Damaged Equals Killed Part I

The Third World War spanned twenty-five days from beginning to end. In comparison to its predecessors from earlier in the Twentieth Century, the final installment’s longevity is comparable to two shakes of a lamb’s tail. In the previous world wars campaigns that lasted for months on end were the norm. This forced individual commanders to …

North Atlantic: Death Of The Backfires D+24 (2 August, 1987) Part IV

The Bears were now the prey and the aircrews were fully aware of it. There were armed predators out there beyond the horizon actively searching. The hunt was on and the crews of the Tu-95s were well aware their life expectancy was now being measured in minutes. The raid commander knew this too and he …

The Southern Flank D+6 (15 July, 1987) Part II

The massing of Libyan warships in the Gulf of Sidra late in the day on D+5 did not go unnoticed by NATO. Aircrews returning from missions had noted the presence of Libyan warships tucked into the coastal waters and reported the findings when debriefed. ELINT aircraft flying missions far to the north had also picked …