October 16th, 1980
Kaspiysk, Russia
There were three massive warehouses along the coastline of the Caspian Sea, just east of the city of Kaspiysk. These buildings were rather innocuous, especially when viewed from five hundred kilometers away by an American KH-11 satellite. The Naval Infantrymen of the 810th Independent Naval Infantry Brigade referred to these seaside warehouses as the “Eagles Nest.” Split between the three buildings were four very unusual craft. These unique vessels fell somewhere between ships and aircraft. They could float, like a ship, but they could leave the water and fly at low altitudes, and very high speeds. They were faster than any ship afloat, but could carry more cargo than any aircraft of a comparable size.
These were the ekranoplans of the Soviet Naval Infantry. The largest, the “Eagle” had been known as the Kaspian Sea Monster. It was a massive frame that could carry over two hundred and fifty fully loaded Marines. The KM was originally a prototype used as a proof of concept. The massive unit measured over ninety meters long and could lift over five hundred tons. This made it considerably larger and more capable than the U.S. Air Force’s C-5 Galaxy. A large engine mount dominated the front of the KM. The Mount carried eight VD-7 Turbojet engines, four on each side of the fuselage. The engines had adjustable nozzles that would push the thrust under the main wing of the ship during the take-off process. Once the ship was airborne, the nozzles would direct the thrust directly aft to give the KM additional speed. Two more of the huge engines were mounted on either side of the vertical stabilizer. When cruising, the KM could stay aloft with only the rear mounted engines.
The three smaller ekranoplans were the derivative offspring of the KM, officially known as the A-90 and affectionately called Eaglets. The A-90s looked more like conventional aircraft than did the KM. The A-90 had two smaller NK-8 turbofan engines concealed in the nose, with a single, massive NK-1 Turboprop at the top of the tail boom. The wings were set low and just forward of the mid-point of the airframe. Each Eaglet could carry two BTR Amphibious Fighting Vehicles, and the ten men who would fight each of those vehicles.
The ekranoplans used a principle of physics known as the “ground effect” experienced by all aircraft as they near a fixed surface. As a winged vehicle gets closer to the surface, lift increases and drag decreases. Using a design that maximizes this effect allows an aircraft of equivalent size to move much greater weight at much higher speeds than can be done by a conventional aircraft. As a tradeoff, these vessels could only fly at low altitudes. It didn’t take Soviet designers long to understand that carrying a lot of cargo over extensive ranges at high speeds, flying below radar coverage, might have military applications.
Tonight was the culmination of months of training and practice. The Soviet High command was going to find out if their investment in this technology and training had any tactical value. During the night, Naval Infantrymen loaded onto each of the Eagles. The eight wheeled BTR-70s loaded up their crews and troops, then backed into the A-90s. Instead of using a traditional ramp, like most transport planes, the entire nose and cockpit section of the A-90 opened on hinges like a giant swinging door. This would allow the vehicles to exit the Eaglet as soon as it hit the beach, without having to “swim.”
The KM, as a prototype, lacked any such bells and whistles. Instead, she would need a pier to dock with. With the port side wing secured to the pier, the 250 marines and their equipment would scramble out of the Monster through an access hatch just above the wing. It was an inelegant process and would take much more time than a fully operational vehicle like the A-90. For tonight’s live fire proof-of-concept mission though, the KM could move the troops needed to secure a beachhead.
Once the Marines loaded onto the ekranoplans, each one taxied out into the water and began the take-off process they had been rehearsing for the past several months. Within ten minutes, the three hundred men and six BTRs began the first offensive use of a ground effect vehicle in combat. It would be a solid two-hour trip. The four ships flew south, southeast toward their target: Chalus.
Chalus was a perfect target for this offensive. It was a fair-sized seaside town, close to the capital of Tehran. The only direct access route between Tehran and Chalus was Highway 59, a narrow, winding mountain pass. Any relief effort coming from Tehran would have to travel the gauntlet between the two cities, and the Soviet Air Force had pledged to make that trip impossible. Besides the Su-20s and Mig-27s allocated to the effort, the Soviet Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily (VVS) were deploying a special detachment of their latest Attack Aircraft, the Su-25. Within an hour of the attack, the Su-25s would prowl Highway 59, looking for subjects upon which they could test their beautiful new airframes.
Chalus also had the benefit of possessing several commercial piers which could accommodate the KM and allow for the Marines to disembark in multiple locations to improve the dispersal. This would allow more troops to cover more territory than could be accomplished in other port towns along the Caspian coastline.
As far as the local commanders were aware, they needed to occupy the city to establish a secure zone inside Iran. This would be the stepping off point to a pacification operation that would end the constant and increasing terrorist attacks occurring along the border areas. If the Iranians could take positive measures to stop the violence, the Soviets wouldn’t need to “pacify” more of the Iranian countryside. If the Iranians wouldn’t or couldn’t stop the attacks, the Soviets would continue to add troops and consolidate control across the entire northern border from Afghanistan to Turkey.
In reality, the Soviets were making a calculated move to bring in additional US forces. They knew there was no way they could get away with an actual invasion of Iran without eliciting a direct military response from the United States. Instead, they were counting on it. Recent Intel had indicated that the Americans had moved a light division into the region and the Soviets estimated that this action would pull that Division into Iranian territory, and that the United States would then commit additional troops to the region. The Soviets balanced along the razor’s edge of antagonizing the US just enough to bleed their military strength, while not going so far as to drive them to initiate direct hostilities.
The ekranoplans closed to within a half hour of their destination. High above them, Mig-25 Interceptors and Mig-23 fighters loitered over the borders on either side of the Caspian. If the fighters detected incoming aircraft, they would engage to preserve the surprise of the first wave of the assault. The Ground attack aircraft were preparing to take off to join the fray in time for the landings themselves. They would approach at sea level from the north, staying out of sight until the last minute. Everyone knew that when the first A-90 hit the beach and unloaded the first BTR, all hell would break loose.
Intelligence overflights by Mig-25R reconnaissance planes revealed that the garrison in Chalus had been depleted to counter the Iraqis in the South. The Iranians had no reason to suspect that the town was at risk of attack, other than a possible air raid by the Iraqis. Even that didn’t make a lot of sense, given that there was no tactical or strategic value to Chalus regarding the Iran-Iraq war. The entire town was peacefully sleeping when war came to visit them.
The first landing of the three A-90s hit the beach in front of the Noshahr Airport. Within ten minutes of landing, six BTRs were racing to the airport where the sixty marines would overwhelm the security and police forces. Once subdued, special teams of Marines would begin preparing the airport for operations. Within half an hour, troops and equipment would fly in on An-72 and An-12 aircraft. As additional Marines arrived at the airport, they would advance, adding control to more territory until they linked up with additional units that had made landings further along the beach.
Three miles to the west of the airport, the KM had docked with the recreational pier at Chaloos Beach. The Marines on board were piling out of the Sea Monster and scrambling along the wing to the pier, where they would then jog to the beach and form up into squads. Once the Marines had gathered together by squads and platoons, they would advance south, securing the major roads that would allow movement throughout the town. The dismounted Marines would ensure the security of the area while their heavier equipment was delivered by the A-90s, or from the cargo planes beginning operations at the airport.
At the airport, there was light resistance. None of the security forces there were prepared for actual combat. The police were likewise overwhelmed with little resistance. Sporadic gunfire rang out from the occasional stalwart, but within three hours the Marines had secured most of the town. BTRs and the smaller BRMD Scout vehicles patrolled the streets, while messages of pacification were being played on loudspeakers. The population didn’t need a lot of convincing to stay indoors. The shock and speed of the attack had taken most of them unaware.
In the skies above, Soviet fighters dared the Iranians to come out and play. A pair of F-5 Tigers were on Combat Air Patrol over Tehran when the first calls came in from Noshahr Airport. They sped north to see what aid they could render and were immediately pounced on by waiting Foxbats. Two pairs of R-23 missiles reached out from the Mig-25s and destroyed the Tigers long before the F-5s could get into position to interfere with the landings below. With dozens of Soviet aircraft showing up on ground control radar, the Iranian Air Force refused to commit more aircraft for fear of losing the edge they had in the south against the Iraqis.
This decision saved many planes on both the Soviet and Iranian side of the conflict. Unfortunately for the Iranians, it also doomed the relief column they had sent from Tehran. The Su-25s of the 200th TAS detected, engaged, and destroyed the company of M-60 Patton tanks that the Iranians had sent to push the Soviets back. The high cliff walls of the mountain pass made detection difficult, but once detected, they gave the Iranians no way to disperse their forces. The Su-25s flew up and down the road destroying tanks with a mix of 500 pound unguided bombs and K4-25 air-to-surface missiles. It was a massacre.
On the ground, the Soviet regiment completed their deployment. The Iranians were unwilling to lose more men in the effort to take back the seaside town. By the morning of the 17th, the Soviets were in control of a major chunk of the Caspian Seashore in Iran.