Executive Intent

“Tally,” the leader responded after spotting the target a moment later. “Armstrong, we’re tied on visual, we’ll take it from here, okay?” His voice was a little more irritable than he wanted, but this close to a Chinese fighter so far from the ship made things more and more tense, and the unfamiliar voices coming from space weren’t helping to make the tactical picture any clearer.

The bogey was a tiny light dot in the distance, about three miles away. The lead pilot took a quick glance out the starboard side to be sure where his wingman was-high and to his right, able to watch the bogey, his leader, his radar, and his instruments without having to concentrate on formation flying-then began a slow turn as the Chinese aircraft began to pass off his left. The Chinese fighter’s radar remained locked onto them the whole way, even from behind-that had to be sophisticated fire control radar to remain locked on even directly astern. That got the lead Hornet’s blood pumping even faster, and he kept the power up to quicken the intercept.

It was the first time either American had seen a Sukhoi-34 fighter, one of the newest and most high-tech combat aircraft in the world. It was a big aircraft, larger than an American F-15 Eagle or F-14 Tomcat-much larger than the Hornet-with twin vertical tails and a large cockpit area with a large bulge behind the canopy. It was painted in light blue gray, making it hard to see against the sky or the sea, with large bright red numerals on the side below the cockpit and a red star with red stripes on either side on the aft fuselage-definitely Chinese naval aircraft markings. The aircraft had canard foreplanes just below and behind the cockpit, and the Hornet leader could see cooling vents around what appeared to be a very large-caliber cannon muzzle on the right side. “I’ll be damned-it sure is a friggin’ Russian Sukhoi-34 Fullback,” the lead pilot exclaimed. “I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. But it’s in Chinese colors. And it’s carrying those two big honkin’ missiles. I’m moving in for a closer look.”

The closer the leader maneuvered his Super Hornet to the Chinese plane, the more shocked he became. “Lego, he’s got freaky huge missiles under the wings,” he radioed to his wingman. “They have to be twenty feet long and weigh three tons each. One under each wing. No other weapons visible.”

“If he’s got antiship missiles, he’s outta here.”

“Roger that.” On the secondary radio he said, “Yu One-Four, this is Hydra flight, you are carrying unidentified weapons that appear to be offensive long-range antiship missiles. You are not permitted to fly within two hundred miles of any United States warship with such weapons. You are instructed to reverse course and depart the area. Acknowledge.”

“American interceptors, you may not interfere with any peaceful flight over international waters,” the Chinese pilot radioed. The friendly tone was completely nonexistent now. “Terminate your dangerous close flying immediately and leave us alone.”

“Lego, get on the horn to ‘home plate,’ confirm they are listening in, and ask for instructions,” the lead pilot radioed.

“Two.”

On the secondary channel the Hornet pilot said, “Chinese warplane Yu One-Four, this is Hydra One-Two-One flight, U.S. Navy, on GUARD, this is an air defense warning in the clear, you are carrying two suspected offensive antiship missiles and are headed directly for U.S. warships in international waters.” This description was for the benefit of his own ship’s cockpit voice recorders, for the recorders aboard the Hawkeye radar plane, as well as for recordings made by any other nearby ships who were certainly listening in. “I am ordering you to reverse course immediately or you may be fired on without further warning. Comply immediately. This is your final warning.”

“CAG says two hundred is the brick wall, Timber,” the wingman reported. “Based on your description, intel says he might be carrying AS-17 Kryptons. That checks with what Armstrong told us.”

“I dunno-they look bigger than Kryptons,” the lead pilot responded. The AS-17 had been used by the Russians against targets in the United States during their attacks in 2004, and the whole world was now well familiar with those deadly weapons, as well as with the other supersonic and hypersonic weapons in the Russian arsenal.

“The Ready-Five is airborne,” the wingman added.

“Rog. Okay, we’ll climb the ladder as usual and see what he does. Light him up.”

“Two.” The wingman selected his “MASTER ARM” switch from “SAFE” to “ARM” and selected an AIM-120 missile. With the Chinese aircraft designated as the target, the fire control computer changed the pulse-rate frequency of the radar signal for target tracking, which would show up on most radar-threat warning receivers as a locked-on warning. No reaction from the Chinese jet.

“Two-fifty,” the wingman reminded his leader.