Battlefield Ukraine

Bunker Down

President Vladimir Petrov had been sitting in the Central Command Room, going over the progress of the war with his generals and senior advisors for the past hour. On the one hand, they had lost a lot of fighter aircraft throughout the day, which was troubling, considering these were some of their tier-one frontline aircraft. On the other hand, they had also shot down three NATO E-3 aircraft and seriously damaged a number American and NATO airbases. One analyst reported that over 160 fighters aircraft were destroyed on the ground alone.

The admirals were still upset over the loss of so many submarines and surface ships. They had effectively lost nearly 50 % of the entire Russian navy in the opening day of the war. On the bright side, they had sunk the Supercarrier George H.W. Bush and several other critically important surface ships. The Americans did not have as large a fleet as they did during the Cold War. Back then, they could absorb losses in carriers and other vessels. However, that was simply not the case in the budget-constrained environment the US found itself in now.

One of the Air Force officers was droning on about the effectiveness of the new S-400 and S-500 defensive systems. “We intercepted 98 cruise missiles throughout the day, preventing the Americans from causing crippling damage to our critical infrastructure and airbases. With the new Lenovo targeting computers, even the S-300 is seeing a significant improvement in effectiveness.”

Petrov was glad to have the good news, but he was also getting bored listening to one officer after the other blather on. Then, as they were discussing tomorrow’s objectives, an alarm began to blare inside the building. Everyone looked up at the ceiling, as if somehow a bomb was about to drop through it.

An officer walked up to the group. “Mr. President, we need to evacuate to the bunker immediately. Our radar just detected a B-2 bomber over Moscow,” he explained hastily. Everyone stood up and began to walk briskly towards one of the stairways to head down to the bunker.

As they were all moving down the halls, the bomb hit the building. It knocked everyone to ground, some falling down the stairs, others able to catch themselves by grasping at the railing. The entire building shook, and they heard a loud explosion. The lights flickered off, then back on before turning off again. The emergency lights kicked in, and everyone began to regain their composure, trying to figure out what to do next.

One of the guards in Petrov’s protective detail helped the world leader off the floor. “We need to keep going this direction,” he said as he pointed towards one of the doors back up on the ground floor level. They collectively ran as a group up the stairs and through that door. The guard continued to lead them to a side entrance that would bring them to one of the underground tunnels connecting to the Kremlin.

The guards then separated the leaders into two groups. Following their continuation of government plan, the President and the military leaders were ushered in one direction and the other political figureheads were whisked off another way. Petrov and the military men were soon racing through the tunnels underneath the city. Within five minutes, they had made their way to a command bunker that was somewhere between the two buildings, roughly 300 feet underground.

As President Petrov walked into the alternative command bunker, he saw officers and other specialists getting the room up and running, turning computers and monitors on, and making sure all the systems were operational. Until they could determine that the President was safe, they would operate out of this bunker, which could run the war, if necessary.

President Petrov walked up to one of the military officers. “I want to know what in the world just hit our building. Is the threat over?!”

Petrov’s cheeks were red and a vein on the side of his neck was visibly pulsating. “These guys were just bragging to me about how effective the new air defense system had been,” he thought, “and then the building alarms started going off. The officers better not be lying to me about how effective the system is, or someone is going to be shot.”

An Army officer dared to take the question. “The defense building has been hit with what appears to have been a bunker busting bomb. It hit the east tower, causing substantial damage. Preliminary reports show that the Central Command Center (where we had all been meeting) was not damaged in the blast. However, until the fires can be brought under control, I highly recommend that we continue to operate out of this command bunker for the time being.”

Everyone seemed pleased that only part of the building had been hit, and not the critical command center in the center of the structure. Had that room been hit, it could have killed them all, along with a lot of the mission-critical personnel currently on duty.

Another Army officer spoke up. “Mr. President, I have a report from the Moscow aircraft defense command on what happened.”

Petrov signaled for everyone to take a seat so the officer could bring them up to speed on what had happened.

Clearing his throat, the Army Colonel began, “The S-500 commander identified a B-2 stealth bomber and engaged it with two missiles. The radar system also identified a total of four guided bombs that we have now determined to be bunker-busting bombs. These were most likely the American GBU-57B, which is a 30,000-pound bomb with roughly a 5,000-pound warhead.”

The room was silent as they all realized how close to death they had all just been.

The colonel continued, “The S-500 was able to intercept two of the bombs, destroying them over the city. A third bomb hit the defense building, and the fourth bomb was apparently thrown off course and landed in a residential area, a couple of blocks away from Red Square. We are still assessing the damage to the residential area, but we expect casualties to be high.”

Petrov interrupted, “ — What about the B-2? Did we shoot it down?”

The colonel nodded. “Yes, Mr. President. The bomber was damaged by the first missile from the S-500 battery. The bomber’s stealth system had nearly defeated our traditional targeting systems, but the Lenovo targeting computer was able to get the missile within range of the bomber, causing significant damage to it. This destroyed the bomber’s stealth capabilities and a S-400 battery roughly 100 miles away was able to reacquire the B-2 as a target. They fired two missiles, which successfully destroyed the bomber. The two pilots bailed out of the aircraft, and we currently have search parties out looking for them.”

Everyone in the room was excited by this news. They had successfully shot down an American B-2 over Russia and intercepted three of the four bombs dropped on their beloved city. The new Lenovo targeting computer really was living up to the hype of its creator. The missile still had to have an initial lock on an aircraft to work, but this was promising.

Petrov smiled, letting everyone in the room know that he was pleased with the success of the shootdown of the B-2 and the S-500’s performance. If this was the best the Americans could throw at him, then he was confident Russia would win this conflict. If the Americans thought his country was reeling now, he couldn’t wait to see how they were going to respond to the next phase of operations.