SSN - Tom Clancy [50]
Southwest of Cheyenne, at the other end of the abandoned oil rig, a Chinese Kilo submarine was getting into position near Discovery Great Reef. The Kilo was running silently, and its captain was confident that they could not be detected. But then, based on estimates from Chinese intelligence, he did not expect any American SSNs to be near his position for at least another day.
The Chinese intelligence machine was very different from its American counterpart. The Chinese focused their intelligence on the human aspect, or HUMINT, while the Americans focused their intelligence on ELINT-electronic signals interception and satellite photography.
These differences made sense in terms of the backgrounds of the two countries. China had a massive population, with citizens and former citizens scattered around the world. America, on the other hand, had massive quantities of money that they could use to invest in their defense industry.
These differences came into play off the Spratlys. Cheyenne, with her advanced technology and sophisticated sonar equipment, was able to pick up traces of the Kilo. The Chinese boat, however, was relying more heavily on human observers-but Cheyenne's submerged transit of the Philippine Islands area had precluded any HUMINT by Chinese observers on the islands.
The captain of the Chinese Kilo finally arrived in his position slightly more than one nautical mile west of the oil platform. He planned to wait there in silence for passing American naval vessels, hoping for some to venture close enough for him to strike.
He didn't know it, but he was about to get his wish.
"Conn, sonar," reported the sonar supervisor, "we just. lost contact on Master 48."
"What was the last position of Master 48?" Mack asked the fire-control coordinator.
The executive officer, who was acting as fire-control coordinator for this watch, said, "Captain, Master 48 was about nineteen thousand yards west of the Discovery Great Reef oil rig. Do you think she heard us?"
The question was a good one.
Could they have heard us? Mack wondered. The most probable reason that they would lose contact with a submarine was either that the enemy submarine's noise was being shielded from Cheyenne's sonar, possibly by a thermal layer or the surf noise, or that the submarine had detected Cheyenne's presence and had either stopped or was running silently. The silence indicated that if there was a submarine out there, it was probably a Chinese diesel boat, running on its batteries.
Slowly, Cheyenne approached the oil rig, which lay within one mile of Discovery Great Reef. The water was extremely shallow in this area and the huge rocks surrounding the now dilapidated oil rig served to shield the diesel's sounds.
Cheyenne's passive sonar suite was severely degraded in the shallow environment of the littorals. In this environment, active sonar would work almost as well as passive, if they used MIDAS to discriminate between rocks and a submarine's longer hull, but Mack didn't seriously consider the idea. He knew that using his active sonar would give away Cheyenne's exact position. He'd rather have both submarines blind than give away his position to the enemy.
Through the periscope, Mack could see the Discovery Great Reef oil rig. At a glance, he could tell that it had been destroyed during the Chinese occupation of the island. But he needed to give it more than just a glance. He was supposed to get some accurate photographs of the rig for intelligence back in Washington. In addition, he needed to ensure that the rig was not being used as a Chinese submarine depot that could rearm or refuel Chinese SSKs.
He made another quick circle as he "danced" Ihe periscope around the surface. He could find no evidence that the rig was being used for anything-or that it was even in the process of being repaired-but still he was cautious. This was a very dangerous place for Cheyenne to be running at periscope depth.