“Twenty-eight seconds. It’s locked on. Second missile away.”
The tiltrotor was flying barely above the waves, but that hadn’t fooled the F-16’s electronics. Gomez was an exceptional pilot, but even he couldn’t avoid an air to air missile.
“Target that missile. Hali, tell Gomez to get as close to the Oregon as possible. See if he can hover behind the ship.”
Hali and Linda both said “Aye” simultaneously.
Although the LaWS had a range of only three miles, its biggest advantage was its pinpoint accuracy. That was, of course, if it worked at all.
The tiltrotor was still a mile out. It would never reach the safety of the Oregon’s shadow before the missile impact.
“We’ll have about four seconds from when the missile comes into range until it hits the target,” Linda said.
“Do you have a lock on the first missile?”
“Locked and tracking. I have a firing solution.”
She didn’t have to tell Juan what he already knew, which was that the laser would begin firing as soon as the missile was in range. The LaWS worked by superheating the warhead until it exploded.
“Put the missile on-screen,” Juan said.
While half of the screen kept focus on the tiltrotor, the other half switched to a view of the sky. A pinpoint of light from the first missile’s rocket motor was visible in the distance. The F-16s were still too far away to see.
“Ten miles out,” Linda said. “Five seconds to LaWS firing.”
She counted down. “Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . Laser firing.”
Nothing changed in the view of the weapon itself. There was no gleaming finger of death reaching out like a movie special effect. The system’s operation was completely invisible unless there was haze to illuminate the light’s beam. Today was clear.
The missile’s rocket was growing brighter by the second. Juan held his breath as the AMRAAM streaked toward the tiltrotor seemingly unhindered.
Then without warning, the missile erupted in a ball of flame.
But Gomez and the others weren’t out of danger yet.
“Targeting second missile,” Linda said.
The tiltrotor circled the Oregon and came to a hover position behind the superstructure, which meant the second missile was now aimed directly at their brand new ship.
By now the second missile was even closer.
“LaWS activating,” Linda said.
The missile seemed to be coming straight toward the camera. Juan leaned forward in his
chair, literally on the edge of his seat, waiting to see if the laser would do its job.
Just when it seemed too late to work, the missile disappeared in a fiery explosion less than a half mile from the ship. Juan watched pieces of shrapnel peppering the superstructure and smokestack.
“F-16s approaching,” Linda called out. “It looks like they’re circling around to use their cannons.”
Juan could easily shoot the two fighters out of the sky, but doing so against a friendly government would cause an international incident, not to mention killing two innocent pilots doing their jobs. However, he had to protect his people.
“Linda, keep an eye on their guns,” Juan said. “If they open fire, target the remaining missiles they’re carrying.”
The two F-16s screamed out of the blue sky and dived toward the Oregon, but before they could get into position to fire on the tiltrotor, the jets banked away and flew off into the distance.
“I just got a call from the lead pilot,” Hali said. “He said they were ordered to abort their attack.”