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 …

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

Takeoff of the Badger and Backfire regiments commenced at 1140 Zulu on D+24. The process ate up forty minutes. As the bombers cruised north towards their formation rally points over the Barents Sea, the Bears were going to work attempting to find the exact locations of the American carrier formations and relay accurate targeting data …

The North Atlantic D+20 (29 July, 1987) Part III

As the last aircraft trapped on Kitty Hawk, debriefings were already underway. Officers from Forrestal’s air wing, which was slated to handle the afternoon strikes, had flown over to Kitty Hawk and were present as CVW-9s aircrews recited the morning missions from their own perspectives. The Soviet tactics had come as a rude surprise. Forcing …

The North Atlantic D+20 (29 July, 1987)

In the pre-dawn hours, Strike Fleet Atlantic’s three carrier air wings had completed preparations for the day’s planned missions against targets on the Kola Peninsula. The morning strikes were scheduled for a 0630 launch with another wave of strikes and supporting missions set for later in the day. Each air wing commander had private concerns …