In this article, Doug continues the air force orders of battle discussion by focusing on the air forces for the secondary or intervention nations and discusses the why of some of the decisions which were made. This is part two of a two part series. – Mitchell Land

The Air Forces of NWIP, Part 2

In Part 1 of “The Air Forces of NWIP” we covered the two main protagonists, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Here we cover the outside nations that we assume may intervene in the air war: the PRC People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), the United States Air Force (USAF), the Russian Air Force, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the French Air Force.

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force

The PLAAF is welldocumented in the Next War series. It made an appearance in limited numbers in Next War: Korea (NWK) , followed by a huge force in Next War: Taiwan (NWT) . So, the types of aircraft and their capabilities were largely already set for including the PLAAF in Next War: India-Pakistan (NWIP) . What we did have to ponder were two key questions: how much would China be willing to commit to support Pakistan in a conflict and how much support could it provide? The first question is basically a political one, so we went with a beefed up version of the seven squadron “expeditionary force” from NWK . We assume the PRC would commit significant air power, but not a major portion of its total available forces. That is in part due to China’s secondary role in this conflict and the fact that we assume the PRC would have to worry about potential action in other areas of the China-India border regions. Add the likelihood that the PRC would retain sufficient reserves to try to deal with a flare up in the South China Sea or with Taiwan and that puts a fairly hard cap on how much the PRC could commit to an India-Pakistan war. In addition, the bases available to China (mostly in Tibet) are not extensive and are limited by their high altitude and remote locations. So, both political and operational limitations pointed us toward a force larger than that in NWK but much smaller than the one from NWT .

So what does the PLAAF have in NWIP ? They get a total of 15 squadrons, which is about double the NWK contingent. It is tilted toward ground support / strike with seven airsuperiority squadrons (4 x J-10 and 3 x J-11B) and eight ground attack squadrons (5 x SU-30, 2 x JH-7, 1 x H-6). However, the SU-30s (rated 4*-3-4*) can also help a lot in the air superiority fight, so the PRC side has some options on where to focus.

While I am sure some might question the size of that force, it is also important to remember that we had to consider play balance as well. In early testing the Pakistan Air Force didn’t last long against the Indians, especially when the US or Russia intervened. As a result, we had to beef up the PRC help that could arrive in order to give the combined Pakistan/PRC side a fighting chance in a long game.

The aircraft units themselves are essentially identical to PRC aircraft from earlier games in the
series:

With regard to stealth aircraft like the J-20 and J-31, we included them as optionals (two of each type) for a couple of reasons.  First, we don’t think the PRC would commit them against just the Indian Air Force since the regular PLAAF already outclasses the IAF in a lot of areas. Second, they don’t exist yet. The notional date for the J-20 to enter operational status is the later years of this decade, or more likely the early 2020s. The J-31 is even further in the future. So, the inclusion of the units should be considered as more of a commitment of a limited number of prototype / test aircraft by a PLAAF that wants to overwhelm the IAF or has to go up against the USAF as well.

Play testing did show, however, that even in small numbers these aircraft can make a huge difference early in the air war. They can hammer the IAF with their long range and stealth capabilities and then also do air-to-ground missions against IAF defense tracks and other targets. Players do have to pay for them with VPs (5VP per optional counter) but it can often be worth the price.

With regard to attack helicopters, we assume two battalions would get deployed in support of the airborne corps and other PLAF ground troops. Since the Pakistanis only have one attack helicopter unit, the arrival of these two PLAAF potentially gives the Pakistanis some much needed ground support. However, like all the helos in the game, they are limited in the high
mountains of Kashmir.

For China’s air defense system, we used the same ratings (Det 7, SAM 7, AAA 2) from NWT . Those ratings are, however, “locked” and can’t be attacked / reduced in any way. We did that partly because there are not a ton of bases involved (and they are a long way from India in most cases), so we assume the ones being used will be strongly defended by PRC air defense systems, which could be continuously reinforced from assets elsewhere. The bases themselves would also have air defense aircraft protecting them beyond those in the Order of Battle.

U.S. Air Force

Like the PLAAF, the USAF is well documented in all the Next War series games to date. So, in figuring out the USAF element in NWIP , the main questions were similar to the PLAAF. One question we had to deal with was basing. We ended up creating a “Diego Garcia” basing box to simulate both the actual air base on that island and other potential US air bases in the region
outside of India (in the Persian Gulf, for example). Both Diego and the Gulf are a long way from the area where NWIP combat takes place (2,500 and 1,500 miles, respectively), so only long range aircraft can operate out of that box and there we use the recovery box mechanism to show the reduced sortie rates the range would probably result in. India has a lot of air bases that the USAF could use, so we ended up assuming most USAF assets would base there.

The NWIP USAF contingent is, however, smaller than the ones from NWK and NWT . We assume that US support of India would not be on a “full up” major theater war scale, although still pretty robust. The size of the US forces involved in Kosovo or the Libyan conflicts are probably about right. So, we ended up with this mix: 2 x F-35, 3 x F-15C, 4 x F-15E, 6 x F-16C/D, 1 x F-16CJ, 2 x B-52H, 1 x B-1B, 1 x B-2A.

We retain the “enhanced” F-15Cs from earlier games in the series (which are F-15C squadrons with F-22 support), while also providing one optional F-22 unit. The only other change to the OB we made is giving the B-52 standoff strike capability, which we thought was justified given the altitude the aircraft operates at and the large number of standoff weapons now available for
it.

Once it arrives, the USAF air component can have a major impact on the ground war. Taking down whatever is left of the Pakistan air defense network doesn’t take long, and then the US strike aircraft often have a field day pounding Pakistani army units in the flat terrain around Lahore and Amritsar. The US aircraft can also rapidly put a major crimp in any threat to Kashmir by interdicting the limited supply routes through the mountains and hammering any units that are actually in the valley. But… like NWK and NWT the question is usually whether the USAF can get there in time? We assume a fairly rapid deployment schedule similar to that in NWK/NWT. That is based on our assumption that the US, over time, will build closer military-to-military ties with India that would allow the advanced logistics and facilities work necessary to support such a big force.

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps

Given the combat zone’s proximity to the Indian Ocean, we assume that one US Carrier Air Wing could arrive rather quickly (the USN tends to keep at least one carrier in the region) followed by a second carrier + air wing in a couple of weeks. In addition, we assume a Marine Expeditionary Brigade size force with the associated air component (1 x AV-8B, 1 X F-18C). The two USN wings are each the same as those provided in NWK and NWT : 2 x F-18E, 2 x F-18F, 1 x EA-18G.

We also provided the optional F-35B that can swap out for the Harrier unit and two F-35Cs that can be swapped for F-18s in the air wings.

While the size of the USN/USMC contingent is smaller than the USAF one (12 squadrons compared to 20), it does arrive earlier and thus can have a big impact on helping the Indians either stem the tide on the defense or break a stalemate on the offense. The Growlers and F-35s can also hammer the air defense network quickly and get at some of the high value targets like nuke sites to help with a bad VP situation.

U.S. Army and USMC Helicopters

Full U.S. ground intervention brings in a highly capable force of attack aviation, with a total of seven helicopter units (6 x AH-64 Apaches and 1 x AH-1Z). The range of these units on this size battlefield make them basically deep strike assets that can do a lot of damage to Pakistani or Chinese HQs, bridges, and other ground units.

The Russian Air Force

Russia’s air force has a mix of older aircraft, like the Su-24s and Su-27s, and highly capable new systems like the Su-35. Compared to the US, however, they do not appear to have the ability to support a large number of aircraft for a sustained period. So, in NWIP , we assume a relatively small Russian air expeditionary force with a mix of fighters and bombers: 2 x Su-27, 1 x Su-30, 1 x Su-35, and 1 x Tu-160.

So, we assume the Russians send only their most capable aircraft, but in relatively small numbers. While the support they provide is much less than a full USAF/USN/USMC intervention, it can help stabilize the air situation for the Indians and add some much needed deep strike capability that the IAF lacks. They also, of course, come at a much lower VP cost than the US air intervention.

We decided to include some optional rules so players can potentially explore what a larger Russian intervention would look like. First, we have an optional rule allowing players to greatly expand the Russian air contingent using some of the Russian air units from NWK: 2 x Su-24, 1 x Su-25, 2 x Tu-22, and 2 x Tu-95. [Note that ownership of NWK wil be required to make use of this option.]

These seven additional squadrons add a lot of punch to the Russian force, while also increasing its ability to deliver cruise missiles quite a bit. The second optional rule involves Russian basing. The baseline game assumes the Russians base in India, but we provide the option for Russian aircraft to base in the Diego Garcia box (not representing DG, but instead bases in southern Russia) to protect them from strikes at the cost of a lower sortie rate due to the recovery mechanism.

The Commonwealth and French Air Forces

As an optional rule, NWIP includes some “Commonwealth” units representing a mix of UK Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force units (2 x Typhoon and 2 x CF18). They intervene and arrive in line with a US intervention and have to base in India. While only 4 more units, they are definitely good ones, so adding them may be worth the VP price to the Indian side if the
game goes long enough.

We also have an optional rule for bringing the larger Commonwealth force shown in NWK into NWIP (2 x F-35, 1 x Tornado, 2 x F-18, 1 x Typhoon). [Note, owneship of NWK and/or NWT will be required to make use of this option.] Those six squadrons, plus the four provided in NWIP, create a pretty powerful, ten squadron CW air contingent that can make a big impact, especially late in the game.

The French Air Force makes its Next War series debut in NWIP. Again, it is an optional rule, but players can choose to add a small French air contingent of 2 x Rafael multi-role fighters to the mix.

Overall, if players have the previous games in the system they can create a massive “coalition of the willing” air contingent in support of the Indian side by adding either the full Russian compliment of 12 squadrons or the full CW/French contingent of 12 squadrons. Either way, doing so adds a lot more capability to the allied side of the air war, so it might be worth the VP
price.

---

Articles in this Series: Part 1  Part 2