[ARG] Antarctic Summer Campaign 1996/1997

[Connor]

AN/FPS-123 PAVE PAWS​

TOP SECRET
Collision
The operational AN/FPS-123 PAVE PAWS radar, apart of the Swedish Strategic Defence Network, is a highly advanced radar capable of identifying targets the size of a thumb both inside and outside the immediate atmosphere. Given that the radar was first established to forfill early warning capability it would still retain the possibility to identify Argentine aircraft within it's 80 degree positioning - due to their extreme proximity to the Antarctic Peninsula and not only that their continues heightened movement they would undoubtedly pass through the extensive radar range. Sweden operates only two of these systems, at either end of the continent.

Argentine operations have been entirely focused around the operation of the TPOL station sitting on the Antarctic Peninsula, this sits some distance from Palmer Land on Wiencke Island, at no point has the Argentine forces began identifying satellite bases around the continent and at no point has the Swedish operations in the region had any reason to communicate with the radar facility, nor would there be any link capable of tracking such a facility. Nonetheless these facilities were very new to the continent and the personnel present to facilitate the requirements of the radar, which is extensively excessive to it's operational requirements, was intentional in order to ensure it's safe operation and retention in the hostile region. The facility in Wilkes Land sits isolated and at no point is it ever stated to be anywhere near the half-constructed Wilkes Land TPOL - it has been clearly stated that the Wilkes Land TPOL station is being constructed on the site of the former Australian Casey Station and during contact between Australia-Sweden the radar facility at no point became discovered, which you would have expected it have... if they were building in it's immediate vicinity.

It should be explicitly stressed that Palmer Land is NOT a TPOL (Temporary Patroleum, Oil and Lubricants) station and is only the site of the AN/FPS-123 PAVE PAWS TOP (Temporary Operating Position). The surveillance of Argentine forces was unclear and uncountable thus to make response fair it would appear that intelligence captured by the aircraft was unclear, unreliable and unidentifiable. Nonetheless, I am sure the images are retained.

To reiterate, the additional vessels arriving at the Antarctic Peninsula did so in order to refuel at the TPOL (Temporary Patroleum, Oil and Lubricants) station and would have no reason to arrive at the Palmer TOP. Whilst it is accepted that the Wiencke Island TPOL has been discovered, the Palmer TOP certainly has not.

Personnel in the region were issued immediate orders to begin the deconstruction and/or destruction of Swedish facilities following success in the Global Assembly. The focus was on the assurance that all operational equipment could be relocated to an agreed location - this included the AN/FPS-123 PAVEPAWS which was immediately planned to move to mainland Sweden upon the return of the extensive deployment now joining Operation Molybdenum. The active TPOL station would have the remaining fuels, oils and lubricants drained and stored onboard attending vessels whom would remain in situ pending further instruction from the Department for Defence.


Whether or not the post was countered due to personal circumstances, this does not change realism. As stated it was accepted that the Argentine Icebreaker had a substantially reinforced hull in order to penetrate ice, this was not at all equal to the penetration of armoured steel which was substantially tougher than that of ice. The damage to the ARA Almirante Storni had to be more substantial than paint damage and denting, it has just collided and pieced straight down the middle of a warship. The damage of the steel piercing through the weaker points of the hull, as after all it is not the entirety of the ship reinforced to the extent that the bow, would see the ARA Amirante Storni significantly wounded even if she were still in an operational state.


Meanwhile at the site of the recovery the Swedish frigates would ensure they were at an appropriate distance to allow the British highly trained teams conduct their assistance mission without disruption or creating any further risk to the safety of dive teams of operational vessels. It was no secret that there were likely to be no survivors due to the harsh conditions, the nature of the violent interaction and the sheer brute strength of ARA Almirante Storni. As each death came through the Department of Defence a deafening silence surrounded control rooms, senior officers offices and the relevant authorities. Preparations would begin to be made for the appropriate repatriation of dead servicemen and women onboard HSwMS Snö and all relevant information would be fed through both the Executive Office of the Prime Minister of Sweden and the Nordic Council Committee for Defence and Intelligence - all by encrypted means. The British were thanked for their unconditional service to human life and awaits further on the status of the diving teams.

Naio90 Jamie Odinson

 

[Naio90]

Following the appareant ceasefire agreed through diplomacy between Argentina and Sweden, after the scandinavian nation agreed to withdraw from its occupation on the entire antarctic continent and fall back to the historically unclaimed region of the white continent, the Ministry of Defence would order Military Command to prepare plans to withdraw military forces currently operating below the 60ºS to stationary and patrolling positions on international waters just above the antarctic parallel.

The only argentine units that would remain on antarctic sectors would be the ARA Almirante Storni, who would be waiting for a support vessel to come provide assistance and emergency repairs after the incident with the sunken swedish frigate, the Argentine Coast Guard P3-B Orion's, which would continue with their SAR operations and in contact with the british rescue operation and finally 1 of the argentine navy Orion P-3B on its surveillance configuration.

This was public.

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From here on, secret:

The argentine surface fleet stationed 40km from the Palmer TPOL would abort the preparations for the eviction of the swedish occupiers, since they were supposed to leave the area by themselves, and they would safely navigate on the most direct route northwards until they crossed the 60ºS, where they would await further orders. They would mantain all its systems and radars operative. (FC to FD)

The submarines would continue to provide an outer protective safety ring for the surface ships.

The Argentine Tu-22M3s would remain airborne on fuel saving operation, also on international airspace above the 60ºS, in alert just in case Sweden did not comply with its part. 2 of the remaining argentine navy Orion's would also patrol sectors FD and GD with their long range sensors, looking to track the leaving swedish units.

Aircraft in need of refueling, with technical problems or pilot flight hours being near completion would return to Ushuaia and prepare for a new round (Sector FD).

Communications would be permanently mantained between the argentine operating units and HQ over encrypted channels.

Now Sweden was expected to leave the area, as agreed. This would be monitored with the navy P3-B Orion still operating in Antarctica, making use of its on board radars and sensors, within range of TPOL Palmer. Which would be replacde by a new unit if fuel was running low or if technical issues should come up.

Connor

 

[Connor]

Palmer TOP​

TOP SECRET
Deconstruction
Without delay the Swedish Royal Navy would begin the deconstruction of all Swedish assets and materiel in Antarctica, this includes the cancellation of the Wilkes TPOL, demolishing of the Wiencke TPOL and the deconstruction of both the Wilkes TOP and Palmer TOP. All and any material discarded would be loaded into one of the many frigates and icebreakers available in the Antarctic Peninsula and distributed amongst the Wilkes Land coastline. Once loaded the vessels would move towards Queen Maud Land territorial waters in order to securely ensure their safety whilst negotiations in relation to the release of Swedish prisoners of war take place - it would be ensured that all vessels maintain appropriate spacing should an attack by the Argentine Navy take place and all on-board radar systems and monitoring equipment would continue to be in use to monitor the airspace, surface and subsurface for combatants. Any communication between Swedish assets would remain entirely encrypted. The crew aboard each vessel would ensure their action stations were manned and personal protective equipment would continue to be donned by active personnel.

The plan by central government was clear, upon the release of prisoners of war peace talks will take place to allow for the full and indefinite designation of territorial claims in Antarctica.

Naio90

 

[Naio90]

All Argentine units would mantain their positions and directives as mentioned preivously, with most of them outside the 60°S. The movements from the swedish would be monitored from afar, without any intervention or disruption.

In the meantime, the Belos-Class Submarine Rescue Vessel ARA Yungas (A603) would be prepared at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base to provide assistance to the ARA Almirante Storni and guarantee their safe return to Ushuaia. A team of naval engineers and mechanics, with repair equipment, tools and material, would go on board to assess and repair any damage to the argentine icebreaker.

Once considered safe for navigation, both ships would navigate at a safe speed back to Ushuaia.

Obviously the Belos-Class ARA Yungas had no armament on board. It would depart Puerto Belgrano fully crewed and supplied and head directly to the position of the ARA Almirante Storni, informing their presence to maritime and aerial traffic in the area.

They would go through argentine and international waters on route FF-FE-FD-FC.

Connor

 

[Naio90]

The ARA Yungas would have arrived by now, and started to repair some of the damage to the bow of the ARA Almirante Storni. After few days of working and preparing, both ships would prepare to return to Ushuaia. They would only depart as soon as they had confirmation of a window of good weather and relatively calm sea state (for those areas of the ocean at least) in order to avoid any unnecesary risks.

They would navigate on the most direct and safe route back to Ushuaia, where once there the personnel of the Almirante Storni would leave the ship and the icebreaker would be subject to deep repairs.

 

[Jamie]

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For the last few weeks, HMS Protector whom was later accompanied by HMS Arctic Circle had spent the last few weeks conducting a high-intensity search and rescue mission for the sailors of the downed Swedish Frigate, HSwMS Sno. This has resulted in back to back deployments of specific dive teams to go to the wreck on the retrieval of any casualties and to make safe the vessel to prevent any environmental disasters in the Antarctic region. During these searches, another priority was setting up the vessel to prevent any risk of chemicals or liquids on board polluting the area. Fortunately due to the location of the collision and the securing of certain compartments of the ship, the environmental damage would be minimum. Following the conclusion of the search teams, a total count had been completed and from the 120 missing from the Frigate, 97 had been successfully recovered which was from within the Frigate itself who had all been confirmed as deceased. The British Authorities have verified that the the outstanding 23 sailors that are missing may not have been within the vessel at the time, or where in the area of impact. With the flow of water, it would not be viable to expand the search area.

This new information was sent to the Swedish Government on a private and encrypted transmission: Connor

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"The United Kingdoms search and rescue operation to find those on the Swedish Frigate, HSwMS Sno, has been concluded under authorization of the Ministry of Defence. This comes after roughly 8 weeks of deployments in the region from our Arctic Patrol Ships, HMS Protector and HMS Arctic Circle. This deployment has seen up to 277 British Sailors embarked on a mission to locate all those on board the Frigate at the time of sinking and to make safe the vessel to prevent any damage to the environment. However, I am able to conclude the final results of Operation Antarctic Rescue:

• Out of 120 mission sailors, the Royal Navy have successfully recovered 97 casualties. Each casualty has been assessed by our on board medical teams who have confirmed them as deceased. Unfortunately, there remains 23 that are unaccounted for:
  • The outstanding 23 are presumed to have either been on the deck of the ship at the time of it going down or; been in the area of impact; therefore, the search parameters are instantly escalated to a range where searching would be unlikely to locate said persons.
• Royal Navy Divers have reviewed the damage to the ship and have confirmed that there is nothing on board, not secured, that could damage the environment.
  • The British Government will be calling for this to be a Historic Marine Protected Area due to the significance it has surrounding any claims over Antarctica.
• Casualties that have been located are been transported to the Falkland Islands, from there, Royal Air Force TriStar aircraft will deliver the persons back to Europe, specifically, Sweden if approved.
  • All casualty reports will be sent to the Swedish Authority who will take charge of the deceased.

We offer our condolences to the families and friends of those lost, and to our colleagues in the Swedish Royal Navy for the events that have unfolded in Antarctica. We can only look forward and let this tragic situation be used for future generations to prevent similar disasters.

Kindest Regards,
Operation Antarctic Rescue, Operations Command."

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Both Royal Navy Patrol Ships begun their return journey back to the Falklands where they would undergo a mission debriefing, aid in the transport of casualties to the Lockheed Tri-Star who would be doing multiple trips to transport all deceased and the 25 British Divers back to their respective homes. Once all were delivered, the TriStar would return to its home at Brize Norton, England. Meanwhile, the British Government has gone on record and have designated the site of the Swedish Frigate shipwreck as a Historic Marine Protected Area (HMPA), making it public for any mariners with the wording: "Antarctica must retain peace."

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[Naio90]

With diplomatic talks going on, and the swedish having retreated from the antarctic area in dispute and renounced to their illegit claim on the whole continent, all argentina assets would return to their homeports on the most direct and safe way, using argentine and international waters/airspace.

The only operational navy units reaining active would be 2x Orion P3-B that would continue to perform surveillance and monitoring rounds in sectors FC, FB and GC, returning to Ushuaia for refueling and resting the crew on the most direct routes. This would be done to ensure the compliance of the ceasefire by part of Sweden.

Back on the south american continent, the ARA Almirante Storni would have concluded the repairs. Some funny guy seems to have painted a small, black, double croussed silhouette of a frigate on the side of the hull of the ship, not visible from the outside of the ship.

All this would remain secret.

 

[Connor]

Upon the ratification of the Resolution on Antarctica all vessels deployed as part of Operation Molybdenum or the Antarctic Summer Campaign would be recalled to the Swedish mainland pending the formal deployment of vessels to ensure the integrity of Swedish Antarctica. Anticipating the likelihood of an aggressive, Argentine reaction following the mass movement of twenty six military vessels the decision would be made to split into four equal temporary task units which would travel via OC > OD > OE > NF > MG> MH > MI > MJ > LK > KL > KM > JM > IM > IN > IO > JO with the view to completely avoid the Atlantic Ocean as much as possible and in particular avoid Argentina manipulating another deployment.

Throughout the travel HSWMS Etna and HSwMS Vesuvius would be utilised to ensure all task groups were adequately resourced for the journey. All vessels would maintain operation of onboard surveillance and monitoring equipment throughout the journey.

Swedish involvement in this operation has now concluded.