by Ted Halstead
Pettigrew clicked the remote again, and another online video showed a different burning M1A2 tank.
“This is what happened in a Houthi attack in Jizan in 2018.”
Rahim shook his head. “Jizan is in Saudi Arabia.”
Pettigrew let the silence that followed stretch for nearly a minute before answering.
“Yes, it is.”
The classroom erupted in angry murmurs, which Pettigrew silenced with a chopping motion.
“You’re wondering why you haven’t already heard about the things I’m showing you. You all know that what you can access online in Saudi Arabia is censored. But as Reaper operators you all need to understand the whole truth.”
Pettigrew paused, and looked over the students. Pointing at the burning M1A2 tank on the screen, he said, “The Houthis are bringing the war to you.
After I am done teaching all of you how to use the Reaper, they are going to regret that choice.”
All the students were now nodding and murmuring agreement.
Pettigrew nodded as well, and pulled up the day’s first lesson on Reaper operation.
He had their attention.
Chapter Fifteen
Just North of the Iraq-Saudi Border, Near Highway 50
Colonel Hamid Mazdaki had managed to get his force down to the Saudi border without word reaching the Saudis, a feat that would have been impossible without the help of the Iraqis. Its government wasn’t willing to join in a military action against the Saudis, but it was ready to help with any action carried out by its allies that cut them down to size. In this case that had meant shutting down a road for “security reasons” that saw little traffic anyway because, while it led to the border, it didn’t lead to a border crossing.
In fact, on the Saudi side there was no road at all.
At first, this had confused Hamid. Why have a road to — literally — nowhere? There were two main reasons. First, Saddam Hussein had built roads to Iraq’s borders at multiple points to give him options for invasion planning. As he showed with first Iran and then a decade later Kuwait, seizing his neighbors’ territory and resources was never far from Saddam’s mind. In fact, this highway wasn’t far from Kuwait’s border with Saudi Arabia, but for the actual invasion Saddam’s tanks had used a much more direct route. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Saudis reacted to that invasion by closing its border with Iraq during the years that followed, even after Saddam’s overthrow.
Since Saddam’s ouster successor Iraqi governments had maintained all of the roads leading to the Saudi border for a second reason — the hope that the border would someday be reopened. Trade was one goal. Another was that overland travel to Mecca and Medina would be far cheaper for Iraqi pilgrims than flying from Baghdad. For many, it would make the difference between being able to fulfill this religious duty and not.
There was a third minor reason. Smuggling. Iraq’s well-organized criminal gangs paid many Iraqi officials well to represent their interests, and smuggling drugs and alcohol to Saudi Arabia was profitable indeed. Roads to the border obviously made their work much easier. Of course, it was hard to say that during parliamentary debates, but ironically making the pilgrimage easier provided perfect cover for legislators with a very different agenda.
Finally, in 2019 the Saudis had opened a border crossing at Arar, at first only for pilgrims. The Arar border crossing had then been opened for trade in stages, and now nearly all of the Saudi military and police presence at the Iraqi border was concentrated at Arar.
Which was why Hamid’s forces would be crossing over five hundred kilometers away.
First, though, there was the task of refueling all of Hamid’s tanks and armored personnel carriers. The tankers, unlike the tracked armor, would not be able to go cross-country. The Iraqis had provided fuel for his tankers, and now Hamid’s force would be able to cross into Saudi Arabia with just enough gas to make it to Riyadh. As a safety margin, Hamid had two supplements.
First, Hamid had fuel drums strapped to every vehicle. Next, Iranian agents in Kuwait had leased tankers, filled them with fuel, and prepared shipping documents showing that they contained specially formulated aviation fuel destined for use by the Saudi military. The documents included the contact name and phone number of a real Saudi military officer, part of the Al-Nahda organization. He would soon learn whether they held up to scrutiny, or if he would risk running out of fuel before his forces could reach the Saudi capital.
Depending on whether or not the tankers showed up at the planned highway rendezvous, once his tanks and APCs had burned through the same amount carried in the drums, they would be emptied in the vehicles before they assaulted Riyadh. Obviously, it would not do to go into battle while carrying the fuel drums, or the results could be… unfortunate.
Once the tankers had been emptied and abandoned, another small group of vehicles appeared, one Hamid had been told to expect only at the last minute.
These included several large trucks, an R-330ZH automated jammer, and an unhappy looking technician named Arash Gul along with several assistants, who appeared just as unenthusiastic.
Happy or not, Hamid had to give them credit — they were certainly efficient. Working with his troops, in short order they had installed camouflage netting on all his vehicles that they claimed would make it difficult for anyone to see clearly what type of vehicles they were, or for any radar or infrared homing warhead to successfully lock on to any of his tanks or APCs.
Arash also carried orders from his commanding general specifying that he was to avoid highways in order to take full advantage of this camouflage.
Hamid shrugged, since he had already decided to do that, and had even mapped out an overland route to Riyadh. The only points where he planned to cross a highway were his rendezvous with the fuel tankers and when he had to cross Highway 85.
Hamid sighed when he reviewed the weather report, and shrugged. There were supposed to be high winds for the next several days, which would be perfect for his mission. The one thing camouflage couldn't do was hide the dust inevitably kicked up by the overland movement of dozens of tanks and APCs. High wind could, though, by kicking up dust everywhere so they could move south unobserved.
So, Hamid should have been pleased by the weather report. He wasn't, though, because experience had taught him that nothing in war ever went perfectly.
The only question was, just what would go wrong?
Saudi — Kuwait Border Crossing Post at Raqa’i, Highway 50
The fuel tankers Hamid was expecting to join him rolled up to the Saudi — Kuwait border crossing post at Raqa’i in the dead of night, and the driver in the lead tanker handed over papers and passports for all the tanker drivers. He could observe the reaction on the face of the very junior lieutenant who had been handed the documents for review, and it was exactly what he’d been hoping to see.
The lieutenant knew that if he questioned the documents he would have to call, and probably wake up, an unknown number of officers until he found one who knew what he was talking about. Of course, if he really had doubts he would be expected to go beyond calling the phone number on the documents.
Or, if he was satisfied the documents were genuine, he could simply allow entry.
The lieutenant had the cabs of several of the tankers searched. He also had two of the tankers discharge a small amount of fuel so he could confirm that was what they were carrying.
Everything was as it should be.
Finally, the lieutenant waved the tankers through, and went back to his office. Shaking his head, he thought to himself that he’d have to be sure to tell his commanding officer about the tankers when he came in that morning.
For some reason, he remembered an expression used by an elderly history teacher when he was a student — “coal to Newcastle.” He’d explained to a class even more bored than usual that coal had been mined near the British town of Newcastle in great quantities for years, so it would clearly be ridiculous to bring coal there from elsewhere.
/> The lieutenant smiled. The expression obviously needed to be updated.
“Gasoline to Riyadh” had a nice ring to it.
He was sure his commanding officer would see the humor.
United States Military Training Mission, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Technical Sgt. Josh Pettigrew looked over the dozen students in his classroom, and casually asked, “Who’s ready to put hands on a Reaper?”
One of the first tasks Pettigrew had set himself was to instill what he thought of as basic classroom discipline in his students. To his mind, that meant first and foremost that students learn to raise their hands, rather than all trying to talk at once.
Pettigrew was pleased to see that his students didn’t make a sound. Instead, he faced a forest of raised hands.
Pettigrew nodded. “Very well. Follow me to the hanger next door.”
Two guards stood watch over the Reaper, which Pettigrew had armed and prepared for this session.
“Who would like to identify the weapon closest to the right side of the fuselage?” Pettigrew asked.
Once again, every hand went up.
Pettigrew said, “Mousa,” and nodded in his direction.
Mousa said carefully, “It is a GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb.”
“Excellent,” Pettigrew said, nodding approval. “Who would like to try for the weapon closest to the left side of the fuselage?”
Pettigrew was pleased to see that every student was still confident they could identify the munition.
“Rahim,” he said. “Oh, and bonus points if you notice anything unusual about what I’ve placed on that pylon.”
Rahim now looked like he wasn’t so sure being picked was such a stroke of luck. “It is a GBU-38 JDAM, which is short for Joint Direct Attack Munition.” Rahim paused. “I think it is unusual because you said that normally the same weapon would be placed on each side of the fuselage, to keep the drone balanced in flight.”
Pettigrew grinned and clapped his hands. “Outstanding! That is exactly right. Now, someone else tell me why I could get away with doing this if I decided it was really necessary.”
Now no hands went up right away. Good, Pettigrew thought. I’ve got them thinking!
Finally Fadil raised his hand.
‘Yes, Fadil?” Pettigrew said, nodding in his direction.
“Well, the GBU-12 and the GBU-38 should be about the same weight, since both are based on the MK-82 bomb. They just have different guidance packages. So long as the operator is careful, it should be possible to fly the drone safely,” Fadil said.
Pettigrew whistled, which he could see immediately confused everyone.
He laughed and shook his head. “You’ll learn that if I whistle, I’m really impressed. You must have picked up that bit about the MK-82 from your own reading, since we didn’t go over it in class.”
Fadil simply nodded.
“OK, next out towards the wingtip?” Pettigrew asked.
Now every hand went up again.
“Hakim,” Pettigrew said.
“This is the AGM-114 Hellfire II missile, which uses a laser guidance system,” Hakim said.
“Excellent,” Pettigrew said, nodding. “Now, unless you were familiar with all the types of Hellfire missiles it would be difficult to tell which this was just by looking at it. Let’s say I told you this is the latest version. What would that make this one?” Pettigrew asked.
Hakim answered immediately. “That would make this an AGM-114R
Hellfire II Romeo RX missile, which has an integrated blast fragmentation sleeve warhead. That makes it possible to use the missile against many different target types, which in the past would have required different types of Hellfires.”
Pettigrew grinned and nodded. “Absolutely right. So far you’re batting a thousand.”
Again Pettigrew saw confusion on the students’ faces.
Pettigrew laughed and shook his head. “An American expression that would take too long to explain. It means you’ve answered every question perfectly so far. But I’ve saved the biggest challenge for last. What’s on the outermost pylons?”
Now Rahim raised his hand again. “It is an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.
But I don’t understand the point of putting it on the Reaper. After all, the Houthis don’t have an air force.”
Pettigrew nodded. “Now, I’ve had officers who thought exactly that way.
Students, am I an officer?”
The students all grinned and shook their heads. Pettigrew had already made this point several times before.
“That’s why I am not going to prepare you for the dangers you expect.
Because while you’re doing that, what you don’t expect will come up behind you and kill you. If you forget everything else I teach you, remember that.”
The students all nodded solemnly.
“Now, is there anyone out there with an air force that just might want to attack you someday?” Pettigrew asked.
Nearly every student said “Iran” at the same time.
“Has anybody here heard of Pearl Harbor?” Pettigrew asked.
The students all nodded thoughtfully.
"How about Iraq’s annexation of Kuwait?” Pettigrew asked.
The students all nodded again.
“I think the point is clear. History is full of examples of attacks that nobody saw coming. How do you prevent becoming a part of that history? To the extent you can, prepare for every danger you can foresee.”
Mousa raised his hand, and Pettigrew nodded permission to speak.
“Has this drone ever shot down a jet in combat?” Mousa asked.
Pettigrew smiled. “An excellent question. First, let me point out that easier and perhaps more likely targets for the Reaper would include an enemy drone, a helicopter, or a propeller-driven aircraft. The pilot of a combat jet who knew the Reaper was there and had plenty of time to line up an approach could shoot it down every time. But in a crowded threat environment with enemy combat jets and surface to air missiles it would be easy to ignore the Reaper until it was too late.”
Pettigrew saw Mousa becoming restive and laughed. “I know, I haven’t really answered your question. The answer is that in 2017 an AIM-9X fired by a Reaper shot down a drone that was attempting to evade it. Those are the only details I can give you about that exercise.”
Pettigrew paused. “I will add this, though. This is the Block II configuration of the AIM-9X, which gives you the ability to lock on after launch. That’s thanks to the Link 16 data link, which will also allow you to supply targeting information to the missile after launch.”
Mousa nodded. “So, we could relay targeting data from the much more powerful radars we have access to at this base, and the missile wouldn’t be limited to what its own small seeker head can see?”
Pettigrew smiled. “Exactly. Now, it may be a while before you actually get a chance to fire one of these, but don’t you think the AIM-9X is a good option to have?”
Much murmuring and nodding followed among the students.
Pettigrew was pleased, but also concerned. How, he thought, am I going to arrange a chance for these students to fire a Sidewinder at a live target?
500 Meters South of the Iraq-Saudi Border, Near Highway 50
Colonel Hamid Mazdaki leaned over Arash Gul’s shoulder and asked in a whisper, “Are you sure this is the right cable?”
The technician was shivering in the cold desert night air, and continued attaching a clamp to one of the wires he had stripped from the cable before responding. Fortunately, Arash had spent years in Iran answering questions from non-technicians, and had seen what happened to ones who couldn’t keep their tempers when those questions were stupid.
Plus, Arash knew all the men in the trench they had dug out to reveal the cable were also short-tempered, and armed. Never mind that now that the cable had been revealed, he was the only one here actually doing anything.
“Yes. It is exactly where our informant said it would be, and th
e cable’s interior matches the schematic he provided. As for whether the method he provided works to defeat the alert network, we will only know that for sure once your tanks cross the border.” With that Arash checked the device in his hand, and grunted with satisfaction.
“I am now ready to begin recording the ambient noise and images collected by the sensors the Saudis have placed at the border. If our informant is correct, a small group such as ours should not have been enough to trigger an alarm. Still, it would be best if we keep speech and movement to a minimum while I am making the recording we will play back while your force crosses the border.”
Mazdaki nodded sharply, and whispered orders to the other soldiers who had dug the trench, who all nodded silently.
Arash nodded and said, “Good. In ninety minutes, it should be safe for your force to cross the border.”
Arash pressed the record button, and said a silent prayer.
95 Kilometers South of the Iraq-Saudi Border, Near Highway 85
Colonel Hamid Mazdaki scowled at the report from the scout he had sent down Highway 6262. It was exactly what he’d expected. Well, he supposed at some point the Saudis would have to rouse from their slumber.
Highway 85 ran east to west in northern Saudi Arabia, and it was impossible to travel south towards Riyadh without crossing it. He had men with counterfeit Saudi uniforms set up a roadblock on Highway 85, and had the R-330ZH automated jammer turn up its output to full to prevent anyone fuming at the delay from reporting it.
On the one hand, the proximity of King Khalid Military City helped Hamid. This was not the first time that Highway 85 had been shut down to allow the passage of tanks on exercise, and in the dark he was certain nobody stopped a kilometer away at his roadblock would be able to see that they were not Saudi tanks.
However, there was no way to prevent drivers at the tail end of the roadblock from turning around. Able to drive at full speed, it would not be long before those cars were out of jamming range. If someone in one of those cars happened to work at King Khalid Military City….
Well, apparently someone did, and had called KKMC HQ to ask about armor exercises and why nobody had told the caller they were scheduled.
