1981 Daekanese-Urranese conflict

1981 Daekanese-Urranese conflict
Clockwise from the top left: KJ-3 being launched by DPN Yulyeong, the DPAN Geonjanghan sinking after being struck by Urranese missiles, a downed Urranese F-4 viewed from a JS-9s gun camera, the URS Jian on patrol
Date 2 March 1981 - 24 March 1981 Location East Daekan Sea/Tsushima Sea Result Ceasefire
Belligerents
Daekan Supported by:	Urran Supported by:
Commanders and leaders
Hong Tae-Hyun (Premier, Commander-in-Chief) Chun Ji-Hu (Minister of Defence) Won Jong-Su (Commander of the DPAN) <br	Hayato Igarashi (Prime Minister, Commander-in-Chief) Xi Li Mai (Minister of Defence) Yoshio Okada (Grand Admiral of the Navy)
Casualties and losses
1 destroyer sunk, 1 frigate heavily damaged, 3 aircraft shot down, 41 dead	1 destroyer sunk, 1 destroyer lightly damaged, 2 aircraft shot down, 44 dead

The 1981 Daekanese-Urranese conflict, known in Daekan as the East Sea Incident (Daekanese: 동해 사고; Donghae sago) and in Urran as the Battle of Tsushima (Urranese: 対馬の戦い;Tsushima no tatakai), was an undeclared, 22-day long period (March 2 to March 24) of skirmishes between the People's Socialist Republic of Daekan and the Constitutional Republic of Urran. The conflict started when a Daekanese fighter flight got into a mock dogfight with Urranese fighters after the former got too close, with one of the sides opening fire soon after. The short conflict was mainly fought with naval and air forces on both sides, and ended in a ceasefire agreement signed on the 24th of March, 1981.

Background

The more aggressive and ambitious diplomatic posture the PSRD adopted in the 70s, emboldened by its rapid economic recovery, had severe repercussions in its relations with foreign powers, including Urran. Despite Urran's rather isolationist stance, it was viewed as a potential threat by the Daekanese leadership ( it was first mentioned as such, however, in the Forward Defence strategy adopted in 1966) on account of its "reactionary government" and sizable military, as well as its relations with Daekanese rivals such as Esgonia and Yamatai. The result was increased alert of Daekanese naval and air forces assigned to the East Daekan Sea, in particular the East Sea Fleet itself. Overflights of Urranese military as well as civillian vessels by Daekanese fighters and maratime patrol aircraft was also common. Actions like this increased from 1978, with the beginning of the Sixth 5-year plan.

However, with the catastrophic concequences to Daekanese economy that the failure of the Seventh 5-year plan brought about by 1980, Daekanese mentality shifted from ambitious posturing to desparate paranoia. The worsening relations with Daekan's formerly tusted partners such as Azenyanistan and Kirana also contributed to this. Many in Premier Hong Tae-Hyun's government suggested that Daekan should not allow potential threats to take advantage of the country's worsening economic situation. It was proposed that Daekan should project strength to ensure its security and make any potential aggression against it seem too costly. This resulted in the further intesification of naval and air patrols in both the East and the South seas, as well as on the Esgonian border.

Conflict

2nd of March incident

In the early morning hours of the 2nd of March 1981, a 2-ship flight of JS-9Bs from the DPAAF's 32nd Fighter Squadron out of Meolli AFB, was undertaking routine patrol roughly 400 kilometres north-east of Meolli island. In the cockpits were Captain Rang Kwang-Hoon as flight lead and First Lieutenant Hu Seong-Ho as number two. At 5:39 AM, they spotted two contacts to their east on their radars. This was a three-ship flight of RUAF F-4Es led by Major Kazuki Izumi, that had spotted them in return. The two flights approached each other for visual identification, as was the usual conduct in these cases, and entered visual range of each other at 5:45. The Daekanese and Urranese fighters flew northbound, parallel to each other for 5 more minutes before the JS-9Bs started probing the Urranese flight, sharply changing course toward and then away from them.

After 13 more minutes of back and forth, at which point both flights entered a deep cloud canopy at about 20,000 feet, a navigational error caused the Daekanese fighters to end up less than one kilometre west of the Phantoms. As the aircraft left the clouds and both sides realised that was going on, the Urranese fighters immediately went defensive. The JS-9s, outnumbered by one aircraft, started mauneuvering aggressively as well. At this point, Captain Rang called for reinforcements in the form of another two-ship flight of JS-9Bs, that were patrolling north of their current position. A little less than two minutes into the mock dogfight, 1st Lt. Hu launched a BL-4 infared AAM at the F-4E flown by Lt. Kanta Sato and his WSO, 1st. Lt. Jun Chujo , under unclear circumstances. The missile exploded beneath the Phantom's left wing, ripping it off and sending the aircraft into a spiralling dive. Both pilot and WSO managed to eject safely. The second F-4E, piloted by Captain Hikari Saito and 1st. Lt. Naomi Kamidate (the RUAF's first all-female aircrew), that had been trailing Hu since the start of the dogfight, immediately retaliated with a AIM-9L, which impacted Hu's aircraft directly behind the cockpit, killing him.

Captain Rang, who was at the six of the lead F-4 at a range of less than a kilometre, opened fire with his GSh-23L 23 mm autocannon but Major Izumi managed to evate the burst. Not wanting to waist time and risk getting shot down Cpt. Saito's F-4E that was now mauneuvering for a missile shot, Rang siwtched to his BL-4s and fired at a very close range, the missile expoding directly on the F-4s fuselage and cutting the Urranese plane in half. Both Major Izumi and his WSO, 1st Lt. Yoshito Chujo, were killed when their ejection seats failed. Rang attempted to shake off Captain Saito who was now on his tail, but the latter managed an AIM-9L that exploded close to the JS-9Bs engine, destroying it. Rang ejected successfully. The secondpair of JS-9Bs approaching from the north was now within range of their BL-7, and had Captain Saito's Phantom locked on. The flight fired two BL-7 at almost max range, but moth missed as Saito sped away east at full afterburner. The Daekanese fighters arrived at the scene only to see the two Urranese life rafts in the water bellow, and no sign of Cpt. Rang. As such, he was presumed as killed in action.