Range Administration Hut, United States Air Force Air Warfare Center, Nellis AFB, Nevada
Martin watched the maneuver with fascination. They had to be SACs new RB-58Cs, nothing else in the inventory performed like that. They'd soared straight through the Ajax battery's engagement zone while the radar operators were still trying to cope with the jamming and then peeled over.
“Papa-November, Papa-November.” That was Lieutenant Wu from Tiger Lily. The message was accompanied by the burst transmission of the target co-ordinates. “Papa-November.” That was Korrina in Marisol, also with his target co-ordinates. Three GAM-83B missiles were arcing downwards towards their targets. Now, it was range instrumentation's job to work out the impact points of the missiles. Although given the “November” bit of the launch code, it didn't matter very much.
The range operators were flipping slide rules to calculate the real impact points, the GAM-83 had a known CEP so it was just straightforward maths. Sure enough, all three radars were within the radius of total destruction for the warheads. Martin cut the transmissions to the Ajax radar operators and watched them jump as their screens went black.
“Ajax sites 19/78, 17/25 and 18/03 you may stand down now. You have been destroyed.”
Then Martin did a double take at the display screens. There really were dragons, the check really was in the mail and politicians spoke the truth. Or, in the crazy universe that had obviously crept up on them, they would from now on. Because, in the sky over the Red Sun test range, the bombers were attacking the fighters.
Bombardier-Navigator's Position, RB-5HC “Marisol”
Display management was another art that had been introduced with the RB-58C. Eddie Korrina was playing his displays like a master. He'd had the input from the ASQ-42 radar bombing system on his main scope with the repeat from Xav's emitter location system on the left-hand secondary screen and the air-to-air input from the ASG-18 on the right hand secondary. That had allowed him to keep an eye on the Voodoos but they were too far back and out of position. It looked like the sheer speed of the attack had completely thrown the defenses.
Now to deal with the fighters, he toggled the displays so the air-to-air picture took center stage. The F-101s were heading in and the distance was closing fast but he had them locked. The ASG-18 was track-while-scan and could paint two targets simultaneously whole continuing to search for more. He had the Voodoo formations on the left and ahead dialed in; Tiger Lily would be taking the formation over on the right.
“Fox-November, Fox-November”
Now, if this was for real, two GAR-9s would be streaking out in front of Marisol accelerating up to Mach 6 and climbing up to top out at over 150,000 feet. Then, they would plunge on the formation beneath and initiate their nuclear warhead in its middle. The data package attached to the GAR-9 launch rail was transmitting target and course data to the range instrumentation center that was simulating the missile launch, Korrina looked, the right hand Voodoo was flying straight and level - that made them dead meat but...” Break left, break left. MB-1 inbound.”
Marisol did a barrel roll, changing altitude by 15,000 feet and breaking left by 90 degrees. Tiger Lily did the same breaking right. Now, they'd hear from Range Instrumentation if it was enough.
Range Administration Hut, United States Air Force Air Warfare Center, Nellis AFB, Nevada
“Jeez, will you look at that.” The range observer's voice was hushed with awe, fighters maneuvered radically in these exercises but nobody had ever seen a double-sonic barrel roll before let alone one performed by a bomber. “Won't that break their radar lock's sir?”
“Doesn't matter.” Martin's voice was awed also, even after five years at Red Sun; he'd never seen anything like this before. SAC had sprung a major strategic surprise on the defending forces. Certainly, the missile crews and fighter pilots knew the performance details of the RB-58 and were aware the aircraft were coming this year but it was one thing to read figures, another to see what they meant in the sky. Another demonstration of the old military maxim “surprise exists in the mind of the enemy.”
It wasn't as if Marisol and Tiger Lily were maneuvering hard or were exceptionally agile, Martin would have to inspect the tapes later but he doubted if either aircraft had exceeded one g. It was the sheer blinding speed with which they were shifting from one maneuver to another and flipping between targets and weapons that were decisive. They were way inside the decision-making curve of the defenses, to the point where it seemed that the defensive aircraft and missiles were co-operating in their own destruction.
“The GAR-9 is an active radar homing missile; it’s got its own guidance radar. The MB-1s are unguided. Have we got results on them?”
The analysis team were frantically working to get the results of the launches calculated. There were rumors that computers were being developed that would take over this role but it seemed unlikely, Computers were big, expensive and unwieldy, even now, there were engineers going around with baskets of spares replacing blown valves. Until that happened, the analysis team would make do with slip-sticks and pie-cutters.
“MB-1s clean miss. Not even close. GAR-9s direct hits on formation centers. Wipe out, small chance of some of the fighters surviving but not much - and if they did, they aren't gonna be doing anything useful.”
“Marisol, Tiger Lily, nuclear explosions behind you. No threat. Vampire One, Vampire Two and Vampire Three return to base. You have been shot down. Say again, you are nuclear fission products, return to base.”
Martin looked at the situation display again. The four F-104s, Sierra-One, were climbing towards the battle area but they were already late. The RB-58s were above and on either side of them and were already swooping down for the kill. Looking at the screen, Martin was reminded of the days he'd watched hawks hunting for prey. Same devastating precision.
Pilot's Position, RB-58C “Marisol”
Captain Mike Kozlowski focused on the F-104s below him and to his left. His inlets were cooling off now, the barrel role had taken them to 102 percent of safe operating temperatures. That meant the ground crews would have to check the panels overnight for distortion. If he'd gone over 105 percent, Marisol would have been grounded for a thorough inspection. Now, he was diving on the F-104s at just over 1,620 miles per hour. He'd be going behind and below them any second now. “Tiger Lily, extend.”
The second RB-58 leveled off and accelerated away from the F-104s. The Starfighter was a point defense interceptor, very fast, with a superb rate of climb but its radar had a very narrow tracking scan while the pilot had poor vision aft. Their radar warner would pick up a lock-on but Korrina would be scanning only. He wouldn't lock until the last second. The situation now was a sandwich with the F-104s in the middle. Marisol was closing in below and behind them while Tiger Lily was ahead and climbing away. Kozlowski grinned and selected his GAR-8s. He framed the central F-104 and waiting until the annunciator growled. It would be a perfect GAR-8 shot, point-blank range against a target perfectly framed. “Fox-One.”