James Barrington - Foxbat

‘I’ve been over this with both Dick and Wings. Our targets are No-dong missiles, actually waiting on the launch pads. These are highly dangerous but comparatively fragile and, more importantly, liquid-fuelled. The fuel is TM-185, which is basically a mixture of twenty per cent petrol and eighty per cent kerosene, plus an oxidizer known as AK-27I, making a highly explosive combination. The fact that satellite imagery shows them on the pads suggests that they’ve been fuelled already. Normal operating procedure is that the tanks would be left empty until the missile’s mounted on the gantry, because moving a rocket full of liquid propellant is highly dangerous.’

Richter exchanged the map for a photograph of the missile base at Mayang and pointed out the gantry and No-dong standing on the pad, then he showed satellite images of the other three bases.

‘There’s no point in hitting these weapons with a Brimstone anti-tank missile because the warhead wouldn’t detonate. But we do need to hit them hard and accurately, so the best option is probably the Maverick with a proximity fuse and electro-optical guidance. The maintainers have loaded one pair on each Harrier so we’ll have two shots at each target. For the scatter-gun option, each aircraft also has two operational pods of CRV7s, so that’s an additional thirty-eight rockets. If you hit one of the missiles and get its fuel to detonate, that will almost certainly destroy anything else above ground in the vicinity.’

‘So once you’ve targeted the Maverick you need to watch out for the fallout from the explosion,’ Dick Long said, turning in his seat to face Forbes and Whittard. ‘Be prepared to haul off the moment the warhead detonates.’

Richter nodded agreement. ‘For self-defence, we’ll each be carrying two AIM-9L Sidewinders. We’re having to compromise on this mission, because we also need a drop tank due to the long transit. Mother moved closer to the peninsula during the night, and is presently loitering about twenty miles off the South Korean coast due west of Seoul. The fastest way to reach our targets is to fly straight there, but that would mean crossing directly over North Korea, and that’s not the brightest of ideas. The DPRK has one of the most comprehensive air-defence networks on the surface of the planet. It’s got nearly ten thousand anti-aircraft guns, plus Russian SA-2, SA-3, SA-5, SA-7 and SA-16 surface-to-air missiles. Most of the SA-2 and SA-3 batteries are located near the coastal areas, and the SA-5s are close to the DMZ and Pyongyang itself.’

Richter replaced the photograph the OHP was displaying with an aeronautical chart of the Korean Peninsula on which he’d drawn the track he’d planned for their sortie.

‘So we’re going to avoid all that lot and take the pretty route. On takeoff, we’ll form into two pairs in loose formation and transit due east, overflying Seoul. We’ve already received diplomatic clearance, and I’ll give you contact frequencies, callsigns, SSR codes and procedures for the en-route radar units at the end of this briefing. The peninsula’s about a hundred miles wide, and to conserve fuel we’ll transit at high level – I hope around thirty thousand feet, but it’ll depend upon the clearance we get from Seoul.

‘There’s no point in trying to sneak across at low level because the North Koreans have really good radar coverage of the area south of the DMZ and they’d definitely see us, which would probably make them even more suspicious than they may already be. By transiting at high level I’m hoping they’ll think it’s just another border patrol.

‘Once we go feet-wet over the Sea of Japan we’ll turn south-east so that we’re not perceived as a threat by North Korean air defence radars, and then start a cruise descent. By my calculations, and based on the route I’ve worked out, we should drop below the North Korean radar horizon when we get below five thousand feet. We’ll continue descent to fifteen hundred feet and turn port onto a northerly heading, to keep us at least thirty miles clear of the coast.’

He replaced the aeronautical chart with a more detailed version which showed the east side of the peninsula.

‘When we reach here – one two nine degrees east, thirty-nine degrees north – we split into two pairs and turn towards our respective targets. Viper will track approximately zero one zero towards Hochon, and Cobra three four five for Mayang. Once established on track, both pairs will descend to five hundred feet, and jettison drop tanks at least two miles before reaching the coast.

‘Vipers will hit Hochon first, then turn east for No-dong, as the two sites are very close together. When those attacks have been completed, your escape vector will be one four zero, giving you the shortest possible track to the coast. Then head south-east until you’re clear of North Korean territorial waters, before turning west once you’re south of the Demilitarized Zone. If you have to land in South Korea it shouldn’t be a problem. The major airfields have been briefed that one or more British fighters may be carrying out practice diversions today. I’ll give you contact frequencies and landing charts at the end of this briefing. And, in extremis , there are plenty of roads and hard surfaces you can land on.

‘If your aircraft is damaged and you can’t make it back, try to get over the Sea of Japan before ejecting. The water’s fairly warm, and your survival time should be several hours. As you know, Edinburgh and Portland are operating to the east of the Korean Peninsula and, if you do ditch, their helicopters will be available to rescue you. That assumes, of course, that the sky isn’t full of enemy fighters. If you eject over North Korean territory, you’re on your own.’

He turned to Commander (Air). ‘Where’s the Sea King, Blackie?’

‘It should be in position shortly,’ Roger Black replied. ‘We’ve sent an AEW Sea King east of the peninsula, and the bagman will call traffic on your discrete frequency, using callsign November Alpha. He’ll use simple codes: Alpha for a clean picture; Bravo for single contacts and Charlie for multiple bandits. The King flew out there about an hour ago, and by now it should be refuelling from Edinburgh using HIFR. That’s another possible rotary-wing rescue aircraft, but the crew’s first priority is calling hostile contacts. The aircraft will only be available for SAR operations once the tactical phase of the mission is over.’

‘Thanks,’ Richter said. ‘Now, Cobras – Splot and I – have drawn the short straw. Mayang is near the coast, and we should get there at about the same time as Vipers hit Hochon, so it will still be a surprise attack. Our problem is Ok’pyong. From Mayang we’ll have to turn south-west and it’s a seventy-odd-mile overland transit. It’s certain that by the time we get there the NK defences will have been alerted and, frankly, our chances of getting through the anti-aircraft barrage they’ll throw up will be fairly slim.’

Richter stopped talking and eyed the men sitting in front of him. None seemed particularly perturbed by anything he’d said so far, but he hadn’t expected they would be. Harrier pilots are among the elite of the fast-jet world, used to handling a difficult aircraft under the most demanding conditions. And, as was comprehensively demonstrated in the Falklands War, the aircraft itself is enormously capable. In that conflict the Harrier was both outnumbered and outperformed by the aircraft flown by the Argentine Air Force, but despite this suffered no casualties in air combat and shot down twenty enemy jets. Richter wasn’t worried about air combat – he thought the Harrier could hold its own against anything the North Koreans flew apart from the Foxbat – but the sheer number of SAMs scared him.