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Tornado is, in the words of Tom "KC" Basham of the late Computer Gaming World magazine, the most under-rated flight sim of all time. This is perhaps correct. Somehow, Tornado never gets the the huge following it deserves even after the release of the expansion disk (Operation Desert Storm). To the few dedicated hard-core flight sim enthusiasts, though, Tornado is remembered as one of the best flight sims of all time. The flight-, weapons- and avionics-modeling is realistic and the enemy AI is very good. These give us the correct "feel" as to how it's like to fill the boots of a very busy Tornado crew during a combat mission, despite the somewhat "generic" campaigns. Today Tornado fans wanting to relive the action can still do so because Tornado runs very well under DosBox or VDMSound.
Today, we a will join Flight Officer John Trueman and his navigator, Flight Officer Sean Nicholson, as he recounts the mission he flew during the opening night of Operation Desert Storm.
"Our mission today is to hit 2 Iraqi Army camouflaged sites close to the front. There are even more lucrative targets deeper behind enemy lines, but at this stage of the campaign the AAA and SAM threat in those area are still too high. As you can see on the map below, the enemy also maintains fighter CAP stations. We have planned our route to avoid those areas. The intelligence are never perfect, however, so even the most carefully planned route does not guarantee that we are completely safe. At the end of the mission, we are to relocate to another airfield that is better positioned for further missions."
"We will hit our targets with BL.755 bombs. These are cluster bomb units, very well suited to soft targets like the ones we are to hit today. Each site will receive a package of 4 bombs, which should be enough. Our original payload also includes two self-defence AIM-9 Sidewinders. However, we reckon that SAM and AAA are our biggest threat right now, so we elect to replace those missiles with ALARM anti-radiation missiles."
"The sky is a solid grey overcast as our heavily laden Tornado claws into the air. Immediately after we takeoff, I clean up the aircraft and sweep the wings fully aft. Then I turn on the autopilot in waypoint track mode, with a ride height of 200 feet. Hopefully, this will make us invisible to enemy Early Warning Radars, since they can vector fighters to hunt us down if they spot us. I also engage the autothrottle and set the speed to 475 knots."
"As planned, Sean immediately arms the ALARM missiles in Direct mode. In this mode, we will be able to immediately fire on any AAA and SAM in front of our aircraft that lock us up."
"We have an uneventful flight until we approach our first target, waypoint X. Apparently the target is defended by a SAM and an AAA. As they lock us up, I immediately launch an ALARM and switch on ECM. Just before the ALARM destroys the SAM vehicle, it manages to launch a missile at us. The missile is IR-guided so I prepare myself to dump flares. We only carry 28 flare bundles, so I have to wait until the missile proximity klaxon to go off before I drop a flare. Meanwhile, after the first ALARM hits, I launch a second missile at the AAA site. The flare I drop fools the missile launched at us and we get away unscathed."
"After the AAA site is dead, I immediately switch the ECM off and arm the BL.755's as we are rapidly closing on the target. As we approach the target we see the smoldering remains of the SAM and AAA sites. A few seconds before we reach the waypoint, I hold down the trigger and the bombs are released automatically. The bomblets rain down on the camouflaged site, destroying it completely."
"After hitting the first target, we immediately proceed to the second one. This target is apparently more heavily defended. I immediately find ourselves out of ALARM missiles as I launch at the SAM and AAA sites defending the target. We hit another 4 sites with ALARM missiles but there must be at least half a dozen sites down there. A SAM site launch a missile at us and I react a bit too late and the missile hits us. The warning alarm goes off as Sean calmly says, 'Our thrust reversers are out.' Great. That means we will have to rely on the wheelbrakes to stop us when we land. But currently the loss of our thrust reversers are not crucial to the mission. I have to concentrate on hitting the second target. We will worry about the thrust reversers when we return to base. IF we return to base."
"I manage to hit the second target, but as we turn to clear the area we are hit by AAA. I guess it was a ZSU-23-4 Shilka. Again the warning alarm blares. 'Our ECM is out,' says Sean matter-of-factly. Another great news. We still have a lot of SAM and AAA sites targeting us and our ECM is out. Now we have to rely on our Chaff and Flares."
"Miraculously, we survive the barrage of SAM and AAA fire. As we pass waypoint G, enemy activity seems to slacken a bit. I can breathe easier now. And I believe Sean is relieved, too. However, just as we are approaching the last waypoint, some SAM and AAA sites open up on us. They are practically just outside the fences of our new airbase! I guess when they say that we are relocating to an airbase closer to the action, they really mean it. Out of ALARMs and without ECM, I furiously dump flares to ward off the missiles launched at us. No missiles hits us this time, but one Shilka manages to pepper our aircraft with some cannon rounds. As the warning alarm goes off, Sean says,'Our wheelbrakes are out.' Now, this is just great. Without thrust reversers and wheelbrakes, we simply have to hope that the aircraft will stop before we run out of runway."
"I set up the AFDS (autopilot) for an automatic landing. As we approach the runway, I pray that we will be able to stop in time with only wind drag to slow us down. I believe I can hear Sean muttering the same prayer."
"As we are nearing touchdown, I disengage the autopilot to manually flare the aircraft. The aircraft lands with a thump. I'm not flaring the aircraft enough. I immediately shut down the engines as we thunder down the runway. It seems that the aircraft simply would not slow down. After something that feels like an eternity, but can't be more than a minute, the aircraft finally slows down enough for me to be able to steer it using the nosewheel. I start to zigzag the aircraft a bit to help it slow down. Finally, just a couple of yards before we run out of runway, the aircraft stops. 'Nice one, pilot,' says Sean, audibly relieved. We are home at last."
"We have to have the aircraft towed to its parking spot. Then we proceed to the debriefing session. We find out that we did okay on the mission. Both targets destroyed, with another 4 AAA and 2 SAM vehicles destroyed. The airframe is damaged, though, and will have to undergo some serious repairs. We are very thrilled that we survive our first mission. That we also achieve the objectives is but a bonus."
Although primarily an air superiority fighter, the Su-27 (as simulated in Flanker) is also a very versatile strike aircraft. It is capable of delivering various unguided and guided bomb, as well as guided missiles of many types including anti-ship missiles. Major Ivan Obelovic will tell us more about this capability as he recounts a mission he recently flew during a joint Russian-NATO training flight.
"During the recent Russian-NATO [joint] exercise, we flew as the Red Team against Turkish Air Force F-16C's playing as the Blue Team. The Red Team was based in Kerch airbase while the Blue Team was hosted by the Sevastopol airbase. In this particular training mission, we had the opportunity to show that our Zhuravlik (Su-27 Flanker, ed.) is also a capable strike aircraft. The scenario is as follows. A Blue intelligence gathering ship (simulated by a derelict Russian Polnochny-class ship) has been damaged by a Red missile boat and is left dead in the water some 300 km due south of our airbase. The objective of the Red Team is to finish the job and sink the ship. The objective of the Blue Team is to defend it."
"Our AWACS, orbiting just North of Kerch (callsign Red Star), has been monitoring the area and tells us that currently the Blue Team is maintaining a CAP flight of 2 F-16C's over the crippled ship. We also know that, if necessary, they can send in reinforcements from Sevastopol. Our plan for this mission is simple. We will have 2 flights of Su-27s participating in this mission. First to get airborne is Alpha flight, with 2 Su-27s. They will try to kill any enemy fighters around the ship. Next, with a 150-second interval will be Bravo flight, consisting of one Su-27 carrying Kh-35 (AS-17 Krypton, ed.) anti-ship missiles. I will be flying as Bravo, while my comrades Major Belyakov and Captain Isachenkov will be flying as Alpha-1 and -2, respectively. Alpha flight will be flying at high altitude, 8000 m, while I will be flying low at 1000 m to avoid detection. Furthermore, I will have my radar inactive almost all the way. I will be switching my radar on only after I reach the IP to acquire the ship and launch my Kh-35s. After I launch my missiles, I will directly RTB while Alpha will loiter for awhile to sanitize my six and, if possible, do some quick BDA."
"Alpha flight takes off at precisely 1630 hours (all time local, ed.). They immediately turn south while climbing to 8000 m. Alpha flight is carrying a full load of R-27, R-77 and R-73 missiles."
"Exactly 2 minutes and 30 seconds later, I get clearance from the tower to take off. After I am safely airborne I immediately clean up my aircraft and head south towards the target. I am carrying 4 Kh-35 missiles. While I am also carrying AAMs for self-defense, I will be relying on Alpha flight to keep me out of trouble."
"There isn't much happening for the next 10 minutes or so until I hear via the radio that Alpha flight is changing formation into combat spread. This means that Alpha flight has detected Blue team fighters and is nearing engagement range."
"Later, during the debriefing, Major Belyakov tells me that they have been watching the Blue CAP for awhile, via the information datalinked from Red Star. As they are entering the range of their R-27 missiles, he'd tell his wingman to loosen up the formation and accelerate to attack speed. He'd then tell his wingman to target the Blue wingman while he is going to take the leader. After receiving acknowledgment from Alpha-2 that he has sorted the bandits, Belyakov tells his wingman to engage. Belyakov himself immediately launched an R-27 missile, followed a few moments later by Isachenkov with another R-27."
"The Blue bandits, now realizing that they are under attack, breaks formation. The wingman breaks high while the leader breaks low while releasing chaff and flares."
"Belyakov's missile is apparently confused by the chaff and misses the leader. Meanwhile, Isachenkov's missile tracks the wingman perfectly and hits him amidships. The F-16C explodes while its pilot ejects."
"Belyakov immediately launches his second missile. This time the missile guided perfectly and destroys the Blue leader. The pilot also manages to eject."
"I heard Alpha flight declares 2 splashes and Red Star confirms that the area is now clear. I proceeded to the IP and climb to 2000 m. The range of the Su-27's ground radar is approximately 20 times its current altitude. By climbing to 2000 m, I should be able to detect the ship from approximately 40 km out. I switched my radar on and change to Zemlya (A-G) mode."
"I move the radar antenna to scan the sea before me, and finally I saw the target blip. I then zoom in to a higher resolution to put the radar cursor on the target. At the highest resolution, I can positively ID the ship and I immediately lock it up."
"After achieving lock-on, I immediately ripple fire all four of my Kh-35 missiles and they immediately dive to a sea-skimming altitude. Two such missiles are needed to sink the ship, but I launched all four just to make sure."
"This ship has defensive gun system that can shoot down anti-ship missiles, so I hope that by launching four missiles there will be at least two hits. Since the gun system can also track an incoming aircraft, I immediately break hard left while diving to 1000 m. As can be seen in the film taken by a camera placed near the target that we watched during the debriefing, the ship's defensive gun managed to engage and shoot down one Kh-35. However, it is too late to prevent the first 2 missiles from hitting and sinking the ship. In the frame below, taken from the film, you can just see two missiles a few moments before impact and some explosions behind them as the defensive gun system shoot down a Kh-35 missile behind them."
"Alpha flight, who are still loitering the area confirmed that they see an explosion and a smoke column rising from the target area. As planned, I immediately head north to base. As I turn north, I look over my left shoulder and see the smoke from the sinking ship."
"A few moments later, Red Star warns us that the Blue Team has scrambled a flight of F-16Cs from Sevastopol and advises all of us to vacate the area. Upon hearing this warning, Alpha flight immediately leave the area, turning north back to Kerch. We are not particularly concerned, however. The F-16C's will be arriving too late to intercept us."
"After an uneventful trip, I arrive at Kerch and land. Belyakov and Isachenkov arrive approximately 25 minutes later. After exchanging congratulations, we head to the debriefing room."
"At the debriefing, the Red Team gets 2 confirmed A-A kills and one ground target kill without suffering any loss. Mission accomplished."
Often touted in the pre-release hype as the flight sim that will finally dethrone Falcon 3.0 as the King of Hardcore Sims , Su-27 Flanker seemed to be a dissapointment for many... at the first glance, that is. This sim lacks a campaign, doesn't have any "multimedia dazzle", has decidedly retro graphics and poor sound effects. It doesn't help that the final release (Flanker 1.0) was rushed for Christmas and therefore contained some bugs and left out some promised features. Upon closer inspection, however, Su-27 Flanker proved to be a delight for hardcore flight sim fans. The flight modeling, weapons modeling and avionics are simply among the best out there. And the AI had to be seen to be believed. Also, while the sim lacks campaign, the mission planner included in the sim is excellent, allowing creative fans to create intricate and challenging missions and share them via the Internet.
There are 3 major releases of Flanker 1:- Version 1.0: Win95 only, many bugs, many unimplemented features
- Version 1.1: Win95 & DOS, most bugs squashed, virtually all features implemented. The Win95 version is then patched to 1.2 (and then 1.2a) version.
- Version 1.5: A.K.A. the Squadron Leader Edition. Further bug fixes, additional features and lots of additional missions.
I own the 2nd printing of the game (Version 1.1). The DOS half of this version is playable under DOSBox (I used CPU cycle=9000 and frameskip=0 on my Ubuntu box). The Win95 half should be playable on any Windows 9x or XP box. In a pleasant surprise, the Win95 half is also playable under Linux using Wine (I used Wine 0.9.27) as long as you remember to copy MFC30.dll to your Wine's Windows directory. I couldn't get the sound to work properly, though. Fortunately, since the sound effects in Flanker is abysmal, this is not much of a loss (for more information about Wine, go here).
It's been a while since I last played Flanker. So, in order to re-familiarize myself with this complex sim and to give an impression of how the sim plays, I have constructed a simple mission. This is a simple round trip from Sevastopol airbase and back. To spice things a bit, we will pass a training area (the boxed area below). Somewhere within this box is a MiG-23 that I have to intercept and shoot down.
The mission starts at around 4.30 local time. To the east the dawn is just breaking. Strapped in my Flanker, I eagerly awaits clearance from the tower to take off. I am carrying a full load of medium- and short-range missiles for this mission. After getting clearance from the tower, I ease the throttle forward to full military power, while stepping on the wheel brakes. The nose dips as the thrust builds up. When the RPM shows 100%, I release the wheel brakes and my Flanker starts its take-off run (most Eastern Bloc pilots, unlike their Western counterparts, do not use afterburners during take-off to conserve fuel). At approximately 300 kph, I ease the stick to my lap and the Flanker starts climbing. I quickly cleaned up my aircraft and follows the HUD cue to the first waypoint.
When I reached waypoint 2, I turned on my radar and change my HUD mode to DVB (BVR) mode. The MiG-23 is a relatively small aircraft, so my radar could not pick it up at first. Finally, at a range of approximately 96 km, my radar detected the MiG and I started to set up my intercept geometry.
After closing up to approximately 20 km, I lock the bandit and immediately launch an R-27re missile.
Simultaneously, I get indication that the bandit has locked me up. Had the bandit carried medium-range missiles, this will soon be followed by a PUSK (launch) indication and I will have to honor the threat by maneuvering against his missiles. This in turn will force me to break lock and my R-27 missile, being SARH, will have gone ballistic. Welcome to the world of long range missile battle in Flanker! Fortunately, in this scenario the MiG-23 carries only R-60 short-range missiles so I simply ignore the warning and keep on guiding the missile.
The bandit, upon detecting that I have launched my missile, breaks hard right while simultaneously releasing countermeasures. Apparently the chaff confuses the missile, causing it to fall short. The explosion from the near miss apparently causes some slight damage, however.
The chaff released by the bandit also managed to break my radar lock. As you can see in the picture below, there are now 2 target returns. One of them is the real target while the other is a chaff cloud. Which is which is a matter of guessing at this moment.
I waited for a few moments for the chaff return to disappear, and then easily managed to reestablish radar lock on the bandit and launched my second R-27re missile. This time, however, the bandit managed to outmaneuver my missile. The missile missed him and streaks harmlessly by.
By now we are entering visual range and I lost the lock on my radar. Fumbling for the radar switches, I suddenly saw the MiG. So I immediately switch to FIO (boresight) mode and maneuver my aircraft so that the MiG enters the R-27's seeker's FOV.
I locked him and immediately launched my third missile. The missile guided perfectly and destroyed the MiG. As his aircraft disintegrates, the pilot just manages to use his ejection seat to escape.
In retrospect, I should have switched to my R-73 dogfight missiles when we merged. In such a close range, the R-73 would have had a much better chance to hit the bandit. But during the engagement, I was to confused to even think about this. Luckily the R-27re hits its target. After destroying the MiG I switch to NAV mode for an uneventful RTB flight.
Falcon 3.0 is undoubtedly one of the best flight sim ever created. Even today, this 15-year old game still have features that are either omitted or not as well implemented by newer games. This game can be played using DosBox, and as noted in my DosBox review, you should play around with 'frame-skip' parameter to get missiles performing properly. On my Ubuntu box, frame-skip = 4 seems to be the sweet spot.
Today, we will join Col. Sheehan, callsign Redrum, on a Red Flag A-A mission. Col. Sheehan is the CO of the Swamp Fox squadron, flying F-16C Falcons. The objective of this mission is to kill 3 bogeys in the training area. Two of the bogeys are Mirage 3s and the last one is a MiG-23. The training scenario calls for a stealthy sneak attack on the first bogey, with complete GCI control up to engagement point. The detection and engagement of the last 2 bogeys are left to the pilot.
Redrum enters the training area at Nellis at high altitude, approximately 25000 feet, completely under GCI control with his radar off. GCI controller guided him into the "saddle" of the first bogey. Now Col. Sheehan picks up the story.
"The GCI controller put me in a perfect position behind the first bogey. He is completely unaware of my presence, so I'd close up to within 3 miles, arm my Sidewinder, get a solid lock and tone and then launch. He tried to evade the missile, but it's already too late and I got my first kill."
"The second bogey was a different story. Since now I'm on my own, I fired up my radar in search mode and picked him up from a range of approximately 40 miles."
"Since the AMRAAMs will only lock on at about 15 miles, I decided to stay in search mode in order not to spook him too early. So I'd waited until he get to approximately 12 miles and then switch to TWS mode. At this instant, I received a message that the enemy is using ECM. This means that any radar lock will be unreliable and the performance of the AMRAAM missiles will be greatly reduced. When I'd launched my first missile, the lock is immediately broken and the missile missed. Foolishly, I wasted another Fox 1 on the bogey. The second missile also missed. Realizing that my AMRAAMs are now useless, I switched the radar to ACM mode and armed a Sidewinder. I didn't really hope that the radar would be able to lock on the bogey. Instead, I'd be using my Sidewinder's seeker head to get the bandit. We are now within visual range and after a couple of high-G maneuvers I managed to get a Sidewinder lock (still no radar lock) and launched a Fox 2. The missile tracked him correctly, but seems to explode just short of his tailpipe. He seems to be damaged from the shrapnel."
"I still have a healthy bogey somewhere, so I disengaged and try to find him. It proved to be quite easy. I'd detect the MiG-23 at approximately 30 miles, close up to approximately 13 miles then lock him up and immediately launched a Fox 1. This time, since there is no ECM activity, the missile guided perfectly and the bogey blew up into a smoky orange fireball."
"Having dispatched the MiG, I turned around to check whether the damage caused by the near miss had brought down the second bogey. I swung my jet around and fire up my search radar. Apparently the bogey was not downed and I detected him again at about 40 miles out. My first missile might have damaged his ECM gear, though."
"I then closed up to about 15 miles, locked him up and confirmed that his ECM is down. Then I performed a textbook AMRAAM intercept, launching a Fox 1 at about 11 miles. Without his ECM, my final missile hit him amidships and he simply disintegrated into a million pieces."
"After confirming that I have neutralized all opposition, I got a vector out of the training area. During the debriefing, I got 3 confirmed kills. Mission accomplished."
