Blackmail

76 USS HARRY S. TRUMAN

Captain Brent Sites viewed the icons on the Video Wall with concern. The air and surface battles continued, with each wave of American fighters inflicting and receiving damage. The Russian air defense systems were robust, and although every Russian surface combatant had been damaged by now, almost half were still operational, including Kuznetsov and Pyotr Velikiy.

In the process, however, the American carrier air wings had been reduced to half strength. This wasn’t without consolation, as the Russian combat air patrol was almost nonexistent now, either having been shot down or vacating the area after running out of weapons. The few Russian fighters protecting their surface combatants were from Kuznetsov, and there were fewer than two dozen of those remaining.

While the Russian surface ships and aircraft had taken a pounding, not a single American surface ship had been damaged. Above the ocean’s surface, the Americans were taking the fight to the Russians, and doing a good job of it. However, red submarine icons were starting to appear in the Bravo tier; they’d breached the Alpha ASW barrier in seven areas. So far, the MH-60Rs were performing admirably, and no Russian submarine had approached close enough to attack the American task force. Things were proceeding about as well as could be expected.