Air Battle Force Read online

  While the drug lords have become a coordinated force of devastating ruthlessness, the U.S. anti-drug agents are a squabbling shambles. A radical solution is needed. And Rear Admiral Ian Hardcastle has just that to offer. He will lead an elite and fearless unit (known affectionately in the business as Hammerheads) armed with the latest equipment and deadliest weaponry. Their sole aim is to hit the smugglers. And hit them hard.

  “Clancy’s got serious company.” — New York Daily News

  “A reader’s delight from first page to last. . .” — Publishers Weekly

  ~

  Silver Tower (1988)

  The Silver Tower is America’s first permanent space station. Its primary function is to conduct experiments on space-based lasers for America’s defense against intercontinental ballistic missiles. But on earth, far below the Silver Tower, tensions between the Soviet Union and United States are reaching a breaking point.

  From Turkey, the U.S. Rapid Deployment Forces mobilizes to stop a Russian invasion of Iran with bombing raids from F/A 16D fighter-bombers. But the Soviets go on the offensive and launch intermediate-range nuclear missiles. What follows is a dramatic, all-too-plausible chain of events leading towards the first nuclear war in space. . .

  “Brown knows whereof he writes. . . a superb storyteller.” — The Washington Post

  “Intriguing. . . tense high-tech dogfights.” — Publishers Weekly

  ~

  Dale Brown’s Dreamland (2001)

  Dale Brown and Jim DeFelice

  Hidden in the Nevada desert is America’s most advanced aerospace-weapons testing facility. Dreamland is the place where the nation’s top minds come to develop artillery and aircraft that push beyond the cutting edge. And where the Air Force’s top guns come to test them — on the front lines of a new era in warfare. . .

  The fiasco of a spy’s infiltration has the Pentagon looking for an excuse to close down Dreamland. To clean up the mess — and save Dreamland from the congressional chopping block — Lt. Colonel Tecumseh “Dog” Bastian is sent in. He’s just the guy to shake things up . . . and he does so when a situation erupts in Somalia.

  Into a hotter-than-hot war zone, he sends his own daughter, Captain Breanna Bastian Stockard. She pilots a Megafortress bomber — equipped with a high-tech, unmanned flight system that could make or break the future of Dreamland. . .

  “He writes about weapons beyond a mere mortal’s imagination.” — Tulsa World

  ~

  Dale Brown’s Dreamland: Nerve Center (2002)

  Dale Brown and Jim DeFelice

  Dreamland’s latest project is Flighthawk — an unmanned aerial-attacking craft. A radical, high-risk method has been invented to help pilots master the complex remote-flying skills required to control Flighthawk: the implantation, in the pilot’s skull, of a microchip linked to the deadly machine.

  Initially all goes well for the first volunteer, Army Captain Kevin Madrone. But the psychological stress proves too much — and suddenly Madrone disappears, armed with and a part of one of the most powerful weapons in the world. . .

  “Nobody . . . does it better than Brown.” — Kirkus Reviews

  ~

  Dale Brown’s Dreamland: Razor’s Edge (2002)

  Dale Brown and Jim DeFelice

  The weapon is codenamed “Razor” — the brainchild of the brilliant minds at Dreamland. It is a mobile chemical laser system with a range of 600 kilometers. It is capable of downing anything that flies.

  The destruction of an American aircraft over northern Iraq suggests the inexplicable and unthinkable: a vengeful foe now possesses this lethal technology. It is fear that draws a retired warrior back to the battlefield, and sends Dreamland’s best pilots to the skies to determine what the enemy has and to help take it away from him.

  But politics threatens to crush a covert engagement that must be won in the air and on the ground, unleashing a devastating rain of friendly fire that could ultimately annihilate a nation’s champions . . . and perhaps Dreamland itself.

  “The talk makes Brown’s novels authentic. What makes them riveting is the rapid pace and headline urgency of his plots.” — San Francisco Chronicle

  E-BOOK EXTRA

  “Death of the Dogfight”:

  An Interview with Dale Brown

  Interviewer: You began your first novel, Flight of the Old Dog, while you were still serving in the U.S. Air Force. What did your colleagues think of this?

  Dale Brown: I never really told anybody what I was doing. Most of them thought I was just playing computer games. The others thought I was wasting my time. I enjoyed proving them wrong!

  Interviewer: To what degree do you plan your novels before starting to write?

  Dale Brown: Probably not as much as I should. When I get an idea, I research it, and if I get some exciting info or background, I’ll write a short outline for my editor, tweak it a little, then get busy.

  Interviewer: Is there such a thing as a typical writing day for you? If so, what form does it take?

  Dale Brown: Most days start at nine a.m. and go to four p.m., then restart at nine p.m. and go to eleven p.m. I usually rewrite in the morning and write new scenes in the afternoon and evenings. But every day is different. Some days the scenes flow like water — the next day it’s as dry as a desert. But the important thing is to be in the seat with the computer on, ready to go.

  Interviewer: Dreamland is the first novel in a new series you’re co-writing with Jim DeFelice. Can you give us an idea of how the writing process works?

  Dale Brown: It should be bylined “Jim DeFelice with Dale Brown,” by the way. I invented the basic backdrop of the “Dreamland” series — the time, place, circumstances. I help develop the plot and the characters, and I review the manuscript. Jim does everything else. He’s an incredibly talented writer and we work well together.

  Interviewer: As well as describing the development of the weapons and their use in combat, Dreamland also details the crucial political background to the military action. Which part do you prefer writing?

  Dale Brown: I prefer describing weapons and technology by far. But the fighting is actually just a tiny fraction of the conflict. The political/diplomatic stuff is not as exciting sometimes, but it’s every bit as important to the story.

  Interviewer: Dreamland’s characters — “Dog” Bastian; his daughter, Bree Stockard; her husband, “Zen”; Mack “Knife” Smith — all face different challenges and all have different goals in mind at the beginning of the novel. To what extent are they based on real people?

  Dale Brown: We all know characters like these — the hot dogs, the dedicated ones, the smart ones, the obsessed ones. So all of my characters are based on folks I know. But it’s also true that the characters take on a life of their own. Jim DeFelice and I talk about the characters as if they’re real persons: “Bree wouldn’t do that”; “Mack would say this.”

  Interviewer: The novel depicts certain rivalries among those on the ground and those who take to the air. It’s the latter group who get the glory, yes?

  Dale Brown: No one likes to admit it, because it doesn’t fit in with the “whole force” politically-correct concept, but the pilot is and will always be king of the U.S. Air Force. Only seventeen percent of USAF personnel are pilots, but they make up most of the unit commanders. Even if in ten to fifteen years most USAF combat aircraft will be unmanned, the pilot will still be king.

  Interviewer: Life in a secret establishment such as Dreamland — or even on a “normal” military base — must be hard enough without the staff having relationships. In your experience, do these relationships lead to difficult situations?

  Dale Brown: All the time — that’s why we authors put them in our stories! We are always looking for conflict. It’s another complication in wartime.

  Interviewer: Since the end of the Cold War, threats to “our way of life” are not so neatly geographically placed. Nor, aside from Saddam Hussein and various terrorist groups, is it clear where w
e should place our military priorities.

  Dale Brown: There are plenty of bad guys out there — but it sometimes takes more background to explain why they are the bad guys. Fifteen years ago, everyone understood why we were fighting the Soviets. But if you set a war story in Ukraine or Lithuania or the Philippines, you need to take some time and explain why we’re fighting there.

  Interviewer: What effect has the advent of improved technology had on the art of being a fighter pilot?

  Dale Brown: It has changed it completely. The “dogfight” — two pilots, two planes — is all but dead. Life and death takes place in split-second battles that happen across dozens of miles, usually without either adversary ever seeing the other. Pilots are more systems operators than fliers nowadays. Sooner than most folks think, our fighters won’t even have pilots in them!

  This interview was first published, in a slightly different form, at www.fireandwater.com, the website of HarperCollins UK.

  Author’s Note

  Your comments are welcome! Send them to

  [email protected]. Individual replies may not always be possible, but I read every message. Thank you!

  Cast of Characters

  Major General Patrick McLanahan, commander,

  First Air Battle Force (1 ABF)

  Brigadier General David Luger, deputy commander,

  First Air Battle Force

  Brigadier General Rebecca Furness, commander, 111th Attack Wing; commander, 1 ABF/Air Operations

  Colonel Hal Briggs, commander, 1 ABF/Ground Operations

  Sergeant Major Chris Wohl, NCOIC, 1 ABF/GO

  First Lieutenant Mark Bastian, Ground Ops squad leader

  Gunnery Sergeant Matthew Wilde, ABF Ground Operations

  Colonel John Long, 111 AW Operations Group commander

  Colonel Daren Mace, commander, Fifty-first Bomb Squadron (QB-1A)

  Captain William “Wonka” Weathers, munitions chief

  Major Samuel “Flamer” Pogue, AC

  First Lieutenant Dean “Zane” Grey, AC

  Staff Sergeant Marty Banyan, munitions

  Senior Airman Todd Meadows, munitions tech

  Colonel Nancy Cheshire, commander, Fifty-second Bomb Squadron (EB-52 and AL-52)

  Colonel Kelvin Carter, operations officer, Fifty-second Bomb Squadron, AL-52 AC

  Major Frankie “Zipper” Tarantino, AL-52 MC

  Thomas Nathaniel Thorn, president of the United States

  Robert Goff, secretary of defense

  Richard W. Venti, USAF general, chairman of

  the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  Douglas R. Morgan, director of Central Intelligence

  Edward Kercheval, secretary of state

  Darrow Horton, attorney general

  Franklin Sellers, secretary of the treasury

  Maureen Hershel, deputy secretary of state (Operations),

  acting secretary of state after Kercheval’s resignation

  Isadora Meiling, assistant deputy secretary of state, Hershel’s assistant

  AFGHANS

  General (originally Captain) Wakil Mohammad Zarazi, member of the Hezbollah sect of the Taliban, warlord of eastern Turkmenistan

  Colonel (originally Lieutenant) Jalaluddin Turabi,

  Zarazi’s second in command

  Abdul Dendara, his aide

  Captain (originally Lieutenant) Aman Orazov,

  Turkmen army and Zarazi’s henchman

  TURKMEN

  Kurban Gurizev, president of Turkmenistan,

  former chairman of Supreme Council

  (Majlis, or legislative branch)

  Saparmurad Niyazov, former president of Turkmenistan

  Lieutenant General Boris Kasimov, Russian liaison

  to the Turkmen government

  RUSSIANS

  Valentin Gennadievich Sen’kov, president

  of the Russian Federation

  Ivan Ivanovich Filippov, minister of foreign affairs

  Sergey Yejsk, national security adviser and secretary

  of the Security Council

  Army General Nikolai Stepashin, commander, Ministry of

  State Security (chief of all intelligence bureaus)

  Vladimir Rafikovich, minister of federation

  and internal affairs

  Alexander Bukayev, minister of defense

  General Anatoliy Gryzlov, chief of staff of the armed forces

  Major Boris Bolkeim, Tu-22M-3 bombardier

  Captain Mikhail Osipov, Tu-22 DSO

  Colonel General Yuri Kudrin, commander, Second Heavy Bomber Division, Engels Air Base

  Colonel General Boris Kasimov, the Russian liaison to the Turkmen general staff

  WEAPONS

  AGM-211 “mini-Maverick,” small TV-guided attack missile,

  28-pound thermium nitrate (TN) warhead,

  glide- and rocket-boosted, 6-mile range

  AGM-165 Longhorn TV- and IIR-guided attack missile,

  200-pound TN warhead, MMW radar guidance,

  60-mile max range, 2,000 pounds each

  AIM-120 Scorpion AMRAAM air-to-air missile, 50-pound warhead, 35-mile max range, triple-mode active radar, passive radar, or infrared, max speed Mach 3

  AIM-154 Anaconda long-range radar-guided air-to-air missile,

  50-pound TN warhead, 150-mile max range, ramjet engine,

  active-passive radar/IR guidance, max speed Mach 5

  AGM-177 Wolverine cruise missile, turbojet-powered, 50-mile max range, 3 weapon bays, IIR or MMW radar terminal guidance

  ABM-3 Lancelot air-launched anti-ballistic-missile weapon,

  200-mile max range, plasma-yield or conventional warheads

  Real-World News Excerpts

  CAMPAIGN PROVES THE LENGTH OF U.S. MILITARY ARM—INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 19, 2001—The first phase of the Afghan War so far proves that American military might, including its devastating firepower, can be delivered against targets thousands of miles from the nearest friendly military base. This U.S. military capability is the main lesson being delivered by analysts after last week’s campaign destroyed the Taliban’s hold on power. . . .

  FIGHTING BACK WITH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY—EVAN THOMAS, WASHINGTON POST, NOVEMBER 21, 2001—America faces a new kind of arms race. We must marshal all our scientific and technological expertise to combat those forces that seek America’s destruction. . . .

  TURKMENISTAN—DEFENSE & FOREIGN AFFAIRS HANDBOOK (ISSA, ALEXANDRIA, VA., 2001)— . . . The U.S. Trade and Development Agency on April 23, 1998, agreed to finance a feasibility study of a natural gas pipeline that would run beneath the Caspian Sea, giving Turkmenistan access to the Turkish natural gas market without transiting either Russia or Iran. President Niyazov was guest of honor at the White House in Washington during the signing. . . .

  . . . Defense Minister Khikmatulla Tursunov on September 22, 1998, echoed statements by President Karimov warning of a threat from Afghanistan caused by increased terrorism, religious extremism and worldwide drug trafficking which could spill over into neighboring states. . . .

  HIGH-TECH WEAPONS CHANGE THE DYNAMICS AND THE SCOPE OF BATTLE—INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, DECEMBER 28, 2001—The main battlefield lesson learned from the Afghan War is that small U.S. combat teams on the ground and high-performance aircraft with precision-guided weapons can be coordinated under almost any circumstance. The devastating aerial attacks on Taliban and al Qaeda targets give testimony to the effectiveness of high-tech warfare practiced by U.S. forces. . . .

  THE POSITION OF TURKMENISTAN IN THE LIGHT OF AN INTERNATIONAL COALITION AGAINST TERRORISM—MAYSA MAMEDOVA—WWW.GUNDOGAR.COM, 1/26/2002— . . . The U.S. Department of State admitted that a high level U.S. delegation led by the Under Secretary of State John Bolton traveled to Central Asia, while the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister and communicated via telephone with the Presidents of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. These efforts resulted in the following agreement: all of the concerned states,
except Turkmenistan, would provide assistance to the U.S., from the use of their ground bases for humanitarian operations only to the use of their airspace and additional facilities on the ground. . . .

  JAMES ROCHE, SECRETARY OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE—BUSINESSWEEK, FEBRUARY 11, 2002—USAF Secretary James Roche has shown flashes of inspiration during the war on terrorism. He electronically linked AC-130 gunships with unmanned Predator drones and created an even more devastating weapon. His ultimate goals include creating an Air Force capable of locating and tracking a single moving target, such as a tank, and instantly destroying it with precision bombing. That would help keep down the number of civilian casualties that occur during war. . . .

  U.S. UNDERTAKING GENERATIONAL WEAPONS SHIFT—STRATFOR, WWW.STRATFOR.COM, 3 MAY 2002—A recent Defense Department decision to kill a costly artillery system program represents the start of a generational shift in weapons systems. . . .

  . . . The key representatives of this new breed of system are cruise missiles and other reusable unmanned aircraft. As the range and speed of these systems increase, it will be possible to carry out the mission of delivering munitions without a massive forward deployment of men and matériel. . . .

  REPORTED CRASH OF SPY PLANE BODES BADLY FOR U.S.—STRATFOR, WWW.STRATFOR.COM, 12 JUNE 2002—A U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed near Qorveh in the Iranian northwestern province of Kordestan in late May, according to Iranian media sources June 12. . . .

  . . . If the United States is supplementing its satellite surveillance on these facilities by committing unmanned vehicles to conduct real-time, low-level reconnaissance, this may be a sign that the administration is preparing to evoke its emerging “preemption” and “defensive intervention” strategic doctrine and may be preparing to strike Iranian WMD facilities. . . .

  U.S. USING TURKMEN OPPOSITION TO PRESSURE PRESIDENT—STRATFOR, WWW.STRATFOR.COM, 25 JUNE 2002—U.S. officials appear to be giving cautioned support to opposition leaders seeking Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov’s ousting. Washington is likely trying to send a message to Turkmenistan’s authoritarian ruler to let U.S. military forces and businesses into the country. Niyazov is likely to follow his survival instincts and accede to some U.S. demands to preserve his regime.