Help with strike against Mozdok

[Gault05]

The F15 campaign Bear Trap mission against Mozdok airfield is giving me a real struggle to complete this mission. :helpsmilie:

 

The trouble is when the SEAD flight(specifically Colt 7 flight) is making its way to hammer the SA11 site at the airfield. On the way, 4 if not 5 su27s scramble up to kill them off. To top it off, the 2 27s orbiting Beslan aren't easy to kill either, even when I send my 3&4 wingmen to take them out. By the time those 2 are dead, it's either myself, or me&my #2 wingman, which isn't near enough to defend the SEAD Flight. Most of the time, I get killed, or the SEAD+Strike planes die as well.

 

 

Is there a way to beat the mission without having to either get killed or the SEAD/Strike group killed too?

[draconus]

I tried multiple times to beat this mission without even shadow of success. Turned out I was flying older-bugged version. Having updated FC3 module you should not have this problem. Then I took about 20-ish tries at fixed-good version until a success.

 

Tips (SPOILER alert!): Send SEAD strikes as soon as possible. The first pair of Su-27 is usually not a problem. They are not hot unless attacked and go down rather easily unless there's still SA-11 operating nearby - do not get close to that! Just wait at the mountains on the border for the 11s to disappear from TEWS or until they are disabled. Also keep high (30K) to avoid any smaller SAMs. For Su-27 the AIM-120C seems to be the best killa but you have only 2 of'em so choose wisely. My 3 wingmen have really poor kill ratio (maybe I lead them wrong way) but you should still use them - command them to "Turn radar on", "Pincer..." and "Engage bandits" when applicable! Strikers F-15E and f-16s do a lot better defending themselves with AMRAAMs. Real pain begins with 4 Su-27s scramble near WP4. They're hot, aggressive and spam their R-73 silently a lot. Check your six a LOT and be on constant move in the fight. Once you deal with them all (or almost all) and 11s are disabled send the Mudhens for Mozdok strike.

 

When I finally did it I wasn't very good at all (only 2 Su-27s shoot down), but somehow me and some of my wingmen managed to survive the scramble. I called the final strike even though I have not yet had confirmation on SEAD strikes success (I never got it at this flight) then there became silence. AWACS reported "clear" but my wingmen shouted "guns" a few times and I had no idea what the heck (it became clear reading briefing log - they where shooting targets of opportunity - planes parked on the enemy airfield - you can do it too :) There were some scary SA11 left over but they were not active any more. I CAP for 10 minutes and being way after Bingo decided to RTB (and so telling my wingmen). On my way back I finally got "mission success" message. On the fun note I belly landed with only right engine - don't ask :)

 

It was hard lesson for me but ultimately it has taught me a lot.

Edited November 30, 2017 by draconus