U-2 Missions / Counter Missions

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

I was reading Nadia Valinsky's biography recently and her discussion of their tactics was... surprising.

 

Apparently if they were going to strike a target overnight they would pre-position at a dispersal airfield prior to sundown. Once it got dark they would depart singly at 3 minute intervals to arrive over the target at 3 minute intervals then fly back to the overnight airstrip and land at 3 minute intervals.  They crews would cycle the planes as fast as possible and they would be re-inserted into the rotation and continue striking at 3 minute intervals.  Valinsky said she sometimes flew as many as 18 strike missions in a single night, and it was a strategy the Night Witches apparently followed for literally years.

It seemed surprisingly predictable to me - once the U-2s started hitting a target they would keep at it all night long and it would have been easy to predict when the next plane would be over the target.  Apparently the Germans jelled to that fact as well, and had fighters overhead on some of her missions. 

The next day they U-2s would make a ferry flight back to their base.

Will our career U-2 missions be flown like that and will -109 drivers have the chance of a counter U-2 pop-up mission in the middle of the night?

It seems like a U-2 pilot might have a tough time surviving a night let alone the war!

[LukeFF]

There's already night bomber missions in the game for the U-2.  And yes, they take off at spaced intervals - though not quite 3 minutes. 

[Dutchvdm]

As far as i know, nightbombers never flew in the tight bomberboxes we know from the daylight bombers. 

 

Grt M

[Elem]

1 hour ago, LukeFF said:

There's already night bomber missions in the game for the U-2.  And yes, they take off at spaced intervals - though not quite 3 minutes. 

That is indeed reflected in the U-2 career missions, apart from not being pre-positioned at a dispersal field. That will hopefully come in time.

[Crashbangwallop]

That's interesting. This sim prides itself on 'authenticity', and this short-hop tactic should be a shoe-in for the U2 career. As it is just now - a long slow journey with a tiny bomb load - career missions don't make sense and are completely pointless.

And four searchlights for a wee artillery battery? C'mon...

[Feathered_IV]

I'd read about the forward dispersal fields just behind the frontlines too.  In interviews with former U-2 pilots and in the Night Witches book by Bruce Myles etc. 

I was curious to see how the aircraft's use translated in-game and hoped there might be some semblance of it in the Career.

[Metzelainen]

I would love to see the 46th guards night bomber regiment get implemented into the game with forward dispersal fields. They could even drive sales of the U-2 with the inclusion since it's pretty boring to play in the current carrier mode and a complete pain in multiplayer. The story of the "night witches" is very unique amongst the many tales of heroism by soviets in WW2 and I would love to see it get proper treatment.

 

I've been reading the Dance with Death written by Anne Noggle who interviewed the surviving female pilots and aircrew of the soviet airforce in the 90's if anyone wants to read some indepth war experiences.

[Gambit21]

I have that book - good read.

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

11 hours ago, LukeFF said:

There's already night bomber missions in the game for the U-2.  And yes, they take off at spaced intervals - though not quite 3 minutes. 

 

I knew there were night missions... Do you encounter enemy fighters?

 

 

9 hours ago, I./ZG1_Dutchvdm said:

As far as i know, nightbombers never flew in the tight bomberboxes we know from the daylight bombers. 

 

Grt M

 

I hope not!  My main point was that I was surprised that the predictability of consistent 3 minute intervals worked for them for years, although it sounds like they prioritized searchlights so maybe that helped.  I might have expected them to mkae it 3 minutes for a whil, then 5 minutes, maybe 2 minutes, etc so that the AD folks would have a less precise idea when to expect the next plane to come by.

 

[LukeFF]

58 minutes ago, HeavyCavalrySgt said:

I knew there were night missions... Do you encounter enemy fighters?

 

I don't think that's been implemented, no. 

8 hours ago, Crashbangwallop said:

That's interesting. This sim prides itself on 'authenticity', and this short-hop tactic should be a shoe-in for the U2 career. 

 

Well, unless it's known where the dispersal airfields were at, they have to use the permanent stations at which they were based. 

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

1 hour ago, LukeFF said:

 

Well, unless it's known where the dispersal airfields were at, they have to use the permanent stations at which they were based. 

 

It sounds like the dispersal airfields were often just fields.

I bet that could make implementation tough, because the game would tend to score landing there as a forced landing.

Edited February 7, 2019 by HeavyCavalrySgt
Additional thought

[Gambit21]

No, not difficult from that standpoint at all. 

[HeavyCavalrySgt]

8 minutes ago, Gambit21 said:

No, not difficult from that standpoint at all. 

 

Glad to hear!  I have no idea how that logic works on the backend.