The President sighed and then turned to the Air Force general. “What about the B-21 Raider we talked about last month? Is it ready to be tested over China?” he asked.
The general nodded as a smile spread across his face. “Yes, Mr. President. I spoke with the program manager and the test pilots, and they’ve flown it out to Japan. Tomorrow, it will fly its first combat mission over northern China, attacking a collection of PLA command-and-control bunkers we’ve identified through Project Enigma. Pending the results of that mission, we’ll test it against a much tougher target in Beijing.”
The President scratched his chin and a mischievous smile curled up the corners of his lips. “If Project Enigma can identify these command-and-control bunkers, can it also identify where the senior PLA leadership is located? Or even President Xi?” he asked. “If we can locate them, then perhaps we should try and go after them more directly.”
“We’ll look into it, Mr. President,” Admiral Meyers replied as he scribbled something on his notepad.
When Lieutenant Colonel Rob “Pappi” Fortney’s B-2 stealth bomber had been shot down over Russia, he’d figured his career in the Air Force was over. After twenty-five years of service, he was certain the brass would put him out to pasture in disgrace after losing a $2 billion warplane just days into the start of World War III. Then, when he’d found out his co-pilot, Major Richard “Ricky” James had been captured, he’d truly felt like a failure.
Within a couple of days of being rescued by NATO soldiers on the Lithuanian border, he had been flown back to the US to be treated for his injuries. While he was recovering at the Army’s Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, a major general in charge of the Air Force’s B-21 Raider program had paid him a visit.
“I heard a rumor that you had planned to retire at the end of your service obligation, Fortney,” he’d opened. “Any truth to that?”
“Yes, Sir,” Pappi had replied cautiously, wondering if he was going to be forced out sooner.
“Well, I’m here to ask you to reconsider,” the major general replied. “I’d like you to stay on and be the lead Air Force test pilot for the new stealth bomber program.”
Pappi’s mouth hung open in surprise.
Unfazed, the general continued, “With twenty-five years of service flying stealth bombers, you’ve flown combat missions over Serbia during the NATO Kosovo campaign and also carried out numerous missions over Afghanistan and Iraq. Since you no longer have a plane to fly, the Air Force wants to leverage your flight experience with the B-21 as we rapidly move the program forward to meet the new demands of the current war.”
“Sir, I appreciate the offer, but honestly, I just want to retire and put the memory of my last bombing run behind me,” Pappi responded.
The major general had tried unsuccessfully to convince him to change his mind. However, within the week, the Air Force Chief of Staff had shown up at the hospital. When he’d made his plea for Pappi to reconsider, he’d also offered a promotion to go along with the Silver Star they were awarding him and guaranteed him the first B-21 bomber. It was an offer he couldn’t turn down, especially when President Gates also paid him a visit later that same day.
“Raider Zero-One, this is Mother Goose. We show five enemy aircraft eighty-two kilometers from your current position at heading two-two-four, 520 knots. Altitude nineteen thousand feet. How copy?” asked the air battle manager on the Boeing E-3 Sentry loitering one hundred and twenty kilometers behind them.
Double D depressed the talk button on her radio. “That’s a good copy, Mother Goose. We are twenty mikes to target. Proceeding with mission,” she replied.
Major Donna “Double D” Daniels was Pappi’s smart, yet brash young copilot who was eager to release their twenty-four GBU-31 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs and get back to the protection of the Allied lines.
Today was the B-21’s first combat mission, and her first time flying over enemy territory. They were going to test the bomber’s ability to release, guide and hit twenty-four separate targets with its onboard targeting computer. With the loss of the DoD’s military satellites, aircraft were having to rely on their own ability to guide their bombs to the target as opposed to leveraging GPS satellites to do it for them.
Not taking her eyes off her instruments or radar screen, she asked, “How are we looking, Boss?”
Pappi pressed a couple of buttons and then looked up at Double D. “We’re good. Just finished arming the bombs and double-checking the targets. Everything is set,” he replied. Looking at his copilot again, he raised an eyebrow. “You look nervous, Daniels,” he added.
“We’re flying an experimental bomber over enemy territory with fighters hunting us less than 80 kilometers away. Yeah, I guess you could say I’m nervous.”
Pappi snickered. “Oh, come on, Daniels. You were full of piss and vinegar about how we were going to turn the tide of the war with this bomber two weeks ago.”
“Yeah, well, that was when we were still back in Nevada at the test facility. I had no idea they were going to send us to China to test my theory a week later,” she replied with a bit of embarrassment in her voice.
Turning serious, Pappi added, “It’s OK to feel nervous or scared. We all do. Remember, I’m the one who’s already been shot down once. Yet here I am, back in a bomber, flying over enemy territory again. Just stick to your training, take deep breaths and remain calm. We’re fine. The enemy can’t see us, and they have no idea we’re here.”
Daniels took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she nodded. The pep talk seemed to help. A few minutes went by as the two of them flew in silence, the sound of the engines and the air flowing past the outer shell of the bomber the only audible noise.
The navigation system popped up with an alert. “One minute to weapons release,” she announced.
Pappi reached down and depressed the weapon standby button. In seconds, the doors opened up, exposing the bomb bay and their precious cargo to the world below. He then moved his finger over to the targeting computer, selecting the bombs he wanted to release. Pappi waited until the system indicated they were over the predetermined drop site, and then, in a single fluid motion, he hit the weapons release button. The targeting computer would automatically begin releasing the Raider’s bombs.
One by one the bombs fell, heading to their predetermined targets 29,000 feet below them. In roughly sixty seconds, the targeting computer had released all twenty-four bombs. Now it was time for them to watch and wait as their laser designator directly beneath them guided the bombs to their intended targets. Minutes passed by as Pappi and Double D waited for the bombs to hit. After what felt like an eternity, the bombs started to hit their marks. In the span of a single minute, they had hit twenty-four command-and-control bunkers and communication nodes of the PLA’s 54th and 65th Armies, to devastating effect.
Chapter 22
End-State
The fall weather had finally arrived in Beijing. The leaves on the trees had changed colors and a cool breeze was starting to blow in from the north and northwest. Colonel Su looked up at the doors leading into the August First Building; he dreaded going inside. The building had been hit by American stealth bombers three times in the last five days. Each time, the edifice had taken multiple bomb hits, causing significant damage to the structure and the guts of the building. Strangely enough, none of the bombs had managed to penetrate down into the command center deep below.