Somewhere in the North Atlantic - Vampire!
Backfire formation - 2 minute until launch. Bomber Delta 2
"Sir! We've locked onto the formation! Good returns from multiple targets!"
"Excellent, prepare to fire and then we're getting the hell out of here."
Then Delta two exploded. The Phoenix missile that killed the Backfire was one of 20 launched and the Soviets didn't even know they were there. The bombers were being targetted by the air search radars and fire control systems of the NATO warships as well as the E2-C Hawkeyes but no airborne intercept radars.
The missles were guided in by the Hawkeyes, the F-14s fire control systems inactive, only appearing on the relatively simple soviet bombers radar as they pulled up from the sea east the Soviet formation.
It was a massive gamble, risking the surface ships who had apparently been caught with their pants round their ankles and without strong fighter cover, and like bees to hony the Backfires had come. Of 20 missiles launched, 14 found targets, others either failed to lock on or suffered technical problems and in two cases just outright missed.
The F-14s closed in launching another salvo whilst the backfires kept charging forwards, now franticly trying to get into range. It was now a deadly race as the Backfire formation started to come apart. The second salvo of missles was less devasting, with 10 Backfires being torn from the sky, but the survivors, 46 aircraft in total got into range as the third barrage of missles hit them. The third salvo caught a further 10 aircraft, some in the process of launching but now with their missiles launched the mauled backfires turned at full throttle, their ECM officers filling the airwaves with static and white noise, flooding the sky with tonnes of chaff.
USS Bunker Hill -Commander Air defence ship - that moment
"Vampire Vampire Vampire! Missiles in the air! Count is 90 sir!"
"Understood, is the ship cleared for launch?"
"Aye sir, formation reports ready."
"Very good, transmit targetting data to the other AEGIS ships so we don't target the same missiles, fire when ready!"
"Aye sir!"
The young operatiors hands flew across their consoles as the AEGIS system went to work. It was a modern military marvel, capable of tracking and engaging multiple targets and engaging them with one of the, if not the best surface to air missiles ever designed. As the Backfire force was being brutalised by the Tomcats the Soviet missiles roared through the air, directed by their onboard seeker heads and the now intermittent guidance from their launching aircraft.
The AS-4 also known as the Kitchen in Nato was a big missile and it was fast and powerful with a warhead of 1 ton of High explosives. Unlike older marks of this missile these did not fly at high altitude, they dived, screaming in at mach 2 stopping at 40 feet from sea level. Some missiles failed to pull out of their dive and slammed into the sea, others were distracted by the chaff and walls of jamming coming from the NATO ships but they bore in with deadly intent.
This was just the situation that the AEGIS system had been designed for, saturation missile attacks. By dropping to a lower altitude the intercept was made a bit harder, but nothing outside the systems capabilities.
At 80 miles the four AEGIS equipped ships began launching vollies of SM-2 missiles from their vertical launch silos. Each missile jumped free of its housing on a tongue of fire up to 10000 feet before tipping over, guided by the phased array radars to their targets.
In the ops room on every NATO ship men and women watched as missiles were blotted off the radar but they were getting closer and closer. Other NATO ships began firing their own missiles as soon as they came in range as the rapidly deminishing soviet missile volley shrunk fast, but not fast enough.
Then the first hit was scored. FFG-60 the Rodney M Davis was hit amidship by a missile meant to kill a much larger target, the little Perry class Frigate was devastated by the impact which tore a huge hole in the ships side, the blast snapping the frigates keel. She sunk in less than three minutes, taking just under a hundred men with her. MN Tourville was next, her CIWS stopping one Kitchen just 100 yards from impact, the blast and fragmentation lacerating her upperworks like a shotgun blast that tore up radars, punctured the hull and killed crewmen.
Of the 90 missiles launched, a dozen got through the AEGIS barrage, of these 6 found targets in the NATO formation with devastating results for the unfortunate ships hit.
USS Bunker Hill.
"Sir! The kickbacks are tipping over!"
Of course, there was the 216 missiles coming down from 130000 feet at a staggering mach 5 to worry about. the Backfire force had shot its bolt for little gain and massive losses, but the Blackjacks were just coming into play.