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Drone Command

Troy Pearce and his elite team of drone experts are called in when rising tensions between China and Japan threaten to dramatically change the geopolitical climate of the world.When China stakes a dubious claim in the hotly disputed waters of the East China Sea, the prime minister of Japan threatens to dispatch the country's naval assets and tear up its antiwar constitution unless the Americans forcefully intervene. The war-weary Americans are reluctant to confront the powerful Chinese navy directly, but if the Japanese provoke a military conflict with their historic enemy, treaty obligations would draw the United States into the fight.In order to deescalate the first foreign policy crisis of his administration, U.S. president Lane dispatches Troy Pearce and his team to Tokyo to defuse the situation. What they find is a quagmire of hawkish politicians, nationalistic fervor, special interests with their own hidden agendas, and possibly the greatest military threat that America has ever faced. In this treacherous atmosphere it will require all of Pearce's cunning — and his team's technological prowess — to separate the truth from misdirection, and prevent the world from plunging into war.

Майк Маден

Триллер18+

Mike MadenDrone Command

For all the brave sons, mine most of all

CHARACTER LISTJAPAN

SANJI HARA — Vice Admiral, JMSDF

DR. NITOBE IKEDA — Director, NEDO

HIROSHI ITO — Prime Minister of Japan

KOBAYASHI — Yakuza boss

HIROSHI ONIZUKA — Captain of the submarine Sword Dragon

OSHIRO — Yakuza underboss

KATSU TANAKA — Parliamentary Senior Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, LDP member of the House of Representatives (Nagasaki Prefecture)

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

GENERAL CHEN ZULIN — Vice Chairman, Central Military Commission

ADMIRAL DENG ZILONG — Fleet Commander, PLAN South Sea Fleet

FENG YONGBO — Vice Chairman, Central Military Commission

FENG JIANLI — Son of Feng Yongbo

ADMIRAL JI DONGSHENG — Fleet Commander, PLAN East Sea Fleet

HUANG YONG — Minister of State Security

PANG BO — Ambassador to Japan

SUN QUAN — General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman of the Central Military Commission

DR. WENG LITONG — Head, GAD Expert Working Group (robotic weapon systems)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DR. T. J. ASHLEY — Pearce Systems associate

HENRY DAVIS — Ambassador to Japan

DR. WILLIAM (WILL) ELLIOTT — National Security Research Fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Ex-CIA, friend of Troy’s dad

JIM GARZA — National Security Advisor

STELLA KANG — Pearce Systems associate

DAVID LANE — President of the United States

IAN MCTAVISH — Pearce Systems associate

MARGARET MYERS — Former President of the United States

GENERAL GORDON ONSTOT — Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

TROY PEARCE — CEO, Pearce Systems

MIKE PIA — Director of National Intelligence

BREN SHAFER — Secretary of Defense

GABY WHEELER — Secretary of State

DR. KENJI YAMADA — University of Hawaii faculty, Pearce Systems associate

OTHER NOTABLES

AUGUST MANN — Pearce Systems director of nuclear facility deconstruction (Germany)

DR. LINH PHAM — VAST drone researcher (Vietnam)

TAMAR STERN — Former Pearce Systems security associate, Mossad agent (Israel)

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

4GW — Fourth-generation Warfare

A2AD — Anti-Access/Area Denial

AAV — Autonomous Aerial Vehicle

ACTUV — Antisubmarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel

ADPS — Automated Dynamic Positioning System

ASAT — Antisatellite

ASV — Autonomous Surface Vehicle

ASW — Antisubmarine Warfare

AUV — Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

AWACS — Airborne Warning and Control System

CAP — Combat Air Patrol

CIC — Combat Information Center

CMC — Central Military Commission

DARPA — Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

DNI — Director of National Intelligence

EMP — Electromagnetic Pulse

FIC — First Island Chain

GAD — General Armament Department (A PRC/PLA version of DARPA)

GWOT — Global War on Terrorism

HGV — Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

HPM — High-powered Microwave

HUMINT — Human Intelligence (spies)

ICBM — Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

JPALS — Joint Precision Approach and Landing System

LDP — Liberal Democratic Party of Japan

LRAD — Long-range Acoustic Device

MAD — Mutual Assured Destruction

MIRV — Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle

MOD — Minister of Defense (Japan)

MSS — Ministry of State Security (PRC)

NEDO — New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization

NKP — New Komeito Party (Japan)

SAC — Second Artillery Corps (PRC)

SLBM — Sub-Launched Ballistic Missile

STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

TAD — Threat Assessment Display

TEPCO — Tokyo Electric Power Company

TNF — Technical Nuclear Forensics

TTO — Tactical Technology Office (DARPA, USA)

UCAV — Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle

UCLASS — Unmanned Carrier-launched Surveillance and Strike Vehicle

UFP — Upward Falling Payload

USV — Unmanned Surface Vehicle

UUV — Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

VAST — Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology

VPA — Vietnam People’s Army

VTC — Video Teleconference

AUTHOR’S NOTE

While many of the drone and related systems described in this novel are currently deployed, others are based on patent filings, prototypes, and research proposals. In some cases I modified or simplified their performance characteristics for the sake of the story. However, I’m confident that some variants of what I’ve imagined could soon be a reality.

Being unconquerable lies with yourself;

being conquerable lies with your enemy.

— SUN TZU, The Art of War

ONESIX MILES DUE WEST OF THE SENKAKU/DIAOYU ISLANDSEAST CHINA SEA

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