Chimera (44 page)

With such non-maneuvering targets, it might as well have been a training exercise. Each successive Akash slammed into its target and the threat picture reduced. Within minutes, twelve interceptions had brought the number of surviving YJ-62s down to nine. At this time the battery was out of ready-to-fire missiles and had to reload. Control now passed to the parked 9K31 Strela point-defense systems that began launching their infrared missiles from just outside the airbase perimeter at Baghdogra. Several vehicles were parked around the airbase and launched more missiles than there were targets for them. Coupled with zero maneuvers from the YJ-62s, the engagements were sharp and quick. All nine missiles inbound over Baghdogra were terminated before they could reach it. The last two missiles exploded just beyond the runway, spreading red-hot shrapnel all over, but otherwise did no damage.   

OVER EASTERN TIBET

DAY 6 + 1850 HRS

The two Chinese Su-30s pulled away silently and menacingly from their last refueling operation before entering combat. Eight J-10s from the 44
TH
Fighter Division passed below them. Four of these J-10s were armed for air-to-air operations and another three were armed for strike missions. The last J-10 was filling the role of EW support against Indian radars following the loss of their Tu-154M to Indian fighters three days earlier. The ten PLAAF fighters headed south to capitalize on the temporary gap in the Indian aerial coverage over Bhutan…

OVER SOUTHERN SIKKIM

DAY 6 + 1855 HRS

“Inbounds!
Multiple
inbound tracks! Counting ten fighters!”

The radar operator shouted over the intercom just as Roy confirmed the successful intercept of the last Chinese cruise-missiles over Baghdogra. He let out a silent curse and ran over.

“Give it to me!”

“Eight J-10s and two Su-30s flying top cover! Heading down Bhutan straight for Paru!”

Oh shit!
Roy thought.

“Who’s up at our end?”

“
Nothing useful!
” the operator replied emphatically, checking the airborne roster. “Seven Mig-27s from Hashimara. Five An-32s, two returning from Paru three that had just scrambled from Baghdogra. One Mi-26 offloading at Paru, several Mi-17s around Sikkim, Bhutan and Baghdogra. Sharpshooter Flight refueling from the MARS bird from Bareilly, and they are out of weapons! The nearest Battle-Axes Mirages are still a good distance away!”

The mission-commander knew what had happened.

What the hell have I done?

But there was no time for recriminations now. Just then the operator checked the screen again, as one more flight logged in:

“Four Mig-21s from Baghdogra, call-sign Bull-rider, are available!”

“Get Bull-rider to engage and interdict the Chinese strike force,” Roy ordered instantly. “Tell everybody to bug the hell
out!
Especially those transports and helicopters! Tell that Mi-26 crew at Paru to stay on the ground and
not
attempt to fly out. Request priority assistance from Eagle-Eye-Three to the east and see if they can lend us some Su-30s to deal with this. And get the Battle-Axes to punch afterburners and head
straight in!
Those Mig-21 pilots are not going to survive this fight without help!”

As his crew got down to work, Roy stood straighter and watched the events unfolding in front of his eyes…

SKIES OVER BHUTAN

DAY 6 + 1900 HRS

“Release one! And two!”

The Wing-Commander “Bull-rider” Tikkar commanding the four Mig-21 Bisons felt his aircraft shudder and become lighter around him as two R-77 missiles streaked from under the aircraft and pulled up into the darkening skies, their exhaust trails disappearing into the gray clouds. Six other missiles from the rest of his flight followed suit.

The screeching RWR alarm inside the cockpit reminded Tikkar and his pilots that the skies were far from friendly. Enemy missiles were also in the air as the two Chinese Su-30s had released a salvo of four missiles in quick succession…

Bull-rider flight had just released all of their available R-77s on the two inbound Su-30s. Tikkar was far more comfortable taking on the eight J-10Bs in a “merge” engagement where the agile Bisons could out-turn and out-burn them. The same did not apply to the much more formidable Su-30s.

The Chinese Su-30 pilots were betting on a second round of BVR after evading the first round of Indian missiles. So they were preserving some rounds. Tikkar knew there would
be
no
second
round: range and terrain prevented it. Experience counted in these matters. The two Chinese pilots had made their first tactical error…

“Turn and burn, people! Break! Break!” Tikkar commanded.

He instantly pushed throttle all the way into afterburner, immediately feeling the sudden jerk of acceleration.

Fuel is good. All green!

He flipped the aircraft to the side, pulled back on the stick and saw the snowcapped Himalayas below fill his view. The RWR was screeching now.

               The Mig-21 is agile like a sports car. But pulling out after a tight inner flip-turn after cutting afterburner strained the airframe and the response was sluggish. The aircraft dived below the peaks. Standard tactics.

All eight Indian R-77 shots were now in terminal phase and on their own now that they had lost the radar guidance from the launch aircraft. Presumably the Chinese pilots had done the same.

If not, well…

Tikkar noticed that he was over Paru…

The Joint-Force-Bhutan troops were getting a firsthand look at the battle taking place in the skies above. The first two Mig-21s screeched through the valley at low-altitude and full afterburner. Three enemy missiles streaked over the peaks from the northern leading exhaust trails line a line across the sky. The first R-77 slashed past the two Indian aircraft, having completely lost all contact with its target.

The remaining two missiles snapped down on acquisition and slashed across the flight-path of the two Indian pilots. One of the two missiles detonated in front of the rear Mig-21 in the pair…

The ensuing fireball and shockwave encompassed the doomed aircraft as it passed through it. When it exited the cloud a split-second later, it disintegrated into several pieces. The fuselage flipped over and snapped into several pieces and the onboard fuel ignited, sending smoky pillars of debris earthward just beyond the Paru airport perimeter.

“Oh
god!
Bull-rider-two is down! I say again, Bull-rider-two is down east of Paru airfield!” the other pilot’s voice broke over the comms, strained from the shock. But the bad news kept on piling.

“Bull-rider-four is down!”

“Eagle-Eye-Three, I need a sitrep, now!” Tikkar demanded.

On board the AEW aircraft, the mission commander ran his hands over his forehead upon hearing the news. And the battle had just begun…

“Bull-rider-Actual, we show one S-U-Two-Seven is down! The other is somewhere in the weeds north of Thimpu! Three Juliet-tens are spreading into BVR pattern over northern Bhutan, waiting for you!”

“Roger! Bull-rider-Three, confirm copy of last!” Tikkar ordered while taking his aircraft north by cutting through the valleys.

“Bull-rider-Three copies all! Pop-up I-R shots?”

“Affirmative! Stick to the valley floors! I do not have visual on you, so we are doing this individually. Good I-R contrast against the cold skies from down below! Keep an eye out for that other Sierra-Uniform bird to our north. Don’t mix it up with him! Out!” Tikkar shouted, and flipped his selection to the infrared guided R-60 missiles, of which he had two.

The J-10Bs had spread into a loose line-abreast formation just as they cleared into northern Bhutan. Now they were scanning south for the two evading Mig-21s. They had already detected the emissions from the CABS AEW to the south, which they knew to be directing the Indian defenses, but it was too far away.

Come on! Just a little further…

Tikkar willed mentally as his aircraft streaked over Thimpu at full supersonic speeds, shattering glass panes all over the city. His eyes were looking up in the sky above.

There!

“This is Bull-rider-Actual! Tally-ho!”

Tikkar pulled his aircraft up, bringing the view from his HUD to cover what his eyeballs had already detected: four dark specks against the darkening night sky to the north. The infrared optics of the R-60 had already locked on their prey as the Mig-21 cleared the peaks. Since he came up against the terrain, he had gone undetected. Till now.

The J-10s began breaking formation. They had seen the lone Indian pilot climbing up to them from below.

Tikkar fired off his two R-60s one after another towards two different targets. With these kinetics on the missile and its prey, he could hardly miss. The two thin white trails of the R-60s slammed into their targets within seconds of each other, ripping through two brand new Chinese J-10Bs…

“Splash one!
And
Splash
two
! You are not taking down Bull-rider that easy today, reds!” Tikkar exclaimed over the radio. His comms heard all the way to the AEW crew over southern Sikkim.

With his Mig-21 still at positive pitch and climbing, he cleared the target azimuth and began maneuvering to merge with the J-10s in a turning fight in the horizontal plane just as a third fireball erupted behind another J-10, sending licks of flame coming out of the fuselage of that aircraft. A moment later the cockpit canopy blew out and the pilot ejected…

“Bull-rider-Three, at your service, Leader!”

“
Damn
good to hear from you, boy! Do you have visual on the other buggers? I don’t ha...”

A streak of yellow tracer rounds flew past his cockpit glass. Tikkar flipped his aircraft instinctively to the side to evade. A large blur passed by the side of his glass in the darkness. The surviving Su-30 was back!

Holy crap!

“Bull-rider-Actual, you got a Flanker right within you guys!” the AEW operator warned.

“
No shit!
Bull-rider-Three: go after the other Juliet birds! I will take the Flanker!”

“Roger! Tally-ho!”

Tikkar had seen the Chinese Su-30 maneuvering below him. In the suddenness of the merge, the latter pilot had not been able to release missiles. But now they had recovered orientation and situational-awareness.

The Flanker began to maneuver. Hard!

On board his Mig-21, all that remained were cannon rounds. Tikkar knew that fuel would be turning critical as well. But at the moment the large monster of a Su-30 positioning itself for an infrared missile shot at point blank range was the greater worry.

This is not a fight he relished.

As he slashed across the Sukhoi, firing a burst of cannon rounds, the obviously experienced enemy pilot simply pulled away, utilizing its superior thrust-weight ratios and was now quickly behind the Mig-21. Just like that Tikkar was caught in a tail chase as he was headed straight down into the valleys below. He looked around the cockpit:

Fuel low. Weapons gone. A Flanker on his tail.

There was no escape to the mathematics of it all…

He flipped the aircraft to the side, pulled it in a steep turn that squeezed his body against the seat and managed to pull above the valley walls while turning a full 180 degrees. He only got halfway there. The Chinese pilot saw, anticipated and used his superior maneuverability to momentarily pitch the aircraft up and yaw it to the side to lace the front of turning Mig-21 with a long burst of cannon rounds, riddling the aircraft from nose to tail.

As the large Su-30 recovered from its pitch-up and pulled into the skies above Thimpu, Tikkar’s Mig-21 smashed into one of the peaks west of the city and disappeared into a ball of fire. On board the AEW aircraft to the south, Bull-rider-Actual disappeared from radar and comms.

With the skies swept clear over western Bhutan, the four remaining J-10s heading south towards Paru airport, while the Su-30 finished off the last Indian Mig-21. There were no more Indian defenses between the Chinese pilots and their target…

PARU AIRPORT

BHUTAN

DAY 6 + 1935 HRS

There were no klaxons at the airport. It was not a military base. It had been a civilian airport until a day ago. The black smoke spewing into the air at the southern edge of the airbase perimeter marked the location where one of the Bull-rider Mig-21s had gone down. It had been witnessed by the entire Para contingent securing the airbase as well as the air-force crew offloading the Mi-26 on the tarmac.

Squadron-Leader Saxena shouted for everybody to get the hell away from the airport and find cover. As the paratroopers ran to cover, a single two-man team manning an Igla shoulder launched missile got into position. They represented the only air-cover for Paru now. 

“Here they come!” Saxena’s other two FACs shouted from the roof of the terminal building as he saw the J-10s diving into the valley from the west. He looked around and saw that a good bit of logistical equipment and supplies were spread out on the tarmac. There had simply been no time to get them out.