1977 battle over Malhkirin

1977 battle over Malhkirin
Part of the Hayren War
Illustration of two Ruvelkan Donnolas.
Date 20 March, 1977 Location Malhkirin, Hayren Republic Result Ruvelkan victory
Belligerents
Ruvelka	Republic of Syara
Strength
2 AFASF-10 Donnolas	2 Erinys
Casualties and losses
1 AFASF-10 shot down	2 Erinys shot down

The 1977 battle over Malhkirin was an aerial battle that occurred between Ruvelka and the Republic of Syara during the Hayren War. While the engagement did not involve large numbers of aircraft and was primarily a skirmish between two flights of fighters, it was the first recognized force on force dogfight that set the precedent for future aerial battles during the course of the conflict.

Background

The declaration of the Hayren Republic and the outbreak of the Hayren War had originally involved a mutual commitment by both the Republic of Syara and government of Ruvelka to dismember the Hayren state. Both sides initially stated their desire to prevent the conflict from spiraling into a confrontation between the two historical enemies, but amid tensions over the Granika Border War military forces from both nations had engaged one another in direct confrontation. Complicating the matter was the sizeable Hayren populations in both Syara and Ruvelka, who were further divided along linguistic and religious lines. The attempt by the Hayren Republic to assert itself as the primary political representative of all Hayren people, along with efforts by the Republic's militia to enforce traditional Hayren customs, had enflamed tensions between the three powers and fighting had spilled over into other areas of Syara and Ruvelka.

In an effort to further cement their control over the break away regions, both Syaran and Ruvelkan military forces had taken aggressive action with Armavir and Tarnova. Despite public measures designed to prevent potential clashes between Syaran and Ruvelkan forces, mutual suspicion and lack of trust led to a number of armed confrontations on the ground and in the air, the latter beginning in 1975 with the shootdown of a Syaran Strix attack aircraft. In 1976 both sides fired upon and downed an aircraft, and a number of engagements broke out along the border. In early 1977 Syaran forces began deploying air defense systems throughout Tarnova and had begun firing upon Ruvelkan aircraft that were patrolling close to the border, leading to raids by Ruvelkan special forces in retaliation. Both the Ruvelkan Imperial Air Force and the Syaran Army Air Corps increased their combat air patrols over the territory of the Hayren Republic.

Engagement

On 20 March 1977 two Erinys light fighter aircraft took off from an air field 25 kilometers north of Kesagi and in Hayreniky and proceeded east towards territory claimed by the Hayren Republic. The two Erinys formed Valiant Flight, consisting of Valiant 1 piloted by Senior Lieutenant Nikodemos Papadakis and Valiant 2 piloted by Junior Lieutenant Zavarin Demitrov Rusev. According to logs of the Syaran Army Air Corps kept in Hayreniky, Valiant Flight was intended to provide air cover for Syaran ground forces operating in the area. Approximately 20 minutes after the two Syaran fighters had taken off, two Donnolas took off from their own airfield in Ruvelka and vectored west to perform a combat air patrol along the Ruvelkan-Syaran border. At the time, the fighting of the Hayren War had created a muddled situation on the ground and the actual border between the two nations was poorly defined. Special forces and ground troops from both sides had routinely crossed the border in order to strike at Hayren Republic militia, who often fired rockets and mortars at both Syaran and Ruvelkan forces from the opposite country to minimize the chance of retaliation strikes. The two Donnolas were known as Spear Flight and commanded by Captain Dorina Boros and Lieutenant Attila Barna. Both flights were directed by ground control radar teams.

At 09:55 Valiant Flight was within 35 kilometers of the, near the edge of their onboard radar range. Spear Flight was notified by ground controllers of the presence of Valiant Flight, which according to the perspective of the ground controllers appeared to be heading for the Ruvelkan border. Spear Flight was ordered to head west to meet the Syaran fighters in case they attempted to cross over the border. Syaran ground radar had been tracking the Donnolas and notified Valiant Flight that the two Ruvelkan aircraft had changed course, and appeared to be intercepting. Papadakis, commander of the flight, ordered a course correction to see how the Ruvelkans would respond; the two Erinys shifted their noses south-east. The two aircraft also lowered their altitude from 15,000 feet to 10,000. From the Ruvelkan perspective however the two aircraft appeared to still be heading for the border, and their decreased altitude likely gave the impression they were attempting to go lower to avoid detection amid the rugged terrain of southern Syara and Ruvelka. In respose, Spear Flight reoriented themselves to keep their nose on the two Syaran aircraft.

The maneuver coincided with the appearance of the Donnolas on the radar of the two Erinys, who had up until now not been able to track the Ruvelkans with their own onboard radar. The appearance of the Donnolas on the Syaran aircraft's radar, coupled with the report from Syaran ground controllers that the Donnolas had turned into them likely led the Syaran pilots to believe the two Ruvelkans were on an intercept course. Papadakis ordered Valiant Flight to angle back north to bring their nose directly on the two Ruvelkan aircraft. Onboard Spear 1, Captain Boros noted the maneuver and radioed back to ground control that the Syarans had turned back into them. With the aircraft now just 25 kilometers apart and closing, and suspecting the Syarans intended to intercept, Boros ordered Barna to activate his weapons system. To the Ruvelkans, the Syaran maneuvers and their decreasing altitude indicated their were intending to intercept and possibly engage.

At 10:20 the two flights were approximately 20 kilometers away, both approaching the small city of Malhkirin. Boros broadcasted on an open channel requesting the Syaran aircraft break contact and change course away from the Ruvelkan border. Valiant Flight either was unable to hear the message or ignored it and continued on course. With the distance between the two groups down to 15 kilometers, Boros ordered Barna to illuminate the Syaran aircraft with their onboard air-to-air missiles, which were semi-active radar homing. The illumination alerted the Syarans that they were being targeted, although Boros did not give the order to open fire. At under 12 kilometers the Syarans were reaching the edge of their own weapons range, and believing the Ruvelkans were about to fire, Papadakis ordered Rusev to break apart and descend. The Syarans wanted to move to lower altitudes where the Donnola's radar would have difficulty tracking them.

Valiant Flight split with Papadikis heading north-east and Rusev south-east. The maneuver, which the Ruvelkans identified as a standard Syaran air combat maneuver, led Boros to radio to Ruvelkan ground control that the Syarans were preparing to engage. Boros then gave the order to engage before the Syarans got to within visual range, where the more agile Erinys would be at an advantage over the Donnola. Boros split north to take on Papadikis while Barna took on Rusev and headed south. At a distance of 8 kilometers both Boros and Barna fired off air-to-air missiles. Boros's missile hit Valiant 1 at an altitude of 4,000 feet, shooting down the aircraft and killing Papadikis.

Three kilometers to the south however Barna's missile failed to track and Rusev was able to reorient his nose on Barna's aircraft. From a distance of four kilometers Rusev fired his own air-to-air missile and succeeded in hiting Barna's aircraft, forcing Barna to eject. By the time Barna had been hit, Boros had reoriented her aircraft towards Rusev and from a distance of six kilometers fired another missile, but it failed to track. Rusev dived low to the deck and accelerated to nearly 900 kilometers an hour. Boros, wary of engagign the more agile Erinys within visual range, instead accelerated as well, overshooting Rusev before he could bring his nose up. Boros then pivoted south to swing around for another go, keeping her aircraft at speed of more than 1,600 kilometers an hour.

Rusev brought his aircraft around to attempt to get his nose on Boros, and attempted a second missile launch on the rapidly moving Donnola. The faster Ruvelkan aircraft however left the envelope of Rusev's missile, which failed to track. As the Erinys at the time carried only two air-to-air missiles, Rusev opted to abandon the engagement rather than attempt to close and engage with his canon. He turned west and accelerated near the aircraft's "never exceed speed", but Boros was able to bring her Donnola around and engaged at beyond-visual-range, which hit the Syaran fighter. Rusev was either unable to or unwilling to eject and was killed. After a quick visual search to identify Barna's crash site, Boros beelined for the Ruvelkan border before the Syarans could scramble more aircraft. Barna was later recovered by Ruvelkan search and rescue.

Aftermath

The air battle over Malhkirin was the first true air battle between Syara and Ruvelka during the Hayren War. While it was not the first time an aircraft had been shot down during the war, it was the first time both sides had suffered losses and engaged in what could be considered a dog fight. The performance of the two flights revealed several things about the aircraft involved. While the Erinys was a capable light fighter, with simple maintenance and cheap operating costs, the limitations of its air-to-air capability caused the Syarans to limit its involvement and possibility of engaging Ruvelkan fighters. The RIAF concluded the Donnola was limited when fighting within visual range, although it's BVR capabilities were proven sufficient.

The incident heightened tensions between Ruvelka and Syara and threatened to escalate the conflict. A week after the battle Syaran bombers struck Ruvelkan positions along the border, killing three and wounding 17. Three months after the battle, a Syaran Alkyonides would be downed by a Ruvelkan Donnola after the Syaran aircraft had fired on another Ruvelkan plane. The battle would set the tone for future air engagements, which became increasingly more common and violent over the course of the war.