Tiger's Claw: A Novel (11 page)

By the time the president made his way back to the Oval Office, Glenbrook and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Timothy Spellings, were waiting for him. Phoenix invited them in, and they sat at the meeting area with cups of coffee. Glenbrook opened a large wall-mounted computer monitor from inside its hidden compartment, and Spellings stood beside it, a wireless presentation remote control in his hand.

“Thanks for getting this information out here so fast, General,” the president said. “Please proceed.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” the tall, thin four-star general said. He activated the monitor, which showed a map of the North Pacific Ocean region. “This map shows the current deployment of carrier strike groups and Marine amphibious-ready groups in the Pacific, current as of last night—there was no time to bring this morning’s updates. As you can see, sir, there’s only one carrier group under way in the Seventh Fleet area of operations, the
George Washington,
and one amphibious warfare group, the
Boxer,
which are part of an exercise being conducted in northeastern Australia in the Coral Sea. Of the other four Pacific carriers, only one, the
Reagan,
is available—it is participating in fleet replacement carrier qualifications near San Diego, but it can be retasked fairly quickly. The others are undergoing planned maintenance or complex refueling overhaul. The
Stennis
will be available in about four months; the
Carl Vinson
in about a year, and the
Lincoln
in eighteen months.”

“Just two carriers immediately available to cover the entire Pacific?” the president asked, surprised.

“That’s been the pattern for the past few years, sir,” Glenbrook said. “And Seventh Fleet extends all the way into the Indian Ocean. With budget cutbacks, the carriers spend a lot less time on patrol. Generally, there is just one carrier strike group operating in Seventh and Fifth Fleet areas of responsibility at a time. Extended carrier and amphibious-ready group deployments in Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth Fleets have all but gone away.”

“No wonder China seems to be more aggressive these days—our most potent weapons are all in home port,” Phoenix said. “How long would it take to get the two Pacific carrier groups into the South China Sea?”

“The
George Washington
can be on station in just a few days, sir,” Spellings replied. “The
Reagan
would take about ten days to arrive after wrapping up its carrier quals. Admiral Fowler wanted me to remind you, sir, that sending the
Reagan
unless it was absolutely necessary would delay working up replacement carrier crews, which would entail longer deployments for crews serving now.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, General,” the president said, “but I’m more concerned about our crewmembers lost in the ocean and finding out what happened to our reconnaissance aircraft. Better get the
Washington
moving up there to assist in the search-and-rescue operations, and warn the
Reagan
personnel that they might be needed. What else do we have?”

“Unfortunately the closest military units aren’t well suited to search and rescue, but we’ll have a presence and can keep an eye on things until surface units arrive,” Spellings went on, reading from a secure tablet computer. “The closest unit we have available is the attack submarine USS
New Hampshire,
on patrol in the southern South China Sea. It can be in the area in about four hours. We can send a Global Hawk from Okinawa and have it on station in about six hours.” The RQ-4 Global Hawk was a long-range, high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned surveillance aircraft that could send radar, electro-optical, and infrared sensor images via satellite to bases thousands of miles away. “We also have five long-range bombers and three aerial refueling tankers based at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam that are on thirty-minute alert. They can be over the area in three to four hours.”

“Bombers?” Kevich remarked. “Surely you’re not thinking of attacking anyone, General? With what are they armed?”

“Day-to-day normal alert: nothing more than chaff and flares for self-defense,” Spellings replied. “They have a variety of weapons available, but they are loaded only as the situation dictates. Their real value in this scenario would be as a rapid-reaction forward presence.”

“Saber-rattling, General?” Kevich intoned. “I thought we were all beyond that.”

“The Chinese have been saber-rattling with their new aircraft carrier all over the South China Sea for months,” Glenbrook pointed out. “They’ve harassed every military or military-related vessel that cruises within two hundred miles of their shoreline.”

“I don’t think that’s a good reason to elevate tensions in the area by sending in bombers,” Kevich said. “Armed or not, the bombers are a clear provocation. I would be against sending in the aircraft carriers except if they would participate in the search, rescue, and recovery.”

“All the bombers have excellent radar, and the B-52s and B-1 bombers have low-light TV and infrared sensors that can transmit images back here to us,” Spellings said. “They wouldn’t be there just to saber-rattle, Mr. Secretary.”

“Have Pacific Command send a warning notice to Guam, advising the bomber wing of the situation and to stand by in case they’re needed,” the president said. “But for now, we’ll keep them away from the South China Sea. So, how do we proceed with the other assets we have on hand, General?”

“Until the
George Washington
arrives, the surface search-and-rescue task force will be led by the high-endurance Coast Guard cutter
Mohawk,
based in Seattle but on a joint search-and-rescue drill with Taiwanese coast guard vessels in the northern South China Sea near Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan,” Spellings went on. “It has a helicopter and an unmanned tilt-rotor aircraft embarked. They can be in the area in about eight hours.”

“A Coast Guard cutter? That’s the best we have?”

“For a search-and-rescue mission at sea, they’re the experts, sir,” Spellings said. “We’re lucky to have one so close. We could see if there are any commercial vessels in the area, but I don’t have direct access to that information. Besides, the Poseidon carried classified equipment and documents, so I think we’d want to keep all civilians and foreigners away, not just the Chinese.”

“I’m thinking about the worst-case scenario—our ships tangling with that Chinese aircraft carrier or its escorts,” the president said. He thought for a moment; then: “Get the cutter moving to the crash site as well, but find out if there are any Taiwanese, Japanese, or Filipino navy vessels available to assist. Get the sub moving and the Global Hawk airborne, General.”

“Yes, sir.” Spellings picked up a telephone to issue the orders.

Turning to his national security adviser, the president said, “Bill, I want a detailed analysis of the transmissions—and lack thereof—from that P-8 as soon as possible. The sudden loss of communications indicates some sort of electromagnetic interference—jamming. I want to know if any other ships or aircraft in the area were affected. I also want to know if we have any information that the Chinese are working on any sort of electromagnetic weapons that could have been used on the P-8. I know we’ll know more once we recover evidence from the crash site, but I want a list of questions that need to be answered as this thing moves forward.”

“Yes, Mr. President.” He moved toward another telephone to issue orders, but instead pulled out a vibrating cell phone, looked at the display, and punched in unlock codes for the secure line. “Glenbrook, secure,” he spoke. He listened for a few moments. He said, “I’ll pass the word. We’ll need an order of battle assembled as soon as possible,” then hung up.

“What is it, Bill?” Phoenix asked.

“Radio transmissions picked up by commercial vessels in the South China Sea, sir,” Glenbrook replied. “Helicopters from the Chinese carrier are headed north toward the suspected crash site, and the carrier itself is also heading north. It appears the Chinese navy is ordering other ships and aircraft out of the area and setting up a search at the crash site.”

B
ATTLE
S
TAFF
R
OOM
, F
IRST
E
XPEDITIONARY
B
OMB
W
ING
, A
NDERSEN
A
IR
F
ORCE
B
ASE
, G
UAM

A
SHORT TIME LATER

The other staff members were already in the Battle Staff Room when Colonel Warner “Cutlass” Cuthbert entered. “Room, ten-hut,” someone in the darkness ordered.

“Take seats,” Cuthbert said immediately. “We will suspend military formalities, here and everywhere else on base until the situation is back to normal.” He looked at the others seated at the conference table. Three were in green Nomex flight suits; the rest were in desert-gray battle dress uniforms. “Looks like we might have ourselves our first real-world operation, boys and girls. Captain, please proceed.”

“Yes, sir,” Air Force Captain Alicia Spencer, the wing intelligence officer from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, responded. She went to the head of the conference table. “Ladies and gentlemen, about ten minutes ago we received an advisory notice from Pacific Air Forces about a situation in the South China Sea. Although the wing has not been issued a warning order, Colonel Cuthbert suggested we respond as if one will be issued soon. We will receive regular updates from PACAF, but we won’t be tied into the regular Pacific Command battle network until we are issued a warning order.

“Here is what we know so far: less than an hour ago a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon intelligence aircraft went down over the South China Sea. The reason is unknown. Despite requests to remain clear, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy has sent helicopters into the crash area, along with their
Zhenyuan
aircraft carrier battle group. One U.S. carrier strike group is en route but it won’t be on station for a couple days; there is a second, but it wouldn’t be in the area for a week and a half at least. One Coast Guard cutter is nearby and will start the search-and-rescue operation shortly. A Global Hawk and a submarine are en route as well.” Spencer nodded to Cuthbert and took her seat.

“That’s about it, guys,” Cuthbert said. “PACAF says that the White House is afraid that sending bombers would escalate tensions, so we’re not going anywhere yet, but I want to be ready. So I requested that we take one BUFF, one Bone, and one Beak, load them with weapons and fuel for what we think we might use if we were alerted, and have them stand by. That’ll leave one B-52 and one B-1 unloaded and prepped. I recommended JASSMs all around, with the Bone and the BUFF carrying some Mk-62s.” The JASSM, or Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, was a cruise missile designed to attack heavily defended targets from as far as two hundred miles, well outside most enemy defenses; the Mk-62 was a five-hundred-pound general-purpose bomb fitted with a Quickstrike fuze, turning it into a shallow-water antiship mine. “Not sure if we’ll get permission, but that was my recommendation. Thoughts?”

“The South China Sea might be too deep for Mk-62s,” said Lieutenant Colonel Bridget “Xena” Dutchman, commander of the Twentieth Expeditionary Bomb Squadron from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, leading the flight of two B-52H Stratofortress bombers at Andersen. “Depends on where the targets are.”

“If we can’t use Mk-62s, what else do you suggest, Xena?”

“Harpoons,” Dutchman said. The AGM-84 Harpoon was a subsonic air-launched antiship missile with a five-hundred-pound high-explosive penetrating warhead; fired in the direction of enemy ships from as far as sixty miles, it would skim the surface of the ocean, detect a target with its on-board radar, and attack. The Harpoon was much older than the JASSM and had about half the high-explosive punch, but it was still a fearsome weapon against most ships. The B-52 could carry as many as twelve on underwing pylons.

“I’ll add that to the order of battle,” Cuthbert said. “Anything else?”

“The more JASSMs, the better,” said Lieutenant Colonel Juan “Picante” Oroz. Oroz commanded the B-1B Lancer bombers of the Ninth Expeditionary Bomb Squadron from Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas. “Wish we had the extended-range ones though.”

“Maybe we’ll get them if this thing escalates,” Cuthbert said. He turned to the third lieutenant colonel. “Wishbone? Anything?”

“The loadout sounds good to me, sir,” said Lieutenant Colonel Franklin “Wishbone” McBride, commander of the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. Since the American Holocaust and the destruction of many of the American bomber bases in the northern half of the country, all the surviving B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit bombers had been headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base but frequently dispersed to other air bases, including Andersen and Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean; Wishbone commanded the two B-2A Spirit stealth bombers currently based at Andersen. “When will we find out if we’re cleared to load?”

“No idea,” Cutlass said, “but unless I miss my guess, it’ll be days and days of waiting and not knowing anything, followed by a mad hurried dash to get loaded planes in the air. That’s why I’d like to load up at least one bomber from each squadron.”

“Can’t we call it a munition-loading exercise or something and just do it, sir?” Oroz asked.

“Things are tense enough already at PACAF—I don’t want to be playing games with live ordnance,” Cutlass said. “We’ll play this by the book. I submitted a plan and I’ve got my crews on the starting blocks—let’s see if or when the brass wants to shoot the starter’s pistol.”

Cutlass again looked at the others around the conference table. Faces were somber—the gravity of the situation was starting to sink in. “Okay, guys and gals, this might be the real thing, so I want you to make sure your crews are situated properly, rested, and completely up to speed,” he said. “Like I said, if this happens, I’m betting it’s going to be a mad scramble to get planes in the air, and I don’t want any avoidable mistakes. When the call comes, let’s lean into it and hustle, but let’s do it smoothly and professionally. Get ready to do some flying.”