“Five-two” was CG-52, the USS Bunker IIill, an Aegis-class guided-missile cruiser-escort that could detect targets out to 175 miles and track and engage sea-skimming targets out to 40 miles; it carried SM-2 Aegis vertical- launch surface-to-air missiles. In addition, a special system called BGAAWC, or Battle Group Anti-Aircraft Warfare Coordination, allowed the Bunker Hill to remotely control the SM-2 Standard antiaircraft missiles aboard the cruiser Sterett and the Sea Sparrow missiles aboard the destroyers Hewitt and Fife, which were the Ranger’s other three escorts. Kelly’s RIO, Lieutenant “Faker” Markey, sang out immediately, “Got a judy on the missiles, Horn. . . I got ‘em locked up. Shoot away.”
“Good work, Faker.” On the Ranger’s tactical frequency, Kelly radioed, “Bullet Three, copy, fox. Suddenly, on the emergency Guard frequency, they heard, “Missiles! Bandits firing missiles! Horn, check six. . . !” The AAR-47 infrared warning receiver beeped just then, and several flare cartridges shot off into the night sky as Markey’s left index finger began to madly jab the “Flare” buttonthe supercoded electronic eye of the infrared warning seeker had detected the motor-ignition flash of a missile less than eight miles behind them. Kelly pulled the throttles to near idle power, rolled inverted, and pulled the nose to the ocean, trying to get his hot tail vertical and away from the missile’s seeker. “Find that missile!” Kelly shouted. Markey’s response was almost immediate: “I see it! I see it! High above us… it’s passing over us… A flash of light caught Kelly’s attention-to his horror, he noticed the flash was one of his own decoy flares. The hot phosphorus blob seemed to float just a few yards alongside the American fighter. It was bright enough to attract the enemy missile. “Stop ejecting flares!” Kelly screamed. “It’ll follow us down. 1” But it was too late. In his panic, Markey kept on ejecting decoy flares as the Tomcat continued its break and dive, and the trail of flares caused the Chinese Pen Lung-9 heat-seeking missile to snap down in the wake of the Tomcat, where it reacquired the F-14’s hot exhaust and finished its deadly voyage. The PL-9’s twenty-two- pound high-explosive warhead detonated on contact, shredding both engines instantly and destroying the Tomcat long before the crew had a chance to eject. ABOARD THE TICONDEROGA-CLASS CRUISER USS BUNKER HILL The Combat Information Center in an Aegis-class guided missile cruiser was like sitting in a giant big-screen video arcade. Four operators-the embarked group commander of the Ranger battle group and his assistant plus the TAO, or tactical action officer, and his assistant-each sat in front of two 42inch-square, four-color computer screens that showed the entire Ranger battle group, using computer-generated symbology and digitized coastal maps, creating a “big picture” of the entire battle area and highlighting friendly and enemy vessels and aircraft in relation to the fleet and any nearby political boundaries. The incredible MK-7 Aegis weapon system could track and process over one hundred different targets beyond five hundred miles in range by integrating radar information from other surface, land, or airborne search radars; the SPY-I phased-array radar on the Bunker Hill itself had a range of almost two hundred miles and could spot a sea-skimming missile on the horizon at a range of over forty miles. Aegis was designed to defend a large carrier battle group from dense and complicated enemy air and sea assault by integrating the entire group’s air-defense network into a single display and control area, and then providing long- range, high-speed decision-making and automatic-weapon employment for not only the Aegis cruiser’s weapon itself, but for all the ships of the battle group-Bunker Hill’s Aegis system could control the weapons of all the Ranger’s battle group. It all sounded complicated, very high-tech, and foolproofbut at that moment, staring down the barrel of a gun, it did not seem very foolproof. The Aegis air-defense system was designed to have the battle group commander and the ship’s commanding officer direct fleet defense from the Tactical Flag Command Center, but with an aircraft carrier in the group and a rather tightly packed deployment of ships, the Ranger battle group commander, Rear Admiral Conner Walheim, was aboard Ranger consulting directly with the carrier’s officers, so his deputy for antiaircraft warfare, Captain Richard Feinemann, was on the Aegis console. And because the Bunker Hill’s skipper preferred to stay on the bridge during such operations, the ship’s Tactical Action Officer was representing him on the Aegis console. Lieutenant Commander Paul Hart was the Bunker Hill’s TAC, and the Aegis system was his pride and joy-while the captain preferred to stay on the bridge during these engagements and monitor them on his ASTAB automated status board monitors, Hart was in his element in the dark, rather claustrophobic confines on the CIC. Feinemann was a lot like Hart’s skipper-he was a boat driver who had little patience for the dazzling and sometimes confusing array of electronic gadgets deep within the heart of a warship. He was an exdestroyer skipper and antisubmarine-warfare action group commander who had spent a length of time on shore studying newer antiair radar integration systems such as Aegis, but had little actual experience of it. Although Hart was the Aegis expert, Feinemann was still in overall command of antiair fleet defense and would command all antiair assets in the group from Bunker Hill. The big LSDs, or large-screen displays, were a bit intimidating for Feinemann, so he had his data-input technician give him a constant verbal readout of significant events on the screen while he tried to keep up. The data-input officer made a comment to Feinemann, prefaced with a short expletive, and the group AAW officer scanned the screen in momentary confusion-both because he couldn’t spot the event and because no one in BunkerHill’s CIC seemed very excited. “We’ve lost contact with one of our fighters?” Feinemann asked incredulously. “Yes, sir, ” Hart responded. “That B-6 must’ve got him before Bullet Three could take a shot. It was a long-range crossing snapshot, too-he must’ve been carrying PL-9 missiles.” Feinemann stared at Hart in complete surprise, wondering what in hell the young officer was babbling about. Hart continued. “Those C60 1 missiles got past both the Tomcats and the Phoenix missiles.” He turned to the tactical alert intercom and radioed, “Bridge, CIC, I show four inbounds, altitude seven hundred feet, speed five hundred fifty knots, bearing two-niner-seven, range forty-two miles and closing, Charlie-601 antiship missiles. One bandit turning outbound, range now six-seven miles.” To his communications officer he said, “I need all Bullet aircraft to stay clear. Have Basket take them northwest for their refueling and to counter the new inbound bandits, but tell Basket to keep them away from my engagement lane. If Ranger launches the ready-alert birds, make sure Hawkeye or Basket takes them well north.”
“How do you know those are C601 missiles, and how do you know those were Chinese B-6 bombers, son?” Feinemann snapped. “You’re making reports to your bridge on enemy aircraft that, as far as I can see, you have absolutely no information to make. You’re also chasing away three air-defense fighters from possible engagements without knowing all the facts.”
“The flight profiles, sir, ” Hart explained patiently. “They launched two missiles each from over a hundred miles’ range-that’s too far for a C80 1. Those missiles climbed first, but now they’re descending to about a hundred feet, and they’re cruising at about six hundred knots-typical profile of a C601 missile. “It’s also the profile of an Exocet, a Harpoon, or a Soviet ASS missile, or any number of antiship missiles, ” Feinemann pointed out, his eyes narrowing on Hart. “If we were facing off against the French or the Soviets, I’d agree, sir, ” Hart replied. “The reports from the recon plane say that a Chinese EF4-class ship was in the area and that Chinese troops invaded Mindanao; I’d assume that the fighters and these missiles are Chinese. My guess is still a C601, and that’s what I’ll assume when we begin responding. “As far as the carrier aircraft-each plane was carrying two missiles plus air-to- air weapons, and it was doing some heavy active jamming, not just uplink trackbreaking. That’s too much payload for a J-7, B-7, or Q-5 fighter-it has to be a B-6 Badger bomber. “And as far as the Tomcats are concerned, I want them out of the way. Aegis can prosecute sea-skimming targets better than a Tomcat, and I’m not worried about enemy fighters right now-I’m worried about those missiles. In sixty seconds I’ll start worrying about the inbound fighters.” Hart was expecting a reply; when he got none, he added, “Sir, I need clearance to release batteries and engage when those missiles cross the horizon.”
“Your captain might be impressed with your amateur intelligence analysis, Commander Hart, ” Feinemann said irritably, “but the Admiral needs concrete data before he can commit any forces under his command. He can’t operate on guesses.”
“Then you can tell him, sir that we’ve got four subsonic inbounds that broke the group’s bubble a minute ago, ” Hart said, trying to control his temper. He couldn’t believe he was having an argument over target identification with this man, with four deadly-and possibly nuclear-missiles heading straight for them. “I make estimates on the threat based on my observations, but the bottom line is that I want weapons online to stop these things from hitting the carrier. In thirty seconds I start acting on my own authority; I’m requesting permission to commit now.”
“You commit when the Admiral tells you to!” Hart had had enough. He hit the intercom button. “Bridge, CIC, emergency, request permission to release the batteries fore and aft and engage.” The Bunker Hill’s skipper did not hear the argument between his TAO and the group commander’s AAW deputy, and he certainly knew the procedures with an embarked group commander, but with a threat this big heading in, he didn’t hesitate. “Bridge to CIC, batteries released fore and aft, clear to engage.” “Understand clear to engage. Clear forward and aft missile decks, clear forward and aft missile decks.” From that point on, Hart ignored Feinemann-everything else was inconsequential except his radar, his console, and his weapon system. If the man had anything to say, it would have
