Up in Pri-Fly, the Air Boss swore to himself. He’d left two S-3’s on
alert ten. As he watched, the stubby ASW hunter-killers taxied to the bow.
The first, Hunter 702, lined up on the waist catapult. Hunter 7 10 went
straight ahead to the port bow cat, its jets throbbing with the low,
mesmerizing sound that gave it its nickname of Hoover.
The bow cat was ready first.
“Green deck!” the Air Boss snapped, scanning the flight deck for any
lingering technicians within the lines that delineated the operating area.
“Green deck, aye,” the Air Traffic Controller, or AC, echoed. He
repeated the Air Boss’s order into the sound-powered microphone that hung
around his neck, and it was relayed to the Yellow Shirts and catapult officers
on the deck.
The Air Boss saw the handler motion, and two technicians scampered out
from under the forward Viking. The shuttle was now attached to the S-3’s
forward wheel strut. The Viking’s engine ramped up, crescendoing into the
full-throated roar of military power. The handler snapped off a salute, then
ran to safety. The Air Boss could almost feel the catapult officer pause,
take one last look around, and then press the pickle switch that would unleash
the steam piston.
The Viking shot forward, reaching over 120 knots of ground speed in four
seconds. With thirty knots of wind across the deck, that equated to 150 knots
over the wings, enough to keep the aircraft airborne until its own engines
could get it moving faster.
Fifteen seconds later, the same intricate ballet was complete on the
waist cat, and the second Viking was airborne. The ASW helicopters followed
in short order, three of them.
The Air Boss looked grimly satisfied. With a total of six ASW aircraft,
along with the towed arrays of the surface ships and the cruiser’s own ASW
helos airborne, being a submariner just got a lot less fulfilling.
1305 local (Zulu -7)
Admiral’s Cabin
“Admiral, how about a JAST Tomcat?” Batman asked quietly. “That
look-down capability might come in real handy about now.”
Tombstone shot his former wingman a thoughtful look. “Are they
configured to handle a sub-launched missile?”
“Don’t see why not. The best parts of the new avionics and radar are
designed to handle sea-skimmers. Can’t come much closer to the sea than
getting shot from a submarine, now, can you?”
“TAO–all the ASW birds launched?”
“Yes, Admiral.” The TAO pointed at the plat camera display on the
closed-circuit TV monitor. “Last Viking just took off. Air Boss called Red
Deck a few seconds ago.”
Tombstone turned back to Batman. “Go see CAG. It sounds to me like a
good time to try out one of your toys in the air, but he may have some other
plans. It’s going to take a while to get one fueled and armed, anyway.”
“They’re Tomcats, Admiral. Hardly toys.”
“Don’t forget who you’re talking to, Captain.”
“Sir?” Batman stiffened, wondering if he’d overstepped the bounds of
their long friendship. Surely Stoney hadn’t let his stars turn him into a
pompous asshole!
He studied his old friend carefully. One corner of Tombstone’s mouth
twitched. “They’re all toys, Batman. Until they start shooting, that’s what
they are.”
1310 local (Zulu -7)
Hunter 701
“Get those active buoys in the water now!” Rabies snapped.
“What the hell do you think I’m doing back here, playing with myself?”
the TACCO snarled. “Here!” He punched the button that fed fly-to points to
the pilot’s display.
“Got it!” the copilot said, the report rendered superfluous by the hard
banking turn of the S-3. Sixteen minutes later, Hunter 701 had ringed the
last position of the submarine with DICASS buoys, which were pouring
electromagnetic energy into the water, alternately pinging and listening for a
sonar return.
DICASS buoys operated like a shipboard sonar. They provided highly
accurate range and bearing information to the AW. The disadvantage was that
the submarine could hear the sonar pings, trace back to locate the sonobuoys,
and maneuver to evade the pattern. Additionally, using DICASS buoys gave away
the fact that someone knew that there was a submarine in the area–and was
trying to find it. The submarine, alerted, could exploit every advantage the