Operation Burning Sands: MERCS

I think it did, and I think it only worked in Strike Fighters 1 for like dogfight mode or something…not cooperative MP. But that could all be wrong.

Mission #05 is a close air support mission to assist in repelling an enemy attack near Moqazad. This will be the first 4-ship mission of the campaign and I elect to take my bayou buddy “Boudreaux” for his A2G experience, while I assign top of the A2A leader board pilots 1Lt. Lin & 2Lt. Morris to fly in the second flight loaded with A2A weaponry and only rocket pods to keep them maneuverable.

I notice that as the campaign evolves, my supply list has gotten larger, my money has grown, and I DO finally see CBUs!

Off we go in dim light and poor visibility…

One thing that has always impressed me about SF2 is that the AI will actually pretty much do what you want them to immediately. If it is changing formation or engaging targets…they respond quickly, and roll in without delay. I order my wingman to attack specific ground targets while I let the second element concentrate on A2A with the Engage Air command…

As me and Bayou Buddy arrive in the area, we see there is a mess of a dogfight over our target area.

So me and Bayou deferred and circled back around to let things cool off while Gopher 1-3 and 1-4 dove into the action…

Oh snap…! Player three has entered the game! MiG-21s have arrived in theater with A2A missiles…

Meanwhile, I’m chomping at the bit because the enemy is rolling forward on our troops…pounding them with tank fire…

With the overhead battle hopefully distracting the enemy enough, I time a gap (yeah, I’m using the map) and we push our throttles forward until they bend. I can see smoke wafting up from the battle ahead. This is going to be a low screamer pass with all my CBUs…

It is a good pass…but it is just a smidge behind the advancing armor. I don’t know that CBU-24s would have made a dent anyway, but it was a good effort…

My wingman takes out a tank with rockets and I reef the jet around, select rockets and lay down a spread killing another tank. To my great surprise, just killing two tanks gives us a MISSION ACCOMPLISHED message even though there are plenty of targets left…

As I pull off…a sliver flashes across my HUD - MiG-21! I flip my HOTAS switch to A2A, hear the growl, and let loose three Sidewinders in a few seconds, they start to track, but quickly lose lock. I launch another - expending all of my A2A missiles in just six seconds. I follow up with a quick blast of my cannon and my afterburners are still plugged in. Hits…! I’ve managed to shoot down a MiG-21…!!

I pull gently around to head back to the west and friendly lines and I hear a radio call that “HE’S LAUNCHED A MISSILE”. Not knowing if it is me or someone else (there is a LOT of radio chatter in SF2), I check my six and see an Atoll going dumb behind me, it went straight into the desert…

I have a ton of energy and am settled in around Mach .92 when the fuel low level light illuminates. I ease the throttle back, the MiG-21 is no longer pursuing.

I’ve lost track of my wingman and the second element…I ask for a welfare check and am surprised to hear them all check on. No way!! I order them all to rejoin, then give them the RTB command while I make the short sprint back to base.

The mission is a success!

The breakdown of my engagement with the MiG-21…29 seconds from start to finish!

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Snoopy 6-1… We’re under attack! Requesting assistance!

You are still trying to make me cry in every occasion, uh?

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Our next mission is a strike on the P4 airfield where we are tasked to take out the enemy runway.

I’ve earned enough cash to start using the dropdown menu to start utilizing different aircraft. So I bought myself an A-4E Skyhawk. I’m just happy that I survived five missions flying the F-100D!

And look at that - drop tanks came available for the F-100D! Extra gas to kick some…err…well, we’ll outfit my wingman with A2A missiles and some extra fuel while I’ll carry the heavy anti-runway load…

Another awesome skin by ValAstur…

And here is a convenient observation - fuel flow at 100% throttle (no afterburners on the A-4 of course) settles in at around 7,000 lbs. an hour with a fuel quantity of around 5,500 lbs…so a bit less than an hour worth of fuel…

Me and my wingman head off the coast to come back in toward the enemy airfield…

I have one 2,000 pound bomb, two 1,000 pounders, and two 500 pounders slung under the wings with no A2A missiles…

I put my wingman into high cover and drop down toward the airfield…

Enemies are on patrol, but quite a bit further to the north…

Approaching the airfield, a big, fat, juicy target appears near the airfield…too fat to pass up!

I close to gun range. He takes a couple shots at me with his tail gun…

As the wreckage tumbles down, I pull my jet around and conveniently find myself lined up down the long axis of the runway…

I pickled my Mk-84 followed by a pair of Mk-83s…

Shack! Mission accomplished!

The enemy defenses reach up, but they are easy to spot and just keeping the jet moving back and forth keeps the directed fire away. The AA bursts seem more random and terrifying though…

We head for home - a rare, unopposed strike with no enemy air activity in the immediate area. I take the opportunity on the way home to drop my last two bombs on another airfield…

Home safely in my first Skyhawk mission…

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Had an interesting mission last night. This was a fighter sweep, so I elected to go back to my trust F-100D since it can carry four AIM-9 missiles (although I have yet to actually hit a single target with them!). Even though the brief lists the A-4E and 3x F-100s, you can change that when you get to the arming and pilot roster screens.

I hit up my tried and true air-to-air guru for this mission 1Lt. “Mike” Lin…

Now we have external tanks available in the inventory, which allows us a bit more time in burner for these missions…

Approaching the sweep area, I put Lt. Lin into high cover…

Within minutes, it is a true furball with about two dozen planes of various types and nationalities mixing it up over the area. Our sweep was in support of a strike flight, which has managed to pound the enemy airfield as evidenced by the rising smoke columns…

I roll in on a bogey, and my AIM-9s are useless once again…

Guns work though!

Having spent a bit of time in burner (the F-100D is a real sled in case I hadn’t mentioned it a dozen times already) it is time to drop the external tanks…

Three more Sidewinders shots result in three more misses…

Having been driven down low…now every enemy gunner opens up on us…

There’s one on my six…!

I run through my gun rounds too quickly and eventually when I do center up someone I’m dry…boo-hoo. I have to bug out on the deck, putting the flaming airfield behind me…

I start calling for my wingman, but Lt. Lin doesn’t answer! Oh no! In the chaos, I’ve managed to lose him. I’m actually sad for that and this was our first mission with a loss…

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