Fictional Indian War Scenario: Skirmishes over the Arabian Sea – Part 2

The  flight of The F16 Block 52  based out of Jacobabad belonging to 5(MR) Squadron, the 39^th Tactical Air Wing were armed with a  deadly mix of  the  AIM120 AMRAAM  and GBU-10  Paveway laser guided bomb kits attached to Mk-82 bombs which was generously gifted out at discounted price by the US Government.

While 4 of the planes were armed with 2 AIM120 AMRAAM and 2 AIM9M Sidewinder WVR ( Within Visual Range Missiles) the other 4 were armed with the GBU 10 Paveway laser guided bomb kits attached to the Mk-82 bombs , the intended recipient of which was to be the Petrochemical plant in Gujarat.

The “team” had gone through simulated exercises and had practiced the attack numerous times.

The idea was to keep the plan simple, the key was to ensure stealth, remain undetected before the attack was initiated on the gigantic petrochemical plant. Post the attack the plan was to hit on the afterburners on their Pratt and Whitney engines and escape to the protective bubble of the SAAB 2000 Erieye AEW&C and the additional F16 Block 52 which would be available as part of this operation.

Being the professional force they claimed to be Bashir had ensure that the plan was drilled into each of those participating in this operation. He knew that the  the IAF on its part exercised regularly out of IAF Base Kailkunda in West Bengal with the Singapore Airforce F16’s which were superior to the F-16 at the PAF’s disposal ,he was banking on the element of stealth together with their training to get them through.

Luck was unfortunately not on Bashir’ side today.

03:30 Hrs, somewhere over the Arabian Sea. INS Visakhapatnam.

Knock Knock….

2 knocks on the door was sufficient, Captain P Sen, being the light sleeper he was had already opened the door before Commander K Vikram , Vikki to his batch mates had the opportunity to knock for the 3^rd time.

Years of being in the navy had made Captain Sen a light Sleeper. At 6 feet with greying hair, Captain Sen belonged to the old school .Blessed with a razor sharp intellect and a photogenic memory he had topped his batch at the Naval Academy and had breezed through the Post Graduate course at IIT Delhi. His gruff voice and calm demeanour under pressure endeared him to his “troops”, the term he used often to address those serving under him.

Captain Sen had no time for those who dilly dallied ,seeing Vikram’ s expression and the fact that he was woken up from the 5 hours of sleep that he habitually took at midnight , he knew something was up.

“Sit rep Vikram “questioned Captain Sen.

8 inbound bogies Sir, the MFSTAR is tracking them and have identified them as F16’s.

Additionally we have picked up the radar signature of an SAAB 2000 Erieye and an IL78 Midas tanker off the coast of Karachi.

The 8 inbounds have been assigned the call sign Bogey 1 to 8.

We have notified INS Kadamba and Joint HQ at New Delhi has also been notified on the developments, shot off Vikram without drawing a breath, while Captain Sen got ready.

“Lets go” the veteran sailor nodded towards the direction of the Vizag’s bridge which housed heart, ears and eyes of the 7000 tonne monster.

Fictional Indian War Scenario: Skirmishes over the Arabian Sea - Part 1

Location: Somewhere over the Arabia Sea

Time: 03:00Hrs

 4 pair of 8 PAF F16 Block 52’s are streking over the Arabian Sea, their target the Jamnagar petrochemical refinery located in the state of Gujarat. Cruising at just below Mach 1 the ETA to target is 1 hour and 45 mins.

Code named Operation Zarb e Hind the plan of the Pakistan armed forces and Intelligence agency the ISI Directorate was to attack India’s industrial and military infrastructure with a series of coordinated simultaneous strikes.

Code Named operation Strike Eagle one such plan was to attack and destroy the gigantic petrochemical plant at Jamnagar, Gujarat, causing economic damages worth billions of dollars and more importantly show casing the ability of the Pakistani armed forces to inflict damages to their arch enemy at the time of their choosing.

The F16 Block 52’s+ (Advance) were the most advanced fighter jets in the PAF’s inventory .Decades of poor economic growth and faced with a tribal insurrection at their western border which sapped their defence budget the Pakistan Arm Forces were dependent mainly on Chinese and America aid. Chinese aid was in the form of subsidised equipment and the American aid was in the form of “Coalition Support Fund” which on paper was for reimbursing the cost incurred by Pakistan for conducting counter terrorism operations.

In addition to the CSF funding from the USA Pakistan had also continued to receive subsidised and sophisticated defence equipment from the US Government in the guise of fighting terrorists.

Part of the deal to help the US fight terrorists in Afghanistan and capture Al Qaida operatives in Pakistan was to get the advanced version of the F16 fighters that the PAF came to love and which the IAF came to respect.

As part of Peace Drive 1 the US Government provided 12 F16C and 6 F16D (Block 52+) fighters from 2010.

Now after a decade of being in service with the PAF, the F16’s were finally being put to use against their intended adversary.

At an altitude of 15000 ft. above ground, Squadron leader Bashir Ahmed of the 5^th Squadron, 39^th Tactical Air Wing of the PAF looked over from the bubble canopy of his F16 Block 52+ C, nicknamed Khyber, to check on his wingman, young flight lieutenant Sajid Khan fresh out of the elite Combat Commander School based out of the sprawling PAF Sargodha.  Bashir Ahmed need not have worried  ,at 27 Sajid was one of the youngest Flight Lieutenants in the PAF , known for his cool head under pressure and aggressiveness  at all situations Sajid had topped the CCS course the year before and had won plaudits from the Turks and Americans in joint exercises. Bashir whistled softly to himself while he checked on the Fuel meter in the Multi-Function Display after having topped off by the hulking IL78 Tanker over the Arabian Sea. All seems to be going smoothly as Bashir mused as they approached the final phase of Operation Strike Eagle.

What instead should have troubled Bashir was the lurking presence of the 7000+tonne INS Visakhapatnam, 1^st of its class of ships of Project 15B series of destroyers of the Indian Navy .Bashir and the planners in PAF HQ had failed to factor in the presence of the highly sophisticated and heavily armed destroyer in their air war plans. Unknown to the PAF the INS Visakhapatnam was going through the routine exercises required by the Indian Navy before her official commissioning into the Indian Naval Fleet. Part of the exercise included shooting down enemy aircraft and missiles with the help of the Israeli MF STAR AESA+ Barak8 NG combination.

10Kms ahead and on the left was Flt. Lieutenant Akram Khan. Information between PAF F16’s were being exchanged through the secure data link-“Link 16” that the F16 block 52’s possessed.

The superb AN/APG 68 radar was turned off for the time being to ensure no radar waves were transmitted to be picked up by the Indian radar battery operated out of Bhuj AF base as the flight approached the Indian coast line in total radio silence.

The Plan as to fly close to the sea surface to confuse enemy radar and take advantage of the sea clutter and bypass the radars installed in IAF Station Bhuj. Additionally once over Bhuj the F16 would turn on the ALQ-211 EW system to defeat the Indian radar network specifically the Akash NG and the Sypder SAM combination that might exist as per latest Intelligence reports. Bhuj was also home of the IAF’s No15 Squadron the Flying Lancers which were equipped with the superb Su30MKI fighter. 2  Su 30 fighters were assumed to be part of the Quick Reaction Force with additional 4 on operational readiness mode but the Air Planners at Sargodha hoped that with the IAF radars “tricked” the Su30’s would be a danger only after the mission was accomplished.

In addition to AF Station Bhuj, the IAF noting the strategic importance of Jamnagar had commissioned an air base at Jamnagar which currently was home to the No 28 Squadron: The First Supersonics equipped with the IAF Mig 29’s know world over as one of the best dog fighter. Legend has it that during the Kargil War when the Mig 29’s or Baaz as its fondly referred to in the IAF flew top cover as the Mirages were bombing the life out of the hapless Pakistani intruders, an F16 A (early version of the F16) was locked on by the Mig 29 radar, the Baaz followed the Governments ill advised dikkat of not engaging beyond the LOC let its prey go!

To be continued……