Yet there were no fast ship killing missiles in the Western bag of tricks. Where the Russians relied on the lightning speed and range of a missile like the Zircon, and even the older Onyx (Moskit II) class missiles, the US Navy armed its planes with the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, (LRASM), but the Japanese did not have any of those. Instead they would rely on a time-honored and well proven strike munition—the smart bomb. But unlike the dumb bombs carried by the planes of 1943, these weapons could be released 40 to 60 nautical miles from their targets, and they would glide into battle using infra-red and radar seeking capability, as well as inertial navigation.
The Germans had come up with a very similar idea, and they called it the Fritz-X, a radio controlled glide bomb that produced some dramatic results in the Med. The main difference was that the guidance was not on board the bomb, but in the plane that launched it. Kita’s smart bombs could be released, and left to their own devices. They would deploy small winglets, and begin their gliding descent from the heavens, like a rain of meteors, slow, silent and yet very deadly.
Now his birds were in the air, and so he would turn his carriers away from the action, taking them back to join Omi. The three escorting destroyers would adjust speed and charge forward to deploy their AA defense screen. Everything was up to the F-35’s, the best shot Kita had at putting some harm on Kirov. If the first wave failed, he still had planes ready for a second strike. For now, his strike was up and on its way at 08:30 hours, and Kirov was soon to be visited by some most unexpected adversaries in the skies east of Ponape.
Chapter 33
Harada was not happy about the loss of his Seahawk, but he thought they could not yet risk having one of the other ships send up a replacement. If the enemy saw a second helo, it would immediately raise a question as to where it could have originated. He knew the Russian helos would be able to see it did not come from his ship, and they were being very careful, keeping their helos well out of range of his SM-2 missiles, to keep an eye on things like that.
Yet the loss of aerial radar assist was a real liability. He turned to his XO, a question in mind. “Should we have Kita get up another helo?”
“Now or never,” said Fukada. “The Russian helos probably haven’t seen any of Kita’s ships yet. If Kita launches and our birds come in low, they probably won’t spot them either.”
“Alright, I’ll make the suggestion, but I suppose it will be up to the Admiral.” He had Ensign Shiota send a quick message requesting helicopter support, and advising low altitude approach until they were inside estimated Russian radar coverage zones. It was all a game of cat and mouse, as if chess might be played by allowing one player to move a piece while the other fellow wasn’t watching the board. That was the essence of modern combat at sea like this. Those that could see their enemy, could kill. At the moment, the score was even, each side had seen the other, but Karpov had more eyes in the sky, and the Japanese needed to match that capability.
The word was passed to Kongo on the forward defense line. She was in the center position, with destroyers flanking her some 25 miles to either side. Each one had a Seahawk, and Kongo got the nod.
At a little after 08:45 local time, Rodenko reported the KA-226, Blackbird, was running low on fuel. Karpov ordered it home, and had their last KA-40 launch to take its place and give him aerial radar coverage to the east. The other KA-40 was patrolling to the west. He also turned to approach Blackbird, hoping to close the range for it a bit and ease recovery.
Kita’s Kaga-1 Shotai was already well inside the radar envelope of the KA-40 to the west, but the Russians saw nothing. The inherent stealth of the F-35 was now another dangerous factor weighing heavily in the equation for the Japanese.
But both sides could play that game, and Captain Ivan Gromyko was continuing to make a very quiet approach to Takami as all this was going on. Kazan had picked up the Japanese ship’s position, prompting Gromyko to order an immediate turn to port. He had been cruising due west on a heading of 270 for the last half hour, running just above the layer. With his depth at 420 feet, he ordered Kazan to put on speed at 09:15, increasing to 28 knots.
The Captain’s intention was to get in as tight on Takami as he could before the other side might locate him. The closer he was, the less reaction time his enemy might have on defense, for his missiles were very fast. He was presently about 32 nautical miles from his quarry, and on a course to intercept, which he now adjusted slightly to account for the speed change. His Starpom, Lieutenant Commander Belanov, was at his side, the bridge quiet and serious, as it always was when Gromyko was present. They had been running in EMCON mode, having received the Takami’s location long ago from Blackbird before he went deep.
“We’re close enough to give them a shave,” said Belanov. “Those Zircons are quick.”
“True,” said Gromyko. “I could ruin their day right here and now, but if I get a little closer, inside torpedo range, all the better.”
Gromyko had the patience of a saint when it came to combat. He saw the Japanese Seahawk go down, and as far as he was concerned, Takami was already dead. They had no helo in the air that could bother him now, so as long as he stayed outside a ten mile range, they had no other ASW weapon aboard that could touch him. His own UGST Fizik-1 Torpedoes could reach out 22 nautical miles if necessary, though he preferred to fire them much closer in. So he was very close to his target now, creeping up like a cat about to spring on its unwary prey. He might have fired his RPK-7 torpedoes earlier, but being a rocket assisted weapon, that would have given up his position. If he wanted to do that, he’d use something much better. When he fired his cruise missiles, the enemy would know approximately where he was, but there would be little they could do about it, or so he believed at that moment.
As always, it was not what you knew, but what you did not know in modern combat that could kill you. Gromyko was still unaware that Kongo already had another Seahawk up, moving south at low elevation, and still unseen by either of Karpov’s KA-40s. Yet at the same time, the Japanese had no inkling that a modern Russian sub would be in the mix, and that helo had been loaded out for maritime surveillance. Now this three dimensional chess game was about to go from a sedate series of opening moves, to the heat and fire of the middle game. Karpov was leading by a pawn, but the Japanese had heavy pieces bearing down on him, and they were about to make themselves known.
Rodenko saw the data link from Blackbird on his screen, scratching his head. “Sir, new airborne contact, bearing 50 degrees northeast, range 175 nautical miles, speed 480.”
“480 knots?”
“Yes sir, and I have it on a direct heading to our ship—245 degrees.”
“Show me.” Karpov was hovering over Rodenko’s station, seeing the contact lit up in yellow. “That can’t be another helo off Takami.”
“No sir,” said Rodenko. “Their Seahawks can run at about 155 knots, so it has to be a plane.”
“Then they have a carrier nearby.”