Dale Brown
The Kremlin Strike
Dedication
This novel is dedicated to the visionaries: the leaders and innovators who see beyond fear and mistrust, the ones who aren’t afraid to challenge conventional thought and strive to build something greater for the future.
Space is one such place where we need fresh ideas and action. I’ve written about a Space Defense Force for many years — and now a sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces, the Space Force, has been proposed.
Naturally, the howls of fear, distrust, outrage, and anger are sweeping around the world. But space is too important for the United States to ignore. It’s time to plan, organize, build… and act.
Epigraph
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
Cast of Characters
JOHN DALTON FARRELL, president of the United States of America
ANDREW TALIAFERRO, secretary of state
DR. LAWRENCE DAWSON, PH.D., White House science adviser
ELIZABETH HILDEBRAND, CIA director
SCOTT FIRESTONE, admiral, U.S. Navy, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
AMANDA HAYES, major general, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Strategic Command Missile and Space Warning CENTER
THOMAS NISHIYAMA, commander, U.S. Navy, White House military aide
DANE “VIKING” THORSEN, commander, U.S. Navy, F/A-18E Super Hornet squadron commander, USS Ronald Reagan
HUNTER “BOOMER” NOBLE, PH.D., chief of aerospace engineering, Sky Masters Aerospace, Inc., lead pilot for the reactivated S-series spaceplane program
BRAD MCLANAHAN, spaceplane pilot and Cybernetic Orbital Maneuvering System (COMS) pilot
MAJOR NADIA ROZEK, spaceplane pilot and COMS pilot
PETER CHARLES “CONSTABLE” VASEY, former pilot in the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, spaceplane pilot and COMS pilot
JASON RICHTER, PH.D., colonel, U.S. Army (ret.), chief executive officer of Sky Masters Aerospace, Inc.
KEVIN MARTINDALE, president of Scion, former president of the United States of America
PATRICK MCLANAHAN, technology and intelligence expert, former lieutenant general, U.S. Air Force (ret.)
IAN SCHOFIELD, Scion deep-penetration expert, former major in Canada’s Special Operations Regiment
SAMANTHA KERR, operative, Scion Intelligence
MARCUS CARTWRIGHT, operative, Scion Intelligence
DAVID JONES, operative, Scion Intelligence
ZACH ORLOV, computer operations specialist, Scion Intelligence
LIZ GALLAGHER, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force (ret.), copilot, S-29B Shadow spaceplane
JAVIER REYES, data-link officer, S-29B Shadow spaceplane
PAUL JACOBS, defensive systems officer, S-29B Shadow spaceplane
JILL ANDERSON, lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy (ret.), offensive weapons officer, S-29B Shadow spaceplane
GENNADIY ANATOLIYVICH GRYZLOV, president of the Russian Federation
COLONEL GENERAL MIKHAIL IVANOVICH LEONOV, commander, Aerospace Forces, head of the Mars Project
VIKTOR KAZYANOV, minister of state security
DARIA TITENEVA, foreign minister
MAJOR GENERAL ARKADY KOSHKIN, chief of the Federal Security Service’s Q Directorate
CAPTAIN DMITRY POPOV, aide to Arkady Koshkin
LIEUTENANT COLONEL VASILY DRAGOMIROV, field operative for Russian military intelligence (GRU)
MAJOR EDUARD NAUMOV, technical officer, GRU Ninth Directorate
COLONEL VADIM STRELKOV, Space Forces cosmonaut, Mars One commander
MAJOR GEORGY KONNIKOV, Space Forces cosmonaut, Mars One sensor officer
YURI KLEMENTIYEV, launch director, Vostochny Cosmodrome
ALEXEI GREGORJEV, launch director, Baikonur Cosmodrome
MAJOR ALEXEI RYKOV, Su-27 pilot, former Mars Project cosmonaut candidate
CAPTAIN SERGEI NOVITSKI, Su-27 pilot
LIEUTENANT COLONEL PAVEL ANIKEYEV, Space Forces cosmonaut, Mars One second in command
MAJOR VIKTOR FILATYEV, Space Forces cosmonaut, Mars One chief weapons officer
CAPTAIN LEONID REVIN, Space Forces cosmonaut, Mars One deputy weapons officer
MAJOR PYOTR ROMANENKO, Space Forces cosmonaut, Mars One engineering and special action officer
LIEUTENANT NIKOLAY KHRYUKIN, Air Force meteorology officer
COLONEL VLADIMIR TITOV, commander, 1529th Guards Air Defense Missile Regiment
LIEUTENANT GENERAL SEMYON TIKHOMIROV, second in command, Aerospace Forces
COLONEL IVAN FEDEROV, Su-35 pilot and commander, 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment
PIOTR WILK, president of Poland, former general in the Polish Air Force and commander of the First Air Defense Wing
KAROL SIKORA, sergeant, Polish Special Forces
TADEUSZ DOMBROWSKI, sergeant, Polish Special Forces
CHARLES COSTELLO, brigadier general, duty controller, North American Aerospace Defense Command
Real-World News Excerpts
U.S. MILITARY IS PREPARING FOR THE NEXT FRONTIER: SPACE WAR — CNN.com, 29 November 2016—Since man first explored space, it has been a largely peaceful environment. But now US adversaries are deploying weapons beyond Earth’s atmosphere, leading the US military to prepare for the frightening prospect of war in space.
…China and Russia are taking aim at America in space with a dizzying array of weapons seemingly borrowed from science fiction. Russia has deployed what could be multiple kamikaze satellites such as “Kosmos 2499”—designed to sidle up to American satellites and then, if ordered, disable or destroy them. China has launched the “Shiyan”—equipped with a grappling arm that could snatch US satellites right out of orbit…
SPACE WAR IS COMING… AND THE U.S. IS NOT READY — Politico, 6 April 2018—War is coming to outer space, and the Pentagon warns it is not yet ready, following years of underinvesting while the military focused on a host of threats on Earth.
Russia and China are years ahead of the United States in developing the means to destroy or disable satellites that the U.S. military depends on for everything from gathering intelligence to guiding precision bombs, missiles and drones…
…There is the potential for an actual physical attack — with a missile or laser — to destroy space assets. Some experts worry the most about that scenario, which was exemplified by a 2008 test in which China tested an anti-satellite laser to blow up one of its own satellites…
Space As a War-Fighting Domain — Air and Space Power Journal, Summer 2018—… In the future, our potential adversaries will have the capability to hold every one of our critically important national security satellites at risk…
…The best way to prevent war from extending to space is: to prepare for that possibility, deter aggressive action in space, and if deterrence fails, be ready to fight and win…
Prologue
Flanked by a pair of heavily armed Ka-52 Alligator gunships, a twin-engine HeliVert AW139 helicopter clattered low over a forest of birch and pine, slowing as it turned toward a small clearing in the woods. Its tricycle landing gear swung down and locked in position. Rotors whirling, the helicopter flared in and settled onto a concrete pad painted to look like a natural blend of rock and grass from high altitude. The two Ka-52s veered away, climbing steeply to circle overhead.