supposed to fire them one at a time, but these bastards have shown a preference for launching them all at once.”
“There were four subs left when we got into this fight,” Captain Bowie said. “That makes twelve Exocets. We saw them shoot nine, so there are three left.”
“There
“Forget percentages,” the XO said. “Until he’s dead, as far as I’m concerned, this guy is armed with Exocets. Hell, with the kind of luck we’ve been having, he’s got a couple of extras lying around for a rainy day.”
Chief McPherson half-smiled. “Good thing it doesn’t rain much in the Middle East, sir. Or we’d be screwed.”
The XO glared at her for a couple of seconds, and then turned to the Tactical Action Officer. “TAO, I want Aegis ready-auto, CIWS set to auto-engage, and the Electronics Warfare guys standing by to jam or launch chaff. Set Tac-Sit One; I want all four .50-caliber mounts manned, and both 25mm chain-guns. Make sure that the 5-inch gun is loaded with HE-rounds. We have no friendly units within weapons range. If anything out there so much as farts, I want a missile, a torpedo, or a 5-inch shell shoved up its ass before its sphincter can slam shut.”
“Aye-aye, sir.” The TAO keyed into the tactical command net and began issuing orders.
First cut looks like Siraji HY-1 Silkworms.”
The TAO was about to acknowledge the report when the Electronics Warfare Technician cut him off with a follow-up report. “TAO — EW. Make that twelve! We have a second flight of six. I say again, we have
“EW — TAO. Initiate jamming and stand by on chaff. Break. Air — TAO, can you confirm inbound Vipers?”
“TAO — Air. That’s affirmative, sir. We just picked them up about two seconds ago. Twelve inbounds!”
“TAO — aye! Break! All Stations — TAO, we have in-bound Vipers! I say again, we have missiles in-bound! This is not a drill! Weapons Control, verify that we are in Aegis ready-auto and CIWS is set to auto-engage.”
“TAO — Weapons Control. Affirmative, boss. We are locked and cocked. Bring ’em on!”
“TAO — EW. Standing by on chaff. Recommend new course three-one-zero to minimize our radar cross- section.”
The TAO looked up at the Aegis display screens. Twelve hostile-missile symbols had appeared, and all of them were rapidly closing on the
“Bridge, aye! Coming right to three-one-zero.”
All around CIC, operators began glancing up from their own consoles to steal looks at the big screens. Twelve missiles? They’d
“This is going to get ugly,” an unidentified voice said.
“All right, people,” the captain said. “Stay focused. Do your jobs, and everything will be okay.”
Suddenly, three of the missile symbols veered away and disappeared off the display.
“TAO — Air. Splash three.”
“Maybe that jamming gear is finally going to pay for itself,” the XO said.
The TAO frowned. “Why only three? We’re transmitting a broadband jamming strobe. It should be hitting all of those Vipers at the same time.
If Silkworm missiles are impervious to jamming, we shouldn’t have gotten any of them. If they’re vulnerable to jamming, we should have gotten them all.”
“Not necessarily,” the XO said. “Remember, Siraj has been under an arms embargo for nearly two decades. Their arsenal is composed of what they had prior to the embargo, supplemented by whatever hardware they’ve been able to smuggle in. Those Silkworms they’re launching may span three or four generations of technology.”
“Launching chaff,” the EW announced. His voice was followed by a rapid series of muffled thumps. “Six away.”
“So far, so good,” the TAO said.
The captain keyed his mike. “Weapons Control — Captain. How much longer until the Vipers come within our missile-engagement range?”
“Vipers are entering the Auto-Engage Circle right … about …
The Aegis computers transmitted pre-launch programming data to eighteen SM-3 missiles, two for each of the enemy missiles remaining.
This
On the forecastle, nine armored hatches flipped open in rapid succession, and nine SM-3 missiles blasted free of their launch cells and climbed into the darkness on actinic pillars of fire. The combined roar of the solid-fuel missile boosters reverberated through the ship like the rumble of an earthquake.
At the exact same instant, nine other armored hatches popped open on the after-missile deck, and nine more surface-to-air missiles leapt into the sky. Dividing the missiles between the launchers was a standard consideration built into the Aegis computer program. By assigning the missiles in equal or nearly equal proportions from both launchers, the Aegis computers could maintain a measure of redundancy.
The Air Supervisor’s voice came over the net. “Splash one! Splash two! Splash three!” As he watched, the tally of destroyed missiles continued to mount. A few seconds later, he said, “Looks like we got ’em all!”
“Round One goes to
Round Two was only seconds in coming. “TAO — EW, here comes the second salvo! I have six active J-band radar seekers! Wait! Six more! I have twelve in-bound Vipers.”
The Air Supervisor confirmed the report immediately. “We’ve got them on SPY! I confirm, twelve Vipers in- bound!”
Captain Bowie keyed his mike. “Air — Captain. Backtrack the trajectories of those Vipers! I want to know where they’re coming from.
Break. Weapons Control, stand by on guns. As soon as we get some coordinates, I want you to pound the hell out of those missile launchers!”
“With pleasure, sir!”
The twelve new hostile-missile symbols appeared on the Aegis display screens and began to close on the ship’s symbol at alarming speed.
“TAO — Air. We’ve got party crashers, sir. Two Bogies inbound from the north. No modes, no codes, and no IFF.”
The TAO watched as two unknown-aircraft symbols popped up on the tactical display. “TAO, aye. What’s their flight profile?”
“They’re coming in low and fast, sir. They’re still over land, but I expect them to go feet-wet in about thirty seconds. In the meantime, they’re hugging the ground.”
“They’re trying to sneak in under our radar,” the XO said. “I guess their mamas didn’t tell them that SPY sees all the way down to the ground.”
“Air — TAO, copy all. Break. EW — TAO, can you classify those Bogies by their radar emitters?”
“TAO — EW, I could if they were showing me anything. So far, both of them have been as quiet as church mice.”
“Right out of the old Soviet tactical book,” the captain said. “Low, fast, and quiet. They won’t point their radar at us until they’re ready to illuminate us for missile-lock.”
“They meet all the requirements for an auto-engage,” the TAO said.