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Events Across 100 Years That Completely Changed The World -Recalls the events of modern history that proved to bring about a massive change in the world. These are days on which political revolutions, technological breakthroughs, unforeseen natural disasters and sporting triumphs took place, and whose effects were felt the world-over. Get ready to relive history like you've never done before.1. Queen Victoria's Funeral (1901)royal-portraits.blogspot.comCrowds line up to bid a final farewell to Queen Victoria. After 63 years on the throne, Victoria died at the age of 81 at Osborne House on The Isle of Wight. Her military state funeral was held on Saturday 2 February 1901 in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. She was the longest reigning British monarch in history.Queen Victoria's funeral procession, Windsor, 19012. Wright Brother's First Flight (1903)On December 17 1903, news came through that two brothers had flown a curious air machine for more than a minute. This event marked a revolution in human transportation and was in fact one of human's greatest achievements.3. Emily Davison Throws Herself Under The Kings Horse (1913)Suffragette Emily Davison's Derby Day protest ends in tragedy. She was a militant activist who fought for women's suffrage in Britain. She was jailed on nine occasions and force-fed 49 times. She is best known for stepping in front of King George V's horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby on 4 June 1913, sustaining injuries that resulted in her death four days later.4. Abdication of the Tsar Nikolas iiTsar Nicholas II in detention after his abdication in March 1917On March 15, 1917 following the Feburary Revolution, the Russian Tsar Nicholas abdicated, heralding the end of the Russian imperial empire. His reign saw Imperial Russia go from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Enemies nicknamed him Nicholas the Bloody. Later he and his family were brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks on the night of July 16/17 1918.wikipedia.orgThe former tsar Nicholas II and his children sitting on the roof of a greenhouse during their captivity in Tobolsk.5. Irish Free State Treaty Signed (1921)Signing of the treaty to establish the Irish Free State.In late 1921, the Irish Free State Treaty is signed, establishing Ireland as a Dominion within the British Empire. Strictly speaking the Irish Free State treaty was signed on the 6th December 1921, not the 7th.6. Suzanne Lenglen Breaks Wimbledon Record (1925)Suzanne Lenglen hits the final shot that won her the legendary Wimbledon game in 1925.Suzanne Lenglen wins an unprecedented sixth singles title at Wimbledon in the space of seven years.7. Start Of UK General Strike (1926)Miners protest low wages at a historic UK General Strike.Start Of UK General Strike (1926). The General Strike begins as a response to the British government's attempts to lower wages for miners.8. Charles Lindbergh Flies the Atlantic Solo (1927)Charles Lindbergh achieves the world's first non-stop transatlantic flight.9. American Golfer Bobby Jones Wins Grand Slam (1930)Bobby Jones sweeps his way to victory as spectators watch history in the making.On September 27th, 1930 the American golfer Bobby Jones made sporting history at the final round of the US Open. Over the previous 8 years he had won countless titles. Never before and never since has a golfer won the grand slam - all 4 major world tournaments in one season. In fact up to that time, there was no term for such a sporting feat and so the term Grand Slam was used to capture the accomplishment. What was so remarkable about this international sporting hero was that he was a true amateur, fitting golf around his business meetings and his work as a lawyer.10. Hitler Becomes German Chancellor (1933)Hitler paves his way through the crowds after being appointed as Chancellor of Germany.In an attempt to form a stable coalition government, Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany.11. King Edward VIII Abdicates (1936)King Edward VIII, as he delivers his abdication speech, in December 1936.Edward VIII abdicates in order to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson.12. Hindenburg Airship Crash (1937)The world's largest airship, the Hindenburg, is destroyed in a spectacular fire which resulted in the death of all 33 passengers and crew on board the fatal flight.13. Hitler Annexes Austria (1938)Hitler achieves the 'Anschluss' of Germany and Austria, as Austria becomes part of the Third Reich on 12th March 1938.Austria opens its gates to German troops.14. Germany Invades Poland (1939)German armies rally onto Poland marking the beginning of the second world war.On 1 September 1939, German forces invaded Poland. Without warning, their planes bombed cities including the capital Warsaw, thus starting the WW215. Evacuation of Dunkirk (1940)Mass evacuation of Dunkirk takes place.On 27th May 1940, the mass evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk commenced. The Dunkirk evacuation, code-named Operation Dynamo, also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 27 May and 4 June 1940. The operation became necessary when large numbers of British, French, and Belgian troops were cut off and surrounded by the German army during the Battle of France in the Second World War.16. London Blitz Begins (1940)On September 7, 1940 Germany begins its campaign of Blitzkrieg on London and its civilians. Nights after nights, German soldiers dropped high explosives and fireballs on civilians in what happen to be the worst civilian tragedy of UK. There were major aerial raids (attacks in which more than 100 tonnes of high explosives were dropped) on 16 British cities. Over a period of 267 days (almost 37 weeks), London was attacked 71 times.London after the monstrous attacks that left several innocent civilians dead.17. Pearl Harbour Attacked (1941)December 7th 1941 - The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a surprise devastating air attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii18. Fall of Stalingrad (1943)Soviet soldier waving the Red Banner over the central plaza of Stalingrad in 1943.The greatest battle of WW2 ended on 31st Jan 1943 - the surrender of the German 6th army at Stallingrad. After months besieging the city of Stalingrad without success, the German Army capitulated.19. D-Day Landings (1944)On June 6 1944, Allied troops begin their invasion of Europe with the D-Day landings in Normandy. It was the start of the final phase of WW2.20. Liberation of Paris (1944)Jacques-Philippe Leclerc, during the liberation of Paris, August 1944.On August 25th, 1944 after 4years of occupation, the French tricolore was hoisted once again over Paris. General DeGaulle lead an impromptu victory march through the capital. However, the day wasn't straightforward as German snipers fired at the Parisien crowds who were celebrating.21. Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt Meet at Yalta (1945)Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin meet at Yalta to discuss Europe's post-war reorganisation.On February 12th 1945, a communicate was issued from the Crimean town of Yalta in the Soviet Union that changed the course of history. It was here after 8 days of secret talks, that the victors carved out the future of the post-war period. The Big Three, as they were called, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill decided on how Germany would finally be defeated, divided and punished.22. Germans Surrender to Montgomery (1945)On 4 May 1945 at Lüneburg Heath, near Hamburg, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in the Netherlands, in north west Germany including all islands, and in Denmark and all naval ships in those areas.23. VE Day Celebrations (1945)The war in Europe is declared over as celebrations break out across Britain.After Winston Churchill announced that the war in Europe is over, he declared May 13th 1945 as VE day and the crowds of London went wild with joy.24. Labour's Landslide Election Win (1945)British prime minister Clement Attlee and his wife Violet after Labour's victory in the general election, London, 26 July 1945.On 26 July 1945, Labour won an unprecedented landslide victory in the UK general election of 1945. It came as a major shock to the Conservatives considering the heroic status of Winston Churchill. It was Labour's policies on Social Reform that made Clement Attlee Prime Minister.25. Hiroshima Atomic Bomb (1945)Picture shows atomic bombing in Hiroshima(left) on 6th August 1945 and Nagasaki (right) on 9th August 1945.The first atom bomb to be used as a weapon, "Little Boy" (as was its codename) was dropped on to the flat terrain of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The bomb vapourised buildings and killed nearly 70,000 people directly but by the end of 1945, nearly 100,000 had died from its protracted effects.26. India and Pakistan Gain Independence (1947)Lord Mountbatten announces India as independent on the night of 14/15th August 1947.Viscount Louis Mountbatten announced the partitioning of the British Indian Empire into India and Pakistan. Pakistan was then declared a separate nation from Britain on the 14 August 1947. On 15 August 1947, India became an independent nation.India hoists its flag for the first time on the day of its independence from British rule at the historic Red Fort attended by millions of people and the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.27. Berlin Airlift Begins (1948)Following a Soviet blockade of all ground routes into and out of Berlin, American and British forces organise airlifts to maintain food supplies into the isolated city. On June 26 1948, the effort to feed more than two million people in the city of Berlin began.28. Mao's Communists Take Over China (1949)On October 1st 1949, China was proclaimed a Communist state. Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong took over the reign of Government and proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China.29. Korean War Starts (1950)N Korean tanks cross the 38th. June 25 - The invasion starts at 0400 hours on the Onjin Peninsula.On 25 June 1950, armed forces from communist North Korea bulldoze their way into South Korea, setting off the Korean War.30. Launch of First Nuclear Submarine (1954)The United States launches the world's first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus.31. Roger Bannister Breaks the 4 Minute Mile (1954)On 6 May 1954, Roger Bannister becomes the first man to break the four minute mile.32. Le Mans 24 Hour Race Disaster (1955)On June 11 1955, a horrific crash at the 24 Hours Le Mans motor race killed 84 people.33. Manchester United Players Die in Munich Air Crash (1958)The Munich Air Crash happened on 6 February 1958. On board were the affectionately known 'Busby Babes' - the Manchester United football team. Their plane crashed on its third attempt at take off. Twenty three people died, 21 survived.The famous Manchester United Football team whose doom changed the course of football history.34. Pele's World Cup Final Performance (1958)17-year-old Pele cries on the shoulder of Didi as teammates Gilmar and Orlando congratulate him on his fantastic performance in the 1958 World Cup final.June 1958, Sweden v Brazil in the World Cup Final. Brazil were a goal down until a17 year old newcomer, Pele, equalised with a stunning goal. Brazil went on to win 5-2 and Pele became a sporting hero and is considered one of the greatest football players of all time.35. First Man in Space (1961)Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space after completing an orbit of the Earth in his Vostok spacecraft.36. Berlin Wall Erected (1961)In August 1961, troops in East Germany began to seal the border between East and West Berlin. In doing so they blocked off the escape route for refugees from the East. The barrier ended up being 12 feet high and 66 miles long with a further 41 miles of barbed wire fencing. Over the years, nearly 200 people died trying to cross the wall. It became a symbol for the divided world.37. Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)The Cuban Missle Crisis was a confrontation between the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War. On 28th October 1962, the confrontation ended and the world stepped back from nuclear war . Along with General U Thant, John F Kennedy reached an agreement with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.38. Martin Luther King Delivers His "I have a dream" speech (1963)A defining moment in the American civil rights movement, Martin Luther King delivers a speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on 28 August 1963.39. JFK Assassinated (1963)President John F. Kennedy and wife, Jacqueline, in Dallas on Main Street, minutes before his assassination, November 22, 1963.On November 22 1963, President John F Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas.40. Beatlemania Arrives (1964)The triumphant Beatles return to Britain after conquering the US charts.John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, arrive at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York in 1964.41. Coal Tip Buries Hundreds of Children in Aberfan (1966)A boy's face is streaked with coal dust as he watches rescue workers toil their way through the long, dirty task of digging away colliery waste in 1966.A colliery spoil heap collapses onto a school and homes in Aberfan, South Wales, killing 116 children and 28 adults.42. Donald Campbell Dies in Bluebird Crash (1967)On 4th January 1967, Campbell was killed whilst attempting to set another water speed record in his 'Bluebird K7'. He had already set seven water speed records between 1955 and 1964 with speed increases from 216mph to 276.33mph. The accident happened on Coniston Water, Lancashire, England. The Bluebird surpassed 320mph but as she did so she gradually lifted from the water before somersaulting out of control. Campbell was killed instantly.43. The Six-Day War Begins (1967)Also known as the War of 1967, this war was fought between Israeli and the Arab Forces across large areas across the Middle-East. Tension between Israel and her Arab neighbours had been growing for several months. Egypt, known as the United Arab Republic at the time, Jordan and Syria were all involved in the conflict. By the end of the war Israel had taken control of the Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula (from Egypt), West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem (from Jordan) and the Golan Heights from Syria.44. Violent Anti-Vietnam Riots in London (1968)Police struggle with anti Vietnam War demonstrators outside the Embassy of the United States in Grosvenor Square, London, Mar. 17, 1968.On March 17th 1968, 80,000 demonstrators congregated in central London. It was a peaceful demonstration until thousands broke away and headed to the American embassy. What followed was the worst violence seen on the capital's streets for decades.45. Concorde Flies for the First Time (1969)On March 2 1969, the Anglo-French supersonic Concorde made its first flight.46. Armstrong Sets Foot on the Moon (1969)On July 21 1969, Neil Armstrong takes the first steps on the moon. As he put his left foot down first Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.".First human footprint on the moon : Neil Armstrong.47. Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland (1972)On January 30 1972, British troops shoot unarmed protesters in Northern Ireland, killing 13 civilians. It was to be known as the Bogside Massacre.48. Nixon Resigns in Shame (1974)In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Nixon becomes the first president in US history to resign from office.49. Exiled Religious Leader Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran (1979)On February 1 1979, the religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 14 years in exile. 5 million people lined the streets of Tehran to witness the homecoming of the Shia Muslim imam.50. Lord Mountbatten Assassinated by IRA (1979)August 1979: Lord Mountbatten (top right) with members of his family aboard the boat that was blown up by members of the IRA and Thomas McMahon (bottom)Lord Mountbatten is assassinated by IRA terrorists while on holiday in County Sligo, Ireland.51. Ethiopian Famine (1984)On 23rd October 1984, Ethiopia was hit by the world's worst famine yet. The world's eyes are opened to Ethiopia's famine plight by BBC reports, sparking an enormous public response.A starving family in a famine-ravaged village in Ethiopia at the height of the disaster in 1985.52. Heysel Stadium Disaster (1985)On, 29 May 1985, one hour before the European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool, Liverpool fans breached a fence. Escaping Juventus fans were pressed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. Thirty-nine Juventus fans died and 600 were injured.53. Challenger Spacecraft Explodes (1986)On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds into its flight leading to the death of all 7 members of the crew.The crew members of the doomed space shuttle Challenger.54. Chernoybl Nuclear Disaster (1986)The Chernobyl nuclear power plant sits crippled two to three days after the explosion in Chernobyl, Ukraine in April, 1986.On 26 April 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine released a huge amount of radioactive particles in to the atmosphere. The incident was catastrophic and is considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. Half a million workers were involved in trying to contain the contamination. The official casualty count stands at 31 which is widely disputed. The long term effects on health are still being accounted for.The doll in the kindergarten in the town of Pripyat, abandoned after disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 198655. Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster (1987)Britain's worst ferry disaster killed 200 people. Towsend Thoresen, Herald of Free Enterprise had left Zeebrugge in Belgium for Dover, England. A mile off shore, the car ferry capsized very quickly. It turned out the doors of the ferry had not been shut.56. Lockerbie Pan-Am Jet Explosion (1988)On December 21 1988, Pan Am flight 103 left from Heathrow airport to New York. Shortly in to its flight, the jet was destroyed by a bomb and it crashed in to the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 its passengers and crew plus 11 people on the ground.57. Hillsborough Disaster (1989)One of the iconic images of the disaster, as several girls are graphically seen crushed against the fence, unable to move a muscle, while dozens around them writhe in anguishOn 15 April 1989, a crush at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England resulted in the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 766 others. It is still the worst stadium disaster in British history.58. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989).On March 24,1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska spilling 750,000 barrels of crude oil.59. Tiananmen Square Massacre (1989)The famous photograph of the Tank man who stood alone in protest of hundred of tanks approaching towards him.On June 4 1989, soldiers from the Chinese People's Army massacred hundreds of their own people.60. Fall of Berlin Wall (1989)On November 9, The Berlin Wall was breached after nearly three decades of keeping East and West Berliners apart.61. Romanian Dictator Overthrown (1989)Romanians during the overthrow of the despotic Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Bucharest, Romania, 1989Nicolae Ceausescu is overthrown as the President of Romania. He and his wife are then executed by firing squad.62. Nelson Mandela Released from Prison (1990)Nelson Mandela, with his wife, Winnie, walks to freedom after 27 years in prison on Feb. 11, 1990, in Cape Town.On 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster prison after 27 years of confinement.63. Operation Desert Storm - Start of Gulf War (1990)A U.N. authorized coalition force from thirty-four nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of the State of Kuwait.64. Princess Diana Dies in Paris Car Crash (1997)Diana, Princess of Wales died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident along with lover Dodi al FayedOn 31st August 1997, Princess Diana, aged 36, was killed in a car accident. The unexpected tragedy shocked the world.65. Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales (1997)Princess Diana's funeral was watched by 2.5 billion people worldwide.Princess Diana died on 31 August 1997, her funeral was at Westminster Abbey on 6 September 1997 and she was buried at her family home in the grounds of Althorp House in Northamptonshire.66. 9/11 - A Day that Shook the World (2001)On September 11, 2001 at 8.46am, American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the North tower of the World Trade Centre. It was the start of four coordinated suicide attacks on the USA. Nearly 3000 people died on that day. It became a day that changed the world.67. The Capture of Saddam Hussein (2003)Saddam's last stand: The 'Ace of Spades' is finally captured by U.S. troops in December 2003 after hiding in a hole dug by Alaa NamiqOperation Red Dawn was launched in order to locate and capture Saddam Hussein, who they believed was hiding in the town of ad-Dawr, Iraq, near Tikrit. The operation was conducted by 1st Brigade Combat Team, which included elements of Special Operations teams. Saddam was found with, a pistol and an AK-47 Assault Rifle along with 750,000 dollars in cash. He showed no resistance however.68. Beslan School Massacre, Dramatic Scenes (2004)Bodies of children lie as relatives weep in grief over the loss of their children in the tragic Beslan school massacre of 2004.On 1st September 2004, 32 armed and masked terrorists stormed School Number 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia-Alania (Russia). The terrifying ordeal lasted 3 days for 1200 adults and children. They were packed in to the school gymnasium where the terrorists had bombs and guns. 331 people died including 186 children. More than 700 were injured.69. Facebook Founded (2004)It was the beginning of the greatest social networking revolution that would hook on 1.3 billion active users all around the globe. Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow Harvard University students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes.The founders had initially limited the website's membership to Harvard students, but later expanded it to colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University It gradually added support for students at various other universities before it opened to high-school students, and eventually to anyone aged 13 and over.70. Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster (2004)Killing more than 300,000 people, after an under sea quake off Sumatra, the Indonesian Tsunami of 2004, was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. It killed people over fourteen countries, and inundated coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (100 ft) high. With a magnitude of Mw 9.1–9.3, it is the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. The earthquake had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 cm (0.4 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska. Its epicentre was between Simeulue and mainland Indonesia.The plight of the affected people and countries prompted a worldwide humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community donated more than $14 billion (2004 US$) in humanitarian aid.71. Hurricane Katrina (2005)With the power of a nuclear explosion, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana on the 29th August 2005. 125mph winds caused widespread devastation. When the hurricane hit New Orleans, many of the city's levees breached. Soon 80% of New Orleans was submerged in water. Thousands were stranded and many headed to the super dome for refuge. Food and water was in short supply and a national scandal ensued when relief failed to get through to the residents.72. Apple unveils iPhone (2007)A phone that reinvented the 'phone' and created an almost instant worldwide brand bringing down the then leader Nokia and dominating the cellphone markets till today. It brought about the 'Touch Revolution' changed the world of software distribution, unified music and phones, addicted the world to motion and orientation sensors, shattered the myth that japanese consumers buy only japanese phones and all but killed the mobile gaming market.73. Global Financial Crisis (2008)It is considered by many economists the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It resulted in the threat of total collapse of large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national governments, and downturns in stock markets around the world. In many areas, the housing market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosures and prolonged unemployment. The crisis played a significant role in the failure of key businesses, declines in consumer wealth estimated in trillions of U.S. dollars, and a downturn in economic activity leading to the 2008–2012 global recession and contributing to the European sovereign-debt crisis.74. Barack Obama Elected as The First Black President of America (2008)Barack Obama was elected as the president of the United States of America. Barack Obama is the first Afro -American who was elected as the president of the United States of America75. Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)On 11th March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami hit the east of Japan, killing over 15,000 and leaving another 9,000 missing. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded to have hit Japan, and the fifth most powerful earthquake in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900.The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in Miyako in Tohoku's Iwate Prefecture,and which, in the Sendai area, travelled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland. The earthquake moved Honshu (the main island of Japan) 2.4 m (8 ft) east and shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 cm (4 in) and 25 cm (10 in), and generated sound waves detected by the low orbiting GOCE satellite. The tsunami caused nuclear accidents, primarily the level 7 meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex, and the associated evacuation zones affecting hundreds of thousands of residents. Early estimates placed insured losses from the earthquake alone at US$14.5 to $34.6 billion.The Bank of Japan offered US$183 billion to the banking system on 14 March in an effort to normalize market conditions.The World Bank's estimated economic cost was US$235 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster in world history.76. The Death of Osama Bin Laden (2011)After a decade long search to catch the most wanted criminal on the planet, the pursuit came to an end on May 2 2011, when Osama Bin Laden, the man behind the deadly 9/11 attacks was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, shortly after 1:00 am local time by a United States special forces military unit. The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was ordered by United States President Barack Obama and carried out in a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation by a team of United States Navy SEALs from the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as DEVGRU or informally by its former name, SEAL Team Six) of the Joint Special Operations Command, with support from CIA operatives on the ground.The raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan was launched from Afghanistan. After the raid, U.S. forces took bin Laden's body to Afghanistan for identification, then buried it at sea within 24 hours after his death.The United States had direct evidence that the ISI chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, knew of Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, Pakistan.77. Nelson Mandela Dies (2013)On 5 December 2013, Nelson Mandela, the first President of South Africa elected in a fully representative democratic election, died at the age of 95 after suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection. He died at around 20:50 local time (UTC 2) at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa, surrounded by his family. South Africa observed a national mourning period of 10 days. During this time numerous memorial services were conducted across the country. The official memorial service was held at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, on 10 December. His body lay in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria from 11 to 13 December 2013. A state funeral was held on 15 December 2013 in Qunu in the Eastern Cape province, where his body was buried.78. Narendra Damodardas Modi sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of IndiaWith Biggest Indian Mandate in Three Decades- Narendra Damodardas Modi, 63, sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India at the biggest-ever swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.The scale of the victory gave India a strong government with a clear parliamentary majority, ending the dependency of successive coalition governments on regional allies. Stock markets soared at the prospect of stability and a business-friendly administration. In a country restless for economic revival and better governance,78. Malaysian Airliner MH370 Vanishes Without a Trace (2014)In what is regarded as the greatest aviation mystery of all time, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing that lost contact with air traffic control on 8 March 2014 at 01:20 MYT, less than an hour after takeoff. At 07:24, Malaysia Airlines reported the flight missing.The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 14 nations. There has been no confirmation of any flight debris and no crash site has been found. A multinational search and rescue effort, later reported as the largest in history,began in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea.The search has been laborious with just a few clues to carry on the mission. No debris or body has been found as of now.Events Across 100 Years That Completely Changed The World

Canadian football (French: football canadien) is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play 110 yards (101 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area (end zone).In Canada, the term "football" may refer to Canadian football and American football collectively, or to either sport specifically, depending on context; outside of Canada, the term Canadian football is used exclusively to describe this sport, even in the United States (the term gridiron football [or, more rarely, North American football] is also used worldwide as well to refer to both sports collectively). The two sports have shared origins and are closely related but have some key differences, and both sports had their modern rules developed independently from each other.Rugby football in Canada originated in the early 1860s,[1] and over time, the game known as Canadian football developed. Both the Canadian Football League (CFL), the sport's top professional league, and Football Canada, the governing body for amateur play, trace their roots to 1880 and the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union.The CFL is the most popular and only major professional Canadian football league. Its championship game, the Grey Cup, is one of Canada's largest sporting events, attracting a broad television audience. In 2009, about 40% of Canada's population watched part of the game;[2] in 2014, it was closer to 33%, peaking at 5.1 million viewers in the fourth quarter.[3]Canadian football is also played at the bantam, high school, junior, collegiate, and semi-professional levels: the Canadian Junior Football League, formed May 8, 1974, and Quebec Junior Football League are leagues for players aged 18–22, many post-secondary institutions compete in U Sports football for the Vanier Cup, and senior leagues such as the Alberta Football League have grown in popularity in recent years. Great achievements in Canadian football are enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame located in Hamilton, Ontario.Other organizations across Canada perform senior league Canadian football during the summer.History[edit]The first documented football match was a practice game played on November 9, 1861, at University College, University of Toronto (approximately 400 yards or 370 metres west of Queen's Park). One of the participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was Sir William Mulock, later chancellor of the school.[1] A football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play at this stage are unclear.[4]The first written account of a game played was on October 15, 1862, on the Montreal Cricket Grounds. It was between the First Battalion Grenadier Guards and the Second Battalion Scots Fusilier Guards resulting in a win by the Grenadier Guards 3 goals, 2 rouges to nothing.[citation needed] In 1864, at Trinity College, Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland, Frederick A. Bethune, and Christopher Gwynn, one of the founders of Milton, Massachusetts, devised rules based on rugby football.[1] The game gradually gained a following, with the Hamilton Football Club (later the Hamilton Tiger-Cats) formed on November 3, 1869. Montreal Football Club was formed on April 8, 1872. Toronto Argonaut Football Club was formed on October 4, 1873, and the Ottawa Football Club (later the Ottawa Rough Riders) on September 20, 1876. Of those clubs, only the Toronto club is still in continuous operation today.This rugby-football soon became popular at Montreal's McGill University. McGill challenged Harvard University to a game, in 1874, using a hybrid game of English rugby devised by the University of McGill.[5][6]The first attempt to establish a proper governing body and adopted the current set of Rugby rules was the Foot Ball Association of Canada, organized on March 24, 1873, followed by the Canadian Rugby Football Union (CRFU) founded June 12, 1880,[7] which included teams from Ontario and Quebec. Later both the Ontario and Quebec Rugby Football Union (ORFU and QRFU) were formed (January 1883), and then the Interprovincial (1907) and Western Interprovincial Football Union (1936) (IRFU and WIFU).[8] The CRFU reorganized into an umbrella organization forming the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU) in 1891.[9] The immediate forerunner to the current Canadian Football League was established in 1956 when the IRFU and WIFU formed an umbrella organization, the Canadian Football Council (CFC).[10] In 1958 the CFC left the CRU to become the CFL.The Burnside rules closely resembling American football (which are similar rules developed by Walter Camp for that sport) that were incorporated in 1903 by the ORFU, was an effort to distinguish it from a more rugby-oriented game. The Burnside Rules had teams reduced to 12 men per side, introduced the snap-back system, required the offensive team to gain 10 yards on three downs, eliminated the throw-in from the sidelines, allowed only six men on the line, stated that all goals by kicking were to be worth two points and the opposition was to line up 10 yards from the defenders on all kicks. The rules were an attempt to standardize the rules throughout the country. The CIRFU, QRFU and CRU refused to adopt the new rules at first.[11] Forward passes were not allowed in the Canadian game until 1929, and touchdowns, which had been five points, were increased to six points in 1956, in both cases several decades after the Americans had adopted the same changes. The primary differences between the Canadian and American games stem from rule changes that the American side of the border adopted but the Canadian side did not (originally, both sides had three downs, goal posts on the goal lines and unlimited forward motion, but the American side modified these rules and the Canadians did not). The Canadian field width was one rule that was not based on American rules, as the Canadian game was played in wider fields and stadiums that were not as narrow as the American stadiums.The Grey Cup was established in 1909 after being donated by Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey, Governor General of Canada, as the championship of teams under the CRU for the Rugby Football Championship of Canada.[11] Initially an amateur competition, it eventually became dominated by professional teams in the 1940s and early 1950s. The Ontario Rugby Football Union, the last amateur organization to compete for the trophy, withdrew from competition after the 1954 season.[12] The move ushered in the modern era of Canadian professional football, culminating in the formation of the present-day Canadian Football League in 1958.Canadian football has mostly been confined to Canada, with the United States being the only other country to have hosted high-level Canadian football games. The CFL's controversial "South Division" as it would come to be officially known attempted to put CFL teams in the United States playing under Canadian rules between 1992 and 1995. The move was aborted after three years; the Baltimore Stallions were the most successful of the numerous Americans teams to play in the CFL, winning the 83rd Grey Cup. Continuing financial losses, a lack of proper Canadian football venues, a pervasive belief that the American teams were simply pawns to provide the struggling Canadian teams with expansion fee revenue, and the return of the NFL to Baltimore prompted the end of Canadian football on the American side of the border.The CFL hosted the Touchdown Atlantic regular season game at Nova Scotia in 2005 and New Brunswick in 2010, 2011 and 2013. In 2013, Newfoundland and Labrador became the last province to establish football at the minor league level, with teams playing on the Avalon Peninsula and in Labrador City.[citation needed] The province however has yet to host a college or CFL game. Prince Edward Island, the smallest of the provinces, has also never hosted a CFL game.A game between the Hamilton Tigers and the Ottawa Rough Riders, 1910A game between the 4th Canadian Armoured Division Atoms and First Canadian Army Red and Blue Bombers, in Utrecht, Netherlands, October 1945Touchdown monument outside the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton, OntarioLeague play[edit]Footballs and a helmet at a Calgary Stampeders (CFL) team practiceCanadian football is played at several levels in Canada; the top league is the professional nine-team Canadian Football League (CFL). The CFL regular season begins in June, and playoffs for the Grey Cup are completed by late November.[13] In cities with outdoor stadiums such as Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Regina, low temperatures and icy field conditions can seriously affect the outcome of a game.Amateur football is governed by Football Canada. At the university level, 27 teams play in four conferences under the auspices of U Sports (known from 2001 to 2016 as Canadian Interuniversity Sport); the U Sports champion is awarded the Vanier Cup.[14] Junior football is played by many after high school before joining the university ranks. There are 18 junior teams in three divisions in the Canadian Junior Football League competing for the Canadian Bowl.[15] The Quebec Junior Football League includes teams from Ontario and Quebec who battle for the Manson Cup.Semi-professional leagues have grown in popularity in recent years, with the Alberta Football League becoming especially popular. The Northern Football Conference formed in Ontario in 1954 has also surged in popularity for former college players who do not continue to professional football. The Ontario champion plays against the Alberta champion for the "National Championship". The Canadian Major Football League is the governing body for the semi-professional game.Women's football has gained attention in recent years in Canada. The first Canadian women's league to begin operations was the Maritime Women's Football League in 2004. The largest women's league is the Western Women's Canadian Football League.The field[edit]Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, in 2005. A Canadian Football League venue.The Canadian football field is 150 yards (137 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide, within which the goal areas are 20 yards (18 m) deep, and the goal lines are 110 yards (101 m) apart. Weighted pylons are placed on the inside corner of the intersections of the goal lines and end lines. Including the End zone, the total area of the field is 87,750 square feet (8,152 m2).At each goal line is a set of 40-foot-high (12 m) goalposts, which consist of two uprights joined by an 18 1⁄2-foot-long (5.6 m) crossbar which is 10 feet (3 m) above the goal line. The goalposts may be H-shaped (both posts fixed in the ground) although in the higher-calibre competitions the tuning-fork design (supported by a single curved post behind the goal line, so that each post starts 10 feet (3 m) above the ground) is preferred.The sides of the field are marked by white Sidelines, the goal line is marked in white or yellow, and white lines are drawn laterally across the field every 5 yards (4.6 m) from the goal line. These lateral lines are called "yard lines" and often marked with the distance in yards from and an arrow pointed toward the nearest goal line. Prior to the early 1980s, arrows were not used and all yard lines (in both multiples of 5 and 10) were usually marked with the distance to the goal line, including the goal line itself which was marked with either a "0" or "00"; in most stadiums today, only the yard markers in multiples of 10 are marked with numbers, with the goal line sometimes being marked with a "G". The centre (55-yard) line usually is marked with a "C" (or, more rarely, with a "55"). "Hash marks" are painted in white, parallel to the yardage lines, at 1 yard (0.9 m) intervals, 24 yards (21.9 m) from the sidelines.On fields that have a surrounding running track, such as Molson Stadium and many universities, the end zones are often cut off in the corners to accommodate the track. Until 1986,[16] the end zones were 25 yards (23 m) deep, giving the field an overall length of 160 yards (150 m), and a correspondingly larger cutoff could be required at the corners. The first field to feature the shorter 20-yard endzones was Vancouver's BC Place (home of the BC Lions), which opened in 1983. This was particularly common among U.S.-based teams during the CFL's American expansion, where few American stadiums were able to accommodate the much longer and noticeably wider CFL field. The end zones in Toronto's BMO Field are only 18 yards instead of 20 yards.Gameplay[edit]This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Canadian football" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(November 2010)(Learn how and when to remove this template message)Teams advance across the field through the execution of quick, distinct plays, which involve the possession of a brown, prolate spheroid ball with ends tapered to a point. The ball has two one-inch-wide white stripes.Start of play[edit]At the beginning of a match, an official tosses a coin and allows the captain of the visiting team to call heads or tails. The captain of the team winning the coin toss is given the option of having first choice, or of deferring first choice to the other captain. The captain making first choice may either choose a) to kick off or receive the kick at the beginning of the half, or b) which direction of the field to play in. The remaining choice is given to the opposing captain. Before the resumption of play in the second half, the captain that did not have first choice in the first half is given first choice. Teams usually choose to defer, so it is typical for the team that wins the coin toss to kick to begin the first half and receive to begin the second.Play begins at the start of each half with one team place-kicking the ball from its own 35-yard line. Both teams then attempt to catch the ball. The player who recovers the ball may run while holding the ball, or lateral throw the ball to a teammate.Stoppage of play[edit]Play stops when the ball carrier's knee, elbow, or any other body part aside from the feet and hands, is forced to the ground (a tackle); when a forward pass is not caught on the fly (during a scrimmage); when a touchdown (see below) or a field goal is scored; when the ball leaves the playing area by any means (being carried, thrown, or fumbled out of bounds); or when the ball carrier is in a standing position but can no longer move forwards (called forward progress). If no score has been made, the next play starts from scrimmage.Scrimmage[edit]Before scrimmage, an official places the ball at the spot it was at the stop of clock, but no nearer than 24 yards from the sideline or 1 yard from the goal line. The line parallel to the goal line passing through the ball (line from sideline to sideline for the length of the ball) is referred to as the line of scrimmage. This line is similar to "no-man's land"; players must stay on their respective sides of this line until the play has begun again. For a scrimmage to be valid the team in possession of the football must have seven players, excluding the quarterback, within one yard of the line of scrimmage. The defending team must stay a yard or more back from the line of scrimmage.Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo looks down field with the ball during the 93rd Grey Cup game at BC Place.On the field at the beginning of a play are two teams of 12 (and not 11 as in American football). The team in possession of the ball is the offence and the team defending is referred to as the defence. Play begins with a backwards pass through the legs (the snap) by a member of the offensive team, to another member of the offensive team. This is usually the quarterback or punter, but a "direct snap" to a running back is also not uncommon. If the quarterback or punter receives the ball, he may then do any of the following:run with the ball, attempting to run farther down field (gaining yardage). The ball-carrier may run in any direction he sees fit (including backwards).drop-kick the ball, dropping it onto the ground and kicking it on the bounce. (This play is now quite rare in both Canadian and American football.)pass the ball laterally or backwards to a teammate. This play is known as a lateral, and may come at any time on the play. A pass which has any amount of forward momentum is a forward pass (see below); forward passes are subject to many restrictions which do not apply to laterals.hand-off—hand the ball off to a teammate, typically a halfback or the fullback.punt the ball; dropping it in the air and kicking it before it touches the ground. When the ball is punted, only opposing players (the receiving team), the kicker, and anyone behind the kicker when he punted the ball are able to touch the ball, or even go within five yards of the ball until it is touched by an eligible player (the no-yards rule, which is applied to all kicking plays).place the ball on the ground for a place kickthrow a forward pass, where the ball is thrown to a receiver located farther down field (closer to the opponent's goal) than the thrower is. Forward passes are subject to the following restrictions:They must be made from behind the line of scrimmageOnly one forward pass may be made on a playThe pass must be made in the direction of an eligible receiver or pass 10 yards after the line of scrimmageEach play constitutes a down. The offence must advance the ball at least ten yards towards the opponents' goal line within three downs or forfeit the ball to their opponents. Once ten yards have been gained the offence gains a new set of three downs (rather than the four downs given in American football). Downs do not accumulate. If the offensive team completes 10 yards on their first play, they lose the other two downs and are granted another set of three. If a team fails to gain ten yards in two downs they usually punt the ball on third down or try to kick a field goal (see below), depending on their position on the field. The team may, however use its third down in an attempt to advance the ball and gain a cumulative 10 yards.Change in possession[edit]The ball changes possession in the following instances:If the offence scores a field goal, the scored-against team can either scrimmage from its 35-yard line or have the scoring team kickoff from its 35-yard line.[17]If a team scores a touchdown, the scoring team must kickoff from their own 35-yard line.If the defence scores on a safety (bringing the ball down in the offence's own end zone), they have the right to claim possession.If one team kicks the ball; the other team has the right to recover the ball and attempt a return. If a kicked ball goes out of bounds, or the kicking team scores a single or field goal as a result of the kick, the other team likewise gets possession.If the offence fails to make ten yards in three plays, the defence takes over on downs.If the offence attempts a forward pass and it is intercepted by the defence; the defence takes possession immediately (and may try to advance the ball on the play). Note that incomplete forward passes (those which go out of bounds, or which touch the ground without being first cleanly caught by a player) result in the end of the play, and are not returnable by either team.If the offence fumbles (a ball carrier drops the football, or has it dislodged by an opponent, or if the intended player fails to catch a lateral pass or a snap from centre, or a kick attempt is blocked by an opponent), the ball may be recovered (and advanced) by either team. If a fumbled ball goes out of bounds, the team whose player last touched it is awarded possession at the spot where it went out of bounds. A fumble by the offence in their own end zone, which goes out of bounds, results in a safety.When the first half ends, the team which kicked to start the first half will receive a kickoff to start the second half.After the three-minute warning near the end of each half, the offence can lose possession for a time count violation (failure to legally put the ball into play within the 20-second duration of the play clock). However, this can only occur if three specific criteria are met:[18]The offence committed a time count violation on its last attempted scrimmage play.This prior violation took place on third down.The referee deemed said violation to be deliberate, and warned the offence that it had to legally place the ball into play within the 20-second clock or lose possession. Such a loss of possession is statistically treated as the defence taking over on downs.Rules of contact[edit]There are many rules to contact in this type of football. First, the only player on the field who may be legally tackled is the player currently in possession of the football (the ball carrier). Second, a receiver, that is to say, an offensive player sent down the field to receive a pass, may not be interfered with (have his motion impeded, be blocked, etc.) unless he is within one yard of the line of scrimmage (instead of 5 yards (4.6 m) in American football). Any player may block another player's passage, so long as he does not hold or trip the player he intends to block. The kicker may not be contacted after the kick but before his kicking leg returns to the ground (this rule is not enforced upon a player who has blocked a kick), and the quarterback, having already thrown the ball, may not be hit or tackled.Infractions and penalties[edit]Infractions of the rules are punished with penalties, typically a loss of yardage of 5, 10 or 15 yards against the penalized team. Minor violations such as offside (a player from either side encroaching into scrimmage zone before the play starts) are penalized five yards, more serious penalties (such as holding) are penalized 10 yards, and severe violations of the rules (such as face-masking [grabbing the face mask attached to a player's helmet]) are typically penalized 15 yards. Depending on the penalty, the penalty yardage may be assessed from the original line of scrimmage, from where the violation occurred (for example, for a pass interference infraction), or from where the ball ended after the play. Penalties on the offence may, or may not, result in a loss of down; penalties on the defence may result in a first down being automatically awarded to the offence. For particularly severe conduct, the game official(s) may eject players (ejected players may be substituted for), or in exceptional cases, declare the game over and award victory to one side or the other. Penalties do not affect the yard line which the offence must reach to gain a first down (unless the penalty results in a first down being awarded); if a penalty against the defence results in the first down yardage being attained, then the offence is awarded a first down.If the defence is penalized on a two-point convert attempt and the offence chooses to attempt the play again, the offence must attempt another two-point convert; it cannot change to a one-point attempt. Conversely, the offence can attempt a two-point convert following a defensive penalty on a one-point attempt.Penalties may occur before a play starts (such as offside), during the play (such as holding), or in a dead-ball situation (such as unsportsmanlike conduct).Penalties never result in a score for the offence. For example, a point-of-foul infraction committed by the defence in their end zone is not ruled a touchdown, but instead advances the ball to the one-yard line with an automatic first down. For a distance penalty, if the yardage is greater than half the distance to the goal line, then the ball is advanced half the distance to the goal line, though only up to the one-yard line (unlike American football, in Canadian football no scrimmage may start inside either one-yard line). If the original penalty yardage would have resulted in a first down or moving the ball past the goal line, a first down is awarded.In most cases, the non-penalized team will have the option of declining the penalty; in which case the results of the previous play stand as if the penalty had not been called. One notable exception to this rule is if the kicking team on a 3rd down punt play is penalized before the kick occurs: the receiving team may not decline the penalty and take over on downs. After the kick is made, change of possession occurs and subsequent penalties are assessed against either the spot where the ball is caught, or the runback.Kicking[edit]Canadian football distinguishes four ways of kicking the ball:Place kickKicking a ball held on the ground by a teammate, or, on a kickoff (resuming play following a score), optionally placed on a tee (two different tees are used for kickoffs and convert/field goal attempts).Drop kickKicking a ball after bouncing it on the ground. Although rarely used today, it has the same status in scoring as a place kick. This play is part of the game's rugby heritage, and was largely made obsolete when the ball with pointed ends was adopted. Unlike the American game, Canadian rules allow a drop kick to be attempted at any time by any player, but the move is very rare.PuntKicking the ball after it has been released from the kicker's hand and before it hits the ground. Punts may not score a field goal, even if one should travel through the uprights. As with drop kicks, players may punt at any time.Dribbled ballA dribbled ball is one that has been kicked while not in possession of a player, for example, a loose ball following a fumble, a blocked kick, a kickoff, or a kick from scrimmage. The kicker of the dribbled ball and any player onside when the ball was kicked may legally recover the ball.On any kicking play, all onside players (the kicker, and teammates behind the kicker at the time of the kick) may recover and advance the ball. Players on the kicking team who are not onside may not approach within five yards of the ball until it has been touched by the receiving team, or by an onside teammate.Scoring[edit]The methods of scoring are:TouchdownAchieved when the ball is in possession of a player in the opponent's end zone, or when the ball in the possession of a player crosses or touches the plane of the opponent's goal-line, worth 6 points (5 points until 1956). A touchdown in Canadian football is often referred to as a "major score" or simply a "major".Conversion (or convert)After a touchdown, the team that scored gets one scrimmage play to attempt to add one or two more points. If they make what would normally be a field goal, they score one point (a "point-after"); what would normally be a touchdown scores two points (a "two-point conversion"). In amateur games, this scrimmage is taken at the opponents' 5-yard line. The CFL formerly ran all conversion attempts from the 5-yard line as well (for a 12-yard kick), but starting in 2015 the line of scrimmage for one-point kick attempts became the 25-yard line (for a 32-yard kick), while two-point attempts are scrimmaged at the 3-yard line.[19] No matter what happens on the convert attempt, play then continues with a kickoff (see below).Field goalScored by a drop kick or place kick (except on a kickoff) when the ball, after being kicked and without again touching the ground, goes over the cross bar and between the goal posts (or between lines extended from the top of the goal posts) of the opponent's goal, worth three points. If the ball hits the upright above the cross-bar before going through, it is not considered a dead ball, and the points are scored. (Rule 5, Sect 4, Art 4(d)) If the field goal is missed, but the ball is not returnable after crossing the dead-ball-line, then it constitutes a rouge (see below).SafetyScored when the ball becomes dead in the possession of a team in its own goal area, or when the ball touches or crosses the dead-line, or side-line-in-goal and touches the ground, a player, or some object beyond these lines as a result of the team scored against making a play. It is worth two points. This is different from a single (see below) in that the team scored against begins with possession of the ball. The most common safety is on a third down punt from the end zone, in which the kicker decides not to punt and keeps the ball in his team's own goal area. The ball is then turned over to the receiving team (who gained the two points), by way of a kickoff from the 25-yard line or scrimmaging from the 35-yard (32 m) line on their side of the field.Single (rouge)Scored when the ball becomes dead in the possession of a team in its own goal area, or when the ball touches or crosses the dead-line, or side-line-in-goal, and touches the ground, a player, or some object beyond these lines as a result of the ball having been kicked from the field of play into the goal area by the scoring team. It is worth one point. This is different from a Safety (see above) in that team scored against receives possession of the ball after the score.Officially, the single is called a rouge (French for "red") but is often referred to as a single. The exact derivation of the term is unknown, but it has been thought that in early Canadian football, the scoring of a single was signalled with a red flag. A rouge is also a method of scoring in the Eton field game, which dates from at least 1815.Resumption of play[edit]Resumption of play following a score is conducted under procedures which vary with the type of score.Following a touchdown and convert attempt (successful or not), play resumes with the scoring team kicking off from its own 35-yard line (45-yard line in amateur leagues).Following a field goal, the non-scoring team may choose for play to resume either with a kickoff as above, or by scrimmaging the ball from its own 35-yard line.Following a safety, the scoring team may choose for play to resume in either of the above ways, or it may choose to kick off from its own 35-yard line.Following a single/rouge, play resumes with the non-scoring team scrimmaging from its own 35-yard line, unless the single is awarded on a missed field goal, in which case the non-scoring team scrimmages from either the 35-yard line or the yard line from which the field goal was attempted, whichever is greater.Game timing[edit]The game consists of two 30-minute halves, each of which is divided into two 15-minute quarters. The clock counts down from 15:00 in each quarter. Timing rules change when there are three minutes remaining in a half. A short break interval of 2 minutes occurs after the end of each quarter (a longer break of 15 minutes at halftime), and the two teams then change goals.In the first 27 minutes of a half, the clock stops when:points are scored,the ball goes out of bounds,a forward pass is incomplete,the ball is dead and a penalty flag has been thrown,the ball is dead and teams are making substitutions (e.g., possession has changed, punting situation, short yardage situation),the ball is dead and a player is injured, orthe ball is dead and a captain or a coach calls a time-out.The clock starts again when the referee determines the ball is ready for scrimmage, except for team time-outs (where the clock starts at the snap), after a time count foul (at the snap) and kickoffs (where the clock starts not at the kick but when the ball is first touched after the kick).In the last three minutes of a half, the clock stops whenever the ball becomes dead. On kickoffs, the clock starts when the ball is first touched after the kick. On scrimmages, when it starts depends on what ended the previous play. The clock starts when the ball is ready for scrimmage except that it starts on the snap when on the previous playthe ball was kicked off,the ball was punted,the ball changed possession,the ball went out of bounds,there were points scored,there was an incomplete forward pass,there was a penalty applied (not declined), orthere was a team time-out.During the last three minutes of a half, the penalty for failure to place the ball in play within the 20-second play clock, known as a "time count violation" (this foul is known as "delay of game" in American football), is dramatically different from during the first 27 minutes. Instead of the penalty being 5 yards with the down repeated, the base penalty (except during convert attempts) becomes loss of down on first or second down, and 10 yards on third down with the down repeated. In addition, as noted previously, the referee can give possession to the defence for repeated deliberate time count violations on third down.The clock does not run during convert attempts in the last three minutes of a half. If the 15 minutes of a quarter expire while the ball is live, the quarter is extended until the ball becomes dead. If a quarter's time expires while the ball is dead, the quarter is extended for one more scrimmage. A quarter cannot end while a penalty is pending: after the penalty yardage is applied, the quarter is extended one scrimmage. Note that the non-penalized team has the option to decline any penalty it considers disadvantageous, so a losing team cannot indefinitely prolong a game by repeatedly committing infractions.Overtime[edit]In the CFL, if the game is tied at the end of regulation play, then each team is given an equal number of offensive possessions to break the tie. A coin toss is held to determine which team will take possession first; the first team scrimmages the ball at the opponent's 35-yard line and conducts a series of downs until it scores or loses possession. If the team scores a touchdown, starting with the 2010 season, it is required to attempt a two-point conversion.[20] The other team then scrimmages the ball at the opponent's 35-yard line and has the same opportunity to score. After the teams have completed their possessions, if one team is ahead, then it is declared the winner; otherwise, the two teams each get another chance to score, scrimmaging from the other 35-yard line. After this second round, if there is still no winner, during the regular season the game ends as a tie. In a playoff game, the teams continue to attempt to score from alternating 35-yard lines, until one team is leading after both have had an equal number of possessions.In U Sports football, for the Uteck Bowl, Mitchell Bowl, and Vanier Cup, the same overtime procedure is followed until there is a winner.Officials and fouls[edit]See also: Official (Canadian football), Chain crew, and Penalty (gridiron football)Officials are responsible for enforcing game rules and monitoring the clock. All officials carry a whistle and wear black-and-white striped shirts and black caps except for the referee, whose cap is white.[clarification needed] Each carries a weighted orange flag that is thrown to the ground to signal that a foul has been called. An official who spots multiple fouls will throw their cap as a secondary signal.[21] The seven officials (of a standard seven-man crew; lower levels of play up to the university level use fewer officials) on the field are each tasked with a different set of responsibilities:[21]The referee is positioned behind and to the side of the offensive backs. The referee is charged with oversight and control of the game and is the authority on the score, the down number, and any rule interpretations in discussions among the other officials. The referee announces all penalties and discusses the infraction with the offending team's captain, monitors for illegal hits against the quarterback, makes requests for first-down measurements, and notifies the head coach whenever a player is ejected. The referee positions themselves to the passing arm side of the quarterback. In most games, the referee is responsible for spotting the football prior to a play from scrimmage.The umpire is positioned in the defensive backfield. The umpire watches play along the line of scrimmage to make sure that no more than 12 offensive players are on the field before the snap. The umpire monitors contact between offensive and defensive linemen and calls most of the holding penalties. The umpire records the number of timeouts taken and the winner of the coin toss and the game score, assists the referee in situations involving possession of the ball close to the line of scrimmage, determines whether player equipment is legal, and dries wet balls prior to the snap if a game is played in rain.The back judge is positioned deep in the defensive backfield, behind the umpire. The back judge ensures that the defensive team has no more than 12 players on the field and determines whether catches are legal, whether field goal or extra point attempts are good, and whether a pass interference violation occurred. The back judge is also responsible for the play clock, the time between each play, when a visible play clock is not used.The head linesman is positioned on one end of the line of scrimmage. The head linesman watches for any line-of-scrimmage and holding violations and assists the line judge with illegal procedure calls. The head linesman also rules on out-of-bounds calls that happen on their side of the field, oversees the chain crew and marks the forward progress of a runner when a play has been whistled dead.A modern down indicator box is mounted on a pole and is used to mark the current line of scrimmage. The number on the marker is changed using a dial.The side judge is positioned 20 yards downfield of the head linesman. The side judge mainly duplicates the functions of the field judge. On field goal and extra point attempts, the side judge is positioned lateral to the umpire.The line judge is positioned on the end of the line of scrimmage, opposite the head linesman. They supervise player substitutions, the line of scrimmage during punts, and game timing. The line judge notifies the referee when time has expired at the end of a quarter and notifies the head coach of the home team when five minutes remain for halftime. In the CFL, the line judge also alerts the referee when three minutes remain in the half. If the clock malfunctions or becomes inoperable, the line judge becomes the official timekeeper.The field judge is positioned 20 yards downfield from the line judge. The field judge monitors and controls the play clock, counts the number of defensive players on the field and watches for offensive pass interference and holding violations by offensive players. The field judge also makes decisions regarding catches, recoveries and the ball spot when a player goes out of bounds. On field goal and extra-point attempts, the field judge is stationed under the upright opposite the back judge.Another set of officials, the chain crew, is responsible for moving the chains. The chains, consisting of two large sticks with a 10-yard-long chain between them, are used to measure for a first down. The chain crew stays on the sidelines during the game, but if requested by the officials they will briefly bring the chains on to the field to measure. A typical chain crew will have at least three people—two members of the chain crew will hold either of the two sticks, while a third will hold the down marker. The down marker, a large stick with a dial on it, is flipped after each play to indicate the current down and is typically moved to the approximate spot of the ball. The chain crew system has been used for over 100 years and is considered to be an accurate measure of distance, rarely subject to criticism from either side.[22]Severe weather[edit]In the CFL, a game must be delayed if lightning strikes within 10 km (6 mi) of the stadium or for other severe weather conditions, or if dangerous weather is anticipated. In the regular season, if play has not resumed after 1 hour and at least half of the third quarter has been completed, the score stands as final;[23] this happened for the first time on August 9, 2019, when a Saskatchewan–Montreal game was stopped late in the third quarter.[24]If the stoppage is earlier in the game, or if it is a playoff or Grey Cup game, play may be stopped for up to 3 hours and then resume. After 3 hours of stoppage, play is terminated at least for the day. A playoff or Grey Cup game must then be resumed the following day at the point where it left off.[23]In the regular season, if a game is stopped for 3 hours and one team is leading by at least a certain amount, then that team is awarded a win. The size of lead required is 21, 17, or 13 depending on whether the stoppage is in the first, second, or third quarter respectively. If neither team is leading by that much and they are not scheduled to play again in the season, the game is declared a tie.[23]If a regular-season game is stopped for 3 hours and neither team is leading by the required amount to be awarded a win, but the two teams are scheduled to play again later in the season, then the stopped game is decided by a "two-possession shootout" procedure held before the later game is started. The procedure is generally similar to overtime in the CFL, with two major exceptions: each team must play exactly two possessions regardless of what happens; and while the score from the stopped game is not added to the shootout score, it is used instead to determine the yard line where each team starts its possessions, so the team that was leading still has an advantage.[23]Positions[edit]running backquarter- backslot- backslot- backsoffensive linewide receiverwide receiverdefensive lineline- backersumpirecornerbackdefensive backsdefensive backscorner- backThe offence (yellow and white) are first-and-ten at their 54-yard line against the defence (red and black) in a U Sports football game. The twelve players of each side and the umpire (one of seven officials) are shown. The offence is in a one-back offence with five receivers.Note: The labels are clickable.The positions in Canadian football have evolved throughout the years, and are not officially defined in the rules. However, there are still several standard positions, as outlined below.Offence[edit]The offence must have at least seven players lined up along the line of scrimmage on every play. The players on either end (usually the wide receivers) are eligible to receive forward passes, and may be in motion along the line of scrimmage prior to the snap. The other players on the line of scrimmage (usually the offensive linemen) are ineligible to receive forward passes, and once they are in position, they may not move until the play begins.Offensive positions fit into three general categories:Offensive linemen[edit]The primary roles of the offensive linemen (or down linemen) are to protect the quarterback so that he can pass, and to help block on running plays. Offensive linemen generally do not run with the ball (unless they recover it on a fumble) or receive a handoff or lateral pass, but there is no rule against it.Offensive linemen include the following positions:Centre: Snaps the ball to the quarterback to initiate play. The most important pass blocker on pass plays. Calls offensive line plays.Left/right guards: Stand to the left and right of the centre. Hels protect the quarterback. Usually very good run blockers, opening holes up the middle for runners.Left/right tackles: Stand on the ends of the offensive line. These are the biggest players on the line, usually well over 300 pounds (140 kg). Usually very good pass blockers.Backs[edit]Backs are behind the linemen at the start of play. They may run with the ball, and receive handoffs, laterals, and forward passes. They may also be in motion before the play starts.Backs include the following positions:Quarterback: Generally the leader of the offence. Calls all plays to teammates, receives the ball from the snap, and initiates the offensive play, usually by passing the ball to a receiver, handing the ball off to another back, or running the ball himself.Fullback: Has multiple roles including pass protection, receiving, and blocking for the running back. Sometimes carries the ball, usually on short yardage situations.Running back (or tailback): As the name implies, the main runner on the team. Also receives passes sometimes, and blocks on pass plays.Receivers[edit]Receivers may start the play either on or behind the line of scrimmage. They may run with the ball, and receive handoffs, laterals, and forward passes.Receivers include the following positions:Wide receiver: Lines up on the line of scrimmage, usually at a distance from the centre. Runs a given route to catch a pass and gain yardage.Slotback: Lines up behind the line of scrimmage, between the wide receiver and the tackle. May begin running towards the line of scrimmage before the snap. Runs a given route to catch a pass and gain yardage.Defence[edit]The rules do not constrain how the defence may arrange itself, other than the requirement that they must remain one yard behind the line of scrimmage until the play starts.Defensive positions fit into three general categories:Defensive linemen[edit]Left/right defensive tackles: Try to get past the offensive line, or to open holes in the offensive line for linebackers to rush the quarterback.Nose tackle: A defensive tackle that lines up directly across from the centre.Left/right defensive ends: The main rushing linemen. Rush the quarterback and try to stop runners behind the line of scrimmage.Linebackers[edit]Middle linebacker: Starts the play across from the centre, about 3-4 yards away. Generally the leader of the defence. Calls plays for linemen and linebackers.Weak-side linebacker: Lines up on the short side of the field, and can drop back into pass coverage, or contain a run.Strong-side linebacker: Lines up on the long side of the field, and usually focuses on stopping the runner.Defensive backs[edit]Cornerback: Covers one of the wide receivers on most plays.Defensive halfback: Covers one of the slotbacks, and helps contain the run from going to the side of the field.Safety: Covers the back of the field, as the last line of defence. Occasionally rushes the quarterback or stops the runner.Special teams[edit]Special teams are generally used on kicking plays, which include kickoffs, punts, field goal attempts, and extra point attempts. Special teams include the following positions:Long snapper: Snaps the ball for a punt, field goal attempt, or extra point attempt.Holder: Receives the snap on field goal attempts and extra point attempts. Places the ball in position and holds it for the kicker. This position is generally filled by a reserve quarterback, but occasionally the starting quarterback or punter will fill in as holder.Kicker: Performs kickoffs. Kicks field goal attempts and extra point attempts.Punter: Punts the ball, usually on third down.Returner: On kickoffs, punts, and missed field goals, returns the ball as far down the field as possible. Typically a fast, agile runner.See also[edit]Sports portalCanada portalComparison of American and Canadian footballGlossary of Canadian footballList of gridiron football teams in CanadaComparison of Canadian football and rugby leagueRugby footballRugby league

Not a military person, just a history buff, and you know what they say 'history repeats itself'.This is just like sports... The home team always has the advantage. Take a look at India vs Australia in cricket - Australia usually wins in it's home turf and India usually wins in it's home turf. Even look at the European Champions League Football (ahem soccer) UEFA awards extra points for an away victory (when I was watching!). Sadly the US doesn't do international sports and hence doesn't understand home advantage.Long ago, I have seen the video about red flag 2008 and copa India 2004. In the former a military exercise between USAF and IAF in Nellis AFB, Nevada, the IAF was humiliated and in copa India, (in Bangalore I guess?), the IAF won 90% of the war games against USAF.This isn't to imply that India can repel an invasion, the US can defeat India. US has the resources to overpower India forces withing 3-6 weeks without nukes and allies (one on one - only Pakistani forward base allowed for US - rules of engagement dawg). Stealth bombers can bomb Delhi and f-18s from carriers can bomb some of the coast lines. But one american boot in Indian soil the US will suffer so much loss that congress will practically be overrun by hippie liberal protesters. It's the reason every country no matter what the era no matter what the super power status had trouble invading another big country. That's why Hitler lost WW2, dumb, dumb, dumb idea invading the soviet union. He gained over confidence invading Poland, France and few other pushovers. It went into his head and decided to try on freaking Russia and there went his plan of world domination. He should have used the Soviets to defeat the allies and eventually back-stabbed Stalin. But I prefer learning English to German simply because it's easier (I think?). On the pacific front however the US knew better not to invade Japan. The phillipines, and the pacific Islands were all good but the mainland was going to be nasty, so Hiroshima was used as a cop out. Japan had the same thinking, some leader guy had said: 'don't invade US, there maybe a gun behind every blade of grass'.Some pro-american answers seem to be going on same track with Hitler's mind with over confidence from the recent defeats of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya etc. (lol pushovers!). The giants are however different: Japan, China, India. The US (and only the US at this time) can capture, Beijing, Tokyo and Delhi with boots (bombs from 50000 ft don't exactly count) but not without some serious ass-kicking. and given the size of India and China, the ass-kicking is going to be hip bone crushing. A glimpse into this was Vietnam. Sure the US to viet cong loss ratio was 1-11 but the US didn't fight alone. The South Vietnamese had far more losses meaning they did bulk of the work. Also the US may not have had as many men losses but a lot of equipment losses: 4000+ aircraft shot down? Not even talking about the ground vehicles (I am an airplane guy). That's a lot of money. That's the reason, starting from France (who had been in 'nam), many countries started to demand their gold back from the US. The Federal reserve had to have been printing the gold backed dollar to fund the lost weapons and fuel.So there you go folks. Only history can give us the best picture of how wars turnout. In this scenario: the US can can cripple Indian forces in 3-6 weeks but not without losing a couple of limbs.History also tells us that nothing comes good from war except for the arms' manufacturers and a few in government, corporate and religious high rises. Trying not to go full hippie here: human suffering (in this case war) isn't something fun to ponder about and it doesn't depend on a couple of papers, birth certificates and passports. We're all people here.So let's take our brainwashed nationalistic programming and chest thumping in sports. For this the US has to cooperate. Play some football (ahem soccer) or cricket. Or aggressively invite people to play baseball or basketball. With this cooperation this question would have probably been about sports.Cheers y'allPS.If you want to fancy an actual scenario:When I was younger I used to read fictional war novels. From that I can write a short story. There are three pilots: Lt. Chris Evampton (USAF F-35), Lt. John Stevenson (USN F-35/f-18) and Officer Srinivas Viswanathan (IAF Su-30 MKI).Scenario: To make a fair fight between, the rules of engagement must be modified. Pakistani bases are for USAF and USMC. Pakistan is only lending the bases and does not participate in war and so do Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi and UK/germany. To balance the fight Takijistan, Kazakistan and Russia provide base support but not directly engage. China, Japan and the rest of south-east Asia are 100% neutral and their airspace is off limits to both countries.Intel: This is the most important part that can win a war. It's not the person with the biggest gun that wins, but with the best intel. We choose to ignore the moles in the Pakistan who rat out US strategy to India. Yes there is a network of Indian agents who fuel instability in Pakistani resulting in terrorist strikes. You don't hear about it in the Indian media just the way Fox news/CNN don't talk much about the petro dollar or the federal reserve. Let's ignore all these and also ignore the fact that the chief director of DARPA is of Indian origin which makes the fight unfair in favor of Indians. Us government going all patriot act on it's employees, I am sure that won't cause civil unrest.Objective: The US wants to capture New Delhi with out using nukes. Reason unknown.Strategy: Total war. Before the invading nation starts bombing, missiling and marching into cities, the air space and air defenses must be secured. The first objective is to remove all air bases and air defenses and only then can bombing of infra structure and other things can begin. You can't fly over the city capital and any other place with missiles chasing you and you can't march into a foreign land without air support for your troops.For the perspective of Chris EvamptonIt's 1 am and the politicians who declared war just went to bed (atleast in India). Chris stands on the tarmac of Sargodha air base in Pakistan. The night is dark and a cool autumn air breezes over him. He takes a look around. Scores of F-22s land with drop tanks on the air base runway. They are headed from Qatar and Saudi Arabia. There are around 70 F-22s and 10 F-35s deployed and parked in all Pakistani bases and 50 more headed their way. The strategy is to deploy as many as assets as possible to out number the large Indian forces so that loses can be kept to a minimum. C-130s, C-5 galaxy transports, KC-130 aerial fuel tankers and E-3 AWACS join the fighter escorts to transport special equipment and personnel to maintain the complicated and advanced fifth generation fighter. India is in final stages of testing Pak Fa and not yet deployed. The US is currently the only side with fifth generation fighters. F-35 is brand new hasn't seen combat and so is the F-22. Chris hops into his USAF F-35. The objective is take out the Brahmos & Agni missiles batteries scattered in Indian state of Rajasthan. The night sky is too dark to see as Chris looks around the canopy in his special mounted helmet. Instruments in front of him tell him that he is one in a squadron of 14 (6 F-35s and 8 F-22s) jets carrying a strike package with 4 additional F-22s as fighter escorts. He is informed that he will be joined by a squadron of USMC F-35s from another base at the final way point. Suddenly the night sky is filed with streaks of barely visible white plumes in all directions and all altitudes. Flashes go off and distant glowing fireballs emerge. USN ships have launched cruise missiles against select Indian bases. Some Indian defenses and have launched counter measures. Chris checks his instruments and performs basic maneuvers at the first way point. AWACS informs him 'no bogeys'. Yet Chris is very alert. More plumes fill the sky and disappear. Suddenly a dozen plumes streak past him in the opposite direction. Their altitude is below the him. 'Did you see that?' Yells his wingman. Chris quickly contacts the base and informs them. The base and AWACS respond that they have noted and not in immediate danger. Chris is now at final way point before reaching the target. A flight of 4 USMC F-35s joins them. The two wild weasels engage their powerful jamming radar and look for brahmos mobile lanuch sites. 4 harms missiles rush out from the F-35s hidden bomb bay doors and find finish their targets. But the radars indicate three dozen more launch sites. The two F-35s can't carry more AGM 88 harms. The Infra red helmet zoom in feature shows that many mobile launch sites are empty. The trucks are heading somewhere in a hurry. There are two explanations, they haven't been loaded yet or they have already delivered their pay load. Chris leans toward the later since the trucks are in a hurry probably to reload. But where? Suddenly an alarm goes off. AAA and SAM launch. F-35 Jammers go full power and the missiles head right by them. Agm 86 mavericks charge out of the bomb bay doors of the F-22s and F-35s and find their targets. Had the planes been non-stealth this alarm would have went of far earlier. The F-22 lead escort yells out 'bogeys!'. AWACS confirms. A flight of 30 Su-30 MKIs of the IAF head toward them. Since they are in stealth planes, the enemy cannot see them. The squadron chooses when to pick the fight. Chris turns on his air attack mode. He has only two aim 9x air-to-air missiles. F-22s lanuch a total of 20 aim 120 when the MKIs are in range. The MKIs don't know they are being attacked. They drop like flies and the squadron heads in to finish them. The MKIs scatter. Suddenly all warning lights go off. The F-35s are in range of MKIs now. Missiles launch all over. There are only 4 F-22 in air superiority configuration. And they have emptied their aim 120s. The surviving MKIs (survived thanks to the high maneuvaribility of the Su-30 air frame) are in range to detect the F-35s but not yet for F-22s. Round two begins. With no more aim-120s there is no more Beyond Visual Range combat. Alamos, archers, astras fly all over. Chris does basic fighter maneuvers. Explosive flashes, screams, plumes, and flares are all around him. Then he hears a call from the lead F-22 escort. 'fox two (sidewinders) in range'. Now the MKIs can see the F-22s as well. A few minutes of a bloody dogfight follows. Chris sees MKIs fly past him. Does basic maneuvers, fires guns. Sees MKIs go down as well as a couple of burning F-22s airframes right in front his HUD. Both sides decide to retreat. The Indians lost far more than americans, even when being out numbered. The outcome would have been so much more different in a few years when the PAK FA becomes operational. The lead F-22 escort is dead and his wingman takes over. A total of 3 F-22s and 5 F-35s are down. The MKI kill count is about 17. The outcome would have been far better for the american if more F-22s were carrying aim 120s than ground strike munitions. Chris contacts his base for further instructions. Whether to continue looking for brahmos launch pads or abort mission and head back. The base doesn't respond back. Nobody is able to contact the base. Chris contacts awacs. Even AWACS is unable to contact neither Sargodha nor other bases. The sky is lit up in a second wave of surface to surface missiles in all directions and altitudes. The squadron is now defenseless and make their own decision to head back to base. They make their way back to the base. They arrive at Sargodha only to find the base is unrecognizable. The night only permits the view of a large inferno where the tarmac is supposed to be. Most brahmos sites managed to launch at Pakistani bases. Their sea-skimming low altitude and high speed made them impervious to any type of defenses. Some of them were brahmos 2 which were hypersonic with even less chance of . After taking out the bases' radar systems and missile defense systems, Agnis wreaked havoc on the rest of the air base. Chris watches in horror as dozens of parked F-22s , F-35s, C-5s, C-130s burn along with the Pakistani equipment such as F-16s. The runway lights are no longer lit. The squadron decide to head toward the Islamabad airport. They were informed earlier than rules of engagement prevent Indian forces from attacking Pakistani civilian targets. They land in Islamabad international airport. Two more F-35s are lost on the way after running out of fuel. The pilots ejected safely. Chris now meets up with another squadron who just landed in Islamabad. He is informed that even his squadron had a similar experience. The Indians have lost several brahmos launchers, MKIs, air defense systems and damaged air force bases, but the war from the Pakistan's side is over. The USAF lost 2/3 of its F-22 & F-35 inventory while parked on the ground and approximately half dozen in air to air combat. (In reality it could have went nuclear and really really really really really really ugly). Chris has been told that the next move by the USAF is to to operate F-15s and F-16s from Afghan and Saudi bases well out of reach of brahmos. He has been informed that transports will be arriving to take him to Baghdad.Two days later, he is now part of a squadron of 12 F-35s. Some three hundred F-15s, F-15 SEs and F-16s, B-52s and 3 B-2s are scattered across Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Although the Indian air force is severely weakened by the USAF, USN and USMC fighters and the sheer number of F-15s and F16s is enough to overwhelm the remaining forces there are two distinct disadvantages. The remaining Indian air force units have moved north to their base in Tajikistan. They are allowed to enter Russian airspace and use Russian bases. If uncle SAM wants the Russian assistance to stop there and then, the Russian airspace is strictly off limits. That means the remaining MKIs can fly around in Russian airspace and leisurely shoot from a distance. The second is that since all Pakistani bases are taken out, F-15s and F-16s must carry drop tanks which add extra weight and severely limit the payload. The Indian mig 29s, MKIs and other fighters have not such constraints.Chris hops into his F-35 for his second mission. Take out more Indian bases and air defense units. These ensure that the B-52s have no sams nor interceptors to stop them. A flight of about 150 F-15s, F-15 SEs and F-16s and 8 F-35s. Chris flies in his F-35 across Pakistan. About 30 F-15s are configured with air superiority and rest are combination of ground strike and wild weasels. Chris eyebrows and cheeks tighten as as looks on at a destroyed Pakistani air base down below. Scores of wrecked F-22s, F-35s that never got a chance in combat. Chris is committed to ensuring an american victory. As they enter Indian airspace the broad day light allows him to see a beautiful Himalayan range. An f-16 pilot exclaims ' Dang this war, I am supposed to mountaineering a there'. Alarms go off where. SAM, AAA and 'bogeys!'. MKIs and mig-29s head towards them. Although a large number of SAM and brahmos sites were destroyed, some remain and begin launching. But they can't see Chris's F-35. The F-35s head on and F-15s and F-16s behind him scramble and launch. Everyone exchanges BVR missiles. This should have been an extremely one sided affair in favor of the americans. The problem is that since the USAF fighters had to operate from Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, because all Pakistani air bases had been taken out, they had to carry a lot of drop tanks. This ensured that they carried limited weapons and there is a severe loss of maneuverability. The options are to jettison the drop tanks and fight the incoming forces and abort the mission since there is no more fuel to proceed to the targets. Or keep the tanks and risk getting shot at. Some f-15s and f16s go down behind Chris. The MKIs maneuver and dodge aim 120s, fire another wave and retreat. A few more F-15s and F-16s go down. Hit and run tactics. The SAMS hidden in the Himalayan range take out more jets, before the wild weasel squad takes them out. The flight reach their targets and bomb an airbase and scattered SAM sites. Another wave of remaining MKIs do some more hit an run before retreating to North. A long way back to Afghan base, the squadron decides to call it a day to retreat. A mission to hunt down the MKIs and migs in their Tajikistani base cannot be carried out since that would ensure escalation. This means that the last remaining Indian fighter are going to bleed the waves of USAF fighters through guerrilla warfare.Back at the base Chris sits around with his cigar with a dozen f-35s in the background.The F-35 is a new fighter and only a hand full are deployed in all three branches. A USMC pilot Lt Tim "Slippery" Brinks shows up. He tells Chris that intel has it that most of the air defenses are cleared out, much of the air bases are destroyed and a large portion of the Indian Navy sits at the bottom of the ocean. Unfortunately, Brahmos and Agnis have balanced the sides. These missiles did a real number on the american forces especially the USN. Thankfully, much of the launch pads have been taken out by wild weasel squads, but still some remain scattered. One challenge is in the way for strategic bombers and amphibious forces with close air support to bring the country to its knees. The MKIs and migs in the north. These are still on top of the food chain since they can take out close air support helis and bombers and transports. These will leave the ground troops extremely vulnerable. It is also rumored that the Russians are providing equipment and support in the north and Tajikistani, Kazakhistani and Russian bases form a safe haven for the IAF that we are not allowed to touch. The USN can't launch aircraft, and any support aircraft from the USMC is vulnerable to MKIs and migs and jets launched from the remaining Indian carrier. "Slippery" tells him a couple of USMC commanders have been talking about a daring mission to chase the MKIs and migs into Tajikistan. The task is to hide behind the Himalyan mountains and pounce on the MKIs and migs when the start their guerrilla routine. And shoot down that Indian AWACS and the refueling tanker. Neither the fighters nor surface to surface missiles are to touch that base since it would escalate to ww3. The only way is to shoot them down before they get to the base. The f-35s being stealth the radars won't see them. Since USMC has only 6 f-35s at the moment they need two more to complete the mission. The USAF officials are reluctant to participate and threaten to inform Washington. "Slippery" asks Chris if he and his wingman can do this favor not for not him... but the red, white and blue...and whatever the dumb reason this war is being fought. After more persuation, Chris agrees.The next day, Chris is part of another USAF mission to wipe out the last of the Indian air defenses and seek and destroy each and every one of the brahmos missile sites. Transports are on their way to the base to deploy their own surface to surface missiles near the bases. These will ensure victory for the americans. As Chris's F-35 takes off he remembers what "slippery" told him and sketches a plan to ditch the USAF and join the USMC to hunt down the last MKIs and the elusive Indian AWACS. As soon as the landing gear retracts. The evening sky is lit up with plumes. The bases defenses destroy incoming missiles, but some agnis make it and damage the base and the runways. These probably are some of the last agnis. The Indians are taking a huge risk by involving the Afghans and Saudis. If the Afghan and Saudi bases are gone then all of the USAF is out of range to reach Indian soil. This is of course until the bases are repaired and are operational again. This also buys Indians some time to ramp up production of agnis, brahmos, and repair bases. Although by the time they do any of those, it's going to be too late. TheAmericans will probably have fixed the runways and this time afghans and saudis will be behind them and possibly drag pakistan into it. Unless Indians find another country to support and find a way to end the war they are finished. And it is already too late. Much of the squadron is air borne and en route to cripple the Indian air defenses. The logical next step, if this mission is successful is to deploy long range bombers and mobilize ground forces. Unless the MKIs and migs show up again. They can ruin everything. Chris thinks to himself. "Slippery" and whoever at the USMC was right. Their mission has to happen. He breaks off from the chaos and heads towards the North with his wingman to the heading "slippery" had given him. He enters the mountainous Himalayas and flies dangerously close to the terrain. Peaks are above him. His drop tanks weigh him down. One false move and they would kiss the mountain walls. 'Glad you should up, we are about to make history!' "slippery comes alive in the inter comm. As they head towards Tajikistan they must jettison fuel tanks to fire their external weapons. Otherwise radars are going to detect them and Russians would be informed of their presence and start ww3 dragging China, Japan & Europe into the conflict. And should they eject here no one is going to rescue them in time to save them from the Himalayan cold. Everyone on the 8 f-35s sing the american national anthem. Chris notices a few abandoned brahmos sites hidden in the terrain. These sites were pre-programmed to strike Pakistani bases long before the war. The were hidden and relied on virtually no guidance because of pre-programming. That's why the wild weasels never found them. These were the one that took out most of the bases and crippled the USAF fifth generation fighter force while it was parked on the ground. The Americans may have sophisticated aircraft but they still had to rely on Pakistani bases which the Indians had plenty of experience taking out. Chris's radar lights up. 'bogeys!'. A squadron of 12 MKIs. These are among the last MKIs of the IAF. Shoot them down and country's all clear for bombing and invasion. And they have to do it before they reach the base. The MKIs seem to have done their guerrilla once again and are returning to base for more fuel and missiles. Everyone jettsons tanks, since they can't catch up with the MKIs and go full afterburner. This means they have to stop again at some pakistani civilain airport. The afghan base was bombed anyway so... There is also deep anti American civil unrest in Pakistan. The unrest is so much that Pakistan will probably decide to side with Indians. This is impending doom for the Americans, when the pro-Pakistani China will start supporting Indians. This can be lubricated if Indians hand over Kashmir to Pakistan and Arunachal Pradesh/Tibet to China. The Americans cannot afford to wait until the bases are repaired to capture Delhi or whatever it is that they want to do. The bombing and close air support must happen now. The stakes are ever so high to take out the MKIs. Its now or never. The F-35s empty their BVR payload just within range of the MKIs and pray. The MKIs maneuver and none go down thanks to the MKIs maneuverability and the Himalayan terrain. The Su-30 MKIs decide to run to the base rather than engage the F-35s. Since they maneuvered, the energy loss allowed the F-35s to catch up. MKIs run to their base as F-35s inch closer but still far away from sidewinder shots. A lone aircraft shows up on the radar. The AWACS! Chris says 'I am going after it'. "Slippery": 'good luck!'. Chris breaks off and heads towards the AWACS. He has only two sidewinders. He notices four MKIs breakout from the formation head towards the AWACS for escort. Chris yells 'S***! "Slippery" I need you to cover me.' "Slippery" :'Got it'. Four more F-35s join him. The AWACS desperately heads to the base. 'Could they have seen us?' 'I don't know'. Chris notices one the F-35 still has one drop tank. He contacts the pilot 'Eagle six, one of your drop tanks fail to deploy'. The pilot notices. One drop tank tank failed to deploy when he jettisoned. This compromised the stealth and the AWACS spotted him. Eagle six is ordered to go fall back as they cannot afford to be seen. The remaining F-35s join them in pursuit of the awacs. As they come in range of sidewinder shots. The MKIs immediately turn and engage. At this range stealth can be detected. Everybody exchanges heat seekers. MKIs superior maneuverability saves them and none is shot down. The F-35s stubby wings and the distinct energy disadvantage leaves them like fish in a barrel. Chris maneuvers desperately and dives behind a mountain. Explosions rock behind the mountain. That is as close to death he has ever been. He thinks of wife and kids and decides to retreat. Until "Slippery" yells on the radio. 'Chris you there? Get him off my tail!!!'. 4 out of 7 F-35s are destroyed. One MKI head back in front of the awacs to protect it. Its 3 on 3 with guns. Chris holds his thoughts of retreating to his wife and kids and rushes to the MKI chasing "slippery" to save him. He switches to guns and fires a long burst in desperation to save "slippery". Tracers streak past the MKI the MKI does a Puguchev's Cobra and let's Chris pass through. Now the MKI is chasing both of them, but with less speed. A heat seeker chases "slippery" and rams the mountains. Both of them break off to try and circle around the MKI. Chris also notices an MKI downs another F-35 and heads towards the awacs. It's 2 on 2. Right when they are about to get on the MKIs six, he pulls up with full afterburner. Tracers shoot past his canopy as the second MKI takes a run at him. The second flanker passes Chris tries to get behind "slippery". Chris watches in dismay as the ambitious "slippery" gets into a turning fight with the MKI. His F-35 can't point towards to fast and manueverable MKI that is in front of him. His hemlet mounted sight admits an off bore sight shot, but he is reserving his last aim 9 for the awacs. The MKI does a Kulbit and is now behind Chris. This one heck of pilot. Chris is lucky the MKI is out of missiles and needs to gather energy to close in for a gun kill. Chris watches in agony as "slippery" loses the turning fight and bails out as the flanker submerges the f-35 with tracers. That's one brave marine going beyond the call of duty for his country. Chris holds on to his Cross that his tied around his neck, looks at the picture of his wife and two beautiful kids and closes his eyes and presses the pickle button. The last sidewinder comes of the rack and heads towards the awacs. Chris doesn't look at what happens next. He doesn't care. He wished he never joined joined "slippery", no he wished he never joined the USAF, no he wished this war never happened. He only cares about getting back to see his wife and two beautiful kids one more time. He moves his hand from the flight control stick to the ejection handle as the plane violently shakes. The shaking dampens as the MKI flies past him. He pullsthe handle and out he goes from the burning f-35.Chris wakes up and finds a beautiful sky with an amazing view of the clouds and mountains. 'I am in heaven!'. But the guy behind him informs him that he is a remote mountainous village with tribal folk. The rescue him and fed him and let him rest until he could wake up. Weeks later he is Pakistan and learns that the Americans have made it to Delhi. The damage to the AWACS plane made the remaining MKIs practically ineffective. They couldn't fix it in time. Long range bombers were able to destroy a large part of the country and the infrastructure. Indian Tejas gave a considerable fight to the bombers and close air support without F-15s and F-16s taking them out, resulting in many loses but they were able to carry out their objective. Thanks to his heroism, Americans were able to defeat the Indian forces before other countries got involved. But he doesn't care. He only want s to go home immediately.From the perspective of Lt. John StevensonJohn Stevenson looks around his F-35 canopy in the night sky. He is one among the 6 USN F-35s. These are the only F-35s operated by the Navy. Around him are about 100 f-18s launched from 8 carrier groups deployed in the Indian Ocean. The strategy of USN is same as the USAF. Go all in against the large Indian forces to outnumber them so that losses can be minimized. They form the first wave of air defense strikes. One group takes care of the southern bases and he is one of the small team heading deep into Indian territory possible providing assistance for the USAF squadrons from Pakistani bases. He can't see the coastline yet. And notices missile plumes heading into the direction of coast. Surface to surface missiles launch from dozens of USN frigates. They head into the coast and John calls out 'feet dry'. He notices some f-18s are scrambling and some are launching agm 86 mavericks. The Indian air defenses can't see his F-35 yet. He is reluctant to launch his Agm 86 since he needs it for the deep regions. Caution signs drop down. He looks below and sees why. Explosion lit up the night sky as Indian air defenses are destroyed. After crippling the South Indian air defenses the group heads forward. No losses of f-18 so far thanks to cover from USN destroyers. John looks into his radar and finds a swarm of MKIs,and other jets. "bogeys!', he yells out. The enemy can't see him yet but they can sure see the f 18s. John and his F-35 crew can't help cause they don't have any air to airs. Both sides exchange BVR missiles. His F-35 squadron flies steadily but f-18s behind him scramble, launch and get shot down. He twitches seeing his wingmen being shot down since has no means to help. The only consolation is watching MKIs go down with return fire and the Bangalore base that launched them is up in flames. He looks down at the Bangalore base with burning MKIs and other old soviet, new russian and Indian made aircraft. The base was overwhelmed with missiles from the USN destroyers. Over 1/3 of the f-18 hornets are down. A USMC f-18 and f-35 squadron joins them and fill the gap. Some f-18s remain in the Bangalore area to do more damage and basically secure the area. A dozen F-35s and couple of dozen USN & USMC f-18s bravely head deep into the Indian mainland. They are informed that the USAF from Pakistani airbases will assist in taking more air defenses. Only the next wave will be cleared to head towards Delhi and bomb India's heart. Even though the mission seems to be going smoothly, there is a real risk of running into more hostile aircraft. Only 10 f-18s have air to air missiles and many of them have exhausted their payload fighting the MKIs. The sky is lit up again with more surface to surface missiles from USN. John also notices some low level plumes heading in the opposite direction. A wild weasel team empties it's last payload of agm 88 harms. More missiles launch sites blow up including brahmos. The Indian defenses suffered so much losses that any smaller nation would have completely surrendered by now. John is informed by an USAF AWACS that MKIs are in the area. They have just engaged some USAF fighters. They head further to find a dozen MKIs flying in a non-threatening direction. There is a debate between the USMC and USN whether to engage them or ignore them and carry on. USMC squadron receive orders to engage while the USN squadron is ordered to proceed to to the air defense targets. John talks on the comm. 'we need to stick together!'. The USMC f-18s and f-35s break and chase the MKIs. Alarm goes off and SAMS and AAA start firing. John and everyone release their drop tanks and perform basic maneuvers. Thank fully no one is shot. But the Indian missiles sites aren't so lucky. John is has an empty bomb bay and soon will have an empty fuel tank. Everyone calls it a session and returns to base. On the way back they see burning structures everywhere. Damaged bases, missile sites and what not. The f-18 squadron have done their work. One more wave and the land will be free of air defenses and bases. Nothing to stop the long range bombers and close air support aircraft to seize and destroy the country. John calls out 'feet wet' as he crosses the coastline and into the awaiting carrier. The USMC squadron has returned as well. 'Mission accomplished', 'the first round of beers is on me'. One of the wingmen cheers out. John looks out of his canopy and yet another wave of surface to surface missiles launch from the destroyers and head past above him into the mainland. 'Man that country is toast', one pilot yells out in glee. John relaxes as he anticipates the familiar light of his super carrier to emerge from the horizon. He rests his head. An announcement from the carrier informs him that the Indian navy is crippled. It lost two if it's three carriers and corvettes. There were a few USN destroyer losses but majority of the force remains intact. There a round of cheer across the squadrons radio. John's smile widens. He notices some streaks under him in some distance. He takes a look around there are many such streaks under him. They can't be missiles, the altitude is too low. Must be other jets. The carrier emerges from the horizon. It gets bigger and bigger. He can see the meatball and other f-18s that have just landed pull taxi clear from the carriers short runway. He deploys his landing gear. Dozens of f-18s circle around and wait their turn to land. Landing a carrier at night is a challenge and some planes miss the hook would have to circle back. As John approaches closer and closer he notices a plume right under him. The carrier explodes. Smoke blocks his view. But he can still seas the runway. A couple of more explosions occur near the carrier and one more on target. Brahmos! A hypersonic speed, the carrier stingers missiles and phalanx guns don't stand a chance against brahmos 2. Six missiles were fired at the carrier, and only two missed. Three hits and the carrier tilts. As Johns F-35 is about to touche the runway surface, he notices that it is tilted about 15 degrees starboard and the two parked f-18 slide into the runway. He decides to pull up. The wheels touch the surface and he pulls up the hook just in time before it arrest the plane and allows it to ram the f-18 that is sliding into the runway. He pulls the stick as hard as he could and his landing gear smashes the f-18s canopy before attaining stable flight. He retracts the landing gear and circles around. The final brahmos rams on the flight deck and the resulting fireball nearly takes an F-35 out that is circling above. Some 60 f-18s join him. John gets on the radio. "what the heck is going on?' They inform him that all their carriers were destroyed by brahmos and that this one was one of the last two remaining carriers in the Indian ocean. The other one belongs to the Indian Navy. He was also informed that if this can't take any more planes then they were to head to the nearest non-Indian base. Some head towards Maldives and the other head towards Sri Lanka. A squadron of 30 f-18s and f-35 head towards Colombo and the others head towards Maldives. He is soon informed that the Maldives group didn't make it as they ran out of fuel. With barely enough fuel, Johns squadron heads towards Colombo. His radar screen is suddenly lit with two dozen planes. "bogeys!'. But they aren't heading towards them. They seem to be heading Northwest into the mainland. AWACS identifies them as MKIs. And they flying ultra -low altitude almost sea skimming. So that's how they were able to launch brahmos so deep into the Indian Ocean. They also noticed a large plane flying at a distance at high altitude. The Indian AWACS! So that's the one that coordinated the air launched brahmos. The squadron has no air to airs to take it down. It is out of missile range anyway. The squadron chooses not to engage the MKIs with low fuel and no air to airs. The MKIs aren't engaging them. Since they were carrying brahmos, they don't have air to airs and fuel either. John wants revenge for downing his carrier base. After some debate they chase the MKIs. After a spectular skirmish with just guns for both sides the fight results in a draw and everyone retreats. John makes it to Columbo international airport. A few of his squadron mates were lost in the dogfight and some more after running out of fuel. 3 f-35s and 13 f-18s made it to Colombo international airport and John is now stranded there.Days later, he is informed by local Sri Lankan people that an USMC amphibious force is taking a pit stop at Lankan shores. Preparation is underway for a land invasion. He is informed that transports are on the way to refuel the f-35s and f-18s in Colombo. Their mission is to take out the last Indian carrier which forms a pest for close air support group. A land invasion into a mainland with 1.3 million strong army by marines is going to end badly if there was no close air support.There is no need to take out the carrier, just the fighters it operates. The marines will finish off the rest. They are in this situation thanks to the brahmos which did unspeakable damage to USN as well as the USAF. And these were the brainchild of India's former president Abdul Kalam. It weren't for him this conflict would have been one sided.After the f-35 & f-18s are refueled, re-armed and ready they are to fly a dangerous mission. Once they reach the carrier and engage the jets on board they will not have enough fuel to return to Colombo. They have no choice but the land in one of India's civilian airports. They have to count on the marines to secure the airport.John is flies one of the two f-35s in a formation of 10 planes. The rest are f-18s. John has is anxious as he heads in hostile waters. 'bogeys!' A flight of 6 carrier launched migs are patroling the area. They can see the f-18s but not the f-35s. John heads on but the f-18s and migs exchange BVR missiles. 3 losses on each side. The migs are joined by a flight of 4 tejas. Both sides exchange heat seekers. After this skirmish, the carrier launched threat is dissimated and some f-18s survived. The remaining migs and tejas retreat. Two of the remaining f-18s are USMC. They decide to get everyone to chase the fleeing migs and tejas rather heading towards the hostile 'base'. They find the carrier and soon enough the two escort corvettes begin firing. John empties his payload and takes out one of the corvettes. With the carrier dead a head he has not choice but to kamakaze it. He's not japanese so backs out along with the other remaining 2 f-18s and the other f-35. The marine in the f-18 quickly informs the base with the developments. The amphibous force is on its way to the shores. They are escorted by the close air support helos. With most of the mainland air defenses gone, including the crippled IAF, and Indian Navy, the carrier based jets are the only threat to the close air support choppers. As they head to an Indian city they are asked to loiter, until the marines over power the local forces and storm the air port. The circle around the shores with less fuel and watch on as marine tear through the Indian city with attack helos behind them. Suddenly the radar lights up. 4 Tejas heading their way to take control of the air. These are probably the last one from the indian naval air arm. The Tejas empty their payloads and since the f-18s have no more missiles they go down without returning fire. The tejas out number and gun down the other F-35 with losing two in their squad. John is now trapped. He has to fight 2 on 1 with guns only battle. John curses. If the USN carrier force hadn't been wiped out they would have a swarm of f-18s covering him. If he doens't win this battle, the tejas will take out the close air support helos and he would have to eject in hostile territory. Survival chance is minimal before the marines rescue him. He engages the two tejas in a dog fight. Fortunately for him, one of the attack helos fires a sidewinder at the tejas. But the sidewinder can't tell from friend or foe. It only chases the exhaust plume. It happens to find his f-35 exhaust and alarms go off inside his cockpit, he pulls up and deploys flares. The missile detonates right by him and damages the F-35. The flight surfaces don't respond quick enough. He rolls over and the plane plummets, he sees a tejas heading towards the marine attack helo. His best bet is to ram the tejas. He positions his fighter into the tejas trajectory as he prepares to bail out. Suddenly a violent shudder causes panic and pulls the ejection handle. The f-35 explodes and the resulting debris damages the tejas. The tejas pilot learns from the american and positions his fighter towards the marine attack helo and immediately bails out. A deafening explosion from the collision takes out both the attack helo and the tejas. John hit the ground hard and breaks one of legs. He is on a nice beach. He curses, curses his leg, curses his plane, curses the Indians, curses this war, curses the navy and curses god for putting him here. The last tejas does significant damage to the close air support craft before running out of ammunition and ramming the final chopper. This slowed down the marines but did not stop them. They had to contend with some Indian CAS helos and the Indian army but they eventually made it to Delhi. So many lives lost, civilian, Indian army and USMC. John is ok. USN didn't allow him to be discharged because they contend one doesn't need a leg to fly an f-35. The only reason he was discharged because USN had no more planes to fly. VA tells him there are many 'benefits' for being a disabled veteran. The 'benefit' is that he can't play beach volleyball with bikini babes again. He then reads about it in the paper weeks later in a sunny afternoon at Tampa Bay. US forces storm Delhi and make it to the Indian Prime Minister's office. They point the gun at him and hand over a letter from the US President addresses to him.From the perspective of Srinivas ViswanathanSrinivas sits in a corner with Su-30 MKIs in the background. Raj Kumar approaches and they have a conversation. 'How are you feeling?''How do you think? Our motherland is about the burned alive by the biggest military in the world''Well that's going to happen sooner than you think, the brahmos missiles couldn't make it to southern coasts on rail to target the USN ships. Some logistical problems''Great!''Nearly half of our MKI fleet is down with maintanence how do you expect us to go to war?''They have nearly 1000 fighters in the mainland, they'll eventually win''They have more fighters on water than all of ours combined''Until the ships are gone''That's why Naveen Sir has given new orders''Without the brahmos at the southern tip, we are going to be overrun by their fighter and missiles. We need to mobilize our fleet and fully focus on USN''Aren't we supposed to defend the site here?''THat was the plan but with nearly half of our fleet with in repair and no one to defend the coastline that plan would be a disaster''And we can't really afford much help from the Russians. The Chinese won't help us''We have no choice but to leave the Northwestern sites to defend themselves''This is one heck of gamble''The safe way is less chance of succeeding, so a gamble is our best option''If you survive the USN attack we need to head immediately to North, Russian will not help us directly but provide shelter''You are one of our finest pilots''We are counting on you''No count on the almighty!'Srinivas sits in the cockpit and heads towards the south. His MKI is equipped with a single brahmos missile. He flies in low altitude using the terrain to avoid detection. He is one among a squadron of 40 MKIs with brahmos. He lands at the Bangalore airbase for refueling. MKIs here are being refitted with brahmos and stripped off their air to air equipment. Srinivas looks worried. Giri shows and tells him. 'We must defend our motherland. Stay strong.' This marginally uplifts him.A squadron of 70 MKIs takes off with brahmos missiles from Bangalore and only a few carrying air to airs. A huge gamble using bulk of the MKIs to target the USN ships instead of usin them for air to air roles. Right after they take of they notice a large number of enemy fighters. F-18 approaching them. They are grossly outnumbered the air to air squad goes on a suicide mission to engage the f-18s while the anti-ship group hits the deck to take cover behind terrain. Srinivas listens in agony as radio silence takes over the chatter from the Bangalore base. The Su-30 MKIs sneak past the f-18s as they ignore them for the base and ground targets . They come in range of an AWACS. The fate of the group is in the hands of the AWACS. The AWACS hands out coordinates to the carriers and heads out. The squadron dives and hit the water and divides into groups each for a single carrier group. Instruments keep Srinivas and his comrades from running into water at night as they flew literally a couple of meter above sea level. Just as they approach the missile range of the they are spotted by destroyers and maritime patrol aircraft and the E3 sentry. Missiles launch targeting them. The Su-30 MKIs maneuver and some of them are either destroyed or accidentally clip the water. He notices the coordinates are in range and immediately fires his brahmos. Many of them are carrying the brahmos 2 and brahmos ng which are hypersonic and smaller respectively. 3 brahmos ng can be fitted to an MKI. The rest in his group do the same and they have no business being there. Everyone retreats evading the volley of missiles at them. Some make it some don't. They run like mice being chased by a bunch of bob cats. Srinvas contacts the radio. 'Is anyone in the other groups alive?' No answer. Two more of his group mates go down. He is now flying solo. The warning lights go out. The threat seemed to have stopped. He is joined by three more MKIs. Eventually he is joined they are joined by nearly two dozen more. These are the only ones that survived. AWACS suddenly inform them that a bunch of f-18s are behind them. With no air to airs, they keep running. The f-18s close in on them and fires guns. Realizing no missiles are involved they all turn and engage. After a couple of loses on both side everyone retreats. 'They are not going to stop until we are dead' exclaims someone in the squad. 'We're all doomed'. They head towards the awacs. The awacs come online and exclaims. 'Satellite image confirms, we got 'em!!! we got 'em!!!. All carriers in the coast are hit! Fantastic work! All of you!' The frown on Srinvas' face, finally turns to a smile. The gamble paid off. By some miracle a third of the total MKI squadron were sent on an anti-carrier mission and somehow succeeded in annihilating the USN carrier force. AWACS also informs him that the small group bravely defended the northwest sites and sacrificed themselves. But the sites did their job before being blown up, many of the Pakistani bases are destroyed and took most of the USAF fifth generation with them. The technological advantage of the brahmos won the day. Srinvas's smiles widens. But it came at a loss. Srinivas's smile quickly turns to a frown when he learns that the planes here are the only remaining in the IAF MKI fleet. The rest have been destroyed. After landing in a civilian base they are given no rest. They are ordered have to refuel and head North immediately. On the way to north Srinivas notices some destroyed bases and installations. At the Tajikistani base he is informed that the USAF will be operating from afghanistan and Saudi. Being only 18 strong the MKI squadron must ward off the attack from 100s of f-15s and f-16s that operate across Pakistan. He is also informed that the Southern coast is far from secure. There are still dozens of destroyers ready to launch surface to surface missiles. This small squad cannot handle both USAF strike and USN. Their job is to delay the invasion until some miracle happens. Russians will sell them some missiles and fuel and that is as far as they can go. The squadron will use these missiles for hit and run tactics and take cover from in secured air space.Srinivas heads out towards the Indian mainland. An aerial refueling tanker refuels the jets as they patrol and returns. Suddenly a large enemy aircraft show up on radar. F-15s and F-16s out to take out air defenses. Srinivas's squad are out numbered 1 to 10. They have no choice but the fire all of their air to airs and head back. Only some f-15s and f-16s are taken out. They run and duck and cover from the resulting return fire. Srinivas crosses the Himalayas. 'We have not time to rearm and refuel but we must try our must'. Suddenly alarms go off and everyone manuevers to evade incoming missiles. The AWACS informs them 'we are being followed'. Then hands out the coordinates. AWACS informs him that it is a lone fighter. But Srinvas is skeptical. They keep going. Srinivas and the three other cover the awacs as other head full speed to base to refuel, re-arm and rotate pilots. 'Behind you!' Awacs yells. The MKIs turn and around half a dozen fighter show up on radar. f-16s? Regardless, they fire heat seekers. IR warning goes off and everybody performs maneuvers. Only three of the enemy fighters remain. Srinivas asks one of them to head bacdk and gaurd the Awacs. The 3 MKIs and 3 fighter merge and begin a dog fight. 'They are f-35s, as soon as you kill one get back to the awacs. Protect the awacs at all costs'. Srinvas and his wingman pursues an f-35 each. Srinivas fires his guns and misses. He notices traces flash by him. Looks behind, am F-35 is right behind him. He needs to so something drastic. He does a cobra and lets the f-35 shoot past him. He immediately fires a missile and the f-35 escapes it using the terrain as cover. He notices his wingman guns down an F-35. 'Get to awacs now!'. He notices the other MKI chases the remaining two fighter and gets into a turning fight with one of them. His afterburners are slowling recovering the speed. He observes the other f-35 enter his six. He pulls up with full afterburner. His heart thumps and this may be it. He notices that airspeed is just right for kulbit and performs one. Now he is behind the f-35 for a gun kill. In the corner is his eye he notices a fireball. He wastes no time to identify who was shot down. He can't let awacs be shot down. His wife and familiy lives in of the towns. f-16s will probably bomb the town. He cannot let his family down. He has to save this awacs and buy time for his family to move out. The next wave will probably wipe out the town. He needs to save this awacs and make it safely to the base to inform his family to move out. He doesn't really care. He fires the burst determined to knock out the f-35. He cannot let it destroy the awacs. He watches as the f-35 burns but it is too late. An aim 9 bolts out of the burning f-35. His heart skips 10 beats. 'No!!!' He frantically empties his ammunition at the missile. 'Missile! At the awacs!. Save the Awacs! Now!' One of the MKI escorts releases flares behind the awacs. The missile detonates behind the awacs. The awacs is in flames with black smoke. But it doesn't crash. He is partially relieved. He takes a look around. No f-35s in the area. All four MKIs escort the awacs back to the base. The awacs returns to the base in one piece but badly damaged. Srinivas is in tears when he is told that this plane isn't going anywhere for atleast a few weeks. The next wave is surely to bomb his family's town. Shortly he is informed that agnis have trashed mulitiple afghan and iraqi bases. That buys enough time for his family escape. Srinvas smiles for the last time. Even though his family survives the conflict, much of the country is destroyed by bombers and marines and close air support. Delhi is eventually captured. But he remembered the night, were he was a part of a large squadron and even larger gamble. The night when David slayed Goliath. The night when he and his brave comrade determines to defend their motherland converted a one sided affair into a pyrrhic victory. He is informed that the US forces stormed the PM's office in Delhi and handed over a letter.What was in that letter?'Dear Indian PM,I have ordered Indian take out the other day and there was a fly in it I want my money back.Your sincerelyUS President'Well that explains it.Hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as me writing it!