TF Saigon would be called upon to deliver the first blows of this campaign. The Vietnamese destroyers were French built, and carried the Naval SCALP cruise missile, a land attack weapon with a 550 mile range. DDG Da Nang was selected to fire its 16 missiles at Changi Airfield, and see if they could put more damage there to impede enemy operations. Basically a Storm Shadow, the missiles were very stealthy, and not seen by a pair of F-22’s on CAP until they were almost right below them.
“Sentry, Boxer. We have Vampires, low. Very close. Over.”
“Roger Boxer, rough ‘em up. Cleared hot. Sentry, over.”
That would send out the AMRAAM’s after those cruise missiles, and also sound the alarm at Changi and Singapore harbors. There were two strike packages on the field, loaded with ordnance, and they were ordered up at once to save the planes from damage, along with two more Raptors.
“Sentry, Boxer. No Joy. Over. Vampires are ghosts.”
“Roger Boxer. Standby. Over.”
The AMRAAM’s had little luck in their hunt, with five of six failing to find targets. Word was flashed to Changi, and radars on the SAM defense sites switched on. Singapore had bought the French Mamba, which was basically a land based TEL mounted Aster-30 missile system ranging out 60 miles for long range defense. The inner circle was an older RBS-97 I-Hawk system, ranging about 20 miles. Six Avenger-II’s carrying LRASM and six more British Typhoons with Storm Shadow roared aloft, heading north up the Malay coast with their Raptor escort.
Minutes later, both the E-3 Sentry and the flight of Avenger II’s got the next whiff of those incoming Vampires, just eleven miles from the orbiting AEW plane, down at 300 feet elevation. That was a latecomer, first of the missiles were already making their attack on the airfield. One was engaged and hit by the short range Israeli built SPYDER battery they had overflown. Four got through and raged into the open tarmac space with thundering explosions. Four more followed them. The missiles mostly tore up concrete, but one of the last found a Poseidon slated for ASW patrol and blew it apart. Neither the I-Hawks nor the Mambas got off a single shot. Being positioned in the center of the island, they could just not illuminate the Vampires to get a good lock. It was therefore decided to move them close to the airfield on the eastern end of the island.
“Sentry to Avenger 1. Come to four zero degrees. Tasking order hot. Put it all on the Gator. Over.”
The E-3 had pegged the position of Shandong, which the US now called the “Gator,” after the smaller Marine carriers that supported their fleet. That flight of six planes could send 24 missiles out, and they had the range now….
Aboard Kirov, Nikolin had been listening closely to the radio traffic between the E-3 Sentry and those aircraft. He was able to determine that a strike order was sent, and informed Karpov at 07:00.
“Sir, they have fired SSM’s at one of the Chinese task forces.”
“Could you determine the target?”
“I’m not sure what it is, sir… Something called a Gator.”
“Gator…. Alligator…” Karpov’s eyes narrowed. “That’s what the Americans call their light amphibious assault carriers. It must mean they have found Shandong, the only light carrier the Chinese could have operational out there now. Samsonov, standby for missile combat.”
Karpov rushed to the tactical screen, zooming in on the targeted formation. There it was, Shandong, surrounded by a cluster of eight escorts. Now his screen finally updated from the network, and he could see the intended flight paths of the SSM’s.
“They are LRASM’s” he said, “The air launched version, which is a sea skimmer at 600 knots. Good, that gives us time to warm up the Zircons. Samsonov, give me eight, in two sets of four. I want you to send them up here, northwest and behind that carrier. Make your attack vector 115 degrees.”
“Aye sir. System responding. Missiles being keyed.”
“Send the first salvo when ready. Hold the last four.”
“Ready Sir. Firing as ordered.”
It was the same strategy he had used to hit this carrier earlier, but the ship had been struck in non-vital areas, and the damage repaired in a single long day in port. Now Karpov was gunning for Shandong again.
The Chinese CAP of J-31’s would detect the missiles, storming out at over 4000 knots, altitude unknown. They raced over the fighters, which were powerless to stop them, and passed the Chinese formation, about 50 miles to the west. They might have thought they were ballistic missiles because of their profile, heading north towards Vietnam. Then the missiles made their first of three planned turns, coming to about 65 degrees, now at just over 3000 knots. When they made the second turn, coming to 115 degrees on the assigned attack vector, the ships began to fire the only missiles that might catch them, the HQ-9B. That turn had slowed the Zircons to 2600 knots, still faster than any other SSM on earth.
DDG Xining was trailing about 3 miles behind the carrier, and was first to fire two SAM’s. DDG Jinlong, the Golden Dragon, had also put two missiles out. The first pair both missed their blazing fast targets. Those fired by Jinlong wheeled and were able to get one Zircon. Then the Type 052D class DDG’s Xining and Xiamen poured out more fire, putting six missiles in the air to get after the last three Vampires. The Zircons made their final turn, two more found and killed, but the last was inside five miles and coming at just over 2000 knots. It could close to the target in ten seconds. Both HQ9’s missed it, the guns fired and failed, chaff rockets bloomed around the carrier, but could not fool that demon, then the jammers screamed out in vain, and Karpov had his first hit.
It was a glancing blow, and in fact, one of the frigates actually clipped the missile with its gunfire just as it was about to strike the carrier, but it forged on through, achieving a partial penetration of the hull, and exploding with angry red fire, very low on the waterline. White smoke and steam was hissing as the seawater extinguished the flames, but the threat would not come from fire, but from water. There was soon serious flooding reported forward, beneath the ski lift bow of the carrier.
When Samsonov confirmed the hit, Karpov beamed.
“Outstanding!” he said, clapping his CIC man on his broad shoulder. Samsonov, quiet, stalwart, was only too happy to take the praise.
“How do you like that, Fedorov? We hit them on the very first salvo of the battle, and that will hurt them here. Mark my words.”
Fedorov could see how Karpov clenched his fist, and noted the light of battle in his eyes. He was his old self again, the shroud of sorrow thrown off. Now he looked to the tactical board, watching the first of the LRASM’s begin to make their approach.
The Chinese had found they could still launch fighters, and now the engines of their J-31’s were revving up to take off, the planes leaping off the end of that ski jump bow, and streaking off to the west. More enemy missiles, down on the water, had been seen by the Falcon CAP patrol off that carrier, and it was already engaging them.
Shandong was slowing, the real extent of the damage forward now being reported to the Captain Zheng. The 30mm gun that had been fired by a nearby frigate had clipped the missile, tilting it downward so it hit very low on the water, and at a glancing angle. That had ripped the hull open like a fiery dagger, and the carrier was in serious trouble of foundering, the pumps unable to control the incoming rush of the sea. Crews were desperately sealing off watertight doors, but the flooding spanned many compartments, and the ship was already down at the bow.