Fleet Defender | F-14 Tomcat Vs Tu-95 Bear | Carrier Battle Group | Digital Combat Simulator | DCS |

[@GrowlingSidewinder]

Check out the Merch Store: growling-sidewinder.creator-spring.com/ Thank you guys for watching and if you have any ideas for future videos please put them in the comment section below and they might just end up in the pipeline, thanks again, much Love.

[@playlists8831]

Future idea... Do this again but this time... WIN

[@warrenj38]

So far so good! Love the armada videos or fighter group. Volleys of missiles is so cool.

[@Geno-The-Butcher17]

F8 crusader "the last gunfighter"

[@hkguitar1984]

Could you have launched on the bomber formation before they deployed the cruise missiles?

[@HenryAmador-r3t]

I would love to see an F35 mission

[@jadefalcon001]

"They better give me a medal for this one...!" Excellent sign-off, sir.

[@krismurphy7711]

Almost no one left to tell his story or get him his medal.

[@Acrophobia2]

@@krismurphy7711exept the several thousand on the ships that took 1 missile…

[@spider_corsa]

and the first time we don't blame Jester if he eject, but he also remains in the cockpit, so a big so for him too :)

[@KanJonathan]

A performance which Butch O'Hare would be proud, even that still not enough to save most of the CVSG.

[@KitKabinet]

F

[@red2001ss]

I was a NATO Seasparrow Missile System Operator and Maintainer on USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 from 2000-2005. This scenario here was a huge fear that we hoped would never happen . Only so much can be done in a mass overwhelming attack, best we would hope is that we fired all the missiles our launchers had and hope they score hits. This situation is still a huge concern today, only incoming threat missiles could end up being Hypersonic.

[@Eluderatnight]

I think of hypersonics as extra spicy phoenix. I mean come on its been 50 years.

[@dvaritek434]

The aegis missile system is highly effective. But there are only so many sm2s....

[@FrankBUILTperformance]

The only solace here is that this would basically be a one time attack. The loss of all those bombers could not be replaced and this attack likely not repeated. It would have major affects though on morale & future use of carriers.

[@stanburk7392]

My understanding is that's the goal of the Energy Directed Systems? they should be able to deal with this type of scenario. It's why the Ford class carriers can produce so much more power from their reactors. When your defence system is travelling at the speed of light then hyper sonic is not really that much of a problem. 186,000 miles per second as opposed to say mach ten which is only 2 miles per second. will be interesting to see what they come up with.

[@jonathanpfeffer3716]

@@stanburk7392DEWs are NOT for hypersonics. DEWs absolutely can’t deal with them. They are a LOS weapon that takes sustained time on target to achieve a kill. Any HCM or BGV would be absolutely layered with thermal shielding, and would be absolutely massive on top of that, and like that’s not enough it would also only be in the DEW’s engagement range for 10-15 seconds tops. Even megawatt lasers can’t deal with a threat like that. DEWs ARE super valuable though, just not in that way. They are valuable in that they can provide limitless shootdowns against medium levels of low capability missiles. Think like strikes of 20-30 harpoon-like missiles. And they can handle that literally indefinitely, one after the other. And, then because of that, more high capability SM-6 type missiles can be conserved for the high capability missiles, I.e. BGVs/HCMs/anti-ship ballistic missiles, etc. etc.

[@GM-fh5jp]

If only a dozen or so Tomcats could have joined you in hunting down the cruise missiles. What happened to that huge formation of F14s in the initial engagement? Were you the *only* one to go after them? Great cinematics and a good episode! PS. You got the CMH (posthumously) for your last minute heroics.

[@vindigga6]

Man the f14 is a cool looking plane. It has so much personality. The canopy is cool, the wings, the sounds and rattles.

[@joecruz4706]

Agreed! I hate the fact that politics killed that beautiful bird.

[@stanburk7392]

Agreed. Of all the 4th gen fighters it is by far the best looking. The front view when on the ground how the wings curve gives it a medieval look. previous to that the F100 then the F86 and of course the ME262 six gen of course the F22. for WW2 prop fighters the Corsair and of course the sopwith pup. No one messes with snoopy.

[@kflanders2826]

That one you took to the face saved the Carrier! Salute! 🎖️

[@rdeeeezy]

Tom Clancy’s “Red Storm Rising” depicted this scenario. Great read.

[@TheFutureMike]

Jester didn't punch, went down with his pilot and aircraft, as noted in his commendation.

[@truthseeker9454]

R.I.P GrowlingSidewinder - He have his life for his carrier... ...and his subscribers. May he reach 600K by Christmas.

[@FlyinBrian777]

Navy veteran here. Medal of Honor would have, with certainty been awarded, especially if you used your aircraft to stop the missile. Followed up with the Navy Cross and Silver Star medals.

[@johneakins2793]

I just really wanted to thank you, because of watching your spectacular skills and loving flight Sims and looking to get into them for 40 years I finally made the plunge and ordered my thrustmaster and my VR headset and should be set up ready to start learning it by The Weeknd my wife probably wouldn't thank you but hey I'm retired I got to have something to fill up my time thank you for so much great content and the inspiration

[@gaetanb.]

Happy for you man.

[@benrodir2]

I tried the same, been a real struggle to get DCS to work with my hotas x, it doesnt even recognize some of the buttons. ughhhhghghghghg

[@wakcedout]

The carrier would still be escorted by at least 2 submarines as well. Everyone forgets that it isn’t just what you see on the surface of the water, there’s a couple subs with the carrier group.

[@LogicWarrior1474]

The CIWS Scene at the end was just epic. It looked like there was a force field that the cruise missiles were impacting.

[@lordviktrix13]

Absolutely LOVE the Jolly Rodgers paint! I like the initial portion of these fleet defense videos but the latter half when you're the only one doing the "fleet defending" and chasing after cruise missiles is a weebit lackluster. If other Tomcats were in the chase, same as you, that'd be so much fun

[@bobbyshaftoe]

Bears can be targeted at +120m with the phoenix.. why wait until ~62m and launch of the cruise missles?

[@LanceRyley]

looks like it was a late scramble to intercept.

[@msb3175]

The whole theory and design was to get the bombers b4 they get in range to target the ships.

[@allenbt11]

Shoot the Archer, not the Arrow...

[@ot9er]

Is it because the missiles must travel farther when they're chasing the Bears? As opposed to missiles intercepting incoming targets, like we've usually seen.

[@yowie0889]

More exciting narrative.

[@bic1498]

Sinking a carrier is harder than you think. With Condition Zebra set and compartments isolated and DC parties manned, it would take ALOT of ordnance to sink a 90K ton carrier. When they did a Sinkex on the Guam (LPH-9 at only 20K tons) they hit it with 5" guns, several Harpoons, Mavericks, dozens of MK-84s, a couple Penguins, and it barely listed. It only took 1 MK-48 ADCAP (from an SSBN!) and it was under water in under 6hrs. The SINKEX of the America was quite classified (for obvious reasons) and I am sure NAVSEA learned alot from that.

[@ret7army]

Consider that a WW2 BB was in the 30k ton class. 5 inch lets the gun crew shoot but dont expect much from it.

[@kirbs0001]

I think you mean condition Zulu, not zebra. And yeah, a ship closed up for DC is extremely hard to sink. It's not so hard to take it out of the fight though. Sure the hull may still float after multiple missile hits, but the crew have been turned into paint and jam by multiple shockwaves.

[@windoverwaves6781]

@@kirbs0001No, it's Zebra. While Zulu is the word for Z in the phonetic alphabet, Zebra is used in this case as a tradition thing

[@DotClass]

Big fan of this large scale combat. Keep it coming! :D

[@TurbineFlyer]

Bro just casually flying an F-14 alongside cruise missiles.. love it

[@IronMan-xm3lg]

We shall bow down towards those who heroically died in defense of the fleet............! Medal 🏅 of honor to GS.

[@daredemontriple6]

Tactical loss, Strategic victory - the attack almost entirely succeeds with all but the carrier sunk, and the carrier itself heavily damaged. However, it has cost a huge number of aircraft to launch the attack, and it has failed to kill the carrier - that carrier may well return in the short future to launch further attacks, probably lumped in with an already existing carrier group, but it's doubtful that Redfor would be able to launch another attack on the same scale, and if they did they'd be facing twice as many F14s!

[@J-M-F-8]

Real Red Storm Rising vibes. One of my favorite books.

[@jatie01]

Im currently listening to the book for the first time, when i read the title i definitely felt the same

[@lonl123]

Saw a Bear in 83 flying around when I was an aircrewman on P-3's while I was in the Navy. Didn't get too close to it, but it is an amazing aircraft. Still has it's uses as an ASW platform and Missile carrier.

[@dragonback6075]

Definitely think that scenario needs another try. Seems to be either... A) take out the bombers before they can launch their cruise missiles.. or B) just run down the missiles .. Maybe some F22's could do both

[@miriamweller812]

Good luck with that, the missiles got WAY more range than the jets and for a career to be effective you must somehow be in a range in which your airfleet can operatek, what puts you in range of these missiles. If you take something like the Zircon, that's super up to hypersonic, depending on the flight path, not chance to run that down. Can by the way carry a 200kt nuclear warhead, what would likely be used if it comes to such a scenario.

[@GladBeastBoy]

Flying with the cruise missiles was way too cool 😂

[@mdw1000]

Once the cruise missiles are launched I would forget about the Bears and focus on the missiles. Primary goal is saving the boat.

[@TR4Ajim]

Could the F14 “wing tip” a cruise missile to either knock it down, or scramble its guidance? Like Spitfires used to do with V1s.

[@maexmaestermann471]

That was what i was thinking...

[@sze9000]

Interesting thought, but would be tricky to do at those speeds and a modern cruise missile is probably more resilient than a V1.

[@spider_corsa]

@@maexmaestermann471my first thought was too

[@kcnmsepognln]

Heh, great minds etc: I came to post the same!

[@matthobbs5203]

Would have been worth a shot!

[@alanwright3172]

I hate to state the "bleedin obvious " as the Bear could carry up to 3 KH22 or 6 to 10 Kh101, the whole point of the F14/pheonix was to get the Bears before they launched😱

[@MrGreyZ]

RAF used try to tip V-1s with tier wing tips to knock them off course

[@robbmac22]

Appreciate you doing carrier attack and defend videos. I asked for it not too long ago and I’m pleased to see my wishes get answered!

[@pballerjb]

This reminds me of a part in Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy, Vampire! Vampire! Vampire!

[@ktotheswiss1617]

Thanks!

[@GrowlingSidewinder]

Thank you very much

[@davidzottneck9610]

1981 WestPac sailor on the USS Kitty Hawk CV-63. Every morning at 03:00, launch 5 firefighters. 5 F-14’s in 30 seconds. Shook the whole boat. Which is weird cause during daylight hours all the launches and touch and goes didn’t seem as jarring. Didn’t learn about the TU95’s till later in my career. They are Sub hunters also.

[@CharlesHuse]

Tom Clancy wrote a rather chilling chapter in Red Storm Rising that was literally this scenario, except instead of using Tu-95 bombers, it was an attack force of Tu-22 Backfires, and the target, the USS Nimitz, was hit and severely damaged.

[@jamesburrell677]

I haven't seen that many splashes since I was kid and someone shouted TURD IN THE POOL!

[@eg395]

You went “ above and beyond.” (In a blaze of glory)

[@icaleinns6233]

Gotta think that was a VERY effective strike against a carrier group. Cost a lot, yep, but the damage done was probably worth it. Unless they don't have any more pilots. In that case they're screwed.

[@ivanandriyanov4426]

I think that you might lowered effectivenes of SAM sites by being there, as some SM-2s blew up in the air, possibly because system thought it's firing at friendlies.

[@BuhamutZeo]

Yep. Even saw him flaring in the middle of the missile swarm, effectively providing COVER for the incoming onslaught.

[@GrowlingSidewinder]

lol the missiles are not heat seeking so flares would have done nothing.

[@red2001ss]

@@GrowlingSidewinder The only heat seekers that are fired in Fleet Defense would have been coming from the RIM-116 RAM. You definitely didn't get into their range.

[@jyates1396]

Love all your content!!!! More Tomcats against the world!!!!!

[@FestiMehmeti]

I was thinking. You could’ve used your arresting hook to hook the cruise missile and force it into water 😜. Great vid. Keep up the great work.

[@timsullivan4566]

Any idea how many TU-95s and how many cruise missiles they each carried? (that was an INSANE # of missiles!) GREAT vid - thanks, GS! 👍👍👍

[@GrowlingSidewinder]

Hi Tim, I think it was 4 missiles per bomber. If I recall correctly.

[@2020Max1]

Depends on the loadout these were subsonic missiles (probably AS-5 "Kents") so the Tu-95 could carry up to 8 in total.

[@timsullivan4566]

@@2020Max1 thx 👍

[@timsullivan4566]

@@GrowlingSidewinder Okay, thanks

[@FreakishWizardthegamingwizard]

This was so awesome idk how you came up with this and it worked so well. That was wild seeing thag many missles all around you

[@btheis2]

Keep the tomcat content coming!

[@einfisch3891]

Yooooo I was literally going back and watching some of your F-14 vids because I craved the tomcat content only to see you just posted one. Nice!

[@Rufus6540]

Very brave! Only thing I would've wanted to try first was the British tactic against V-1 buzz bombs where they placed their wingtip under that of the V-1 and lift it up, making contact with the V-1's wingtip. That threw of the gyro stabilizer in the V-1 and sent them ballistic. I'm certain modern cruise missiles aren't susceptible to that kind of thing but you never know!!

[@barbarossa1234]

The Tupolev Bear is a most fascinating aircraft.

[@3Quils72]

If Tom Clancy taught me anything, it's that the dance of the vampires never works out in the fleets favour. Additionally, the Tomcats should have held a reserve to specifically cover the fleet, while the majority went on their bear hunt. I learnt all of this from Red Storm Rising. 😅

[@atigerclaw]

So the Russian Bear unleashed an entire air wing of bombers on a carrier, lost every plane and the air crews therein, and only managed to knock out the escorts, and failed to actually take out the carrier. That's GOT to hurt.

[@scolfaqs]

Was thinking the same thing. US had 13 carriers in 1985 (just a guestimate of when to place this particular battle in history). USSR had 170 Bear and less capable Bison bombers plus 250 more capable Backfire bombers that year. These are the long-range bombers; not all of them were available for anti-ship missions. Seems like that's not going to be enough. They are not going to get as close to the carriers every time to launch missiles. The loss of the escorts is rough, but escort losses will abate as the Tomcats catch the bombers further out and the opposing bomber force is atritted at this high a rate. Wasn't a great result for the fleet, but GS' setup--the Bears getting that close, no other Tomcats shooting down the antiship missiles--was about as favorable for the Soviet forces as they could've hoped for, and the carrier still got away, recovering Tomcats as it retired.

[@krismurphy7711]

And how long would a damaged carrier last with only the sub to protect it? (Assume even an air group remained aboard.) Next attack from a cruise missile carrying sub or surface ship.

[@triparadox.c]

Well, this scenario does not account that the Bears had air fighter protection. If they had fighter jets escorting, some Bears might survive. Also, in this scenario, they don't even need highly trained pilots. Just a one-way pilot.

[@johnkruton9708]

The Navy regrets to inform you … You big HERO

[@leeproffitt69]

GS I have a question why would you let them get within 100 miles and launch your missiles at your carrier you let them get within that distance you don’t have anything to go home to your ass is gonna be floating in the ocean

[@ThePereubu1710]

because it made for a cool video?

[@shearfury147]

Sir! Excellent video. Again with the editing. Better and better. Sacrificing yourself at the end. lol. Love it! Educational and entertaining. All boxes checked.

[@certinho76]

Dude! You and Jester died heroes like Goose, my man. Salute.

[@tomas7158]

Hard to rank your misions when its plenty of them over the year. This one should be at least at top five. Very entertaining and fun to watch. At a sence almost evry episod with the Tomcat are a tribute to the jet who was ahead its time. F14 Tomcat. 👍

[@chipblood]

I've really been enjoying the mission impossible stuff lately. I know DCS is fantasy but I like to think someday these skills will be useful. :-) Love your stuff!

[@sonar357]

Idea for a simulation: in the movie Red Dawn (1984) LtCol Tanner, an F15 pilot, after being asked how he got shot down replies "It was five to one, I got four!" How about a battle sim of one F15 vs various mid-80's era Soviet fighters (Mig-23, Mig-29, Mig-21, etc) to see what the likely scenario/outcome would've been for him?

[@MW-fz3zg]

Shooting down the bombers after they launch is wasted missles for the antiship missles. It was a win for the bombers.

[@jeremycaufield8605]

Next time try flipping the missiles with your wing tip, like a buzz bomb.

[@90whatever]

I have heard some analysts say the age of carrier battle groups may be coming to an end due to the sophistication of stealth cruise missiles and how hard it is to defend ships at sea. This was 70s tech in this simulation and even back then they realized the point defense CIWS were not super effective when large numbers of cruise missiles were coming in. And these are slow ones. The new hypersonic stealth ones will be so much more difficult. Directed energy weapons may help but it likely isnt enough in a near-peer naval battle (i.e. China).

[@sulyokpeter3941]

Hypersonic missiles are still not at its best. The newest Chinese made ones for example(YJ-21) They managed to launch a couple of maybe 10-11 and only 1 managed to hit a moving target, and that target was moving in the same direction with the same speed. Lets not talk about a Carrier Strike Group, which can change speed, direction, launch decoys, defend itself and what not. You need a refernce? Learn about the YJ-21 + the Hypersonic missiles, ohh and you need some Chinese knowledge or use translater.

[@Rob_F8F]

Hypersonics transit at hypersonic speeds but slow to supersonic speed in the attack because they are going into the thicker atmosphere at sea level.

[@benn454]

Hypersonics are still a bit of a work in progress at this point. Russia's Kinzhal that they brag so much about has been taken down by Patriot.

[@jonathanpfeffer3716]

Ok, the phrase “hypersonic stealth” might be the funniest one I’ve read recently. There is nothing stealthy about hypersonics. They have an IR signature the size of the sun and can be picked up by BM launch satellites, lol. They’re also huge. Some of the shaping might incidentally provide some RCS reduction. That’s about as far as you can go with that.

[@nonyanks2510]

Ok, you definitely get the Crazy Ivan Award but I wonder why the fleet didn't turn into the oncoming missles, presenting a much smaller target rather than broadside, Subs do the same with oncoming torpedo's.

[@firebald2915]

Again, superb work on this. MoA posthumously? Or Sacrificial KIA Flying Missile Formation ? Ya never got hit, accidently. Miracle.

[@ernestcardona9131]

“They better give me a medal for this one!”- Posthumously awarded

[@philiponeill6903]

"They'd better give me a medal for this ------" BOOM! I snorted coffee out of my nose...:D

[@kangaroohybrid5633]

For your brave defence of the Carrier Group, the President has awarded you the CMOH....RIP

[@subpilot1000]

Your best death yet dude! Epic glory!!!

[@BobH809]

Some interesting angles showing the streams of CIWS finding the cruise missiles. I have watched similar videos but not with this 'cinematic' quality. By the way, similar results in the other videos I have watched. Missile saturation works for the enemy, dammit!

[@alexanderleach3365]

Incredible that the carrier is the only ship left to have survive a full Tu-95 Bear bomber attack.

[@drgonzo305]

Didn’t even punch out and took your back seater with you, like a goddamned American hero

[@warrenj38]

That was a nail biter!! Good kill!! As always awesome video!!

[@hawkeye2816]

Honestly probably pretty close to accurate. Both US and USSR knew they could kill a carrier fleet, so the US plan was basically just to make it hurt as much as possible. As I recall, it was estimated to take something like 1/2 to 2/3 of the entire Soviet strategic bomber fleet in casualties to take out a single carrier group. US loses one carrier group, meanwhile USSR loses most of their bomber force. Not a great trade for Russia.

[@highbornjase2412]

We salute you sir your bravery saved the Carrier

[@sana-cm7oc]

Cool video. Thank you for your sacrifice GS.

[@KingofDoubleBogey]

Brilliant ! Great scenario

[@cshan2313]

Well...USS America did teach the Navy that carrier doesn't sink that easily, definitely would have still survived getting hit more, but of course, being combat ineffective is almost same as being sunk

[@Cuccos19]

Actually you could carry 6 Phoenixes, just don't wanna land back with all 6 on the carrier. But for a surely deploy situation I think it could be a solution.

[@CJ-sx7lt]

Hey GS as always loving the content. You did F14 what if it was available during Vietnam ……what about a what if A10 in same conflict…..it was designed for it ??would love to see

[@patchbunny]

14:46 and that's why you should intercept the Bears *before* they launch.

[@artygunnar]

where were the rest of the f14's? how come only you were the one going back to take out the cruise missiles?

[@leothomas4853]

Question. Where was the rest of F-14's when you were taking out the cruise missiles?

[@brkntires]

Did anyone else see that Tomcat streak past his canopy at the 25 second mark.. near miss...

[@truthseeker9454]

👀I didn't, thanks for calling that out! I'll bet Jester had his hand on the ejection handle. 😆

[@stevenborgogna]

I think you earned your metal. *taps plays in the background*

[@AdamosDad]

We actually had a Tu-95 Bear, fly over our ship in 1970 in the Med.

[@ret7army]

Back in WW2 some fighters flew formation on the V1s and used their wing tip to flip them. Caused their gyros to get screwed and make them crash. Dont know if that would work today.

[@crystalclarity6766]

Your sacrifice will not be forgotten!

[@ScarlettSpitfyre]

This is the most Tom Cruise you could have done: to slam the Tomcat into the missiles. And at the end, after one of the missile past over all ships in the carrier group, the missile will put down its mask and it is Tom Cruise from Mission Impossible, Impossible!

[@TimbavatiLion]

Watching the CRAMs open up on the incoming missile swarm... maan that looks like some Star Wars scene, holy crap. I wonder how many cruise missiles it would take to sink an aircraft carrier though. The US had trouble sinking an old one with loads of explosives, used it as torpedo targets before and it wouldn't go down

[@jonathanpfeffer3716]

A lot. Anti-ship missiles are designed to and expected to mission kill for the most part, even for much smaller ships. They detonate above the waterline, and with some exceptions don’t have a crazy huge warhead (in anti-ship terms at least). Even frigates can take multiple missiles and survive. Just look at the USS Stark. For a carrier? You’re gonna have to get a whole lot more than that.

[@MrKnoxguy101]

The ultimate sacrifice.. well done.

[@jop4691]

Didn't see if your flight was able to land? If not... might mean the difference between a Navy Cross or a CMH.

[@1972bcain]

That was a good one GS!

[@IamNotaRealAmerican]

Love the vids, keep 'em coming!

[@Rose.Of.Hizaki]

Those Anti-ship missiles hit so hard, they turned the American carrier into the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov

[@waynevan5069]

I thought you were going to try the old RAF tactic used against the V-1s of wing tipping the cruise missles.

[@nonegiven5295]

I am not a player, gamer, just a JAFO so please forgive my ignorance. Isn't the idea to shoot down the bombers BEFORE the bombers bomb? I still enjoy and look forward to many more of your videos. Robert from Commiefornia.

[@WhiteTemplar01]

You are correct, plus the F14 could carry 6 AIM-54's lock 6 targets and fire them all.

[@kyle.1442]

Some old time RAF boys could’ve given you some advize with dealing with those cruise missiles without guns.

[@dfwald4657]

What's the point of shooting down Bears if they've already fired all their anti-ship missiles? The whole point of having E-2C planes is spotting bombers several hundreds of miles away and then the F14's shooting most of them down before they fire all their missiles. With big bombers that can't maneuver you should be able to fire Phoenixes greater than 65 miles away and more like 90 or so. Better off aiming the Phoenixes to hit the anti ship missiles if they were already fired to help the fleet not run out of all of their surface to air missiles like you did at the end.

[@TankandDimples]

Technically in this scenario, they would have the planes shoot down as many missiles as possible as to not overwhelm the air defense system ...

[@aaronliddell4280]

I see Tomcat content, I instantly hit like 👍

[@mbmann3892]

I happen to be one of the few the find the Tu-95 sexy and the F-14. Both in one video, with AGM PHENOIX .

[@JoeM-TS2-OCSO-Ret]

Hell yeah, flying the Jolly Rogers - Tomcats!!!!

[@PersonalityMalfunction]

Simply stunning!

[@robbabcock_]

Great video! All for the fleet...

[@sitrep123able]

the battlefield 3 theme never disappoints

[@khoatran-sv7je]

Imagine being in a civilian liner and seeing an entire wall of missile streaks and military planes, what would you guys be thinking? I personally would be terrified but also living my dream at the same time.