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Air Station Mike-26 was a military installation located on the island of Stratis in the Republic of Altis and Stratis.

Overview[]

Officially designated as Joint Air Radar Station Mike-26[1], the facility was once a critical component of the NATO alliance's radar shield in the Mediterranean.

Air Station Mike-26 was jointly staffed by SIGINT technicians and soldiers from both the U.S. and British military[1], until the latter were withdrawn from the country.[2][3] Air Station Mike-26 was due to be decommissioned by mid-July 2035 as part of the alliance's ongoing efforts to redeploy its assets to the Asia-Pacific region.[4][5]

However, it was prematurely demolished by U.S.-led peacekeepers from NATO's Task Force Aegis and as of August 15th, 2035, lies in ruins.[6]

History[]

Arma3-campaign-theeastwind-survive-04

Remnants of TF Aegis attempt to retake the station (2035)

In the opening stages of what would eventually become known as the "Stratis Incident", the facility was destroyed by the remnants of TF Aegis on July 7th, 2035.[7]

The survivors determined that the facility's equipment was damaged beyond repair and could not be utilised to call for reinforcements.[8] The officer in charge of the remnants decided to destroy the facility in order to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.[6]

One month later, the U.S. Army's 111th Infantry Division (111th ID) would assault the island and retake control of the facility from its Altian defenders.[9] The 111th had initially planned to utilise the radar to assist in their invasion of the mainland. However, they only discovered its burnt ruins and upon closer examination, it was deemed damaged beyond repair.[10]

The projected cost of its destruction alone totalled in the billions of dollars.[11] In the aftermath of the flashpoint, it was decided that the facility would not be rebuilt, and in accordance with NATO policy, would be abandoned in the following months.[12]

SPOILER ALERT

NOTE: This section contains significant spoilers from ArmA 3's 'The East Wind' campaign.

The order to demolish the facility by the (unofficial) leader of TF Aegis' survivors, Captain Scott Miller of CTRG Group 14, wasn't carried out to prevent Altian forces from gaining access to its equipment, but rather to stop the American survivors from contacting NATO MEDCOM.[13]

Capt. Miller's team required additional time in their search for a CSAT weapon of mass destruction known only as "Project Eastwind".[14] Had the survivors succeeded in calling for reinforcements, the subsequent counterinvasion would have compromised the mission and resulted in their true identities being exposed.[15]

Thus, the loss of Air Station Mike-26, whilst regrettable from the perspective of NATO leaders, was a small price to pay in exchange for Capt. Miller's team gaining valuable search time.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 ARMA 3 2013 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., \a3\signs_f\signspecial\data\signspec_mike26_co.paa, "NATO Joint Air Radar Station MIKE - 26"
  2. ARMA 3 2013 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, \a3\missions_f_epa\video\a_in_intro.ogv, 00:55, "In the UK, parliament was recalled for an urgent debate and vote over the possible redeployment of British peacekeeping forces on Stratis.", AAN News
  3. ARMA 3 2013 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, \a3\missions_f_epa\video\a_in_intro.ogv, 01:00, "Prime Minister Nicholas Ramsden said he would respect the defeat of his government's motion, which, effectively, ruled out the possibility of any extension to the NATO deployment in the former sovereign territory.", AAN News
  4. ARMA 3 2013 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, \a3\missions_f_epa\video\a_in_intro.ogv, 00:17, "However, with the US-led peacekeeping deployment coming to an end of its mandate, NATO forces are finalising their staged withdrawal from the region. [...] As millions of dollars of military equipment and infrastructure is decommissioned, opinion is split as to the wisdom of the drawdown. [...] In light of CSAT forces stepping up joint military exercises in the Pacific, the US is keen to re-orient its conventional forces, reinforcing battalions in the east.", AAN News
  5. ARMA 3 2013 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, Drawdown 2035, "LACEY: Mike-26 sure looks quiet. ADAMS: Yeah. Most of the guys have shipped out already. LACEY: Just us lucky few left doing the monkey work, huh? ADAMS: You'd rather be on a boat in the Pacific, Sergeant? LACEY: I'd rather be the hell off this rock, sir."
  6. 6.0 6.1 ARMA 3 2013 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, Radio Silence, "JAMES: Bad news, sir. We've got nothing here - no way to establish a link to MEDCOM - all the equipment's fried. At least we can rig it to blow. We're setting the charges now. All squads, get clear! LACEY: Wait, what?! You can't just blow it up! What the fuck was all this for then?! MILLER: Stand down, Bravo. That's an order. If we cant hold it, we raze it. Proceed, Delta. Burn it down. The rest of you, fall back to Maxwell. Falcon Out."
  7. Mořický, K et al. 2011, Armaverse Timeline, Bohemia Interactive Community Wiki, viewed 19 May 2023, <https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Armaverse_Timeline>.
  8. ARMA 3 2013 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, Radio Silence, "Air Station Mike-26 is secured and you successfully repelled the reinforcements. However, Delta determined the facility to be unusable - it wasn't possible to establish contact with NATO MEDCOM. Refusing to let it fall back into enemy hands, Miller authorized its destruction. Let's hope it was worth it"
  9. ARMA 3 2014 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, New Dawn, "SOLDIER 1: Stratis was a cakewalk. I wonder what went wrong on Altis. SOLDIER 2: The lieutenant said they ran into CSAT. SOLDIER 1: Yeah? I thought we were fighting Greenbacks? SOLDIER 2: Who knows anymore, man."
  10. ARMA 3 2014 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, New Dawn, "SOLDIER 1: Our whole deployment's on the back foot because of that radar. We need to get it online ASAP. SOLDIER 2: You been up there yet? It's way beyond repair."
  11. ARMA 3 2014 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, Status Quo, "As the projected costs of the Mediterranean flashpoint rises to over four billion dollars, several NATO member states face increased pressure to further cut military funding. A Freedom of Information request revealed that this is mostly attributed to heavy material losses and the destruction of strategic installations. And, with several hundred dead soldiers, this month-long flashpoint looks set to become one of the most costly NATO operations in recent history. In past few months - and alongside the ongoing economic crisis - both the strength and integrity of the North-Atlantic Alliance has come into question in what many consider to be a critical turning point for NATO.", AAN News
  12. ARMA 3 2014 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, Status Quo, "Six weeks have passed since the AAF's capitulation. The FIA, under the leadership of Nikos Panagopoulos, have transitioned from a military opposition to a political body and, alongside our forces, are working hard to restore their homeland. Although it will take time for this country to recover from war, the new government has the confidence of the people of Altis. However, NATO's invasion - albeit swift and, ultimately, successful - has stirred a new round of debates over the funding of military forces in this region. The conclusion was clear: there is no way NATO can maintain their position here while tensions in the pacific region rise. The decommissioning will continue and NATO will abandon this region."
  13. ARMA 3 2014 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, Paradise Found, "KERRY: This is what it's all been about, isn't it? Stratis, Mike-26, the airport, everything. You sabotaged the invasion. MILLER: We needed more time."
  14. ARMA 3: Apex 2016 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Apex Protocol, Extraction, "The fact is, we have scant intel. The little we have is classified. CTRG has been tracking a clandestine network of CSAT operatives. We know them as 'Viper'. Group 14 got close in the Med, but the opportunity slipped away. Bottom line: we believe Viper possess the means - a device - to trigger a natural disaster."
  15. ARMA 3 2013 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., The East Wind, Beyond Recognition, "The British? The Brits are no longer operating in this area. To my knowledge, they've been out since May. And, regardless, we had no record of a Scott Miller."

See also[]

Settlements on Stratis
Towns Agia Marina
Villages Girna
Monuments The Spartan
Military installations Air Station Mike-26Camp MaxwellCamp RogainCamp TempestKamino Firing RangeStratis Air Base
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