Sky Masters

by Dale Brown

  combat generation begun immediately-no simulated weapons or

  procedures-until I give the word, " Tamalko continued. "Major Esperanza

  will command the battle staff until I return. Inform the flight leaders

  that I will have Security arrest any crew members they find that do not

  respond to the recall. "After you start the recall, call headquarters at

  Cavite and advise them that we are generating combat sorties in response

  to an all-units emergency message, and give them the details. Then call

  Zamboanga Naval Yard and get a confirmation on this Captain Banio. That

  is all." Tamalko let the receiver drop back into its hook. Well, a

  squadron recall was the most active thing he could have ordered, he

  thought. He had no alert fighters, no aircraft configured for combat on

  a day-to-day basis. Launching two fighters, even if unarmed, would be a

  positive action as well. As long as the first follow-on fighters were

  armed, fueled, and manned within the next sixty minutes, he would have

  done everything possible to respond to this "exercise." Finally relaxed,

  knowing that he had done the right thing, Tamalko turned his attention

  to the young girl's oral ministrations, and he was quite pleased to find

  that his nearly fifty-year-old body still responded quickly to the task

  at hand. CHINESE REVOLUTIONARY NAVY DESTROYER H0NG LUNG THIRTY MINUTES

  LATER "Talon Eight-One reports one vessel afire, the PS-class patrol

  craft, " came the report from Admiral Yin's combat section. "One vessel

  believed to be an LF-class fire-support landing craft has moved

  alongside to assist. The PF-class frigates have split up north and

  south of the stricken vessel and appear to be in position to provide

  fire support." Admiral Yin pushed himself away from his seat on the

  bridge of the destroyer Hong Lung and cursed everyone he could think of,

  especially the manufacturers of the once-vaunted Fei Lung long-range

  antiship missile. The sonofabitches responsible for the missiles should

  be shot. The Shuihongz5 attack plane had fired both its C101 antiship

  missiles and had hit the patrol boat with one, but four Fei Lung-7

  missiles launched from Hong Lung had either missed or been destroyed. In

  Yin's long experience with the missile, this was by far its most

  miserable performance, and coming at the worst possible time. His

  destroyer had only two Fei Lung-7s remaining. With those two missiles he

  would have to defend himself against two of the Philippines' largest

  warships. He cursed angrily at the gods while pacing the bridge, feeling

  more boxed in by the moment, seeing his glorious career destroyed by the

  tiny, insignificant Philippine nation. That would not happen. Could

  not happen. It would be a dishonor to himself, to his commanding

  officer, to his Premier, to all Chinese. He calculated his options. The

  Hong Lung did carry two more long-range missiles, the Fei Lung-9

  supersonic missiles. Unlike the Fei Lung-7s, the 9s were designed for

  extreme long-range naval attack, as far as one hundred and eighty

  kilometers, and the missile could travel as fast as Mach 2.5 during the

  high-altitude portion of its deadly flight. The Fei Lung-9 was an

  unlicensed copy of the French-German ANS missile, which had been

  intended as a high-performance replacement for the Exocet missile (of

  which the C801 was a copy-the Chinese were never shy about stealing

  other weapon designs). Fei Lung-9 was similar in size to Fei Lung-7 and

  was launched by four solid rocket boosters and sustained by a

  boron-hydride ramjet engine . And they had nuclear warheads. Each Fei

  Lung-9 carried a single twenty-kiloton-yield RK-55 thermonuclear

  warhead, a copy of the Soviet RK-55 warhead carried on sub-launched

  cruise missiles and nuclear-tipped torpedoes. All deployed Chinese

  flagships carried nuclear weapons, and Admiral Yin's Spratly Island

  flotilla was no different-even though the RK-55 warhead was the smallest

  and "dirtiest" warhead in China's arsenal. Roughly equal in yield to

  the weapon that destroyed Hiroshima in World War II, it could easily

  sink the largest aircraft carriers or devastate a port city. Admiral Yin

  had never considered the use of these missiles, and still did not

  consider it-as distasteful as it was to him, he would withdraw from the

  fight and run for the safety of the Spratly Islands or the Paracels

  before employing them. The nuclear warhead could be removed, however,

  and a conventional 513-kilogram shaped-charge warhead installed. The

  Fei Lung-9 was a superior weapon, much more accurate, much faster, and

  was much more difficult to shoot down. But Yin did not order the RK-55

  warheads removed from the Fei Lung-9 missiles. He still had two Fei

  Lung-7 missiles and the firepower of the rest of his task force to use,

  and besides it was somewhat dangerous for the crew to download a missile

  from its launch canister and change high-explosive warheads at night

  during a combat situation-never mind that two of those warheads would be

  nuclear. "Status of Talon Eight-One, " Yin ordered. "Combat-ready, sir,

  " Captain Lubu replied after relaying the request to Combat. "Armed

  with six NTL-90 torpedoes. Data link is still active in all modes.

  Loiter time... estimated at one more hour for min fuel return to the

  Paracels, one point five hours for an emergency landing on Spratly

  Island. They're still transmitting targeting data and awaiting orders to

  reattack. " Yin nodded. The Murene NTL-90 dual-purpose torpedoes,

  capable against both surface vessels and submarines down to depths as

  great as five hundred meters, were substantial weapons of their own.

  Their maximum range was slightly greater than the eight kilometers-which

  was greater than the range of the guns on Philippine warships, although

  it was much less accurate against surface targets and, for greatest

  accuracy, the Shuihong-5 patrol aircraft would have to move in to four

  or five kilometers to drop the torpedo. Yin hesitated sending the

  Shuihong-5 back in within gun range, because if the patrol aircraft was

  struck down, he would have no choice but to move his precious Hong Lung

  in closer to the enemy to target his remaining antiship missiles, but he

  knew he had little choice. "Order Talon Eight-One to attack with

  torpedoes, " Yin told Captain Lubu. "Order them to specifically target

  the northern frigate. I want targeting information for the southern

  frigate and a second Fei Lung-7 salvo launched against it immediately."

  "The waters in the Palawan Passage may be too shallow for torpedoes,

  sir, " Lubu reminded Admiral Yin. "The torpedoes dive as far as fifteen

  meters before beginning their climb to the surface-there may not be

  enough depth in the area to accommodate that."

  "Then order Talon Eight-One to attack at slower speeds, " Yin ordered,

  "but I want the northern frigate prosecuted immediately. If the

  Filipino fleet is allowed to cross the Passage toward Palawan, we will

  have to withdraw before shore forces can react. I do not want these

  people to escape, Lubu, do you understand me? I will teach these

  Filipino cowards a lessonthe People's Republic of China wil
l defend its

  territory and its borders with all the power at its command. We will

  destroy ten ships for every one of ours that is attacked. Now carry out

  my orders, Captain." HIGH TECHNOLOGY AEROSPACE WEAPONS CENTER (HAWC),

  NEVADA SAME TIME If there was a room in all the huge expanse of desert

  known as HAWC in the restricted area known as Dreamland that was more

  classified or more restricted than any other, it was Building Twelve,

  otherwise known as Hassle Hall. It was so named because every occupant

  undergoes a scrupulous security check before entering the building, and

  each and every room in the complex conducts it own security check for

  every individual, arriving and departing. On the second-floor offices of

  the project known as PACER SKY, a huge high-definition TV monitor had

  been set up against one wall. A bank of computers and control equipment

  fed satellite data from the expansive Earth station mounted atop Skull

  Mountain within the Dreamland complex, and the digitized satellite data

  was unpacked from its microburst transmission format, decoded,

  processed, reassembled, and displayed on the huge monitor. The four

  occupants of that super-secret room could scarcely believe what they

  were seeing-a real-time image of a Chinese warship over eleven thousand

  miles away, taken from a satellite about the size of a welder's

  acetylene tank traveling five hundred miles overhead at seventeen

  thousand miles per hour. The image was so clear that they could count

  the different antennae on the vessel. "My God, that's incredible, " Air

  Force Colonel Andrew Wyatt, one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's senior

  project officers, exclaimed. "And that photo was taken at night? It's

  amazing."

  "We can do everything but read the name on the stern, sir, " Major

  Kelvin Carter said proudly. Carter was one of the heads of the EB-52

  Megafortress strategic escort "battleship" bomber project, a command

  pilot, and the special project officer in charge of interfacing the

  PACER SKY satellite system with the Megafortress fleet. "It's not an

  actual photo-it's a composite image, combining radar, infrared, and

  low-light visual-spectrum data. We can do this with every ship that's

  out there. We've spotted whales, dolphins, schools of fish, and even

  people on some of the smaller inhabited islands. But keep in mind, this

  is not the usable display." Carter motioned to the console operators,

  who switched the display to a larger-scale map of the area. The screen

  was filled with icons representing different vessels, along with data

  blocks near each icon. "Here's the plan view of the area around the

  vessels out there. The computer issues identification icons to each and

  computes its track, speed, and plots past and probable courses. In

  attack mode, the computer will plot routes around the different threats

  displayed, select weapons to strike each target, and prioritize targets

  according to parameters entered by the commander." Carter turned to a

  young Air Force officer beside him. "Ken?" Air Force Captain Kenneth F.

  James, assisting Carter with his presentation to the Joint Chiefs of

  Staff representativ~, motioned to a smaller monitor on another console.

  "As you know, Colonel McLanahan is out flight-testing his modified B-2

  Black Knight at SWC. Here's what he's watching in the bomber, sir, "

  James explained. "It's an instant intelligence and operations display.

  With this, a bomber doesn't need to launch with a completed flight plan,

  decode targeting messages, or even stay in touch with his headquarters

  or task force commander. He can launch and drive right to the target,

  knowing that he'll have the best and most current intelligence and

  flight plan available." Wyatt shook his head with amazement.

  "Incredible. Really incredible. Do you see that display in your plane

  someday, Captain? I understand you're involved in a very futuristic

  fighter program. James glanced at Carter, momentarily unsure how to

  respond. "Captain James is a stickler for security, sir, " Carter

  explained. James smiled, apparently relieved that Carter had stepped in

  to intercede for him. "He's understandably hesitant to talk about his

  DreamStar project, even to you."

  "I understand, " Wyatt said. "You guys live with security measures that

  really infuriate the Joint Chiefs. I don't think there could be a bad

  guy within five miles of this place, right, Captain James?" The young

  test pilot looked a bit startled at the question directed at him, but

  gave Curtis' aide a weak smile and replied, "Security becomes a way of

  life around here, sir. You get very close-lipped after a while."

  "I'll bet you do." "I think we can safely say that DreamStar is

  light-years ahead of even PACER SKY, sir. In my Megafortress strategic

  escort project, which I know you are well familiar with, PACER SKY would

  be ideal. One EB-52 acting as escort to a flight of bombers on a

  long-range strike mission will use PACER SKY to plan and update strike

  routes, pre-plan defenses, and optimize weapons usage. "All this. . .

  from a satellite that weighs only four hundred pounds, " Wyatt said.

  "Amazing."

  "It looks like Colonel McLanahan is getting ready to enter the low-level

  route, sir, " James pointed out. "When he switches between his Super

  Multi Function Display modes, we'll be able to watch his entire run on

  this screen." POWDER RIVER MOA, NEAR BELLE CREEK, MONTANA SAME TIME They

  called it Powder River. It was a pleasant-enough sounding name, almost

  relaxing-completely out of place for a high-tech bombing, navigation,

  and gunnery range. The Powder River weapons complex encompassed the

  southeast corner of Montana, a bit of the northeast corner of Wyoming,

  and an even smaller part of northwestern South Dakota. It was almost

  perfectly flat, with only a few windswept rolling hills and gulleys to

  break up the awful monotony of the terrain. In nearly eight thousand

  square miles of territory, there were only six towns of any size, mostly

  along route 212 that ran between Belle Fourche, South Dakota, and Crow

  Agency, Montana. The northern edge of Powder River A contained parts of

  Custer National Forest, while the very southern tip of Powder River B

  claimed an even greater landmarkDevil's Tower, the unusual cylindrical

  rock spire made famous in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

  Other than Devil's Tower, however, there was almost nothing of

  interest-this was truly the "badlands, " as depicted by writers of the

  Old West. It was truly the badlands this day. Sixteen men had already

  been "killed" in Powder River in one day. Men were "dying" because the

  Happy Hooligans from Fargo, North Dakota, were having an exceptionally

  good day. The 119th Fighter Interceptor Group was out in force, with

  four F-16 ADF Fighting Falcon air-defense fighters and two F-23 Wildcat

  advanced tactical fighters rotating shifts, plus two KC-10 aerial

  refueling tankers, and they were running rampant through the wide-open

  expanse of sky under Powder River MOA (Military Operating Areas) A and

  B. The training sorties, which they had been running for the past<
br />
  several weeks, were all a part of General Calvin Jarrel's Strategic

  Warfare Center program designed to train the aircrews that made up the

  newly integrated First Air Battle Wing. Late on this particular

  afternoon, two F-23 Wildcat fighters were patrolling the Powder River

  MOA. In the lead was Colonel Joseph Mirisch, the deputy commander of

  operations of the 119th Fighter Interceptor Squadron from Fargo; his

  wingman was a relatively low-time Wildcat fighter named Ed Milo. After

  checking his wingman in, Mirisch took him over to the tactical intercept

  frequency and keyed his mike: "TOPPER, this is raider Two-Zero flight of

  two, bogey-dope." No reply. "TOPPER, how copy?" Still no response. They

  were within rangewhat was going on here? On interplane frequency,

  Mirisch said, "I've got negative contact with the GCI controllers. Looks

  like we might be on our own."

  "Two, " was Milo's response. Mirisch tried a few more times to raise

  TOPPER, the call sign of their ground radar intercept team in the

  Strategic Range Training Complex, at the same time steering the

  formation toward the entry point of the military operating area. When

  they were at the right spot, Mirisch called out on an interplane,

  "Raider flight, still negative contact with GCI. Go to CAP orbit...

  now."

  "Two, " Milo said. On Mirisch's order, Milo made a hard left bank and

  executed a full 1 8O-degree turn until he was heading southeast toward

  the center of the MOA, while Mirisch continued heading toward the entry

  point of the MOA. They would continue to orbit the area in

  counter-rotating ovals, offset about twenty miles apart, so that their

  radars would scan a greater section of sky at one time. When radar or

  visual contact was made, the other plane would rendezvous and press the

  attack. There was only one more training sortie scheduled that day,

  call-sign Whisper One-Seven, that was not identified by type of

  aircraft. That didn't matter, of course-it was a "bad guy, " it was

  invading the territory of the Happy Hooligans, and it was going to go

  down in flames. That is, as soon as they could find it. For some reason,

  both the VIPVO GCI radar sites at Lemmon and Belle Fourche had failed to