As Admiral Cook had predicted, the Chinese fleet was now about 60 miles north of Sangihe Island, and heading southwest. To muddy the waters as the strike approached, he also committed about 40% of his Multi-Mission Tomahawks to the attack, about 60 missiles. He had second thoughts about the Growlers. They relied on their jammers to do their work, but more often than not, they would be seen on radar, and tip the enemy off to the fact that a strike was on the way. It was a different world now, where stealth was a major factor making the US carrier operations effective as they had been.
The Growler, as it was presently configured, was not long for that world. If the navy wanted an offensive jammer, and reliable SEAD carriers, then they were going to have to give that role to a more stealthy plane. This time out, the planes evaded four PL-15’s, picked a big cruiser up front that was going to figure prominently in the Chinese defense, and fired their AGM-88 anti-radiation missiles. They would now home on the radars of any firing ship in range.
Those Growlers were seen, and a few minutes before 01:00, the first PL-15 had been fired at them, and Wu Jinlong was issuing scramble orders to his J-31’s. Six would rise from each of his two carriers, sending out an initial group of 12 planes to reinforce his CAP.
At that hour, the twelve F-35’s with HAWC reached their release point unseen, and fired. Almost immediately, the J-31’s began to engage the fast lances with their own missiles. The PL-15 was also hypersonic, and faster than the HAWC at just under 2400 knots. Six more J-31’s took off from Taifeng to bring another two dozen of those to the fight.
None of the HWAC’s or SEAD missiles got through, but now the 24 LRASM’s were bearing down on the enemy fleet, and the Avengers carrying the GBU-53 were just a minute from their release point, undetected. It was at this juncture that Vladimir Karpov decided to throw his hat into the ring. The Carrier Killer was going to make a play.
“Well, Comrade Samsonov, let’s see if you can sink me another aircraft carrier. Give me three sets of two missiles each, on varied attack vectors, and bring them all up here to the north. That will avoid the bulk of these other contacts.”
Karpov had timed his Zircon punch to coincide with the release of all those GBU-53’s from the south, which were likely to draw the defensive fire of many of the screening units. The carrier Zhendong was the only target they had, as Taifeng had stayed in tight with its escorts and was lost on radar in that clutter. But Zhendong had maneuvered slightly north of the main body to get sea room for recovery operations on depleted fighters, and it was seen there easily enough. Karpov had already sent this ship to the repair yards once, and now he wanted to finish the job.
Just as that great red cloud of glide bombs was detected by the Chinese ships, the Zircons were up over 1000,000 feet, exceeding 4000 knots. As expected, the GBU-53’s drew a massive cascade of missile fire, and as they engaged the bombs, the Zircons were finally seen on radar. They appeared to be targeting a group of four frigates about 18 miles from Zhendong, but that was just their turning point to sweep south towards the vulnerable carrier. Wu Jinlong had frowned when he saw how the carrier had maneuvered away from the main body, and barked an order to detach two destroyers north to give the ship some better defense.
The first two Zircons reached their first turn, and it was just happenstance that it took them directly at those frigates, whereupon the cold computer minds saw a bird in hand, and recalculated to attack. The first came plummeting right into the Type 054B Class frigate Wuzhi, still traveling just under 4000 knots, and literally cut the ship right in half with the explosion and tremendous kinetic impact of that hit. While the HAWC’s and LRASM’s had all failed to find targets, the very first Zircon fired had drawn first blood and logged a kill. The second missile of that first pair followed its brother’s example and plowed into frigate Putian, blowing it to hell.
The second pair of Zircons soared above the smoke and fire of those two hits, obeying orders and turning as planned. Four HQ-9B’s bent after them, but missed badly. The Zircons turned south, and there stood the Rain God, Type 055 Class destroyer Yushen. Four SAM’s killed one of the two, but the second raced right over the destroyer, ignoring it completely. It then descended to 30 feet, failed to make its final turn, and went merrily off to the southeast, chased by an HQ-9. Of the last two missiles, one died, but the other jogged towards the carrier, then changed its mind and vectored back at the Rain God. Guns rattled, chaff flew everywhere, the jammers screamed bloody murder… but Yushen would die.
When the BDA was confirmed a moment later, Samsonov reported. “Sir, all missiles vectored on targets of opportunity. We have three hits.”
“Three for six,” said Karpov. “Not bad, Samsonov. Not bad at all. Ninety plus glide bombs are all shot down, but our Zircons carry the hour yet again. Well done.” He looked at Rodenko’s screen, seeing that the leading train of 60 Tomahawks was now about 110 miles from its target. “So now we wait a bit. When the Tomahawks begin their attack, we fire again. As before, prepare three sets of two missiles each. Look for carriers or high value cruisers.”
“Aye sir!” Samsonov was full of energy, Kirov’s steel fist, and he was loving every second at the CIC.
Karpov and Rodenko watched the radar tracks of the American Tomahawks as they began to close. At least 24 had been targeted to Zhendong, and 36 assigned to Taifeng, though nine of those had already fallen to attacks by defending J-31’s. Every missile was after one of those two carriers.
“Now Samsonov. Fire at will.”
Six more Zircons were away, all moving to that same sector north, but this time placed to avoid those frigates. The enemy fleet was now heavily engaged against the Tomahawks. The Gyrfalcon J-31’s fell on the low missile trains, clawing them down. twelve more had scrambled to meet this threat, and that, more than anything else, had served to protect the carriers thus far. As the last of the Tomahawks died, finding no joy, Samsonov’s six Zircons were closing in at blistering speed. The very first missile saw the carrier ahead on radar, and determined its assigned path would require it to make too sharp a turn to engage. So it cancelled its instructions, utilizing its own on-board radar to find the correct position of the target, and went right through three SAMs to blast into the side of Zhendong. It’s brother was right behind it, scoring yet another hit. Kirov was five for eight.
Now the next pair of missiles came on the scene, with five HQ-9B’s out after them. But the firing destroyers were six miles to the south of the carrier, requiring those missile for make a side attack. Against a Tomahawk, that would have been no problem, but not against a Zircon traveling over 2000 knots
Zhendong was already a mass of broiling fire, and several planes were just blown completely off the deck. In a cruel one-two punch, Samsonov delivered the knockout. Both missiles struck home, and there came a tremendous explosion when the carrier magazines went off in a mighty roar. Ripped to shreds, the carcass of that carrier now boiled into the sea in a heavy hissing list. The final two Zircons then retargeted to the older ASW frigate Shaoguan, and the first killed that ship. The last surged past the target, fining nothing else on the sea, and then self-terminated. Of the twelve Zircons fired, eight had found targets, sinking three frigates, a good destroyer, and the carrier Zhendong. Karpov smiled.