Dale Brown - Shadows of steel

SHADOWS OF STEEL

By Dale Brown

Copyright (C) 1996 by Dale Brown

All rights reserved.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to my good friend Lieutenant General Don Aldridge, USAF (retired), former vice commander of the Strategic Air Command, for giving me the inspiration for this story and for again providing me with many valuable insights into the behind-the-scenes world of strategic air power.

Thanks to General J. Michael Loh, commander of USAF Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Virginia, for his invaluable assistance in gathering information about the deployment of heavy bombers, and particularly his help with learning about the B-2A Spirit stealth bomber. Thanks also to Colonel Mike Gallagher, Captain Steve Solmonson, and Major Barbara Carr, Public Affairs Office, Headquarters, USAF Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Virginia, for their assistance.

Thanks to Brigadier General Ron Marcotte, commander of the 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman AFB, Missouri, the first home of the B-2A Spirit stealth bomber, and Colonel William Fraser, vice commander, for their help, their time, and especially their special insights into the new world of long-range bomber operations. Meeting officers like them and visiting a modern, hard-charging base like Whiteman were a very special privilege and treat for me.

I also want to thank Captain Bill Harrison, 509th BMW Public Affairs; Colonel Greg Power, 509th Operations Group commander; Lieutenant Colonel Fred Strain, 509th Operational Support Squadron commander; my old B-52 buddy Lieutenant Colonel Rick Sorenson, Operations Plans Team chief; fellow ex-FB-111 crewdog Lieutenant Colonel Tony Imondi, chief B-2A instructor pilot; Lieutenant Colonel Dick Newton, 393rd Bomb Squadron commander; Major Steve Tippetts, Captain Buzz Barrett, and my old fellow FB-111 crewdog Major Jim Whitney of the 393rd Bomb Squadron “Tigers”; and all the others I met and who offered ideas and answered questions during a spectacular visit to the 509th Bomb Wing and the incredible B-2A Spirit stealth bomber. It was good to see old friends so successful in the world’s most sophisticated combat warplane.

Thanks to Major Emerson Pittman, chief of public affairs, secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs—Western Region, for his help in gathering information for this story.

A major source of historical, political, and military information on various countries around the world on which I relied was Defense and Foreign Affairs Handbook (London: International Media Corp., Ltd., 1994). Thanks also to the many members all over the world of SOC,CULT.IRAN (SCI) newsgroup on the Internet for their invaluable help and ideas.

Thanks to Neil Nyren, publisher and editor-in-chief at G.P.

Putnam’s Sons, for his valuable help with the manuscript—within sixty seconds of my first meeting with him, this man helped me over a particularly rough spot in the manuscript! I’m lucky to have him with me.

This novel is dedicated to the memory of my good friend, mentor, and editor, George M. Coleman, executive editor at G.P. Putnam’s Sons. From the very beginning of my writing career, whenever I needed a guiding hand around all the land mines in the publishing world, he was always there. The greatest gift God could give us is to put the soul of George Coleman into another person and let his charm, excitement, and thirst for life bless us once again. I hope to meet that lucky person someday.

This novel is also dedicated to the men and women of the Aircrew Life-Support Section, 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano Air Base, Italy, for their hard work in training and equipping U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot Captain Scott O’Grady, which helped him to survive being shot down over Bosnia and to successfully escape the clutches of the Bosnian Serb army in June of 1995. Mission after mission, year after year, they pack the ‘chutes, charge the bottles, check the straps, and change the batteries as if they will be the ones who’ll strap on that jet. Thanks for bringing a crewdog home safely.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

Any similarities in this novel to any person, living or dead, are purely coincidental and entirely the product of the author’s imagination.

My faithful readers will note that this story takes place after Day of the Cheetah. I hope you welcome back our old friends as much as I enjoyed bringing them back for you.

Your comments are welcome! Please e-mail your thoughts to me at Reader MailMegafortress.com, or visit my Web site at http://www.Megafortress.com.

REAL-WORLD NEWS EXCERPTS

DEFENSE & FOREIGN AFFAIRS STRATEGIC POLICY, OCT 31, 1994 (reprinted with permission)

In mid-September, Tehran concluded that a clash over the islands in the Strait of Hormuz—Abu Musa and the Tumbs—was inevitable. This assessment was based on intelligence from Saudi Arabia and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and was reflected in the intensification of Iran’s military preparations and exercises in the Gulf. By late September (1994), Tehran was actively preparing for a possible military confrontation with the Persian Gulf states over the islands. Tehran believes that by demonstrating its strong and uncompromising position over the Gulf issues, it will be able to influence such countries as Egypt and Iraq to recognize Iran’s unique position in the hub of Islam.

IRAN SAYS WESTERN TROOP BUILDUP POSES THREAT TO SECURITY (OCT 20, 1994/0600 GMT) NICOSIA-REUTERS

Iran’s Intelligence (Internal Security) Minister Ali Fallahiyan said on Wednesday night the presence of Western forces in the Gulf was a threat to Iran’s security. He said Iran should be vigilant and prepared “for any eventuality,” the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported. It quoted Fallahiyan as saying that the “presence of alien forces and their movements in Iran’s immediate vicinity needed vigilance and full preparation for any eventuality.” He blasted United States policy in the Gulf region and urged oil-rich Gulf Arab states to end their alliance with Washington. The official news agency IRNA said the English-language Tehran Times and Iran News attacked the United States in editorials marking the November 4 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran after the Islamic revolution in 1979. Addressing neighboring Gulf Arab states, it said: “Now you are the victims of U.S. exploitation and usurpation carried out in more subtle ways to deprive you of your wealth.” It urged them to oppose the presence of U.S. forces in the region. “Let the shout of ‘Death to America’ ring loud in the desert as a clear expression of your opposition to any pretext of a ‘Desert Storm,’ which we all know was just a game of cards the CIA played to justify their presence in the region.”

IRAN USES STYX TECHNOLOGY IN CRUISE-MISSILE DEVELOPMENT (Nov 17, 1994) 11/17/94 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL Iran is developing a range of ballistic missiles, and a cruise missile derived from the Russian SSN-2 Styx anti-ship missile, according to German intelligence documents obtained by Flight International. Tehran has access to Styx technology via the Silkworm, the 80-km (45-mile)-range Chinese-built version of the Styx. Iran took delivery of its first Silkworms in 1986 and the missiles are deployed on the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf waters. Four Silkworm launch emplacements have been built on the mid-gulf island of Abu Musa, where administration is shared by Iran and the Arab emirate state of Sharjah. Documents say that Tehran is also involved in the development of a solid-fueled missile and in the development of enhanced-performance Scud ballistic-missile systems ….

ARBITRATION REJECTED IN UAE ISLANDS ROW (DEC 23/1221 GMT) 12/23/94 TEHRAN (DEC 22) BLOOMBERG Iran spurned a call from its Arab neighbors to accept international arbitration in its dispute with the United Arab Emirates over three islands in the Persian Gulf. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said bilateral talks with the UAE were the only way to resolve the row which has soured relations between non-Arab Iran and the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). GCC leaders, ending a summit in Bahrain last night, called on the Iranian government to let the International Court of Justice decide who owns the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tumbs. Iran, which controls the islands, said it will never give them up to the UAE. Raising the issue of territorial disputes posed a threat to the security of the Persian Gulf and served the interests of foreign powers in the region, the Foreign Ministry statement, carried on Tehran Radio, said.