Fatal Terrain

by Dale Brown

  with this class of warship, but he knew that Taiwan, one of

  the richest and fastest-growing nations in the world, could af-

  ford the best military hardware. Well, it may be a modem,

  high-tech boat, but it was no match for the Mao and its escorts.

  "Have Communications transmit a Flash priority message to

  Taiwan Operations headquarters, advising them that we are in

  contact with a rebel warship. Have the patrol helicopter main-

  tain visual contact and report if-"

  Just then, the officer of the deck interrupted: "Captain, mes-

  sage from the Nationalist fxigate Kim Men. They are ordering

  that we not approach Quemoy Island any farther or we will

  be fired upon!"

  "They what?" Yi exploded, nearly rising out of his seat in

  total surprise. "They are trying to tell us where we can sail?.

  Are they crazy?" The idea was laughable-the smallest ship

  in Admiral Yi's carrier battle group was twice as big and four

  times more heavil armed than this Nationalist toy boat! This

  was obviously some kind of publicity stunt. "Put them on the

  phone. This is ludicrous! What ... ?" The officer of the deck

  122 DALE BROWN

  nodded, and Yi picked up the ship-to-ship radio handset and

  keyed the mike button: "Nationalist vessel Kin this is Ad-

  miral Yi Kyu-pin, captain of the People's Republic of China

  People's Liberation Army Navy aircraft carrier Mao Zedong

  and commander of this task force," he said in Mandarin Chi-

  nese. "Repeat your last message, please."

  "Carrier Mao Zedong, this is Captain Sung Kun-hui, captain

  of the Republic of China Navy Quemoy Flotilla frigate Kin

  Men," a voice responded in Mandarin. "You are approaching

  territorial waters of the Republic of China, and we demand

  that you remain clear."

  "We are peaceful vessels in Chinese waters, not Nationalist

  waters," Yi responded angrily, "and we will pass through this

  area as we please. Do not approach this task force. This is

  your last warning." Yi turned to his first officer in surprise

  and muttered, "This is some kind of trap. I want a full long-

  range sweep of the area, all sensors. Look for any other ships

  or subs in the area. Maintain formation speed and heading."

  He keyed the mike again: "C4ptain Sung, this is Admiral Yi.

  We intend to continue on to ouri destination, which is classified

  and which I am not permitted to reveal. Do not approach this

  task force. Over."

  "Admiral Yi, you and your escorts are then hereby ordered

  to heave-to immediately," Sung replied. "If it is necessary,

  we will use deadly force to stop your ships and force you to

  comply. Heave-to immediately. Maintaining this course to-

  wards Quemoy Tao will be seen as a hostile act."

  Yi shot out of his chair, nearly dropping the ship-to-ship

  phone in total shock and -surprise. "This bastard ... he is

  threatening us with force? I will blast his puny little toy boat

  straight to helL " He picked up the phone and keyed the mike:

  "Your request is utterly foolhardy and without cause, rebel

  captain!" Yi sputtered into the ship-to-ship phone. "I warn

  you, Captain, that if I see any of your guns traverse in my

  direction, if I see your helicopters leave your deck or even

  spin up their rotors, or if you approach my task force any

  closer, I will order my escorts to attack without further warn-

  ing. How dare you threaten warships of the People's Republic

  of China on the high seas like this?"

  "And how dare you, Admiral," Sung responded, "bring

  nuclear warheads into our waters?"

  Yi looked puzzled, his eyes darting back and forth across

  FATAL T ER RAI N 123

  his brid . ge. "What did you say?" he replied. "I am no t carry-

  ing any such weapons!"

  "With all due respect, sir, you are a liar, Admiral Yi," Sung

  radioed. "You and your ships are carrying at least six ther-

  monuclear warheads on your M- II ballistic missiles and SS-

  N-19 anti-ship missiles. You loaded the warheads while at sea

  via submarine and commercial traders, in violation of the

  United N ' ations Missile Technology Control Regime Treaty.

  The Republic of China strictly prohibits the transportation of

  nuclear warheads or nuclear-capable missiles into our waters.

  You will be detained until the warheads and missiles are con-

  fiscated. I now order you to heave-to immediately. This is your

  last warning."

  Admiral Yi was virtually beside himself, his eyes spinning-

  not from anger or confusion this time, but in utter disbelief,

  because the rebel captain's information was maddeningly ac-

  curate: the Chinese warships were indeed carrying nuclear

  warheads. Three of the six M- I I land attack missiles and three

  of the P-500 Granit missiles, what the West called SSN-19

  "Shipwreck," carried in the forward vertical launch tubes

  were armed with NK-55 thermonuclear warheads, small se-

  lectable-yield warheads powerful enough to destroy an aircraft

  carrier or a small city. It was impossible to tell how in hell

  Taiwan had found out. Security and secrecy had been pains-

  takingly maintained throughout the transfers, and the ships

  never docked at any port after on-loading the warheads, so

  access to the ship could be carefully controlled. A spy on the

  ship? Improbable, but it was the only ...

  "Admiral Yi, this is Captain Sung. You will be considered

  a hostile target if you do not stop. What is your response?"

  Get a hold of yourself, Yi, the captain told himself This

  could be part of some elaborate ruse, some sort of propaganda

  ploy to embarrass the People's Liberation Army Navy-per-

  haps they were only guessing about the missiles and warheads.

  If the media showed pictures of a lone, lightly armed Taiwa-

  nese frigate challenging the Chinese carrier battle group, it

  would be a monumental propaganda coup for Taiwan and its

  Western partners. Perhaps he only wanted a photo opportu-

  nity? Perhaps this was all a big show, some sort of act of

  bravado. Sung and his crew faced certain death if Yi's escort

  ships unleashed even one of their missiles, and even the escort

  Kang's twin-barreled 130-millimeter guns could shred that alu-

  124 DALE BROWN

  minurn-hulled Nationalist toy boat in a few minutes.

  But Yi had a bad feeling about this: this was no photo op-

  portunity or publicity ploy. The rebel warship was serious-it

  meant to board and search a foreign warship nearly twenty

  times its size! "Sound general quarters, all ships, all hands at

  battle stations, not an exercise," Yi shouted. "Get the fighters

  up on deck and ready to launch, full air defense weapon load.

  Comrade Chong, report to the Combat Information Center,

  prepare to take charge of the engagement if they get a lucky

  shot off and hit the bridge. I will take the battle helm from

  here."

  " They cannot be serious!" the first officer, Chong, shouted

  as the quartermaster sounded the general quarters bell. "They

  mean to engage us?" />
  " If they try, it will be the shortest naval engagement in

  history," Yi said angrily. "Officer of the deck, signal the task

  force to shift to combat formation. Brin- the formation to

  thirty knots, give me twenty degrees to port to put our guns

  on the starboard side. Get Helicopter Group One on deck

  armed for anti-submarine warfare, and Helicopter Groups Two

  and Three ready for rescue duties." Yi knew that Taiwan had

  a small force of F- 16 and F-5 fighter-bombers and, although

  they were very far away, they could do some damage if they

  got through the Kang's Crotale Modulaire surface-to-air mis-

  sile screen-they could easily overwhelm Yi's small fleet of

  Sukhoi-33 fighters and close-in weapon systems.

  "All stations report manned and ready," the officer of the

  deck reported a few minutes later. "The group also reports all

  stations manned and ready for combat. Estimate five minutes

  before the group is in combat formation. Interceptor flight one

  is up on deck, ready to launch in about ten minutes."

  "Very well," Yi responded. "Combat, range to the rebel

  frigate?"

  "Range fifteen thousand meters."

  Well within range 'of the frigate's Harpoon missiles, Yi

  thought, but if the rebels were going to use them, they

  would've done it long ago. "Cowards," Yi said to the captain

  of the Taiwanese frigate acidly. "You should have taken the

  shot when you had the chance-now you have no chance."

  To his officer of the deck, Yi ordered, "I want a lookout to

  watch that frigate-if it tries to launch its helicopter or traverse

  that gun, I want to know about it immediately. Send a Flash

  FATAL TER RAI N 125

  priority signal to fleet headquarters; notify them that we are

  being threatened by an armed Taiwanese frigate that is order-

  ing us to sto' and be boarded. Advise them that we are pro-

  ceeding at best speed and ask for instructions-and I want

  permission to engage and destroy that patrol boat if neces-

  sary.

  THIRTY MILES NORTHWEST OF THE CHINESE

  CARRIER MAO ZEDONG

  THAT SAME TIME

  "That PLAN battle group's got everything lit up, crew," de-

  fensive systems officer (DSO) Air Force First Lieutenant Emil

  "Emitter" Vikram reported, referring to the Chinese People's

  Liberation Army Navy vessels. "Rice Screen Golf-band air

  search, Crotale antiair, Square Tie Type 331 anti-ship target-

  ing, India-band Sun Visor fire control, Great Leader satellite

  communications, jammers across the entire spectrum-he's

  broadcasting everything but AM and FM golden oldies. He's

  leaking so much power out his side lobes that I can feel it in

  my fillings. "

  "We get the message, DSO," retired Lieutenant General

  Brad Elliott, the pilot, replied. Vikram had been the youngest

  and one of the brightest engineers at the now-closed High

  Technology Aerospace Weapons Center, but he had the least

  amount of flight experience, so he still hadn't learned to com-

  pletely control his excitement when using the interphone.

  "Just give us the important news and record the rest. Co, you

  should be double-checking the 'combat' checklist. If you're

  just sitting there with nothing to do, with a Chinese battle

  group ready to attack just twenty miles away, you're probably

  missing something."

  "Hey, I was born ready, General," the copilot retorted,

  causing an exasperated scowl from the pilot. "My checklist's

  complete-I'm just waiting for the fur to start flying." Sitting

  across from Elliott, monitoring the four large color multifunc-

  tion displays on the forward instrument panel, was his copilot,

  Air 'Force Major Nancy Cheshire. A longtime test pilot and

  engineer, Cheshire had spent several years at HAWC as one

  126 DALE BROWN

  of Elliott's most talented pilots and flight test engineers; she

  had already flown two secret strike missions in the EB-52 as

  part of Brad Elliott's classified stealth raiders. When HAWC

  had closed, she had been assigned as one of the first female

  B-2 Spirit stealth bomber pilots in the U. Air Force-but she

  had readily given up that choice assignment when McLanahan

  and Elliott had asked to "borrow" her to fly one of Jon Mas-

  ters's Megafortress strategic escort "flying battleships."

  This Megafortress was loaded for bear with both offensive

  and defensive weapons. Instead of a standard weapon pylon,

  each wing held a large teardrop-shaped stealthy fibersteel fair-

  ing that contained the external weapons on ejector racks. Each

  wing weapons fairing held six AGM-177 Wolverine stealth

  turbojet cruise missiles, which were targetable rocket-powered

  cruise missiles with a range of up to fifty miles, fitted with

  three small internal bomb bays that could carry a variety of

  weapons or other payloads. The Wolverine missiles on this

  mission carried a mix of payloads-half were configured as

  area jammer/decoys that could simulate a massive bomber or

  fighter attack and completely shut down radar screens and dis-

  rupt enemy air defense systems for miles in all directions; the

  other half carried cluster bomb packages so each missile could

  attack three targets, then dive into a fourth. Each pylon also

  carried four radar-guided AIM-120C AMRAAMs for bomber

  defense-in total, the same number of missiles as on a F-15

  Eagle fighter-that could be fired at enemy targets up to thirty

  miles away, even behind the bomber.

  Internally, the EB-52 Megafortress was armed with twelve

  AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow anti-radar cruise missiles in the for-

  ward part of the bomb bay, which were small turbojet-powered

  missiles that would loiter over an area and automatically attack

  an enemy radar that activated nearby which transmitted spe-

  cific threat frequencies-the missiles could orbit for up to an

  hour over a twenty-five-square-mile area. The aft section of

  the fifty-foot long bomb bay contained the bomber's maximum

  offensive punch that would hopefully not be needed on this

  mission-a rotary launcher with eight AGM- 142B Striker mis-

  siles. The Strikers were rocket-powered, supersonic bombs

  with a 1,000-pound high-explosive warhead that carried a sat-

  ellite navigation system and TV and imaging infrared terminal

  guidance packages that gave them precision-kill capability;

  wings that unfolded after release from the bomb bay gave the

  FATAL TERRAIN 127

  Striker missile a ballistic cruising range of nearly fifty miles.

  "I show us in COMBAT mode and ready to fight," retired

  Lieutenant Colonel Patrick McLanahan, the offensive systems

  officer, said. McLanahan could sense the tension in the voices

  of everyone on board, even Brad Elliott. It had been over two

  years since Elliott had flown in combat, and almost a year

  since losing command of HAWC, and his nervousness and

  hyperalertness were obvious. McLanahan checked the mission

  status readout on his weapons display. The mission status read-

  out was a direct satellite. lin
k with U. Pacific Command head-

  quarters at Pearl Harbor, which indicated their orders

  continuously. Although McLanahan could override PAC-

  COM's orders, the active datalink was the same as a direct

  verbal order from U. Pacific Command. "Datalink mission

  status is CHECK FIRE, and my nose is cold. Everyone stand

  by. 11

  McLanahan's offensive systems suite was dominated by the

  SMFD, or Super Multi Function Display, a two-by-three foot

  screen on the forward instrument panel, from which Mc-

  Lanahan controlled all of his systems and weapons. Using a

  Macintosh-like interface, McLanahan could display any

  combination of flight, navigation, weapons, systems, or sensor

  information on that screen, and resize, stack, or move any of

  the windows around with ease. McLanahan controlled the

  SMFD in three ways: he could touch the screen with a finger

  to manipulate windows; he could use a trackball and pointer

  like a mouse; or he could issue commands to the computer by

  hitting a switch near his right foot and speaking to the com-

  puter. Using all three methods together allowed McLanahan to

  operate his systems with incredible speed and accuracy.

  Part of McLanahan's air intelligence suite was the "God's-

  eye 11 view of the area supplied by Jon Masters's satellite re-

  'connaissance systems. A string of small low-orbiting satellites

  developed by Sky Masters, Inc., nicknamed NIRTSats (Need

  It Right This Second Satellite), scanned the Formosa Strait

  with powerful synthetic aperture radars, then downlinked the

  information to the EB-52 Megafortress via satellite relays. This

  produced an overhead image of the area depicting all of the

  ships, aircraft, and landmasses on the SMFD computer moni-

  tor. McLanahan could manipulate the image in thousands of

  ways, zooming in and out to individual targets or back to get

  128 DALE BROWN

  the "big picture" tactical situation, and he could use the real-

  time image to pick targets to attack.

  "The PRC vessels are redeploying their ships," McLanahan

  reported. "They're turning west, trying to get out of Taiwa-