“We’ll see, Captain Lee,” Chris said as he looked over the page of names, phone numbers and email addresses, “I’ll talk with my managers, and see if this is even possible. I’m not promising a thing.”
“I want to talk to him, not fly him here for dinner,” Wu replied, acting as a smart ass.
Robert sat at the meeting table, along with Emily, Mark and Calvin Burns, looking at the slide on the screen. Robert was fully prepared to share the facts as they knew them, and monitor the situation as best they could. With time, and as history as shown, they would fill up databases with reports, and the story, if it developed, would make it over to CIA, the Chairman’s Office, then eventually Jane’s and Aviation Week. In due course, photos would be taken, and a terrific story would mature. But for today, they were at the very beginning of tracking something immense. Something special. Something they haven’t ever seen or experienced before.
“Sir, the premise of our brief tonight is to share with you some of the facts, via reporting and analysis, on a potential Chinese stealth jet,” Robert opened up the brief. “We feel the Chinese must have obtained some of our stealth technology through cyber means, without our knowledge, from a U.S. corporation or the Air Force. We also feel they modified the design for a fighter, reconnaissance, or bomber aircraft that can fly at alarming speeds. Speeds that we have never seen before in the history of aviation.”
“Really? How the heck did they do that without us knowing?” the Deputy asked, shaking his head from side to side. “Impressive… how the hell did they do that? Never mind, please don’t answer, as I am sure it is just speculative,” sighing. “Please continue,” Deputy Burns said.
“Yes, sir. So, the question we were trying to answer was if the original flashes caught in the SBIRS at Buckley was a missile, or, an aircraft. During our intellectual pursuit, the facts led us to certain information in reports, obtained from our sensors and aircraft. The following chart is provided.”
Robert displayed a chart with a timeline that showed when certain readings from SIGNIT and MASINT were captured, using what platform, and why it was significant. Mark shifted the weight in his seat because he knew Calvin Burns would be surprised.
The intelligence community had a large number of avenues to do collection of information. In fact, there were seven major intelligence disciplines, with a few subordinate ones to help analysts build a picture, or report, of what was going on with an adversary. While SIGINT was signals intelligence, and MASINT was measurement and signature intelligence, there were more to choose from. Other disciplines included were: IMINT- imagery intelligence, HUMINT- human intelligence, OSINT-open-source intelligence, TECHINT- technical intelligence, and CI-counterintelligence. A synchronized collection plan using some of these disciplines, along with an operations plan, allowed senior leadership to make adjustments on a foreign target. Famous cases in history that combined many of these were Winston Churchill and the Enigma, as well as General Dwight Eisenhower and the OPERATION OVERLORD D-Day invasion. In this current case, looking for a target was a combination of some of the disciplines.
“Sir, block one on the chart… the top line of the chart, displays that our SBIRS have, for weeks or longer, been detecting flashes, but the length of the flash was usually short. The computer database does not have a signature for the target, and therefore doesn’t assign the captured reading to anything. If we programmed it and said, for example, it was a new DF-20 missile, then the computer knows what to look for and save it for record. Buckley captured 84 flashes over an eight week period.”
“Whoa. Eighty-four? How can we check on that?” asked the Deputy.
“Already did, sir. I called out there,” Mark weighed in. “Called out to Buckley and spoke with the Watch Officer who was on-duty during the last flash. He followed up our call with an email and attachment of the time/date stamps. It checks out,” answered Mark.
“Why the fuck didn’t we know about the other 83?” Calvin asked. “Sorry, just keep going.”
Mark was hoping that was good enough for Calvin Burns, and did not require him to fly out there, like in the past. Deputy Burns was a stickler for details. Mark was hoping that along with the other evidence, they could build a solid storyline.
“Sir, the next line on the slide is the report from a RC-135 RIVET JOINT out of Okinawa, flying up north, feet-wet, and west of Korea. Using callsign ROCK, they recorded Chinese pilots verbally discussing checklist items in the cockpit, but it seemed like they may have transmitted in error.”
Feet-wet was an aviator term, meaning the aircraft was flying out over the water. Feet-dry meant the opposite, in that the aircraft was back again over land.
“Error? Why is that?” asked the Deputy.
“Well, sir, they were not talking to an air traffic controller, which meant they were most likely on intercom, and transmitted inadvertently. In fact, they had zero radio transmissions with anyone, and as you know, that’s rare. Even unheard of. We were able to get their position, and match it up to their transmission, and we have them flying around the airport in Zhangye, at the Gansu Airstrip,” Mark explained.
Robert pointed up to the screen. “Here it is on the map, sir. Borders the desert, up here in the middle of nowhere. Makes sense, so that locals couldn’t take pictures. Test fly a bird up there all day long, and no one would see a thing,” Robert added.
“Emily, your viewpoint? Do you have anything to add?” the Deputy asked.
“I’m impressed at the RIVET JOINT scan, sir. Although it gave a negative return on the radar signature to see what it was, I read they did pick-up the pilot’s or co-pilot’s fitness tracker,” Emily told the Deputy.
“WHAT? His fitness tracker? On his wrist? What, the… commercially available ones… for the wrist that talks to the smart phone via Bluetooth? Well, I’ll… not sure if I’m impressed that the jet was invisible on radar or that you could read his fitness level.”
“Yes, sir, not only using Bluetooth, but the device can receive GPS signals,” Emily said smiling, “helpful if you’re a runner. We are already working with the Cyber Team to tap into the commercial provider to see where he’s been running, walking… even sleeping. It could also give us his pulse, his sleeping habits, and depending on how he uses it, his caloric intake and water.”
“No shit. Huh. That’s incredible,” the Deputy said in amazement.
“Furthermore, sir, the ROCK crew recorded their encrypted GPS navigation using our satellites. Ours sir. They must have figured that their encryption was solid, and we wouldn’t know. Well… we know. We have their times, locations, and best of all, their speeds,” Robert continued, smiling.
“Speeds? Wow. Okay, what are we talking about here? Mach 2… two point five?” asked the Deputy.
A knock came at the door, and Jason entered, the Deputy’s assistant. “Excuse me, sir. DNI’s office on the phone. Wants to talk… ah… North Korea, today’s Hill hearing, and next week’s Ceremony over at the Pentagon,” Jason shared.
Calvin Burns let out a sigh, looked at everyone, and smiled. “I’m sorry, I have to take this, guys.” Calvin stood and walked to the door, “I’ll be back shortly.”
Oh, brother, Emily thought, another delay. With Ford at the game, and how late she was, it couldn’t be helped. Ford would be fine without her for a bit longer, and most likely was enjoying the game. If the Director of National Intelligence, the DNI, calls for you, you have to take it.