Manual

Rather than limit players to individualSCRAMBLE sorties, FLEET DEFENDERallows you to take part in an entirenaval/air campaign. A single campaignhas the potential to last anywhere fromseveral days to several weeks. Your rolewill be to fly missions in support of yourcarrier and its strike operations. Sinceyou have only one carrier per campaignscenario you must protect it. If it is eversunk or so severely damaged that it canno longer perform air operations, thecampaign is over.In addition to CAP (Combat Air Patrol)missions, you are also tasked withescorting friendly strike packages whileen-route to their targets. On thesemissions you are not accountable for howwell the strike package performs. As afighter “jock”, you don’t care if any ofthese aircraft hit their targets just as longas they all make it back home. Therefore,your performance is judged on thenumber of friendly aircraft that survive themission and not the level of destructioninflicted on the target.Campaign missions have been createdbased on actual air/sea tactics used bythe Soviet Union. They have not beenintentionally play balanced beforehand tomake them easy or even fair, for thatmatter. You’ll find that some missions aremilk runs, while others will be downrightimpossible.BEGINNING A CAMPAIGNYou begin each campaign aboard asingle aircraft carrier being escorted byseveral Cruisers, Guided-missileDestroyers and Frigates. Onboard thecarrier are approximately 90 combataircraft and helicopters. Their strikingpower is awesome but it is mitigated to adegree by the enemy’s formidable airdefenses. The enemy has a host of shipsCAMPAIGN MISSIONSand planes determined to stop yourcarrier group and this is where you comein.You (and your RIO) represent one oftwenty-two F-14 aircrews that make upthe two fighter squadrons onboard thecarrier. Two of these crews are actuallyreplacements. There are only twenty F-14s onboard, and although this maysound like a lot, combat attrition will takeits toll. You can’t afford to press theenvelope too often.In order to begin a campaign, threethings are necessary. You must;1. choose one of the two combattheatres (either North Cape orMediterranean)2. choose one of the three campaignscenarios, and3. be assigned to an active squadron.Once you have accomplished these threethings, you are ready to begin your firstcampaign mission.Flying a MissionNow, it’s time to prepare for your firstmission. Actually, individual campaignmissions are no different than the singlesortie missions flown in SCRAMBLEoption. However, with all the manydecisions that need to be made beforetake-off, it’s probably a good idea tocheck everything once again.1. From the CAMPAIGN screen, checkthe Squadron Roster Board to makesure you have the right squadron and theright campaign. Now, press theDIFFICULTY button [D] Key.2. From the DIFFICULTY screen, set thedifficulty options on the panel as desired.You may also recalibrate your joystick atthis point if needed. Now, press theCAMPAIGN button [C] Key to returnbriefly to the CAMPAIGN screen.3. From the CAMPAIGN screen, press the