CARRIER 8: ALPHA STRIKE By: Keith Douglass
CARRIER 8: ALPHA STRIKE By: Keith Douglass
Synopsis:
Carrier Battle Group 14 is in the South China Sea on routine
patrol when a Chinese tank and the tiny island where it is
stationed are destroyed. The Chinese government points its finger
at the U.S. forces, but the Americans are as baffled by the
explosion as the Chinese appear to be. As CBG-14 continues Freedom
of Navigation operations in the area, unexplained attacks continue
and America is on the brink of war again. It is up to CBG-14 to
defuse the situation or, at least, protect its assets from an all-
out Chinese attack. 8th novel in the “Carrier” series, 1997.
Also by Keith Douglass
THE CARRIER SERIES:
CARRIER
CARRIER 2: VIPER STRIKE
CARRIER 3: ARMAGEDDON MODE
CARRIER 4: FLAME-OUT
CARRIER 5: MAELSTROM
CARRIER 6: COUNTDOWN
CARRIER 7: AFTERBURN
CARRIER 8: ALPHA STRIKE
THE SEAL TEAM SEVEN SERIES:
SEAL TEAM SEVEN
SPECTER
NUCFLASH
DIRECT ACTION
THE CARRIER NOVELS
CARRIER
The North Korean Navy has captured a U.S. Intelligence ship in
international waters. They dare Washington to retaliate. The U.S. response?
The ultimate military power play …
VIPER STRIKE
A renegade Chinese fighter group punctures Thai airspace–the spearhead
of a giant invasion force streaming across the Burmese border. The skies are
about to blow wide open …
ARMAGEDDON MODE
India and Pakistan are on the verge of nuclear destruction, and Carrier
Battle Group Fourteen must shift into Armageddon Mode–the ultimate battle by
land, air, or sea …
FLAME-OUT
After a hard-line military takeover, the Soviet Union is reborn. Norway
is invaded. Finland is crushed. And the President orders Carrier Battle
Group Fourteen to smash the Soviet strike force at all costs …
MAELSTROM
The Soviet occupation of Scandinavia continues as Carrier Battle Group
Fourteen struggles to keep up in conventional weapons combat, and avert
all-out war …
COUNTDOWN
Carrier Battle Group Fourteen must launch marine and aerial assaults to
prevent the deployment of Russian Typhoons. They are the largest submarines
in the world. And they may have nukes …
AFTERBURN
As the Russian Civil War rages on, Carrier Battle Group Fourteen is
ordered to the Black Sea as a show of American strength. But if the U.S.
thinks they can sail into traditionally Russian waters without a fight,
they’re dead wrong …
PROLOGUE
Friday, 21 June
1400 local (Zulu -7)
Guazhong Advanced Aviation Test Facility
China
Mein Low swore as the adversary Chinese Sukoi-27 Flanker vanished into
the blinding glare. He could almost feel the other pilot yanking his aircraft
into a hard, gut-wrenching turn, bringing his guns to bear on Mein Low’s
advanced prototype F-10 fighter while the sun hid his turn.
In combat the lines between men and aircraft blur until the difference
between them disappears. My vision–the radar. My will–the weapons. And so
it is for him as well. We both know only one of us will land after this knife
fight.
The sky flashed metal, slightly above him at ten o’clock. The Flanker
pilot had underestimated the width of his cloak of invisibility, exposing one
wingtip. The attack geometry flashed into Mein Low’s mind.
Bleed off air speed, turn, and drop in behind me for the killing shot.
But now that you’ve exposed your direction of turn, you’ve lost the advantage
of uncertainty. And you will lose this engagement as well!
Mein Low jerked the F-10’s nose up to thirty degrees above the horizon
and rolled to the right, keeping his eyes glued to the approaching Flanker.
The seat fell away slightly from his back as the faster and more maneuverable
F-10 slowed rapidly. Fifteen hundred feet later, Mein Low was inverted,
craning his neck back to stare down at the Flanker desperately trying to turn
away from him.
Too late. The Flanker had given up too much precious airspeed in his
last maneuver. As the Flanker drew parallel beneath him, Mein Low completed
the roll, dropped the nose of the aircraft down, and dove into a killing
position behind the slower aircraft.
The Flanker bobbed and jinked, and the turbulence from his jet’s engines
battered the F-10. Mein Low’s hand clamped down around the control stick.
His weapons selector switch was already toggled to guns. The F-10’s cannon
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