4 The Hunt for Red October by Clancy Tom
Author:Clancy, Tom [Tom, Clancy,]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780286132992
Publisher: Berkley Books
Published: 2010-06-05T23:00:00+00:00
A B-52
The bomber crew knew exactly where the Russians were. Navy Orions and air force Sentries had been shadowing them for days now, and the day before, he'd been told, the Soviets had sent an armed fighter from the Kiev to the nearest Sentry. Possibly an attack mission, probably not, it had in any case been a provocation.
Four hours earlier the squadron of fourteen had flown out of Plattsburg , New York , at 0330, leaving behind black trails of exhaust smoke hidden in the predawn gloom. Each aircraft carried a full load of fuel and twelve missiles whose total weight was far less than the -52's design bombload. This made for good, long range.
Which was exactly what they needed. Knowing where the Russians were was only half the battle. Hitting them was the other. The mission profile was simple in concept, rather more difficult in execution. As had been learned in missions over Hanoi—in which the B-52 had participated and sustained SAM (surface-to-air missile) damage—the best method of attacking a heavily defended target was to converge from all points of the compass at once, “like the enveloping arms of an angry bear,” the squadron commander had put it at the briefing, indulging his poetic nature. This gave half the squadron relatively direct courses to their target; the other half had to curve around, careful to keep well beyond effective radar coverage; all had to turn exactly on cue.
The B-52s had turned ten minutes earlier, on command from the Sentry quarterbacking the mission. The pilot had added a twist. His course to the Soviet formation took his bomber right down a commercial air route. On making his turn, he had switched his IFF transponder from its normal setting to international. He was fifty miles behind a commercial 747, thirty miles ahead of another, and on Soviet radar all three Boeing products would look exactly alike—harmless.
It was still dark down on the surface. There was no indication that the Russians were alerted yet. Their fighters were only supposed to be VFR (visual flight rules) capable, and the pilot imagined that taking off and landing on a carrier in the dark was pretty risky business, doubly so in bad weather.
“Skipper,” the electronic warfare officer called on the intercom, “we're getting L- and S-band emissions. They're right where they're supposed to be.”
“Roger. Enough for a return off us?”
“That's affirm, but they probably think we're flying Pan Am. No fire control stuff yet, just routine air search.”
“Range to target?”
“One-three-zero miles.”
It was almost time. The mission profile was such that all would hit the 125-mile circle at the same moment.
“Everything ready?”
“That's a roge.”
The pilot relaxed for another minute, waiting for the signal from the entry.
“F LASHLIGHT , F LASHLIGHT , F LASHLIGHT .” The signal came over the digital radio channel.
“That's it! Let 'em know we're here,” the aircraft commander ordered.
“Right.” The electronic warfare officer flipped the clear plastic cover off his set of toggle switches and dials controlling the aircraft's jamming systems. First he powered up his systems.
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