Beta AAR - Battle of Latakia (Yom Kippur War)

[acbennett3]

This scenario is a recreation of the 1973 Battle of Latakia from the Yom Kippur war. Both the historical battle and this simulation showed how one sided the battle was due to the Israeli technological advantage - mainly due to their countermeasures versus the Syrian SS-N-2 Styx missiles, which in the '67 war sank the Israeli destroyer Eilat.

From wikipedia:
"The Battle of Latakia was a small but revolutionary naval battle of the Yom Kippur War, fought on 7 October 1973, between Israel and Syria. It was the first naval battle in history to see combat between surface-to-surface missile-equipped missile boats and the use of electronic deception"

The scenario/battle displays the Command systems ability to recreate history. I had read about the battle previously, but this scenario truly brought it to life for me.

The scenario starts with 2 Israeli missile boat groups operating off the coast of Syria with the goal of luring Syrian missile boats out to do battle. Latakia is the northern most port below.

[acbennett3]

Strike Group 1 is made up of 2 Saar class missile boats (Type 2 and 4) and Group 2 further west is made up of 3 Saar class missile boats (Type 2 and 3). Their main weapon is the Gabriel 1 SSM - 9m sea skimmer with half the range of the Syrian SS-N-2 Styx. The strategy is to draw the Syrian missile boats out, deal with their Styx missiles with chaff/jammers, then close to the Gabriel's range and destroy them. From what I understand this was the first actual wartime use of the Israeli counter measures and Gabriel missiles so there was probably a bit of uncertainty on the Israeli side.

Two unidentified contacts are detected - one w/telltale emissions

[acbennett3]

Based on the emissions, classification, and speed of contact #5 I manually designate it as hostile and launch a single Gabriel at it. The northern contact is doing 12 knots w/no emissions so I will keep an eye on it for now.

[acbennett3]

The Syrian PT Boat has no defenses against SSM's and is destroyed by the Gabriel.

Then another PT classified surface contact is detected, and also a pair of missiles originating from behind the PT contact. Looks like we have a missile boat firing at us beyond our radar detection range. This illustrates the functionality of the recorder feature in Command. During my play through I thought the missiles had come from the detected PT contact, but when stepping through the battle in the replay it is obvious they did not.

[acbennett3]

The Israelis launch against the PT Boat while the Styx missiles are closing.

[acbennett3]

In the end the Styx missiles are decoyed by chaff from the Israeli missile boats while the Syrian PT Boat is destroyed by the Israeli missiles. At this point the Israeli confidence in their countermeasures and Gabriel missiles is secured and both strike groups kick up their speeds to flank and head directly down the bearing of the Styx missiles in search of the Syrian missile boats.

Soon two more Styx missiles appear on the radar from the distant Syrian missile boats. This time the missile are successfully jammed and fly right by the Israelis. There are a total of four more missiles fired at the Israeli's all handled by chaff or jammers. It's amazing how the Israeli technology has rendered ineffective the Syrian Styx missiles that in the previous war had been so destructive.

Finally the Israeli's locate what appear to be the Syrian missile boats. They continue to close the range at flank speed to bring the PGM/PCFG classified contacts into range of their Gabriel missiles. Two more contacts also appear but based on their speed and lack of emissions are probably merchants. Strike group one again is first in range and launches a volley of 4 Gabriel missiles against the PGM/PCFG contacts.

[acbennett3]

All 3 PGM/PCFG contacts are destroyed. The Israeli's continue to close the Syrian coast and detect one new contact giving soviet technology emissions.

[acbennett3]

It is classified as an MCM and based on the emissions the Israelis tag it as hostile. Because it appears to be masked by the Merchant, strike group 2 steers north to clear the contact before firing. When clear of the merchant, the lead boat of strike group 2 launches a Gabriel. The Gabriel malfunctions so another Gabriel is fired and the MCM is destroyed.

[acbennett3]

At this point the Israeli's close the Syrian coast and sweep the area looking for new hostiles. None are detected so both strike groups turn south and head towards their home port of Haifa while still monitoring for contacts. Only one new contact is detected during this time but it is identified as another Merchant. The Israelis head home to tell stories at the bar upon return. Did they realize they had ushered in a new stage of naval combat?

The results of my play through reasonably mirrored history. The Syrian's initially launched Styx SSM missiles from pier side. These malfunctioned and hit 2 merchants entering the port. The Israeli's destroyed the PT Boats with gunfire, the mine sweeper with a number of Gabriels, and then destroyed all but one of the Syrian missile boats with SSMs. The last missile boat was damaged and then ran aground in shallow water and was finished off by gunfire.

The Command system is both a great game and simulator. In this case it brought history to life for me. On to the next scenario/piece of history.

References:
Battle of Latakia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Latakia
Sa'ar Missile Boats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%27ar_3- ... ssile_boat
Gabriel I Missile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_(missile)
SS-N-2 Styx SSM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-15_Termit

[JimMerson]

WOW!

Two great AAR's from the birth of modern naval warfare using cool units!

I can't wait to try this game.

Jim

[midnight_mangler]

Very, very nice AAR. And beautifully explained.

More please!

[bcbarnesRR]

5 years later and still appreciated. I just finished playing this scenario and was amazed at how ineffective the styx missles were. Glad to see that this reflected reality. Scenario started with a 'hold' on the gabriels and so they wouldn't fire, but I changed the WRA to allow their use, and off they went. In the end, it was really a turkey shoot due to the difference in weapon systems.