Storm from the Desert
The
Avions Al-Jaber Simoom Air Superiority Fighter
The
first time Marie-France had been in combat the opponents had been
Manchurian and she had been a wet-behind-the-ears lieutenant. The
next time they had been German and she had been a decorated major.
Now she was a colonel, the enemy were aliens, and she was just as
scared as she had been that first time. All sixteen Simoom-C5s of EC
1/30 Normandie-Niemen
were completely ballistic, sitting atop their strap-on boosters and
locked onto a preset trajectory, and if the Kafers decided to pay
them any attention they would be dead before they knew it. Active
sensors would be suicidal, but the passives and the datalinks showed
a frightening picture, Kafer kinetic weapons hurtling down through
the atmosphere, leaving trails of ionised plasma in their wake,
destruction at their terminus. The KE hits were scattered all over the Continente Français: military installations, centres of population, refugee camps, open country. Maybe the targeting made sense to a Kafer, no human would have picked that target set, but it was devastatingly effective and the civilian government showed every sign of cracking at the seams, and probably taking the military with it. The word was the Boche were doing no better, but that the Anglos had somehow escaped the worst of the bombardment and gotten their forces dispersed. That was the big picture, but Marie-France had no time to worry about it. With the fleet gone and the orbital defences blown away the Kafers were moving in to launch landers and EC 1/30 Normandie-Niemen, the best squadron in the Armée de l’Air, was going to do its best to stop them. The Kafers were throwing rocks, Marie-France was going to fight them with buckets of gravel.
Her
big situation display lit up, the Kafer warships blossoming fighters
and landers, the approach vectors just as they had anticipated. She
tapped rapidly at the keypad on her seat arm, confirming the launch
sequence for the Aero-26 orbital interdiction weapon in the weapons
bay behind her, then pressed the command override to transmit it to
the other aircraft of the escadron. “All
aircraft, execute Slingshot!” she ordered. Behind her the
weapons bay doors snapped open, the launch trapeze hurled the Aero-26
into the slipstream and the big missile’s engine accelerated it
towards the point in space where its load of pebble-sized tungsten
penetrators would hopefully intersect with the oncoming landers.
Simultaneously the boosters banged free and Marie-France wrenched the
Simoom onto a new course, the destination less important than getting
clear of the launch coordinates. David had taken on Goliath and won
with a single stone from his slingshot, she didn’t think the
Kafers would be stopped so easily. BCV: The Air War Aerospace Historical Society Press, 2304 Index The Algerian built Avions Al-Jaber Simoom has gradually replaced the earlier Aquilon as France's top-line air-superiority aircraft. The design builds on lessons learnt in the Central Asian War against Manchurian fighters, which, while technically inferior, often emerged victorious when French pilots closed aggressively and entered the Manchu's kill-envelopes. The Simoom is an unashamed high-altitude interceptor, something few nations can afford, but one built with the hard-won knowledge that, no matter your technological edge, a knife-fight with a more agile enemy may be no more than seconds away. Pilot training has redoubled the emphasis on not closing with the enemy, but at the same time the Simoom has been designed to be a significantly more agile platform that its predecessor, adding attitude control jets and vortex generators to give a considerable velocity-vector-independent nose-pointing ability, enabling the Simoom to carry out directed-energy engagements against moving targets without slowing from high supersonic speeds. It was the Aquilon’s need to slow into the transonic regime to engage its thrust-vectoring system that left it vulnerable to slower but more agile Manchu fighters. Too late for the War of German Reunification, the Simoom has since become the primary high-end, high altitude interceptor of the Armee de l’Air and arguably the best interceptor in human service. Aerodynamically the Simoom is a flattened wedge with only minimal external control surfaces. Primary flight controls rely on a combination of thrust vectoring and plasma generators for shaping the aircraft shockwave. The engines are RBCC scramjets integrated into the lower surfaces of the Simoom. Take-off is made in ramjet mode with scramjet engaged for the majority of flight modes. Pure rocket mode is normally only used for orbital interdiction missions with the oxidiser tank left empty in other roles. Strap-on boosters give added flexibility for ultra-high altitude missions where air-to-air refuelling is infeasible. The Simoom’s cockpit is entirely enclosed within the fuselage, the complete assembly ejecting at need. Extensive optronics feeding into a helmet-mounted display mean that actual visibility is no worse than most designs with external cockpits and better than many. Simoom pilots wear full orbit-rated pressure suits over the same Système Protective de Combat Arienne g-suits used by all Armée de l’Air Pilots. The SPCA is rated up to 12 g (sustained), a full 3.5 g more than the Simoom can generate at Mach-plus speeds (aggressive manoeuvring at sub-Mach speeds is contraindicated due to the low control authority below Mach 1.5). If the Simoom has a weakness it is in the length of runway needed by its airframe/engine combination. Even empty the Simoom needs two kilometres of runway to get airborne, with a warload of Aero-28s this is stretched to 2.5 Km and with heavier weapons such as the Martel or Hades it can take over 3 kilometres to haul her reluctantly into the air (that said a fully-loaded Simoom can still accelerate through the sound barrier heading straight up, even without the strap-on boosters). The primary air superiority weapon of the Simoom is the Giscard Aero-28 air-to-air missile, these are launched from a six-round rotary launcher in the upper-fuselage weapon bay. The bay can also be configured to carry a Giscard-Optronique Arbalette laser emitter, an Aero-26 Orbital Interdiction Weapon or a Hades nuclear-pumped X-ray laser, delivered in a zoom-toss manoeuvre. In the strategic interjection role they can be configured with an ejector for up to twenty 250Kg bombs or for two Martel kinetic strike weapons, or, for worst-case scenarios, with a Pluton nuclear weapon. Direct fire capability is provided by a forward-firing Mercure laser and point-defence by a Gorget laser PDS. The upper fuselage weapons bay is an acknowledged limitation in the design, it needs fixed arming facilities to be used without major delays and a lot of sweat, but the Simoom was designed as a fighter for the Core and was originally thought unlikely to be needed in the colonies. Unfortunately no one on the design team had anticipated the Kafer onslaught. The primary Simoom production line is located at Avions Al Jaber’s manufacturing plant just outside of Tangiers, but with the need to expand production for the reconnaissance and bomber variants a second line has been established near Brest as a joint venture between Avions Al Jaber and Equipe Nord and is currently being commissioned. The government of Nouvelle Provence lobbied hard but unsuccessfully for the second production line to be established on Tirane and is now trying to convince the government of Freihafen to expand its order for Simooms in the hope that this might justify the establishment of a third production line. Simoom-C
The
initial variant of the Simoom, the Simoom C entered service with the
Armée de l’Air
in 2295. In comparison with the fully operational version the C
weapon system was cleared only for the Aero-27, Aero-28 and the 250Kg
glide bomb. Entering service with EC3 the Simoom Cs were out of
service within two years as fully cleared C5s replaced them in
front-line service. Of the 60 Simoom Cs produced, 40 were sold to the
Punjab, deliveries starting in late 2296, even before EC3 was
completely equipped, while the remaining 20 went to Iraq in 2300 at a
knock-down price as part of a package of French funded improvements
for the Iraqi AF. Type: High Altitude Air Superiority Fighter Users: Punjab, Iraq Crew: Pilot Weight: 15000kg Armour: All faces 5 Armament: Mercure air to air Laser Gorget Point Defense System Internal Weapon Bay 6 Aero-28 AAM or 8 Aero-27 AAM or 20 * 250Kg Glide Bombs Evasion: 16 Sensor Range: 650km (+3) Signature: +2 (-4 at half cruise speed) Max Speed: 5500 kph Cruising Speed: 3000 kph Combat Movement: 11000m Endurance: 4 Hours
Price: Lv
6,000,000 Simoom C2 The Simoom-C2 was an operational training variant of the Simoom-C seating two pilots in a side-by-side configuration. A single prototype was produced, but the short production life of the Simoom-C meant that there was no series production of the variant. Simoom C3
The
Simoom-C3 is the export configuration of the fully operational Simoom
C5 with the weapons suite cleared for all weapons except Hades and
Pluton and some marginal differences in signature reduction
technologies and defensive electronics. The C3 is in service with
Freihafen, Ukraine and Poland. Type: High Altitude Air Superiority Fighter Users: Freihafen, Ukraine and Poland Crew: Pilot Weight: 15000kg Armour: All faces 5 Armament: Mercure air to air Laser Gorget Point Defense System Internal Weapon Bay 6 Aero-28 AAM or 8 Aero-27 AAM or 1 Aero-26 Orbital Interdiction Weapon or 1 Arbalette Laser Emitter or 2 Martel Kinetic Interdiction Weapons or 20 * 250Kg Glide Bombs Evasion: 17 Sensor Range: 750km (+5) Signature: +2 (-4 at half cruise speed) Max Speed: 5500 kph Cruising Speed: 3000 kph Combat Movement: 11000m Endurance: 4 Hours
Price: Lv
6,250,000 Simoom C4 The C4 is the operational trainer version of the C3 with two crew in a side-by-side configuration identical to the C2. Statistics are otherwise identical to the C3. Simoom C5
The
Simoom C5 is the definitive Simoom variant, cleared for the full
weapon suite and with the full signature reduction and defensive
electronics suite. It is used only by France and has not been offered
for export to date. Type: High Altitude Air Superiority Fighter Users: France Crew: Pilot Weight: 15000kg Armour: All faces 5 Armament: Mercure air to air Laser Gorget Point Defense System Internal Weapon Bay 6 Aero-28 AAM or 8 Aero-27 AAM or 1 Aero-26 Orbital Interdiction Weapon or 1 Hades Detonation Laser or 1 Arbalette Laser Emitter or 2 Martel Kinetic Interdiction Weapons or 20 * 250Kg Glide Bombs or 1 Pluton 0.1 to 250 Kt Yield Nuclear Weapon Evasion: 18 Sensor Range: 750km (+5) Signature: +1 (-4 at half cruise speed) Max Speed: 5500 kph Cruising Speed: 3000 kph Combat Movement: 11000m Endurance: 4 Hours Price: Lv 6,750,000
Simoom
C6 The C6 is the operational trainer version of the C5. As with the C5 it is in service only with France and is not currently available for export. One or two C6s are held per Escadre and are used for check rides and other training activities. Statistics are identical to the C5. Simoom C7
The
Simoom C7 is the next-generation Simoom variant, benefiting from
nearly a decade of in-service experience. The primary changes to the
airframe and engines address what the Invasion campaign has confirmed
as the design’s greatest weakness and have greatly improved the
aircraft’s short-field performance (although it is still
considerably longer than most combat aircraft are capable of).
High-flotation multi-wheel landing gear developed by Russia’s
Tikhonov, acknowledged experts in the field, gives the C7 some
ability to use semi-prepared surfaces, but in no way is this a true
rough-field capability and the difficulty in re-arming the
upper-fuselage bay without fixed lifts and hoists remains. The
aircraft has completed development and is in operational trials with
low-rate initial production just starting to ramp up. The first
Simoom C7 escadre is not expected to be operational until summer
2305. Type: High Altitude Air Superiority Fighter Users: France Crew: Pilot Weight: 15500kg Armour: All faces 5 Armament: Mercure air to air Laser Gorget Point Defense System Internal Weapon Bay 6 Aero-28 AAM or 8 Aero-27 AAM or 1 Aero-26 Orbital Interdiction Weapon or 1 Hades Detonation Laser or 1 Arbalette Laser Emitter or 2 Martel Kinetic Interdiction Weapons or 20 * 250Kg Glide Bombs or 1 Pluton 0.1 to 250 Kt Yield Nuclear Weapon Evasion: 20 Sensor Range: 850km (+5) Signature: 0 (-5 at half cruise speed) Max Speed: 5200 kph Cruising Speed: 3000 kph Combat Movement: 10400m Endurance: 4 Hours
Price:
Lv8,500,000
Simoom
R
The
Simoom R is a penetrating reconnaissance aircraft using the Simoom C6
airframe. It is in service with France and has recently been ordered
by Poland. There is considerable speculation within the aerospace
press as to whether the Poles have been allowed to order the
full-featured R or whether an export variant comparable to the C4
will emerge. Type: Penetrating Reconnaissance Aircraft Users: France, Poland (on order) Crew: Pilot, Sensor Operator Weight: 16000kg Armour: All faces 5 Armament: Mercure air to air Laser Gorget Point Defense System Internal Weapon Bay 2 Aero-28 AAM or 4 Aero-27 AAM Evasion: 18 Sensor Range: 800km (+5); plus 200Km (+7); plus 200Km range MASINT package; plus 50km Range Ground Penetrating EM sensor (to depth of 100 metres) Signature: +2 (-4 at half cruise speed) Max Speed: 5500 kph Cruising Speed: 3000 kph Combat Movement: 11000m Endurance: 6 Hours
Price: Lv
7,250,000
Simoom
T
The
Simoom T is a side-by-side conversion trainer. It is largely
comparable to the Simoom C3, but the weapon system is replaced by an
extensive in-flight simulation system with only a limited combat
capability remaining and the airframe has been ruggedised in certain
areas to cope with the inadvertent and inevitable rough handling of
trainee pilots. Free space in the former weapon bay has been used to
increase the aircraft endurance and allow multiple instructional
points in a single flight. It is acknowledged that the extended
sorties are particularly wearing on the trainees and may be
responsible for a higher than average wash-out rate. The practise is
currently under review. The T is in service with France, Freihafen,
Poland and Ukraine. Iraqi and Punjabi Simoom pilots are trained
alongside their French equivalents on the T, but following the
completion of the basic operational conversion course French pilots
undergo an extra 3 week course on the Simoom T2 before reporting to
their units. Type: Operational Trainer Users: France, Freihafen, Poland and Ukraine Crew: Pilot, Instructor Weight: 14500kg Armour: All faces 5 Armament: Mercure air to air Laser Gorget Point Defense System Internal Weapon Bay 2 Aero-28 AAM or 4 Aero-27 AAM Evasion: 17 Sensor Range: 750km (+5) Signature: +2 (-4 at half cruise speed) Max Speed: 5500 kph Cruising Speed: 3000 kph Combat Movement: 11000m Endurance: 5.5 Hours
Price:
Lv6,500,000
Simoom
T2
The
Simoom T2 is a variant of the T with the signature reduction and
sensors of the Simoom C5. A limited number of the aircraft are held
by French operational conversion units to bring French pilots up to
speed on the front line Simoom C5 configuration after non-French
pilots have left the course. Type: Conversion Trainer Users: France Crew: Pilot, Instructor Weight: 15000kg Armour: All faces 5 Armament: Mercure air to air Laser Gorget Point Defense System Internal Weapon Bay 2 Aero-28 AAM or 4 Aero-27 AAM Evasion: 18 Sensor Range: 750km (+5) Signature: +1 (-4 at half cruise speed) Max Speed: 5500 kph Cruising Speed: 3000 kph Combat Movement: 11000m Endurance: 5.5 Hours
Price: Lv
7,000,000
Simoom
F
The
Simoom F is a penetrating bomber aircraft based on a two-seat version
of the Simoom C7 configuration, but rebuilt with a lower-fuselage
weapons bay in place of the troublesome upper-fuselage bay of the
fighter version. ‘Several squadrons’ of the Force de
Frappe are reported to be in line to convert to the Simoom F once it
has completed flight trials and entered production. Type: Penetrating Bomber Users: France Crew: Pilot, WSO Weight: 16000kg Armour: All faces 5 Armament: Mercure air to air Laser Gorget Point Defense System Internal Weapon Bay 2 Aero-28 AAM or
4 Aero-27 AAM
6 tonnes of
deployable ordnance Evasion: 18 Sensor Range: 500km (+4) Signature: +1 (-5 at half cruise speed) Max Speed: 5000 kph Cruising Speed: 2750 kph Combat Movement: 10000m Endurance: 5 Hours
Price: Lv
7,500,000
Mercure
Laser
The
Mercure is the primary direct fire weapon of the Simoom and optimised
purely for the air-to-air role – the Simoom is simply incapable
of low-level ground attack and so a strafing capability is
unnecessary. While some aircraft lasers are fitted with multiple
emitters or turrets the Mercure is a fixed mount weapon and
higher-power/lower-mass because of it. Type: 300-01 Laser Weapons System Country: France Weight: 100kg Length: N/A Action: Single shots Magazine: MHD power take-off from main engines ROF: 8 Aimed Fire Range: 10000m (25,000m above 25,000m altitude) DP Value: 7 Price: Lv62,000 Gorget laser PDS
Designed
to protect French aircraft from incoming missiles the Gorget is
typical of the breed using multiple steerable emitters to provide 360
by 360 degree coverage. Type: 100-01 Laser Weapons System Country: France Weight: 200kg Length: N/A Action: Single shots Magazine: MHD power take-off from main engines ROF: 10 Aimed Fire Range: 3,000m DP Value: 3
Price:
Lv50,000
Giscard
Aero-28
The
Aero-28 is not, despite its marque number, a replacement for the
Aero-27. In comparison with the Aero-27 the Aero-28 is a heavier,
longer ranged weapon with a significantly expanded engagement
envelope and better high-altitude terminal kinematics, making it the
weapon of choice on the Simoom and rarely seen on other French combat
aircraft. Type: Long Range Air-to-Air Missile Nation: France Launcher Weight: 750kg (sextuple rotary launcher) Missile Weight: 275kg Range: 600km (5 minutes to maximum range) Missile Speed: 7,200KpH Signature: 4 Guidance: Automatic, or Automatic following lock on Homing Value: 30 Attack Angle: Direct DP Value: EP20 Launcher Price: Lv 20000
Missile
Price: Lv 40000
Giscard-Optronique
Arbalette laser emitter
The
Arbalette laser emitter uses an explosively pumped-MHD power
generator firing from a cartridge mechanism. The entire weapon and
three power cartridges can barely be squeezed into the weapon bay of
the Simoom and must be extended from the bay for firing to clear both
the emitter head and the considerable exhaust efflux from the MHD.
Used in a zoom-climb in combination with the Simoom’s external
boosters the Arbalette is capable of engaging ships in low orbit as a
1x1 weapon. Used within the atmosphere it is a very lethal weapon for
the engagement of high value targets such as landers and C4ISTAR
assets. A version of the Arbalette with 10 cartridges is used in the
French Vedette series of orbital mines. Type: 1000-01 Laser Weapons System Country: France Weight: 700kg Length: N/A Action: Single shots Magazine: 3 500x750mm Explosive Pumped MHD Cartridges (50Kg, Lv1500 per shot) ROF: 8 Aimed Fire Range (atmospheric): 50,000m (100,000m above 25,000m altitude) Aimed Fire Range (orbital): 1 Star Cruiser Hex (must be above 25,000m) DP Value: 15 vs targets in atmosphere, as 1x1 laser versus exo-atmospheric targets
Price:
Lv250,000
Aero-26
Orbital Interdiction Weapon
A
single speck of dust with the wrong vector can cause considerable,
even catastrophic damage to a spacecraft. The Aero-26 Orbital
Interdiction Weapon is designed to face incoming landers or
spacecraft with the nightmarish scenario of thousands of oncoming
passive KE penetrators. Launched from the upper atmosphere the
Aero-26 makes a direct climb towards its target coordinates. On
reaching them the weapon is spun, the aerodynamic shroud is released
and the 2500 finger-sized tungsten penetrators dispensed into an
expanding cloud. Point defence systems can destroy or deflect a
certain number of penetrators and the passive nature of the weapon
along with the expanding cloud of penetrators means that most vessels
will be in danger from only a handful of penetrators, but each of
those penetrators is potentially lethal. Even if they miss the
penetrators will remain in the atmosphere for several days. In
general they are trackable and too low to be a danger to orbiting
starships or satellites, but they necessarily canalise the available
re-entry vectors, which can be of considerable use to the defender.
The
use of Orbital Interdiction Weapons and their potentially
indiscriminate attacks against civilian spacecraft or those of
uninvolved powers extending for several days after the initial
engagement is so controversial that no Aero-26 warshot had ever been
fired before the Kafer War. In fact the only trials of the warhead
had been carried out by the MSIF for Giscard in the atmosphere of an
undisclosed gas-giant somewhere on the French Arm. Type: Orbital Interdiction Weapon Nation: France Launcher Weight: 300kg Missile Weight: 3,500kg Missile Speed: c 36,000KpH at burn-out Signature: 12 (Star Cruiser: -1 Profile, all aspects) Range: N/A Guidance: Inertial Homing Value: N/A Attack Angle: Direct DP Value: Any lander entering the same planetary hexside at the time of launch will be engaged by 1D10 DP75 penetrators. Attacks against landers transitting the hexside over the next several days at GM discretion Launcher Price: Lv 7,500
Missile
Price: Lv 75,000
Hades
Nuclear-Pumped X-ray laser
The
Hades is in some ways similar to the Arbalette, but it is a
single-shot, considerably more powerful nuclear-pumped X-Ray weapon.
Powered as it is by a nuclear explosion the Hades is propelled clear
of its launch vehicle by a short-duration, high-impulse rocket motor.
Within ten seconds of launch the Hades has reached minimum safe
distance and the weapon detonates as a 5x3 laser. Hades is sized to
fit the weapons bay of the Simoom, although the weapon is also used
with a booster stage from the ASAT version of the VDSA air defence
vehicle. Type: Air-Launched Nuclear Pumped Laser Nation: France Launcher Weight: 300kg Missile Weight: 400kg Missile Speed: 5,400KpH (average, c11,000KpH at detonation) Signature: 10 Range: 1 Star Cruiser Hex (laser, missile range to detonation approx 15000m) Guidance: N/A Homing Value: N/A Attack Angle: N/A DP Value: As 5x3 Laser Launcher Price: Lv 75,000
Missile
Price: Lv 225,000
Pluton
Nuclear Armed Air Launched Cruise Missile
The
Pluton is a weapon of last resort and one with a considerable
political cost attached to its use. The post-Twilight world does not
consider the use of nuclear weapons within planetary biospheres to be
an acceptable option, but governments and militaries continue to
acknowledge the considerable utility of nuclear devices within a very
limited set of conditions. Pluton is primarily associated with the
strike aircraft of the Force de Frappe, such as the Vautour, and soon
the Simoom F, but it is also cleared for deployment from the fighter
variants of the Simoom. Pluton features a dial-a-yield physics
package capable of selecting an output of anywhere from 0.1 to 250
Kilotonnes. The physics package is contained within a long-ranged
cruise missile with considerable, and heavily classified, signature
reduction features. Both warhead yield and targeting are capable of
being updated in air via the weapon’s datalink, however the
nature of the warhead means that the datalink is locked to the launch
aircraft and incapable of being switched to different nodes of the
user’s battlespace network, as is common with most other
warheads. Type: Strategic Air-Launched Cruise Missile Nation: France Launcher Weight: 300kg Missile Weight: 2500kg Range: 6000km Cruise Speed: 1000KpH Signature: -7 Guidance: Inertial, with terminal target image matching Homing Value: 20 (versus fixed targets only) Attack Angle: Direct DP Value: Nuclear, 0.1 to 250Kt Launcher Price: Lv 3000
Missile
Price: Lv 325000
Martel
Kinetic Strike Weapon
The
Martel Kinetic Strike Weapon is a point-target interdiction weapon
capable of dealing with a considerable degree of target hardening.
Based on burrowing nuclear warhead designs the Martel is essentially
a solid slug of U238 that can penetrate a considerable amount of
earth and/or concrete, composites or other passive armouring
techniques while deriving its terminal weapon effects from KE
transfer and the pyrophoric nature of uranium dust. Fitted with
inertial guidance the Martel is designed for launch from high
altitude and high speed making the Simoom an ideal launch platform.
The nature of the weapon means that it has very limited use against
mobile targets although some mid-course guidance is possible,
allowing updates to the terminal homing imagery. Type: Air to Surface Kinetic Weapon Nation: France Launcher Weight: 400kg (Twin) Missile Weight: 2500kg Range: 1500km Cruise Speed: 15,000KpH Signature: 12 Guidance: Inertial, with terminal target image matching Homing Value: 15 (versus fixed targets only) Attack Angle: Direct DP Value: EP100 + pyrophoric effects (GM to resolve as appropriate to target) Launcher Price: Lv 3500 Missile Price: Lv 65,000
Major
Prakesh Singh, Punjabi Air Force
Pilots
with kills to their name are commoner on the Indian sub-continent
than almost anywhere else, the number of active border squabbles
changes almost daily and opportunities for air combat are
depressingly frequent. What makes Prakesh Singh’s kill
different to most is that he was the first pilot from any airforce to
claim a dogfight kill against the BoRT-23 Shkval, widely acclaimed as
the best fighter aircraft (as opposed to best interceptor) in the
world, and that he did it in the comparatively ungainly Simoom. The
engagement happened in May 2297, when a four-ship formation of Indian
Shkvals violated Punjabi airspace. The then Lieutenant Singh and his
wingman intercepted the flight and attempted to escort them back
across the border. Who fired first is a matter of dispute, but
hostilities opened at very close range. This should have favoured the
Indians, and indeed Lieutenant Singh’s wingman was shot down
and killed early in the engagement, but somehow Lieutenant Singh
managed to evade the Shkvals’ plasma fire and decoy or destroy
their missiles, and when a shot for his own laser offered itself he
took it. He used the opening his kill created to accelerate clear of
the fight and clear his Aero-28 envelope as further Punjabi aircraft
scrambled to his assistance. Faced with the lethal missiles and
incoming reinforcements the Indian pilots yielded the fight and
headed for the border at treetop height. Punjabi sources credit
Lieutenant Singh with a further aircraft damaged from his missile
fire, Indian sources refuse to acknowledge either the damaged
aircraft or the destroyed one, but the gun-camera shot of the BoRT
breaking up is hard to deny, as are the Indian roundels on the Shkval
canard proudly displayed over the bar of 1 (Fighter) Squadron’s
Officer’s Mess.
Major
Singh is married with three young children.
Colonel
Marie-France Tresoir, Armée de L’Air
France’s
youngest ace of the Central Asian War, Marie-France Tresoir was one
of the few French pilots able to take the Aquilon against Type 37
Felixes and win, although twice she only made it back to French lines
in the belly of a REDCO tiltrotor. By the end of the conflict she had
4 Felixes, 2 Adams and a Honcho to her name as confirmed kills (she
initially refused to register the Honcho kill, saying the ungainly
tiltrotor was too embarrassing to claim, but was ordered to by her
commanders who urgently needed a photogenic ace to prop up the shaky
morale at home). By the time of the War of German Reunification Major
Tresoir was commander of Escadron 3/10 Vexin flying the Faucon
fighter out of the Kourou spaceport in Guyana, but was able to
arrange her transfer to European France in time to participate in the
last three days of combat. In a stunning engagement over the Marne on
the final day of the war Major Tresoir and her wingman engaged and
destroyed seven out of eight An-84 Rottkappchen multi-role fighters.
Post-battle analysis showed that Major Tresoir had been responsible
for five of the kills, making her the only ace-in-a-day of the entire
conflict.
Largely
apolitical, Marie-France shunned the Junta of the Colonels and her
career languished somewhat, but when Nicholas Ruffin came to power he
made a point of pushing forward mediagenic officers who had been
uninvolved with the Junta and Marie-France landed perhaps the single
best position for a fighter pilot in the Armée de l’Air,
command of the legendary Normandie-Niemen fighter wing, the
unit where she had started her career. The invasion of Aurore by the
Kafers brought an end to any thoughts that the later years of her
career might be quieter than the earlier when the Escadre de Chasse
Normandie-Niemen was ordered to the French Arm in early 2300.
Marie-France took EC1/30 Normandie-Niemen to BCV4 while the
other escadrons of the escadre went to Aurore and Kimanjano. When the
Kafers reached Beta Canum, EC1/30 was a fully worked-up part of the
continental air defence network, but not even the best pilots in the
Armée de l’Air could stop the onslaught, the Simooms
with their need for long runways proving particularly susceptible to
being pinned on the ground by kinetic strikes on their airfields. In
amongst the terrible news from the French Arm the death of Colonel
Marie-France Tresoir in combat with Kafer Hotels was barely
noticeable, not even the news that she had made ace for the third
time and against a third opponent could grant her more than a
sideline in the newsfaxes. On the other hand, the news
post-Liberation that Colonel Tresoir had in fact survived a third
combat ejection and become a key figure in the Maquis was the kind of
story the news media loves.
With
Kimanjano and BCV back in human hands the rebuilding of the
Normandie-Niemen Escadre has begun, but Marie-France will not be part
of it. The cumulative damage of three ejections has taken its toll on
her spine and she has been grounded and shipped back to the Core for
reconstructive surgery. There is a considerable question as to
whether she will ever fly again, but as a colonel with considerable
seniority her flying career was inevitably drawing to a close.
Whatever the result of her physical rehabilitation her fame in France
is now such that her career in the Armée de l’Air is
unlikely to be over. Marie-France Tresoir is engaged in a long-term
relationship with an academic at the Sorbonne who remained in France
with their three children during her service on the French Arm.
Escadre
de Chasse 2 Cignones
Arguably
the most famous French fighter unit of all, the Cignones have
seen their rivals the Normandie-Niemen wing seize the glory in
recent years, mostly through fortuitous postings. During the CAW EC2
was in Nouvelle Provence with no Manchurian air threat to deal with,
the WoGR caught them in West Africa providing security to the
Beanstalk, and in the Kafer War they went down the French Arm, but
only as far as Beowulf, literally close enough to see the climactic
battle of the war without being able to participate. The Escadre is
the Armée de Libération’s designated reserve
interceptor Escadre and on two days notice to move up-arm, but the
lack of action is starting to tell on its pilots and training
accidents are becoming a worry. EC2 consists of EC 1/2 Cigogne de
Guynemer, EC 2/3 Cigogne de Fonck and EC 3/3 Cigogne,
each with 16 Simoom C5s (as part of the expansion of the Armée
de l’Air during the French Peace many former escadrille names
became attached to full escadrons)
Escadre
de Chasse 30 Normandie-Niemen
Perhaps
the most famous French fighter wing of recent years, Normandie-Niemen
had a considerable reputation to live up to, being originally formed
as a Free-French contribution to the Russian Front during WWII.
Expanded to a full wing during the French Peace the CAW was an
unpleasant awakening for the Escadre, the Manchu Type 37 Felix
proving a better all-round fighter than either the Aquilon or
Poignard. Nevertheless the superb training of the French pilots made
sure that the Manchurians didn’t have it all their own way and
several notable aces such as Marie-France Tresoir got their start
with the unit. Against the Germans Normandie-Niemen did even
better, the Aquilon clearly outclassing the German Fafnir at the high
altitudes where they duelled. Post-WoGR the Escadre re-equipped with
the considerably better Simoom and saw one of its own come back to
command it when Marie-France Tresoir took charge in 2299. When the Kafer War became a major threat the Escadre was shipped to the French Arm to augment the air defences with its squadrons scattered over three different planets. Ironically it was EC 2/30 on Aurore, the escadron facing the most immediate threat that faired best, racking up a slow but steady number of kills whenever Kafer fighters ventured into the air. The second Kafer assault of January 2302 saw the squadron claim a substantial number of lander kills in one day, but at the cost of 5 aircraft and 3 pilots, the highest single day losses of their campaign. With the Liberation the escadron is back at full strength and its commander has been designated to take over the full escadre as it rebuilds. On Kimanjano and Beta Canum the story was less pleasant. EC 3/30 on Kimanjano was knocked out of action by late on the first day of the assault when the last Simoom capable runway was destroyed. Four pilots of the escadron and a number of ground crew were rescued by Operation Entente and after being temporarily assigned to EC2 on Beowulf for the duration of the campaign are now providing the cadre to rebuild EC 3/30. EC 1/30 on Beta Canum took the full force of the Kafer onslaught on that world. With more alternate runways to work with they lasted longer than their comrades on Kimanjano, using everything from the Hades det-laser to the comparatively run-of-the-mill Aero-28, and every Aero-26 Orbital Interdiction Weapon on the planet, something which was still causing casualties among Kafer landers for days after the French forces had surrendered. Inevitably casualties in air-to-air combat took their toll and the squadron never recovered from the loss of Colonel Tresoir on day eight of the invasion. Many of the ground crew and some pilots surrendered with the rest of the French forces, but two pilots took their aircraft to New Africa to continue the fight as part of the Escadre de Chasse ‘BC Libre’, where they were eventually joined by a number of ground crew who had made their way out of the Continente Française by various means. The Simoom proved too specialised for the continuing fight on New Africa and the two aircraft were primarily used as ground C4I nodes, the pilots seeing out the campaign flying the simpler, less specialised Pelerins. The Liberation has seen new equipment and pilots flowing into the EC ‘BC Libre’ and EC 1/30 has been brought up to strength as a Crecerelle squadron. The news that Colonel Tresoir had in fact survived her ejection over one of the most remote areas of the Continente Française brought a considerable boost to Escadre morale, but the return of former prisoners to the unit is causing considerable tension between them and personnel who chose to continue the fight, whether they did it from New Africa or as part of the Maquis. There is evidence that La Comite Treize has gained a foothold in the unit and Colonel Tresoir’s medical evacuation could not have come at a worse time. For the moment EC 1/30 remains subordinated to the Escadre de Chasse ‘BC-Libre’ under operational control of the Armée de Libération. 18/08/05 Copyright 2005, David Gillon |