Episode 105

USS Kidd (DDG 100)

Sea of Japan, 250 Miles East DPRK

Captain Harris lit up his tenth cigarette of the day, assiduously NOT looking at the no-smoking sign in the CIC. His ship and it’s task force had been sitting, waiting, for days. While this should provide a much needed rest, it was turning out to be worse than active combat. Like a bow string drawn taut for too long, the entire crew of the Kidd were becoming stressed, worn out and brittle. Including her captain.

A muttered “Oh FUCK” snapped his head around. To be fair, it only took the chief on the communications station a second to compose himself. “TORCHLIGHT!! Sir, we have flash traffic! Pacific Command has issued a TORCHLIGHT alert to all units Pacific Command!”

Well, that was it. Torchlight was the one thing nobody wanted to hear. It was the code word for a possible nuclear strike by the DPRK. The most likely target at this point was Japan due to her proximity. Which is why they were sitting where they were. Right in the way. It was only slightly less dire than an attack from China, but still on the short list of “very bad things.”

“Light off the main arrays. Signal to the task force. Set condition one.” Alarms began to blare throughout the ship.

The Kidd’s Executive Officer came into CIC and went straight to Captain Harris. “Torchlight?”

“Yeah. This is going to be bad, Butch.”

“Do you really think NCA will authorize?” The “National Command Authority” was the phrase the military used for the President or his successors and their authority to launch nuclear weapons. Unlike conventional weapons, only the President or their assigned successor could actually authorize a nuclear weapons launch by the United States. Torchlight called for a retaliatory strike against Pyongyang if a nuclear attack from the DPRK was confirmed.

“Do you really think they won’t?” Harris looked at Thomas until the XO looked away. Neither man wanted to think about the consequences of a nuclear exchange.

“Sir! We have handoff.”

Even with the full power of the task force’s extremely capable radar systems, they were unable to see “beyond the horizon.” This meant that ballistic missile attacks were handed off from space based or other targeting assets to the ship before they could fire. In this case, the increasing altitude of the missiles meant that the Kidd would see them on radar shortly.

“Acquisition! Target acquisition. Forty targets. Tracking. Positive track. Projected impacts on targets in Japan. Looks like they are targeting near Tokyo. Most likely Yokota.” Yokota was a major US Air Force facility which had been hosting B-1 and B-52 bombers recently. “Handshake. We have full handshake with Aegis ashore.” Japan operated it’s own land based missile defense system to defend against this exact scenario. Based on the same system operating on the Kidd, it was referred to as Aegis Ashore.

“Butch, check with command. Do we have confirmation that this is a nuclear strike?”

“Checking with command but I don’t think they know.”

“Weps, let’s get those SM-3’s locked. We are going for mid-course.”

“Aye, aye.”

While the Aegis system was largely automatic, it had a number of “modes” that would affect it’s firing strategy. In this case, the goal was to attack the missiles in their “mid-course” phase. This meant that the system would wait until the missiles boosters burned out and were gliding. This makes the attack geometry simpler since the targets couldn’t maneuver, but it was also the longest range shot they could take. The SM-3 had an additional booster that it used to get up to the altitudes needed for this type of intercept.

“Weapons free, ballistic.”

“Aye, weapons free, ballistic.”

Harris could hear the large missiles launching from the forward vertical launch system. A muted roar that had become distressingly familiar to the captain and crew.

“Good weapons release. Tracking. The weapons are tracking.”

“Sir, command is sticking with Torchlight. Unknown if this is a nuclear strike but proceed assuming it is nuclear.”

“Goddamn it.”

“Approaching intercepts now, sir.” The entire room held their breath. “HIT! Good hits! Debris field is blocking our radar lock. One moment. OK, we have fifteen tracks remaining. Repeat, fifteen tracks remaining.”

“Get the JDF on the horn. Make sure they are tracking.”

“Aye, aye. Confirmed. Good handoff to JDF Aegis ashore.”

Now all Harris could do is wait. The Japanese shore based installations would try again with their SM-2 “terminal phase” interceptors. Involuntarily, Harris looked up. Even if he had been outside, he couldn’t have seen the missiles so far overhead, but he knew they were there.

“May God have mercy on their souls. Poor bastards.” Harris wondered if God was truly cruel enough to rain nuclear fire down on Japan again.