Ahoyy

Ahoyy tactics
Ahoyy deployment in east Charnea, 1983
Era	Modern
Battlespace	Land
Type	Counterinsurgency
Notable uses	Akzay War

The Ahoyy is a counterinsurgency tactic of the Charnean Army first developed over the course of the Ninvite War and evolving further in recent conflicts in the Charnean far-east. In Charnean military parlance, an Ahoyy (from the Tamashek word for "hunt") is a category of military operation in which a mobile force is used to encircle a less mobile opponent, referred to as "casting the net", after which the forces of the enemy which have been caught up in the fast-moving cordon can be reduced by long-ranged fire support. Ahoyy tactics are the airmobile variation of the ancient isersam ("noose") maneuver in which light cavalry would encircle an enemy and defeat them with ranged weapons while preventing any stragglers from fleeing the battlefield, a tactic which was embraced and modernized by the Charnean Army. "Ahoyy" was once a more inclusive term which could refer to both ground-based and airmobile isersam type maneuvers, but now exclusively refers to the airmobile variation. Modern Ahoyy tactics which were developed and refined over the course of the Ninvite War (1974-1986) fit within the generalized search and destroy strategy for tracking, trapping and destroying enemy forces which which is the cornerstone of the Charnean Army's offensive doctrine. An Ahoyy operation can be used to reinforce an ongoing battle, typically an enemy raid on a convoy or isolated outpost, or to mop-up enemy forces which are attempting to withdraw from a confrontation with an ICA ground formation. The quintessential Ahoyy, however, is a quick reactive strike which attempts to catch an enemy force that has not yet been engaged entirely by surprise, relying on ground, air and space-based reconnaissance to spot and track potential targets for such aerial raids.

The Charnean Army's Ahoyy operations have contributed to a number of innovations in tactics and technology. Early Ahoyys were some of the first ever helicopter air assault operations ever preformed, employing some of the very earliest models of transport rotorcraft designed for military applications. Today, the employment of the modernized Ahoyy tactic by the Charnean counterinsurgency forces makes use of newer and more capable helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, modern precision weapons, drone technology, and satellite surveillance. Over the long history of the tactic's use in combat, Ahoyy operations have been carried out by a variety of formations within the Charnean Army as well as auxiliary and allied forces fighting alongside the ICA. The Air Cavalry divisions of the Charnean Army are formations specifically equipped to carry out Ahoyy operations for counterinsurgency as well peer conflict and even peacetime security operations targeting organized crime in keeping with the Army's overall Hybrid Defense Doctrine.

In the majority of wars in modern Charnean history have been asymmetric conflicts in which various anti-state forces in different parts of the country have generally employed a similar strategy. The most common tactic used by forces opposing the Charnean government and the ICA security forces has been to carry out hit-and-run attacks, avoiding the powerful ICA ground formations, inflicting damage on the ICA military infrastructure and the Charnean economy, and incurring casualties on the state security forces all while taking advantage of the vast and barren wilderness that covers most of Charnea's land area to evade counter-attacks and hide base areas and strongholds. In order to effectively combat rebel forces employing such tactics, the ICA must utilize forces capable of responding rapidly to an attack or report of insurgent activity, crossing vast distances across desert and xeric scrubland where there are few roads, and operating from remote bases with minimal infrastructure. Units properly outfitted for Ahoyy operations fit all of these requirements, mobilizing an immediate response to the enemy with very little preparation time that is capable of striking up to 100 kilometers away in a matter of minutes, all requiring no more than a modest outpost with an airstrip as a springboard for the operation.

Hands

The basic unit of an Ahoyy operation is called a 'hand' (afas), an irregular sub-unit smaller than the typical hewwa 12-man infantry squad of the Charnean Army. The need for infantry Hands came from the limited space aboard the light helicopters and aircraft available to the often budget-deficient Charnean Army which at times consisted of civilian rotorcraft fitted with nothing more than a laser warning receiver and improvised machinegun mountings. Such rotorcraft are in many cases too small to carry a full squad and their equipment. Ahoyy companies in the field also found that the smaller sub-unit was better suited to the demands of the airmobile encirclement tactics they used when compared with the regular Hewwa, which could bring much more firepower to bear but at the unacceptable cost of less flexibility. A Hand would consist of a four-man team that would be able to ride in even the smallest of the utility helicopters in the ICA's inventory while still fielding enough firepower to effectively engage enemy infantry and impede the free movement of hostile forces. The role of any given Hand involved in an Ahoyy hunt is to quickly surround the enemy via aerial insertion and block the most obvious avenues of retreat, thus 'casting the net' over the enemy which would trap enemy units so that they could be pinned down and destroyed by aerial firepower.

The Hand leader is the team commander, usually of Eɤaf or Corporal-equivalent rank. They are typically armed with an AK-54M assault rifle as their primary weapon, although the AK-54C automatic carbine is sometimes preferred as its shorter barrel makes it favorable for close range engagements. The Hand leader, sometimes referred to as the 'thumb' (ajmash), is equipped with a light radio set for coordination with other Hands and with the Ahoyy operation commander. Communication is the primary function of the leader within the Hand, as relaying movement orders from the commander, relaying target information to air support units, and avoiding friendly fire through clear communication are of major importance during any Ahoyy.

The second soldier of the Hand is the machine gunner, who is equipped with a KZ Zabik magazine-fed squad automatic weapon. Their role in the Hand is to provide suppressive fire, an important component of the Hand's function within the wider Ahoyy as it may immobilize a portion of the enemy force in a position where they can be destroyed either by aerial fire support or by the Hand themselves using small arms and grenades. The machine gunner commonly fires much more ammunition than any of the other team members. The KZ Zabik was chosen as the main weapon of the machine gunner since it fires the same 7.62x39mm rounds using in the rest of the team's AK-54s and can accept the same 30-round box magazines, although the Zabik primarily uses an extended 45-round magazine. This enables the machine gunner to draw upon the extra ammunition carried by the rest of the Hand if needed.

Two additional riflemen are attached to the Hand to round out its numbers. These are usually assigned additional roles to expand the capabilities of the Hand in combat. The third Hand infantryman is almost always a grenadier equipped with rifle grenades that can be fired from their AK-54. In some modern infantry Hands, an 30mm underslung grenade launcher is used instead of rifle grenades. Both launched grenades and hand grenades are an important part of the Hand infantry tactics, and are especially important where xeric scrubland vegetation or other terrain features create cover and obstructions to fields of fire that can be exploited by the enemy. The fourth Hand soldier is often a combat medic to treat any injuries sustained in the field and possibly treat captured enemy combatants. Medical personnel on Ahoyy missions are critical as such combat deployments usually take place in remote areas where it may take an hour or longer for a casualty to be evacuated and receive proper treatment at a field hospital. In some cases, however, the fourth rifleman of the Hand will instead be an anti-tank infantryman carrying an shoulder-launched anti-tank rocket system to engage vehicles or bunkers.