CARRIER 4: FLAME-OUT By Keith Douglass

the effect of hamstringing those same aviators. Often in modern air combat

the first one to lock on and launch was the winner, and when the ROEs said not

to fire unless fired upon …

Against the sort of opposition the United States had met in the past–the

Libyans in the Gulf of Sidra, for example–it didn’t matter so much.

Technological and doctrinal superiority had allowed American pilots to survive

enemy attacks and come back swinging. But against first-class Soviet

opposition the same might not be true. If the Russians planned on starting

something this flight might be Batman’s last.

The dark thoughts flashed through Batman’s mind in an instant, but all he

said aloud was, “Roger, Tango Two-fiver.”

He dropped the Tomcat into a sharp bank and started the descent. The

Bear was low, but the Russians had underestimated the accuracy of American

radar surveillance. Thank God for the Hawkeye, Batman thought. Without the

E-2C the Russians might have been able to get much closer before they were

spotted.

Bears were archaic by modern standards, but the Bear-D reconnaissance

bird was still a deadly threat. That wasn’t so much because of the weaponry

it could carry, but rather because it could help more sophisticated Badgers or

Blackjacks to get a fix on American ships without exposing themselves to

detection. And a Badger armed with stand-off missiles could play havoc with

the battle group in a matter of minutes.

Each Bear hunt had to be treated as if it was the real thing. And if the

reports from Norway were true, tonight the threat was worse than ever before.

He could feel the huge Soviet aircraft long before he saw it. The low,

steady rumble of the plane’s four Kuznetsov turboprops shook the night sky

like distant thunder. He strained to see ahead, looking for some sign.

“Tally-ho!” The old aviator’s hunting call came over the radio.

Excitement made Tyrone’s voice shrill. “Eleven o’clock, Batman, and right

down on the deck!”

Batman spotted it then, the constellation of red and green navigation

lights that marked the Soviet plane. A red beacon strobed its anticollision

warning. At least the Bear wasn’t coming in blacked out. That counted for

something.

“Tango Two-fiver, Hound Two-oh-four. We have visual on the bandit!

Closing now.”

“Two-oh-four, this is Domino.” That was CAG’s voice, relayed by the

Hawkeye from Jefferson. “Go easy, but let that guy know he’s not welcome

here.”

“Roger, Domino,” Batman replied. “Tyrone, hang back and cover me. Stay

one mile out.”

“Roger,” came the laconic reply. Powers was shaping up as a steady hand

after all.

Batman turned to port and circled lazily around the Bear, crossing the

turbulence of the larger aircraft’s slipstream and falling into place

alongside. Batman fought to control his heartbeat and breathing. He was in

easy range of the Russian’s NR-23 cannons, and all it would take was one slip

to turn this from a routine encounter to the first shots of World War III.

“Remember the time off Korea,” Malibu warned. “They’ll probably hit

their searchlight.”

The reminder came just in time. A blinding lance of light shot out from

the searchlight mounting near the tail section, enveloping the Tomcat’s

cockpit. Batman kept his eyes averted and blinked hard.

Often in night encounters the Russians would illuminate their own plane

with the searchlight. It helped avoid misjudged distances and accidental

collisions. But within seconds Batman knew that wasn’t their intention this

time around.

The light held the Tomcat’s cockpit, challenging, probing.

“Picking up emissions from Big Bulge,” Malibu said. That was the NATO

code name for the ship-targeting radar system mounted in the oversized

teardrop-shaped housing on the belly of the Bear. It was useless for

air-to-air work. The only reason to use Big Bulge was to find surface ships

… and maybe steer stand-off missiles toward them.

Batman muttered a curse and rolled sideways, increasing speed slightly to

clear the searchlight beam. He steadied the Tomcat back on course even closer

to the Bear than before, close enough to see dark figures at the windows of

the cockpit and the tail section. They could see him as well.

He held up two fingers, then five, eight, and finally a clenched fist,

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *