April 2003 - Battles 3-4
Battle 3:
-Mission: Advance
-Location: Iraqi desert
-Visibility: 200 metres (dusk)
-Duration: 31 turns
-Support: 2 SP Mortar platoons (48 men), 1 Lt Mech Bat (378 men), 4 Tornado (8 men) & 2 RPVs (0 men)
-Result: Decisive victory
-Points: 14.794 vs. 232
Battle 4:
-Mission: Defend
-Location: Iraqi desert
-Visibility: 2.200 metres
-Duration: 9 turns
-Support: 8 M1A2 SEP Abrams (32 men), 3 Challenger 2 (12 men) & 4 AH-64D Apache (8 men)
-Result: Decisive victory
-Points: 29.844 vs. 1.544
Report:
Ordered to advance towards Iraqi positions, the commander of the Swedish’ taskforce decided to wait until the arrival of dusk to exploit the advantages of the Coalition troops to the maximum. With the British’ RPVs gathering battlefield information on the whereabouts of the Iraqi troops and the Swedish’ MBTs and the British’ supporting units destroying the Iraqi units one by one, the advancement went according to plan. The only losses suffered by the Swedish’ taskforce were one Strf 90B - knocked out by an undetected T-72 - and one Bv 206, destroyed by the Iraqi artillery. The only losses suffered by the American’ ground forces were caused by lucky RPG-7 hits on the M113A3 APCs. After the combat action the taskforce remained on the battlefield until first light revealed the true scale of the destruction of the Iraqi forces.
Shortly after the advancement, after having replaced losses, the Swedish’ forces were ordered to defend an important area against an expected Iraqi assault, the enemy becoming more desperate as the Coalition forces advanced towards Bagdad. With its growing reputation the Swedish’ taskforce was given more support than normal, and with the taskforce including 31 MBTs, 4 UH-64D Apache and 6 ATGM units, it stood ready to withstand the Iraqi onslaught. The Swedish’ commander decided to use three lines of defence: The UH-64D Apache first spotting the enemy and engaging them, the MBTs following up with more firepower and as a last resort the ATGM units and APCs carrying the infantry, the APCs being spread out in order to be less vulnerable in the expected Iraqi artillery fire.
When the assault finally came it took just five minutes to destroy all of the armoured vehicles and a further four minutes to fend off the remaining infantry units. Despite of this, it was a very violent battle, costing the coalition forces one heavy mortar position - destroyed by a lucky Iraqi artillery hit - , a Sisu XA-180 - hit by a ATGM - and two AH-64D Apache - shot down by the intensive SAM fire - , the crewmembers KIA.
Not long afterwards came the end of hostilities between the Coalition forces and the Iraqi army. The mission for the Swedish’ taskforce had changed from engaging the enemy forces to patrolling the streets in order to keep the fragile and relative peace, and this change also saw some changes among the Swedish’ ranks, with some units being flown back to Sweden and other units added to it. The Swedish’ soldiers could finally take a breather after two months of intensive combat.
Losses:
-Sweden: 32 (179) men, 2 (3) Bv 206, 1 (3) Strf 90B, 1 (6) Sisu XA-180 & 1 heavy mortar position
-USA: 16 (126) men & 2 AH-64D Apache shot down
-Iraq: Some 3.200 (6.500) men, 180 (330) MBTs and AFVs, 90 (160) APCs, 20 (54) anti-aircraft guns, 19 (40) mortar positions & 4 (6) 107 mm recoilless anti-tank guns
Claims:
-MBT Bat: 163 (378) MBTs, AFVs & APCs. 19 (51) anti-aircraft guns & 18 mortar positions
-USA: 74 (79) MBTs, AFVs & APCs
-UK: 33 MBTs, AFVs & APCs, 1 anti-aircraft gun, 1 mortar position & 4 107 mm recoilless anti-tank guns
Captured equipment:
-1 (2) anti-aircraft gun & a very large number of AK47 assault rifles and RPG-7 anti-tank weapons complete with huge amounts of ammunition.
Replacing losses:
-MRV Battalion: Since the Sisu XA-180s proved to be vulnerable against the RPG-7 and mines, these were replaced by Strf 90Bs, which also are less vulnerable against guided anti-tank weapons and also was better adapted for the modern battlefield.
New Core Units:
Armoured Battalion 03:
-Battalion Staff:
--Headquarters + Strf 9040B (9 men)
-FO Vehicle:
--EPbv 90 (4 men)
-Heavy Transport Vehicle:
--Tank transport (2 men)
-Armoured Battalion Support 03:
--3 Strf 90B + 3 heavy mortars (Bv 206) + 1 arm inf pl* (Strf 9040B) + 5 HMG sections (104 men)
-Armoured Infantry Company 03:
--1 arm inf sec* (Strf 9040B) + 3 arm inf pl* (Strf 9040B) + 3 RBS-56 TI ATGM teams (Strf 9040B) (128 men)
-Armoured Infantry Company 03:
--1 arm inf sec* (Strf 9040B) + 3 arm inf pl* (Strf 9040B) + 3 RBS-56 TI ATGM teams (Strf 9040B) (128 men)
-Armoured Infantry Company 03:
--1 arm inf sec* (Strf 9040B) + 3 arm inf pl* (Strf 9040B) (110 men)
-Armoured Infantry Company 03:
--1 arm inf sec* (Strf 9040B) + 3 arm inf pl* (Strf 9040B) (110 men)
-Main Battle Tank Company:
--1 + 3 + 3 + 3 Strv 122B (40 men)
-Main Battle Tank Company
--1 + 3 + 3 + 3 Strv 122B (40 men)
-Munitions Support:
--2 munitions pl (Pbv 401) (16 men)
-Brigade AA Company:
--3 RBS-70 SAM Pl (Bv 308) (24 men)
*Includes 1 inf-AT team to increase the AT capability of the arm inf sec
The taskforce totals 724 soldiers and crew members, 1 EPbv 90, 20 Strv 122B, 53 Strf 9040B, 3 Bv 308, 3 Bv 206, 8 Pbv 401 & 1 tank transport.
Cheers, Taskforce