Knesset.
Ambassador Ran was enough of a realist to know that air strikes against military facilities were more important than cultural or political targets. But wondered what his brother would think of the retaliation orders which were certain to follow.
'The fools! The goddam idiots! Not even those imbecile politicians can be this insane!' Lieutenant Colonel David Ran brandished the warning order alerting his squadron for strikes against Mecca and Riyadh. 'It's playing straight into the Saudis' hands. Don't they realize that?'
Ran vented his anger at the desk, at the walls of his office, and peripherally at the two flight commanders standing before him. His face was flushed and the veins stood out in his forehead and temples.
'Sir, maybe headquarters can get the order rescinded.' It was Major Yarom Sarig, the senior flight commander, second in command of Ran's Kfir squadron.
'That's already been tried,' Ran snapped. ''The Knesset is running-scared right now. The damage was minimal but you know politicians. They're hellfire orators when they send somebody else to get shot at. But let a couple of bombs fall near them and they start thinking about their own skins.'
The political fallout in Israel was beyond all magnitude of the actual damage inflicted. When the six Saudi Tornadoes struck within minutes of one another, the full spectrum of the nation's vulnerability lay exposed: political, cultural, and military. Most of the military professionals recognized that loss of the sacred Wailing Wall was trivial in practical terms, even less so than targeting of the legislative assembly. But the Saudis had struck a nerve. David Ran bitterly wondered what hard-eyed intellect was behind it.
At length the squadron CO calmed down. He heaved a sigh which spoke volumes. He was physically drained and mentally spent. Both flight commanders recognized the symptoms; they had only to look in the mirror to see the same strain on their own faces. They had been flying multiple sorties for three days, with no letup in sight.
'Well, I have to say one thing,' Ran declared. ''The Saudis did a professional job on this mission. It's now apparent that they sent in the first two Tornadoes to focus our attention on Jerusalem while the other four went after the wall and the Knesset. Their electronics coverage and deception tactics across the Jordanian border were well conducted. We can't assume they are anything but first-class opponents. '
Captain Uzi Nadel, the second flight commander, spoke up.
'Excuse me, sir, but isn't it true that we shot down two Tornadoes? That's a thirty percent loss rate on this mission.'
Ran lanced the captain with a frosty glare. 'Wouldn't you trade two aircraft for a shot at an enemy's primary political and cultural centers, with a major airfield thrown in?' He let the question dangle momentarily. 'Of course you would! It's partly our fault that they succeeded as much as they did, anyway.'
'How is that, sir?' Nadel asked.
'We've known for the past few years that the Saudis were buying Tornadoes from Britain. We know the performance and ordnance capabilities of those aircraft as well as the designers. It's basic doctrine to evaluate the threat based upon what the enemy is
The captain knew his CO was right. The twin-engine, two-seat Tornado, built by a consortium of British, German, and Italian firms, was one of the world's premiere strike aircraft. It regularly won NATO bombing competitions, and with a two-man crew it was capable of delivering precision weapons at low level in any weather. 'Do we know how they conducted the strike, sir?'
'Pretty much, based on known capabilities.' Ran's voice was flat, almost toneless. 'Their Tornadoes are configured for the French AS.30 missile, directed by the Atlis laser pod. This system gives at least a ten-kilometer standoff launch capability with accuracy of under two meters. Apparently both missiles launched at the Wailing Wall scored hits, but it was risky from their viewpoint. They passed within two hundred meters of the Dome of the Rock.'
The two officers instantly grasped the significance of that fact.
The Dome of the Rock is a mosque covering the site where Muhammad was said to have ascended to heaven and therefore is the oldest monument in Islam. But the site also is sacred to Jews. Abraham, patriarch of the Hebrews, prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac on the same spot. The Wailing Wall, also called the Western Wall, formed part of the 60-foot-high perimeter around the Dome, but now most of its 160-foot length was reduced to rubble.
Sarig spoke up. 'Sir, is it known why the missiles launched at the Knesset fell short?'
'Supposition. We know that one Tornado was shot down during its approach. The second was hit, apparently after launch. Evidently that hit caused the laser operator to flinch off-target just before impact. The AS.30 struck about fifty meters short of the building but there was still a lot of damage.' The missile's 528-pound warhead, impacting at nearly 1,500 feet per second, was capable of penetrating two feet of concrete. Blast damage alone would have been considerable. 'Anyway,' Ran continued, 'we still have to plan for the Mecca and Riyadh strikes.'
'We're going after Muslim shrines, then?'
'No, I don't think so. My guess is the government wants to present a high moral tone to the world, so we won't retaliate that way. If that were the case, we could use the upgraded Jerichos. But the Saudis have surface- to-surface missiles from China and since nobody can defend against them, nobody is likely to use them.'
''Then what is our target, sir?'
'I don't know yet. Evidently we'll be told when Tel Aviv condescends to let us in on it.' Ran's voice dripped bitter sarcasm. 'Meanwhile, pass the word to the maintenance and armament sections. And get Asher in here to start work on mission profiles and planning. That's all.'
The two flight commanders had been dismissed, leaving the CO to rub his temples with his fingertips, closing his eyes. David Ran, warrior, prepared himself for an unnecessary mission from which he quite probably would not return.
Chapter 14
John Bennett and Bear Barnes checked the Tiger Force status board, pleased to note that aircraft availability was running at more than 90 percent full-mission capable going into the crucial test. There were ample stocks of fuel and ordnance, including Sparrow radar-guided missiles. The two-seat Tigersharks attached to each squadron were ready with radar installed. The General Electric APG-67 system was capable of detecting a five-meter-square target 85 percent of the time at more than forty miles, and this day the F-20s would employ their Sparrow option.
Bennett asked his operations officer about coordination with other Saudi units.
'We're all set,' Barnes replied. 'The schedule has been passed by discrete land line to the F-5 and F-15 squadrons, which will move to the northeastern bases. We've confirmed authentication codes with every unit, and the Eagle drivers understand they're not supposed to engage. They're only Sparrow shooters today.'
Bennett concurred. With F-15s on both sides, the Saudis did not want any of their $35 million Eagles shot down by F-5 or F-20 pilots. Instead, the Eagle's outstanding long-range Sparrow capability was to be used as a preliminary means of breaking up the anticipated Israeli strikes. Bennett was less enthusiastic than the Saudis themselves about the prospects for scoring many kills with radar missiles, but that was beside the point. He knew that 'the great white hope,' as the AIM-7 was called, would force the Israelis to' concentrate on evading the initial shots. That would give the Northrops time to position for an advantage when the close-in, cut-and-thrust dogfighting began.
Barnes was smiling to himself for no apparent reason. 'What's so funny?' Bennett asked.
'Oh, I was just thinking of what Tim Ottman used to say. You remember? He said he'd just as soon have a cardboard tube filled with a smoke generator to get the opposition's attention. It'd be a lot cheaper than a radar missile and accomplish the same thing.'
