The 2010 Osean airspace intrusions were a series of unauthorized aerial incursions into the western Osean Federation by the military regime of Yuktobania in the second semester of 2010 as a prelude to the Circum-Pacific War. Most of the incidents saw live fire combat between the Yuktobanians and the Oseans, mainly Osean Air Defense Force recruits stationed in Sand Island.
X-02 intrusion[]
The X-02 wreckage inside a hangar of Sand Island
The first recorded incident took place at an undetermined date in 2010 by a single X-02 Wyvern of the Yuktobanian Air Force, which had acquired license-built models from Gründer Industries after the conclusion of the Continental War. The aircraft was shot down by Coastal Defense Force SAM batteries and its wreckage later salvaged by the Osean military. The decision was made to ship the remains to Sand Island to prevent an international incident, where it was left to the 703rd Maintenance Company.[1]
September 23 incident[]
- "Command Room to Wardog Squadron. We have leakers, aircraft type unknown. Crossing the border at Cape Landers, bearing 278 to 302. Captain Bartlett, your flight is the only group close enough to make the intercept."
- ― Sand Island Command Room
Jack Bartlett leading a group of cadets
The first major combat incident of the intrusions occurred on the morning of September 23 of 2010 over Cape Landers, a sector on the eastern Osean peninsula used as a training area for air force rookies. The intruders were a squadron of ten MiG-29A Fulcrum aircraft crossing the border through Landers into Osean territory. At the time, the Wardog Squadron was on training maneuvers under Jack Bartlett's direction when the intrusion took place, leading Sand Island to redirect them on an intercept vector.[2]
Before the fighters' intrusion, Bartlett was leading a formation of eight cadets on a routine flight over Cape Landers, among them Kei Nagase. Being the closest squadron to the area, he ordered cadets Svenson and Baker to accompany him on the task of intercepting the Fulcrums while the rest remained on standby at low altitude. However, the bogies unexpectedly attacked the unit, leading all of Wardog to join the dogfight. Sand Island gave an erroneous altitude measure of the Yuktobanians to the unit, leading it to its near-total annihilation.[2]
The incident saw the death of eight rookies and two flight instructors, one of which died after crash landing in Sand Island, leaving Bartlett, reporter Albert Genette - who flew as his co-pilot before the battle - and Nagase as the sole survivors. Osea ordered the suppression of all information related to the disaster, and Wardog's remaining pilots were ordered to remain on high alert for the following days.[2]
September 24: SR-71 incident[]
The SR-71 Blackbird encountered during the operation
The third episode took place on the next day, over training sector 01-A07 in Cape Landers. Early on September 24, an SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance jet entered Osean airspace at high altitude through the same corridor used by the Fulcrum squadron. The plane ignored warnings to leave Cape Landers' airspace and continued to overfly the regional air defense engagement zone, causing it to elicit an attack by Coastal Defense Force SAM batteries. A missile struck the plane and damaged it, driving its pilot to descend towards land. Wardog was immediately briefed on the situation and dispatched to divert the jet to an airfield, with Bartlett once more at the lead.[2]
By 11:01AM, the unit approached Area A-07 east from Corvina under restrictions to open fire and intercepted the aircraft at 4,000 feet of altitude, at which point it could no longer fly at its traditional height. Under Bartlett's direction, Alvin Davenport ordered the pilot to follow the team to the nearest air base in the peninsula, commanding them to lower their landing gear in compliance. Immediately after the interception, a flight of MiG-21bis fighters entered Cape Landers on vector 280, adopting an identical approach to the MiG-29 team, causing Wardog to prepare for an intercept.[2]
After closing the distance between them, the Yuktobanian aircraft fired in anger at Wardog. AWACS Thunderhead, who was overseeing the operation at the time, ordered Bartlett to remain weapons safe; Bartlett, however, retorted that he would not "watch more pilots die", and commanded his wingmen to return fire. The enemy squadron, along with a second unit entering Landers through the same route, were destroyed by the 108th Squadron in defiance of Sand Island's orders, while the SR-71 succumbed to damage and exploded overland. Bartlett was summoned for questioning by base headquarters, and Osean Army Central Command ordered all information pertaining to the incident to be classified under Order EO111207, birthing rumors of a UFO sighting over Landers.[2]
September 27: The spy vessel[]
The Victorious-class ocean surveillance ship encountered during the operation
No further intrusions took place over west Osea until the early hours of September 27, when a lone surveillance ship of the Yuktobanian Navy entered Osean waters within miles of Sand Island and launched a batch of Searcher reconnaissance drones that flew over the base. Lacking knowledge of the vessel's intentions, Wardog was scrambled once more under "Operation Wisdom" to halt its activities after 10AM. After launching from Sand Island, the unit hunted down the drones and destroyed them before any could successfully return to their mothership.[2]
Soon after the interception, the third team of MiG-21s involved in the incursions entered Sand Island airspace, recognizing Wardog as the only survivors of the Cape Landers skirmishes. The squadron chose to escape to Sand Island beyond the reach of the Yuktobanians, who had been ordered not to fly beyond Osean borders; however, Davenport's inability to flee forced them to engage and destroy the entire squadron, leading Bartlett to be shot down by a missile from the spy ship. Immediately after the battle, the Yuktobanian regime officially declared war to Osea, forcing Wardog to return to Sand Island.[2]