Battlefield Ukraine

Regrouping

As Lieutenant General Cotton walked into the JIOC, he realized that things were starting to come unglued very quickly. He had just come from a secured video teleconference with General Wheeler, the Supreme Allied Commander (SACEUR). Things were a complete mess up there from the cruise missile attack, and for the time being, the headquarters had been taken offline; they were transferring operations to one of the alternate locations. For all of NATO’s preparedness, the Russians had still managed to catch NATO with their pants down.

From what General Cotton could tell during the video conference call, and what he was seeing in the JIOC right now, this was turning into a Class A screw-up of epic proportions. As he walked down to the front of the room, all eyes turned to look at the general. He took up a post behind the lectern and prepared to address the group. “Listen up everyone. I do not know how, and right now, I do not care about the why, but somehow, the Russians managed to launch a sneak attack on us and we were caught completely flatfooted. I can assure you that before long, heads will roll. However, right now, we need to focus on how we are going to get past what just happened. I want blood for blood, people!” he blared at the group.

A million cuss words swirled around in General Cotton’s mind, but as he took a deep breath, he realized that yelling a bunch of explicatives at his group was not necessarily the way to get them to work better. As he surveyed the group before him, he saw in their eyes and faces that they were doing their best… it just wasn’t good enough.

“Listen, it’s been a rough few hours. Right now, we have US and NATO soldiers fighting and dying in eastern Ukraine, not to mention what just happened to the Navy and our forces at Ramstein and Spangdahlem. Let’s start to run through the various situations and then start executing orders.” He gestured to his first target in the room. “Colonel George, bring us up to speed on the attacks on our bases in Germany.”

As Colonel George came forward, General Cotton walked back to his traditional seat at the top of the auditorium. He hoped that it wouldn’t all be bad news.

Colonel Philip George was the JIOC Commander who oversaw all the operations happening in the European jurisdiction. Originally an Air Force flyer, he had graduated to desk duty as he was being groomed for general. Perhaps General Cotton had picked him to go first because he had the most hope in Colonel George.

As soon as he reached the podium, the colonel began to answer the question. “Sir, the Russians hit our bases in Germany with their Blackjack bombers, the Su-160s. They swept in across Belarus and Poland at speeds of roughly Mach 2.3 — they flew in at near tree-level, which made them difficult to track at first. When they got within range of their cruise missiles, they rose up to 1,000 feet and unleashed a series of missiles at each of the bases and the NATO headquarters building before ducking back down to treetop level and returning home.”

Colonel George brought up an image of the Blackjack, which was strikingly similar to the American B1 Lancer bomber. Additional slides showed the flight path, and launch points of the cruise missiles, as well as the types of cruise missiles that were launched. Next, he brought up images of the damage to the two American airbases, which was substantial. “A lot of these images were taken less than an hour ago,” he explained. “Fortunately, these were conventional cruise missiles and not nuclear. They hit us with the A-Triple Five Kents, which carry a 400 kg (880 lbs.) high-explosive warhead. They targeted our aircraft hangers, fuel farms, radar, and control tower and several other high value targets. The runways were left untouched. It appears they wanted to hit our ability to respond more than our ability to launch or receive aircraft.”

Colonel George continued to walk through the damage assessment, timelines to get things repaired, and the casualty figures. General Cotton was fuming inside. “With the loss of so many aircraft and fuel farms, it’s going to be difficult for us to provide any credible ground support to their units under attack in Ukraine. Shoot, at this point, we will be lucky if we can prevent the Russians from launching a second attack,” he thought.

The general pressed for more information. “OK, I can see the damage is bad. How soon until we can get things operational at the bases and get fighters back in the skies providing CAP?”

“Right now, the bases are already operational. We lost 68 fighters, 14 transports, six mid-air re-fuelers and one E-3. It’s a hard loss, but we still have aircraft that were not damaged or destroyed. We have 22 fighters flying CAP right now over our bases. The Germans also have 52 fighters flying over their country to ward off any further intrusions. The Polish on the other hand, were hit hard. They received the brunt of the cruise missile attacks by the Backfires, along with a series of short-range ballistic missiles, which really hit them hard. Most of their airfields have been taken offline for the time being. The last situation report we received said that it’ll be at least a full day before the runways are serviceable, and longer still until they have fuel and other services back up and running.”

Colonel George continued, “The Polish and the Germans now have 42 aircraft in the air, but they are also engaging Russian fighters fairly frequently at their borders—”

General Cotton interrupted before he could go any further, “ — Putting all of that aside, what air defense systems do we have operational right now to prevent the Russians from launching a second strike with their Blackjacks? Second, what defenses do we have to protect us here at Patch Barracks and the other facilities around Stuttgart? Third, I thought we had air defenses operational here in Germany. Why did they not respond to this attack?”

Colonel George nodded. He had anticipated these questions. “Sir, nearly a dozen Spetsnaz teams carried out attacks against a number of the air defense sites that we had operational. They also hit the NATO E-3 sentry base at Geilenkirchen and several communication, command and control centers.” He gestured to the army major who had been manning the air defense desk. “I believe the Army has some additional air defense systems that just came online…”

Major Anderson stood up where he was sitting, instead of spending the time walking to the front. “Sir, the THAAD missile system is now operational at Ramstein, Kaiserslautern, and the Stuttgart Army Air Field. The one at SHAPE should be operational in a couple of hours, as well as the two systems in the UK. We have two more being set up as we speak in Poland, one in Hungary and two in Romania. We also have a dozen Patriot systems (both American and German) now active as well,” he explained.

The THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) was a significantly more advanced version of the Patriot missile system. It had the capability of shooting down ballistic missiles in space, and was incredibly effective at hitting cruise and ballistic missiles. Unlike the Patriot, the THAAD was designed purely to engage missiles, while the Patriot retained its primary air-defense mission against aircraft. It should have prevented the American and NATO bases from being hammered by the Russian bombers.

“Why was the THAAD not operational earlier and able to knock down those missiles?” General Cotton pressed, which made the Major squirm a bit.

Major Anderson cleared his throat before answering, “Sir, as you know, the Russians launched a massive cyber-attack a couple of hours before they began their physical assault. The cyber-attack crippled our GPS satellites, and took down our communication systems as well. Unfortunately, the THAAD relies heavily on this technology to guide the missiles to their targets.”

Anderson hesitated. He shifted from one foot to the other, thinking of what to say next. He looked very uncomfortable. “Sir, there was also an incident at the Ramstein and Spangdahlem locations. The situation is still under investigation, so I was not comfortable with sharing it as I do not have all the information yet.”

This caught everyone by surprise; no one had heard about any incident involving the THAAD. “Please share with us what you have, Major. I will determine if it is important,” Cotton directed. He was a little perturbed that apparently General Wheeler either didn’t know about this or had not briefed him on it either.

“Yes, Sir,” the major replied, sweat visibly forming on his forehead. “Well, as you know, in the launch vehicles, there are two radar/missile operators, which are NCOs or soldiers, and then there is a launch officer. In this case, there was a captain in each of the launch vehicles as the launch officer. Both of the captains that were on duty at the time of the Russian attack… well… they slit the throats of the launch crew.” Audible gasps could be heard in the room, along with a few swear words. “That is why none of our THAADs engaged the enemy cruise missiles. They had been sabotaged before they could get a single missile off.”

General Cotton just sat their stunned for a minute, not sure if this was some sort of cruel joke. “Major, this is not the time for gags. What in the blazes really happened?!” he yelled, on the verge of completely losing it.

“Sir, this isn’t a joke. This is why I wanted to hold off on saying anything until I had more information. The military police and CID are still investigating this,” Anderson responded, wishing he was anywhere but there at that moment.

“So, what the hell happened to the two launch officers? Did they just disappear? Tell me you have them in custody, Major!” The General’s face was flush with anger, and he felt his pulse beginning to race.

“No, Sir. We do not have them in custody,” Anderson answered quietly, barely getting the words out. “This appears to have been a pre-planned effort on the part of the Russians. The two Captains that were in charge at the time, we believe had been deep cover GRU operatives or SVR. In either case, they are traitors, and cost the lives of thousands of people. I feel terrible about this, Sir. It was my battalion’s job to operate those THAADs and to protect our bases. I know all the soldiers that were killed personally. We completely screwed things up and thousands of people are dead,” the major said as he began to lose control of his emotions and just sank back into his chair, fighting to hold back tears.

The major had been assigned to the JIOC once the THAADs went online, to act as the liaison between them and the JIOC. He had known the two captains and the men of those crews. The loss of so many lives as a result of his battalion’s failure was becoming too much.

General Cotton saw that Anderson was trying his best. He couldn’t hold the major responsible for the actions of these two traitors. Clearly this entire sneak attack — from the cyber-attacks, to the disabling of the THAADs — was planned months, if not years, in advance.

“Major, I am sorry for your loss. I truly am. This is critically important information. Thank you for sharing it. This explains so much of why we were caught off guard by the Russians. I am sure their actions are not the only ones we will hear about today. During the Cold War, it was believed the Russians would employ a lot of these types of tactics.”

Some of the color returned to Anderson’s face as he realized that General Cotton was showing him a bit of mercy.

Cotton tapped the desk in front of him, thinking. “OK. What I want you to do now is sit down and write out all the details and information you have. We need to get that sent to SHAPE and to the other bases so they know to watch for saboteurs, especially since some apparently have already struck.”

“Yes, Sir,” Major Anderson replied. He immediately began to scribble out notes on the pad of paper in front of him.

The General motioned back to the front of the room. “Colonel George, please continue.”

Colonel George was a bit shocked by what they had just heard, but rallied himself mentally to go on. “Sir, we’ll move over to the Navy. As you know, the George Bush Carrier Strike Group suffered a huge loss. While they were exiting the Bosphorus, nearly a dozen Russian submarines and eight Russian surface warships sprang a trap on the strike group. While the fleet was heavily engaged, a submarine had been lying in wait at the bottom of the ocean, roughly 1,300 feet below the surface. That sub launched six torpedoes at the USS Bush. Because of the close proximity of the sub to the carrier, the torpedoes did not have far to travel.”

He began to show images of the battle that had been taken by the E-2D Hawkeye that had been loitering above the fleet. “One of the torpedoes went for the Nixie (which you know is the device the carrier can trail to mimic their own signature in an attempt to lure the torpedoes away from the carrier). The other three torpedoes struck the carrier.” Colonel George sighed, then continued, “While we were discussing the THAAD issue, we received word that after nearly three hours of trying to save the carrier, the Captain ordered it to be abandoned. They just couldn’t control the fires and flooding.”

As Colonel George finished the recap of the battle, everyone in the room felt even more shock, but also anger. The Russians had really done a number on them, and they wanted revenge. They wanted to fight back.

General Cotton rubbed his head. He was starting to get a migraine with all of the bad information that was being relayed. When he had been on the secure video call to SHAPE, they had been discussing the damage the carrier took, but it was thought that the ship could be saved. Things obviously changed in the last hour and a half. “How many casualties from the Bush?” he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

“They are still in the process of accounting for everyone. As of right now, there are 480 unaccounted for, 963 dead, and nearly twice that number wounded. The rest were able to evacuate from the ship. Those are just the figures from the carrier though. I still need to brief you on the rest of the fleet,” George explained, to the dismay of everyone in the room.

“Between our subs, and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) units, we sunk eleven Russian submarines and sank all eight Russian surface ships; however, this came at tremendous cost. The American fleet was traveling with six destroyers, three guided missile cruisers, and two submarines. Of those, one destroyer was sunk, one destroyer was damaged (the other two are fine), and one of the guided missile cruisers suffered minor damage. Fortunately, the other two guided missile cruisers are fine. However… both of our submarines were lost. We are still getting the final count, but we lost well over 2,500 sailors, and at least that many were injured.”

A collective groan filled the room. Colonel George pressed on though. “The rest of the strike group is heading to the NATO naval base in Romania to regroup with the rest of the NATO fleet. Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria have sent their warships to join the remainder of the strike group, and will continue to hunt and destroy the rest of the Russian subs in the Black Sea. Admiral Munch, the Strike Group Commander, has transferred his flag to the guided missile cruiser, Gettysburg. He has asked for permission to hit the Russian naval base in Crimea. He also wants to know if the ground forces need any of his cruise missiles. He said he has 244 Tomahawks on the cruisers that need a mission.” Colonel George managed a small smile on his face with that last statement. “We are going to need those cruise missiles,” he thought.

General Cotton grunted. “Shoot, tell him to plaster that Russian naval base. Also, provide him with the grids of the Russian airbases that are being used to launch all those bombers and fighters. I want him to take them offline immediately.” The general was happy to finally be able to issue some real retaliatory orders.

The briefing went on for some time while General Cotton continued to issue additional orders to get more US Forces into the fight. “Sixty-Two F-35s have just arrived from the US after an arduous trans-Atlantic flight. I know the pilots are exhausted, but I want you to give them some uppers and throw them right back into the fight. For the sake of the ground forces still alive in Ukraine, the U.S. needs to get air superiority as quickly as possible. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” came the response.

“Good,” said the general. “We’ve got 35 additional F-22s, 180 F-16s and 20 F-15s in the process of flying across the Atlantic right now. When they arrive, I want you to give them some coffee and throw them into the fight, just like the F-35s.”

“Now, what many of you may not know is that several B-2 stealth bombers arrived last night at Lajos airfield in the Azores. In the coming hours, they will fly their first combat mission into Russia. Their first mission is to hit the Russian Command and Control Centers, including the grand prize, the brand new National Defense Control Center in the heart of Moscow.”

A few people gasped. This was a daring plan.

Ignoring the reactions, General Cotton continued, “They will also hit the FSB headquarters, which is still located at Lubyanka Square, the original heart of the KGB. While the B-2’s are busy with that, the B-1 Lancers will be going after the various rail, road, and bridge networks that are vital to keeping the Russian war machine going. The Russians may have numbers, but those ‘numbers’ chew through a lot of fuel, munitions and food. Destroying their logistical capability to fight is the surest way to cripple their army fast.”

General Cotton then turned to his senior National Security Agency Liaison Officer and asked, “What is the NSA doing to reestablish our GPS and satellite communication systems, and what are we doing to go after the Russian systems?”

All eyes turned to the NSA LNO, who had been relatively silent during the briefing thus far. Mr. Justin Lake was the Senior Executive Service (SES) representative to EUCOM and NATO from the NSA, and while he had a small staff of people that worked for him in Stuttgart, he was really just a forward contact for the agency at the Command. He cleared his throat before replying, “I spoke with several of my colleagues before coming to this briefing. I was told roughly half of our GPS satellites will need to be replaced. The industrial control systems were burnt out, rendering the satellites useless. I have it on good authority that we will have close to 25 % of these satellites replaced in the next few days.”

He continued, “Now, the larger issue is the communications and surveillance satellites. Not everyone knows this, but we maintain a certain stockpile of these satellites, which we have kept ready to launch in case of a situation like this. When the Russians launched their DDoS and cyber-attack, they effectively crippled 70 % of the world’s GPS satellites and nearly all of the US military’s surveillance and communication satellites. Fortunately, they did not go after the private sector’s satellites, and we have temporarily commandeered many of them until we can get our replacement satellites in place.”

Mr. Lake then turned to specifically address General Cotton, “As to what we are doing in response, most of that is classified beyond what the folks in this room have clearance for. However, I can assure you that we have launched a massive cyber-attack against the Russians’ logistics and transportation sector. Shortly, their communications infrastructure will be attacked, along with their banking sector. There are certain unspoken thresholds that both the US and Russia have unofficially agreed not to touch, like the power grid. They will not look to turn the lights out permanently in the US, and neither will we in Russia. Suffice to say, a cyber-attack is well underway against Russia with the specific intent of going after their ability to wage and sustain a war.” As he finished speaking, he reached over and took a drink of water from a bottle he had brought with him.

Nodding in approval, General Cotton was pleased with the response. He knew he wouldn’t get any more details unless he went to another secured room to talk privately with Mr. Lake or cleared the briefing room. For the moment, he was content to know the NSA was on top of it and they had it handled.

At the end of the meeting, the people in the room felt like General Cotton was the modern version of General Patton; despite the losses, he had a way of making everyone feel like things were under control.