Airlifting Operations

[Paper Tiger]

Okay, I confess, I don't know how this is done in real life. I'm working on something at the moment where an IBCT formation is airlifted by helicopter into a small village on the east side of a river as part of a larger operation to secure a vital road bridge. So I'd like to ask the following questions.

First, would an entire company be airlifted in at once or would it be more realistic to have two, or even one, platoons come in first and the rest follow a few minutes later?

Second, would the heavier equipment be airlifted in. I imagine that a Humvee would fit quite snuggly under a helicopter carrier but would an entire company's support vehicles be transportable in one go?

Third, their intended LZ is only about 1 klick NW of their main objective. Is that a wee bit too close or would they land even closer? Since the expected (and actual) Opfor is Uncon I'm making the assumption that these units would not possess a lot of effective AAA assets.

There's not much point in recommending good books on the subject to me as I live in Indonesia and it's very hard to find any books in English here, let alone specialised ones. Yup, I know I can order them from Amazon but that can take up to 2 months to arrive and I can't wait that long. And since I have online access to a bunch of military professionals, why not ask you guys?

[slug88]

I'm no expert on the matter, but I don't think it's a stretch for any sizable unconventional force to be equipped with man portable anti aircraft missiles. Therefore, I think it might be more realistic if the LZ was at least a few kilometers away from the known enemy position.

[gibsonm]

Third, their intended LZ is only about 1 klick NW of their main objective. Is that a wee bit too close or would they land even closer? Since the expected (and actual) Opfor is Uncon I'm making the assumption that these units would not possess a lot of effective AAA assets.

Mate,

I'm afraid you've made a bit of a rod for your own back here.

By arguing for what you have "elsewhere" you've given them access to "effective AAA" as far as heliborne assets (esp. heavy kit slung under Chinook or other large helos are concerned).

Also using the same logic as used in the discussion "elsewhere", I'd suspect that if they have access to some "stuff" they may well have access to other "stuff" that makes the AAA umbrella much bigger.

Of course as the designer you can just leave them out and there's also the fact that your scenario can't depict the actual insertion (so the "start state" is really H+? after the first elements have been inserted).

So you'd need to factor in some sort of casualty rate for helo's that broke down en route (had to return to base or divert), got lost, were shot down / damaged, etc. and apply that to whatever you put on the ground.

Similarly you'd need to apply a similar factor to subsequent lifts (if required).

Depending on who is doing the lift (US or UK / NATO) you could probably safely assume that the US would have enough organic helo's for the lift and indeed if UK / NATO they could probably "borrow" enough helo assets for it.

The other way to mitigate the impact of Syrian AAA would be to select a site where the LZ was screened from the likely sites by terrain and so have them "on map" to bolster the Syrian defence (but if you want to land within 1,000m that's probably going to be hard).

Normally the fighting elements would be inserted first, with support elements in a subsequent lift (esp. if heavy helo lift was needed) but if you had a special need for some kit (think of the Recce jeeps at Arnhem) you could probably justify them turning up with the first insertion.

Of course a Chinook with something dangling under it is going to attract a lot more "attention" than a vanilla Blackhawk / Puma.

[Edit] Edited to remove some text that shouldn't be here (thought for a moment that this was the Beta Forum). Full original text sent as Private Message.

[theFightingSeabee]

I can't speak for the Army Air Cav or similar units, but I have some experience.

I believe that my experience will mostly pertain to any other US air-mobile unit, but may not be entirely accurate due to operational differences between the branches.

I was a part of 'Air Det' in my Seabee battalion. This was a small group of hard chargers , with specialties in all areas. Basically a mini battalion the size of a small company.

Since our entire battalion was air-mobile, we used Air Det as the initial force under most circumstances. We would be flown in, generally by C-130's, and unload and secure the area, if not already secured by the Marines. Helicopters could bring in much of the equipment, but only if there were no dirt strips for the C-130's. Not to mention we also used heavy equipment like bulldozers and trucks. I think just about any unit would operate in a similar fashion. Rather than flying in dozens of helicopters, I would expect that they bring in the initial wave and reinforce as they go. Something to consider is that equipment airlifted in with helicopters may not be ready to jump in and start fighting. There may be some prep work involved, so don't have choppers drop off battle ready tanks. They will also be carrying supplies, ammo, food, water, tools, etc. So some type of staging area will be necessary. Seabee vehicles driving right off a C-130 will be almost immediately ready to rock.

For the question about the distances away, that all depends. 1km is not very far. Many machine guns have a greater range than that, so that may be a consideration. But, if the tactical situation requires the force to land in the thick of it all or the element of surprise is key, then enemy fire be damned! Still, vehicle delivery would occur in the safest area possible.

I hope that helps with your design.

Oh... and glad to see you back PT!

[Paper Tiger]

Well, this has all been very helpful, thank you. I was a wee bit worried that it was the practice to fly your boys right into the thick of things with some attack helos equipped for ground support providing devastating cover fire. Very gung ho, very Hollywood and probably very exciting too. (A 'two pairs of underpants' mission) I could do this too but it might be a bit hard on the BLUE side.

As I understand it, it sounds reasonable that the LZ would be as far from suspected enemy positions as possible. The infantry would go in first and then some support vehicles would follow on in the second wave once the LZ had been secured.

Therefore, my scenario could feature two infantry platoons starting on the board edge moving from a LZ located somewhere offboard. The third platoon and Humvees (or Jackals etc, if British) would arrive perhaps about 20 minutes later. That's what I wanted.

[gibsonm]

As I understand it, it sounds reasonable that the LZ would be as far from suspected enemy positions as possible.

Yes.

You need to balance closeness to Objective (which = speed and surprise) against well protected LZ's (which = safety / force preservation).

So if you need surprise, and you are willing to accept casualties because its so important, land on top of it (e.g Pegasus Bridge or Fort Eben-Emael). If you are concerned about security of LZ's (because you have subsequent waves) or potential enemy Air Defence assets then land further away and sacrifice the speed and surprise (e.g. 1st Airborne Div at Arnhem).

To a certain extent, gliders in the Second World War had similar planning considerations to helicopters now.

[LUCASWILLEN05]

There has been at least one airmobile assualt in Afghanistan at a place called Aghlegh undertaken by elements of the Royla Anglians made on 11 July 2007. This was an attempt to capture some Taliban bomb making teamsthought to be in the village. The LZ was within a couple of hundred meters of the compound, probably because little opposition was expected and perhaps becuae the best landing site was there, As events turned out there was no opposition. See Attack State Red p248 - 265.

It would be nice to have the helicopters in game but whether this is practical or not for the program is another matter.

[Blackcat]

There has been at least one airmobile assualt in Afghanistan at a place called Aghlegh undertaken by elements of the Royla Anglians made on 11 July 2007. This was an attempt to capture some Taliban bomb making teamsthought to be in the village. The LZ was within a couple of hundred meters of the compound, probably because little opposition was expected and perhaps becuae the best landing site was there, As events turned out there was no opposition. See Attack State Red p248 - 265.

That mission also featured in Apache Dawn where it was written up from the perspective of the Apache pilots providing CAS. Interesting to compare the two accounts of the same events.

[YankeeDog]

From a realism standpoint, I think you're making the right choice by having the LZ be more than 1km from the objective, and just having the Blue attacking forces start on a map edge. My understanding is that this is the most likely way an airmobile assault would unfold today. A "hot" insertion on, or very close to the objective is not impossible and, as noted, it is still done occasionally. But this type of assault has largely fallen out of favor in US military doctrine, except in special circumstances. Indeed, I would argue that hot insertions were never really doctrine, but that it was considered more acceptable to risk a hot LZ in the Vietnam era, when guided man-portable AA assets were rare.

More modern MANPADS systems like the Igla have a range of 5+ km, and are highly effective against a low, slow, heavily loaded transport helicopter. And Iglas are pretty ubiquitous -- many second world militaries are known to have them (including Syria), as well as several terrorist/guerrilla organizations. So the LZ needs to be far away from the nearest enemy indeed if distance is the only safety.

As noted, though, terrain such as a ridgeline can provide a low-altitude covered insertion route. And other factors like weather (low cloud cover) and/or nighttime insertion can also help -- the US military has gotten very good at silencing enemy radar, so even well-equipped Red forces are going to have to fall back on other means to spot approaching aircraft.

So the LZ needn't necessarily be 5+ km away from the objective to be fairly safe. But 1km seems unlikely to me.

Finally, you might want to consider that the insertion of the main attack force would usually not be the first "boots on ground" in an airmobile assault. In addition to aerial and satellite recon, one or more recon teams (likely SF) would precede the main body whenever possible, sometimes by a day or more, to watch the LZ and the area around it. It's also likely a small recon unit would be inserted closer to the objective ahead of the main body, to watch the approach route and observe enemy activity. Since these units probably would not participate in the main fight, you needn't necessarily include them in the scenario. But if you wanted to include a sniper or FO team closer to the objective at scenario start, this would not be unrealistic. And you might want to consider the intelligence these teams would offer the Blue commander when writing the scenario briefing.

[Imperial Grunt]

All good advice. I would add that I believe that an IBCT has an aviation battalion, which has some Apaches and Blackhawks. I believe that there is enough lift for one rifle company, minus vehicles. HMMWVs would have to be sling loaded using CH-47s.

For a MEU, there is enough lift for one rifle company, as long as the CH-53Es are not carrying heavy equipment. They can sling load HMMWVs the same way CH-47s can. A Marine regiment as part of a MEB would have the enough aviation support to lift a battalion.

When 8th Marines attacked into Helmand this summer, the lead battalions went in by helicopter, the largest helicopter assault the Marine Corps has done since Vietnam. It was done at night and it took the Taliban by surprise. One day all is fine, the next morning there is a regiment of US Marines hunting you!

[JohnO]

Paper Tiger, if you want, I have the FM 90-4 Air Assault Operations and it will tell you how, where, and with what to move a rifle company, I can send it to you by private email. It will answer most if not all of your questions.

If your scenario is dealling with the 101st AASLT, then it will be from Combat Aviation Brigade (Medium), Assalt Battalion, which has 10xUH-60s in a company and the CH-47s will be coming from the General Support Aviation Battalion which has 10xCH-47s in a company.

Paper Tiger if you have more questions feel free to email me.

[tyrspawn]

Finally, you might want to consider that the insertion of the main attack force would usually not be the first "boots on ground" in an airmobile assault. In addition to aerial and satellite recon, one or more recon teams (likely SF) would precede the main body whenever possible, sometimes by a day or more, to watch the LZ and the area around it. It's also likely a small recon unit would be inserted closer to the objective ahead of the main body, to watch the approach route and observe enemy activity. Since these units probably would not participate in the main fight, you needn't necessarily include them in the scenario. But if you wanted to include a sniper or FO team closer to the objective at scenario start, this would not be unrealistic. And you might want to consider the intelligence these teams would offer the Blue commander when writing the scenario briefing.

This is a good point.... these are called "pathfinders" in the US/UK military. They are ALWAYS inserted for major operations, they are like forward observers except they call in air drops, not artillery. They are trained to be SF badasses like the SEALS or SAS as well. They were first used in WW 2 to call in safe drop zones preceding the Normandy Invasion. The pathfinding aspect of the assualt could happen off map during the briefing, although I think you could make a preceding scenario for full realism.

[meade95]

Finally, you might want to consider that the insertion of the main attack force would usually not be the first "boots on ground" in an airmobile assault. In addition to aerial and satellite recon, one or more recon teams (likely SF) would precede the main body whenever possible, sometimes by a day or more, to watch the LZ and the area around it. It's also likely a small recon unit would be inserted closer to the objective ahead of the main body, to watch the approach route and observe enemy activity. Since these units probably would not participate in the main fight, you needn't necessarily include them in the scenario. But if you wanted to include a sniper or FO team closer to the objective at scenario start, this would not be unrealistic. And you might want to consider the intelligence these teams would offer the Blue commander when writing the scenario briefing.

+1 - I routinely do such with scenario's I create - Put/place a small SOF component into some "hide" place under the concept that such a unit would likely have infiltrated to such a place prior to a larger operation taking place.

[SD Smack]

Hey PT

No doubt 90-4 is full of great information as are the post that has been already submitted. I can answer some of your questions.

....would an entire company be airlifted in at once or....

Absolutely. Within the realm of CMSF an IBCT company has 129 soldiers minus the assault platoon. This would require 4 CH-47s or 12 UH-60s. Of course this all depends on the assets that are available. As stated by JohnO the assault battalion would have 3 companies of H-60s and the GSAB would have a company of H-47s.

In your scenario if you choose to give the ground commander blackhawks I would not give him the entire company on the ground at the start of the mission. Instead break you could break the lifts down into 3 serials of 4, there by landing basically one platoon per left. And have reinforcements coming in every 5 minutes. This is a bit unrealistic but given the editor limitations it’s as close as you can get without imposing "honor" rules on the player.

If you give the commander H-47s then you could put the entire force down in one lift.

Vehicles would most likely come a bit later after the LZ is a bit more secure. And given the fact that they are 1114 based vehicles they have to be lifted by 47s. Not really important in the game but I think would be important in the briefing.

Second, would the heavier equipment be airlifted in. I imagine that a Humvee would fit quite snuggly under a helicopter carrier but would an entire company's support vehicles be transportable in one go?

This is based on the ground commander's need for the vehicles. If he requires them, then they can be airlifted in. Being the uparmored versions these will have to be moved by Chinooks.

Third, their intended LZ is only about 1 klick NW of their main objective.

As for being too close or too far all depends on the threat. I agree with most of those who posted before that it does seem close. Since you are the scenario designer you can place the LZ as close or as far as you see fit based on the threat. Although the pixel truppen would sure appreciate it as close as possible. UNCONs may or may not possess AAA or manpads. The simple fact is that manpads are everywhere and if the UNCONs have any affiliation with the military they have a higher probability of having some kind of manpad or heavy machine gun. They will most definitely have RPGs which are very dangerous. So in all honesty even with suppressive fires and AH support the LZ will more likely be farther away than closer.

I hope this answers some of your questions that you have.

Steve-o

[Paper Tiger]

Once again thanks for all the helpful responses. This has been very inspiring.