The outcome of a conventional World War III in 1985

How would a conventional World War III in 1985 play out (including the use of chemical weapons)


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by 1985
how much losses are to be expected by WP when they launch attacks on NATO airbases ?

Were there any studies / projections done on this ?

Depends on how much warning NATO gets and how well they can get their forces moved to dispersal fields.

Personally, I think NATO air forces in Benelux and Germany would face far higher losses/attrition from crew casualties due to VX strikes on their bases in the first couple days than from direct destruction of aircraft.
 

nbcman

Donor
What would be the most likely mode of delivery of VX
Depends on how far from the front lines the VX agent is being delivered. If you are asking about air force bases that are in the Benelux and Western Germany, it would most likely be delivered by tactical missiles. Non-Rocket Artillery shells would be used to deliver VX agents closer to the front line.
 

nbcman

Donor
Can WP aircraft using spray tanks deliver it ? Like Iraqis did?
Iraq didn't have VX but did have other nerve agents such as Sarin. Theoretically it could be delivered by WP aircraft but missiles couldn't be intercepted in the 1980s. However, if the Soviets were trying to deny an airbase for as long as possible, they would use a thickened more persistent agent which would be more difficult to spray than the relatively non-persistent Sarin.
 
german F-4 had no AIM-7 , i wonder why ? did the NATO not trust them with a true air superority fighter ?

For one Germany bought the F-4s as interim fighters until an ADV Tornado would arrive. When people found out that it wasn't panacea it was too late.
Moreover there was the idea that Germany would be so close to the fight that you could hardly use BVR weapons, so they prefered to simplify the aircraft, decrease it's weight and make it more manoeuverable. Other NATO countries usually didn't do this because their bases were farther from the front or their aircrafts were BVR-capable anyway.

To be honest something like a Mirage F-1 would have been better.
 
One possibility is that either GI Joe never gets made (to conserve plastic for the war effort) or gets made in order to help promote morale amongst soldiers.
 

Khanzeer

Banned
For one Germany bought the F-4s as interim fighters until an ADV Tornado would arrive. When people found out that it wasn't panacea it was too late.
Moreover there was the idea that Germany would be so close to the fight that you could hardly use BVR weapons, so they prefered to simplify the aircraft, decrease it's weight and make it more manoeuverable. Other NATO countries usually didn't do this because their bases were farther from the front or their aircrafts were BVR-capable anyway.

To be honest something like a Mirage F-1 would have been better.
Were there f15 based in Germany? If so then they were bvr equipped
Germans should have bought 80 or f15s
 
Were there f15 based in Germany? If so then they were bvr equipped
Germans should have bought 80 or f15s

Yes. F-15s would be very expensive though and IIRC the surplus money that Germany made to buy the F-4s might not be enough for F-15s. But given that they don't need to upgrade F-4s then that might work.
 
Were there f15 based in Germany? If so then they were bvr equipped
Germans should have bought 80 or f15s
I think there are poliitical reasons, why that didn´t happend. Germany wanted to favor his own air industrie and searched for this a national or european solution. The plans for the Eurofighter (at this time still called Jäger 90) already existet and the opinion was, the Phantom could keep on till the 1990th. Then the Cold War ended and Eurofighter took much more time then expected.
tkf-90-mbb.jpg
 
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Doesn't matter. The loosing side would end up feeling it's only chance is to use nukes. Just a few tactical ones, to even the odds and "stabilize" the front, resulting in massive losses for the other side. Which would force it to use their tactical nukes. And now both sides have no armies. Within hours one or both sides realises it's down to the big ones, and has to fire first... and bye bye world.
 

Khanzeer

Banned
in 1985 help me assess the airpower balance
per FLIGHT int
soviets have no flankers in service and only 36 fulcrums and 75 foxhounds
> 2000 flogger B/G
700 + fishbed J/k /L/N
430 foxbat E
I feel like this force will not survive a week against a NATO force by now well supplied with 4th gen fighters
so did the soviets plan to just attack the airbases with IRBM and hope for the best ?
 
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