Chimera

This is getting out of control… Khurana thought as he began to orient himself in the three-dimensional skies around him. The Chinese J-10 pilot had misread the tense situation and had bungled up. But now it was going downhill. One Indian fulcrum had taken a hit from a Chinese air-to-air missile while another was about to take down the Chinese J-10 in retaliation but without clear orders to do so. Emotions in combat could be very disruptive, as he knew. And right now both sides were displaying their fair share of it…

A bigger danger remained beyond the Chinese J-10. Four more Su-27s were bearing down from the north while a dozen more Indian fighters were now being vectored to the area by the Phalcon airborne controllers. It was time for him to bring things under control. He switched his comms:

“Claw-Three, this is — One. Do not engage! Repeat, do not engage!”

“Claw-One, this is — Three. We have already been engaged! I have the bugger locked on a single R-77 over here. Requesting permission to bring that son of a bitch down! Over!”

That’s tempting… Khurana thought. But he also knew that if that Indian Mig-29 took down the J-10 then the four Su-27s would return the favor with a volley of their own BVR missiles against that offending Indian aircraft. And it would be for nothing: they were not at war.

Yet.

Besides, Khurana knew it was all a huge mistake. He was not going to be responsible for giving the Chinese a reason to start one. Not without proper authorization, anyway…

“Negative, — Three. Do not engage! Break contact and return to formation. Claw-Two is hit and needs assistance back to base. Standby,” he changed frequencies: “Eagle-Eye-One, this is Claw-One. Claw-Three has taken a hit from a Chinese missile but is still aloft. Barely. Claw-Two has the enemy J-10 locked on and ready to engage. I need authorization to engage or I am ordering my flight to break contact right away before this thing snowballs on us! Over.”

On board the Phalcon to the south, the airborne-controller looked back at Verma who in turn clenched his fists in anger at what had happened but was also professional enough to realize the huge mistake it all was. A few seconds later Khurana got his response:

“Copy, Claw-One. Assist the crippled bird back to base. We have Su-30s entering the airspace now and will establish BARCAP between you and the Su-27s. Good luck. Over and out.”

By this time Khurana had taken up position alongside Claw-Two as they made way back to Leh. Khurana turned his head to see the damage and came away with mixed feelings. The port side of the aircraft had been shredded. The port wing trailing edge control surfaces had been destroyed. The port side dorsal fuselage area panels had been blown away but luckily the engine was still apparently running. The port vertical stabilizer was also two-third the size it should have been. And one weapon pylon with its R-77 payload on the port side was missing. It was not pretty, but the damage was repairable.

In a few months, perhaps… Khurana thought to himself as he realized that this particular aircraft was going to go off the No. 28 Squadron’s order-of-battle as soon as it came to a stop on the runway. But most importantly the pilot was still alive and unhurt. That in of itself seemed like a miracle considering the shape the aircraft was in. Khurana radioed to him the results of his visual inspection of the aircraft even as Leh airbase control tower finally checked in on the comms. Khurana was equally relieved to see his third aircraft return from the north a few minutes later and line up alongside with all his R-77s still attached.

AIRSPACE OVER SOUTHWESTERN TIBET

TIBET

MAY 15, 2120 HRS

As the Indian Phalcon crew under command of Verma were bringing the situation under control on their side, to the north Feng was also in full action as he tried to determine what had gone wrong.

“Order all Su-27s to shut down their radars and order them to pull back to the north right away,” Feng barked his orders to the airborne control officer.

Feng walked over to the single porthole to see the dark starlit skies outside. He knew he would have to answer for this. Pushing the situation was all right when done within limits. Out here, the situation had deteriorated severely and always the thinking officer, Feng had adapted. He knew that the J-10 pilot had panicked and bungled. He knew the Indians had evaded the missiles and were making their way back to base. But for all that they had restrained themselves. He was obliged to do the same. This was not a time to push the Indians.

At least not when all I have are just four Su-27s on hand…