Rough Riders

Airpower Planning with Harpoon

by Lt. Col Gary "Mo" Morga

Lt. Col Morgan, a good friend and the creator of the game Flight Leader and Tac Air, is on the staff of the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, in Montgomery, Alabama. As part of a course for the School of Advanced International Studies, taught in the Washington, DC area, he created this scenario using the Harpoon II computer game. While not an exhaustive examination of a US-Cuba conflict it is a balanced, large-scale air campaign, designed to show students the problems and tradeoffs associated with the use of airpower.

After the downing of an airliner near Key West, the sinking of a cruise liner in the Florida Straits, and an immediate expulsion order from Castro to remove US persons from the US Marine Corps base at Guantanamo (and subsequent shelling of the base by Cuban artillery), the President has received emergency authority from Congress to initiate hostilities against Cuba.

The US political objective is to force the Cuban government to terminate its attacks on American military and dependents pending completion of a Noncombatant Evacuation Operation from Guantanamo. Cuban air and naval forces are preparing violently oppose the evacuation.

Your military objective is to achieve air superiority as the critical prerequisite to subsequent operations in the area.

Large numbers of USAF aircraft have deployed to newly-rebuilt Homestead AFB near Miami and formerly closed MacDill AFB near Tampa in preparation for a major air campaign against the Cuban air force. The US Army has provided Patriot batteries to defend both bases and the cities of Miami, Tampa, and Orlando from Cuban air attack and has also provided Apache attack helicopters for security of the Forida peninsula from Cuban special operations attacks.

These Patriots and Apaches are to be used at the JFACC's discretion.

With large numbers of expatriate Cuban-Americans living in Florida and hoping to see an end to Castro's regime, emotions are extremely tense. The National Command Authority has dictated to the theater commander the need to exercise utmost discretion in minimizing collateral damage and casualties to Cuban civilians, particularly around Havana, as well as minimizing friendly losses.

The entire operation will be extensively covered in both Florida and Cuba by Peter Arnett, Christiane Amanpour, and numerous CNN film crews.

USAF Air Order of Baltic

Homestead AFB FL (City of Miami)
Patriot Battery
12 F-117A Nighthawks
18 F-15C Eagles
24 F-15E Strike Eagles
12 F-4G Phantom II Wild Weasels ANG)
6 RF4C Phantom II Photo Recon ANG)
2 MH-53J Pave Low IIIs
2 MH-6OG Pave Hawk
6 AH-64D Apaches (US Army)

MacDill AFB FL (City of Tampa)
Patriot Battery
24 F-15E Strike Eagles
9 B-1B Lancers
9 B-52H Stratofortresses
3 E-3 Sentries
3 KC-10 Extenders
3 KC-135 Stratotankers
3 EC-130H Compass Calls (C3CM/ESM)
3 C-141B Starlifters (lift USMC Bn)

City of Orlando
Patriot Battery
Theme Park

Each airbase has:
10,000 ft Primary Runway
8,000 ft Taxiway/Alt. Runway
Large Hangars for Heavy A/C

Hardened Revetments for Fighter A/C
Ammo Dump
AvGas Tank Farm (320,000 gals)
Operations Center (HST: Wing Ops Ctr/MCD: REDCOM Cmd Post)
GCI Radar Site
Communications Site
Control Tower



Cuban Air Order of Battle

San Antonio Airfield
9 MiG-29A Fulcrum C
12 MiG-21bis Fishbed N
12 MiG-23MF Flogger B

Santa Clara Airfield
12 MiG-21bis Fishbed N
12 MiG-23BN Flogger H

Camaguey Airfield
12 MiG-21PFMA Fishbed F
4 Mi-25 Hind D

Holguin Airfield
12 MiG-21PFMA Fishbed F
12 MiG-23BN Flogger H

Each airbase has:
8,000 fit Runway
Hardened Revetments for Fighter A/C
Ammo Dump
AvGas Storage (100,000 gals)
Communications site

Cuban SAM/AAA Order of Battle

Havana Air Defense Region (City of Havana)

Havana Air Defense Region
Command Bunker 4 nm W
Havana Air Defense Region Sector
Operations Center/
SA-2 Rgt HQ 7 nm SE
Uplink Relay Station 21 nm S
Air Defense Region Ground-Controlled Intercept Radar Site 33 nm ESE
SA-5 Battalion 10 nm E
SA-2 Bn 10 nm E
SA-3 Bn 20 nm E
85mm AAA Battery 2 nm E
57mm AAA Bty 1 nm S
57mm AAA Bty 11 nm SW
ZSU 23-4 Platoon 1 nm W
ZSU 23-4 P1t 13 nm E

San Antonio Air Defense Zone
(Airfield)
SA-3 Bn 15 nm W
SA-6 Bn 13nm ESE
SA-8 Bty 2nm E
SA-7 Pk 4nm N

Santa Clara Air Defense Zone (Airfield) SA-3 Bn 25nm N
SA-6 Bn 17nm W
SA-8 Bty 6nm E
SA-7 Plt 6nm N

Cinco de Mayo Air Defense Region (51 nm ESE Santa Clara Afld)
CdM Air Defense Region GCI Radar Site (site)
SA-2 Bn 25 nm W
SA-3 Bn 30 nm E
57mm Bn 4 nm W
ZSU 23-4 Plt 4 nm E

Camaguey Air Defense Zone
(Airfield)
SA-2 Bn 21 nm E
SA-3 Bn 31 nm N
SA-6 Bty 24 nm NW
SA-7 P1' 5 nm S
57mm Bty 1 nm N

Holguin Air Defense Zone
(Airfield)
SA-2 Bn 19 nm S
SA-3 Bn 21 nm E
SA-6 Bn 19 nm W
SA-8 Bty 3 nm E
SA-7 Plt 4 nm N

Cuban Naval Order of Battle

Task Force East
1 Koni Class FF
4 Osa PGM
Task Force Center
1 Koni Class FF
1 Pauk FFL
6 Osa II PGM
Task Force West
1 Koni Class FF
4 Osa 2 PGM


Large Map (slow: 58K)
Jumbo Map (slow: 112K)

BT


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