Maden Mike - Tom Clancy Firing Point

A particular genius of the tiger shark drone system was its targeting program. In fact, the drone relied on the commercial vessel to target itself —via its own AIS transmissions. Once the target was selected, the tiger drone positioned itself somewhere along the vessel’s path via the drone’s onboard AI program or by remote human operation.

Whereas a conventional submarine and torpedo system had to find and chase an enemy vessel, a deployed tiger drone passively awaited the arrival of its target.

There were many other advantages to the tiger drone design, including its stealth capabilities. Noise, heat, size, wave propagation, and magnetic anomalies were the primary means of detecting submersible and surface vessels. The tiger drone avoided or mitigated all of these.

First, its primary means of propulsion—a swishing tail—produced one-tenth the acoustical noise of a conventional propeller, though the shark had one of these for emergency use or for microbursts of speed.

Second, the tiger drone’s outer hide was comprised of just four millimeters of bubble-infused (“bubble wrap”) latex skin. This dampened sonar signals by as much as ninety-nine percent, and reduced radar wave detection by a factor of ten thousand. A secondary layer of rubber added extra stability and helped shield the few metallic internal components, including its two small and nearly silent electric motors weighing just seventy pounds each.

Third, the skeleton of the fish was comprised of non-metallic polycarbonate “bones” and the propeller shaft and propeller were constructed from German-designed carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP).

Finally, the dorsal fin of the drone served as its antenna, able to send and receive encrypted comms and location signals. It was also able to independently receive and track the AIS signals of any commercial vessel worldwide. And, of course, high-def digital cameras were located behind the clear lenses of the drone’s eyes.

Taken altogether, the tiger drone was practically invisible to sonar, radar, heat, or magnet anomaly detection. But in the extremely unlikely event one of them popped up on screen or scope, the size and shape of the signature would indicate exactly what it appeared to be: a lone shark in the water, not a fast-moving, metal-skinned submarine or torpedo.

Biomimicry at its best.

—

The research lab that designed the tiger shark drone knew that another significant technical problem still faced them: the delivery platform.

Because of their limited range, Mark 48 torpedoes were delivered to combat areas by submarines and launched from tubes within the vessel.

While the tiger shark had far wider range than a torpedo, it wasn’t capable of completely independent movement. Eventually, its battery would be exhausted, or mechanical issues might arise. And given its slow speed, it would take many days if not weeks to arrive in its zone of operation if launched from its point of origin.

The delivery system option was even more obvious to the designers than the biomimicry “fish” solution for the weapons platform itself.

What better delivery system for a drone fish than a fish trawler?

These “trawler” mother ships were, in fact, converted deepwater fishing vessels, with all of the appropriate gear to pass any unlikely inspection. Modern fishing vessels deployed sonar, radar, navigation, and comms that did double duty as drone support equipment.

In addition, these disguised mother ships possessed both battery recharging platforms for the sharks and drone repair facilities. In the event of an emergency, the sharks could be “caught” by the mother ships, and either towed or brought on board and redeployed elsewhere.

In the unlikely event one of the tiger shark drones was captured by an enemy vessel, the onboard munitions would self-destruct when the machine was lifted vertically unless the gyroscope motion detector was deactivated by its mother ship commander.

There were five mother ship vessels deployed around the world, and each deployed six shark drones. Once deployed in the water, the sharks were given an AIS signal to track. The drone’s onboard computer automatically attacked the vessel in question. The shark drone dove under the hull and exploded, breaking the spine of the ship and destroying its structural integrity with a single but massive charge equivalent to four Mark 48 torpedoes.

Without question, the tiger drone weapon system would have been of limited value in direct confrontation in a wartime scenario with a major seafaring power. But that wasn’t its purpose.

The tiger drone program was a new kind of piracy, operated by a new kind of pirate. Lucrative, yes, but temporarily so. It was a means to an end. Its primary purpose was to distract the United States from an even more dangerous and terrifying operation that had only begun to unfold.

—

The Emerald Glory broke apart instantly, its two halves sinking in less than seven minutes. Miraculously, three crew members survived the blast. Without lifeboat or vests, they treaded the bone-chilling waters for less than twenty minutes. Each died in turn as their numbing muscles failed. Helpless to avoid slipping beneath the surface, they perished swallowing the sea in whimpering gasps, their corpses blueing in the water as they waited for a rescue that never came.

OCTOBER 30

58

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

Jack stood ready at the curb in front of his house checking his watch, shaved, showered, and rested. He was waiting for Gavin, who finally pulled up in his Silverado an hour before sunrise.

Jack tossed his buffalo leather carry-on in the cab and followed in after it.

“You’re late.”

“Can’t be late if we’re the only passengers,” Gavin said with a smile as he sped off for the airport. “And I wanted to get you a coffee.” Gavin pointed at the large black Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in Jack’s cupholder. Jack saw the flakes of croissant on Gavin’s shirt and assumed another crumpled bag now lay in the back.

“Appreciate it.”

“Next stop, Knoxville.”

—

Jack and Gavin boarded the Cirrus G2 Vision Jet parked at Signature, the Dulles FBO. The nice thing about flying private, particularly on a Hendley plane, was that Jack could carry his weapon, a single stack slimline Glock 43 nine-millimeter. He carried it in a BlackDog IWB deep concealment holster beneath his sport coat, along with a spare six-round mag.

The new Cirrus G2 was a powerful but diminutive “personal” one-pilot jet with seating arranged for just two passengers that morning. Hendley Associates purchased the G2 as an alternative to its giant fuel-guzzling Gulfstream G550 used for international flights.

The V-tailed, single-engine G2 was fast, powerful, and economical. It had a glass flight deck and side sticks that looked like something from a Star Trek episode with automated flight controls to match. Jack was impressed with its luxury comfort and visibility in the small cabin. His flight-phobic dad would have loved the safety features. These included an emergency one-button Safe Return autoland and the one-lever parachute system that landed the aircraft in an upright position.

Captain Helen Reid, the senior pilot for Hendley Associates, was at the controls. She’d already been scheduled for a trip to Knoxville later in the week for the G2’s annual maintenance at the Cirrus facility at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa. She was happy to switch her schedule on short notice for Gavin and Jack.

They reached their cruising altitude of thirty-one thousand feet in short order.

“I wanted to bounce an idea off you,” Gavin said.

“Shoot.”

“I couldn’t get to sleep last night, so I did some messing around on one of my tech blogs, catching up on the latest goings-on. Have you ever heard of Chris and Cari Fast?”