476th vFG - Exercise Desert Tiger 16-01- 18 Ship LFE

[Eddie]

Exercise Desert Tiger 16-01 conducted on 26 March 2016, was a Large Force Exercise involving 18 A-10C from the 76th vFS and 81st vFS.

 

The goals of the exercise were to increase 476th vFG aircrew experience of large scale pre-planned

strike/interdiction operations and multi-package/multi-flight coordination.

 

The exercise involved a mass launch of all 18 jets in sequence from Nellis via the A-10 VFR North departure, entering the NTTR via the ELCAN (ELGIN-CALIENTE) corridor heading to marshall points in the desert MOA.

 

A-10 VFR North Departure

 

Panther 1 through 4 would marshall at ALASKA, Vanguards 1 through 3 at MAINE and Vanguards 4 & 5 at VIRGINIA, each flight with 2000 feet of altitude separation in the marshall stack.

 

Once each package had marshalled the flights would push in sequence and descend to low level in an effort to avoid detection by hostile early warning RADAR installations. Enroute to targets within Range 75 and 76.

 

The 81st vFS were tasked with hitting hostile MERAD and C2 facilities.

 

Panther 1

T76-10

SA-2 Site

11S NB 11689 39414

5228 ft.

 

Panther 2

T76-05

C2 Bunker

11S NB 13528 45000

5568 ft.

 

Panther 3

T75-20

SA-6 Site

11S NB 34972 45666

5278 ft.

 

Panther 4

T75-06

C2 Site

11S NB 43162 46668

5136 ft.

 

76th vFS were tasked with attacking enemy mechanised forces massing north of the FLOT.

 

Vanguard 1

T75-29

Tank Company

11S NB 48906 37292

5324 ft.

 

Vanguard 2

T75-04

Tank Company

11S NB 50985 47328

5100 Ft.

 

Vanguard 3

T75-19

Scud Launch and Support Facility

11S NB 32188 45772

5324 ft.

 

Vanguard 4

T75-34

Logistics Convoy

11S NB 48262 45648

5130 ft.

 

Vanguard 5

75-03

Fuel Staging Area

11S NB 38344 40367

5211 ft.

 

Following the attacks each flight would egress to the south and recover to Nellis via the JAYSN recovery into a STRYK recovery to runway 3R.

 

JAYSN Recovery

 

STRYK Recovery



 

Mission, Package, and Panther 1 Flight Briefing

[Eddie]

Pather 1 AAR

 

Panther 11 jumped into the 'pit and started up the aircraft without any issues, however -2 informed me that the IP grid provided was showing south of the target, rather than to the north. A quick cross check confirmed at error on my part and the is was quickly rectified by grabbed coordinates for the right location from the "F10 Map", once these coords were in the jet, all was well and a ready taxi call from -2 was received shortly afterwards.

 

Panthers at the LOLA

 

 

Once Panthers 2-4 confirmed ready taxi the package rolled in sequence from the LOLA to the south west EOR short of RWY 3R, running past a line of 10 76th vFS jets at Golf on the way, not a bad sight against the backdrop of the sunrise.

 

Taxying Past the 76th in the Golf Revetments

 

All Panther flights briefly paused at the EOR for final checks and Panther 1 lead the way on to the Runway with the next flight moving to hold short behind us, with Panther 11 rolling at 05:42:00L. The departure flow went as planned with all flights getting the air in short order without incident and heading north towards ELGIN.

 

The transition from Nellis to Blackjack and entry into NTTR went without a hitch as Panther 1 passed overhead JUNNO and turned towards MORMON PEAK passing 16,000 feet MSL with a long line of aircraft following behind.

 

The Climb and Initial Cruise Along the ELCAN Corridor

 



 

 

The cruise to the marshall stack was largely uneventful with all flights cruising at 20,000 feet MSL to conserve fuel, although catching the bottom of the jetstream winds (although slow as winds aloft go) gave an interesting cross wind on the way north.

 

45 Knots of Wind at 20,000 feet MSL

 

Just before we turned west toward the marshall point we had a call from Panther 2 than they'd had a technical fault with one of their jets and had to abort and RTB. While unfortunate, this didn't have a significant impact on the mission so we continued to press. Once passing BOSTON we descended to 16,000 feet MSL to take our place in the marshall stack, with Panthers 3 & 4 above us at 20,000 and 22,000 feet MSL respectively.

 

Panther 1 in the Marshall Stack

 

As soon as all remaining Panther flight confirmed marshalled and ready to go, Panther 1 gave the "Peroni" call on Uniform and pushed from the marshall towards the target. We fenced in and began a smooth descent frem 16,000 feet MSL down to low level terrain masking, with -2 pushing out into Wedge.

 

Trigger Breaking into Wedge Left

 

In the Descent

 

Once down low and masked from the hostile EWR sites we continued along our planned LATN route, weaving around the terrain features to remain masked as far as possible. Taking the northern route into the Reveille South resulted in a slightly longer flight than the southern route, however is provided more time to deal with any issues and also the terrain itself allowed us to maintain wedge for the most part, only requiring transition to trail in particular tight spots, making -2's job easier.

 

LATN to the IP

 



 



 



 

Startup

 

Taxi & Departure

 

Cruise & Marshall

[Eddie]

We ran into the IP in trail in order to allow for a quick in-place turn to the left to put us back into Wedge for a Shooters/Wedge/Maverick run in on the target. This went as planned with both aircraft successfully employing a single missile, with -1 hitting the RADAR and -2 one of the launchers. We then returned to the IP and repeated the attack this time both engaging a launcher.

 

Panther 1-1, Rifle

 

Panther 1-2 Running-In with -1 heading back to IP.

 

Following the Maverick attacks we performed another attack this time Shooters/Trail/Rockets, each employing 14 M-151 HE rockets on the target, both aircraft performing a 5 degree Loft Rockets delivery. Following the rocket attack we immediately performed 2 Shooters/Trail/Gun attacks on the remaining units and then having spent 60 longer than briefed in the attack, we egressed to the south and began our climb to 10,000 feet MSL toward BEATTY for the recovery.

 

Panther 1 Rejoined En-Route to BEATTY for the JAYSN Recovery

 

 

The JAYSN recovery went as planned, with things once again becoming busy as 16 aircraft (with Panther 2 already having landed at Creech following their mission abort) began their recovery at the same time. However all flight were able to safely and easily deconflict with each other heading towards STRYK.

 

As we continued on the STRYK recovery for 3R we maintained visual contact with Panther 4 2 miles up ahead and slightly delayed our turn to SIMNS so as to maintain safe separation.

 

Panther 4 making the turn to SIMNS in front of us

 

In the turn to SIMNS, with Trigger maintaining position.

 

The turn onto Initial was sporty but Trigger maintained position as we headed into the overhead with Panther 4 ahead of us and Panther 3 already on the ground. The first of the Vanguard flights were also heading in behind us so quick and effective execution of the break and landing was essential. I elected to break at midfield to afford Pather 4 some extra space and we conducted an unspectacular overhead break with the Vanguard flights heading in behind us.

 

Running in for the Break, Panther 4 off to the right



 

 

At the Perch with Vanguard 1 Heading In for their Break

 

We landing behind Panther 4 and taxied to the north east EOR and carried out our after landing check before heading back to the LOLA to join the rest of the Panthers, before shutting down and heading for the debrief at the end of a successful and highly enjoyable flight.

 

Leaving the EOR with Vanguard 1 Stopped Behind Us

 

The Long Taxi Back to the LOLA, with Further Flights Landing



 

Back at the LOLA



 



 

Ingress & Attack

 

Egress & Recovery

 

Recovery Phase Seen from the Ground at Nellis

[DUSTY]

Awesome work Eddie!

[Sabre-TLA]

Great job!

[jcbak]

Thanks for sharing this.......EXCELLENT!!!