Operation Smoke & Mirrors

[Logan]

Operation Smoke and Mirrors

TOP SECRET
EYES ONLY
The Objectives, as laid out by High Command:​

• Carry out a probing of Spanish Airspace.​
• Decide on the Necessity and wisdom of the continuance of the state of war between Italy and Spain.​

Deployment List

• 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron "Spada", Flight 1, 5 Pilots, 5x F-16V Block 70 Fighting Falcon fighters. Guns fully loaded, 2x IRIS-T Missiles each.

The aircraft would take off from Decimomannu Airport, under cover of darkness. All markings except for basic squadron identifiers (no country markings were visible) were painted over several times.

They would stick to formation at 20,000, flying in very close formation as to attempt to confuse Spanish sensors, flying a path taking them up towards corsica and them skimming across the edge of French Airspace, until they are near Spanish Airspace, where they would engage in several "Sneak and Peeks" (diving in and out of spanish airspace), before returning to their home base through the same flight path they used to engage.

@Zak

 

[Zak]

Nestled in the Serra de Tramuntana mountains on the Balearic Islands was a command center which was manned by a team of around ten operators from the Spanish Air Force, they were tasked with protecting the airspace over the Balearic Islands as aircraft made their way over the islands to Eastern Europe and over mainland Spain. Lieutenant Álvaro Sánchez had just returned to his desk after a small break when he saw unidentified objects on his screen, the radar he was monitoring was a AN/MPQ-65 Radar which was attached to the MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 missile system he was operating, the radar had a range of 100km which covered the whole of the islands.

​

He quickly informed the senior officer in charge who made her way over to watch what the young Lieutenant was doing, he grabbed one of the manifestos off the shelf to see if the Spanish Air Force had been conducting drills but nothing was found. He became worried but kept his cool as he quickly sent an alert to the 5th Air Wing based at Son San Juan Air Base and they quickly readied three Mikoyan MiG-35 aircraft and the engineers would fuel and carry out their safety checks and armaments would be loaded onto the aircraft. The pilots would get into their uniforms and would be readied to deploy. The aircraft would not deploy out until the order was given. Back in the bunker, the Lieutenant was attempting to make contact with the unidentified aircraft, everything was reported up the chain of command right up to the Prime Minister.

"Unidentified aircraft(s), you are approaching Spanish airspace, please state your intentions or we will be forced to deploy fighter jets to escort you away from our airspace. I repeat, state your intentions immediately."​

 

[Zak]

With twenty four hours passing and the fact you cannot take off, perform an operation and land in the same post, the Lieutenant continued to monitor his radar screen and saw that the aircraft listed in the Italian deployment list would begin to descend into Spanish territory and would ultimately span out which would give the officer the chance to capture the five aircraft which had penetrated Spanish airspace. Three of the pilots had crashed their aircraft into the sea due to the extreme fuel starvation. The officer would call the commanding officer at Son San Juan Air Base and would authorise the deployment of the two aircraft earlier prepared, at the last second they would have a load out put onto the aircraft.

- 1 × 30 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 autocannon with 150 rounds
- 4 × R-77 air-to-air missiles
- Phazotron Zhuk-AE active electronically scanned array radar
- OLS-UEM electro-optical targeting system
- OLS-K electro-optical targeting system

The fully fueled aircraft would taxi out safely to the runway and one after another, would take off into the skies as they attempted to catch up with the last two remaining aircraft. The military aircraft would be guided by air traffic controllers to avoid contact with civilian aircraft.

"Tower, this is Phenom 1-1 and Phenom 1-2, we are inbound to make contact with the foreign aircraft. Please advise of briefing."

"Phenom 1-1 and Phenom 1-2, make contact with aircraft and identify the country of origin if possible. The Prime Minister has been informed and will issue the final order, over."​

Before the Spanish Mikoyan aircraft could catch up to the enemy aircraft, the two remaining pilots would eject as they had also ran out of fuel. They found parachuting down over Manacor, the last known locations of all aircraft would be circulated to all parts of the military and all parts of the emergency services as residents had reported explosions in certain areas. The search for all of the pilots was now underway.

 

[Logan]

As soon as radar and radio contact had been lost with the F-16s, the Italian Radar Operator sent out a mayday across encrypted Italian Military and Traffic Control lines, masking it as just having lost a series of random contacts being lost. In response, the HRMS Cavour would be deployed with a complement of 5 AgustaWestland AW-139 Helicopters carrying 20 Knights of St Stepehen Martyr and Pope, the knights assigned to Search and Rescue Duties, between them. The Cavour would operate throughout the area surrounding the last known position of the fighters, and would only be carrying 2 of its normal complement of 8 AV8 Harrier IIs, in order to allow room for the special complement of AW139s. The AW139s would be set up on a shift schedule, in order to account for fuel and pilot/crew fatigue) surrounding the Cavour in order to look for any survivors (or wreckage), while the Harriers would be on alert (carrying 4x AIM-9 Sidewinders and 6x AMRAAMs) in case anyone tried to interfere.

The Italian Military would report to the Spaniards that Radar Operators in Italy had lost contact with a group of planes in that general direction and that, being far better equipped to deal with ocean rescues (what with actually having SAR Aircraft), they would deploy from their current area.

The Pilots themselves would attempt to move away from the islands, deploying the life rafts included in the ACES 5 Ejection Seat (the Ejection Seat used in the F-16) and using the survival kits to survive until rescue could come. They would activate their PLBs once they had themselves situated, and would destroy their equipment recordings.

 

[Zak]

It was approaching 5am and the sun was rising and with search and rescue quickly being informed of the missing aircraft, the Civil Guard would commit two of its Servicio Aéreo aircraft, two MBB/Kawasaki BK-117 helicopters which would be used to search for any survivors. Meanwhile, the Servicio Marítimo would dispatch the M38 Río Pas and the A06 Río Andarax which would be issued with a 30 mile search zone whereas the helicopters would have a 60 mile search zone.

​

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The two fighter jets scrambled would each land safely back at Son San Juan Air Base as they would be debriefed on what had happened and to fill in their statements. The aircraft would undergo servicing ready to be used at a later time. An EADS CASA C-295 would depart Torrejón Air Base in Madrid and would make its way to Son San Juan Air Base in the Balearic Islands to act as a maritime patrol aircraft. The aircraft would carry search and rescue equipment.

Meanwhile, the Spanish Navy would deploy the Cristóbal Colón out of Cartagena Naval Base with a Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk on the deck as it raced full speed towards the Balearic Islands to assist with the ongoing search. It would take two hours for the huge vessel to travel to the Balearic Islands.

The Spanish Prime Minister has urged the Italian Military to not enter Spanish waters, if they do then it will consider it as an act of war. If they find anything then they will return the sailors to the Italian Government and has given it coordinates to the three aircraft which went down near the edge of Spanish territorial waters so it is more than likely that the first three pilots would be in international waters.

 

[Logan]

The Italian Navy, Air Force, and Knights would continue their operation searching near all of the last known locations. As soon as the PLBs for the pilots who ejected were picked up by the CVA, it would launch 2 AW139s, each carrying 4 Knights of St Stephen Martyr and Pope, to each location. The alert harriers, still sitting there fueled and armed, would be prepared for action with the pilots sitting in their seats and “warming” their engines. The helicopters’ winched would be outfitted with rescue equipment and the Knights would carry full fledged battlefield medkits, along with survival kits and the like.

The Italian Navy would again assert that their personnel were better equipped and better trained to handle SAR work, especially considering they have a force specifically trained to work SAR and CSAR missions. In case the Spaniards did Respond, the Italian Navy deployed the HRMS Pius X, a FREMM class frigate, and the HRMS Todaro, a Todaro-class submarine, botcsrruinh a full complement of fuel, supplies, crew, and ammunition. The Etna-class replenishment ship would also be sent with a full complement to ensure the HRMS Cavour was equipped with a full complement of crew, supplies, fuel, and ammunition.

The pilots would do their best to work with the natural tide and paddle themselves towards open water.

 

[Logan]

Almost as soon as the pilots cleared territorial waters, the AW139s were right over them, the SAR trains nights aboard sending a man down in a harness on a winch in order to bring the pilots back up into the choppers, where they would be given treatment. The HELOs, once they had the pilots aboard, flew back to land on the Cavour, where a warm meal and a mug of coffee awaited the rescued pilots.

As the Cavour and her helicopters began their return to Napoli, the Todaro and Pius X would move into positions where they could screen the return of the rescue force. Italy would thank Spain for the effort but note that they’ve got everything covered from this point onward.

 

[Zak]

The two helicopters searching for any survivors in the ocean would return to base as they took the opportunity to refuel and await for any other orders.

The Italian Navy would only have the three pilots that had crashed into the sea, the other two parachuted over Manacor which was a 13km. A Guardia Civil car in the area would ultimately spot the people gliding in near their car and would radio it into the central command system, it was a little suspicious since nobody would really go parachuting that early in the morning. He flipped on the lights and pulled out from his position and raced over to where he could see them landing. He drifted around the corner and pulled up in front of the two pilots, the two officers jumped out and immediately pulled out their Glock 17 handguns before aiming directly at the two people in front of them as they shouted in English and Spanish.

"CIVIL GUARD, RAISE YOUR HANDS AND TURN AROUND IMMEDIATELY."​

The radio would be opened up so that other units in the area could hear the ongoing scene which they would race to, exactly four other Civil Guard units and an MBB Bö-105 would take off from base in Palma which would take around fifteen minutes to fly overhead to provide any aerial support.

 

[Logan]

As it is stated: The two pilots who ejected, did so over Manacor, which, at the operational altitudes the F-16s were flying at, would give plenty of altitude for the winds to push the ejecting pilots offshore and into the waters, where the rafts would be carried by currents over the water. As such, the Pilots who ejected would, by now, be aboard the HRMS Cavour, which is swiftly steaming back towards her home port. They would receive medical attention aboard the ship as well as be served a hot meal consisting of a first course of lorighittas and a second course of suppa cuatta.

The AW-139s would consider attempting to locate the final resting places of the other three pilots, but as they had not ejected, and thus their Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) had not been activated as with the two pilots ejecting near Manacor, the chances were unlikely, and after a while the AW139s would catch up and land on the Cavour to continue the trip home with the two rescued pilots.

The Operation would be tenantively declared a tactical failure due to the loss of 5 aircraft and 3 Pilots, but strategically it would be considered a success in that they fulfilled the objective of testing a Spanish response.

 

[Zak]

​

The scene in Manacor would now be under control as firefighters had finally put out the fires. The firefighters would remain on scene to make sure that no pockets of fire could break out again. The scene was secured by local law enforcement as well as the Civil Guard.

The Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency would send thirty of its investigators on a flight to Palma de Mallorca and then would travel to the scene of the crash to begin the investigation, the air frame and any parts that were salvageable would be stored and the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorders would be found under piles of rubble and would be recovered and safely stored to keep the integrity of the units.

With the other three aircraft still in the ocean, the investigators knew that they had to get the frame and the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorders as soon as possible in order to piece what had happened.

 

[Logan]

By this time, the ships, helicopters, pilots, and everyone deployed by the Italians would be returned to the Port of Napoli, where they would be debriefed and returned to their deployment areas. Once Again, at the end of the Operation, it be ultimately be deemed a failure, but at the very least, they had picked up some knowledge surrounding this entire issue. Radar Data as well as a recounting of events by the surviving pilots would be used to rewrite and improve safety features for the future, as well as prepare future pilots for the challenges that might face them in the future should they endeavor on future dangerous missions such as this.