“President Kadassa, I am delighted to finally speak to you directly. I hope you and your kin are remaining well, in spite of these trials we face together.
I am sure you have read the statement from Arstotzka. It is the opinion of my Marital Staff Council that the Arstotzkan threats to unilaterally intervene in Lakhzovian affairs constitute a major threat. Kaminsky is clearly deranged; and his country is a severely destabilizing influence on the region, as my CTO Ambassador will be stating shortly. The need to discourage Arstotzkan intervention is clear.
Should Arstotzkan forces violate your borders in support of the Utman, they will need to take control of at least one mountain pass. To succeed without the heaviest of losses they will need to establish air superiority over the Spine Mountains. Without this, the odds are stacked against them, as they will be facing heavily dug-in troops in mountainous terrain against whom they cannot deploy consistent air-support. Therefore, it is imperative that we limit their ability to deploy their air assets by deploying a number of Saheristani surface-to-air missile platforms in Lakhzovia.
Our latest surface-to-air missile system, the S-400, can engage up to eighty simultaneous air targets at ranges of up to four-hundred kilometres. General Khan has recommended the deployment of four S-400 systems, each supported by an earlier S-300 SAM for fall-back defence, to effectively cover the airspace above Transmecuria. With your government’s approval, we will prepare accordingly.
However, Kaminsky has handed us a free turn in this game, I feel. While threatening, his statement has provided an opportunity.
My High Commissioner of Defence, Mohammed Shafar, has suggested an SAF air attack upon the recently seized airport the ULO is using to smuggle weapons and personnel into your country. Scenarios range from the destruction of the airport’s runway, to the runway and entire surrounding airport. Either way, we doubt the ULO has the coordination or the expertise to properly restore the runway to working order quickly.
This operation is aggressive enough to damage the ULOs new supply route, and remind them of their powerlessness against our air forces, while being less antagonizing to the Rokkenjimans and Achkaerinese than escalating directly to a ground invasion of Transmecuria would be. If this strike is framed against today’s Arstotzkan threat of invasion, we will still be able to appear the less hawkish actors. What do you think?”