Combat

by Stephen Coonts

  Externally, the Blackjack-E carried eight R-40 long-range air-to-air missiles, four under the attach point of each swiveling wing; two of the missiles on each wing were radar-guided missiles and two were heat-seeking missiles. It was the first Soviet heavy bomber to carry air-to-air missiles. Also under each wing were two Kh-29 multirole attack missiles, which had a range of sixteen miles, a top speed of just over Mach 2, and a massive six-hundred-pound high-explosive warhead. The Kh-29 was steered to its target by a TV datalink, giving it a precision-guided capability day or night or in poor weather, or it would home in on enemy radar emissions. Once locked on to its target, the Kh-29 would automatically fly an evasive sea-skimming or ballistic trajectory, depending on the target, followed by a steep dive into its target. The Kh-29 was designed to deliver a killing blow to almost any size target, even a large surface vessel, underground command post, bridges, and large industrial buildings and factories.

  As predicted, the Americans erected an air umbrella around the stricken USS Percheron to protect it against sneak attacks. Because it was the closest, they moved CV-41, the venerable USS Midway, and its eight-ship escort group south to cover the Percheron’s crippled retreat. The Midway, the oldest carrier in active service in the U.S. fleet and the only carrier homeported on foreign soil, was overdue for decommissioning and reserve duty when Operation Desert Shield began. It was sent to the Persian Gulf and played mostly a short-range land-attack role with its three squadrons of F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers and one squadron of A-6 Intruder bombers.

  If there was more time, or the need to get the crippled ship out of harm’s way not so pressing, the Navy would have chosen another ship to protect the Percheron. The Midway was the lightest armed ship for self-defense, with only two Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile launchers, two Phalanx close-in Gatling gun systems, and no F-14 Tomcat fighters for long-range defense—it relied heavily on its escorts for protection. It had little up-to-date radars and electronic-countermeasure equipment, since it was on its way to reserve status before the start of the war. The second carrier battle group stationed in the Persian Gulf, the USS America, maintained its patrol in the northern half of the Gulf, about two hundred and fifty miles away—too far from Midway to be of any help in case some disaster took place.

  The Blackjack-E, call sign Lechtvar (“Teacher”), launched from its secret base near Mashhad, about six hundred kilometers east of Tehran, using an Iran Air, the official Iranian government airline, flight number. It followed the commercial air-traffic route, overflying the Persian Gulf and central Saudi Arabia on its way to Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. In late February, with air superiority established over the entire region and no threat from Iraq’s air force, the Coalition forces agreed to reopen commercial air routes from Iran and other Islamic countries to the east into Jiddah to accommodate pilgrims visiting the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina. As long as a flight plan was on file and the flight followed a strict navigation corridor, overflying Saudi Arabia was permitted during the conflict.

  The flight was handed off from Riyadh Air Traffic Control Center to Jiddah Approach, just before coming within range of American naval radar systems operating in the Red Sea. As it descended over the Hijaz Mountains south of Jiddah, the Blackjack-E bomber crew activated their terrain-following radar system, deactivated its transponder radar tracking system, and descended below radar coverage in less than two minutes. The crew allowed a few seconds of a “7700” transponder signal—the international code for Emergency—before shutting off all radios and external lights completely and descending into the mountains. Within moments, the flight had completely disappeared from radar screens.

  Saudi and Coalition rescue teams, both civilian and military, immediately started fanning out from Jiddah south to the suspected crash site. But by the time the rescuers launched, the Blackjack-E was already far to the east, speeding across the deserts of the central Arabian Peninsula.

  As the Blackjack-E sped across the sands and desolate high plains of eastern Saudi Arabia, air-defense radar sites began popping up all across their intended route of flight. It seemed as if there was a surface-to-air missile site stationed every forty of fifty miles apart along the Persian Gulf from Al-Khasab on the tip of Cape Shuraytah in Oman all the way to Kuwait City, with more sprinkles of air-defense radars on warships on or over the Persian Gulf itself. But the sites that were the most dangerous threat to the Blackjack-E—the various Coalition Patriot, Rapier, and Hawk antiaircraft batteries—were all fixed sites, and their precise locations had been known for weeks—they would make easy targets. In addition, although all of them were capable of attacking targets in any direction, they were set up and oriented to attack targets flying in from the Persian Gulf or Strait of Hormuz, not from the Arabian Peninsula. There were a few scattered mobile antiaircraft artillery emplacements, and the shipborne Aegis, Standard, and Sea Wolf antiaircraft missile systems represented a significant threat, but those would not be able to engage a fast-moving low-flying stealthy target in time.

  Just before starting its attack, the Blackjack-E accelerated to just under supersonic speed—it was now traveling more than a mile every ten seconds. From fifty miles away, the Blackjack-E crew launched inertially guided Kh-15 missiles against the known antiaircraft emplacements in the United Arab Emirates. As the plane sped closer, it polished off any remaining antiaircraft radar sites with radar-homing Kh-15 missiles. As the bomber neared the United Arab Emirates coastline heading east, many radar sites saw the big bomber coming, but before they could direct their missile units to fire, the Kh-15 missiles were blowing the radars and communications nets off the air. Coalition air-defense fighters based all up and down the Persian Gulf, from half a dozen bases, launched in hot pursuit. The aircraft carrier Midway had ten F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bombers in air-defense configuration airborne in combat air patrols all around the carrier group, and it quickly launched another pair and prepared more launches, even though no one had a definite fix on the unknown aircraft.

  The biggest threat to the Blackjack-E crew, however, was the French-made Mirage 5 and Mirage 2000 air-defense fighters based in Dubai. One Mirage 2000 acquired the Blackjack shortly after liftoff along with his wingman, but it was blown out of the sky by a radar-guided R-40 missile before the Mirage could even complete its first vector to the bandit. The second Mirage disengaged when he saw his leader explode in a ball of fire, and by the time he was ready to pursue and engage again, the Blackjack-E was almost out of radar range and on its missile attack run against the USS Midway.

  The gauntlet was squeezing tighter and tighter on the Blackjack-E, but it was still heading for its target. The crew accelerated to supersonic speed, staying less than one hundred feet above the dark, shallow waters of the Persian Gulf as the bomber closed in on its quarry. The Blackjack climbed higher only to launch Kh-15 radar-homing missiles on the greatest threats in front of them, the Perry-class guided-missile frigate guarding the Midway’s western flank. It took five Kh-15 missiles fired at the frigate to finally shut its missile-search-and-guidance radars down. The Midway’s Hornets’ APG-65 attack radar was not a true lookdown, shoot-down-capable system; although F/A-18 Hornets had the Navy’s first two aerial kills of the Gulf War, the fighter was designed primarily as a medium bomber and attack plane, not as a low-altitude interceptor. Three Hornets took beyond-visual-range shots at the Blackjack with AIM-7 radar-guided Sparrow missiles, and all missed.

  Strange, the Blackjack crew remarked to themselves—the Americans were all around them, taking long-range shots but not pressing the attack. It was a stiff defense, but not nearly as severe as they expected. Why … ?

  But it didn’t matter—now there was nothing to stop the Blackjack-E. At three minutes to launch point, the Blackjack’s attack radar had locked on to the Midway and fed inertial guidance information to the four Kh-29 attack missiles. The final launch countdown was under way …

  The UHF GUARD radio channel had been alive for several minutes with warnings from American
and Gulf Cooperative Council air-defense networks in English, French, Arabic, and Farsi, demanding that the unidentified aircraft leave the area. The Blackjack crew ignored it …

  … until new warning messages in English on both UHF and VHF emergency radio channels began: “Unidentified intruder, unidentified intruder, this is the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Air Defense Network command center, you are in violation of sovereign Iranian airspace. You are directed to leave the area immediately or you will be attacked without warning. Repeat, reverse course and leave the area immediately!”

  The Iranian pilot in command of the Blackjack-E bomber looked at the Russian copilot in surprise. “What is happening?” he asked in English, their common language.

  “Ignore it!” the Russian shouted. “We are on the attack run, and we still have many American warships to contend with. Stay …”

  “Attention, attention, all air-defense units, this is Abbass Control,” they heard in Farsi, “implement full air-defense configuration protocols, repeat, full air-defense protocols, all stations acknowledge.” The message was repeated; then, in Farsi, Arabic, and English, they heard, “Warning, warning, warning, to all aircraft on this frequency, this is the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Air Defense Network, full air-defense emergency restrictions are in effect for the Tehran and Bandar Abbass Flight Information Regions, repeat, full air-defense emergency restrictions are now in effect. All aircraft, establish positive radio contact and identification with your controller immediately. All unidentified aircraft in the Tehran and Bandar Abbass Flight Information Regions may be fired upon without warning!”

  “What should we do?” the Iranian bombardier asked. “Should we ask … ?”

  “We maintain radio silence!” the Russian shouted. “The Americans can home in on the briefest radio transmission! Stay on the attack run!”

  “Our Mode Two—should we transmit?” the defensive-systems officer asked. The Mode Two was an encrypted identification signal. Although it could only be decoded by Iranian air-defense sites, transmitting any radio signals was dangerous over enemy territory, so they had it deactivated.

  “No!” the Russian responded. “Pay attention to the attack run! Ignore what is happening …”

  Just then, they saw a bright flash of light far off on the horizon. The weather was ideal, cloudy and cool, with no thunderstorms predicted. That wasn’t lightning.

  “Did you get the transfer-alignment maneuver yet, bombardier?” the Russian systems officer instructor asked.

  “I … no, I have not,” the Iranian bombardier replied, still distracted by what was happening over his own country. The transfer-alignment maneuver was a required gyroscopic routine that removed the last bit of inertial drift from their missiles’ guidance system.

  “Then get busy! Program it in and inform the crew. You had better hurry before …”

  “Birjand Four-Oh-Four flight, cancel takeoff clearance!” the Blackjack crew heard on the emergency channel in Farsi. “Maliz Three, hold your position, emergency vehicles en route, passing on your right side. Attention all aircraft, emergency evacuation procedure in effect, report to your shelter assignments immediately.”

  “Shelter assignments?” the defensive systems officer shouted. “It sounds like one of our bases is under air attack!”

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying!” the Russian copilot shouted. “But ignore any radio messages you are hearing. They could be fake messages. Stay on the attack run!”

  But the defensive-systems officer couldn’t ignore it. He switched his radio over to the tactical command frequency: “Abbass Control, Abbass Control, this is Lechtvar, we copy your emergency reports, requesting vectors to last-known position of enemy aircraft. We are able to respond. Over.” No response, just more emergency messages. “Abbass Control, this is Lechtvar, we are en route to your location, sixty miles southwest, request you pass vectors to enemy aircraft, we can respond! Over! Respond!”

  “Damn your eyes, I said stay off the radios!” the Russian pilot shouted. “Don’t you understand, the Americans can track your transmissions! Now get back on the attack run! That’s an order!”

  But just then they heard in English on their own tactical command frequency: “Attention, Iranian Blackjack bomber, this is your old friend from the Strait from last week. Do you recognize my voice?”

  The Iranian pilot of the Blackjack-E was stunned. It was the same voice that had contacted them, the unidentified American military flight!

  “Calling Abbass Control,” they heard an Iranian voice say in English, “this is an official military frequency. Do not use this frequency. It is a violation of international law. Vacate this frequency immediately.”

  “Abbass Control, this is Lechtvar,” the Iranian Blackjack pilot called. “We copied your emergency evacuation messages. Give us vectors to the enemy aircraft and we will respond immediately.”

  “Lechtvar, this is Abbass Control, negative!” the confused controller replied after a few moments. “We detected some unidentified aircraft, and then a flare was set off over the Strait. But there are no Iranian installations under attack and no one has implemented any evacuation procedures. Clear this channel immediately!”

  The Blackjack crew finally realized they had been tricked. The crew was stunned into embarrassed silence. The Russian crew members cursed loud enough in Russian to be heard without the interphones—they realized that their chances of surviving this mission suddenly went from very good to very poor. The bombardier directed the transfer-alignment maneuver, a forty-five-degree left turn followed by two more turns back to course—all missiles were fully functional and …

  “Hey, Blackjack. We know you’re up here listening to us. We’ll have you on our radar any second now. You’ll never finish your attack. Why not forget about the carrier and come get us? We’re waiting for you.”

  It was impossible! The mystery plane was back—and they knew all about their mission! How was that possible? How could they … ?

  Suddenly, the radar-warning indicators blared a warning—an enemy airborne radar had swept across them. Seconds later, with sixty seconds to launch, the radar-warning receiver indicated a radar lock. They had been found! The Blackjack’s radar jammers were functioning perfectly, but they were unable to keep the enemy tracking radar from completely breaking lock—it changed frequencies too fast and changed in such a broad range that the Blackjack’s trackbreakers could not quite keep up.

  “Got ya, Blackjack,” the American said. “You’re not as stealthy tonight as last time. You must be carrying some heavy iron tonight. Got some more air-to-air missiles loaded up tonight? Maybe a few big antiship missiles? Why don’t you just jettison all that deadweight and come on up here and let’s you and me finish this thing, once and for all?”

  “We must break off the attack,” the Iranian defensive-systems officer shouted. “If they have us on radar, they can vector in the other fighters. We’ll be surrounded in seconds.”

  “Process the launch!” the Russian mission commander shouted. “Ignore this American bastard! He did not attack us before—perhaps he cannot stop us.”

  As if they could hear their interphone conversation, the American said, “Hey, Blackjack, you better bug out now. I just relayed your position to my little buddies, the F/A-18 Hornets from the Midway. They’re not very happy that you’ve come to try to blow up their ship. In about two minutes you’ll have an entire squadron of Hornets on your ass.”

  The Iranian pilot could no longer contain his anger. He opened the channel to the GUARD frequency and mashed his mike button: “You cowardly pig-bastard! If you want us, come and get us!”

  “Hey, there you are, Blackjack,” the American said happily. “Nice to talk to you again.”

  “You know who I am—who are you?”

  “I’m the pig-bastard at your two o‘clock position and closing fast,” the American replied. “I’ll bet my interceptor missiles are faster and have longer range than your attack missiles—I’ll r
each my firing point in about ten seconds. You don’t want to die flying straight and level, do you? C’mon up here and let’s get it on.”

  “You will never stop us!” the Iranian shouted.

  “Oops—I think I overestimated our firing point. Here they come.” And just then, the radar-warning receiver blared a shrill MISSILE LAUNCH warning—the Americans had fired radar-guided missiles!

  The Russian pilot reacted instinctively. He immediately started a shallow climb and a steep right bank into the oncoming missiles. “Chaff! Chaff!” he shouted; then: “Launch the Kh-29s! Now!”

  “We are not in range!” the bombardier shouted.

  “Launch anyway!” the Russian ordered. “We will not get another chance! Launch!” The bombardier immediately commanded the Kh-29 missiles to launch. The missiles all had solid lock-ons, and with the slightly greater altitude, the Kh-29s had a little greater range … it might be enough to score a hit.

  “They launched missiles!” Patrick shouted. The Megafortress’s attack radar, a derivative of the APG-71 radar from the F-15E Eagle, immediately detected the big Kh-29 missiles speeding toward the Midway. “I got four big missiles, very low altitude, going supersonic. Wendy … ?”

  “I got ’em,” Wendy Tork reported. The APG-71 weapon system had immediately passed targeting information to Wendy’s defensive system, and all Wendy had to do was launch-commit her AIM-120 Scorpion missiles. “We’re at extreme range—I’m going to have to ripple off all our Scorpions. Give me forty right and full military power.”

  As Brad Elliott followed Wendy’s orders, the fire-control computers went to work. Within twenty seconds, eight Scorpions fired off into space. At first they used the Megafortress’s attack radar for guidance, but soon they activated their own active radars and tracked the Russian missiles with ease. All four Kh-29 missiles were shot down long before they reached the Midway.

  “Splash four missiles,” Wendy reported. “But we’re in trouble now—we used up all our defensive missiles.” And, as if the Blackjack crew heard them, Wendy saw that the Iranian attack plane was turning very, very quickly—heading right for them. “We got a big, big bandit at fifteen miles, low. He …” Just then, the *EB-52C’s threat-warning receiver issued a RADAR WARNING, a MISSILE WARNING, and a MISSILE LAUNCH warning in rapid succession. “Break right!” Wendy shouted. “Stingers coming on-line! Chaff!”