by Dale Brown
if possible!" When Karbayjal made his call, Atkins had switched ejector
racks, selecting the left ejector, and pumped out four more flares.
Simultaneously, Carter immediately threw the Megafortress into a
screaming right bank and held it until the stallwarning horn came on.
"Can't climb, guns!" Carter shouted. "Disregard, " the gunner said as
the last missile disappeared from his radarscope. "Fighter's coming in,
four miles... three miles... Stingers firing.. ." The Megafortress
crew could hear the heavy Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! and a rumble
throughout the bomber as Karbayjal fired four more missiles at the
fighter closing in. ... It had to be a fighter, the JS-7 pilot thought,
since only a fighter could possibly move thatfast. The flares that the
target was ejecting seemed as bright as the sun in the complete darkness
of the Celebes Sea. His PL-2 missiles obviously thought so, because
they tracked and destroyed the flares with ease. He was now weaponless
except for his twin-barreled 23-millimeter cannon. But the stream of
flares pointed to the target's location, even if it wasn't apparent on
radar, so the pilot kept his throttle at min afterburner and closed in
to cannon range. Suddenly four bright bursts of light erupted right in
front of his fighter, stretching from his left wingtip all the way
across the nose. His JS-7 fighter began to shudder, as if shivering with
fear, and the shudder continued right into a full-blown stall. "Fayling,
Fayling, Liang-Two, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, I'm hit, I'm hit. . ." He
saw the "Engine Overspeed" and "Hydraulic Press" lights illuminate and
pulled his ejection handle seconds before his controls locked and his
fighter began a death spiral to the sea. DESTROYER JINAN "Sir! Destroyer
Zunyi reports he is under attack by antiship missiles from the east, "
another report suddenly came in. "Zunyi is engaging. Sichuan-Ten flight
of two Q-5 fighters are engaging suspected B-52 bombers at low
altitude."
"Where's Zunyi?" Jhijun shouted. The answer came a few moments
later-only one hundred nautical miles east ofjinan. Zunyi was an older
Luda-class destroyer, part of the Philippine Sea cordon; it carried no
surface-to-air missile system because it was designed to engage surface
ships and submarines, not aircraft. "Get a feed from Zunyi's CIC and
integrate their plots on our-"
"Sir! Incoming missiles! Bearing two-six-five, high altitude, range
twenty nautical miles, speed subsonic, multiple inbounds, intercept
course!"
"What?" Jhijun resisted the urge to swivel around in his seat and look
at the west-it was pitch black outside, with a light overcast sky, and
he knew he wouldn't see a thing. "How the hell could missiles get that
close? Radar, get your heads out of your asses or I will have you on
deck when those missiles hit! Report on fire-control
statusimmediately!"
"Fire control reports fully operational, good track on all inbounds,
intercept confidence is high." Jhijun wished he could be more confident
himself-first contact at twenty miles was far, far too close. "Targets
maneuvering slightly, " the CIC officer reported. "Range to air
targets, mark, fifteen nautical miles, bearing two-six-five, speed five
hundred The targets weren't maneuvering. . . offset range was
decreasing . . . bearing was constant . . . Antiradar missiles!"
Jhijun suddenly shouted. He knew all about the Americans' radar-homing
missiles, especially the loitering cruise missilesthis was probably a
flight of them coming in now. But how in hell did those missiles get so
close before being detected...? Pushing the big Megafortress bomber to
descend at over twelve thousand feet per minute, it took less than three
minutes to descend to two hundred feet-yet with Chinese warships all
around them, it felt like an eternity. "Golf-band search radar at eleven
o'clock . . ." Atkins shouted on interphone; "India-band gun fire
control radar now at one to two o'clock position . . . Christ,
Golf-band radar changing to Charlie-band missile director . . .
another Indiaband fire control radar at two-thirty . . . dammit, are
we in range of that destroyer yet? We're going to get nailed... ! I've
got a possible fighter GCI signal from that destroyer now, he might be
vectoring in more fighters."
"Ready in range with the first TACIT RAINBOW missile, " Kellerman called
out after checking the information on the side-looking radar display
once again and updating her map of all the ships in the area. "Right
turn thirty degrees to escape, next target will be off the nose at
twenty miles." Atkins rechecked the weapon indications one more
timemissile engine, guidance, autopilot, data link, warhead continuity
all reporting ready. "Doors coming open... missile one away. . .
missile two away. . As the Megafortress banked away to the right, the
AGM136A TACIT RAINBOW missiles sped off to the left and descended to
less than one hundred feet above the sea, then continued their left turn
until they were aiming directly at the Chinese destroyer. At the same
time, Atkins programmed another missile on the next target, what ISAR
reported as a Huangfeng-class guided-missile patrol boat transmitting
with an India-band gun fire control radar. "Missile three reporting
ready."
"Left turn ten degrees to escape, " Kellerman called out. "I'll take us
within ten miles of that patrol boat unless a missile radar comes up."
In which case, Kellerman thought, Atkins better hold it together long
enough to warn the crew. She knew it was a big mistake to send that
scrawny little BB-stacker on this mission-Atkins might have an IQ larger
than the national debt and could modify a wristwatch to jam half of
Cleveland, and he seemed to do OK with Karbayjal holding his hand, but
he simply wasn't cut out for combat. "Pilots copy, " Carter
acknowledged. "Missile three counting ....... missile three away...
doors closed, clear left turn." DESTROYER JINAN "Sir, destroyer Kazfeng
reports their patrol boats are engaging inbound cruise missiles. Admiral
Feng is recommending frigate Yingtan move east to help cover the
southeast approaches."
"Negative, " Captain Jhijun shot back. "My vessels are under attack by
antiradar missiles-they are right on top of us. Yingtan will remain
where it is until And then he realized that if antiradar missiles were
appearing out of nowhere-it had to be a stealth bomber attack. The
stealth bomber itself would not show on radar right away, but the
antiradar missiles would show once they were launchedthe missiles would
have a smaller radar cross-section than the bombers that launched them
Radio to all task force vessels, suspect stealth bomber attack, number
unknown, " Captain Jhijun cried. "CIC, directed search for carrier
aircraft by visual and infrared scanners. Find that damned bomber! Find
it!"
"Sir, Kaijeng reports B-52 bomber is launching subsonic missiles . . .
no successful hit on any Tomahawk missiles because of heavy radar
jamming. B-52 bomber closing to within thirty
miles of Kafeng. "Sir,
destroyer Kafeng reports one hit by a Tomahawk cruise missile." No one
spoke on the combat bridge. They couldn't believe it. What was going
on? 'Kazjeng radioing for assistance. Task force group commander
dispatching frigate Yingtan to assist. . . Kazfeng reports additional
hits by antiradar missiles from the B-52, sir! Destroyer Zunyi now
reports under attack by sea-skimming antiship missiles... patrol boat
6114 hit by Harpoon antiship missile, extensive damage . . . lost
contact with patrol boat... Zunyi reports contact with B-52 bombers
east of their position, number unknown Damn them! With Yingtan moving
out of position and Kaifeng damaged, Jinan was now the southernmost
warship guarding Davao Gulf. Ships as large as destroyers needed a
frigate for heavy close-in air support, and Jhijun was losing his! Well,
he was not going to suffer the same fate as Kafeng. "Emitters in
standby!" the commander of the destroyer Jinan shouted. "Turn the
radars off! Use all available personnel with infrared and
electro-optical spotters, but find those bombers!" The nightmare was
back. Only two days since first stirring up the hornet's nest with their
reconnaissance overflight, McLanahan and Cobb were back at it again in
their B-2 Black Knight stealth bomber-only this time they not only had
to examine and count the hornets coming out of the hive, they had to
swat at them. To make things worse, there appeared to be more hornets
than ever out here, and they seemed mad as hell and ready to inflict
some serious stings. "Radar down on that destroyer... fire-control
radars going down on all area vessels, " Patrick McLanahan reported to
Henry Cobb. "Fourteen miles before impact-they figured it out pretty
fast. Most operators won't figure out their radars are under attack
until the first few hit." He expanded the God'seye view on the Super
Multi Function Display before him, inundating his screen with NIRTSat
satellite data received only a few minutes earlier. "I've got a few
fire-control radars still up from those patrol boats, but most don't
have anything but surface-search radars." Cobb clicked his mike in
reply, still seated in his usual frozen position-hands on stick and
throttles, eyes straight ahead, unmoving. How the hell could Cobb stay
so calm? McLanahan wondered to himself. He sees everything that goes
on, he studies the Super Multi Function Display, he sees the threat
warnings, yet he sits as calmly as ever, staring straight ahead. He
looks the same on training flights as he does in combat. "TACIT RAINBOW
missiles are entering their holding pattern until the radar comes up, "
McLanahan added. "Go to five-twenty on the airspeed and let's get out
of here before the radars come back up." Cobb clicked again and pushed
power up to full military thrust-the faster the B-2 could get past these
ships, the better. McLanahan's B-2 Black Knight had a few stings itself
this time around-no more reconnaissance pods, now that the NIRTSats
appeared to be working again. The B-2 carried four AGM-I36A TACIT
RAINBOW antiradar cruise missiles and four AGM-88C HARM antiradar
missiles in clip-in racks in its left bomb bay, plus a Common Strategic
Rotary Launcher with six AGM-84E SLAM TV-guided missiles in the right
bomb bay. The TACIT RAINBOW antiradar missiles horned in on radar
transmissions, and they had turbojet engines, wings, and autopilots that
allowed them to stay aloft and, if an enemy radar was turned off, orbit
a suspected target area to wait for the radar to be reactivated. The
four TACIT RAINBOW missiles that McLanahan had launched from thirty
miles away would remain in their orbits for another ten minutes within a
few miles of the last-known position of the radars-this would give all
the strike aircraft the chance to get past the Chinese warships and move
into the target area. FRIGATE YJNGTAN, FORTY MILES SOUTH OF DESTROYER
JINAN Several minutes had passed, and no hits reported by any ships
since Kazfeng. If the carrier aircraft were the same speed or a bit
faster than the antiradar missiles, the carrier aircraft would be very
close by now. They had sailors with night-vision goggles and infrared
scanners looking for the missiles, but unless they heard it or got lucky
there was almost no chance of their finding a tiny loitering cruise
missile up there without radar. A few of the larger patrol boats had
low-light TV cameras and infrared fire-control sensors on their 57- and
37-millimeter guns, but their field of view was very small, and getting
a lock on a fast-moving target was difficult. The intercom clicked on:
"Bridge, CIC, request permission to activate search radar for two
sweeps. There was a slight pause; then: "Acknowledged." To the radar
operator, he said, "Two sweeps. Shut down immediately if there's a
target within five miles. Call out bearings to contacts for gun
control."
"Acknowledged. Radar coming on in three, two, one. now. One sweep,
twelve seconds, and they knew the awful truth: "Bridge, CIC, multiple
small targets within five miles, all bearings. Additional air targets,
two large targets in trail formation, bearing two-seven-eight, range to
closest target ten nautical miles. Radar down." The commander of the
frigate Yingtan was on the all-stations call intercom immediately. "CIC,
all thirty-seven gun stations, all thirty-seven gun stations, fire
defensive pattern, multiple inbound missiles, all quadrants. Attempt
visual acquisition. Release radar decoys. Shut down all radars and
verify." Almost immediately the frigate's four twin 37-millimeter
antiaircraft guns began firing, sweeping the sky with shells in
predetermined patterns that would cover all but the ship's centerline
area-fortunately the patrol boats were dispersed at least six kilometers
away to avoid being hit by the frigate's barrage. "Helm, forty degrees
starboard. CIC, ship turning starboard, shoot portside chaff rockets."
From the sky, the barrage of gunfire might have looked like a
fireworks-show finale, with winks of muzzle flashes and tracers shooting
out in all directions. The frigate meanwhile began a series of sharp
turns and accelerations designed to get as far away as possible from the
last spot where the radar was turned on-they knew that was where the
loitering missile was headed. Yingtan also had mortars that fired
radar-decoying chaff rockets into the air, launching them on the side
opposite the ship's turn-they would act as decoys if the missiles
carried active radar seekers. Yingtan 's gunners were rewarded with
several spectacular flashes as the guns found targets, and missiles
could be seen splashing down in their wake-a few dangerously close, less
than a dozen meters away-but none hit. Two missiles went after the tiny
radar-emitting decoy buoys dropped overboard by the frigate, and the
bridge crew was treated to a good-sized explosion just a hundred meters
aft as the missile impacted. In just a few seconds, all of the antiradar
missiles were defeated by the frigate Yingtan. But all that gunfire only
saved them
from the small antiradar missiles-the aircraft that launched
all those missiles were getting away. "CIC, concentrate one
hundred-millimeter guns at the last position of that bomber. Maybe we
will get lucky. Prepare to engage with HQ-6I missiles. Comm, radio to
all patrol boats and to Fleet Master, suspected heavy stealth bomber
aircraft inbound to Davao Gulf, number unknown." The sudden flurry of
gunfire into the night sky was spectacular and frightening at the same
time. It looked like a dome of sparklers had formed over the frigate in
the distance, like some unearthly glittering spaceship half-submerged in
the oceanexcept they both knew that those pretty sparklers meant death
to any aircraft that strayed too close. Cobb instinctively banked
farther west to avoid the area where most of the gunfire was being
concentrated, even though McLanahan estimated they were at least ten
miles abeam the closest ship. "Jesus Christ, " McLanahan muttered.
"Look at that. . Cobb said nothing. "And we're only seeing about one
every twelve tracer rounds . . "It's not the guns I'm worried about, "
Cobb said. "I'm waiting for the SAMs from that frigate."
"He hit us with a radar sweep powerful enough to paint us, " McLanahan
said. "He must know we're out here." McLanahan used the tracer rounds
to find the frigate with his forwardlooking infrared scanner, and the
imaging heat-seeking telescope locked on easily to the huge vessel. "I
got a lock on the big mother ship. That must be the frigate. Laser
rangefinder on . . . laser firing . . .' Immediately the laser
rangefinder computed the precise distance to the target, completed the
firing solution for the B-2's complement of weapons. McLanaz han
touched the right-bomb-bay icon on the bottom of his Super Multi
Function Display, and the weapons computer picked a SLAM TV-guided
missile, automatically reducing the SMFD screen in half and using the
right side of the big screen to display SLAM seeker video transmission.
"The shit's going to hit the fan as soon as this puppy goes, " McLanahan
reminded Cobb, then he moved the Bombing System Switch from "Manual" to
"Auto."
"Missile Counting ....... missile one away... The right bomb-bay doors
