Tiger's Claw: A Novel

TIGER’S CLAW

DALE BROWN

DEDICATION

This novel is dedicated to my younger brother Ken, who passed away on July 31, 2011, after a long illness (you might remember the antagonist Kenneth Francis James in my third novel,
Day of the Cheetah,
who was named for Ken, my other brother, Jim, and my dad). Ken was my aircraft mechanic for seven years, a fellow soccer referee, a fellow volunteer for Angel Flight West, and my frequent copilot. He was a rather white-knuckle flier, especially in the bumps and clouds, but he never failed to do an Angel Flight West mission with me and was aboard every postmaintenance flight to make sure everything on the ship was okay after he was done working on it.

His short life only highlights the importance of family—not just the families we’re born into but the families we accrue throughout our lives. We all make lousy decisions and catch some bad breaks. But if we celebrate with and support our families when times are good, and aren’t afraid or ashamed to ask for help from our families when situations turn bad, we will never be alone.

Keep an eye on the family, bro, and fly safe on your new journeys.

To remind everyone: Angel Fight West is a real organization based in Santa Monica, California, that pairs needy medical patients and volunteer pilots together to provide no-charge air transportation for treatment or other necessary activities. Missions are flown by volunteer pilots and crewmembers who donate their time and the cost of their aircraft and fuel. Learn more about this worthwhile organization at www.AngelFlightWest.org.

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

CAST OF CHARACTERS

AUTHOR’S NOTES AND CHINESE WORDS

WEAPONS AND ACRONYMS

REAL-WORLD NEWS EXCERPTS

PROLOGUE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALSO BY DALE BROWN

CREDITS

COPYRIGHT

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

CAST OF CHARACTERS

A
MERICANS

K
ENNETH
P
HOENIX
, president of the United States

A
NN
P
AGE
, vice president

W
ILLIAM
G
LENBROOK
, president’s national security adviser

H
ERBERT
K
EVICH
, secretary of state

F
REDRICK
H
AYES
, secretary of defense

T
HOMAS
T
ORREY
, CIA director

G
ERALD
M
URTH
, undersecretary of defense for acquisitions

J
OSEPH
C
OLLINGSWORTH
, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

D
IANE
M. J
AMIESON
, majority leader of the U.S. Senate

U.S. A
IR
F
ORCE
G
ENERAL
T
IMOTHY
S
PELLINGS
, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

A
DMIRAL
E
DWARD
F
OWLER
, chief of naval operations

G
ENERAL
J
ASON
C
ONAWAY
, chief of staff, U.S. Air Force

D
R.
H
ELEN
K
ADDIRI
, president and chairman of the board, Sky Masters Inc.

L
IEUTENANT
G
ENERAL
P
ATRICK
M
C
L
ANAHAN
, USAF (ret.), vice president and COO, Sky Masters Inc.

D
R.
L
INUS
O
GLETHORPE
, chief engineer and scientist, Sky Masters Inc.

E
D
G
LEASON
, XB-1 chief instructor pilot, Sky Masters Inc.

S
AM
J
ACOBS
, XB-1 aircraft commander, Sky Masters Inc.

L
ISA
M
ANN
, XB-1 Excalibur copilot, Sky Masters Inc.

K
AREN
W
ELLS
, XB-1F Excalibur ground defensive systems officer, Sky Masters Inc.

G
EORGE
W
ICKHAM
, XB-1 ground offensive systems officer, Sky Masters Inc.

U.S. N
AVY
C
APTAIN
E
DWARD
T
AVERNA
, commander, guided-missile cruiser USS
Chosin

U.S. N
AVY
C
APTAIN
R
ICHARD
A
VERY
, commanding officer, Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon

U.S. N
AVY
L
IEUTENANT
C
OMMANDER
C
HRIS
“N
OOSE
” K
AHN
, commander, VF-13 Fighting Saints, NAS Fallon

C
OMMANDER
D
OUGLAS
S
HERIDAN
, commanding officer, Coast Guard cutter
Mohawk

L
IEUTENANT
C
OMMANDER
E
DWARD
F
ELLS
, tactical officer, Coast Guard cutter
Mohawk

L
IEUTENANT
E
D
C
OFFEY
, HH-60 Jayhawk pilot, Coast Guard cutter
Mohawk

L
IEUTENANT
L
UCY
C
ROSS
, HH-60 Jayhawk copilot, Coast Guard cutter
Mohawk

U.S. N
AVY
A
DMIRAL
R
OBERT
L
UCE
, commander, U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM)

U.S. A
IR
F
ORCE
G
ENERAL
G
EORGE
H
OOD
, commander, U.S. Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)

U.S. A
IR
F
ORCE
C
OLONEL
W
ARNER
“C
UTLASS
” C
UTHBERT
, commander, First Expeditionary Bomb Wing (First EBW), Andersen Air Force Base, Guam

U.S. A
IR
F
ORCE
L
IEUTENANT
C
OLONEL
N
ASH
H
ARTZELL
, deputy wing commander, First EBW

L
IEUTENANT
C
OLONEL
B
RIDGET
“X
ENA
” D
UTCHMAN
, commander, Twentieth Expeditionary Bomb Squadron (B-52H Stratofortress)

L
IEUTENANT
C
OLONEL
F
RANKLIN
“W
ISHBONE
” M
C
B
RIDE
, commander, 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron (B-2A Spirit)

L
IEUTENANT
C
OLONEL
J
UAN
“P
ICANTE
” O
ROZ
, commander, Ninth Expeditionary Bomb Squadron (B-1B Lancer)

L
IEUTENANT
C
OLONEL
J
IMMY
“J
UJU
” M
AILI
, commander, 199th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Hawaii Air National Guard, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (F-22A Raptor)

M
AJOR
R
OBERT
“B
REWSKI
” C
ARLING
, F-22A Raptor pilot

U.S. A
IR
F
ORCE
C
APTAIN
A
LICIA
S
PENCER
, intelligence officer, First EBW

U.S. A
RMY
C
APTAIN
Jason H
ARRIS
, Patriot antiaircraft missile battery commander, Guam

T
HOMAS
H
OFFMAN
, president, Warbirds Forever Inc.

S
ONDRA
E
DDINGTON
, chief pilot, Warbirds Forever Inc.

B
RADLEY
J. M
C
L
ANAHAN
, instructor pilot, Warbirds Forever Inc.

P
EOPLE’S
R
EPUBLIC OF
C
HINA

Z
HOU
Q
IANG
, president of the People’s Republic of China

G
AO
X
UDONG
, vice president of China

T
ANG
J
I
, foreign minister

C
AO
J
U
, defense minister

L
I
P
EIYAN
, Chinese ambassador to the United States

J
IN
Y
ONGKANG
, finance minister

S
HÀNG
J
IÀNG
(C
OLONEL
G
ENERAL
) Z
U
K
AI
, chief of the general staff, People’s Liberation Army

S
HAO
J
IÀNG
(M
AJOR
G
ENERAL
) H
UA
Z
HILUN
, commander, Eleventh Tactical Rocket Division, People’s Liberation Army

S
HAO
J
IÀNG
(M
AJOR
G
ENERAL
) S
UN
J
I
, deputy chief of the general staff, People’s Liberation Army

H
AI
J
UN
Z
HONG
J
IÀNG
(V
ICE
A
DMIRAL
) Z
HEN
P
ENG
, commander, South Sea Fleet, People’s Liberation Army Navy, Zhanjiang

H
AI
J
UN
S
HAO
J
IÀNG
(R
EAR
A
DMIRAL
) H
U
T
AN-SUN
, commander, Second Carrier Battle Group (aircraft carrier
Zheng He
), People’s Liberation Army Navy, Juidongshan

H
AI
J
UN
D
A
X
IAO
(L
OWER
A
DMIRAL
) C
HEN
B
OLIN
, captain of the Chinese aircraft carrier
Zhenyuan

H
AI
J
UN
D
A
X
IAO
(L
OWER
A
DMIRAL
) W
ENG
L
I
-Y
EH
, captain, Chinese aircraft carrier
Zheng He

H
AI
J
UN
S
HANG
X
IAO
(C
APTAIN
) Z
HANG
P
EIYAN
, commander of flight operations, carrier
Zhenyuan

H
AI
J
UN
Z
HONG
X
IAO
(C
OMMANDER
) H
UA
J
I
, JN-20 squadron commander, carrier
Zheng He

H
AI
J
UN
S
HAO
X
IAO
(L
IEUTENANT
C
OMMANDER
) W
U
D
EK
S
U
, JN-15 fighter pilot

K
ONG
J
UN
S
HANG
J
IANG
(A
IR
F
ORCE
C
OLONEL
G
ENERAL
) Z
ENG
S
U
, chief of staff, People’s Liberation Army Air Forces

K
ONG
J
UN
Z
HONG
J
IANG
(A
IR
F
ORCE
L
IEUTENANT
G
ENERAL
) C
HEN
L
I
, commander, First Strategic Strike Division (Xian H-6)

S
OCIALIST
R
EPUBLIC OF
V
IETNAM

T
RAN
P
HUONG
, prime minister

Thuong tá
(C
APTAIN
) D
ANG
V
AN
C
HIEN
, captain of the Gepard-class frigate
Cá map
(
Shark
)

R
EPUBLIC OF
C
HINA
(T
AIWAN
)

W
U
A
NASTASIA
, president

Zhong jiàng
(V
ICE
A
DMIRAL
) W
U
J
IN-PING
, commander, First Naval District South, Kaohsiung

Shàngxiào
(C
APTAIN
) Y
AO
M
EI
-Y
UEH
, captain of the Type 800 attack submarine
Fùchóu zhe
(
Avenger
)

Zun Khong
(C
OMMANDER
) C
HEIN
S
I-YAO
, executive officer, attack submarine
Avenger

C
OMMONWEALTH OF
A
USTRALIA

M
ARK
R
UDDOCK
, prime minister

R
EPUBLIC OF
I
NDONESIA

J
USUF
S
ALEH
, president

R
EPUBLIC OF THE
P
HILIPPINES

P
ATRICIA
C
RUZ
, president