The Northern Flank D+13 (22 July, 1987) Part I

The plight of the surviving Backfires and Badgers that morning was not yet over. As the aircraft approached the northern coastline of the Kola Peninsula they were directed by the regional air defense center to head back out over the sea and establish a holding pattern. No reason for the change was given, but two battle-damaged Badgers were cleared to land at Olenya. As the bombers approached the field the flight crews could see smudges from exploding flak dot the sky, and columns of smoke rising from the direction of the field. Unaware of it at the moment, these pilots were witnessing the first major NATO air attacks against Kola targets while they were in progress.

Operation Midnight Sun commenced at 0200. The raid warning transmitted by special operations teams staked out around a number of Kola airbases raised hopes that the first wave of NATO fighter-bombers could hit the airbases and cause significant damage while the Backfires and Badgers were off. Thus leaving the Soviet bombers to return home to cratered runways, and burning hangars. The initial attack force was comprised of twelve USAF F-111s and an equal number of RAF Tornados. Their targets were the airbases at Olenya, Monchegorsk, and Afrikanda, with one flight of -111s, and one of Tornados assigned to each one.

The fighter-bombers took off from Bodo at 0200. Their initial flight path took them east over Sweden, and then Lapland where the flights separated as they reached their ingress points, and descended to lower altitudes. As they crossed the Soviet border, 30 miles behind them the weapon system officers on board two EF-111 Ravens flipped on their AN/ALQ-99E jammers and went to work. The F-111 and Tornado crews used the valleys, rivers, and other terrain on the peninsula to mask their approaches. Between that, and the standoff jamming, the Soviets were in the dark practically until the first GBU-16 slammed into the control tower at Afrikanda. Only then did the air defenses start to come to life, and even then it was practically too late. The US and British fighter-bombers did not spend any more time over Soviet soil than was necessary. The -111s released their laser guided bombs at hangars, munitions depots, and other targeted structures at all three airbases while the Tornados swooped in and dropped cluster munitions on runways, and flight lines before egressing at treetop level, on afterburner.

As the fighter-bombers streaked away, MiGs were rising from airbases across the peninsula. Ironically enough, one of the bases attacked was home to a regiment of MiG-25s: Monchegorsk where a number of Foxbats were left burning on the flight line as the surviving aircraft started to scramble into the morning sky. Over Lapland, the EF-111s remained on station until the last of the attack aircraft were over the border. Then they shut down their radars and followed the F-111s, and Tornados home. With the jamming having now subsided, eight MiG-25s screamed southwest to give chase. These fighters were met by a wall of Swedish Viggens and USAF F-15 Eagles waiting patiently over northern Finland. Missiles filled the air and a fierce, but brief air battle broke out which saw the destruction of five MiGs and three Viggens. The surviving Foxbats then abruptly turned around and headed for home.

The first missions of Operation Midnight Sun had been flown. Unfortunately, the carrier battle in the northern Norwegian Sea created a hole in AFCENT’s air tasking order for the next part of the day. Carrier aircraft had been slated to fly the next round of missions against targets around Severomorsk. These were scrubbed as Strike Fleet Atlantic needed time to gather itself and conduct rescue operations. By mid-morning the carrier task forces were steaming south, deeper into the Norwegian Sea in order to conduct UNREP operations and transfer the more critically wounded sailors to the beach.

By 0600 events to the south were also having an undesirable effect on NATO operations on the Northern Flank. In the Baltic, Warsaw Pact forces had launched their long-awaited air and amphibious attacks against Denmark. The first amphib landing took place on the Jutland peninsula after dawn and was preceded by heavy Soviet air attacks on airbases, radar sites, and other targets in Denmark. The size and scope of these attacks brought air defense forces in southern and central Norway to an even higher state of readiness. No bombs fell on Norwegian soil, and no Soviet warplanes even came close to penetrating Norwegian airspace. However, with damage and overcrowding both becoming factors at airbases in Denmark, AFNORTH began transferring some air assets from the Danish side of the Baltic to Rygge, and Flesland in southern Norway. Later in the morning, Norway-based NATO fighters would start playing a larger role in the battle raging on the other side of the Baltic Sea.