“She,” Admiral Vaughn interrupted.
“Sir?”
“You said ‘he.’ Ships are female.”
“In our Navy, yes, sir. The Russians refer to ships as ‘he.’ I just thought—”
“You’re briefing Americans, damn it. You can use American terminology.”
“Yes, sir.” Neil turned back to the screen. “She has a displacement of about seventy thousand tons and an overall length of one thousand feet, which puts her in Jefferson’s class.
”Kreml carries a wing of approximately sixty-five to seventy aircraft You can see some of them lined up here, starboard side aft. These here, as you can see, are Yak-38MP
ARMAGEDDON MODE
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Forgers. Nothing new there. They appear to be identical to the V/STOL aircraft carried aboard the smaller Kiev-class carriers in both fighter and strike roles. Four wing pylons. The usual combat configuration is two external tanks and two Aphid missiles. Actually, the Forger has about a twenty-five percent payload advantage over the AV-8B Harrier, but it is generally considered to be an inferior aircraft.” Neil cracked a rare smile. “If it’s any indication, the Indian navy turned down a chance to buy some of these babies a few years ago and bought the Harrier instead.”
The pointer moved to a cluster of aircraft lining the side of the flight deck, wings tightly folded. “These are Russia’s naval version of the Su-27 Flanker. It is highly maneuverable and is probably roughly comparable to the American F-15 Eagle. It has the same track-while-scan radar as the MiG-29, has look-down/shoot-down capability, and can handle all-weather operation. Armament for the fighter version is eight AA-tO Alamo missiles. The Russians are supposed to be working on a strike version, but we have no information on that at this time, and we don’t know whether any might be aboard the Kreml. Originally, the Flanker appeared with a variable-geometry wing like our Tomcat. We have to assume they ran into some problems with it, though, because current production models have been strictly fixed-wing. Next.”
The slide projector chunked. The image on the screen captured an aircraft just off the Soviet carrier’s ski-jump bow. The detail was sharp enough that the viewers could make out Russian crewmen frozen in various mid-action positions about the deck. There was an audible intake of breath from several comers of the room. The aircraft, its red stars sharp on wings and tail, looked remarkably like an American F/A-18 Hornet.
“This baby’s their prize,” Neil said. “MiG-29, naval version. Jane’s calls it the first completely new generation of Soviet fighters. For air-to-air it carries six missiles, AA-8 or AA-9. Look-down/shoot-down, all-weather capability. Track-while-scan. Improved HUD. This is the best Soviet plane in .service. Maybe the best in the world.”
“Bullshit,” someone said near the front of the room.
“Helicopter roles, rescue and ASW, are filled by the Ka-27 Helix, the successor to the Ka-25 Hormone. We think that Kreml carries four of them.”
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Ketti Douglas*
“You know, Commander,” Vaughn interrupted again. “I notice your briefing is filled with a hell of a lot of ‘maybes’ and ‘we thinks.’ Is there anything about the Russkies you’re sure of?”
“Intelligence work is largely guesswork, Admiral,” Neil said stiffly. “Educated guesswork, to be sure, but still guess-work. OZ Div has assembled the best picture they can from various—”
“Guesses, huh? Well I guess that tells us something about our intelligence department, eh, boys?”
There were subdued chuckles from the front row of chairs, but the rest of CVIC remained cold and silent. Neil ran a hand through his short red hair and decided to press ahead.
“We have tentatively identified the other ships of the Soviet squadron. An Oscar-class nuclear attack sub, no known name. A second Kotlin-class DD, the Vliyatel’nyy. Two Krivak I-class ASW frigates, Letushiy and Svirepyy. Washington’s assessment of SOVINDRON is that it is a tight, well-run, highly disciplined squadron,” he said. “The Soviet frigates do not have the range or sensitivity of our ASW ships, and they lack helicopter capability. However, they are probably the most heavily armed frigates afloat, with SA-N-4 Gecko missiles and large torpedo and gun batteries. They are highly versatile and could be deployed in an anti-air role as well as for ASW.”
Vaughn snorted with open contempt. Neil paused, then plunged ahead, wondering if Vaughn was going to let him complete the briefing.