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Operation Sierra Hotel - Team vs Team


KingKenny04

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Operation Sierra Hotel



The last two flights of the F-4 weapons school were called GAT 5 and 6. Graduates consistently recall those missions as the most challenging they ever flew outside actual combat.

-C.R. Anderegg, Sierra Hotel: Flying Air Force Fighters in the Decade after Vietnam

 

ITGCVO5.jpg

Please see the third post for the current status of this mission.









What is this?

Operation Sierra Hotel is a multiplayer team vs. team competition for DCS World that seeks to explore authentic mission design and encourage the use of real world planning, tactics, and doctrines in the competitive multiplayer environment.



Competition Format

The mission is inspired by the infamous GAT 5 and 6 missions of the USAF Fighter Weapons School, together known as the “World’s Most Demanding Peacetime Mission”. A team of eight human-piloted aircraft on the blue team must fight their way into a target area, strike several ground targets while defending their strike package from air and SAM threats, then make it home alive. Blue's score is based on ground targets struck and enemy aircraft destroyed.



Opposing them are six human-piloted red aircraft, with one respawn apiece, and a Skynet-operated IADS network covering the target area. Red must do everything possible to reduce Blue's score by destroying Blue aircraft and preventing Blue from hitting their ground targets. Red does not accumulate score, their only job is to reduce Blue's score.

 

In a single "round" of the tournament, the mission will be run twice. One team will occupy Blue and the other will occupy Red. After the first mission is complete, the teams will swap sides and run the mission again. After both missions have been run, the team with the higher Blue score will be declared the winner.



Scoring

Points will be awarded to Blue as follows:

 

Primary Ground Target - 3 points

Secondary Static Target - 2 points

Ground Vehicle - 1 point

Enemy human-controlled aircraft - 1 point

 

Note: SAM Radars and Launchers do not count for score. Destroying them yields no points. This includes MANPADs.



Blue will have points subtracted from their score for the following:

 

Losing an aircraft to enemy fire - 2 points

CFIT or "manuevering kill" - 2 points

 

In the event of a tie, the following tiebreakers will be used (in order):

1. Number of Primary ground targets destroyed

2. Total number of ground targets destroyed (excluding SAM launchers and radars)

3. Total enemy human-piloted aircraft destroyed

4. Total number of surviving blue aircraft

 

Note: Destroying the AI AWACS or AWACS Escorts will not count for score, however it is not against the rules, either.



Primary Target Condition: Blue must make a legitimate attempt to destroy at least one of the primary ground targets. A "legitimate attempt" means specifically targeting one of those structures with a weapon capable of causing significant damage to it. A quick strafing run with guns does not count. Lobbing a dumb bomb randomly into the target area does not count. Hitting the edge of a building with a few stray munitions at the outside edge of the area of a cluster munition does not count.

 

Failure to satisfy this condition will result in Blue's positive score being reduced to zero for the entire mission. This means that the maximum score Blue can accumulate is zero. Negative score is possible as Red can still subtract score by destroying Blue aircraft.

 

Aircraft and Weapons Restrictions

There are no restrictions on aircraft types or numbers that may be flown by either Red or Blue, up to the maximum of 8 for Blue and 6 for Red. Teams may fly different compositions for Blue and Red.

 

The following weapons are banned:

-AIM-9X

-AGM-154 JSOW

-AGM-158 JASSM

-AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER

 

Teams must declare aircraft types they intend to fly no later than 120 hours (5 days) prior to the start date/time of the competition. Only types must be declared, numbers of aircraft and weapons carried may remain secret. Additionally, Red must declare which aircraft types will fly out of which of the two bases available for spawning. The purpose of aircraft declarations is to simulate intelligence gathered prior to the mission and facilitate mission planning for both sides. You may have separate declarations for both your Red and Blue compositions; you do not need to fly the same aircraft on both Red and Blue! Declarations should be private messaged to KingKenny04 before the deadline. Declarations for each team's Red and Blue sides will be posted to the third post in this thread no later than an hour after the deadline.



JESTER is banned, human RIOs only!

 

Airfields, Spawns, Respawns, and RTBs

There are no limits or restrictions on when aircraft must spawn and take off.

 

Blue may spawn up to 8 aircraft. Blue has no respawns. Blue may not rearm or refuel.



Red may spawn up to 6 aircraft at any time. Red has six (6) respawns. An aircraft may respawn once one of the six currently spawned aircraft has been destroyed or has executed a successful RTB. Respawn aircraft must be of a declared type for the airfield that the aircraft is respawning at. Red may land at a designated airfield and rearm/refuel without expending a respawn, as long as the aircraft itself then takes off again without despawning.



A "successful" or "proper" RTB is defined as follows: The aircraft makes a controlled landing at a designated airfield, taxis off the runway onto a taxiway, comes to a complete stop, then despawns by reslotting. Despawning in the air without catastrophic/uncontrollable damage is considered an improper RTB.



Primary airfields will provide rearming and refueling (Red only) and are available for proper RTB. Divert airfields will be available for proper RTB only.

 

Blue

 

  • Senaki-Kolkhi (Primary)
  • Kutaisi (Divert)
  • Vaziani (Divert)



Red

 

  • Mozdok (Primary)
  • Sochi-Adler (Primary)
  • Beslan (Divert)
  • Nalchik (Divert)



Penalties

The following penalties apply to Blue and will subtract from Blue's score:

 

  • Spawning more than 8 aircraft: 2 points per aircraft over the limit
  • Spawning an undeclared aircraft type/not spawning a declared aircraft type: 2 points per offending aircraft
  • Using JESTER: 1 point per offending aircraft
  • Improper RTB: 1 point per offending aircraft



The following penalties apply to Red and will add to Blue's score:

 

  • Spawning more than 6 aircraft at any one time: 2 points per aircraft over the limit
  • Spawning an undeclared aircraft type/not spawning a declared aircraft type: 2 points per offending aircraft

  • Using JESTER: 1 point per offending aircraft
  • Improper RTB: 1 point per offending aircraft



Mission Planning and Communications

A modified .miz based on this mission is provided in the second post of this thread (WIP). Teams may use this .miz to pre-plan radio frequencies, aircraft waypoints, and weapons loadouts. The modified .miz files may then be returned to the competition organizer so that your individual waypoints, frequencies, and loadouts can be incorporated into the main mission file and be ready in the aircraft when you spawn in.

 

Teams may elect to use either SimpleRadio or Teamspeak, both of which will be provided by competition organizers. Teams must use either of the two provided methods of communication to prevent stream cheating.



Q&A

 

  • Why is it 8v6? Why not 8v8?



As originally described in Sierra Hotel, Red actually outnumbered the students by quite a lot during GAT 5 and 6. In the original Fighter Weapons School, Red would restrict themselves to Soviet tactics and formations, and would engage from realistic dispositions i.e. CAP, alert fighters, airspace restrictions, etc. In this competition Red will have no such restrictions. They are free to launch whenever they want and fly wherever and however they want. Because of this, having 8+ Red aircraft configured purely for air-to-air against a maximum of 8 blue aircraft that are mixed between Escort, SEAD, and Strike configurations would present a nearly impossible obstacle for Blue to overcome. Remember: Red does not win by beating Blue, they are merely trying to reduce Blue's score. Teams win by having a higher Blue score, thus the "balance" in this competition comes from the fact that both teams will have the same opportunity to fly both Red and Blue sides.

 

  • What's up with the "Primary Target Condition"? Why is this a requirement for Blue to score?



The purpose of this mission setup is to encourage real world mission planning, doctrine, and tactics. In the real world, pilots do not get to choose their own missions on-the-fly. We want to prevent a situation where Blue ignores the target area completely and simply launches 8 F-15s to go airquake. By presenting the "Primary Target Condition", we provide a clear, measurable condition for what is considered a "legitimate" strike attempt.

 

  • Why don't SAMs count for score?



Like the primary target condition, we want Blue focused on the "strike" aspect of the package. In real missions, SEAD is a vital part of protecting a strike package. However, destroying SAMs is not necessarily a requirement for SEAD. SEAD needs only to protect the rest of the package from the SAM threat in order to succeed. We want to give Blue more options for dealing with SAMs than just simply destroying them. If SAMs awarded points, Blue would have far more incentive to destroy them rather than trying to "manage" them like a real strike package would.


Edited by KingKenny04
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Blue Mission Brief



oLHIYRq.png

Situation



48 hours ago, the Democratic Republic of Red declared their intention to invade the Republic of Green. The DRR's 58th Army based at Vladikavkaz near the border is currently mobilizing to transport and deploy their forces along the border in preparation for an invasion of the RoG. Units are currently in transit to and marshaling at the Beslan train station in preparation for transport to assembly areas along the border. The International Blue Coalition have declared their intention to halt this invasion and protect the sovereignty of the RoG.



Mission

IBC aircraft based at Senaki-Kolkhi Airbase will strike the DRR 58th Army Headquarters located at Vladikavkaz Army Base. Primary targets include:

 

  1. 58th Army Headquarters Buildings (x2)
  2. 19th Motor Rifle Division Headquarters (x1)
  3. Base Ammunition Storage (x2)
  4. Base Fuel Storage (x4)



Secondary targets include:

 

  1. Other base buildings
  2. Vehicles in and around Vladikavkaz Army Base
  3. Vehicles marshaling near the Beslan Train Station



Threats

Two (2) SA-10 batteries of the DRR PVO's 1536th Missile Defense Regiment have been deployed to the area. One battery (the "Northern Battery") is located at Mozdok Airbase. The "Southern Battery" is deployed approximately 3 miles NNW of Vladikavkaz Army Base and is responsible for area defense around Vladikavkaz and Beslan.

 

A P-19 Search Radar located approximately 9 miles northwest of Vladikavkaz Army Base is providing early warning coverage for the area.



Satellite intelligence from approximately 20 hours ago identified one SA-8 platoon of 4 launch vehicles, one SA-13 platoon of 4 launch vehicles, and 2 ZSU-23 Shilka AAA vehicles staging for transit to the Beslan train station. SIGINT and ELINT from this morning suggests that these assets are now deployed in the immediate area of the Beslan train station, however their exact locations and dispositions are unknown. Expect them to be active and defending the Beslan train station.

 

The base itself is expected to be defended by SA-7 MANPADs and ZU-23 AAA emplacements.

 

Fighters from Mozdok and Sochi-Adler are expected to attempt to intercept and destroy your package.

 

Targets and Satellite Imagery

Primary Targets

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Secondary Targets

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SAM Targets

xBUotTs.png

 

 

SAM Coverage

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Vladikavkaz Army Base

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Base Mainside

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Base Northwest

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Base Northeast

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Base Southwest

HuHxHGq.png

 

 

Ammo Dump

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Sierra Hotel Target List.zip

Sierra_Hotel_PrePlan.miz


Edited by KingKenny04
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Hi everyone! Thank you for taking the time to look over my competition. This is still very much a work in progress that I'd like to test. Currently there is no set start date. What I'd like to do first before officially scheduling and organizing a competition is to do a few test runs. Call them "exhibition matches".

 

I'm looking for a couple of groups of pilots who are interested in running the mission as I've organized it currently, so we can see how it plays out and work out any kinks in the mission itself, the organization, or the rules. This can either be an organized group or just you and 7 of your buddies. For anyone that would like to sign up, just make a post. Once a couple of groups have posted, we can discuss a date and time that works for both groups and I'll make sure to have a server set up and ready to go at that time.

 

I look forward to reading your thoughts, questions, and concerns! Thanks again!

 

 

 

 

CURRENT MISSION

 

Date: 10 October 2020

Time: 1900 Zulu

 

 

 

Team Signups:

 

Team A

Captain: Alamo 1-1 | dundun92

Contact: https://alamosqn.freeforums.net/board/21/operation-sierra-hotel

 

Pilots:

Alamo 1-1 | dundun92

Alamo 1-2 | Dankguy

Need minimum 6 more


Edited by KingKenny04
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Very interesting! I hope I can sign up despite being a lonewolf. By that I mean that I don't belong to any DCS squadron out there. However, I do have some friends I fly with quite often. So if lonewolves are allowed in should they be able to organise themselves and function as a team I'd happily sign up. If not, totally understandable.

Again, very interesting!

 

Godspeed!

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Alamo Squadron

Alamo 1-1 | dundun92

Alamo 1-2 | Dankguy

~potentially more pending~

One question, where will the teams do the mission planning? I would be fine creating a sub-section on our squadron forums with sides for both teams.

Eagle Enthusiast, Fresco Fan. Patiently waiting for the F-15E. Clicky F-15C when?

HP Z400 Workstation

Intel Xeon W3680 (i7-980X) OC'd to 4.0 GHz, EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SSC Gaming, 24 GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD. Thrustmaster T16000M FCS HOTAS, DIY opentrack head-tracking. I upload DCS videos here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-7L3Z5nJ-QUX5M7Dh1pGg

 

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Alamo Squadron

Alamo 1-1 | dundun92

Alamo 1-2 | Dankguy

~potentially more pending~

One question, where will the teams do the mission planning? I would be fine creating a sub-section on our squadron forums with sides for both teams.

I would think you would want to plan on your own, privately? Not sure I understand the question. You probably don't want your gameplan to be public.

 

I'll amend the first post to clarify that you send your aircraft declarations to me via DM, so I can post both teams' Red and Blue aircraft declarations at the same time. The purpose of having the declarations made five days ahead of time is so that both teams have time to plan their Blue and Red gameplans.

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Id assume that It would be multiple squadrons on a single side, the specific question is where privately would a team plan?

Eagle Enthusiast, Fresco Fan. Patiently waiting for the F-15E. Clicky F-15C when?

HP Z400 Workstation

Intel Xeon W3680 (i7-980X) OC'd to 4.0 GHz, EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SSC Gaming, 24 GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD. Thrustmaster T16000M FCS HOTAS, DIY opentrack head-tracking. I upload DCS videos here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-7L3Z5nJ-QUX5M7Dh1pGg

 

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Id assume that It would be multiple squadrons on a single side, the specific question is where privately would a team plan?

To be honest I hadn't thought of multiple squadrons on a single side. How many other Alamo dudes are you expecting for your side? I can mark your names down in the third post and put a note that you're looking for more people for that team. If people post that they're interested in joining your team, I would suggest that you all DM each other and figure out how you'd like to meet up and plan. I don't have a forum or a discord or anything like that.

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Okay so here's an idea since I hadn't anticipated trying to collect smaller groups into a single team: People who don't already have a full team can sign up as Team Captains, taking responsibility for organizing and leading planning for their team. I'll post them to the third post of this thread, along with any links to forum/TS/Discord/whatever communication platform they supply that they want to use for mission planning. If lonewolves or smaller groups want to sign up, they can mention which team they'd like to join, and the Captains can approve or deny, until they have a full team.

 

dundun92, would you like me to set you as a Team Captain?

 

I should also clarify that 8 is the total number of aircraft for the Blue side. You can have more people than that if you have Tomcats that require a crew of two.

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Great idea. I'm sure we can field a team once you have a date in mind.

First few rounds will just be test runs trying to identify problems with the ruleset or game settings. What I'd like to do is get whichever two teams are interested in going first to collaborate on a date that works for the both of them.

 

If you guys are interested, might you be available in, say, three weeks' time? Say maybe Saturday, October 10th?

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dundun92, would you like me to set you as a Team Captain?

Sure. As for the communication I can set up subsections on our squadron forums if its cool with you.

Eagle Enthusiast, Fresco Fan. Patiently waiting for the F-15E. Clicky F-15C when?

HP Z400 Workstation

Intel Xeon W3680 (i7-980X) OC'd to 4.0 GHz, EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SSC Gaming, 24 GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD. Thrustmaster T16000M FCS HOTAS, DIY opentrack head-tracking. I upload DCS videos here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-7L3Z5nJ-QUX5M7Dh1pGg

 

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So I divided it into TEAM A and TEAM B (didnt wanna use RED/BLUE as it would get confusing when sides switch). Simply post which team youd like to be on in the thread here after registering: https://alamosqn.freeforums.net/board/21/operation-sierra-hotel

Eagle Enthusiast, Fresco Fan. Patiently waiting for the F-15E. Clicky F-15C when?

HP Z400 Workstation

Intel Xeon W3680 (i7-980X) OC'd to 4.0 GHz, EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SSC Gaming, 24 GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD. Thrustmaster T16000M FCS HOTAS, DIY opentrack head-tracking. I upload DCS videos here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-7L3Z5nJ-QUX5M7Dh1pGg

 

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So I divided it into TEAM A and TEAM B (didnt wanna use RED/BLUE as it would get confusing when sides switch). Simply post which team youd like to be on in the thread here after registering: https://alamosqn.freeforums.net/board/21/operation-sierra-hotel

I'd like for at least one of the teams to be made up of people from a single group if possible? That was sort of the original intent. If that just isn't in the cards after a few days I won't keep beating on it, but I'd like to try for now.

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NP, we can wait and see how things develop.

Eagle Enthusiast, Fresco Fan. Patiently waiting for the F-15E. Clicky F-15C when?

HP Z400 Workstation

Intel Xeon W3680 (i7-980X) OC'd to 4.0 GHz, EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SSC Gaming, 24 GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD. Thrustmaster T16000M FCS HOTAS, DIY opentrack head-tracking. I upload DCS videos here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-7L3Z5nJ-QUX5M7Dh1pGg

 

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Hi folks. I've amended the third post with a tentative date and time for the first trial run of this competition:

 

 

10 October @ 1900 Zulu

 

This time is subject to change if needed. Per the rules, aircraft declarations are due no later than Monday, October 5th, 1900 Zulu. If we do not have two full teams signed up by that time, I'll push the tentative date back two weeks.

 

LONEWOLVES/SMALL GROUPS WELCOME!

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for me and my wingman personally 1900z is a bit early, 2000z is pretty much the earliest feasible

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

Eagle Enthusiast, Fresco Fan. Patiently waiting for the F-15E. Clicky F-15C when?

HP Z400 Workstation

Intel Xeon W3680 (i7-980X) OC'd to 4.0 GHz, EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SSC Gaming, 24 GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD. Thrustmaster T16000M FCS HOTAS, DIY opentrack head-tracking. I upload DCS videos here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-7L3Z5nJ-QUX5M7Dh1pGg

 

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Hi folks, small problem we need some help with.

 

I was planning to rent and set up a strong dedicated server for this comp. Unfortunately my wife lost her job last week. Out of respect for her and our family, we're cutting out all unnecessary spending until our financial situation is figured out. What that means is I won't be renting a server for October 10th.

 

If anyone out there is willing and able to host the competition, it would be massively appreciated. Otherwise I'll be postponing the competition until sometime in November. I'm sorry to do this folks. While renting a server for a short time isn't all that expensive, its a principle thing. It would be really disrespectful to my wife for her to cut out all of her extra spending while I keep spending money on pretend airplanes.

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Hi folks, small problem we need some help with.

 

I was planning to rent and set up a strong dedicated server for this comp. Unfortunately my wife lost her job last week. Out of respect for her and our family, we're cutting out all unnecessary spending until our financial situation is figured out. What that means is I won't be renting a server for October 10th.

 

If anyone out there is willing and able to host the competition, it would be massively appreciated. Otherwise I'll be postponing the competition until sometime in November. I'm sorry to do this folks. While renting a server for a short time isn't all that expensive, its a principle thing. It would be really disrespectful to my wife for her to cut out all of her extra spending while I keep spending money on pretend airplanes.

 

Hi,

 

sad to hear that. We can probably host it if you want. Our server should be free.

 

2075291193_EDSig.png.650cd56f2b9a043311112721c4215a47.png

64th Aggressor Squadron
Discord: 64th Aggressor Squadron
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Hi folks. Still don't have enough people for two full teams, so I'm going to postpone this for now. Expect it to happen sometime in November. In the meantime, I'll try to cleanup the briefing and rules, and I'll try to more aggressively recruit other vfs' to take part. Still open to suggestions and ideas.

 

Thanks for the interest folks. Keep your eyes on this thread!

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