ARMAGEDDON MODE
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Tombstone listened carefully as Aubrey laid out the essentials of Operation Mongoose. The Hornets would perform double duty, as usual. VFA-161 would be the first ones to go feet dry, striking at Indian radar facilities, airfields, and SAM sites along the coast. VFA-173 would fly TARCAP for the main strike force, protecting the bombers to and from the target. TARget Combat Air Patrol was intended to discourage enemy aircraft from attacking ratfier than actually shooting them down.
The A-6 Intruders, with their heavy bomb loads and laser designators, would be assigned the bridges and road convoys between Hyderabad and Naya Chor, with a priority on trucks carrying fuel, water, and ammunition, the essentials for desert warfare. Cratering munitions would be used to ruin sections of the road, most of which was dirt and gravel anyway. Low-level precision attacks would knock out the railway.
And the Tomcats would fly CAP for the CBG.
Each element of Operation Mongoose was designed to minimize casualties, both American and Indian, as much as possible. No one dared to think that the operation could be pulled off with no casualties at all. The weapons of modern warfare were too fast, too hard-hitting, too deadly for that to be a possibility.
Code names for each element of the plan were assigned. The two Intruder squadrons, eight planes each in the VA-84 Blue Rangers and VA-89 Death Dealers, were tagged Blue Strike and Gold Strike. The ten Hornets from the VFA-161 Javelins, tasked with hitting ground targets, were designated Lucky Strike, while eight Hornets from VFA-173, the Fighting Hornets, were split into two flights code-named Blue and Red Camel. EA-6B Prowlers from VAQ-143, the Sharks, would accompany each strike group, providing ECM jamming to mask Mongoose’s deployments. Hawkeyes from VAW-130, the Catseyes, would circle above the carrier and just off the Indian coast, providing early warning for both the fleet and the strike missions. The two Tomcat squadrons would retain their squadron code names. Vipers and Eagles.
It was a gigantic enterprise, as large and as complex as Operation Righteous Thunder, when Jefferson had covered the Marine landings in North Korea. One problem stood out sharply, though. The Russian forces were not listed in the operational lineup.
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Pertiaps, Tombstone thought, it had been decided that it would take too long to get Russian and American aviators to work with one another. Certainly, with no time for practice or training runs, joint air operations could be more dangerous to the allies than to the enemy. Even so, Russian participation was conspicuous by its absence.
“The ordies began arming operations yesterday, and as of 0600 this morning they were ahead of schedule. Our current scenario calls for launch operations to commence at 1200 hours today. Hawkeye and tanker assets will be put up first, of course, followed by Red Camel and Blue Camel. At 1240 hours, launch operations will begin for the strike elements, beginning with Lucky Strike.
“Mongoose will be coordinated so that the various strike elements will arrive over their separate targets at approximately the same time. By maintaining an element of surprise, this will maximize both their chances of achieving successful runs and for avoiding enemy ground fire and fighters.
‘ ‘We expect that the entire strike phase of Mongoose will take no more than thirty minutes over the target, with separate elements coming in at low altitude from different directions, to keep the enemy off balance, and to divide and scatter his triple-A defenses.” His pointer slid down the map from the Sindh to an oval drawn near the Indian coast.’ ‘AH aircraft will rendezvous here, at Point Juliet just off the Kori Creek inlet. Tankers will be waiting there to refuel them for the final leg back to the Jefferson. Are there any questions?”
Tombstone raised his hand. “What about the Russians?”
Aubrey looked from Tombstone to Vaughn, then back again. Tombstone was aware of the hard silence in the room as each man waited for the answer.
“Ah . . . it’s been decided,” Aubrey said slowly, “that a joint ground attack mission would present us with unacceptable risk. Russian interceptors will be available on a standby basis to help deal with threats to the fleet. However, Russian strike aircraft will be readied in case a second strike on Indian targets is necessary.”