Argentina - Brazil Joint Naval Exercise

[Moe]

​

Argentine-Brazilian Joint Naval Exercise
Classified Information​

Operational Background:

* Joint Naval Exercise with the Brazilian Navy in order to create the Argentine-Brazilian Quick reaction Force, to be stationed in Natal, Brazil. First coordination and interoperability training.

* 1000 Brazilian Marines will land on the Brazilian Island Chain Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The Exercise will play out the scenario of landing a peacekeeping mission or possible spearhead of an invasion force.

 

[Moe]

The entire Brazilian Quick Reaction Force, zigzags at 8-10 knots per hour running various in house drill necessary to keep a ship running.

At the Natal Navy Base the Argentine officers have arrived and our quickly taken to Rear Admiral Silvo's den and a side hall for the staffs of both navies.

Rear Admiral Silva's bluntly states

"Gentlemen, welcome. This is the first of great many undertakings between our new navies. Today, we will simulate the landing of 1000 Brazilian Marines on the southwestern side of the island of Belmonte of the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago will be hitting the beaches in AAV's from 3 San Antonio Class ATD's. Fourteen AAV's will disembark from each San Antonio, totaling 350 men. They will be manned by the 3 companies the 1st Marine Battalion, This will be the first wave.

The second wave will hit the beach just minutes after from ATD's by using a a traditional LCU. Each LCU will carry six LBMT-LR's, employing 5 troops. They will make up the rear base about 200 meters from the shore and set up a supply base near a wall or natural embankment. They will set up radio contact with the base back in Natal, with 2 members of a SIGNIT team embedded within the company.

The LCU's will also carry the 3 companies from the 2nd and 3rd Marine Battalions, 1st Brigade, respectively. 300 Marines in each LCU. The final San Antonio ATD will land a LCAC 2 additional LBMT-LR's as well as 2 heavy duty bulldozers and shipping containers containing 10 tons of MRE boxes and another 10 tons of bottles water.

The engineers that we landed earlier today have set explosives that will explode as the troops are transversing the water. They will explode and flames have been rigged to set fore to some parts of the island. During the landing 2 or 3 F-16 Block 52's will do an extremely low flyover just to make them Marines try to shit in their pants.

 

[Naio90]

The argentine commander would listen carefully to the brazilian Rear Admiral's explanation and description of the operation.

"I see, an ambitious exercise from which I can see a big learning opportunity. The 4 argentine frigates are awaiting instructions and ready to set sail to the theater of operation. How should they proceed? I would suggest practicing a scouting and recon. operation before the launch of the amphibious assault.

In contemporary warfare, information is the key to success. We need our forces to be ready to execute intelligence operations to path the way for the bulk of the forces. We need to be able to spot where the enemy forces have their defences waiting and were the enemy radars and missile batteries are."

 

[Moe]

"You are correct on all accounts, sir. The exercise is ambitious, but right now I believe the main goal is just actually the logistics of getting men ashore and working and communicating together as a team."

"Currently we only have one scientific station there with just as little as 10 scientists there at a time. So as far as an intelligence operation, there is not much to go on. Unfortunately previous governments did not see the potential in these islands as a military asset. We are going to change that."

But what we can work on is this. It is now 0800 hours. To reach the islands it will take your Gepard Class Frigates between 22-24 hours, if I am correct. My men will be hitting the beaches at 0900 hours tomorrow. We will be hitting the southwestern beaches of Belmonte Island. I believe we can employ two of your ships on the on the port side to protect our left flank, maybe 2 to 3 km apart with one of our Kilo class subs submerged, having left about 1 hour earlier and ahead maybe 5 to 6km. We can employ the same formation for the starboard side.

To give your sailors some work about an hour before you depart I will launch maybe 5 to 10 Super Dvora Mk III-class patrol boats that will harass your ships. At 0010 hours I will launch Block 52 F-16's. Your Frigates can get good target practice tracking jets as well as my fighter pilots will have practice evading radar as well as tracking ships.


After a long pause.


"Do you any suggestions? I am willing to listen."

 

[Naio90]

"I would suggest we used the 4 argentine Gorshkov-Frigates, together with one of your subs and air cover as a "first wave" or spearhead, to ease up the landing of the marines and to deny any potential defense opportunities to hostiles on the ground. Do you have any SIGINT/ELINT aircraft in range, to practice a "scan" of the island and transmit the coordinates of "hostile batteries" and radars to the argentine frigate? We have land-strike capabilities which we could practice.

Beyond that, all for ships are departing in the next 2 to 3 hours and head directly to the theater of operation."

 

[Moe]

"I agree. And, yes. We can deploy an EMB 145 MULTI INTEL jet and also 6 Xian H6 bombers from our Tactical Airbase at Natal. We can arm them with DF-21 anti ship missiles as well as KD 88 cruise missiles. I will notify the commander at Natal, and have the crews ready in an hour. Then we commence with the mission. We just must ensure we take care not to damage the islands as they will be our main Mid-Atlantic port. For time being that is."

The admiral pauses.

"Word from the top says there could be more of the islands in the future."

 

[Naio90]

The argentine frigates would set sail fully supplied and prepared with all systems on. The would immediate head east towards the designated theater of operations in the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Island Chain.

The crews would navigate as they would in case of a real mission assignment, with all systems active and manned: radar officers would continuously scan the surroundings for potential threats in the air, on the surface and under it. They would identify commercial maritime traffic and local fisher trawlers, and soon, after few hour, they would begin detecting the advance force of the QRF that as already in the surroundings of the Islands.

The argentine commander would contact the brazilian lead ship.

 

[Moe]

About five hours later, one 145 MULTI INTEL aircraft, fully fueled would takes off TAB Natal, flight path HI>HJ. It will fly ahead of the warships and scout Belmonte island before the landing and the other islands once the Marines have safely secured their beachheads. The call sign is,"Guacho."

Just moment after, one by one 4 Xian H6 Bombers fully fueled and loaded will take off one gradually forming into a finger-four formation and 5000 feet. The squadron leader's call sign is, "Falcon". Falcon will contact the lead Argentine ship when his squadron reaches their reaches their battle group. Their flight path is also HI>HJ.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At this moment already out at sea, 5 Super Dvora Mark III-class patrol boats, about 400 NM off the coast spot the Argentine convoy about 5 km in the distance and gun it to 45 knots at the last two frigates in the patrol. Two beeline for the 3rd boat, two go for he 4th boat and one goes directly in between the two ships to see what advantage he can exploit.

After a 20 minute lull, 4 Block 52 F-16's take off from Natal TAB and quickly get into a Finger-Four Formation, climbing to 5000 feet. They will be be playing the role of "Bogeys" for the Argentine convoy to "counter-attack"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Commander aboard the lead San Antonio class ship, would answer.

"Greetings commander, we are about 90knots from shore. We should hit the beaches in 3 hours. I understand we have an AEW bird in the sky now should there be any unfriendlies. And a little more airpower should we need it. How is it on your end, sir?"

 

[Naio90]

One of the radar operators of the ARA La Rioja would be the first to detect and report the westward approach of 4 unidentified aircraft with the Furke-4 5P-27 main radar for detection, tracking and targeting of air and surface targets . Due to the speed, altitude and direction, they would be tagged as fighter aircraft. The radar would be able to measure the exact speed and altitude of the fighters. The message would be transmitted to the other 3 frigates. Few seconds later, the other ships would also pick up the radar signal.

Consequently, they would all adopt combat stations after sounding the alarm. ARA Tucuman and ARA Cordoba would activate their 9M96 missile systems and try to acquire the incoming targets and lock them down.

As for defense, all four frigates would begin steering to face directly to the direction of the 4 attacking aircraft, facing their bows westwards to reduce the space for potential missiles to impact. They would also activate both of their Palash CIWS as a last line of defence.

_________________________
​

In mids of all this practice, the argentine commander would receive the call from the brazilian official.

"Good afternoon Admiral, we have already heard of your welcoming party. My men thank you for the opportunity to train! As for the real operation, We are about 14 hours away from the Islands. Considering this small "delay" we should reach visual range of the archipelago in 11 hours approximately. How do you wish to proceed?"

 

[Moe]

Some three hours later.

"Falcon, this is Gaucho. Falcon this Gaucho. Do you read? The captain of the
145 MULTI INTEL aircraft is talking to the Xian H-6 patrol that is accompanying them.

We detect radar homing in on us from the island of Cabral, D1 on your Map, sir. When can you take it out?

"This is Falcon, we are only 500 km out. We are ready to strike now, sir."

"Unleash the hounds!"

Just as soon as that 4 dummy C-802 missiles are launched but crash into the sea.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 4 F-16's know knowing they have been picked up on enemy radar bank left and climb to an altitude of 2500 meters far out of range from the Argentine Destroyers SAM's.

"Brasilia, Brasilia, this is Falcon. We are out of range of enemy SAM's. Where are the missile boats. Once they engage we can engage, over."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 5 Super Dvora Mk III-class patrol boats, not being fired upon, seemed to have slipped through the destroyers inner radar. They are easily in range and could fired each of their 2 Spike NLOS missiles at the enemy destroyers. In this scenario the destroyers would probably have been rendered useless, if not sunk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Moe]

Delete.

 

[Naio90]

"Seeing the F-16s leaving the area after perceiving their were being tracked and targeted by the frigates SAMs, the commanding officer of the argentine flotilla would order the firing crews to stand down, only to be interrupted by the radar operator who would quickly point out they had overlooked 4 incoming crafts, possibly fast attack crafts.

Realizing the mistake, the Commander would order to try to outmaneuver the fast ships and to position the ships once again in a defensive position, favoring the CIWS defense radius. They would maintain this position until the brazilian boats retreated. Damage would have possibly been received and a good lesson was learned."

 

[Moe]

Having got within less to a 1km range the boats would slow, each 5 Super Dvora Mk III-class patrol boats would fire a signal flare into the sky. "Argentine Command, this is PTB One. Our mission has been accomplished, we thank you for the training. With that the lead boat turns aft side of the Argentine Destroyers and pull up close enough to the side, all 12 members of the crew standing and saluting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometime later.

"Argentine Command, this is the Brazilian Admiral," says a voice cracking over the intercom. "Our SA Class is about 90 minutes off shore could you direct some fire at C1 on your map, Northern part of Belmonte Islet. I need that beach softened up. Over."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On board the SA Class the Marines are getting antsy, the 350 troops have now been standing in their LCU;s or in their AA&'s for several hours. When they are told they will be hitting the beach in 90 minutes a loud roar erupts from the vehicles."

 

[Naio90]

With the orders received, the Fleet Commander would acknowledge them and begin diagramming the preparations.

The Gorshkov-Class Frigates carry 2 weapons able to hit land targets, the 130mm Amethyst/Arsenal A-192M naval gun and the P-800 Oniks (SS-N-26) missile. Given the type of the target, and the fact that it was a whole sector that had to be cleared, instead of a precise P-800, it would be decided that to carry out a naval gun barrage, employing the A-192 of all 4 ships. For that purposed, and with all personnel in their combat stations, the 4 frigates would approach sector C1 until they reached the 23km mark, the operational limit of the guns.

They would be positioned sideways, with enough distance within them to not facilitate any area attack weapon, but not far away enough to affect mutual defense capabilities. They would also be able to continue sharing radar and sensor information through data links.

Once positioned, the order would be given to open fire upon the target. Practice ammunition would be employed. After few minuted and rounds of fire, the brazilians would be informed that the beach "had been cleared".

 

[Moe]

Inside the bowels of the SA Class ship, now just 30 minutes off shore, the thunderous explosions of the Argentine rockets can be heard and more cheers rise up.

Inside the LCU the Marines are riled up. They are unaware that they will be assaulting the beach alone. The remaining SA Class ships will arrive later in the morning. After six months of training they will finally be allowed to do what they were trained to do.

From inside the LCU they can hear the Bushmasters peppering the beach with 30mm rounds. The barrage goes on for 30 seconds. Then the bowels of the SA Class open up and the LCU is pushed into the sea about 300 meters from the shore. The Bushmasters open up again, spitting metal death at the beach.

A minute later the ramp of the LCU opens. The Marines pour out running into their assigned positions. They hit the beach on all fours, crawling, firing their MILES weapons as explosions ring out all around.

 

[Naio90]

The argentine commander would call the brazilian man in charge of the operations:

"We have 4 on board Ka-27 helicopters that can contribute in recon and airlift operations, should it be required. The are all standing by with their crews ready and fully supplied. This could be a good opportunity for them to practice land operations, given they usually only operate over the sea.

In the meantine, the 4 frigates would continue monitoring air, surface and sub-marine surroundings, looking for potential threats. All news would be directly reported to the fleet commander.

 

[Moe]

"Excellent. Have one helo assess the "damage" to the radar station on Cabral Island. Once my men get to the eastern edge of Belmonte we could use a lift to Challenger island so they can recon it as well as the Nordeste Islet. The other three choppers can ferry say, a company of men in shifts to those islets. Copy?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On their way back to the Niteroi Tactical Air Force Base, F-16 squadron leader, "Old Eight" receives a message. "Old-Eight, this is Falcon." It is the 145 MULTI INTEL jet. He uses a different channel to contact the squadron of F-16's. "I am detecting choppers heading towards the area of operations. Have two break formation and see what's going on."

"Copy that," Old-Eight replies. "Skol. You here that? Bank left and let's see if we can frustrate these ships. Get ready to employ missile lock. See if we can sink one or two."

 

[Naio90]

ARA La Rioja and ARA Tucuman would order their Ka-27s to take off in a reconnaissance configuration and head towards the recently shelled beach in order to monitor the situation and assess the damage. The pilots would flight in tandem, low over the waves in order to avoid radar detection as much as possible. Once they were about to reach the beach they would pull up to avoid possible gun fire from potential defending forces. They would circle the area, taking pictures and using binoculars to search the area.
______________________________________________________

In the meantime, back on the frigates, the still active radars would begin detecting the 2 returning F-16s and report them in (altitude not indicated, so it would be assumed they were flying high enough to be detected). It would be calculated that they would be within firing range of the helicopters in few minutes, meaning that there was not enough time for them to return to their Frigates. It would be ordered to prepare once again the SAM batteries and try lock both of the aircraft. Given it was not indicated at which altitude they were flying, it would be assumed they were at the perfect spot for the powerful russian missiles to hit them.

As a safety precaution, both Ka-27s would be ordered to search a safe spot to land while the F-16s were dealt with.

All ships would have their CIWS and anti-air attack meassures active.

 

[Moe]

Old Eight and Skol descend their F-16's from 5000 to 500 feet in seconds.

Old 8 flies right at the bow of the destroyers challenging their CIWS systems, while they are all positioned sideways, aiming their guns at the island. At 500 feet there is a risk the CIWS could hit the other ships. While Skol breaks off to the right.

"Old-8, I saw one, at least one enemy chopper on the ground," yells Sol into his headset.

"Copy that," says Old-Eight.

The F-16's roll by....

======================================================

The Brazilian commander radios his Argentine counterpart.

"Assessment on the last fly by?"

 

[Naio90]

Given it was not stated at which distance the F-16's would lower their flight altitude from 5000 to 500 feet, it would be assumed they would do so only at last minute, within the max. firing range of the Palash CIWS missile range of 8km at engangement altitude. Given flight speed wasn't indicated either, it would be assumed that it would be slow enough for the CIWS to activate and lock the targets within their time of reaction (6-8 seconds) and "firing" at the incoming F-16s before they could go nearer or fire any missile, effectively destroying them or forcing them to carry out evasive maneuvers and run.

Meanwhile, on the beach, the Kamov's would witness all this from the safety of the ground.

____________________________________________________

"The recon units reported heavy damage at ground zero and no active or visible enemy presence. Further details are delayed due to opposing aerial presence." The argentine commander would reply to his brazilian counterpart.