Fatal Terrain
Page 36
batants " were dropping the last of a dozen large SS-N- 16 mis-
sile canisters overboard. The SS-N-16, code-named
"Stallion," was an air- or submarine-launched rocket-powered
torpedo, except these weren't going flying before releasing
their deadly cargoes. Once sailing clear of all torpedoes, they
238 DALE BROWN
were activated by radio command. Simultaneousty, the canis-
ters, activated their sensors, detected the distinctive high-speed,
high-powered screws of the U. Navy warships, and turned
toward them. Once perfectly aligned with their targets, they
powered up their payloads-each canister carried a E45-75A
torpedo with a 200-pound penetrating-blast high-explosive
warhead, sitting atop a solid-fueled rocket booster-and the
countdown commenced ...
New NIRTSat satellite radar data was being downloaded every
eight minutes; in less than a minute, the supercockpit God's-
eye view was automatically updated, and the map of the sur-
veillance area had to be reexamined as if for the first time.
"Okay, we see the 'noncombatants' are still poking along-
in fact, it looks like they're heading away from the frigates,
cruising at ten knots," McLanahan said to Denton. "What else
you got?" When Oakley didn't answer in a few moments,
McLanahan pointed to the screen. "Looks like we got a new-
comer, probably pulled out of Xiamen a couple sweeps ago.
Remember, the NIRTSat data isn't really God's-eye-it's bet-
ter than turning on a radar and letting the bad guys know we're
up here, but it's not perfect ... yet. Let's get an ID on that
ship there, Jeff."
"Rog," Denton responded, expertly rolling the trackball
cursor over the stored NIRTSat radar image. Jeff Denton, a
former F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot, Gulf War vet, and F-15E
Strike Eagle backseater, had had the bad luck of joining
HAWC just weeks before it closed last year. Unable to get
another fighter-bomber assignment anywhere, he had been
forced to accept an early-out bonus and found himself unem-
ployed right near the holiday season of 1996. Fortunately, just
as the bonus money had started running low, he'd gotten the
call from General Sams6n to do some flying for a private de-
fense firm he had never heard of, Sky Masters, Inc., in Blythe-
ville, Arkansas, which was working on some former HAWC
projects.
Denton had jumped at the opportunity-never expecting to
be suddenly flying a hybrid B-52/B-IB/B-2 monster over the
Formosa Strait in Asia, near where a nuclear war had almost
broken out just a few days earlier.
"Identify this return," Denton ordered the computer, being
FATAL TERRAI'N 239
careful to make the command short and sweet, lest he bring
down the wrath of the legendary General Brad Elliott on him-
self.
IDENTIFICATION UNKNOWN, the computer responded. SEARCH-
ING ... TARGET IDENTIFIED AS SLAVA-CLASS CRUISER ...
TARGET IDENTIFIED AS KIROV-CLASS CRUISER... TARGET
IDENTIFIED AS FEARLESS-CLASS ASSAULT SHIP... TARGET
IDENTIFIED AS TYPE 82-CLASS ACCOMMODATIONS SHIP ...
"You got a cruiser, Muck?" Nancy Cheshire, flying as co-
pilot, asked. A warship of that size always got a lot of attention
from every member of the crew, especially the ones who had
once faced those fearsome vessels. "Where is it?"
"Cancel the report," McLanahan said. Denton double-
clicked the voice command switch. "Looks like the com-
puter's a little confused-either there's not enough radar data,
or the data quality isn't good enough. It's a big sucker, though,
and it's moving pretty good-over twenty knots, and crossing
in front of the frigates' course. After what's happened in this
area recently, I might not call that a friendly move.. So what
do you do now?"
"Ask the DSO if they got any idea what it is, based on
electronic emissions," Denton replied.
"Excellent," McLanahan said. "The attack computer sys-
tem is supposed to get that information from the defensive
computer suite automatically, but sometimes it won't make the
connection. Try it."
"Way ahead of you," Bruno responded. She had briefly
looked at the God's-eye view and matched the signals received
by her system with the computerized charts. "Nothing but a
commercial naV Tadar from that contact-looks like a Furuno
or Oki system-and wide-spectrum radio transmissions, every-
thing from HF single sideband to UHF. I get an occasional
WF interrogator, too, maybe a Square Head." The old Soviet
IFF interrogator code-named "Square Head" sent radio trig-
gering signals out to another vessel or aircraft, asking for a
coded radio response to help identification--of course, the EB-
52 Megafortress or the U. Navy ships in the area would
never respond to a foreign IFF, so all they would get would
be silence.
"Not much help there," McLanahan said. "What else,
eff?"
J 11
Test the system, see if -it's working okay?"
240 DALE BROWN
McLanahan shrugged. "In a combat situation, I wouldn't
waste time on that. But now, with things quiet, press on."
Denton rolled the cursor onto one of the nearby U. Navy
frigates, and the system quickly and correctly identified it as
a Perry-class frigate; he tried Ming one of the previously clas-
sified "noncombatants"-it again reported as a trawler.
"What else, Jeff? Time's running out."
"Call the Navy and ask if they can get an eyeball on it,"
Denton suggested.
"Excellent suggestion," McLanahan said. "Never forget to
ask someone else in your formation or task force to help out."
"Fat lot of good asking the Navy for anything does," Elliott
grumbled.
McLanahan ignored him. "Do it. Think about what you
need to give the Navy pukes. first, get the data together, then
call."
"Rog," Denton nodded, pleased at himself for keeping up
with the almost legendary Patrick McLanahan. He measured
out a quick range and bearing from the prebriefed target ref-
erence point, called the "bull's-eye," then keyed the mike:
"Crew, OSO is going out over Fleet SATCOM." He waited
for any negative replies, then switched over to the secure sat-
ellite frequency. "James Daniel, this is Headbanger."
A sailor with a very impatient voice that sounded as if he
were sixteen years old responded, "Calling James Daniel on
FLTSATCOM, go ahead." The voice sounded as if it didn't
recognize the call sign "Headbanger," although it was the one
briefed to all.participants and the one they had been using
since the beginning.
"Headbanger requesting a visual or optical ID on radar tar-
get bearing two-four-three at fifty-seven bull's-eye, over."
The answer came back almost immediately from a different
and far more annoyed operator: "Headbanger, unable at this
time due to weather." The weather was marginal, but it cer-
tainly wouldn't keep a Navy heli
copter from its patrol under
normal circumstances, McLanahan thought. "Keep this chan-
nel clear. Out."
"Told you," Elliott said. "The squids hardly know we ex-
ist, and they sure as hell don't care."
McLanahan ignored that remark, too, but he was starting to
get a little exasperated. "Okay," he said, turning his attention
back to Denton. "Anything else you can try?"
FATAL TER RAI N 241
"We could launch a Striker or Wolverine at it and take a
look on the datalink," Denton deadpanned.
"That sounds like an expensive suggestion," McLanahan
said, "not to mention the fact that it could cause an interna-
tional incident-or worse. You might have to just go with
incomplete information. If you had time, you could go through
all of the computer's guesses and try to get a feel for the
analysis; in less hostile or non-stealth situations, you could turn
on the attack radar and get an ID from the inverse synthetic
aperture radar.
"But I'd assume at this point that it was hostile," Denton
interjected. "The computer guessed at two Russian cruisers;
that sounded like the worst-case analysis, so I'd go with that-
either the Russians decided in the past couple days to send a
cruiser down the Strait to see what all the excitement was
about, or the Chinese have a really big destroyer or cruiser
patrolling the area."
"I'd buy that," McLanahan said. "So give us the rundown
on your worst-case scenario. Remember, you're the surveil-
lance and intelligence officer on the Megafortress, along with
the DSO, as well as the weapons officer-you've got to be
ready to sing out with important information the rest of the
crew might need to make decisions on how to press the at-
tack. "
"Rog." He opened a small window on his supercockpit
display and hit the voice command switch: "Display and read
order of battle on Slava-class cruiser. 11
SLAVA-CLASS CRUISER, VERTICAL LAUNCH SA-N-6 ATIMAIR-
CRAFr MISSILES, MAX RANGE 60 MILES, X-BAND TOP DOME
DIRECTOR, the computer began, reading the information as well
as diagramming the weapons and radar information on the su-
percockpit display. TWO TWIN SA-N-4 ANTIAIRCRAFrr MISSILES,
MAX RANGE FIVE MILES, FOXTROT, HOTEL, AND INDIA-BAND
POP GROUP TARGET TRACKING WITH OPTRONIC BACKUP; ONE
TWIN 130-MILLIMETER DUAL-PURPOSE GUN, MAX RANGE FEF-
TEEN MILES, X-BAND FIRE CONTROL WITH OPTRONIC AND MAN-
UAL BACKUP; six 30-MILLIMETER ANTIAIRCRAI'T GUNS, MAX
RANGE THREE MILES, X-BAND BASS TILT FIRE CONTROL WITH
OPTRONIC BACKUP; SIXTEEN SS-N-12 ATIM-SHIP MISSILES, MAX
RANGE THREE HUNDRED MILES, JULIETT-BAND TARGET TRACK-
ING ...
"That's good enough," McLanahan said, and Denton
242 DALE BROWN
stopped the computerized report. "The computer always reads
the antiaircraft order of battle first, and now you know the
reason-that SA-N-6 system can eat our lunch right now, if
they ever got a lock on us. You should also know that the SA-
N-6 is a very devastating anti-ship weapon, too. You might
want to scan through the ship's radar fit, too-it's unlikely
that a cruiser has a commercial Furuno or Oki nav radar, but
sometimes the military radars will look like commercial or
civilian sets at long range or low power-"
Suddenly, an alarm rang out in all their headsets, and a
blinking icon appeared on the supercockpit display. "What is
that?" Elliott asked.
McLanahan urged Denton to start talking as they both stud-
ied the display: "High-speed low-altitude missile," Denton
said. "Looks like it came from the Chinese cruiser ... second
missile launch, same azimuth ... shit, it looks like they're
headed for the Duncan and James Daniel! The Chinese are
firing missiles at our frigates! More missiles ... I've got at
least four, no, five ... six missiles in the air!"
"Brad, let's try to get within Scorpion range," McLanahan
shouted. The Megafortress immediately banked right and be-
gan a fast descent in response. "DSO, you got those in-
bounds?"
"No-no uplink signal, no terminal radar detected," Bruno
reported.
"We need the attack radar," McLanahan said.
"Rog. Crew, attack radar coming on," Denton announced.
"What do you got, Muck?" Elliott shouted on interphone.
"Six supersonic ballistic missiles," McLanahan said. "Not
sure, but I think they were fired from the large ship cruising
west of the Navy frigates."
"What do you mean, you 'think' they were fired from that
cruiser?"
"Because we didn't get an exact ID on the ship and they
didn't come exactly from that ship's azimuth," McLanahan
explained.
"But it's the only warship around, right?"
"I'm not sure if it is a warship, Brad."
"I think we can assume six supersonic anti-ship missiles
were fired from a ship that big," Elliott said. "Spin up the
Strikers and let's take that sucker down."
"Missiles will impact in less than one minute," Denton re-
FATAL TERRA I N 243
ported. "We should be in range to intercept with Scorpion
missiles."
"I'll get on the hom with the Navy and warn them of the
inbounds," Nancy Cheshire, the crew copilot, said.
"What kind of ship is that out there?" Elliott asked.
"It's a cruiser," Denton responded.
11 We don't have an exact ID on it, I said," McLanahan
corrected him. "Computer couldn't match it, and we couldn't
get an eyeball."
Elliott was on the secure satellite channel in an instant: "At-
las, this is Headbanger," he radioed. "Are you getting the
picture here? We've got six inbounds heading for our frig-
ates. "
"Headbanger, this is Atlas," the operator at the U. Pacific
Command headquarters responded. "We copy. Stand by."
"Stand by?" Elliott retorted. "Where the hell is Allen-
having dinner with the Chinese ambassador? We need a de-
cision up here, Atlas!"
"The James Daniel reports they have contact on the in-
bounds," Cheshire reported.
"Checks-both frigates opening fire," Denton shouted as
he watched missile icons speeding away from the frigates to-
ward the incoming Chinese missiles. "Looks like they got a
clear-"
"Fighters!" Bruno shouted. "Large formation at four
o'clock, five-zero miles, high ... another large formation at
one o'clock, four-seven miles and closing, high."
"This is starting to smell like a trap," Elliott said. "Secure
the attack radar and let's-"
"More fighters!" Atkins re orted for Bruno, who appeared
to be getting a little overwhelmed by this sudden attack.
"Three o'clock, five-zero miles and closing ... first formation
is breaking into two, we've got four formations of fighters
inbound on us!"
- "Attack radar down," McLanahan said, as Denton deacti-
vated the Megafortress's radar.
"The inbound Chinese missiles disappear
ed!" Denton in-
teijected. "Just before the frigate's missiles hit, they van-
ished!"
"Stallions," Atkins said. "Russian-made rocket-powered
torpedoes. They're sea-skimmers until they get within SAM
range of a target, then dive underwater."
244 DALE BROWN
"More fighters inbound!" Bruno shouted. "Two fighters,
very high speed, two o'clock, four-five miles and closingfast!
Range forty miles ... they might have a radar lock on us!"
"Might be a Foxbat or Foxhound," Elliott said. The Rus-
sian-made MiG-25 Foxbat and MiG-31 Foxhound fighters, de- I
signed to intercept the American B-70, B,56, FB- I I 1, and B- I
supersonic strategic bombers, were all-titanium built Russian
superfighters, the fastest fighters in the world, capable of high
altitude supersonic dashes well over three times the speed of I
sound; they had been on the international export market for
many years. "Get those damn things!"
"C'mon, Ashley, get on 'em ... stand by for pylon launch, I.
crew! All countermeasures systems active!" Atkins shouted
over interphone, reaching over Bruno's shoulder and activating
the Scorpion antiaircraft missiles. Seconds later, he had des-
ignated two missiles apiece against the incomin fighters, and
the AIM-120 missiles were on the way ...
... but Bruno's delay in launching the antiaircraft missiles
proved decisive. The incoming fighters started a descent at
thirty miles that accelerated to well over three times the speed
of sound, heading directly at the Megafortress. The Scorpion
missiles expended all of their thrust in powering toward the
attackers, so by the time the missiles closed in on their targets,
they had no energy to maneuver and exploded several dozen
yards aft of the high-speed attackers.
"Clean misses," Atkins said. "Stand by for pylon. . ." But
just then, they heard a fast-pitched deedledeedledeedle! warn-
ing tone. "Missile launch!" Atkins shouted.
"Break!'.' Bruno shouted.
Just as Elliott was going to ask which way to break, Atkins
interjected, "Hold heading, pilot! They're trying a nose-to-
nose launch-very low percentage, especially against us. I've