Charles Taylor - Show of Force

"Computer predicts that Rigas will stay to the north and fire their own missiles before the cruise missiles impact."

"Thank you," David answered. "What ships are to the north?"

"Wainwright and Josephus Daniels are the two cruisers and…the cans are Dewey, Preble, Semmes, and Ricketts, and a couple of smaller FFG's, too."

"Okay, Bill, I want you to make sure we bring down all those aircraft. They already know about that low-level missile of ours, so let's make the best of it now. The less planes they have later, the better." He followed the action on the screen before him as it became clearer exactly what the Russians were doing. It was obvious that Gorenko in Moscow had ordered the flight of Backfires from Mogadishu, and that Kupinsky was coordinating the air attack from the north.

"Ninety seconds to impact cruise missiles… Virginia reports lock-on to four of them now…" There was a breathless pause in the darkened room. "… Confirmed explosion of conventional warheads…," an audible sigh of relief, "lock-on to two more.… Computer reports all cruise missiles locked-on to western escorts.… Nimitz is not a target.…" Another sigh of relief.

"Bill, hold those two trailing Tomcats behind. I don't want anyone making mistakes with those warheads."

"I have already, sir. Recommend we send them up north to pick up any of the Rigas that might get away."

"Good thinking, Bill. I…"

Two more of the cruise missiles had just blinked out on their screens when a speaker cut in: "Six cruise missiles through the barrier. Targeted ships have their own control." This was the test they had been afraid would come. The Vulcan/Phalanx weapon system had been devised as a last-ditch effort for a saturation attack by cruise missiles, but twelve hadn't been considered saturation. It was activated when the missiles-were within one mile of their target and consisted of no more than rapid-fire 20-mm. shells sprayed in a Gatling-gun effect. The fire-control radar constantly tracked the incoming missiles and corrected the direction of fire. It was a last-ditch, protective shield of metal.

"Rigas are within missile range of the northern force. Wainwright is controlling ship. They have assumed control for the twelve northern ships. They are under fire." On his board, David could see new dots of light appear between the Rigas in the air and their surface targets.

He looked back to the left side of his screen, where the six remaining cruise missiles were now reduced to two, but were merging with dots that David knew were his own ships. "Four more missiles down," he heard the report. But each person in the room was watching, horrified as one of their own ships disappeared from the screen. The voice continued for a moment, then broke, "Harold Holt hit amidships… she's broken in half… after section sinking rapidly."

But the second hit was even worse from the Admiral's viewpoint. He knew from the early part of the battle which spot on his screen represented Virginia, and that one of the missiles had merged with her dot also. "What is the report from Virginia?"

"Nothing, sir. We have no communication with her."

A click from the speaker on Nimitz' bridge drew their attention to Frank Welles's voice. "Terrific explosion over the horizon to the west, Admiral. Something besides a missile."

"That's the Virginia, Frank. Can you see anything? We know she's been hit,"

Silence, for just a moment, even though the speaker button was depressed. They could hear the exclamations in the background. "Oh, my God." It was Welles's voice again. "There was a second explosion in the same location, sir.…" He paused for a second, likely using his binoculars. "There can't be anything else left!"

Where there had been a dot on his screen representing the nuclear-powered cruiser, there was now nothing. Six hundred feet and eleven thousand tons of guided missile cruiser, with 450 men aboard, had seemingly disappeared. One of his few Aegis-equipped ships had gone as if by magic. The voice brought his mind back to the present: "Mitscher reports Virginia has exploded, sir. They say the missile probably hit the aft magazine and the forward one went off almost immediately after… sir, they say nothing's left… no survivors." The speaker's voice was incredulous.

"Submarine contact to the southwest, sir!" He saw immediately on his screen that two of Kupinsky's subs had pulled closer together, possibly for an attack on the escorts. They had to get through them before they could get to Nimitz, and that was why he had sent some of the frigates off in that direction.

The board in front of him told the story to the north as missiles that had been fired by the Rigas either blinked out or continued on toward their targets. These were not as big or as fast or as sophisticated as the cruise missiles, but they could do enough damage to any ship. As he watched, a number of the Rigas disappeared from the screen, victims of Wainwright's coordinated firing with its small northern force. And some of the missiles that had been fired at the ships were now merging with their targets.

"Wainwright reports John Paul Jones, Preble, Radford and Knox have all been hit, sir."

"How serious?"

"No report yet, sir."

David could see another Riga wink out on the screen. The new Mongoose missile system was proving effective. Like many of their other weapons, it had never been tested in battle, but much of its development had been based on the Riga fighter, a jet that Kupinsky had originated to complement the new VTOL carriers he had created for the Soviet Navy. He wanted a jet that could fire low-level missiles, difficult to track on radar. Sam Carter had known for quite a while that the Riga would have to be developed. The.Russians had no long-range threat from their Kiev-class carriers until a VTOL jet could be built that could land and take off on the smaller decks, carry enough fuel to prove itself as a long-range fighter, and still have a weapon system that would make it worthwhile for air/surface attack, in addition to protecting itself in the air. Carter had simply made that aircraft a priority-one project for the C.I.A., and he had developed a missile to counter it as the basics of the Riga were made known to him in bits and pieces. The Mongoose was up to expectations.

"Wainwright reports three Rigas still in the air but turning to the east. She's breaking off attack to assist in fighting fires on John Paul Jones. Heavy damage to the other three ships, but none are in danger of sinking."

"Okay, Bill." He turned to his operations officer. "Send a couple of those Tomcats after them."

"No problem, sir. We already have the target information relayed to them and they're in the last approach phase now. Our only difficulty is that there's three of them, each on different courses and — at different altitudes, and only two of ours. I think you're going to have to settle for one of them getting back to the barn.", "Shit!" He looked at the screen, then back at Dailey. "How many Rigas in that flight?"

"An even dozen, sir. Give Wainwright's ships credit, Admiral. They got nine of them. The Mongoose tears a plane apart when it's hit. And, please remember, they were countering a missile attack at the same time, Admiral. It was no turkey shoot, but that's almost half Lenin's complement of fighters. They're going to have to borrow the air group from Minsk before they get any closer."

"You're right, Bill. I know. Perhaps I should be sending another flight out now to try to finish off Lenin while she's weak."

"Let's wait out the first strike, sir. They should be on target shortly. And Lenin still carries Forgers for close-in air protection."