pilots report weapons lock.
Privalov nodded and concentrated on his screen display, vectoring the aircraft into the optimum positions for missile engagement. Then he straightened and half-turned from the screen. ‘Colonel, Interceptor Nine reports missile lock.’
‘Well, apart from showing you Newman’s office and his apartment, is there anything else we can do for you?’
‘A lift to the airport would be appreciated, but if it’s any trouble I can take a taxi.’
‘No trouble. Beaky said I was to assist you in any way that I could, or words to that effect. I can pick you up from your hotel after lunch, go to Newman’s office and apartment and then straight to the airport, if you check out of the hotel first. What time’s your flight?’
Richter pulled a ticket out of his jacket pocket and consulted it. ‘It’s the British Airways flight out of Sheremetievo at around six.’
‘OK, bearing in mind that Russian bureaucracy means you’ll have to check in at least two hours before departure time, how about having an early lunch at your hotel, and I’ll collect you at, say, twelve thirty, and we can go straight to the apartment from there?’
‘Suits me. I’m at the Budapesht.’
‘Do you need a lift there now?’ Erroll asked.
‘Thank you, no. It’s not that far. I’ll see you in an hour and a half or so.’
‘Bandit One is green three zero at thirty, six thousand below; Two is red one five range twenty-five, five thousand below. Both turning north-west.’
‘We’ll go right between them. At first missile release, we’ll head for the one that didn’t fire and power-dive towards it.’
‘We’ll do what?’
‘Figure it out. Once one gets a weapons lock on us, heading straight for the other ’hound might bring it within the missiles’ radar acquisition range.’
‘Yeah, and it might not.’
‘You got any better ideas?’
Paul James was silent for a couple of seconds. ‘Guess not.’
The SR–71A is called the Blackbird because it appears black – although in fact it’s a very, very dark blue – but the colour and type of the fuselage finish was not selected at random; it is an anechoic coating that absorbs radar energy. This, allied to the fact that radar waves are reflected best off a flat surface, and the Blackbird has hardly a flat panel anywhere, means that the aircraft has a very poor radar signature, especially from the front. By heading directly towards the second Foxhound, Frank Roberts hoped to prevent the Russian pilot obtaining missile lock, which would effectively disarm him.
‘Both Bandits climbing rapidly. We’re still being illuminated by fire-control radars from both. I have full counter-measures engaged.’ The closest Foxhound fired almost immediately. ‘Bandit Two – missile release. Two birds.’
AA–9 Amos radar-guided missiles are of the fire-and-forget type; the weapon is targeted by the interceptor and released when target lock has been achieved. Once fired, the missile has its own internal radar, but can also be guided by the massive Zaslon phased array radar carried in the nose of the Foxhound.
The Blackbird turned rapidly to starboard and picked up speed in the descent as Frank Roberts aimed the aircraft directly at Bandit One.
‘Bandit One on the nose at eight, two thousand below and turning. Keep going like this and he’ll be close enough to take us out with a twelve-gauge shotgun.’
‘Yeah,’ Roberts said, ‘but only if he’s got one. Where are the birds?’
‘Now red four zero at ten, turning to follow. Bandit One dead ahead at three, one thousand below. He’s lost radar lock. Two is at red three zero range twenty, same level.’
As James spoke, the first missile detonated, followed almost immediately by the second one, the flashes clearly visible, although the noise of the explosion was inaudible. But at a range of less than a mile, the Blackbird kicked and bucked from the blast wave.
Roberts eased back on the control column and the Blackbird began to climb. From the tiny starboard-side armoured window, Paul James saw the Foxhound designated Bandit One flash past – a barely visible streak of grey against the blue sky, less than half a mile away.
‘Good thinking, boss,’ James said, admiration mingled with relief in his voice. ‘Bandit Two must have used the command detonation on the birds to avoid taking out his wingman. Now I suggest you get us the hell out of here before Bandit One decides to join the party.’
‘Roger that.’
The Blackbird was holding a little under Mach 3, and was passing seventy thousand feet in the climb. ‘Bandit Two now outside engage range. Bandit One directly astern, range five miles, eight thousand below and in a max rate climb, following us. He now has radar lock. Prediction is he’ll try for a tail shot any time now.’
‘Command detonation of both missiles confirmed, sir,’ Privalov said. ‘Interceptor Eight reports no damage, and the American aircraft is still flying. It may have been damaged by our weapons,’ he added hopefully.
Kabalin snorted. ‘Don’t count on it,’ he said. ‘Has Eight achieved weapons lock?’
Privalov shook his head. ‘Not yet, Colonel, but at any second – yes! Missile lock acquired, but on one weapon only.’
‘Excellent,’ Kabalin said. ‘And at such close range he cannot fail to destroy the target. Instruct him to fire.’
‘Missile away – single launch from Bandit One. Possible radar acquisition failure on the second bird. Range six miles, directly astern.’
Frank Roberts had few options. The Blackbird was already travelling at close to its maximum speed. He had a little height above the missile, and he had a little distance, so his only hope was to try to out-run it. He levelled the Blackbird at seventy-nine thousand feet and watched as the needle on the Mach meter slowly began to move.
All air-to-air missiles carry a relatively small fuel load, because of the need for guidance systems, radar equipment and, of course, the warhead, and if a target has sufficient speed it can, in theory, out-run the vast majority of missiles fired at it. As most missiles travel in the Mach 2 to Mach 4 range, very few aircraft actually can out-run them, but the Blackbird could. In fact, that had been one of the philosophies behind the design of the aircraft.
‘Missile at six, two thousand below. Bandit One at eight, falling back. Missile has radar lock. I say again, missile has radar lock.’
‘I heard you the first time.’
‘Range five. Missile speed near Mach four. I estimate impact in about eighty seconds.’
The Budapesht Hotel on ulitsa Petrovskie was in fact something over a mile away, on the north side of the Moskva river and almost in the centre of old Moscow, but Richter wanted to walk. Moscow was enjoying the brittle sunshine of early summer, but it still wasn’t warm enough to be out without a coat and hat, and he was glad of his leather gloves and fur cap.
He picked up the first tail almost as soon as he walked out of the Embassy grounds. He was on the opposite side of the road about two hundred yards back, heavily – too heavily – muffled against the weather, and as Richter
