Harpoon 4 Naval Sitrep 37 Iran

Issue #37 October 2009
Gaming the Iranian Air Defenses
Instead of gaming every element of an
attack on Iran and the Iranian air defenses,
we have abstracted the process, focusing on
the operational and tactical decisions that
each player must make and the trade-offs
associated with them. For instance, the
Israeli player has a fixed number of aircraft.
Does he want to use some of them to
suppress the Iranian fighters at their bases? It
may reduce their effectiveness.
The Air Defense Flow Chart
The Iranian air defenses are broken
up into separate nodes, each representing a
different portion of the air defense network.
Attacking aircraft must pass through each
node on their way to the target, and after
they have dropped their ordnance, they
must pass through the nodes again on their
way out (see the Iranian Air Defense Flow
Chart below).
As the strikers proceed through each
node, the defender can attempt to shoot
down or damage some of the raiders. Not
every node will require action, since there
will be some occasions when the Iranian
player will not have forces to put in a
particular node, or the Israeli player may
neutralize it. For example, if the Israeli
raid stays at medium altitude or less as he
approaches the IP (Orumiyeh), the SA-5
batteries near Tehran in the first node
cannot get a shot.
S-200 [SA-5]
Long-Range SAMs
GCI-Directed
Fighters
Area SAMs: S-200,
I-Hawk, HQ-2
After the air defense attacks in a
particular node are completed, the attacking
force moves on to the next node. The
distance between nodes is not specified, and
the attacking aircraft are assumed to have
reformed their formation between nodes if
necessary.
Before beginning to move through the
nodes, the Iranian player has no information
on the raid’s strength of composition.
When ESM or visual information becomes
available, the contacts can be classified by
the defender and their exact type revealed.
Preparation for Play
1a) The Israeli player spends his
points to customize his force (see page 30)
and decides what the UAV payloads will be.
1b) The Israeli player plans his
mission: The fighter aircraft that the Israeli
player has can be assigned to three different
tasks:
• Target strike - these aircraft are loaded
with ordnance for the actual attack on the
target and its immediate defenses.
• Fighter Suppression - some of the
player’s attack aircraft can be assigned to
suppress the fighters along the route. The
player does not have to decide exactly what
they will do, or what they are armed with.
Targets might include bombing fighter
runways, strafing the flight line, attacking
the sector operations center or launching
decoys designed to distract the fighters from
real targets. The strikers are simply attacking
some part of the air defense system that will
reduce the fighters’ overall effectiveness.
Once assigned to that task, they are
no longer part of his attack force. In the
appropriate node, the Israeli player will roll
on the fighter suppression table. Note that
the Israeli player can suffer losses in these
attacks.
• SAM Suppression - some of the player’s
attack aircraft can be used to suppress the
fixed SAM defenses. The player does not
have to decide exactly what they will do, or
what they are armed with. Once assigned to
that task, the planes are no longer part of his
attack force.
Aircraft must be assigned to specific
SAM targets: The Esfahan S-200 site, or the
Hawk site or the HQ-2 site near Natanz.
The player can assign two or four aircraft to
each mission. A pair has a 75% chance of
suppressing the site and preventing it from
engaging the Israeli raid. Four aircraft have
a 95% chance of knocking out the site.
This chance is rolled when the Israeli player
enters the node for that SAM site.
Roll D100 for each aircraft assigned to
a suppression mission. On a 05 or less, it is
shot down.
At the same time...
1c) The Iranian player plans his
defense. The Iranian player spends his
points to customize his force (see page 10).
2) The Israeli strike takes off. Once
both players are ready, the Israeli player
launches his air strike. There is a chance that
some of the planes in the strike may abort
or have mechanical problems right before
launch that prevent them from taking part.
For each twenty-four-plane squadron,
roll D10. On a 1 or 2, two aircraft of the
squadron are down and cannot take part.
On a 3 to 6, one plane is down. On a 7
or higher, all aircraft in the squadron are
mission-ready. If a plane must abort, roll
randomly to see which one it is.
S-200 [SA-5]
Long-Range SAMs
GCI-Directed
Fighters
Area SAMs: S-200,
I-Hawk, HQ-2
Tor-M1 [SA-15]
Short-Rng SAMs
Local AAA
& MANPADS
Execute
Air Strike
Local AAA
& MANPADS
Tor-M1 [SA-15]
Short-Rng SAMs
Naval SITREP Page 14
Doug Birtles (Order #25307632)