“Okay,” Jackson ordered, “let's get a quick picture.”
The Radar Intercept Officer activated his systems. The F-14D had just been fitted with a new Hughes-built radar called an LPI for “low probability of intercept.” Though using less power than the AWG-9 system it had replaced, the LPI combined greater sensitivity with a far lower chance of being picked up by another aircraft's threat receiver. It also had vastly improved look-down performance.
“There they are,” Walters reported. “Nice circular formation.”
“They have anything up?”
“Everything I see has a transponder on.”
“'Kay, we'll be on station in another few minutes.”
Fifty miles behind them, an E-2C Hawkeye airborne-early-warning bird was coming off the number-two catapult. Behind it, two KA-6 tankers were firing up, along with more fighters. The tankers would soon arrive at Jackson 's station to top off his fuel tanks, enabling the CAG to stay aloft for four more hours. The E-2C was the most important. It climbed out at full military power, turning south to take station fifty miles from its mother ship. As soon as it reached twenty-five thousand, its surveillance radar switched on, and the onboard crew of three operators began cataloging their contacts. Their data was sent by digital link back to the carrier and also to the group air-warfare officer aboard the Aegis cruiser, USS Thomas Gates, whose call-sign was “Stetson.”
“Nothing much, skipper.”
“Okay, we're on station. Let's orbit and searchlight around.” Jackson turned his aircraft into a shallow right turn, with Sanchez in close formation.
The Hawkeye spotted them first. They were almost directly under Jackson and his two Tomcats, and out of the detection cone of their radars for the moment.
“Stetson, this is Falcon-Two, we have four bogies on the deck, bearing two-eight-one, one hundred miles out.” The reference was for TR's position.
“IFF?”
“Negative, their speed is four hundred, altitude seven hundred, course one-three-five.”
“Amplify,” the AWO said.
“They're in a loose finger-four, Stetson,” the Hawkeye controller said. “Estimate we have tactical fighters here.”
“I got something,” Shredder reported to Jackson a moment later. “On the deck, looks like two — no, four aircraft, heading southeast.”
“Whose?”
“Not ours.”
In TR's combat information center, no one as yet had a clue what was going on, but the group intelligence staff was doing its best to find out. What they had learned to this point was that most satellite news channels seemed to be down, though all military satellite links were up and running. A further electronic sweep of the satellite spectrum showed that a lot of video circuits were unaccountably inactive, as were the satellite phone links. So addicted were the communications people to the high-tech channels, that it required the services of a third-class radioman to suggest sweeping short-wave bands. The first they found was BBC. The newsflash was recorded and raced into CIC. The voice spoke with the quiet assurance that the British Broadcasting Corporation was known for:
“Reuters reports a nuclear detonation in the Central United States. The Denver, Coloraydo”—the Brits have trouble pronouncing some American state names—“television station, KOLD, broadcast via satellite a picture of a mushroom cloud over Denver, along with a voice report of a massive explosion. Station KOLD is now off the air, and attempts to reach Denver by telephone have not yet been successful. There has as yet been no official comment whatever on this incident.”
“Holy Christ,” someone said for all of them. Captain Richards looked around the room at his staff.
“Well, now we know why we're at DEFCON-TWO. Let's get some more fighters up. F-18s forward of us, — 14s aft. I want four A-6s loaded with B-61s and briefed on SIOP targets. One squadron of -18s loaded with antiship missiles, and start planning an Alpha Strike on the Kuznetzov battle group.”
“Captain,” a talker called. “Falcon reports four inbound tactical aircraft.”
Richards had only to turn around to see the main tactical display, a radar scope fully three feet across. The four new contacts showed up as inverted V-shapes with course vectors. Closest point of approach was less than twenty miles, easily within range of air-to-surface missiles.
“Have Spade ID those bandits right now!”
“… close and identify,” was the order from the Hawkeye control aircraft.
“Roger,” Jackson acknowledged. “Bud, go loose.”
“Roger.” Commander Sanchez eased his stick to the left to open the distance between his fighter and Jackson's. Called the “Loose Deuce,” the formation enabled the aircraft to be mutually supporting and also impossible to attack simultaneously. As he split off, both aircraft tipped down and dove at full dry power. In a few seconds, they were through Mach-One.
“Boresighted,” Shredder told his driver. “I'm activating the TV system.”
The Tomcat was built with a simple identification device. It was a television camera with a ten-power telescopic lens that worked equally well in daylight and darkness. Lieutenant Walters was able to slave the TV into the radar system, and in a few seconds he had four dots that grew rapidly as the Tomcats overtook them. “Twin rudder configuration.”
“Falcon, this is Spade. Inform Stick we have visual but no ID, and we are closing.”
Major Pyotr Arabov was no tenser than usual. An instructor pilot, he was teaching three Libyans the intricacies of night over-water navigation. They'd turned over the Italian island of Pantelleria thirty minutes earlier, and were now inbound for Tripoli and home. Formation flying at night was difficult for the three Libyans, though each had over three hundred hours in type, and over-water flying was the most dangerous of all. Fortunately, they had picked a good night for it. The star-filled sky gave them a good horizon reference. Better to learn the easy way first, Arabov thought, and at this altitude. A true tactical profile, at one hundred meters and higher speed on a cloudy night could be exceedingly dangerous. He was not any more impressed with the airmanship of these Libyans than the U.S. Navy had been on several occasions, but they did seem willing to learn, and that was something. Besides, their oil-rich country, having learned its own lessons from the Iraqis, had decided that if it were to have an air force at all, it had better have a properly trained one. That meant the Soviet Union could sell a lot more of its MiG-29s, despite the fact that sales in the Israel area were now severely curtailed. It also meant that Major Arabov was being paid partly in hard currency.
The instructor pilot looked left and right to see that the formation was — well, not exactly tight, but close enough. The aircraft were behaving sluggishly with two fuel tanks under each wing. Each fuel tank had stabilizing fins, and looked rather like bombs, actually.
“They're carrying something, skipper. MiG-29s, for sure.”
“Right.” Jackson checked the display himself, then keyed his radio. “Stick, this is Spade, over.”
“Go ahead.” The digital radio circuit allowed Jackson to recognize Captain Richards' voice.