Chen’s desire for stealth was born from the days of Chinese general and military strategist Sun Tzu, where surprising one’s enemy was always desired. Chen followed Sun Tzu’s philosophy of “mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy” to the letter. Stealth technology was right up his alley, thanks to the concept of low-observability physics and radar.
Radio Detection and Ranging, or Radar, sent out a radio frequency signal across the sky. Any radio frequency energy that reflected off an object toward the observer created a return. An Airbus A320 created quite a large return, or echo, while a Cherokee 140 private airplane created a smaller one. The Black Scorpion returned almost nothing. She was able to hide in the lower-frequency radars, taking advantage of the longer wavelengths. Black Scorpion’s ability to use backscatter, or the reflection toward the emitting radar, was improved dramatically because of her angled surfaces. It was literally hiding in plain sight.
The father of stealth in America, William F. Bahret, figured out which structures on an aircraft mattered on the echo return. Metal skin like aluminum was important, as were curves of the wing, fuselage, and tail sections. What if you could hide engines and antennas inside an aircraft, one with straight edges that reduced its radar return? You know the rest as history. Lockheed built and test flew in 1978 an aircraft codenamed SENIOR TREND and HAVE BLUE, which morphed into the F-117 program. The fact that the United States used them successfully in January 1991 opened the front door for Chen.
Chen was obsessed as a young pilot and officer that another country such as the United States had this technology, and he wanted it. To have a radar cross section of a small bird was the ultimate weapon, and he would stop at nothing to get ahold of the blueprints so he could build them. Chen studied and studied the stealth and radar technology so that he would become the subject-matter expert one day.
Chen even located the 1999 Serbian report of the missile brigade that had shot down an F-117, aircraft call sign “VEGA 31,” over Serbia. Using a Soviet P-18 SPOON REST D, an old school Very-High Frequency, or VHF early-warning radar, the Serbians could track and launch a SA-3 LOW BLOW surface-to-air missile at the jet. Chen did his homework, and now the Americans were paying for it.
Ford was not aware of Chen’s specific cyber capabilities, but Chen sure continued his laughter at the United States’ attempts to defend themselves on the cyber front.
Just recently, the Department of Defense information technology budget request was over $38 billion, which included $6.8 billion for defense cyber operations. Chen found it most humorous because the US spent so much attempting to protect themselves, while human dynamics were always the downfall, not software or hardware. The Chinese were experts at reading open-source news, and knew from risk assessment articles that 74 percent of computer attacks came from careless employees. Chen knew there would never be enough money in their budget to deter him.
The United States was concerned not only about China, but also about the threat that came from Russia, North Korea, and Iran. The linking between technology and theft of intellectual property with American businesses for competitive advantage was strong, as well as the traditional military and intelligence activities. The internet of things was a real concern to administration officials, especially the critical infrastructure, which Chen adored. Power grids, energy systems, and large computer systems were a treat to him.
What gave Chen a rare smile was in penetrating the machine-to-machine sharing called STIX, or Structured Threat Information Expression, which was a means of disseminating the threat information. It acted as a report card for the Chinese, and told them which methods were or were not working. How dumb can these Americans be? he often asked himself.
Ford stood up in the grass, spread his legs wide, and began stretching out while listening to more commercial jets taking off. We need to verify this jet exists, and then verify the laser. We need to get Black Scorpion, and bring her home. Ford took a swig of whiskey and ginger ale, conveniently located in his water bottle.
Just then, Emily came up to him, complete in her running gear of a simple T-shirt, shorts, and running shoes. “Hello, mate. How was your run?”
“Hi. Good. Real good. Just wrapped up a few miles,” he said as he looked out over the water, then to her. “Em, I’ve been doing some thinking.”
Emily’s mind and heart, spring-loaded to think it was about them and their long-distance dating or even their earlier chat about drinking, was immediately excited. She was sure he was thinking about their relationship, of course — the two of them long term — and perhaps would even discuss marriage. This was it, she thought. Marriage, drinking, perhaps? Wait, is that alcohol I smell? Alone, taking a break, with a beautiful view of the river. “Yes, Ford. Thinking about what?”
“I have an idea about the mission. Not sure if Mark would like it, but here’s what I think,” Ford said to her.
“Go ahead, love, what is it?” Damn, she thought privately and disapprovingly. This is work related, not about him or us.
“Well, the Missile Defense Agency has a special Gulfstream aircraft that can fly and detect wavelengths from afar while airborne. It has a large, usual protrusion on its roof, full of all sorts of technical gear.”
Ford was right. The Missile Defense Agency did have a Gulfstream II-B business jet, called HALO-II. It was an airborne observatory that offered excellent aircraft performance and long flight endurance for their observation mission. The aircraft’s ability to climb to a very high altitude, above obscuring clouds and atmosphere, provided onboard sensors with a clear view. The electronic optics and infrared sensors and radar sensors were installed in a pod located on top of the fuselage, which enabled a terrific look around and horizon-to-horizon elevation viewing. More great work from the Special Missions section at Gulfstream in Savannah.
“Not too bad for a pilot who doesn’t know the intelligence community,” said Emily, giving him a dig. It was completely lost on Ford.
“What if we got the State Department to invite this fancy agency to fly the jet into Mongolia, or even Burma? Call it a foreign-policy trip to support the government. This could be easily arranged. While there the aircraft can launch and get into a holding pattern until Black Scorpion launches. That way we could verify that there is a laser on board. The ideas that I mentioned about the batteries were just that, ideas. We have no validation of the laser energy yet.”
Emily worked hard in her mind to not be negative. “Hmm, hmmm. I like that idea, Ford. I think we should talk to Mark about it when we get into work later.” She paused and grabbed his hand. “By the way, love, why don’t we talk about us? Pick up where we left off, maybe at dinner tonight, the two of us?”
“Yes. I’d like that. I was doing some thinking about us, too. We have been dating awhile. We know each other well, have met each other’s families. And… I’m ready to commit my life to you. You and I are…” Ford started in, then stopped suddenly.
The timing couldn’t be worse as Jason pulled up in his car alongside Ford and Emily. “Hey, Mr. Burns asked me to track you two down. Robert’s been looking for you two. Need you to come back. Hot item. Get in.”
Damn. All I wanted was a few minutes with him, Emily thought to herself.
“Dad, Dad, what is this?” said Rex Miller, an energetic and excited ten-year-old boy, to his father, Michael.