03-22-2016, 09:20 AM
Well most threats see and shoot further than a pilot busy with landing can recon them, therefore a transport helicopter should never be tasked to land in contested areas without beeing covered by other forces.
We had two different insertions:
Number one was the radio tower. The marked LZ was on the road downhill from the radiotower. This means that even an HMG or AT weapon placed close to the objective to protect it would have been able to engage the helicopter at any point and most critically while landed at the LZ. There is no way for a pilot to recon a hidden heavy weapon like that until he is dead.
Number two was the within range of AA. Now AA changes the whole picture for anything in the air and of course terrain flight is important, but we had no idea where exactly the AA was stationed, so it was a gamble that the LZ itself was not covered. Terrain flight at night is a dangerous beast. Flying along canyons with a helicopter is usually safe even at night, as long as one makes sure the canyons themselves are not covered.
As soon as you penetrate the AA shield at night you are throwing dices, because you can not control the variables:
Are all hills at all times covering me against the positions where I think the AA is?
Could there be AA somewhere that negates my cover?
Is terrain flight safe in this area?
Do the people executing the flight have all the information and are able to act on it?
In our scenario the answers were Yes, no idea, no, no.
Now it is probably more a question of doctrine than execution how high a risk is acceptable on insertion, but when you only survive, because APC and infantry 40 meters away werent able to detect a landing helicopter in plain sight, it is a clear sign that more conservative LZs are advisable.
We had two different insertions:
Number one was the radio tower. The marked LZ was on the road downhill from the radiotower. This means that even an HMG or AT weapon placed close to the objective to protect it would have been able to engage the helicopter at any point and most critically while landed at the LZ. There is no way for a pilot to recon a hidden heavy weapon like that until he is dead.
Number two was the within range of AA. Now AA changes the whole picture for anything in the air and of course terrain flight is important, but we had no idea where exactly the AA was stationed, so it was a gamble that the LZ itself was not covered. Terrain flight at night is a dangerous beast. Flying along canyons with a helicopter is usually safe even at night, as long as one makes sure the canyons themselves are not covered.
As soon as you penetrate the AA shield at night you are throwing dices, because you can not control the variables:
Are all hills at all times covering me against the positions where I think the AA is?
Could there be AA somewhere that negates my cover?
Is terrain flight safe in this area?
Do the people executing the flight have all the information and are able to act on it?
In our scenario the answers were Yes, no idea, no, no.
Now it is probably more a question of doctrine than execution how high a risk is acceptable on insertion, but when you only survive, because APC and infantry 40 meters away werent able to detect a landing helicopter in plain sight, it is a clear sign that more conservative LZs are advisable.
It cant be any better, it cant be any worse, because thats how it is. Quit the bitching.