Background: In this war the Indian Air Force operated on the offensive. Daily, numerous small groups of IAF attack jets escorted by pairs of MiG-21 s would go on search and destroy missions along the battlefront. These missions were conducted at low level to avoid enemy radar until the last minute. On this occasion, two MiG-21s escorting four Maruts were jumped by three MiG-19s. The Maruts, loaded with ordnance, turned to escape along with one of the MiG-21 s. A short skirmish between the MiG-21 leader, Flt. Lt. Samar Bikram Shah, and two of the MiG-1 9s ensued.Though initially bounced, Flt. Lt. Shah quickly pitched into the vertical and reversed the situation obtaining an offensive position on the two Farmers, which went into a tight defensive circle. The MiG-21 went into a series of yo-yo maneuvers to hold his advantage and after a few turns, one MiG19 was spit out and fled. The other also turned to flee a moment later and this gave Flt. Lt. Shah his opportunity. A quick burst of gunfire caused the Farmer to flip over and impact the ground. The third MiG-19 apparently had never engaged. An exultant Fit. Lt. Shah made it back to base with critically low fuel, his engine flaming out as he taxied in. Maps: I, G Game Length: 15 game turns. Notes: 1. All aircraft begin sighted. All are silver. 2. The Maruts are not controlled by either player. They will accelerate as quickly as possible to speed 6.0 and will not change altitude. If attacked by a MiG-19, the attackee will use the random movement table and is allowed to change altitude but otherwise they will simply turn at the TT rate to a heading of South and exit the play area. 3. MiG-19 Loads: Stations 1, 4= 600L FT. 4. MiG-21 Loads: Stations 1, 3= AA-2A Atoll IRM, station 3= GP-9 (GSh-23 gun pack). 5. Marut Loads: Stations 1, 2,3,4= 1000 lb. HE BB each. The PAF player gets 2 points for each bomb jettisoned or lost by the Maruts. 6. Optionals: Weather= Clear. Fuel: MiG-21 start= 120, bingo= 80. Marut start= 130, bingo= 90. MiG-19 start= 100, bingo= 50. 7. Pilot quality: MiG-19s- R, N, R. MiG-21s- R, R and MiG21 #1's pilot is a S.H. with excellent confidence. All other attributes and characteristics are normal. 8. For a smaller scenario set up only MiG-21 #1 and MiG-19s #1 and #2. 9. Variant: Let the attackers be two Sabre-6s or two F-104As with two AIM-9B each. The two a/c may setup in any of the three MiG-19 spots. Back to Table of Contents -- Air Power # 20 Back to Air Power List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1992 by J.D. Webster This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com