General Cotton interrupted before he could go any further, “ — Putting all of that aside, what air defense systems do we have operational right now to prevent the Russians from launching a second strike with their Blackjacks? Second, what defenses do we have to protect us here at Patch Barracks and the other facilities around Stuttgart? Third, I thought we had air defenses operational here in Germany. Why did they not respond to this attack?”
Colonel George nodded. He had anticipated these questions. “Sir, nearly a dozen Spetsnaz teams carried out attacks against a number of the air defense sites that we had operational. They also hit the NATO E-3 sentry base at Geilenkirchen and several communication, command and control centers.” He gestured to the army major who had been manning the air defense desk. “I believe the Army has some additional air defense systems that just came online…”
Major Anderson stood up where he was sitting, instead of spending the time walking to the front. “Sir, the THAAD missile system is now operational at Ramstein, Kaiserslautern, and the Stuttgart Army Air Field. The one at SHAPE should be operational in a couple of hours, as well as the two systems in the UK. We have two more being set up as we speak in Poland, one in Hungary and two in Romania. We also have a dozen Patriot systems (both American and German) now active as well,” he explained.
The THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) was a significantly more advanced version of the Patriot missile system. It had the capability of shooting down ballistic missiles in space, and was incredibly effective at hitting cruise and ballistic missiles. Unlike the Patriot, the THAAD was designed purely to engage missiles, while the Patriot retained its primary air-defense mission against aircraft. It should have prevented the American and NATO bases from being hammered by the Russian bombers.
“Why was the THAAD not operational earlier and able to knock down those missiles?” General Cotton pressed, which made the Major squirm a bit.
Major Anderson cleared his throat before answering, “Sir, as you know, the Russians launched a massive cyber-attack a couple of hours before they began their physical assault. The cyber-attack crippled our GPS satellites, and took down our communication systems as well. Unfortunately, the THAAD relies heavily on this technology to guide the missiles to their targets.”
Anderson hesitated. He shifted from one foot to the other, thinking of what to say next. He looked very uncomfortable. “Sir, there was also an incident at the Ramstein and Spangdahlem locations. The situation is still under investigation, so I was not comfortable with sharing it as I do not have all the information yet.”
This caught everyone by surprise; no one had heard about any incident involving the THAAD. “Please share with us what you have, Major. I will determine if it is important,” Cotton directed. He was a little perturbed that apparently General Wheeler either didn’t know about this or had not briefed him on it either.
“Yes, Sir,” the major replied, sweat visibly forming on his forehead. “Well, as you know, in the launch vehicles, there are two radar/missile operators, which are NCOs or soldiers, and then there is a launch officer. In this case, there was a captain in each of the launch vehicles as the launch officer. Both of the captains that were on duty at the time of the Russian attack… well… they slit the throats of the launch crew.” Audible gasps could be heard in the room, along with a few swear words. “That is why none of our THAADs engaged the enemy cruise missiles. They had been sabotaged before they could get a single missile off.”
General Cotton just sat their stunned for a minute, not sure if this was some sort of cruel joke. “Major, this is not the time for gags. What in the blazes really happened?!” he yelled, on the verge of completely losing it.
“Sir, this isn’t a joke. This is why I wanted to hold off on saying anything until I had more information. The military police and CID are still investigating this,” Anderson responded, wishing he was anywhere but there at that moment.
“So, what the hell happened to the two launch officers? Did they just disappear? Tell me you have them in custody, Major!” The General’s face was flush with anger, and he felt his pulse beginning to race.
“No, Sir. We do not have them in custody,” Anderson answered quietly, barely getting the words out. “This appears to have been a pre-planned effort on the part of the Russians. The two Captains that were in charge at the time, we believe had been deep cover GRU operatives or SVR. In either case, they are traitors, and cost the lives of thousands of people. I feel terrible about this, Sir. It was my battalion’s job to operate those THAADs and to protect our bases. I know all the soldiers that were killed personally. We completely screwed things up and thousands of people are dead,” the major said as he began to lose control of his emotions and just sank back into his chair, fighting to hold back tears.
The major had been assigned to the JIOC once the THAADs went online, to act as the liaison between them and the JIOC. He had known the two captains and the men of those crews. The loss of so many lives as a result of his battalion’s failure was becoming too much.
General Cotton saw that Anderson was trying his best. He couldn’t hold the major responsible for the actions of these two traitors. Clearly this entire sneak attack — from the cyber-attacks, to the disabling of the THAADs — was planned months, if not years, in advance.
“Major, I am sorry for your loss. I truly am. This is critically important information. Thank you for sharing it. This explains so much of why we were caught off guard by the Russians. I am sure their actions are not the only ones we will hear about today. During the Cold War, it was believed the Russians would employ a lot of these types of tactics.”
Some of the color returned to Anderson’s face as he realized that General Cotton was showing him a bit of mercy.
Cotton tapped the desk in front of him, thinking. “OK. What I want you to do now is sit down and write out all the details and information you have. We need to get that sent to SHAPE and to the other bases so they know to watch for saboteurs, especially since some apparently have already struck.”
“Yes, Sir,” Major Anderson replied. He immediately began to scribble out notes on the pad of paper in front of him.
The General motioned back to the front of the room. “Colonel George, please continue.”
Colonel George was a bit shocked by what they had just heard, but rallied himself mentally to go on. “Sir, we’ll move over to the Navy. As you know, the George Bush Carrier Strike Group suffered a huge loss. While they were exiting the Bosphorus, nearly a dozen Russian submarines and eight Russian surface warships sprang a trap on the strike group. While the fleet was heavily engaged, a submarine had been lying in wait at the bottom of the ocean, roughly 1,300 feet below the surface. That sub launched six torpedoes at the USS Bush. Because of the close proximity of the sub to the carrier, the torpedoes did not have far to travel.”
He began to show images of the battle that had been taken by the E-2D Hawkeye that had been loitering above the fleet. “One of the torpedoes went for the Nixie (which you know is the device the carrier can trail to mimic their own signature in an attempt to lure the torpedoes away from the carrier). The other three torpedoes struck the carrier.” Colonel George sighed, then continued, “While we were discussing the THAAD issue, we received word that after nearly three hours of trying to save the carrier, the Captain ordered it to be abandoned. They just couldn’t control the fires and flooding.”
As Colonel George finished the recap of the battle, everyone in the room felt even more shock, but also anger. The Russians had really done a number on them, and they wanted revenge. They wanted to fight back.