SU27 STRiKER by Front and D. Allen Smith Copyright © 1997 STRiKE Software 7 August 1997 1 - INTRODUCTION "Yuri Gremencho, Max Kaganov, and I reached Baghdad in the back of an old truck in the early hours of a cloudy January morning... twelve hours later we were at Al Basrah Air Base inspecting the SU-27s, and two days after that we went to war. Max had been there before as director of a "pilot exchange program," training IQAF pilots on the Mig-21/F-7 conversions which the IQAF had purchased. Unhappy to be here again he nevertheless cheered up when ordered to... Yuri was a veteran of the Afghanistan, flew the SU-25 for a while before an "Stinger" put him out of action. He converted to the "fast burners" so it would not happen again... When we arrived in Iraq I felt a little uneasy. The youngest of our group, I knew that we were about to fight the most efficient military machine in the world. Though we were there as "advisors" we knew that we would see combat, "advisor" was a diplomatic lie. We did not know it, but we were about to be betrayed back home. One day we would be told we could only have fifty flight hours a year, and be expected to work for pennies. We would watch our squadrons fall apart and, of course, do nothing about it. The Soviet Union would be exchanged for a Commonwealth, with the same people wearing the same faces and bringing the same corruption. Yet on that January morning we were sure of ourselves, there could be no room for self-doubt in the mind of a fighter-pilot. We would be brave, we would be strong, we would be supported, we would be conquering heroes,... we would be so wrong. The IQAF disintegrated over the space of a few weeks and finally just myself, Yuri, and Max would be the only ones who dared take to the skies. Short on missiles, and fuel, maintenance, and sometimes luck, with the Allies everywhere we flew, we somehow managed to survive. They came to know us, the Allied pilots... so confident they were, so righteous in their beliefs. In time we could not afford the luxury of "belief," we could not afford anything, in the end we had only ourselves to save. "Ex-Soviet Mercenary Pilots" the Allies began to call us. The Kremlin denied categorically that we had ever been in the combat, preferring to dither about diplomacy and talks, already a spent force they did not even have the respect to acknowledge our true achievements. Yuri was still "attached" to the official military at the time. Max and I were "just civilian advisors." The history of human conflict is full of our stories, and this is a special one. The story of the last of the Soviet Air Force fight with the West, the story that needs to be told and remembered, the story that you are about to fly." SU27 STRiKER is "F/A-18 Hornet 3.0" like you have never flown before. You now fly for the IQAF in the skies above Desert Storm. You take the place of a "Soviet Mercenary", and the controls of the SU-27 Flanker-B. Low on missiles and allies, low on friends and ammunition you are the only ones that dare to challenge the "Thunder and Lightning" of the Allied air-strikes, accepting battle with an enemy known as the "F/A-18 Hornet." 6 new Training missions help you to get to grips with the Flanker-B. Take on two Vipers under strict rules of engagement (first pass is cold) to practice 1 vs. 2 ACM tactics, learn the advantages of the Flanker against the guns of the Hornet, and practice "missile avoidance techniques" as you go up against elite SAM sites, HARMs will lose lock... The 28 Kuwait missions are altered to put you in the battle from the IQAF's point of view, the Hornets will be everywhere, so will the F-117s, the Buffs, and Hogs, and the Vipers... Allied SAM sites will "loom up" out of the haze, nowhere will be safe, your bases will be attacked when you least expect it. The IQAF Migs will hardly show their faces and if they do, be wary of "friendly fire." Your Flanker does not turn as well as the Hornet, your mission targets will be further spread out, you will ambushed and "faked out" by diversionary attacks, the Hornets will never miss if they lock you up and you had better get within two miles of them before using heat seekers. You are now the interceptor. These missions are primarily "Air-To-Air." You can still "haul some iron" which may come in handy to silence an Allied heavy caliber gun emplacement or an Allied SAM site. BVR missile shots will not work too well, most of the time, against the Hornets... you will have to get in close and "mix it up" with them. The 6 Network missions have not changed. You still fly the Hornet as part of Red or Blue Force. We did not change the planes in these missions as it would have brought great confusion to the "Net-play" aspect. Contact us for more information. Lastly, but not leastly, we thank Graphic Simulations Corporation for allowing us to release our mission sets. Without their hard work in their "F/A-18 Hornet" project we would not have had this excellent flight/combat simulator. A special thank-you goes out to GSCEric and GSCGabe for their support. If you have any questions please mail us at strike@kagi.com, and keep an eye on our Website for more information: http://www.umich.edu/~dimensio/strike/