USS Kidd (DDG 100)
70 miles Northeast Fiery Cross Reef
“Looks like ten survivors from the THAAD salvo.”
“What’s that straggler there?”
“They had a misfire. They fired an additional interceptor about thirty seconds after the initial launch.”
“OK. Let’s get the engagement set up.”
With over thirty Aegis equipped ships within one hundred miles of Fiery Cross Reef, the Navy had more than enough launch platforms to work with. The Aegis system had been specifically designed to handle this problem. It automatically tracked the incoming missiles, evaluated the threats and distributed target assignments. With only ten incoming missiles, the system could spread out the load evenly across multiple ships. In this case, only one SM-3 IIA would fire from each ship with all of the Cruisers firing and only five Destroyers being assigned targets.
“Target load assigned. One target for us.”
“Weapons free, anti-air.”
“Aye, aye. Weapons free.”
With this command, Captain Harris set the system on automatic and allowed the computer to control the attack. With the success of the THAAD battery, it looked like this salvo would not endanger the task force or any of the personnel on the occupied islands. Well, at least one thing is going to plan today. The roaring of the VLS as the large interceptor launched was almost anti-climactic.
“XO, any status on the America?”
The Kidd’s Executive Officer had been attempting to get a status report from the America for the past few minutes. “Negative sir. They confirmed they were under torpedo attack and reported at least one hit. Nothing since.”
“Shit. OK. Anything from the ASW team over there?”
“Yes sir. Looks like the ASROC barrage sank at least one. The others have moved off. One of the P-8’s believes they have a submarine isolated and are attacking. No joy on the third. Our helos are rotating back to one of the LPDs to refuel and will rejoin the search.”
“Keep me posted.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
“Weps, status on the Vampires?”
“They will be in optimum range in one minute.”
“Confirm the attack plan with Alpha Whiskey.”
“Confirmed, TF
“Excellent. Triple check those IFF’s. We will not be taking out any friendly aircraft.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
VMFA-121 (The Green Knights)
Angels 10, 75 Miles Northwest Fiery Cross Reef
“Hatchet Lead, this is Romeo Lead, you with me?”
“Right with you boyo. You peep, we shoot. Second time today, it’s getting to be a habit.”
“Roger that. Just don’t shoot my Marines.”
“No promises.”
Due to the enhanced radar and other sensors on the F-35, they had a much better chance of targeting the small cruise missiles. The combination of 5th generation and 4th generation aircraft in a single strike package was turning out to be much more effective than even the war planners had hoped. The USA had thousands of tactical aircraft. Even though the number of F-35s was still very low, they were able to make the very large number of “regular” fighters much more effective than they would be on their own. In this case, the stealth features of the F-35 were not required, but their sensor suite would be very critical to the mission.
“OK Marines. Just like the exercise. Keep it tight and watch your targeting hand offs.”
“Oorah!”
While the missiles were much smaller than an aircraft, they were not very stealthy and they didn’t maneuver. After over forty years of planning on how to take out cruise missiles to protect the fleet, the US Navy and thus the rest of the US military had a very deep playbook on how to take out cruise missiles. However, there were a huge number of them out there.
“I count over a hundred.”
“Affirm, lock them up.”
“Locked and loaded.”
“Hatchet, Shoot!”
“Hatchet Lead to Hatchet flight. Shoot! Now, now, NOW!”
With that command, the F-16’s of Hatchet flight fired their remaining AIM-120D’s. In this case, the extended range of the “D” model wasn’t a factor, but their enhanced targeting and more precise guidance package were.
“Good tracks. Flying true.”
“Hit! That’s a hit. Multiple kills.”
“How are we doing?”
“Good kill ratio. Going to have some leakers though.”
“Hatchet Lead to Alpha Whiskey. Engagement successful. Heads up for some leakers.”
“Alpha Wiskey to Hatchet Lead. We see them. Good shooting.”
USS Kidd (DDG 100)
70 miles Northeast Fiery Cross Reef
“Aircraft have broken off. Missiles approaching fifty miles.”
“Very well. Engage at fifty miles.”
“Sir! The missiles are entering terminal attack mode. Altitude is dropping!”
“Damn, that’s early.”
“We are losing them. They are under our radar horizon.”
“Are we linked to the AWACS bird?”
“Yes sir, no joy. Too much surface clutter.”
“OK. Warn the island. They’re on their own.”
War is a democracy, Neil. The enemy gets a vote too.
EXCELLENT!!!!! Had me on the edge of my seat!
Woo Hoo!!! It’s getting exciting now.