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 …

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

Although the general location of Strike Fleet Atlantic was known with near certainty, the Backfires and Badgers still required relatively current information on the enemy formations. Obtaining this valuable data was not a simple task. By this point of the war satellite coverage, reconnaissance flights and other means of detection were severely degraded on the …

The North Atlantic D+13 (22 July, 1987) Part VI

The Soviet raid commander grew more unsettled with each passing second. He expected to have received the positions of the enemy carriers by now, but no word had arrived from the Tu-95s. This part of the plan was beginning to go off the rails. Not much, but enough to worry him. The Badgers were approaching …

The North Atlantic D+13 (22 July, 1987) Part V

The first Bear kill came without the assistance of a Hawkeye controller or radar.  The pilot of Taproom 102, a BARCAP F-14, thought he caught a brief glimpse of something in the distance, off his one o’clock position. “Hey Jinks,” he called to his Radar Intercept Officer. “Check out one o’clock. A little low.” The …

The North Atlantic D+13 (22 July, 1987) Part IV

The Tu-95s flew west on a line stretching 353 miles from Hopen to the North Cape. Four of the reconnaissance aircraft were located north of Bear Island, the remainder to the south. Twelve aircraft had taken off from the Kola and now, less than forty-five minutes later, ten remained. One aborted due to engine issues, …

The North Atlantic D+9 (18 July, 1987) Part III

At 1300 hours six Tu-95 Bear D’s lifted off from Olenya airbase on the Kola to replace the Bears that had been lost earlier in the day, as well as reinforce the ones still remaining on station. The priority remained the same: locate and track the NATO carrier groups in the Norwegian Sea. Most of …

The North Atlantic D+8 (17 July, 1987) Part II

On board the command ship USS Mount Whitney Strike Fleet Atlantic’s commander reminded himself that although the war could not be won in Norwegian Sea, it could easily be lost there. The strike fleet he commanded was the most powerful assemblage of naval power since the end of World War II. Along with the four …