weapons carried for the mission was only twenty-four, with two designated
for each silo, and Zacharias’s last four for the last target. Two bombs each.
Every bomb had a 95 percent probability of hitting within four meters of the
aim point, pretty good numbers really, except that this sort of mission had
precisely no margin for error. Even the paper probability was less than half a
percent chance of a double miss, but that number times ten targets meant a
five percent chance that one missile would survive, and that could not be
tolerated.
The aircraft was under computer control now, which the pilot could over-
ride but would not unless something went badly wrong. The Colonel pulled
his hands back from the controls, not touching them lest he interfere with the
process that required better control than he could deliver.
“Systems?” he asked over the intercom.
“Nominal,” the EWO replied tensely. His eyes were on the GPS naviga-
tion system, which was taking its signals from four orbiting nuclear clocks
and fixing the aircraft’s exact position in three dimensions, along with
course and groundspeed and wind-drift figure generated by the bomber’s
own systems. The information was crossloaded to the bombs, already pro-
grammed to know the exact location of their targets. The first bomber had
covered targets i through 8. The second bomber had covered 3 through 10.
His third bomber would take the second shots at i, 2, 9, and 10. This would
theoretically ensure that since no single aircraft handled both shots at one
target, an electronic fault would not guarantee the survival of one of the mis
siles on the ground.
“That Patriot battery is still looking. It seems to be at the entrance to the
valley.”
Too bad for them, Zacharias thought.
“Bomb doors coming open-now!” the copilot said. The resulting news
from the third crewman was instant.
“He’s got us-the SAM site has us now,” the EWO said as the first
weapon fell free. “Lock-on, he has lock-on . . . launch launch launch!”
‘ ‘It takes a while, remember,” Zacharias said, far more coolly than he fell
The second bomb was now out. Then came a new thought-how smart was
that battery commander? Had he learned something from his last chance ul a
bomber? God, the mission could still fail if he-
Two seconds later the fourth weapon dropped free, and the bomb