"Yes, but we will be doing this work at several s.h.i.+pyards. We will have these logistic practices installed at each of those facilities, so the efforts a.s.sociated with those vessels should be much more difficult to ascertain."

"I know it is not my area of responsibility, but I have an idea for the Sea Control vessels. Perhaps, we could erect the coverings at all of the dry docks being used for these vessels-except this one. Let the Americans find what they are looking for, but keep them focused here so the magnitude of what we are accomplis.h.i.+ng is kept from their view."

As they reached the bottom of the long staircase and began walking across the dry dock, Lu Pham considered his production crew chief's words and suggestions, and was reminded anew of his dedication and ingenuity.

The two men had begun to a.s.sociate with one another and their families in the weeks that had elapsed since their first meeting. The social interaction meant a lot to Lu because, despite his contributions, there were not many who would a.s.sociate socially with a Vietnamese family. But in Sung, he believed he had found not only talented employee, but also a friend.

"Perhaps such misdirection will help, Sung, but it still does not address the fact that fabrication efforts at each site will be almost impossible to hide."

Sung respected Lu Pham. He was a brilliant engineer. But Sung Hsu's expertise was in production and manufacturing, and he had met many westerners over the years at the COSCO facilities. He believed that such misdirection might work with what he had seen of the western mindset.

"I believe, with the coverings and with these logistical channels for other materials, that they will be less noticeable at those other facilities. By putting the Sea Control efforts of this facility right out in the open, perhaps they may have no reason to look at the others. Perhaps at this point, the best we can hope for is to keep the magnitude of the effort from them."

As they continued to walk, Lu made up his mind to pa.s.s these recommendations on to General Hunbaio.

"Your ideas have merit, Sung. Perhaps that is the best we can hope for at this point. I will pa.s.s them on to General Hunbaio and we shall see where they lead. Now, let us hurry and view the preparations you are making for those pivot points on the traversing collars. My body tells me it is almost time to eat. We will have to hurry if my family is to be at your apartment by eight o'clock. But I know we can do it. You see, the excellent Chi Ro Mein that your wife makes is calling to me."

June 2, 2005 White House Situation Room Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

Admiral Crowler contemplated on the import of this moment. The next one or two hours could potentially portend a critical watershed in the history of United States and Chinese relations; perhaps a watershed in world history. Admiral Crowler had been in the Navy all of his adult life. He had come up through the ranks, starting as a "snipe" on a conventionally-powered aircraft carrier. Ultimately he had risen to command one of the premier surface combatants, an Aegis Cruiser. From there he'd been promoted to a Task Force commander as a Rear Admiral. He rose to flag rank six years later. And, as a result of his personal relations.h.i.+p with, and mutual respect for, the President, he had recently been promoted to command the entire US Navy.

He had cut his command teeth during the "Reagan years" when the 600-s.h.i.+p navy had become a reality.

He had also lived through the "h.e.l.l Years" of the 1990's when political correctness, sensitivity training, budget cuts and what the Admiral considered to be insane policy decisions had all but destroyed the morale and effectiveness of his "fighting" navy.

Now, he intended to ensure that those times were behind them. They were now in the business of seriously putting the whetstone to steel in order to restore the "cutting edge."

"Mr. President, as you know, we had an over-flight of Red China last week. The mission made some startling discoveries, at least four of which made for a very anxious time for all involved."

"I have reviewed the data and ramifications with your National Security Advisor, John Bowers, with the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, the Chief over the Air Force, General Livingston, with my own boss, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Stone and with the Secretary of Defense, Timothy Hattering. Are there any general questions before I begin?"

Admiral Crowler patiently waited while the other attendees, in addition to those whom he had just named, considered his remarks. Those additional attendees included President Norm Weisskopf, Vice President Alan Reeves, Secretary of State, Fred Reissinger and Tom Lawton who was attending with the Director of the NRO at the Presidents express request.

Secretary of State Reissinger cleared his throat and spoke.

"Admiral, the launch of those missiles at our aircraft was seen by tens of thousands. The Chinese have lodged an official diplomatic protest and are having a hay day with the press. It is really a diplomatic nightmare as many nations are sending official inquiries regarding the "incident." I thought we were sure that nothing could either detect, acquire or fire upon our aircraft. I need something to respond to these inquiries with."

Admiral Crowler paused for a moment or two, collecting his thoughts.

"Mr. Secretary, we were all surprised by the capabilities of the new Chinese missiles. We will speak more to that later in the meeting. I understand the difficult diplomatic position it has placed us in. I believe we must stick to our guns and officially deny any involvement. As far as we are concerned and as far as the evidence shows...the Chinese launched their missiles at a meteor descending into the atmosphere which burned during reentry."

Turning to his boss and the Secretary of Defense, the Admiral inquired.

"General Stone, Secretary Hattering?"

At this, President Weisskopf spoke up.

"That will not be necessary. Fred, I am afraid there is not much we can do here explicitly other than stick to the explanation that we were not involved...maybe floating Admiral Crowler's explanation would not be a bad idea. In the mean time, let's continue with the briefing."

With the President's definitive word on the matter, further discussion was unnecessary and Admiral Crowler continued.

"Thank you Mr. President. The agenda will be as follows. We are going to have Tom Lawton review the infrared, electronic and signals data we received as a result of Colonel Mendenhall's flight. Following this, we are going to look at our projections of the capabilities of the new missile system that was fired at our aircraft. Finally, we will discuss the ramifications of both the s.h.i.+pyard data and the new missile systems on our current and future relations with the PRC."

"So, with that said, Tom, would you care to make your presentation?"

Tom was well prepared. With enhanced photographs which were based on infrared imaging and radar imaging, he showed the attendees the significant work going on at the Tianma s.h.i.+pyards.

"They are working three s.h.i.+fts and have a huge number of manual and technical laborers preparing these four dry docks. Historically, at this facility, they have had only two dry docks, and these were used predominantly for s.h.i.+pwrecking. Bringing old hulks in and dismantling them for their metal and wiring and anything else of value that could be obtained."

"If you will direct your attention at these openings in the sides of each dry dock, it is apparent that an intricate system of access tunnels are being constructed which extend back to the surface several hundred meters away. Each of them is in close proximity to a major transportation corridor, either rail or vehicle.

The implication that they are ramping up for serious s.h.i.+pbuilding at these facilities is clear...and in a way that will make it much more difficult for either our satellites or other surveillance missions to determine what is going on exactly once they begin."

"Though no s.h.i.+ps were present, each dry dock is capable of handling a vessel 800 feet in length and 100 feet wide; typical size for their container s.h.i.+ps."

"With respect to the signals and electronic data we a.n.a.lyzed, it is also clear that those missile batteries and additional, lesser capable batteries have been set up in very thick matrix around these s.h.i.+pyards, particularly for any approach from the sea. They are clearly intent on defending this site."

With respect to the advanced missiles themselves, I have prepared a summary of data regarding their performance against the HR-7 aircraft we had in the area. Please refer to your handout and to the screen:"

General: Guided, high performance Anti-Air Guidance: Capable of multiple guidance points and terminal guidance Range: Fifty to Seventy Miles Ceiling: 140,000 ft.

Speed: Two stage, max speed Mach 4 "We do not know if the missile is capable of self guidance once initial lock on is obtained on the ground.

We must presume it can because their other high performance missile, the KS-2 certainly can. In addition, it is clear that the terminal guidance includes at least infrared and probably includes radar."

At this point, General Livingston, The US Air Force Chief, spoke.

"Excuse my interruption, Tom, but I want to emphasize something to everyone here. These arevery capable missiles...perhaps as capable as our latest Patriot missiles, although their performance against a true ballistic threat is indeterminate. Somehow we need to determine their full capabilities, as well as their numbers and production status. As it is, we know that they are one of the most capable missiles, outside of our own, that we have encountered."

The meeting continued and two things were made very clear: The Red Chinese were gearing up for serious s.h.i.+pbuilding at the Tianma s.h.i.+pyards. Taking into account earlier CIA intelligence regarding the purpose, and eventual military significance, of the projects, the speculation that the Red Chinese were going to use those locations to build new carriers, or some other military vessels, began to a.s.sume more and more credence.

It was clear that the Red Chinese had employed a new, highly capable missile system in defense of these very s.h.i.+pyards, along with an entire multi-layered defense of other, less capable systems. This information served as the catalyst in reaching the determination that Tianma was in fact being converted to accommodate extensive military operations.

President Weisskopf addressed the meeting as it was winding down, and as Admiral Crowler sat down after the last agenda item.

"Ok, I want to thank everyone for their fine input. We will go forward with the Jimmy Carter mission early next month. I believe it is imperative, with the creation of the CAS, and given my own conversation with President Jien Zemin, that we gather as much intelligence as possible. Admiral Crowler, just ensure, as we have discussed, that the Commander understands that at no time can his boat encroach into internationally recognized territorial waters of Red China. He is to accomplish his mission without doing so, or he is to abort. General Stone, Admiral, is that understood?"

Both men responded immediately with a definitive, "Yes Sir."

With that, the President concluded.

"Gentlemen, these are momentous and potentially dangerous times. Fred, we need to do everything possible to bolster the morale, and the confidence, of our allies and friends in the Pacific region, and to maintain civility with the Red Chinese. Spare no effort to ensure that the foreign ministers from j.a.pan, to Singapore, to Australia understand this. Pa.s.s the word confidentially to our friends in the ROC."

"Oh, and one more thing. Alan, I would like you to work with Fred at State and Mike at CIA to coordinate a detailed review of events of the last few weeks in Iran. We have not taken a hard enough look at that, in my opinion. I know there has not been a lot of news emanating from there-and little notice is being paid to what news has been released-but I want to know more about this Hasan Sayeed. His age, and the unusual, almost wors.h.i.+pful, deference that is being paid to him, has me worried.

Too many differing Islamic sects saying too many good things. I have a feeling we need to know more.

You guys get together off line and arrange to look a little deeper into this man, and his potential significance, both in Iran, and well beyond her borders."

Alan Reeves liked nothing more than to have a myriad of diplomatic and international state affairs on his plate. It was part of the arrangement that President Weisskopf had made with him before he accepted the invitation to run as Weisskopf's running mate. Given Reeves' prior experience under the Reagan administration, the President let it be known from the beginning that he'd rely on Alan for input, and decision-making, where diplomatic and international trade issues were concerned. Alan had liked the offer, and nothing had since given him any reason to regret having accepted it. Weisskopf was not treating his VP in the traditional figurehead manner. He was putting as much as Alan could handle on his plate. And, without exception, Alan had proven capable of handling everything that was placed before him.

Alan operated best under such pressures, and had a "team" who mirrored his capabilities in this regard.

The President had just filled their plates yet again, and Alan was anxious to have at it."

"Mr. President, I will do it right away Sir. We'll have a planning meeting tonight if that is okay with you, Fred and Mike, and then prepare a detailed briefing with you within the next few days."

June 6, 2005, 06:00 Wolf Flight, training range Ft. Hood, Texas Major Jess Simmons was charged up for this morning's exercises. It was 6 a.m. and he and his back-seater and their flight of RAH-66 Comanches were on the point of the sword and moving forward.

For the last three days he had been in briefings and mission planning sessions in exhaustive preparation for the exercises that actually kicked off in the field today. The exercises would be the culmination of his, and many others,' efforts of the last three years regarding the full deployment of the new RAH-66 Comanche helicopter.

In fact, for the last 9 years the program had been coming together, from that first prototype which had flown in 1996, to the six operational machines that had been delivered in 2002, when Jess had first been a.s.signed duty with these amazing military aircraft. That was the year he had opted out and gone into the guard, after fifteen years in the Army. Despite his decision to leave the Army, his record in flying the AH-64 Apache helicopter had been so outstanding that Uncle Sam had immediately put him to work evaluating and testing the Comanche.

That work, and the performance of the aircraft itself, had been so outstanding, and so compelling, that the Army had sought, and received, approval to begin low-level production two years ahead of schedule, in 2004 instead of 2006. As a result, thirty aircraft had been produced in 2004, and another thirty in 2005, the latter delivered in the first half of the year. To date, there were now 65 operational RAH-66 Comanches in service. The exercises kicking off this morning would put 25 of them through their paces for the next four days, covering all mission capabilities from Scout, to Armed Recon, to Attack, to Air Defense, and all of the tactics developed for them.

Jess was piloting the lead aircraft of his company in the attack role. He would locate and then attack opposing force (OPFOR) tanks and other targets of opportunity.

In some of the heavier units, the Comanches would be operating in the scout and armed recon role, handing off the actual attack to AH-64D "Longbow" Apache helicopters. Jess believed that, in the attack role, the Comanche was every bit as effective as (and, in some ways, even more effective than) the older Apaches. This was because, while with the additional stores pylons the Comanche could carry slightly less ordinance, it could do it more stealthily and more effectively. He was convinced that these exercises would serve as proof of the Comanche's attack-mode superiority.

"Guidepost, guidepost, this is Wolf," Jess spoke into his headset on the division's frequency.

"Go ahead Wolf," came back an almost instantaneous reply.

"We are at point Bravo. Confirm permission to proceed."

The operational plan called for his lead element of Comanches to scout well in advance of the division and the other elements of his flight. Point Bravo was the "kick-off" point after which his blue force expected at any time to encounter the OPFOR. From point Bravo, his flight would begin an armed reconnaissance, looking for the lead elements of the OPFOR.

In this case, OPFOR consisted of Soviet block equipment, including T-80 tanks, BMP-3 personnel carriers, AAW support vehicles, Hok.u.m attack helicopters and air support provided by OPFOR F-16's. The Hok.u.ms and F-16's were Jess's major concern. They were very capable of targeting his flight of helicopters and taking them out.

For this reason, his flight of six Comanches included two aircraft operating in the air defense mode, carrying full loads of eight ATAS Block II (air-to-air stinger) missiles. Their call signs were Thresher 1 and Thresher 2.

"Roger, Wolf. You are cleared to proceed."

With that, Jess spoke over his flight's frequency.

"Okay, flight, follow my lead. We'll scout the terrain over the next rise across the valley to our front. I'm on point. Thresher 1 and Thresher 2, take up positions on our left and right flanks respectively, and cover us for any bandits. Respond in sequence"

As he received the responses, Jess dashed across the small intervening valley and hovered just below the summit of the hills on the far side. He slowly bought his aircraft up so his millimeter wave radar system's FCR (Fire Control Radar) could peer over the tops of the trees. Just before the sensors were ready to "see" over the treetops, Jess spoke over the intercom.

"Okay, Todd, keep your mark 20 eyeb.a.l.l.s pealed and all of our electronic eyeb.a.l.l.s up to snuff."

As his infrared and other sensors got a good look at the next valley, his back-seater, Todd Christensen, was rewarded with a view of five OPFOR BMP-3's. They were sitting in a small clearing at the edge of a line of oak trees on the far side of the valley, nestled between two of the hills that marked the far side of that valley in this part of the Texas hill country.

"Okay, flight, on my mark all shooters ease up to targeting position. There are five BMP-3's on the far side of the valley. I will take the center target. Each of you take targets to my right and left, in order of sequence. I will take a second shot on the far right. Await my mark and then acquire and engage."

Quickly keying into the division frequency, Jess said, "Guidepost, guidepost. This is Wolf. We have contact with lead scout element of OPFOR. Request permission to engage and fall back to point Bravo, executing plan Lima."

"Affirmative, Wolf. You have permission to engage."

Now, speaking back on his flight frequency, Jess commanded.

"Okay, gentlemen, on my Mark.. 3.. 2.. 1 Mark!"

The four Comanche attack helicopters rose, acquired their respective targets using their FCR, and engaged each with a special training round that simulated a h.e.l.lfire missile. The practice rounds left the launch pylons and homed in on their respective targets.

June 6, 2005, 06:10 OPFOR Lead Element, training range Ft. Hood, Texas As soon as the incoming fire was noticed, all five BMP-3's rapidly backed into the cover of the woods on the side of the hill. As they did so, their commander, Lieutenant Jensen, spoke to his own divisional headquarters.

"Hightower, Hightower. Vulture one and two execute Pincer three!"

Three of his units, including Jensen himself, made it safely into the trees. But two units were not as fortunate, as the training rounds "electronically" blew them apart, relegating them to "KIA" status in the training exercise.

Concurrent with Lt. Jensen's transmission, two flights of four Russian, KA-50B Hok.u.m attack helicopters rose from behind the hills between which the BMP-3's had been nestled. Each flight angled away from the BMP-3's and up and over the respective hilltops to each side, circling towards the Comanches.

June 6, 2005, 06:12 Wolf Flight Ft. Hood, Texas "Incoming bandits! Coming over the rise from the left and right. Thresher 1 engaging!"

Jess saw the threat immediately. OPFOR had sprung a trap on his flight. It appeared that all of the aircraft were Hok.u.ms, and that they were armed for air-to-air combat, carrying two missiles each. These would be simulations of Russian infrared homing missiles similar to the AIM-9 Sidewinder in the US inventory.

Jess knew that, even though the Comanche had been designed to reduce its engine heat significantly, even over that of the very cool running Apache, trying to retreat would involve turning his engine exhaust to the OPFOR helicopters. This would maximize their chance to use those missiles against him.

Thresher 1 and Thresher 2 would certainly give them a lot to think about since, between the two of them, they carried as many missiles as all eight Hok.u.ms. On the other hand, leaving the two of them to engage the Hok.u.ms alone, while Jess and the remainder of the flight fled, could get them "killed." These thoughts pa.s.sed through Jess' mind in an instant, and then he made up his mind.

"Thresher 1 and 2, engage immediately and then encircle. Remainder of flight, on my lead, move forward and engage with guns, then fall back."

June 6, 2005, 06:16 OPFOR Lead Element, Training Range Ft. Hood, Texas Lieutenant Jensen could not believe what he had just witnessed. The trap had been sprung perfectly and he'd thought that the blue team was toast when the eight Hok.u.ms came boiling over the ridges to his left and right.

He expected the four Comanches to fall back. They were outnumbered and did not appear to be armed for air-to-air combat. But that's not how it went down.

Two more Comanches, loaded for air-to-air combat, came over the ridge to his front, and each immediately shot two "simulated" missiles at the Hok.u.ms. Three of these four missiles "scored" on the Hok.u.ms, taking those three aircraft out of the exercise. At the same time, two Hok.u.ms had fired at those two Comanches, electronically eliminating only one of them.

Then, to his utter disbelief, the other four Comanches charged and attacked with their chin guns! In the resulting "fur ball," another Hok.u.m was destroyed before the Comanches broke off and retreated. As they did so, the remaining four Hok.u.ms were able to take out one of the Comanches.

At that moment, the surviving air defense Comanche, which had circled around behind the Hok.u.ms, came back into the fight with a bit between its teeth. This Comanche scored "hits" on two more Hok.u.ms.

As the last two Hok.u.ms retreated back over the ridge, the four surviving Comanches regrouped on station. Two Comanches versus six Hok.u.ms had been taken out...and the Hok.u.m was the most advanced OPFOR rotary aircraft in the world today.

June 10th, 2005, 10:15 Debriefing Room, Ft. Hood, Texas "Major, I must say that your attack on the Hok.u.m ambush that first day was an extremely gutsy thing to do. It was dangerous, unprecedented and very risky. It also worked, and set the tone for the entire exercise."

"You men listen up. I can not recommend such a move, but I can say that your a.n.a.lytical skills must be top notch to survive on the battlefield. You must know your enemy and their capabilities. You must know how they stack up against your capabilities, without having to "remember" it. It must come naturally."

"If you study, train and live with this in mind, then, when faced with circ.u.mstances such as Major Simmons was, you will be able to arrive at the split-second decisions that may well save your command.

Equally, and perhaps even more importantly, you will make the decisions that will allow you to complete your mission and save many other commands who are depending on you."

General Jamison looked over the a.s.sembled officers and senior non-commissioned officers who had taken part in Operation No Stars. The training exercise had purposely tested US Forces when facing highly capable OPFOR's, where the US advantage in overall battlefield management through digital and electronic technology had been negated. In other words, the units would be left to coordinate through more traditional radio frequency and verbal methods.

This was a part of a policy statement that had been issued by the President, the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff soon after President Weisskopf's inauguration. The policy was to ensure that US fighting forces were not overly dependent on the digital technology which had made them so invincible in many of the recent regional conflicts. General Jamison liked the att.i.tude and the challenge. It was part of president Weisskopf's plainly stated "honing" strategy and General Jamison believed it was high time.

And the strategy was proving effective. Facing a numerically superior and very advanced OPFOR, the blue forces had come out on top and achieved every operational goal; though not without losses, some of them significant.