The Second Battle of Britain - a Soviet Sealion

168 – Foxbats from Finow, Aardvarks to Finow


Flying from Finow Airbase in East Germany’s historic Brandenburg, the 787th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Force (VVS) operated MiG-25 Foxbats. The -25PD version of this particular MiG were first-rate interceptors. Complicated to fly and maintain, but excellent for the task allotted to them. Dogfighting wasn’t one of those missions flown by 787 FAR aircrew. Instead, their role was to conduct high-speed, high-level intercepts with missile-launches made at distance. Throughout the war, the Foxbats flying from Finow had seen plenty of action with losses having accumulated to the aircraft, their pilots and the ground crews: the latter occurred when American aircraft had bombed their base after fighting their way through many air defences. Almost two dozen of the single-seat interceptors were still flying though and they were busy. Tonight, four of them lifted off from the patched-up runway and into the dark skies over Europe. They were under the operational control of one of the many ground stations – this one a mobile facility active across in West Germany – and the mission for the Foxbats was to attack priority airborne targets some distance away. Jamming aircraft were already flying and the interceptors themselves flew with their own radars switched off to deny a fix on them to the enemy. NATO was out to do that. There were several AWACS aircraft flying far back away from the current frontlines and their radars saw deep into hostile territory. Tracks were made on the four interceptors despite jamming efforts. Courses for them were plotted. The Foxbats were coming direct for the two of the AWACS aircraft.

Lancing through the sky at maximum speed and thus doing terrible damage to their engines, the Foxbats went over the divided Germanies, above Belgium and then into French skies. They had formed into two pairs with each pair targeting a different airborne radar and command-&-control aircraft flying high above the earth. Those AWACS aircraft were US Air Force E-3B Sentrys with combat controllers aboard them directing friendly fighters towards those inbound enemy aircraft. Belgian Mirages and American F-16s were the nearest and most available defenders which could be called upon to get in the way of this daring attack. Those NATO jets were taken under fire though. There were other Soviet fighters flying tonight with the VVS having other MiGs up. Those suddenly broke away from other tasks and into this fight. It had all be planned that way and NATO now saw it. Such a realisation came very late though. Mirages and F-16s clashed with MiG-23s and -29s while the Foxbats kept on coming. Luftwaffe F-4s – flying from French bases due to so much of West Germany being under occupation – were providing close-in protection for the AWACS aircraft. Several remained close while others shot forward to meet the enemy aircraft as far away as possible. Behind them, the targeted larger aircraft turned away to the south and west. These were conversions of Boeing-707s. A rotating radar-dome was positioned high above the aircraft’s fuselage with computers, radios and battle staffs within. Defenceless themselves, it would reasonably said that they were worth dozens upon dozens of fighters. There were flights of French Mirages climbing out of bases to come up and aid to their protection as towards them the AWACS aircraft went. Their wider missions were now postponed as they fled for safety. As fast as they went though, they were still be closed in upon by those Foxbats: the speed difference was immense.

The Foxbats fired on the West German fighters when their radars went active. Calls from behind and below had come to them from their ground controllers who were monitoring the airborne situation via a network of mobile radars spread far and wide. Those men on the ground spotted the F-4s moving towards the VVS interceptors as well as keeping track of where those priority targets were going. Experience gained during previous attacks on similar aircraft was being put to use throughout this mission which they were controlling. It was the senior officer on the ground, not the Foxbat pilots, who made the call to attack the West Germans when they did. Those off in distant skies were told what to do with everything concerning their flights. Three F-4s were hit while a fourth evaded in spectacular fashion with twists and turns. It’s pilot returned fire after closing in upon one of the Foxbats and managed to get a kill in. That downed Soviet interceptor’s wingman was already out ahead though. He was on his own going after one AWACS aircraft but the other two were still together chasing the second target. At a time of the choosing again from a colonel far away who was seeing all that was going on through a very complicated radar picture, the surviving Foxbat pilots fired once more. They were flying with many air-to-air missiles being carried and instructed to launch most of them towards their targets while only keeping a few for their long journey home. Multiple launches were made against the diving E-3s. The surviving Luftwaffe pilot again got into the fight and took out another Foxbat (he was having an excellent war: this was his fifth kill making him an ace) but by then it was too late. Each of the two AWACS aircraft had been hit and they were going down. A lot of mess was going to be made on the ground when they struck the earth below.

There was another E-3 flying tonight – this one of those few remaining NATO-crewed models that hadn’t been wiped out by commandos in the war’s first few minutes when on the ground – and its crew took over the duties of the battle staffs from the now two lost ones. This was an almighty challenge. The skies were full of friendly and hostile aircraft and a job for three was now being done by one. Sending a direct interception towards the pair of retreating Foxbats (each alone) wasn’t a priority when there was so much else going on. The Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies were getting many more aircraft aloft to interfere with ongoing NATO air missions and make their own attacks. The attack undertaken with those Foxbats had been carefully done and when successful, it opened up the skies. Flying alone after each had lost his wingman, the two Soviet pilots flew back east. They were still flying at great speed and had turned their radars back off. Ground crews guided them towards home with the hope in each man that he would make it. Alas, that wasn’t to be for either of them. The French got one and then the other ran into American F-15s who encountered it by chance. More aircraft crashed to the ground though with this last engagement, there was one pilot who managed to eject in time from his doomed aircraft unlike his trio of comrades who each had been killed when their interceptors blew up upon missile impact. He’d land behind friendly lines too, eventually making his way back to Finow in the coming days. Upon arrival, he’d discover what had happened while he was away.


It was only a coincidence that Finow was on the target list tonight for a major NATO air strike. The airbase had been hit before and there were still enemy aircraft flying from there so another go was had at attempting to shut down operations from there. The 787 FAR had been joined at Finow by other MiG-25s since the outbreak of war. These were from a Moscow Military District unit reinforcing the Sixteenth Air Army stationed in West Germany. The VVS unit had the -25RB version of the Foxbat and these were reconnaissance-bombers: they had special equipment for many intelligence gathering tasks while also being capable of undertaking precision bombing too. The 47th Guards Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment – which had air defence suppression Sukhois detached to another airbase in East Germany since their arrival – was causing NATO all sorts of problems with its own Foxbats alongside those 787 FAR ones. The recon flights were one thing but the high-level bombing runs, where despite a small payload the damage was significant, had been far worse. To stop their activities was just as important as putting a dent in interceptor activities from Finow.

Coming from their base in Britain, the US Air Force F-111s headed towards Finow on an indirect routing. Eight of them had left RAF Upper Heyford though one had turned back over the North Sea with a serious mechanical issue. The other seven stayed low over the water and went above Denmark before coming into East Germany from the Baltic. All of the aircrew had been on attack missions deep over enemy territory on the European mainland before with some of them too flying the night beforehand against targets in occupied portions of Norfolk. Back to the far side of the Iron Curtain they were now though, one a true deep strike such as the Americans had been doing throughout the war. Enemy ground-based radars didn’t spot them and neither did the lone Soviet AWACS aircraft (they didn’t have many) flying in the skies near to Berlin. Those F-111s – Aardvarks they were called unofficially – were in pairs as well as the one by itself down low flying with their radars off and in radio silence. Penetration was made of the enemy shoreline and then inland at a terrifying low altitude where terrain masking was used. With pitch black darkness outside, the aircrews wore night vision goggles. One mistake and they’d smear themselves into the ground as other Aardvark crews had done recently. Tonight, terrain wasn’t what wouldn’t kill them. A mobile SAM system, undetected by pre-flight intelligence, spotted one of the pairs. With standing orders to fire on hostile aircraft without waiting for confirmation, missiles were lofted not very far away from Finow. An American low-level bomber was hit with both aircrew ejecting before the wreckage of their jet hit the ground: the other one got away. An alert instantly went out from the SAM crew. This was too late though. The remaining six Aardvarks were almost there.

They converged upon the airbase from several directions all at once. Despite being on the highest state of alert, the air defences were taken by surprise when these attackers suddenly appeared. Bombs fell away from the Aardvarks during their one pass over Finow. There were cluster munitions used against spotted SAM launchers and anti-runway bombs dropped over the paved runway. High-explosive contact bombs were employed against the main hangar area where there were maintenance and administration facilities. Fantastic explosions ripped through Finow but there were time-delayed munitions as well that were due to go off later. Immense damage was done. There were a few Foxbats which were caught exposed. However, many others were in the hardened aircraft shelters where anything less than a direct hit by a big bomb with a penetration warhead wouldn’t get them. The runway was out of action for the time being, that being a bonus for the US Air Force, and chaos caused elsewhere. The dead and injured were many with more deaths soon to occur from secondary blasts from those delayed munitions.

Back home the Aardvarks went. They remained low and fast as they carried on making use of terrain to stay hidden. Ground-based air defences were avoided and so too were fighters brought in from nearby. However, the VVS weren’t amateurs. They were aware that those attackers would be flying back towards the sea aiming to get away. Several flights of MiGs were soon above the Baltic and close to Danish skies. There were Danes up there in their F-16s and missile exchanges were made with MiG-23s. Through the same skies, trying to avoid that fighting, came the Aardvarks fresh from their success over Finow. Two of them were hit by Soviet missiles with this time all aircrew – four men – being killed in those instances rather than getting a chance to escape. The surviving Aardvark crews would find out afterwards that the Danes had taken out at least a trio of MiGs while losing two of their own number as well. Fellow pilots and weapons systems operators flying the Aardvarks from the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing were dead and missing: that was their primary focus for the time being when back on the ground at their Oxfordshire flying station.