Nagorno-Karabakh! A real CMBS possibility?

[John Kettler]

There I was reading Yahoo, when I came across this trenchant piece called "A Close Call in the Caucasus," which appears on The National Interest website. In brief, it says there was almost a war in Nagorno-Karabakh recently (early April) and that things could still easily go sideways. It seems to me this is an area ripe for CMBS Red on Red gameplay. This is super current, since the article is from April 22, 2016! I have no idea what either side has, this piece being but a target of opportunity I encountered.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/close-call-the-caucasus-15877

Regards,

John Kettler

[Kinophile]

This has been all over BBC, Euronews, even CNN when it was occurring.

That's a large boulder you're living under!

[John Kettler]

kinophile,

At times, more like a sedimentary rock layer--too much going on and not enough me!

Regards,

John Kettler

 

 

 

[LUCASWILLEN05]

Combat Mission Flame in the Caucasus? According to the link John provided a conflict in that region could drag in Russia and Turkey (Turkey being a NATO member creates the possibility of dragging in the rest of NATO under certain circumstances.

CMFIC might be produced as an expansion to CMBS albeit as a slightly different scenario from the original using some of the same forces. Great for those who want Turkish forces in the mix.

Speaking of possibilities the 2008 Georgia War (or a future repeat) could generate a few scenarios)

[Ivanov]

It was a short and sharp mini war. Armenians lost few T-72's to the Azeri Spike ATGMs. They are also top attack, with a greater range than the Javelins:
 

The Azeris were also using the Israeli made "suicide drones":
 

 

[Kinophile]

Considering how many kornets and the like have ended up in Hezbollah hands,  a few crates of Spikes in Ukrainian mech Inf formations would be an interesting development.... 

[Abbasid111]

The Spike is a tripod based ATGM system, not shoulder fired like a korsar or javelin. It comes in several variants: a short range version, range about 1500m; a medium range version, range 2500m; a long range version (also known as 'Gil'), range about 4-4.4k. Only the MR and LR versions are top attack capable. The Azeris have 100 of the LR version.

[Ivanov]

19 minutes ago, Abbasid111 said:

The Spike is a tripod based ATGM system, not shoulder fired like a korsar or javelin.

It can be also launched without the tripod:


 

[John Kettler]

Ivanov,

I'd not heard of Harop before this, though the concept or even implementation of a loitering ARM is familiar to me. The Stealth aspect shows the Israelis have done their homework on getting through SAM defenses in one piece. What's unclear, though, is whether or not a Tunguska or Pantsir can deal with it in reduced visibility, bad WX or night. I love the design! Looks like an X-Wing, a B-70, an SR-71 and a Klingon battle cruiser mated but somehow had a child which, though adorable, was never very fast. The Wiki for it says it homes on radio emissions, but this is bad writing, since it's later clear this thing is a radar killer in autonomous mode. Also, it has day/night capability via FLIR.

As for Spike, I remember reading the early intel assessments during the Cold War and thought the idea of an inertially guided ATGM was very clever, since it did away altogether with wires and the more seldom seen radio links, yet gave an otherwise unguided weapon a considerable range advantage over such weapons as the RPG-7. The Armenians made very nice tank positions, but their camouflage is nil. Raw earth visible from space via high contrast, with no help from camouflage nets, either.

Most interesting material. Many thanks!

Regards,

John Kettler 

Edited May 17, 2016 by John Kettler

[Kinophile]

21 hours ago, Ivanov said:

It was a short and sharp mini war. Armenians lost few T-72's to the Azeri Spike ATGMs. They are also top attack, with a greater range than the Javelins:
 

The Azeris were also using the Israeli made "suicide drones":
 

Ill always remember remember an Irish infantryman's opinion about tanks - in one you're just a really large and attractive oven on tracks.. 

 

 

[BTR]

Here's something:

https://www.scribd.com/doc/312855400/Decisive-Action-Training-Enviornment-Version-2-2

[John Kettler]

BTR,

Thanks for this. Never encountered the term before, but now I can never think of the social outing with a potential mate or the fruit of the palm tree the same way again!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Erwin]

Interesting.  When I was in "the biz" I played Col Lunsford's "Decisive Action" game.  I wonder if this is the latest version.

[John Kettler]

Nagorno-Karabakh is back in the news again. Russia's arming both sides with very nasty toys. And that's not the half of it! Would provide a link, but once again, FF's Paste function quit. The site is The National Interest, and the title is "The Arms Race from Hell (And Russia's Adding Fuel to the Fire). Since I'm not swearing, I hope this is deemed okay by the Mods.

Regards,

John Kettler