Battle Born Page 7

  "Closer to what?" "Closer to the bad guys," Samson said. "The problem with THAAD is that it still relies on hitting a missile in the midcourse or reentry phase, when it's maneuvering, it's small, it's fast, it's probably over friendly territory, and it's high. Those are the two worst phases of flight if you want to do an intercept. The best time is during the boost phase-it's flying slowly, it doesn't try any evasive maneuvers, its propellants and airframe are under intense chemical and aerodynamic pressure, it has that big rocket plume behind it, it's still over enemy territory, and the warhead hasn't armed. But of course, getting an antiballistic missile close enough to the missile to destroy it during the boost phase was the problem-a big one.

  "The aircraft-based ABL and space-based Sky bolt laser systems were designed to kill missiles in all phases of flight, including boost phase, but they're still a few years from full deployment. So we've combined THAAD with ABL. We're going to launch an antiballistic missile weapon from a penetrating bomber."

  "What?" Hayes exclaimed. "No shit!" "Fireman flight, this is Neptune, two minutes," the warning message said.

  "Fireman flight, roger, two minutes, check," the pilot of the B-l responded.

  "Two," Samson responded on the command frequency.

  "Fireman flight, take spacing."

  Again, the B-l pilot acknowledged and Samson responded with "Two." Then he said to Hayes, "I've got the airplane," and took the F-111's control stick, giving it a shake to verify that he had control, then maneuvered the plane a few hundred yards away. "The launch is coming up. The Navy is going to launch one of several short-range Pershing test ballistic missiles from launch barges on and around San Clemente Island. We don't know which one."

  Hayes motioned to the large multicolor display on his side of the cockpit. "So explain what I'm looking at," he said. "This is a great-looking display-pretty sharp. Where's it coming from? An observation plane?"

  "We're looking at what the B-l's sensors are looking at," Samson explained. "We would ordinarily know through intelligence reports where the enemy's ballistic missiles are set up. If we don't, our system can integrate sensor information from many different sources through the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System-we can hook into AWACS or Joint STARS radar planes, satellites, other strike aircraft, or naval or ground forces. But for today's demonstration, we'll operate independently, using only sensors mounted on the B-l itself.

  "This is the first bomber to use LADAR-laser radar," Samson continued. "You're looking at a LADAR image. The smaller wavelengths mean a more high-resolution image. In addition, the LADAR emitters are so small, much smaller than a big radar dish, they can be mounted almost anywhere on the plane. That B-l can look in all directions because it has LADAR emitters on the belly, on the fuselage, even in the tail."

  "But you told the Senate committee you'd only used off-the-shelf components for Lancelot. If this is the first bomber to use LADAR, how can it be off-the-shelf?"

  "LADAR has been in use in active-homing missiles and in artillery ranging and counterfire systems for years," Samson replied. "We just stuck it on a Bone, that's all. It has relatively low range for the amount of power it uses, but for attacking ballistic missiles, it's perfect."

  "And the missile itself is off-the-shelf too?"

  "Yep," Samson replied proudly. "We revived the old second-generation short-range attack missile and gave it the combined infrared and active radar terminal guidance system from the AIM-120 Scorpion air-to-air missile. We then put a fifty-pound high-explosive fragmentation warhead on it. That's Lancelot. We actually resurrected a project that Brad Elliott started eight years ago, after the SRAMs were taken off strategic alert."

  The B-l started a turn away from the launch area; a minute later it was heading the opposite direction from San Clemente Island. "All units, stand by," said the voice of the Navy range master.

  A few moments later a warning tone sounded in their headphones. "Missile launch detection," Samson said. "The launch pad is on a barge out on the ocean. We're seventy-eight miles from the launch pad ..."

  "But SRAM-II had a range of .., what? A hundred miles max? Aren't we a little far away?"

  "Lifting our missile up to altitude with a carrier aircraft acts like an extra rocket motor, so we’ve effectively doubled the missile's range," Samson said. "Plus, by putting the uplink sensors aloft and closer to the target, we can provide our missile with more precise steering signals."

  "Stand by," they heard the B-l's bombardier call. "Safe in range . . , missile counting down . . , doors coming open . . ."A warning tone sounded on the radio channel. As they watched, the B-l's forward bomb bay doors opened. ". . , release pulse, missile away, missile away." The Lancelot missile dropped free, fell for a few seconds, and then ignited its first-stage solid rocket motor.

  Hayes caught a glimpse of it as it fell. It was less than twenty feet long, with a triangular-shaped fuselage no more than eighteen inches in diameter at its widest point. It had no fins-Hayes remembered that SRAM-II used thruster jets for directional control. The missile streaked ahead, then began a sharp climb and arced backward on an "over-the-shoulder" trajectory. A few seconds later they heard a high-pitched crrack-boom as the missile broke the sound barrier, then another boom as the larger, more powerful second-stage motor ignited.

  "Good launch!" Hayes said excitedly. "Go, baby, go!"

  It was too high to see clearly, but seconds later they saw a flash of yellow-orange fire and a large puff of smoke. Range control gave them the good news moments later: "Target intercepted, T plus fifteen point seven seconds, altitude seventy-three thousand feet, twenty-nine point one miles downrange, velocity twenty-five hundred feet per second. Intercept circular error thirty-seven point four feet. Repeat, target intercepted. All participants, remain clear of Romeo-1402 for the next ten minutes to stay clear of falling debris."

  "Thirty-seven feet! Incredible!" Hayes crowed. "With a fifty-pound warhead, that's overkill!"

  "Fireman flight, range gives you clearance for secondary release," the launch controller radioed.

  "Fireman flight copies range clearance, check," the pilot aboard the B-l responded.

  "Two," Samson responded in turn.

  "Okay, Earthmover, what's happening now?" Hayes asked.

  "The next part of Coronet Tiger one-plus," Samson explained. "You see, we're not satisfied with destroying the ballistic missile-we want to destroy the launch site and all the associated launch command facilities. Remember, we're over enemy territory, and we don't see any reason to be over enemy territory killing rockets if we can't do some more mayhem while we're there. The laser radar tracks the missile and at the same time computes the launch point and feeds it into the bombing computers. The B-l has already computed the probable launch point using the launch detection signal and the radar track-all we need to do is attack."

  A few moments later the aft bomb bay doors on the B-l bomber opened, and a small missile dropped into the slipstream. It was much smaller than the Lancelot missile, with a fat forebody tapering quickly to a thin tail section and a star-shaped fin group aft. As it dropped, a pair of long, thin wings popped out from under the fuselage. It released a small puff of smoke as an engine started up, and soon the missile turned and descended. "Was that a JASSM cruise missile?" Hayes asked.

  "Yep. A D-model AGM-177 Wolverine cruise missile," Samson replied. He reached over and hit some buttons around the edge of the large multifunction display on the right side of the instrument panel. The "God's-eye" image of the Lancelot missile launch was replaced by an aerial camera shot, so far showing only ocean. "The new and improved version of the joint air- to-surface standoff attack missile. Turbojet-powered, max fifty-mile range when launched at low altitude. Autonomous GPS and inertial navigation, autonomous target acquisition, autonomous millimeter-wave radar terminal guidance or imaging infrared terminal sensor with manual steering, with images fed back to us by satellite. It even has its own jammers and countermeasures. It has three bomb bays that can
carry a mixed payload and actually make multiple attacks on several targets, or even do its own target damage assessment and reattack. The missiles we're using today only carry one warhead payload, however." "A sensor-fused weapon warhead?" "You got it, sir."

  "Outstanding. I always enjoy watching an SFW take out a target."

  "That's definitely the best part, sir," Samson said, the smile behind his oxygen mask evident in his voice. "Watch. The 177 will take a picture of the target after its pass."

  The missile had descended rapidly-it was now skimming the surface of the ocean so low that Hayes thought one swell could easily reach up and snatch it out of the sky. A white box appeared on the screen, centered on a tiny black dot. "The inertial navigation system is steering the missile to the estimated coordinates of that Pershing launch barge, with coordinates dumped to it by the B-l's launch sensors," Samson explained. "At ten miles to go, it'll start searching on its own." He quickly reconfigured the large supercockpit screen so they could see both the missile's-eye view and a God's-eye view at the same time. The launch barge was a red triangle; the Wolverine missile was a white diamond streaking toward it.

  Hayes could see three Navy ships surrounding the launch barge. Suddenly, blinking red boxes appeared from one of them, and a circle drew itself around the red box, enveloping the cruise missile. "Standard missile radar," Samson explained. "The circle is lethal range, based on type of radar and signal strength." Just then another red box and lethal range circle appeared around a second Navy ship. The red box began to blink. "The second Navy ship has launched on the 177," Samson said.

  "Fireman flight, stand by for launch," the B-l bomber crew radioed. Moments after Samson acknowledged the warning, a second Wolverine missile dropped free from the B-l's aft bomb bay.

  "Two JASSMs!" Hayes exclaimed. "Now we really got a show going!" "This is how we envision employing Coronet Tiger one-plus-in a hunter-killer role," Samson explained. "Obviously, the B-l becomes an item of interest after it first launches an antiballistic missile missile and then attacks the launch site. Any area defenses will light up like crazy. That's when the bomber shifts from a rocket killer to SEAD-suppression of enemy air defenses role.

  "The B-l can carry up to twenty-four Wolverine or Lancelot missiles internally, plus four more externally. A typical weapons load would be eight Lancelots and eight Wolverines on internal rotary launchers, and one internal fuel tank or eight more JASSMs. Externally, it can carry eight HARM antiradar missiles or twelve Scorpion air-to-air missiles, depending on support, range to the target, and the threat. The B-l can carry up to one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of ordnance-as much as five F-15E Strike Eagles, with much greater range and equal speed."

  "Scorpion? HARM?" Hayes asked. "The-B-l can carry antiradar or air-to-air missiles?"

  "It always could, sir," Samson replied. "The B-l has four external hardpoints with a standard data bus-it can carry any missile, bomb, or sensor package in the inventory. It also has two external fuel tank hardpoints. But when the B-l was disqualified from carrying cruise missiles because of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties, everyone seemed to forget about the hardpoints. Everyone except HAWC, of course. External stores destroy the Bone's stealth capabilities, but once the external stores and racks are used or jettisoned, it has full stealth capability again."

  Hayes watched in utter fascination as the attack continued. Both Navy ships were launching Standard antiair missiles now. The Wolverines were skimming the ocean so low it looked as if they would crash into it any second.

  The second Wolverine missile passed within one mile of the easternmost Navy warship. "That's a kill," Samson said.

  "But it missed."

  "It was programmed not to fly closer than one mile," Samson explained. "Range safety rules. It'll try to go after the second Navy ship now." But the missile's luck ran out. Because the first Navy ship was still "alive," it and the second warship bracketed the second Wolverine missile with a flight of four Standard missiles and shot it down long before it could approach the second ship. "Not fair," Samson protested. "That first ship was 'dead.' "

  "All's fair in love and ship defense," Hayes said. "It's still unfair," Samson said. "But the first Wolverine missile has a live warhead. You'll see-it's going all the way to the target."

  It did. Samson and Hayes watched as it streaked over the launch barge, the imaging infrared view of the barge flipping upside down as the IIR sensor stayed locked on the target. Three small cylindrical canisters appeared on the image, spinning under a small stabilizing parachute. Suddenly, all three canisters separated from the parachute, and moments later there were several bright flashes of light that completely obscured the barge. When the image cleared, the barge was on fire and half submerged.

  "Man, I love watching those things," Hayes admitted. The BLU-108 "Shredder" sensor-fused weapon, or SFW, was the Air Force's new air-delivered antivehicle weapon. Each Shredder canister contained four copper skeets, aimed by an infrared sensor. As the canisters spin, they find a target, and at the proper instant they detonate. The explosion sends a molten copper slug out each skeet at the target at supersonic speed, fast enough and hot enough to cut even three-inch steel armor into Swiss cheese within a half mile of ground zero. Because the launch barge was the only target in the area, all twelve slugs hit the barge.

  "Me too," Samson said. "I love the smell of molten copper slugs in the morning."

  "Very, very impressive, Earthmover," Hayes went on, writing notes in a small notebook. "First a successful ABM test, then a successful counterattack test. Excellent. Interesting to think what it'd have been like if you'd had one of those plasma-yield weapons on a Wolverine."

  Samson looked at Hayes, then hit the radio button on his throttle quadrant: "Fireman, this is Two, get us extended range clearance for second launch sequence."

  "Roger, Fireman Two. Break. Neptune, Fireman flight, requesting extended range clearance for final launch sequence. Ten-mile minimum clearance all vessels."

  "Roger, Fireman flight, this is Neptune control, the range is extended-radius clear. You are cleared hot for final missile series." "Fireman flight copies extended-range clear, Fireman flight check."

  "Two," Samson said. "Fireman, Neptune, stand by." He turned to Hayes. "Anytime you're ready, sir."

  "Ready for . . . ?" Hayes stopped, dropping his oxygen mask in surprise. "You're shitting me, Samson. Don't tell me you've got a plasma-yield weapon onboard that B-l right now?"

  "No-I've got two" Samson replied. "I've got one Lancelot ABM and one Wolverine cruise missile armed with a THAAD plasma-yield warhead, ready to go."

  "By whose authority?" said a stunned Hayes, his voice rising in fury. "Who the hell authorized you to do that, Samson?"

  "Sir, as you said at that Senate subcommittee hearing, I did it under the authority given me by the President and the secretary of defense," Samson replied. "We developed the weapon, did some mating, release, jettison, and captive launch tests, and certified it ready for launch. It's never been tested before on a live launch. We own the airspace for two hundred miles in all directions; we've only got a couple of Navy ships in the area, and we've got a target. I think we should let 'er rip and see what we got."

  "You're crazy, Samson," Hayes shot back. He was so red-hot angry that he thought he would explode. "You have got to be off your rocker. This is the most blatant form of insubordination I've seen since . . , shit, since Brad Elliott. You just think that you can load up a missile with an experimental subatomic warhead and shoot it into the sky anytime you feel like it? We can cause a major military crisis! We can cause an international incident! We can both lose our jobs and spend the rest of our lives in Fort Leaven worth! Goddammit, Samson, you scare me! I'm going to take a good hard look at your suitability for your position and your continued service after we get on the ground!"

  The tactical action officer, or TAO, aboard the U.S. Navy Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided missile cruiser USS Grand Island, who was acting as range controller,
attack officer, and supervisor for the morning's tests, watched his electronic displays carefully. The Combat Information Center-CIC-of the Grand Island had four large multicolor electronic displays forward, which integrated all electronic signals from ships, planes, and shore stations, giving the TAO a three-dimensional picture of his "battlefield" for hundreds of miles in all directions. He and his deputy sat in the middle of the CIC compartment, surrounded by weapons officers, sensor operators, and communications technicians.

  He thought what he saw was a glitch in the two displays that gave him horizontal and vertical plots of the missile tracks. He turned to his radar technician and asked, "Radar, what happened to those missile tracks? What do you get?"

  "Don't know, sir," the radar technician replied. "I saw the target rocket launch, then the airborne missile launch, then the cruise missile launch to attack the launch barge, same as the first test sequence. It looked like a good intercept. Then poof. Nothing. Both tracks disappeared. No debris."

  "Comm, did the zoomies broadcast an abort warning?" the TAO asked a communications technician.

  "No, sir," the communications specialist confirmed.

  "Damn Air Force weenies," the TAO muttered. "Too embarrassed by a faulty flight to tell us they self-destructed both missiles." He paused for a moment, then asked, "Radar, you say you're not picking up any debris?" "No, sir," said the radar technician. "Usually, the SPY-IB will track debris pretty good, enough so we can clear a specific piece of airspace or ocean." The SPY-IB was the three-dimensional phased-array radar on the Aegis-class warships, powerful enough to track a target as small as a bird two hundred miles away. "Nothing this time."

  "Humpf," the TAO grunted. Both missiles might have splashed down. He didn't know enough about either of them to know if they floated, if the warheads became more unstable in seawater, what they looked like when they broke apart, how to disarm a ditched missile-and a hundred other things he would've been briefed on if the Air Force had done its job correctly. "Comm, tell all vessels to stay east of the second launch barge. Radar, clear all aircraft out of the range via the shortest way possible away from the missile tracks. Then do a systems check, find out why we can't see their debris." On the intercom, he radioed, "Bridge, Combat."