Operation Sunburn
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| Lolloh-Roul War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Inyursta | Template:Country data Lolloh | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Major Pierre Ramires | N/A | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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x9 GGA Teams (~72 commandos, x9 UH-60 Helicopters) |
>600 soldiers | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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Lolloh | ||||||
Operation Sunburn, also called "Operatíon Sòlaris" was a military operation performed by combined forces of La Républiqua D'Inyursta against the Lollohian People's Nuclear Corps (LPNC) and later the Lollohian People's Army (LPA).
The goal of Operation Sunburn was the physical destruction of Lolloh's ground and air-based nuclear weapons.
Background
Lolloh had already demonstrated its willingness to launch mass-casualty attacks at civilian targets when it fired the L-2 at the populous city of Calamion. It was feared that the Lollohian government or military may employ nuclear weapons in this manner again, and that allied air defense might not be able to stop it when it happens. Allied high command disagreed on how to handle the operation - or if an operation should occur at all.
In spite of the disagreements and bureaucratic gridlock, a do-or-die moment would come following DeLoroza's Offensive; wherein the Lollohian strategic infrastructure was attempting to evacuate from Dekkar and other areas in the north (which were now lacking any large Lollohian force between them and DeLoroza's armored corps racing north). Inyurstan command took it upon themselves to hit Lolloh's nuclear stockpile before they lost the chance for good, and proceeded with Operation Sunburn.
Assault
The operation took place at six different sites across northern & central Lolloh. Helicopters landed a total of six Groupe de Grévo Alpha (GGA) - also known as Strike Team Alpha in English - squads while the Aéroforça sent a bomber force over the ocean to bypass Lollohian air defenses concentrated in the south. The initial attack consisted of sabotaging the major roadways for which the LPNC planned to evacuate its weapons. Next, commandos on the ground used laser-targeting devices to guide in laser-guided bombs onto road-mobile launchers and the underground facilities which held them. Opening strikes against the LPNC assets were highly effective, and at least 12 nuclear-capable TEL trucks were destroyed with over 42 warheads destroyed or neutralized beneath the earth.
Lollohian ground forces counter-attacked the commandos to allow the trucks to escape - which forced the bombers to rely on their own less-reliable targeting systems. Three additional GGA teams were deployed via helicopter near the eastern roadways exiting the nuclear compounds and engaged a number of road-mobile launchers which had survived the bombings with small arms and man-deployed rockets. However, the real driving force was the Lollohian People's Army air-defense redeploying and keying in on the Inyurstan aerial assets. Two bombers were initially shot down, with another two damaged and forced to turn home by a Lollohian S-300 long-range SAM system. This forced the Aéroforça to withdraw its air assets. With the bombers no longer active, stocks of shoulder-launched missiles running low, and LPA reinforcements pouring in, the GGA commandos began a retreat of their own.
Return Home
The Lollohian forced the remaining bombers to lower altitude to retreat; however, they were still vulnerable to the numerous Lollohian "Sixers" - short-range SAMs with 2x3 visible missiles. Their E/A-20 Crotaléa Vibrandes escorts attempted to provide jamming cover and SEAD attacks, but soon learned the LPA SAM crews were every bit as fanatical and ready to die (or perhaps ignorant to the results of leaving their radar active) as were their frontline forces. An additional three BM-44 were shot down down, at the cost of five Lollohian SAMs. Back in Ruolnik, a covering force of AC-88 Taipan and AC/A-83 Bocaracá fighters were scrambled to provide fighter cover for the remaining seven bombers as they flew home; though the Lollohians never launched fighters to pursue, and once the bombers escaped SAM range returned back to base without further loss.
Five of the six initial GGA teams were forced to fall back under heavy fire, and the UH-60's were forced to chose landing zones from 300-2600m behind the primary insertion points. Because the helicopters were flying nap-of-the-earth, they were not subject to the harassment by Lollohian SAM's that the aircraft were.
Aftermath
In the immediate aftermath, both sides were quick to publicize the assault as a victory. The Inyurstans claim that destroying around two-thirds of Lolloh's nuclear stockpile was a major win, in addition to being capable of performing both insertions and air-raids deep into Lollohian territory. The Lollohians claimed that they had successfully managed to save enough nukes and that the Inyurstan attacks were a frivolous loss of life with no bearing on the direction of the conflict. Military scholars and historians have argued that the raid was less effective than the Inyurstans were letting on, partially due to their failure to neutralize all of Lolloh's nuclear weapons (still giving it some threat capability). Another major flaw cited in the outcome of the operation is that it helped speed the catalyst of Lolloh's conversion to molten-metallic mass-casualty weapons (M3CWs), such as the molten-copper warheads of the L-Series Missiles. However, other theorists and analysts such as Armando Villanueve and ... cite this incident as further evidence of the "fragility" of nuclear threats.
At the end of the war, Lolloh was pressured into surrendering its remaining nuclear stockpile under the Treaty of Quevril. Insiders claim the Lollohian transitional leadership briefly entertained the idea of threatening use of their nukes to scare the coalition into letting them keep their WMD stockpiles; however, this was quickly abandoned due to the risk of Semi-Mutually Assured Destruction (S-MAD).
Post Treaty of Quevril
A number of people, including defecting Lollohian scientists, Inyurstan and Mericki intelligence operatives, and even private military contractors claim that Lolloh did not surrender all of its nuclear material. It is also believed by some in the intelligence community that Lolloh later tried to solicit certain Islamic powers in the Middle East to obtain new warheads. These theories are corroborated by the fact that Lolloh did successfully obtain or retain a small number of molten copper M3CW warheads in violation of the treaty - which they later attempted to use to cause massive Ruol civilian casualties.
Bomber Program
After the vulnerability of the BM-44 to enemy long-range SAMs was displayed during Operation Sunburn, many believe this to be the catalyst that led to the SB-2010 program, which later produced the BFM-60 Jararacussu. Like most analyses of the effects of Operation Sunburn, however; this is disputed as some in the defense industry claim the SB-2010 was already being designed prior to this event.