and flown steadily
east in a single pack, heading for panagarh in north bengal. Reserve machines
were available but the mechanics had been extra careful with the fleet and
no troubles developed after launch so they all continued on to the east. Lacking
in external fuel tank system for the Mi17s, a quickfix solution had been found
in thick-walled rubber bladders filled with fuel and lashed to the floor of
the passenger compartment. Men could walk around freely on this 'waterbed'
and equipment boxes upto a certain weight limit were permissible. The Dhruvs
which were the armed Army versin had two external fuel tanks on pylons, chin
machine gun turret, nose mounted FLIR housing and two rocket pods on the
outboard wing pylons. in addition thay also had a fuel bladder inside the
empty passenger compartment. Mi35s had been considered for the mission, but
their size, fuel guzzling nature and noise had been deemed unsuitable.
There were 100 fully armed men crammed inside the eight Mi17. A mix of NSG-SAG
and Para Cdo veterans, they had been selected for their experience both in
simulated training and in the countless shadowy COIN black-wars that went on
in the background in kashmir, NE, lanka, afghanistan etc. The men were not
very young, but seasoned by age and harsh conditions. The Dhruvs carried
only 2 unarmed troopers inside the cabin, nursemaiding some extra boxes of
small arms ammunition and Milan ATGM reloads which couldnt be fitted into the
Mi17s.
Two hours later, after crossing the hills of northern Jharkhand the flock
finally reached panagarh and settled down for a while to refuel and undergo
a check of all essential eqpt before the final jumpoff. In the dim starlight of
2 AM, tense section leaders went over final consultations with their teams,
making each man repeat for the last time his assigned initial role, the
operation plan and the backup plan should things go wrong. Men fingered
their INSAS and Tavor rifles nervously and the Milan teams checked their
active and spare batteries for the laser sights. Two qualified pilots for
each machine came onboard here, not part of the mission training but a
last minute addition during Brig George's final round of discussion...the
main sets of pilots could get wounded and thus compromise both the mission
and the fate of their approx 20 troopers. The backup crew could fly the
craft home at full speed though they werent trained to do the active part of
the mission itself. They received the most dense 10 min briefing of their
careers as the main crew filled them in on the full details of the flight plan.
The snipers, always a surly and aloof lot smoked a last cigarette together
after checking their PSG-1 rifles.
At 2:45 AM the flotilla went airborne again and laid a course for the north
suburbs of Dhaka.
Major Brinde Doley (1 Para Cdo) the overall raid leader calmly clutched his
short barrel INSAS carbine and dozed lightly. Son of a schoolteacher , he hailed
from a Baghmara village east of Bhalukpung in Tezpur district of Assam. His tribe,
the Mising straddled both sides of the assam-arunachal border and had lived in
the region for centuries past, preserving their own culture and language
as did the hundreds of unique tribes in the region. Blessed with a massive
'rogue warrior' type physique by good genetics, honed by years of hard work
in the rough terrain and forest, his main claim to notoriety before joining
the army had been cutting the hand off a fellow tribesman who had attempted to
molest his sister at the annual Darrangi mela. He had done it carefully, first
befriending the half drunk man, drawing him into the forest with the promise of
some marijuana and 'willing' tibetan girls, then breaking his jaw to subdue him
and using the traditional dao to sever the culprits right paw quickly. He had
left him there to die bleeding and alone. No remorse. That Dao , with various
dents and notches from past operations and brawls occupied a black leather
scabbard affixed to his left belt...he fingered the handle for emotional comfort
as he dozed, much like a infant sucking on the pacifier.
The paw hadnt been the only blood tasted by the dao, there had been many in the
years since he entered 1 para. Much had been jihadi blood, with a small slice of
ulfa and fellow travellers thrown in. He was not liked much by the more cerebral
types in the SF management chain, but the more earthy types got along rather well
with his bluntness and simple honesty. He dozed with a certain peace of mind, his
parents were gone, his sister had met a tragic road accident soon after marriage
in which his best friend (her husband) had also fallen. There was nobody waiting
if he came home in a bag, he could deal with that. In a way he was glad as he looked
around him and saw the eyes of men he knew had kin back home and worst of all who
didnt even know on the dangerous jaunts these quiet and competent men went about
routinely. Something felt like some wouldnt be making the return trip alive, he
only hoped their widows would get the paltry compensation on time atleast without
having to bribe anyone and that the media vultures and socialist intellectuals
would leave them to grieve alone.
The darkened armada with all lights and radios off thundered on through the
thick fog of north bengal created the scores of small rivers and lakes in the
region. The Dhruv pilots used their GPS nav kits and 3D terrain map MFDs
coupled to the FLIR to pilot their mounts low and fast over the rice paddies
and swamps. The Mi17s lacked such gear and their pilots simply concentrated on
tailing the Dhruvs closely as safely possible.
After passing 15km south of Malda, they reduced speed and went down to treetop
level as the IB was crossed...
The flight leader a group captain of army aviation wing sent a brief encrypted
message on his portable data terminal , shut down the device and focussed on the
task ahead.
There was no going back now.
*******
Group captain Arshad Khan the F-16 unit leader at Dhaka was just done attending
a reception for PAF officers organized by the local Dhaka embassy and Friends of
Pakistan society. Initially reluctant to waste a night on this, he had relented after
some pressing by the embassy people and finally took eight of his boys in one of the
chartered minibuses they used to trips to the town. A full quota of ready room pilots
had to be left behind ofcourse, no chances could be taken after the incident with the
Flankers. Four planes stood on hot standby at all hours these days and additional
MANPADS and a Crotale battery flown in from Chaklala guarded his base day and night.
So they had gone off around 8:00pm and were now returning around 2:30am...some pilots
were dozing a little, trying to sleep off the liquor which had been of good quality
He had a unhappy feeling in the stomach, perhaps a onset of the 'runs' that had ravaged
his squadron lately....he cursed himself for letting the local deputy mayor talk him
into eating too much of the grilled hilsa fillets, spiced with green chilies, coriander
and mustard seeds. excellent stuff but only if consumed in moderation. He disliked the
younger unmarried pilots who had run like wolves around the elegant society ladies
in attendence, well I suppose they have a right to try and forget the conditions in this
miserable country! he missed Pakistan, missed the whisper smooth expanse of the lahore
islamabad motorway where every weekend he'd take out his Hyuandai accent (a marriage
gift from his exporter father) and roar along at 150kmph to squeals of pleasure from
his two kids, missed the superb facilities and the officers mess in sargodha where the
elite' of the elite' of PAF gathered around the fire and above all he missed the cool
climate of his part of the world. here it was the hated humidity and heat and mosquitoes
all round the year. Men lost pounds of weight if they didnt hydrate themselves properly
here, the base was shabby and there wasnt any money to improve it quickly, no life, no
family , no fun. The scrawny, dark BAF pilots who hung around trying to pickup tips from
his pilots he treated with a special contempt. The horde of thin, dirty looking
bangladeshi traders who hung around the base gate attempting to sell cloth, cheap plastic
goods, pirated music and above all the hated fishes had made life miserable for
the expat detachment. There was no entertainment worthy of a real man like wild boar
hunting or going for long drives to hill stations.
His thoughts turned by and by to the day ahead, a round of exercises were scheduled
for tomorrow morning. they had belatedly started to work
on some joint training and co-ordination concepts with the chinese sukhoi squadrons
posted at the other airbase. As he had been told to expect by PAF people who had
visited china before, their training and general caliber was well below PAF standards.
PAF pilots in general got the better of them , though obviously the sukhois were
at a overwhelming advantage in BVR mode. Still, the F16 jocks did manage to develop some
tactics to negate the advantage and level the field. Especially after the 'incidents'
over the jaintia hills , Khan had laid stress of DACT with the sukhois with an aim to
understand all aspects of the big bird. He now felt comfortable they would give a
bloody nose should the indian flankers ever dare to cross the line again. Modern lockheed
L-88 tethered radars given under the war on terrorism package had been flown to the
theater and these gave a good coverage on the hilly terrain of north bangladesh, the area
where the delta started sloping up to the khasi, garo and jaintia hills of meghalaya and
the chittagong-cachar hill tracts.
The bus slowed down and turned off the highway into the airbase. The pilots were dropped
off at the dormitory, Khan decided to head for the combat planning room to go over the
details of the coming exercise before retiring for the night. He found Sqdn leaders Imran
and Orakzai on duty in the ready room watching PTV video tapes, the two other standing
pilots were resting in a darkened room off the hallway. He settled down comfortably
with some strong coffee and a couple of files. the time on the old wallclock read 3:00am.
************************
Hedayatpur military camp was a 200 acre facility located 50km north of Dhaka and
home to the BD army intelligence HQ, two batallions of logistical units, one company of
light infantry guards and a stray small units in regular times. It stretched in a I-shape along a
major highway leading into the city with 4 entry gates along a 0.5km stretch of frontage.
At night only the main gate was left open. Each gate was well guarded for the main occupant
BD army intelligence had a lot of things to protect and hide. Heavy machine controlled steel
gates, concrete pillars that forced a would-be gatecrasher to slow down, a MG nests presented
a imposing barrier to entry. Unusually for a BD army camp, the entire boundary wall was floodlit
from inside and metal sentry towers were emplaced at 200m distances all along the perimeter.
The reason for this abnormal level of security were two - this was the main center where
political and religious enemies of the state were brought captive for incarceration, torture,
secret trials and secret executions. A well constructed underground jail block catered to
the steady stream of 'spies and traitors' fingered by whoever controlled the BD army of the
day. of late, business had picked up markedly under Gen Jaffars patronage. The second reason
were two 'guesthouses' run directly by BD army intel where honoured guests like visiting
ISI agents, indian terrorist leaders, myanmar rebel leaders and chinese advisers were
provided lodge and board for duration of stay in Dhaka. This centralized system permitted
keeping tabs on their movements and also kept them perfectly safe from their numerous
enemies including rival factions, indian govt agents, criminals paid by india and the
more activist sections of the media.
Slush funds from the BD armys numerous business activities and payments from narcotics
and terrorist entrepreneurs facilitated the running costs of the camp and left a healthy
surplus for the BD army's top brass to fund their lavish lifestyles including summer
hols in Europe/USA and foreign education for their children. It had been a hit with everyone
from the moment the 'corporate guest house' services had opened and a steady stream of
discerning visitors made use of it. It wasnt cheap at 4000 Taka a night for a double room
but the security, privacy, excellent food & drink, gym, conferencing facility and provision
for high quality female companion(s) attracted the discerning among the terrorist and terror
master corporate elite.
Behind the camp lay a stretch of water hyacinth covered marshland, pools of darkish water
with outcrops of land scattered around. it was hard to know where was solid land because
everything had a solid cover of water hyacinth, tall grass and other such vegetation.
The marshland gave way to clearer pools of water and eventually 1km away the sandbars and
shore of the huge Meghna river. This was the river formed by the combined power of the
Ganga and Brahmaputra river valley watersheds and its destructive fury in the monsoons was
not pretty. But now was winter and the water was placid. Dozens of darkened fishing boats
lay at anchor in deep water casting nets and lines for the world famous hilda, eelish,
rohu, river eels and other fishes that were exported worldwide. No tree had ever managed to
take root in the marsh because the marsh was natural, not a man made lake that overtopped
some old forest. Slivers of fog curled and pooled in the area, reducing visibility from
the guard towers along the back wall. Still, the searchlights reached out for 200m and turned
night into day along this belt. The only creatures awake at this hour were the fishing
owls, fishes, frogs and other reptilian residents. The frogs made quite a throaty racket
as a couple of species were in full mating season.
**********
3:00AM
The RAW-ARC B737-200 flying 100km south of Bagdogra over north bengal finished its
ELINT mission, executed a gentle turn to the west and headed back home to Charbatia.
A exploitation officer at a data console prepared a short list of GPS coordinates of
the two known L88 locations and the one 3D radar and sent it out via the satcom link to
base station in charbatia.
Ten minutes later, a officer at the naval section of the NECC(national emergency command
center) somewhere-west-of-delhi got the flash message on his console and glanced over
at his army counterpart nearby who had got a CC: on it. He dialed up Maj Gen Kaul who
was the duty officer tonight.
The CCS minus the airborne Sen and Dighe were in session at another level below the
NECC command center and received the news shortly thereafter. PM Arora took the call on
speakerphone with the NEACP01 patched in and personally gave the "Go" order.
The co-ordinates and orders went out over the ether again to two units - one on land
and the other waiting at sea. the VLF facility at trivandrum calling forth the submerged
vessel to periscope depth for the actual order data.
**********
Unit777s comm truck got the order and the commander personally marched to a
TEL parked 50 mts away under the thick canopy of a banyan tree, bordering a reserve
forest 61km north of Malda, around 5km off the national highway. Passing the muffled
challenge thrown by the guards he sat himself down inside the operating compartment
of the TEL and watched as the crew busied themselves with the pre-flight checks and
launch sequence. Electric power flooded through the slim black tubes, three of which
were stacked inclined along the back of the huge Tatra vehicle.
The driver took his vehicle out 20 mts from the forest. The navigation system alignment
procedures started to give an accurate starting point the projectiles. 4 mins later
the big motors hummed and the tube assembly swung at an angle to the side.
At 3:20AM as per instructions the commander gave the launch order.
Big boom and a sheet of flame erupted from the mouth of the first tube as the lead
Brahmos missile left its canister and roared away into the night, low and fast. Few
seconds later the second and third missile left their tubes.
100mts away another TEL in the unit networked into the first launch vehicle unleased
its load almost simultaneously and did another TEL parked 50mts on the other side along
the edge of the dark forest.
The nine Brahmos missiles settled into their low and flat trajectory, crossed the first
waypoint and headed into their programmed course. terrain modelling data from CARTOSAT1
stored in their memories dictated their height control module and they sped over the
odd hill maintaining a nearly constant distance above the ground.
**************
Phalcon01 now on station over eastern bihar picked up the nine low flying tracks
immediately and did nothing. the radar data was already blended into the big screen at
NECC. It started broadcasting the radar picture to all listening nodes on its coded
id network via the satcom dish.
Deep in the valleys of meghalaya the Flankers finally started receiving the entire
radar picture on the Phalcons 600km radius of search. Jacob noted the nine tracks and
made his own estimate about the implications of what seemed to be outgoing cruise missiles.
Phalcon02 also logged into the network and downrelayed the picture to its own brood of
#39 squadron flankers prowling slowly east of silchar.
**************
3:41AM
the first of the brahmos salvo reached the set co-ordinates of the L88 radar fed to
it by the combined work of the ARC boeing and a Samyukta unit camped on the border
in west bengals maldah district. At a height of 20 meters and distance of 100m from
its target point the radio altimeter fuse directed the warhead release. tiny pyrobolts
blew away the missile casing around the warhead section and a shower of impact fused
HE bomblets were blown out by radial bottles of compressed inert gas. This 'cloud' of
bomblets covered the remaining 100mts in miliseconds and impacted like a monsoon
rainstorm around the radar tethering truck, logistics vehicle and a guard truck parked
in a cluster. following seconds behind the leader, the next two missiles had been
rigged to hit two different areas based on TES imagery of the site. Brahmos2 homed in
on a wooded area about 500mts from the radar tether site which housed two large trailers
for the control and communication station. The warhead this time was a unitary HE 300kg
primed for airburst right at the target location. A devastating shock wave of shrapnel
and flame ripped the heart out from the flimsy unarmoured trailers, the equipment and
the occupants. Brahmos3 made a beeline for a camping area nearby with prefab huts that
housed the approx 100 Pak army people operating the site on a continuous basis. Other than
10 inside the trailers, 5 at the radar tether and 10 on perimeter guard duty the rest
75 people consisting of officers, specialists, engineers, guards, cooks and supply people
were catching a good nights sleep. However 300kg of pre-frag HE warhead put a painful
end to any idea of restful sleep, though perpetual sleep did claim most.
His clothes on fire, a man ran screaming away into the darkness seeking to jump into
any water he could find. A two-man MANPADS team jumped to their feet from their site
about a kilometer away and started jogging down the road looking for help at a BD
army station located nearby...the three huge explosions gave them a 'feeling' that a
lot of medical help would soon be needed. They left their Anza2 missiles behind, no warning
had been given and no targeting was possible on low flying mach2.5 missiles...they had
heard the roar of ramjet engines a few moments before the hits and managed to drag themselves
to their feet but the missiles themselves needed a 20 sec warmup time and then one had to
actually lock the IR seeker on target before release. hopeless.
covering around 41km every minute the second salvo of brahmos sped on past the flames
of the first site to the second L88 site. Here the camp area also had a couple of fuel
trucks dropping off kerosene and cooking gas to the garrison, so the results were more
luminous.
Cut from their tethers , the baloons carrying the radar antennas floated aimlessly
around for a while then drifted to the north east with the prevailing wind at 15000ft.
The third trio had the longest to cover and flew for another 2 mins before reaching
3D radar site located on a hillock east of the river meghna. this time all three missiles
were directed to explode right atop the static radar since TES had revealed the control
trailers were parked right next to it, perhaps due to a shortage of the necessary cabling.
Being a high value target a truck mounted Crotale battery was indeed present onsite
and on alert, but the batterys targetting radar was unable to get a good look until too
late on the low flying and small-RCS incomers so no Crotale2000 missiles could be
released in response. The air defence unit being located upstream from the radar survived
intact and its commander put in the emergency call to Group capt Khan at the Dhaka
control room.
"3D radar confirmed destroyed by missile strike. withdrawing unit to Dhaka and arranging
for medical treatment to any survivors"
The secretive work on the land-attack version of Brahmos had finally cleared its first
battle test. for long only existing in the wild eyed speculation of nationalist internet
forums, it had in reality been worked on in parallel right from day1 and been tested
disguised as a ship-attack version in between tests of the real ASM version to 'soothe'
those that needed to be soothed.
***************
3:30AM
INS Sindhuraj which had detached a week ago from its task force and prowling alone
east of new moore island got its firing orders after coming up on the VLF flash message
to periscope depth. the firing procedures took four minutes to complete and in the meantime
the submarine maintained a missile firing depth of 30 meters beneath the muddy silt laden
Meghna estuarine waters slowly pushing into the bay of bengal. A quick passive radar
check and IR scan via the periscope plus the passive sonar confirmed nothing in the vicinity
but for a medium container ship droning on towards its destination chittagong.
Commander Shetty patiently waited until the tubes were all ready and released tubes 1,2,3
and 4 a few seconds apart. seawater flooded in, the compressed gas generators got to
work and ejected the huge black painted Klub capsules away and up from the submarine. Leaving
the water at a 45' angle, the capsules sensed the lack of water pressure and dropped away.
Accelerometers sensed the inert missile beginning to slow and ignited the sustainer rocket
motor. The sleek missiles unfolded their spring loaded fins and vanished into the
darkness like a trio of prehistoric birds.
Sindhuraj sent a short burst into the satcom channel, dived to 100 meters which was the
deepest safe depth in this area of the estuarine shelf and crept away at a quiet 8 knots.
The missiles headed right into the mouth of the Meghna along a axis of nonexistent radar
coverage identified a month ago by ESM missions from a ARC 737 flying innocently over
international waters on a 'ferry mission' to Port Blair. Unlike the ASM version, these
missiles kept low around 100ft above the calm water and flew subsonically up the river
towards Dhaka, the well designed high lift stub wings providing a economical lift to
help the small engines conserve fuel.
Around 50km away from the F16 base in Dhaka, the onboard mission computers activated
IIR seeker, increased the burn rate to speed up the missiles and dropped the altitude
to 50ft above the river level. the IIR seekers started to 'see' imagery already stored
in onboard memory as the missiles adopted a new bearing to avoid flying over a known
radar site west of dhaka and over some heavily populated areas.
Group Captain Khan had just got off the phone with the Crotale commander, sent his four
ready pilots running to their waiting jets, raised the base alarm siren and was on the
phone again to the dormitory to arrange for all available pilots to reach the briefing
area on the double when the first missile executed a greaceful banking turn from the
east, overflew the base housing area and smashed into the ATC-control room building
as directed by the IIR seeker which had easily id'ed the target from the shape of the
control tower and ATC radar atop. For added insurance the second missile had been directed
to hit the same target from another direction, it came in a longer loop from the north and
completed the destruction of the structure.
The third missile which had been directed to engage a hanger believed to house six of the
F16s flew towards its target at the far end of the base. Unfortunately for it, a newly
relocated Crotale battery was directly below its path and the well drilled crew managed to
release three missiles after detecting the incoming Klubs still 10km away. The first missile
narrowly missed intercepting Klub2 , the second missile scored a clear kill on Klub3 since
they were approaching each other from opposite directions generating a good interception
solution. The third crotale hit the fireball of the second.
At 3:33AM the first of the four heavily armed F-16s raced airborne followed quickly by
the other three. Back at base, another eight pilots hastily made ready to get airborne
in the next few minutes trying to block out the pain of their leader's probably demise.
The mood was ugly, but discipline and training was tight and men went about their task
calmly. They were the elite of the PAF and it showed in the lack of panic, the measured
nature of their preparation, the initiative of the ground crews who already had everything
lined up on six Falcons and were working like mad to prepare another two Falcons for
departure.
At 3:45AM the first of the second batch roared off the runway followed in short order
by the other seven. Working to a patrol plan they split into two units and headed at
supersonic speed to the north aiming to catch up with the first set of four as
soon as possible.
Meantime the deputy Cmdr W.Hassan informed the PLAAF counterpart and could do little to
choke back his fury when a insolent sounding junior officer demanded to know why he
wanted the base CO on the line asap. After a few expletives the orderly went on in his
typical chinese way of pretending not to understand a scolding and agreed to rouse his CO.
A sleepy sounding Col Li came on the line in a few mins and upon hearing of the grave
matter set about scrambling his four ready Flankers immediately and preparing more for duty.
Col Li put his phone down and first got on the horn to his two Tor-M batteries
to look sharp and be ready before giving the scramble order to his ready room pilots.
Cursing and swearing under his breath , he set about rustling up another eight pilots from
his sleeping pool of twenty all of whom were rather tired after a day of classroom exercises and
politically directed (stupid he thought) lessons in bangladeshi and islamic culture
delivered by a dreadful fat pig from the BD culture ministry. God he wished he use his
genuine leather boots to kick the crap out of that braying donkey himself. Four hours of
stuff nobody was interested in with no tea breaks. right at that moment he wished he was
back at his tame Harbin posting resting in the arms of his wife. the f***ing indians and
his whole shindig was far too unpredictable to be of his liking, right now he could be
making money on the booming china stock market. His miserable cousin Wang with that perpetual
grin on his face and a beautiful young wife was minting a fortune on property speculation
per what he heard on the phone from his wife and parents. Screw you cousin wang, I am going
to deal with you good and proper if you ever show up to insult me in your new passat!
The departing roar of his four Flankers interrupted his train of thought and he quickly
left in a jeep for the command trailer of his YLC2 3D radar camouflaged in a remote part
of the base. the walkie talkie informed him soon that more pilots were awake and starting to
arrive at the briefing room. Deputy Tong already knew what to do, he was more interested
in finding out what exactly was happening and taking steps to contain the situation before
the so-called Paki "allies" drove it out of control. orders from beijing had been to try
and soothe the hothead allies as much as possible and refrain from getting provoked by the
indians. He intented to follow that to the letter.
********
Confidential Air Tasking Order 2008/BR/1204/01
To: #20 Lightning Squadron
From: DG Operations Vayu Sena Office
Signed: Air Commodore Jaswant Singh Basra (Assistant DGAO)
Salient points
* This tasking order must be treated at level-A1 confidentiality
* essential personnel only (pilots and WSO) made known of its contents, no ground crew to
be privy other than munitions loadout details
* Total air superiority sweep presence over north bangladesh on a line north of Dhaka
for a period of 3 hours between 3:00AM and 6:00AM on selected Day of Op-Raven
* Intent is to protect the ingress and egress of a SF force meant to rescue high value
hostage from a intel facility 50km north of Dhaka center
* Hostile response from both the PAF and PLAAF detachment should be assumed.
* You are authorized to launch preemptive attacks on any non-indian hostile flying vehicle
fixed wing or rotary within this operational zone for the duration of mission
* You are authorized to defend with deadly force
* You are *not* authorized to launch attacks on ground targets other than AAA/SAM sites
directly of threat to you
* Engagement with the PLAAF is to be avoided unless directly threatened, engagement preferably
a decisive morale sapping one is to be sought with the PAF with the intent to render
them ineffective as a combat force in the near future. It is upto you to come up locally with
such a plan.
* in all circumstances , protection of the indian raiding party is of utmost importance even
at the cost of declining combat with the enemy.
* missile strikes based on ELINT and IMINT data will be carried out against the three main radar
sites we know of prior to commencement of the operational phase
* Mirage2000s from Panagarh will be on orbit with ARMs to target any new radars that may
suddenly become activated, other Mirage2000s will be escorting so your squadron will not be
called on to protect them.
* we will place two Phalcons in theatre, one for you, the other flying from Tezpur to support
#39 off Silchar which will be the flying combat reserve should your formation need additional
support. You may expect atleast 50% of #39 to be available during the mission over the NC hills
grid box 91.201 patrol area
* AAR support cannot be provided due to shortage of airframes and need to refuel Mig29 escorts
and the Phalcons themselves. So 90% fuel fraction should be planned for. For emergency recovery
all airbases in eastern command would be available , bubble protected by Bisons. A single Midas
will be available under #39 incase of dire need.
* Munitions carried should be suitable for both WVR and BVR engagements. Two airframes should
carry the Mk.101 munition (4 each) for targeting of a high value complex part of
the target site (only) after the successful egress of all indian units. You are free to arrange
escort as necessary.
***********
3:45-4:00AM
the GCI control trailer which fortunately had been parked well away from the ATC building
now took over as the main C3I node. Equipped with used but very good equipment furnished from
surplus USAF stocks it quickly discovered that the three radars feeding it the data had all
gone offline and all attempts to call them directly didnt work. Someone recalled the AD units
had separate radio sets and quickly managed to raise the commander of the Crotale units to get
the full details.
This left the YLC2 at the chinese base as the main radar for control of BD airspacea and again,
the farsighted Khan had managed to get his chinese couterpart to lay a few kilometers of cable
and some high banhdwidth radio links to get the YLC2 data into his own GCI trailer as well.
While radio operators contacted the 12 F16s flying north about the outage of their radars and
told them the YLC2 was still available, a very tight watch was mounted on the 3D radar imagery
for any signs of intruding planes. The 12 Falcons were clearly visible and so were the 4 Flankers
now airborne and orbiting over Dhaka, three commercial aircraft heading for the civilian part of
Dhaka airport were warned off and told to head towards Kolkata, off to the west tracks of other
large ac heading towards Kolkata were evident, some other large ac presumably military could be
seen at high level far away over eastern bihar, 4 smaller returns presumably fighters with
one of these contacts.....it became clear within seconds it was a Phalcon or Midas probably a
Phalcon because no other ac required such a heavy escort....a few fighter type tracks off near
panagarh presumably mirages.
Few minutes later the officer at a ground based ESM site near the assam border
using british Marconi equipment called in to report his equipment picking up distinctive
emissions of the Phalcon radar.
Almost at the same time, another Phalcon and four fighter tracks became visible as the powerful
YLC2 ramped up to its massive full power on indstructions by the PLAAF commander. Flying over
central assam Nagaon district it seemed to be flying a racetrack holding pattern at 41,000ft.
Confirmation from another ESM site in the CHT region came in soon.
After a brief telephonic talk on the hotline, Col Li decided to scramble four Flankers immediately
and hold another eight as a ready reserve. Technicians scrambled to roll out the missiles and
get them loaded onto the sleek humpbacked J-11s waiting on the flight line. in the ready room, pilots
got a running commentary of the radar situation and made last minute checks on maps of BD topography,
recovery areas, engagement procedures and seniors ceaselessly worked to calm the wound up junior
pilots and get them prepared.
Over the PAF base, mechanics worked to arm and prepare eight more Falcons as the ready reserve. The
pilots , all of them long since awake grabbed some coffee and hot food while awaiting further
instructions.
************
Commander Bhartendu Sinha and the 25 men of Marcos detachment Raven sat quietly as the two
heavily modified CG griffon hovercrafts , lights out and engines throttled back to reduce
noise cruised quietly down the sluggish course of the Jumna river as the brahmaputra was
called in BD. It had been easy to engineer their ingress past the lone BD ranger water patrol
by starting a small incident of firing on one shore, waiting until the motorboat
had rushed past to investigate then emerging from thick cover on the shore of opposite bank.
The river being around 2km wide at the border with numerous grassy sandbars ensured nobody would
notice the two black craft, low in the water sliding past the gate. the BSF water patrols had
been told to stay out of the area that night.
Night fishermen along the route did see the two strange vessels but bereft of knowledge as to
their origin or any means of communication, their sense of puzzlement remained localized.
It had been a tedious journey from gujrat for the vessels, modifications had started on the
transport ship itself and nearly completed by the time they reached GRSE. first the austere
CG navcomm suite was supplemented by new high power secure radios, night vision gear for the
operators to permit sailing without lights, side armour skirts for the passenger compartment
and a armour coating for the white house. Extra fuel tanks added. old life rafts thrown out to
be replaced with marcos assault rubber boats. all this made the craft heavier and slower, which
wasnt a problem because speed wasnt a big requirement.
behind each vessel they towed a flat bottomed airboat of the type seen in florida everglades.
the only modifications were a menacing looking MMG mount low in the front and a Milan/Shipon
mount higher up the rear just infront of the driver who had been given a lower seat than the
elevated seat of the florida boats.
So they had sailed down the Jumna and then the Meghna for nearly 8 hours now, creeping quietly
to the shore whenever a significant threat of discovery like a large passenger ferry appeared on
the low power radar.
Reaching a point around 1km upstream from the Hedayatpur compound around 2:15AM Cmdr Sinha ordered
a halt until the next order....the helsmen consulted their GPS devices complete with terrain maps
helpfully supplied by ISRO and per the plan steered into a quiet creek on the west shore screened from
view by 10 foot tall river grass. The engines shut and they lay dead in the water.
********
at 3:46 AM Cmdr Sinha finally received the coded message on his radio and the nerve wracking
approach phase started . Fans silent, they used a small outboard electric motor to creep at
5 knots downriver using the current to maximum effect and finally arrived at a spot 1km from
the compound wall with only the marshes and sandbars separating them now.
Five men from each boat mounted the airboats, leaving eight men on each Griffon. the quiet clinks
of weapons and missile tubes being given final once over, of night vision devices trained all
over the place.
*********
4:10AM
While the Mi17s remained behind hovering over a forest, the Dhruvs commenced
their final attack run from 7kms away to the west. Everything depended on achieving the initial
impact on the target since the assault force was very small for the task.
Dhruv1 the team leader approached to 3km, climbed upto 200 ft for a good look then climbed down
again to treetop height before going forward gently again. A few seconds later line abreast, the
four appeared from the mist on a line perpendicular to the highway passing infront of the camp.
Dhruv2 swivelled the nose cannon and emptied a long burst into the guardhouse and sandbags guarding
the main gate. for good measure a couple of grenades from the co-axial AGL was also sent out.
Dhruv2,3,4 flew over the wall and headed for the biggest threat inside the camp - three buildings
that housed the dormitories of almost the entire troops based at the camp. Using their NVG to locate
targets in the gloom around 100 small caliber rockets and hundreds of rounds of cannon fire were
unleashed at these sleeping inhabitants. A store of cooking gas went off that collapsed
one building in a cloud of cement dust , tin scrap and broken wood. Moving on they turned their
attention to the motor pool area adjacent housing around 15 light vehicles and 25 trucks. Scores of
cannon shells and a few AGL rounds applied to this badly damaged most vehicles within a minute.
Dhruv1 meantime flew lengthwise down the front wall of the compound gunning down the terrified
sentries in the four guard towers with accurate rounds from its stabilized cannon. A important
looking guard hut at the intersection of the front and side walls got a AGL grenade. Dhruv1 now
started down one side wall , while Dhruv4 did the same on the other side wall. Dhruv2 and 3 flew
a circle around the inner citadel of the campus housing a large building proudly bearing the
flags of the BD army and BD intel unit. Here and there the NVGs revealed figures scurrying around
from building to building, any body of troopers attempting to approach the inner citadel were
targeted with cannon and grenade fire. The two troopers in the back of each dhruv also slid back
one side door to reveal a ugly looking beltfed MMG with which they took shots at any targets of
opportunity.
At the rear wall, the shocked sentries feeling very vulnerable were quickly climbing down the
ladders and had already vacated their posts when the two Dhruvs intersected over the midpoint of
of the rear wall.
With the outer layer peeled away, both the Mi17s and the Marcos detachment received the call.
The hovercrafts and airboats now at full power charged up over the swamp vegetation and easily
roared over the shallow sandbars as they appeared in their path. Arriving at the wall, a hail of
machine gun and Shipon rockets soon quelled the morale of a hardy section of defenders who had
organized and were firing from behind a section of the rampart.
Black rubber covered ladders came out and 20 men crossed over quickly,leaving 5 men supported
by Dhruvs 1 and 4 to watch over the equipment. It was around 200meters to the intel citadel
and they achieved it at a easy loping run, scanning right and left with night vision sights
before taking cover below the boundary wall of the citadel. People seemed to be running around
inside and the hornets nest was very active...flashes of fire from the windows and roof indicated
defenders taking shots at the Dhruvs circling overhead as they were yet unaware of where exactly
the breachers of the rear wall were headed. A group of four smart BD troopers appeared from nowhere
right behind the position and the situation nearly went out of control as a confused short range
gunbattle erupted. Two Marcos men got hit in the neck and face and were lost leaving only eighteen.
All around the campus there were signs of activity as the recovering defenders gathered their
wits and guns and started heading on the double towards the most obvious target - the intel compound.
Mi17-1 disgorged a Milan missile and MMG team around 1km south from the campus on the highway leading
into Dhaka and remained airborne with 4 rocket pods in support. Mi17-2 did the same at a place 1km
north of the campus in the other direction of the highway. Mi17-3 and 4 headed directly for the
campus. At the main gate , Mi17-3 hovered briefly as the diversionary force of 25 men fast roped
down heavily laden with explosive charges. They got to work quickly, running through the campus
shooting and throwing charges at any structure or strongpoint to engage the defenders in a running
battle. Using memorized map of the compound, care was taken to keep within stone's throw of the
compound wall however to avoid getting encircled and trapped.
Mi17-4 disgorged 20 men onto the roof of the intel building, using a burst of rocket fire
to sweep it clean a few moments beforehand. the two supporting Dhruvs conserved their ammo
but maintained the vigil.
Major Doley was the first man on his rope and touched down almost at the same time as the lead
men on the three other ropes. sweeping the roof for remnants of defenders they paused briefly
to let the full squad catch up before heading in two teams of ten men each down the pair of
staircases leading down. They poked their heads around the doorway and withdrew right away as
bursts of gunfire greeted them from the dark passages below. Doley spoke briefly into his
mouthpiece radio and lay quiet and Dhruv2 took a risk and hovered down vertically right next
to building. it swivelled its cannon and raked the top floor of the three storey building
from end to end with cannon fire, adding 5 rounds of grenades for good measure before climbing
up swiftly again to a safer height. it was now out of ammo for the cannon but still had a
few grenades and the door gunner left.
Doley's team started down again, sweeping through the third floor shooting dead stray
survivors of the assault, room by room the twin teams swept the second floor clean, mostly
offices occupied by high ranking staffers it looked like from the furniture. Two men were
detailed to use supplied tools and strip out the hard disks from all PCs they could see
to mine for information later. The 16 remaining for 2 had fallen in the battle for the second
floor headed for the first floor on the double. Leaving behind 4 men to guard the stairwell
and block anyone prowling on the first floor they continued on down into the basement.
The lights went out, perhaps some smart member of the defence team seeking to make it
more difficult for the attackers.
A very bloody battle in the basement by the dim light of the somewhat cumbersome
NVG eyepieces as the ten men crept into the confined space. Flashes of gunfire so close
eventually made the NVGs useless and the six surviving of the ten finally switched to
hi-power torches out of necessity as they kept pressing on into the inner sanctum of
the interrogation complex.
Doley spoke into his radio again calling for the Marcos unit which was lying low to
come up and provide support on the ground floor to his four troopers left behind alone
and the two sweeping the floor above.
room by room they searched and sometimes found terrified prisoners clinging to their
beds and hiding under the tables. ignoring them they continued searching for their quarry.
A grenade rolled down by a clever enemy claimed another two jawans which left only four.
Finally they reached a larger than usual set of rooms that seemed fitted out like a
comfortable apartment for a long stay rather than a holding pen before a quick execution.
Doley decided to take a risk and creep in alone rather than chance a firefight that
might hurt their quarry and render the whole mission useless. So far he hoped the guess
that the captors wouldnt kill the quarry at the first sign of trouble was right because
they had shed so much blood in vain otherwise.
Leaving aside his INSAS carbine he drew the silenced beretta pistol and darted his head around
the doorway into the apartment drawing-cum-dining room. Madam was there, surrounded by two
vicious looking guards, the kind who didnt fight much but took some pleasure in torturing and
executing people. One of them seemed to have placed a noose around Madams neck to control her
movements better, she looked dishevelled like just being dragged froms. Both carried their
sidearms and both saw Doley as they let loose a few rounds in his general direction. Fortunately
the walls were solid concrete and didnt let the low velocity rounds through.
Doley waited for their initial enthusiasm to abate and then dived into the room towards a corner,
rising upto his knees he fired a single shot at the noose guys head, missing him by a couple
of inches as the target instinctively ducked.
and then his pistol jammed, but there was no time to think anymore just years of training
and instinct giving him the edge as the second guy fired another two shots at him missing his
diving frame by inches, his six round mag now empty and fingers frantically feeling his pocket for
another clip. Doley was a blur as as he first threw his jammed pistol at one man and
covered the fifteen feet separating them , callused rough hand reaching across to the left for the Dao
handle, unsheating of the heavy broad blade
and the final killing angular hacking blow from high up on the right going diagonally across the
neck and ripping deep into the rib cavity. ignoring the wash of warm blood on his hands, turned
on the second man to find him running away into one of the bedrooms. Uttering a oath and Dao raised
for the strike Doley ran after his victim and felled him at the bathroom door just as the
terrified torture jockey turned around with a deer in the headlights look, pants wet with warm urine.
Doley dragged a mute and speechless looking madam out to the doorway where another trooper put a
bulletproof jacket and helmet on her and continued to drag and guide her to the basement stairs. She
weakly wiped some vomit from her throat and attempted to focus on the immediate issues rather than
the gory scenes she had just witnessed.
The Marcos had taken care of a band of ground floor defenders by simply firing carl gustaf rockets
into their rooms and were now in full control of the ground floor and the citadel compound itself
but the crackle of fire from nearby buildings indicated resistance was still present.
A huge explosion overhead signaled that some bright lad had finally nailed their Mi17-4
with a RPG round and the people outside hastily ran in to escape the falling debris and burning
oil.
Surrounded by a close screen of eight troopers and the two Dhruvs coming in low to blast away
at flashes of gunfire on the sides, Madam was taken from the building with the remaining of
the assault teams fanning out in a loose circle and all moving towards the rear wall where the
Marcos vehicles awaited. Two more men fell to wild gunfire during the withdrawal. the sack of
salvaged hard disks was dragged along by the two men who had ripped apart many of the PCs on the
second floor.
Exit over the wall was uncontested and all the surplus grenades and Shipon rockets were unloaded
in the general direction of their pursuers to discourage ideas of close pursuit.
With extra people somehow crammed in by keeping ten Marcos people on the airboats, the little
armada finally came off the wall and headed for the river at full speed. The airboats brought
up the rear moving in zig-zag fashion to permit their MMGs to bear and blaze away at anyone
seen on the rampart. Finally they were out of small arms range and went quiet.
The two road blocking parties hadnt had much to do, one side had waylaid a colourful marriage
party and a bunch of small trucks without violence. The other side had smashed a convoy of big
trucks with Milan missiles which on inspection turned out to be just commercial vehicles. Mi17s
soon appeared to pick them up. the diversion party who had gone in via the gate came out after
blasting a hole in the wall and their Mi17 swooped in to pick them up. All three Mi17s formed up
and headed for the rendezvous point with the Marcos on the river around 5km upstream.
Of the four Dhruvs one had engine damage from ground fire and crashlanded into a sandbar on the
swamp. One of the others picked up its crew, while another Dhruv put a couple grenades into the
hulk. The three Dhruvs again departed behind the Mi17s.
Arriving at the rendezvous spot, the hovercrafts and airboats were abandoned and emplaced with
delayed charges, the passengers all distributed quickly among the six helos, all extra equipment
thrown into the river to lighten the weight and the six helos departed in three identical
subgroups of a Dhruv+Mi17 on three separate routes all heading for the west bengal border at
maximum possible speed and treetop level to evade ground and fighter radars in lookdown mode.
Maj Doley sat down for some rest and to wipe his Dao clean. He looked
across at Madam who seemed to have recovered some composure and was asking Cmdr Sinha about
all the details of the who/why/how. He overheard her thanking Cmdr Sinha and all the team
as he drifted to sleep in the dark cabin. He vaguely hoped all the blood of his friends lost
tonight would be worth it.
90 mins later, all three subgroups would cross unharmed over the invisible border across
the rice paddies and head for secretive recovery zones prepared beforehand with choppers waiting
to ferry the team back to Raipur and Madam under heavy protection to a Govt guest house in
Maneswar, Haryana next to the NSG facility.
At Raipur, people were already winding up the camp.
********
The YLC2 pumping up at full power and GCI communications from the PLAAF base to its airborne
Flankers as well as the PAF GCI comms was duly noted by Phalcon02 and this fact passed
on up the decision making loop to NECC.
CCS consulted for five minutes and concurred that the clause stating no preemptive attack on
the chinese be withdrawn given the potent nature of the threat and need to cause the chinese
some embarassment too, as also ensure the protection of the egress helicopters which right now
were forming up in the recovery area for the escape to west bengal.
Unit777 had gotten one hour to withdraw and reload its nine tubes before the order
and targeting data came down at 4:20AM. it took about 5 minutes to program the missiles and
warm the systems up for imminent launch. Again the TELs crept out of the forest canopy and
inclined their tubes eastward.
One by one, nine missiles erupted and disappeared as blobs of flame into the dark eastern sky.
Approximately ten minutes later, the first wave of four missiles approached the flanker base
from the south, the second wave of five missiles took separate final approach paths from the
north. The alpha strike was designed to overload any SAM defences of the YLC site. short range
radar picked up the bogies 10km out flying low and fast at the treetops. Both Tor batteries
tracking radars picked up targets and moved to engage, unleashing nine of the sleek
VLS interceptor missiles five to the north and four to the south. Regardless of paper claims
which the PLAAF had been unable to verify, the Tor system was not really built to deal with
mach2.5 low-RCS low-level multiple quadrant targets ...esp as the brahmos began their evasive
3D S-curve manouvers to increase the crossing velocity and complicate the intercepts. Only
two brahmos were knocked out and another suffered a marginal blow which sent it into the ground.
The remaining six Brahmos bored in from all points of the compass on the YLC2 antenna and its
attached trailer which belatedly was now being shut off and attempting to move away. however the
IIR seekers of the Brahmos saw it clearly against the ground clutter and other vehicles nearby
and didnt miss the mark. nearly 2 tons of high explosive left a huge crater and little else
intact.
At 4:30AM the PAF-PLAAF detachment lost its final element of GCI coverage. The PAF acting cmdr
urgently radioed his pilots of the situation and ordered a cautious racetrack patrol just
north of Dhaka. Col Li ordered his pilots to land immediately and await further orders..he wasnt
about to commit them to a blind night fight without even a semblence of ground cover. He noted
with some malice the Pak deputy commanders action and hoped the Pakis learnt a good lesson.
The total absense of any indian a.c so far or attempt to attack his parked a/c with missiles
convinced him the indians just wanted to shut the radar down. Done for the night, Col Li made
sure to relocate to a dispensary on the premises to treat some 'wounds' from the Brahmos attack
though his trailer being 400m away on a cable had escaped the blasts around the antenna. He
figured that would be the safest place to spend the rest of the miserable night.
******
NECC continued to get a constant stream of updates as the twin Phalcons noted the destruction
of the last remaining big radar, the patrol pattern of the Falcons and the four Flankers withdrawing
for a landing. [continued below]