As Grishkov said this, they reached the spot in the back parking lot where their full-size SUVs were parked.
Vasilyev pulled out his keys, unlocked the trunk of the first SUV and pushed down the rear seat. He then pressed a button on his remote twice, and to Grishkov’s amazement the entire rear two-thirds of the SUV lifted to the ceiling, revealing a cavernous storage compartment tightly packed with military equipment.
“I anticipated that we would need to stop something the size of a truck. Do you think this will do the job?” Vasilyev asked, pointing to the largest object in a compartment.
Grishkov stared slack-jawed as his gaze followed Vasilyev’s finger.
“That’s a Kornet! How did they manage to fit it in… oh I see, they’ve divided the launch tube…”
He looked up at Vasilyev and said solemnly, “Old man, if you were just a little prettier I think I’d kiss you. If the other car’s contents are anything like this, I may get back to Arisha and the kids after all. And you may live to collect that pension!” he said, punching Vasilyev in the shoulder.
Rubbing his shoulder, Vasilyev grinned and said, “I’m glad you’re pleased.
I asked Smyslov to have your service file checked for the heaviest weapons you had trained with in Chechnya that could fit in one of these SUVs. He said this variant is only for special operations use, and there are only a dozen or so in existence. What makes it so special?”
Grishkov shook his head. “Where do I start? OK, this is the 9M133 Kornet anti-tank weapon. When you fire it, you can immediately guess why they call it ‘Comet’. The launch tube is a bit over a meter long, and this one has been cut in half to fit. You can see they’ve added a metal bracket to fit the two halves together. I wonder how well the design will stand up to reuse.”
Vasilyev shrugged. “That I can answer. I was told this can only be used once. That’s why we have just one missile. It’s thermobaric, if that means anything to you.”
If Vasilyev had thought Grishkov was happy before, now he seemed ready to dance. “Outstanding! I take back every unkind word I said about the Army when I was in Chechnya. This is exactly what we need here.”
Seeing Vasilyev’s confusion, Grishkov continued, “You see, this is a weapon designed against main battle tanks. Its normal warhead would indeed stop any truck, but being designed to punch through armor it would just keep going after it hit. I’ve used this several times against enemy trucks in Chechnya, and each time there were survivors. I told any officer I could find that we needed thermobaric rounds, but all they’d say is that we were lucky to have Kornets at all.”
Grishkov paused. “I was in a bar a few years ago talking to a friend who was still in the Army, and was surprised when he told me those officers were right. Most units are still using the old wire-guided Konkurs anti-tank missile because the Kornet is just too expensive, especially this latest model with its fire-and-forget capability. So, a model with a thermobaric round that can fit in an SUV? Nothing short of a miracle!”
Vasilyev nodded. “Excellent. Now, I was told that operating this missile is a two-man job?”
Grishkov shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind a hand getting it moved to where we’re going to set up for launch. We’re just steps from a point where we’ll be able to view the front gate. We’d obviously be too conspicuous if we set the whole thing up immediately, but we can move the tripod over to the launch point now, and I can assemble the launch tube and secure the bracket. Once the attack begins the rest of the setup will take just a minute.”
Vasilyev’s eyebrows flew upwards. “Are you sure you can do it so quickly?”
Grishkov laughed. “We drilled with these all the time in Chechnya, and as you saw in my file I used it several times for real. Any time over a minute was a failure, and my record was forty-five seconds. Targeting couldn’t be easier — just shine the laser light on whatever you want to go boom!”
Vasilyev nodded. “That sounds simple enough. Now, have a look at what we’ve got in the other SUV.”
Vasilyev then unlocked the trunk of the second SUV and again pushed down the rear seat, and pressed a button on the second remote twice. This time Grishkov was not surprised to see another storage compartment with military equipment, but Vasilyev was pleased to see he was just as happy with its contents.
“A PKM medium machine gun with a tripod mount, and two hundred fifty round ammunition cans! You know, this is such a reliable, deadly beast that I read American special operations forces are asking their manufacturers to make copies. And here’s an RPG-7, which I’m guessing is for you?”
Grishkov said.
Vasilyev grinned. “These were around when I did my military service, and they couldn’t be simpler to use. The best part is, I don’t have to be an expert shot. I’m likely to do some damage if I can just point it in the right direction.”
Grishkov nodded. “Well put. And I see we have submachine guns and grenades as well. Yes, with these we can give a warm welcome to whoever survives the Kornet.”
Grishkov paused. “One thing does concern me, though. We’ll be directing all this firepower towards an enemy holding a nuclear weapon. Isn’t there a chance we will hit it and cause it to detonate?”
Vasilyev shrugged. “A fair point. However, the technical documents provided by the defector say that though these devices are experimental, they are quite robust. I would advise against a direct hit by the Kornet. Short of that, though, I think we are safe. The bottom line is that if we don’t stop the attackers, we know they will detonate the weapon.”
Grishkov grunted. “Your logic is unassailable. So, answer this one. If we are able to take out the bulk of the enemy force with the Kornet, what’s to stop them from simply detonating the device where they are, even if they’re still outside the gate? After all, it’s a nuclear weapon. Surely the blast radius would still be sufficient to destroy this facility.”
Vasilyev nodded. “True, but only if the device works exactly as designed.
Since it is experimental, the documents also say there may be a ‘fizzle’ which would release far less energy. That could leave the facility repairable, especially if the detonation is at a distance. So, I think the attackers will try to get the device adjacent to the plant if at all possible.”
Vasilyev paused. “I hesitate to refer to the documents, since the weapon may have been modified since they were written. But they do specify that once the ground devices were assembled and armed, a countdown began that could not be altered. We focused on our main concern — that meant we couldn’t stop it. But I believe it also means they can’t do anything to speed up detonation.”
Grishkov nodded, pulled out both halves of the Kornet launch tube and began to assemble them. As he fastened the metal bracket securing the two halves together, he asked, “Since the documents say the weapon cannot be disarmed once it is assembled and armed, what do we do if we capture the device intact? We are certain to have only minutes before it explodes.”
Vasilyev grinned. “An excellent question, my friend. I see only one real option. See that pier leading out of the end of the parking lot?”
Grishkov squinted and nodded. It was a fair distance away and partly obscured by intervening vehicles, so he doubted he would have noticed the pier without Vasilyev pointing it out.
“It is intended to provide vehicle access to the main water intake pipe for the plant, so equipment can be easily transported whenever maintenance is required. We will use it to transport the weapon as far out into the Gulf as possible in what I’m sure will be a limited amount of time,” Vasilyev said.
Grishkov frowned. “Will the water be deep enough to absorb the force of the explosion? Do we risk causing a tsunami, or contaminating all the fish in the Gulf?”