Operation Red Dawn and the Siege of Europe

Sky Full of Drones

Major Theodore Cruse (aka ‘Cruiser’) had just been promoted to Flight Commander of 2^nd Flight, 5^th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 5^th Fighter Wing stationed at Lakenheath. He flew the Air Force’s F38A fighter drone aircraft, which had become the mainstay aircraft for the Air Force in the war. Cruse had joined the Air Force through the ROTC program at the University of Texas in Austin as a means of paying for his degree in aeronautical engineering. His long-term goal was to go into aircraft design and work for one of the big aircraft manufacturers. While on active duty, he had also been working towards his Master’s degree in aeronautical engineering and aircraft design as well. With school and all of the officer training and flight courses, Cruse had yet to find time to have a girlfriend, instead focusing his limited time and energies on achieving his dreams. Then the war broke out, and he suddenly found himself flying near constant combat missions, first in Mexico and then in Europe against the Russians. So far, he’d lost three fighter drones while having shot down twenty-three enemy fighter drones and nine manned fighters, including one MiG40. This made him one of the first Aces in his squadron (and one of the few pilots) to have shot down a new Russian MiG. For his achievements thus far, he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Star.

On this the 200^th day of World War III, Major Cruse was informed that his flight had been chosen to receive the new F41 Archangel fighter drone, which would be ready for service in thirty days. The F41 Archangel fighter would be the first fighter to leverage the new EmDrive propulsion system. After receiving his initial briefing on the new drone’s capabilities, he could not wait to start training on the new platform. The pilots in his flight were pretty excited about being the first to receive the new aircraft as well.

After returning back to the squadron bay from their briefing about the F41, their Commander walked into the room and quieted everyone down so he could speak. “Listen up everyone. I know you all are excited about our new aircraft, but we have a high priority mission. The ground pounders are preparing for a massive counterattack against the Russians, starting in twelve hours. The Reds have been on a tear lately, heading towards Hamburg and central Germany. I want to draw your attention to the display.” The Colonel turned on the briefing monitor in the day room and brought up a map of Germany, showing the current Russian offensive.

“Our squadron has been assigned to fly fighter cover for the ground attack aircraft and Razorbacks. They are going to be going after the Russian armor to try to butter them up before our armored forces start their counterattack. I want you all to turn in and get some sleep; we start flying in nine hours, and it’s going to be a long couple of days. I’ll see you guys in flight operations in seven hours. Dismissed.” The Colonel signaled for everyone to stop what they were doing and get some rest. They would be getting little sleep over the next several days while the counterattack was underway.

Seven hours later, Major Cruse walked into the flight operations center and found the rest of his pilots there waiting. He walked over to the briefing lectern and began, “All right men, you all know the drill. We’ll form up over London before heading across the Channel and take up our position over Brussels. Once we get the go ahead, we’ll head towards Hamburg and begin to aggressively patrol the area for enemy MiGs. Chances are, we are going up against MiG40s, so be ready for them. Our fighters have been equipped with the new radars and missiles, so we should see them just like any other aircraft. Also, our missiles should be able to track them. This will be our first engagement using the new radar and missiles, so let’s hope they work.” As he spoke, the Major looked each of his pilots in the eye.

“Remember, the guys on the ground are counting on us to keep those MiG40s off their back. If your aircraft gets shot down, grab another from the reserve pool. Each pilot will have two drones available in the reserve pool, which will be loitering over Brussels.”

Because the F38As were drones, a second and third set of drones were going to be flown to what the Air Force had established as an aerial drone pool, which usually idled a couple hundred miles away from a major air operation. This enabled the pilots to activate a new drone from the pool and get back into the fight quickly. The advent of fighter and bomber drones had completely revolutionized the way air combat was being fought; the drones were more maneuverable, and carried more weapons and fuel, which gave the pilots a much greater ability than the previous manned aircraft could offer. The Air Force still flew the F22 Raptors and the JF35 Joint Strike Fighters, though the reliance on drones in the future was clearly written on the proverbial wall.

As the briefing ended, the pilots began to walk towards their flight pods and complete their pre-flight checklists. The flight pods looked very similar to flight simulators, though they were much smaller, more like an actual cockpit. As the drone flew and made tight turns, dove or climbed, the pod would mimic the maneuver, giving the pilot the very real sense that they were actually flying in an aircraft. The pod would even simulate the feeling of a missile or bomb detaching from the aircraft and the sounds and sensations of the onboard machine gun being fired. Making the pod feel as real as possible helped the pilots to react just as they would in a real aircraft, and kept everything from feeling so detached like a video game. This greatly enhanced the survivability of the drones and made them that much more lethal.

Within half an hour, Major Cruse’s flight was airborne and loitering 40,000 ft. above London. Once all the aircraft were there, they began to move as a group to Brussels and wait for their orders to begin their patrol over Hamburg and the surrounding area.

“Major Cruse, this is flight operations. Do you copy?” asked a male voice over the HUD.

“This is Flight Leader Cruse. Go ahead, over.”

“Your Flight has been cleared to begin patrolling over Hamburg; you are to patrol at 45,000 feet and engage any hostiles you identify. You are not to descend below 15,000 feet. Ground systems will be attacking enemy aircraft below that altitude. Do you copy?”

“Copy flight operations. We are advancing to Hamburg. Will maintain patrolling altitude of 45,000 feet. Will not descend below 15,000 feet, out.”

Turning his coms to the rest of his flight, Major Cruse directed “All right gentlemen and ladies, we just received our go order. We are to begin patrolling above Hamburg at 45,000 feet; no one is to descend below 15,000 feet. Ground systems will engage enemy fighters below that ceiling. Acknowledge.”

“Copy that,” said the pilots as the group began to maneuver their aircraft to the new altitude and heading.

Fifteen minutes after arriving above the skies of Hamburg, the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft that was operating two hundred miles behind their position spotted several dozen drones, along with at least ten MiG40s heading towards Major Cruse’s flight. Within minutes, that number rose to over 120 drones and 20 MiG40s and 50 Su38s. The Russians were starting to flood the sky with drones and fighters as they spotted the massive armada of ground attack fighters and helicopters heading towards their ground forces. The battle for the skies was about to heat up again.

Major Cruse activated his Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) and began to engage a MiG40 that was maneuvering to attack one of his flight mates. He toggled his missiles and activated two of his AMRAAMs and fired. Both missiles leapt from his drone and began to head towards the MiG. At first the MiG pilot appeared to ignore the missiles, assuming that his stealth abilities would win out just as they always had in the past. Unfortunately for him, just as he realized it was not going to work, both missiles impacted against his aircraft, blowing him to pieces. This was the first air-to-air engagement with the new AMRAAMs and the radar systems that had been specifically designed to go after the new MiG40s. Within minutes, their effect was made known-all 20 MiG40s were shot down in quick succession before the Americans switched over and began to engage the enemy drones and Su38s. After nearly two hours of air-to-air combat and two additional drones, Major Cruse’s squadron was ordered back to their bases in England. The American and British Air Forces lost 342 F38A drones, 63 F22s and 57 JF35s. The Russians had lost 58 MiG40s, 196 Su38s and 432 SU39FD or Fighter Drones. The Allies had not won the day, but they had provided enough air cover for 250 Razorback helicopters, over 350 F38B ground attack drones and 210 A10 Warthogs to maul the Russian armored advance as it headed towards Hamburg, just as the American and British counterattack began in earnest. The Russians had lost over 1,400 MBTs, 2,800 LDTs and 3,000 other assorted armored vehicles and IFVs.