Patrick McLanahan #05 - Shadows of Steel by Dale Brown

Author:Dale Brown [Brown, Dale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Technological
ISBN: 0399141391
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Published: 1996-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

In thirty seconds, the first attack was over--and Jamieson realized he hadn't done a thing, hadn't even touched the throttles, and his right hand was resting only lightly on the control stick. They'd needed no evasive maneuvers, no threading their way around terrain trying to hug the ground to hide from enemy radar, no coordinated defensive maneuvers.

It was so sterile, so robotic--almost inhuman. Shadows of steel, death from nowhere, from everywhere ...

But it didn't stay quiet for long. Seconds later, the searchradar signal had changed, and Jamieson saw a bright yellow arc on the threat scope, aimed very close to the B-2A, slowly becoming narrower and narrower until it was a line. Fortunately, the line also began to offset behind the center of the scope, meaning that it was not locked onto the B-2A. "Height finder active again," McLanahan said. "Looks like they're locked on to one of the JSOWS. JSOWs have responded ...

looks like missile number two is tracking."

The missiles McLanahan and Jamieson released were called AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapons, or JSOWS. They were small, lifting-body cruise missiles that could be fitted with a variety of warheads, payloads, avionics, sensors, guidance packages, or propulsion units, so they could mix a number of these missiles on the bomber and perform many different missions. These JSOWs had special Disruptor payloads on board called

"screamers" that would transmit high-frequency, high-powered jamming signals across the entire frequency spectrum and completely overload any antenna system within range. The JSOW missiles would orbit over the air defense missile and radar sites, broadcasting high-intensity "screamer"

signals, blanking out radar scopes and overloading radio networks for as long as sixty-minutes--plenty of time for the Intelligence Support Agency teams to enter the area.

The B-2A crew again heard a slow, low pitched Deedle ... deedle ...

deedle ... warning tone in their headsets, and saw the "10" symbol with a diamond around it: "SA-10 acquisition radar at Bandar Abbas ... cruise missiles one and three locked on ..." As each antiaircraft missile system came up, the JSOW missile's seeker head would lock on, plot the emitter's location, and reprogram its internal autopilot to fly to that point and destroy the radar.

Another warning tone, this time with an "H" symbol: "Hawk system acquisition radar ... missile four tracking ... looks like the Iranians already got another Hawk set up on Abu Musa Island. They didn't waste any time."

"Forget the commentary, McLanahan," Jamieson said. "Just make sure none of those sites locks on to us."

"Our track breakers are in standby, search radars only sweeping us,"

McLanahan reported. He typed on his keyboard, and the bomber turned slightly south. "I'm heading a bit more to the right to stay away from that Hawk on Abu Musa," McLanahan said. "If they sneaked an SA-10 on that island, too, I want to stay far away from it. The screamers should activate in a few seconds."

The effect was frightening and surprising at the same time--as if on cue, every Iranian air defense site within fifty, miles opened fire.

Eight SA-10,

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