by Jeff Edwards
TDN-1 Torpedo Assault Drone
With a high wing and small twin engines, the TDN-1 could carry a torpedo or 2,000 pound bomb under its fuselage, at an average airspeed of 175 MPH. The drone was light, inexpensive, and it required a bare minimum of critical materials. Unfortunately, the TDN design was not well-suited for mass production. Only about 114 units were built, nearly all of which were used for evaluation, or expended as unmanned flying targets. None of the TDN-1 drones saw actual combat.
Official enthusiasm for the assault drone concept was beginning to decline, in part due to continuing derision from Admiral Towers and other vocal critics of the program. Commodore Smith and Commander Fahrney were undiscouraged. The Project Option team immediately moved forward with production of the TDR-1 series, a second generation of assault drones that were more suited to rapid manufacturing.
In May of 1944, after intense lobbying on the part of Commodore Smith and Commander Fahrney, Special Task Air Group One (STAG-1) deployed to the South Pacific for combat against the Japanese.
The TDR-1 drones of STAG-1 were controlled by specially-modified Grumman Avenger torpedo bombers, outfitted with radio control systems and television reception antennas. The drone flight controls included a joystick for use by the Avenger pilot, and a telephone dial connected by radio to the TDR-1’s autopilot system to manage flight patterns and the arming and dropping of torpedoes or bombs. The control system was only equipped with four radio channels, limiting each Avenger aircrew to controlling a maximum of four drones at a time.
The first live TDR-1 attack occurred on July 30, 1944, against an abandoned Japanese freighter that had run aground near the island of Guadalcanal. Six TDR-1s were committed to the mission: four designated for the attack, and two standing by as backups. All six drones were armed with 2,000 pound bombs.
It was not to be an auspicious beginning. Two of the drones cracked up during takeoff. Two others hit the target, but their bombs turned out to be duds. The remaining two drones conducted successful attacks, and their bombs destroyed the target ship.
The film footage of the exploding Japanese freighter was impressive, but the popularity of the assault drone concept had fallen so low that Commodore Smith had to lobby intensely to prevent immediate cancellation of the program.
Approximately eight weeks later, STAG-1 embarked on an intensive series of drone strikes against Japanese installations on the island of Bougainville. The attacks began on September 27th and ended on October 26th. A total of 46 TDR-1s were expended, 37 of which penetrated Japanese antiaircraft coverage and successfully reached their assigned target areas. At least 21 of these struck their intended targets.
The Japanese were stunned by the fury of the drone strikes, believing that the American Navy had taken up aerial suicide attacks—a tactic that Imperial Japan had embraced only weeks earlier.
While the results of the Bougainville attacks were encouraging, they were not dramatic enough to prevent the cancellation of the assault drone program. The officers and men of Project Option were understandably disappointed, but by late 1944, it was clear that the war in the Pacific was going to be won without the help of STAG-1’s strange flying bombs. The TDR-1, which had once seemed like a crucial technological breakthrough, was no longer regarded as a significant factor in the outcome of the war.
The next generation of drones, the TDR-3, was already under development when the program was cancelled. A number of photographs of the TDR-3 still exist, but it’s no longer clear if this was a functional prototype, or merely a mockup of the airframe. Either way, the Navy’s quest for an unmanned aerial assault drone, was effectively dead.
Running roughly parallel to the Navy efforts, the U.S. Army Air Force was engaged in its own attempts to develop an unmanned flying bomb. The A-1 program centered around a radio-controlled monoplane that could carry a 500 pound warhead to targets over 400 miles away. A handful of A-1s were built before the effort was terminated in 1943.
Under a program codenamed Project Aphrodite, the USAAF worked jointly with the Navy in developing a series of aerial torpedo designs with the cryptic designation of ‘BQ’. One of the most ambitious examples was the BQ-7 concept, in which aging B-17 Fortress bombers were modified for radio control, and packed with 20,000 pounds of explosives for use as unmanned assault drones.
Each BQ-7 was manned by a human pilot and copilot during takeoff. The roof of the cockpit was cut away, allowing the crew to bail out and parachute to earth after the plane was airborne. In theory, the BQ-7 would then continue to its target under radio control.
About 25 BQ-7s were built. Most were earmarked for use against hardened military installations in Germany, under a plan known as Project Perilous. Regrettably, the codename turned out to be accurate.
There were a number of attempts to use the BQ-7 in combat, none of which were notably successful, and several of which were nearly disastrous. In one reported case, a BQ-7 lost radio lock and circled repeatedly over an English city before the terrified controllers were able to reestablish a radio link and divert the malfunctioning bomber to a safe area. In another case, a BQ-7 failed to respond to radio control signals and crashed in the English countryside, leaving a massive crater to mark the site of the explosion. Project Perilous was abandoned before more serious mishaps could occur.
A follow-on effort, codenamed Project Anvil, utilized converted B-24 bombers in a new (and supposedly improved) BQ-8 configuration. But the BQ-8s were not destined to fare any better than the BQ-7 series had done.
The first Anvil mission took place on August 12, 1944. The modified bomber exploded in flight, while the two crewmen were still aboard. The pilot and copilot, Navy Lieutenants Wilford J. Willy and Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., were both killed instantly.
It’s of historical note that Lieutenant Kennedy was the eldest son of prominent businessman and political figure Joseph Kennedy Sr. At the time of his death, Joseph Junior was being groomed for the American presidency. His younger brother, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, would later go on to become the 35th President of the United States.
The second Anvil mission was launched on September 3, 1944. This time, the BQ-8 missed its assigned target due to spotty television reception, but managed to inflict some damage on an unrelated German facility.
The BQ series was subsequently cancelled, due to lackluster—and sometimes dangerous—performance.
Like the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army Air Force was out of the flying bomb business, at least in the short term. Nearly three decades had passed since the first efforts of Elmer Sperry and Charles Kettering, and the United States military had still not managed to produce an operationally reliable unmanned aerial weapon.
Unfortunately for the inhabitants of England, the Germans had finally cracked the problem wide open.
The citizens of London were about to find out the hard way just how deadly such weapons can be.
CHAPTER 23
WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM
WASHINGTON, DC
THURSDAY; 27 NOVEMBER
10:34 AM EST
President Dalton Wainright ignored the blue-jacketed briefing folder on the table, and nodded toward the image on the wall-sized Situation Room display screen. “Okay, gentlemen, what am I looking at here?”
The Sit Room Duty Officer was a Navy Captain with a hawk nose and gray at his temples. “Sorry to interrupt your Thanksgiving morning, Mr. President,” he said. “This is an architectural diagram of the Three Gorges Dam, on the Yangtze River, in the People’s Republic of China.”
He allowed the image to linger on the display for a few seconds, and then pointed a remote at the screen. The architectural drawing was replaced by an aerial photograph of what was presumably the retaining wall of the dam, with the expansive spread of its attendant reservoir lake.
“This is the largest hydroelectric project ever built, sir,” the Duty Officer said. “It’s also one of the largest manmade structures in the world, second only to the Great Wall of China. The site reached ful
l operational capacity in 2011, and now it produces approximately 85 terawatt-hours of electrical power per year. That’s slightly more than twice the annual output of China’s entire nuclear power industry.”
“Impressive,” the president said. “I assume there’s a reason that you’re bringing this to my attention?”
The Duty Officer nodded. “Yes, sir. A few hours ago, we received preliminary intelligence that the Indian military may be planning to destroy the Three Gorges Dam.”
“Destroy it? How? That thing is a monster!”
The National Security Advisor, Gregory Brenthoven nodded. “It is a monster, Mr. President. But the Indians are apparently planning to bring it down with a coordinated cruise missile strike: seven Nirbhay missiles armed with advanced hard target penetrator warheads.”
President Wainright raised a hand. “Two questions, Greg… First, what’s our source for this information? Second, will it work?”
He looked back toward the screen. “That thing really is a beast. Unless they’re planning to nuke it, I can’t see cruise missiles bringing it down.”
The National Security Advisor fished a small leather-bound notebook from his pocket. “The source was HUMINT,” he said. “A CIA field operative in New Delhi, with contacts in the Indian Ministry of Defense. He, or she—I don’t know which—managed to lay hands on a copy of the engineering analysis and targeting plan for the strike. The operative’s report was forwarded to the South Asia desk at Langley, and the analyst who received it was smart enough to flag it for immediate high-level attention.”
The president nodded. “So we’re relatively sure that this information is legit?”
Brenthoven flipped open his notebook and scanned a few lines of text. “The confidence level is listed as ‘moderate.’ That basically means that the information is plausible and the source is considered credible, but there isn’t enough external corroboration to support a higher level of confidence.”
“Then I assume that we’re going after corroboration,” the president said.
“Of course, sir,” the National Security Advisor said. “We’ve got CIA, DIA, and ONI all searching for confirmation. But if the plan is locked down tight enough, we may not find a corroborating source. Our current source may be all we have to go on.”
The president paused for a few seconds, and then nodded. “Understood. Let’s move on to my second question. What are the odds that a few cruise missiles can knock out a structure as massive as the Three Gorges Dam?”
“Sir, we’ve got the Office of Naval Research running simulations on that right now,” Brenthoven said, “but our quick-look analysis suggests that it might be feasible, if the missiles carried the correct kinds of warheads.”
“Do the Indians have the right kind?” the president asked.
Secretary of Defense Mary O’Neil-Broerman leaned forward in her chair. “We think they do,” she said. “The Indian military inventory has an indigenously-produced hard target penetrator that might well be powerful enough to crack that dam wide open.”
The president turned to stare at his Secretary of Defense. “You’re telling me that the Indian military developed a highly-specialized missile warhead, on the off chance that they might one day have to bomb a giant Chinese hydroelectric site?”
SECDEF shook her head. “No, sir. Ironically enough, they developed the warhead for the Air Force. Our Air Force.”
President Wainwright rubbed the back of his neck. “Tell me you’re kidding, Mary.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not kidding, Mr. President,” the Secretary of Defense said. “The warhead was developed by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization to capture a U.S. Air Force contract for a Next Generation Penetrator. What the Air Force calls an NGP. The Indian defense industry apparently decided that a major Air Force R&D project would be a great way to get their foot in the door for future U.S. defense programs. Their design didn’t make it through the down-select, but they decided to move ahead with developing their own Next Generation Penetrator. They call it the Rudrasya khaḍgaḥ. From what we understand, it’s incredibly effective.”
The president frowned. “What was that name again? The Rud…”
“Rudrasya khaḍgaḥ,” the Secretary of Defense said. “Apparently that’s Sanskrit for ‘Sword of Shiva.’
The president’s eyebrows went up. “Shiva? The Hindu god?”
“Yes, sir,” SECDEF said. “Shiva is the Hindu god of creation and destruction. But when he manifests in his Rudra aspect, he is specifically the god of storm, wind, destruction, and death.”
President Wainwright raised one corner of his mouth in a humorless half-smile. “Well, that sounds promising, doesn’t it? What other good news have you got for me?”
“We’re still looking at preliminary assessments, sir,” the National Security Advisor said. “But if the Rudra—the Sword of Shiva warhead—turns out to be as effective as the initial simulations suggest, then seven missiles may be overkill. It’s feasible that four would be enough to bring down the dam, with proper placement and timing, of course.”
“Of course,” the president said. “Okay, the intelligence on this plan is reasonably credible, and it’s possible that this kind of missile strike could punch a hole in the dam. It sounds like one hell of a mess for the People’s Republic, but how does that add up to a national security problem for us?”
The Sit Room Duty Officer spoke up. “The Indians aren’t just planning to knock holes in the dam, sir. Their apparent goal is to cause a complete failure of the retaining wall. This will trigger catastrophic flooding of the entire Yangtze River basin, all the way from the site of the Three Gorges Dam to the East China Sea.”
The Duty Officer keyed his remote, and the Sit Room master display changed to a topographic map of eastern central China. The meandering blue line of the Yangtze river cut across the middle of the map, dividing the northern and southern halves of the visible landmass. The black dots of three cities hugged the wandering curves of the river: Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai.
“The Yangtze River runs right through the heart of China’s largest concentration of human population,” said the Situation Room Duty Officer. “Approximately 400 million people live within the boundaries of the Yangtze River basin. That’s nearly a third of the total population of China.”
He gestured toward the screen. “If the Three Gorges Dam should fail, three of the largest and most heavily-populated cities in China will be directly in the path of destruction.”
The National Security Advisor nodded. “The combined populations of Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan are closely equivalent to the collective populations of New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. And these three cities form the backbone of China’s industrial and financial base. The loss of any one of these cities would seriously damage the Chinese economy. The loss of all three of them…” Brenthoven allowed his voice to trail off.
“We’re talking a nightmare scenario for China,” the president said. “Millions of short term casualties, and massive damage to their national infrastructure, followed by a crippling economic aftermath.”
“That’s correct, Mr. President,” Brenthoven said. “Not quite a doomsday scenario for the Chinese, but pretty damned close.”
President Wainwright shook his head. “Then why in God’s name did they even build the thing? The Chinese are many things, but they’re not stupid. Why would they put so many of their own people at risk?”
“They probably thought they had factored out the serious risks,” the Secretary of Defense said. “From a structural standpoint, the Three Gorges Dam is significantly over-built. They designed in more than enough safety margin to compensate for earthquakes and other natural disasters, and—short of a nuclear attack—there frankly aren’t very many bombs or missiles in the world that could put a serious dent in that thing. The Chinese politburo probably felt like they had all the important angles covered.”
“But they didn’t count on this new Indian warhead,
” the president said.
“Apparently not, sir,” said Brenthoven.
President Wainwright stared at the wall-sized display screen for several seconds. “How will the Chinese government react, if India manages to carry out this plan?”
“That’s the big question,” the National Security Advisor said. “How would you react in that situation, Mr. President? Suppose the U.S. was engaged in hostilities with some hypothetical enemy, and suddenly—without warning—our adversary wiped out New York, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, killing about a third of our national population in the process. How would you retaliate, sir?”
“I like to think of myself as a man of peace,” the president said. “But if someone hit us with an attack that vicious and that massive, I’d go after them with every weapon at my disposal. I’d do my damnedest to turn their entire country into a parking lot.”
The Secretary of Defense sighed heavily. “I hate to say it, sir, but I would too. Any leader with the power and ability to strike back would retaliate just as strongly. When somebody slams you that hard, you don’t trade punches. You crush them.”
“That, I’m afraid, is our answer,” Brenthoven said. “If India really does this… If they bring down the Three Gorges Dam, China is going to hit them with everything…”
His last word hung in the air, and no one had any doubt at all what ‘everything’ meant in this context.
President Wainwright sat back in his chair. “We’re missing something here,” he said.
“We’re in the early discovery phase on this, sir,” Brenthoven said. “We’re still missing a lot of things. It may take the intelligence agencies a while to develop corroborating sources, and assemble the critical details.”
