Джон Шеттлер - Condition Zebra - The Next War - 2025

The last hours of December 2nd were slipping away as the Chinese fleet moved south towards Ranai on Riau. That airfield was still not in any shape to receive aircraft, but repairs were ongoing. A KJ-200 out of Tan Son Nhat airbase was loitering over the fleet, its radar eyes extending out 240 miles to the south.

Three task forces made up the fleet. First came the SAG Saigon, a mixed group of four Vietnamese destroyers and five older Chinese frigates. Forty miles to the north, Admiral Wu Jinlong now set his flag on China’s last real fleet carrier, Taifeng , and he was escorted by a strong surface group.

A new ship was about to make its debut in the war, the next evolution of the Type 055, designated the Type 057A guided missile cruiser. It was built on a modified Type 055 hull and superstructure, but instead of having only two 64 cell VLS bays forward, a third bay, with 32 cells was mounted on the island above the helicopter hangars. It was entirely dedicated to SSM ordnance, carrying 32 YJ-18’s. The main VLS bays were then primarily loaded for air defense with 96 HQ-9’s between them, with room left over for 8 Yu-7 ASROC missile torpedoes, 16 long range YJ-100’s and another eight YJ-18’s. A medium range SAM system, the HQ-16A, was also added in a separate small bay forward, with 16 missiles, and the ship had two laser turrets augmenting its three 30mm Gatling guns. It was the first of its kind, and a dangerous harbinger of things to come in the Chinese Navy, christened as CG Zanshi , the Warrior .

Two other Type 055’s escorted the carrier, Fengshen , the Wind God , and Daishen , the Lightning God , appropriately named ships to accompany a carrier named Taifeng . Both were strongly weighted for air defense, with each carrying 100 HQ-9’s. A single Type 052D destroyer was positioned for close escort, and there were four new Type 054B frigates, the latest evolution of that design.

On these newer ships, the Chinese had removed the traditional triple mount 324mm torpedoes. Experience had shown that they would almost never be used in actual combat, as they required the firing ship to be right on top of the enemy sub. In fact, they often became a liability when the ship was hit, easily damaged or even exploding when hit by shrapnel or any SSM ordnance. Instead, they were replaced by the YU-7 ASROC, which could fire from a VLS bay at an undersea target up to 30 miles away. On these new frigates, the two older Quad YJ-83 SSM mounts were also replaced by three triple YJ-12 mounts. The older missile could only range out 100 miles, and the newer one could reach 215 miles.

So the Chinese were evolving their navy to increase SSM range and air defense across the board. The appearance of Zanshi , the new Warrior class ship, was sobering. While not as powerful as either New Jersey or Kirov , it showed Chinese ambitions and interest in heavy surface combatants. At that time, no one knew that ship had sailed from Shanghai. It was actually thought to be a third Type 055 escorting the carrier, and no one knew how many more were in the shipyards.

It is clear that Beijing does not want this carrier harmed, thought Wu Jinlong. That said, I must be aggressive here, as Zhang Bao exhorted. Pass like thunder and lightning. Move like the wind. And there they are, a pair of Type 055’s, cruising off my bow named after lightning and wind. My enemy is strong, but we are stronger, and yes, we must prevail.

TF Saigon would be called upon to deliver the first blows of this campaign. The Vietnamese destroyers were French built, and carried the Naval SCALP cruise missile, a land attack weapon with a 550 mile range. DDG Da Nang was selected to fire its 16 missiles at Changi Airfield, and see if they could put more damage there to impede enemy operations. Basically a Storm Shadow, the missiles were very stealthy, and not seen by a pair of F-22’s on CAP until they were almost right below them.

“Sentry, Boxer. We have Vampires, low. Very close. Over.”

“Roger Boxer, rough ‘em up. Cleared hot. Sentry, over.”

That would send out the AMRAAM’s after those cruise missiles, and also sound the alarm at Changi and Singapore harbors. There were two strike packages on the field, loaded with ordnance, and they were ordered up at once to save the planes from damage, along with two more Raptors.

“Sentry, Boxer. No Joy. Over. Vampires are ghosts.”

“Roger Boxer. Standby. Over.”

The AMRAAM’s had little luck in their hunt, with five of six failing to find targets. Word was flashed to Changi, and radars on the SAM defense sites switched on. Singapore had bought the French Mamba, which was basically a land based TEL mounted Aster-30 missile system ranging out 60 miles for long range defense. The inner circle was an older RBS-97 I-Hawk system, ranging about 20 miles. Six Avenger-II’s carrying LRASM and six more British Typhoons with Storm Shadow roared aloft, heading north up the Malay coast with their Raptor escort.

Minutes later, both the E-3 Sentry and the flight of Avenger II’s got the next whiff of those incoming Vampires, just eleven miles from the orbiting AEW plane, down at 300 feet elevation. That was a latecomer, first of the missiles were already making their attack on the airfield. One was engaged and hit by the short range Israeli built SPYDER battery they had overflown. Four got through and raged into the open tarmac space with thundering explosions. Four more followed them. The missiles mostly tore up concrete, but one of the last found a Poseidon slated for ASW patrol and blew it apart. Neither the I-Hawks nor the Mambas got off a single shot. Being positioned in the center of the island, they could just not illuminate the Vampires to get a good lock. It was therefore decided to move them close to the airfield on the eastern end of the island.

“Sentry to Avenger 1. Come to four zero degrees. Tasking order hot. Put it all on the Gator. Over.”

The E-3 had pegged the position of Shandong , which the US now called the “Gator,” after the smaller Marine carriers that supported their fleet. That flight of six planes could send 24 missiles out, and they had the range now….

Aboard Kirov , Nikolin had been listening closely to the radio traffic between the E-3 Sentry and those aircraft. He was able to determine that a strike order was sent, and informed Karpov at 07:00.

“Sir, they have fired SSM’s at one of the Chinese task forces.”

“Could you determine the target?”

“I’m not sure what it is, sir… Something called a Gator.”

“Gator…. Alligator…” Karpov’s eyes narrowed. “That’s what the Americans call their light amphibious assault carriers. It must mean they have found Shandong , the only light carrier the Chinese could have operational out there now. Samsonov, standby for missile combat.”

Karpov rushed to the tactical screen, zooming in on the targeted formation. There it was, Shandong , surrounded by a cluster of eight escorts. Now his screen finally updated from the network, and he could see the intended flight paths of the SSM’s.

“They are LRASM’s” he said, “The air launched version, which is a sea skimmer at 600 knots. Good, that gives us time to warm up the Zircons. Samsonov, give me eight, in two sets of four. I want you to send them up here, northwest and behind that carrier. Make your attack vector 115 degrees.”

“Aye sir. System responding. Missiles being keyed.”

“Send the first salvo when ready. Hold the last four.”

“Ready Sir. Firing as ordered.”