February 19th, 2021, 16:30

  Seoul, Yongsan-ku B2 bunker (ROK military joint command center)

  At Yokosuka Port, America’s military equipment that would rival the entire nation’s military power was being unloaded. The Joint Chief of Staff was watching the footage from the Apollo 1 reconnaissance satellite.

  “Comrade chairman! What is there to consider, sir? We need to attack them now.” Vice-Chairman Choi Ho-il kept suggesting to attack the U.S. Navy while they were unloading the equipment.

  The Joint Chief of Staff was aware that a carrier strike group was standing sentry for enemy jets, naval vessels, and submarines while the two carrier strike groups were docked and unloading their equipment. If Corea used all of their deployable forces, they could cause significant damage to the American forces. However, many commanders were against this idea.

  If the U.S. Navy were to sustain damages, then President Trump, who had an aggressive personality, could launch nuclear missiles at Corea. The war could turn nuclear early. The command center had become a soapbox and tensions were high from Vice Chairman Choi Ho-il’s suggestion.

  “We can’t lose this golden opportunity worrying about nuclear missiles. It’s not like we are unaware of the enemy’s movements, but can see everything clear as day,” General Lee Un-hyung, the commander of the army, shouted to the other commanders, supporting Vice Chairman Choi Ho-il’s opinion.

  General Shin Sung-yong, the previous army commander and now the commander of the southern state military, spoke calmly in an objective manner to calm the room, “General Lee Un-hyung has a point, but shouldn’t we move our forces while preparing for the worst?”


  “Sir, America will use its nuclear weapons as soon as the tide of the war goes against their favor. If we go into the war in fear of America’s nuclear weapons the entire time, then we cannot guarantee victory.” General Lee Un-hyung, Vice Chairman Shin Sung-yong’s junior from the academy, did not back down and expressed his opinion again.

  “I also agree with General Lee Un-hyung’s opinion. If we lose this chance, then our second expeditionary force that had just left tonight could be in danger, and the war could drag on. Also, didn’t the president tell us to enter into the war against America without backing down, sir?” When General Kim Byung-hwan, the commander of the air force, expressed his support for attacking the U.S. Navy, Vice Chairman Choi Ho-il spoke up.

  “See? Don’t we have the Zeus 2 and 3 satellites to increase our interception capabilities of ballistic missiles, sir? Don’t you think so? Lieutenant General Lee Kyung-hyun, please speak up,” Vice Chairman Choi Ho-il called out the commander of the aerospace forces.

  “Sir.” When his name was called while the generals were in a heated argument, General Lee Kyung-hyun stood up and answered the vice-chairman, “With our 3 Zeus tactical interception satellites, we can take down the nuclear missiles from the U.S. If the missiles are ICBMs coming from mainland America, then their range would be 10,000km to 12,000km. We would have more than enough time to intercept them.

  The issue is their SLBMs, sir. If America launches SLBMs at a close distance after they launch ICBMs from the mainland, then we are only able to intercept 400 rounds if we want a 100% interception rate. If it’s over that, then we cannot guarantee an interception rate of 100%, sir. This is based on the multiple simulations we have run.”


  When Lieutenant General Lee Kyung-hyun answered succinctly and sat down, Vice Chairman Choi Ho-il laughed heartily and said, “See. Didn’t he say we can intercept all missiles if there are under 400 rounds? I am sure the Yanks won’t launch over 400 nuclear missiles unless they lose their minds. Either that or they would only do so if they want to wipe out the entire planet.”


  Vice-chairman Choi Ho-il spoke confidently since the room seemed to be leaning towards attacking the U.S. Navy. Chairman Kang Ui-sik, who had been listening to everyone with his arms crossed, finally spoke up.

  “What if America does launch more than 400 nuclear missiles?”


  “There’s no chance of that happening, sir.”


  “In war, we should not make judgments based on our standards alone. I also agree with you, Vice Chairman Choi, but war is not something that will always go the way we want it to.”


  Chairman Kang Ui-sik got up from his seat and continued.

  “Let’s say we did damage the American forces that have landed on Japan, and intercepted all the nuclear missiles that America has launched. However, these are defensive measures, not an offensive win that can pressure America.”


  Chairman Kang walked over to the podium while speaking.

  “Commencing the attack now and having some progress would be good, but I would like to have a nuclear war or battle after we have the Americans by the throat.”


  Chairman Kang walked over the Lieutenant General Na Tae-yoon, the operations director, and whispered to him.

  The main screen that was showing the map of Japan, changed.

  “The contents of the screen you are looking at is S-ranked confidential information. The NIS has collected information about America’s Missile Defense system (MD), operations, capabilities, and its next-generation military equipment. ”


  The screen showed the complete information about America’s MD. The system consisted of six stages, and it was quite different from what the Joint Chief of Staff was aware of.

  * * *

  February 19th, 2021, 18:00 (Pacific Standard Time 20:00)

  The skies above the Pacific Ocean, 1980km southeast of Honshu, Japan

  Ten kilometers above the surface, over 100 aircraft were emitting lights and flying in groups of 24 in supercruise mode under the moonlight. They were the 5.5th generation F-22SR (Super Raptor) jets, the upgraded version of the F-22 Raptor jets.

  The F-22 Raptor jet was first deployed in 2002 and was named the world’s first 5th generation jet and the king of the skies. However, their weakness was revealed in the Red Flag mock training in 2012, when they lost against the Eurofighter at close proximity and the EA-18 Growler jets.

  When Russia and China revealed and deployed their 5th generation fighter jets in 2017, the American government started a Project Implementation Plan (PIP) in 2018 to upgrade their Raptor jets to become a 6th generation jet by improving their outdated radars and anti-air weapons. Two years later, the first stage of the PIP was finished and the F-22SR Super Raptor jets were deployed to the field.

  The first stage of the PIP focused on improving the weakness of the Raptor jets generating too much heat and being easily detected by IRST (Infrared Search and Track) systems, and the stealth paint not working on the improved radar performance.

  The F-22SR Super Raptor had its standard F-119 engine changed to the next-generation F-330 engine to lower heat generation. The engine’s output had been increased by 130% and it now boasted a speed of Mach 4. The supercruise mode of the jet was now raised to Mach 2.2 from Mach 1.5, and the heat generated by the engine was cut by half so that it would not be detected by the IRST system as well.

  The paint for the jets was replaced with the M-PX01 stealth paints that could absorb double the amount of radar waves compared to the standard one. The paint made the jet undetectable by infrared searches, electromagnetic waves, and AWACS early warning plane’s radars as well.

  The newly developed technology and flying equipment from Area 51 had been applied to the F-35 jets. Their radar detection capability had been increased to 400km, and they were now able to detect 5th generation stealth fighter jets from Russia and China at 200km. Also, the American jets were equipped with a powerful ECM and ECCM disruption device similar to Corea’s SECM devices. The jets were now able to conduct electrical warfare that rivaled the capabilities of an EA-18 Growler jet.

  Finally, the arms of the jet were upgraded. Six-barreled 4MJ class rail guns had replaced the standard 20mm M61A2 guns, allowing the jet to make railgun attacks 50km away.

  Based on the improvements, the F-22SR jets were only similar to the standard Raptor jets in their exterior and were a completely different make in terms of radar and equipment. These newly build F-22SR Super Raptor jets were colored in black and charismatically flew west.

  A moment later, a few of the next generation KC-45 aerial tankers had finished fueling the jets and left. Then, six of the KC-135 tankers that had taken off from Guam and Okinawa’s Kaneda Air Base flew towards the midpoint and flying slowly. The F-22SR Super Raptor jets had a flying range of 3,500km, so they had to be fueled at least 3 times to cross the Pacific.

  An F-22SR Super Raptor flight wing appeared in front of the KC-135 Stratotanker that had taken off from Okinawa. Then, the jets flanked the Stratotanker in groups of two and maintained their formation. One of the F-22SR Super Raptor jets on the left moved to the tail of the aerial tanker.

  At the rear of the fueling console, a large boom operator was lying close to the floor and preparing to fuel the jet.

  There was a mat at the rear of the fueling equipment for the operator to lie down on, and a console with various meters, manipulation switches, and two sticks could be used to move the fueling device.

  At the front of the meter were a window the size of a 40-inch monitor, a center mirror that pointed to the lower area, and two smaller windows on the sides.

  When the boom operator manipulated the console, a black object outside the window entered through the center of the boom. It was the F-22SR Super Raptor jet. The jet had approached the tanker to refuel by flying to the rear of the tanker while matching its speed and altitude.

  Once the jet got into position, the boom operator manipulated it to fit it in place of the F-22’s fuel injection opening.

  Connecting two planes while matching the speed, altitude, and direction as they flew was not an easy feat. After a few failed attempts, the F-22SR Super Raptor moved slightly away from the tanker and attempted to refuel again.

  The second attempt was successful, and the F-22SR Super Raptor’s fuel device was attached to the aerial tanker’s boom. It didn’t take long for the fueling to be completed. The process only took 5 minutes. The jet did shake about a few times but managed to finish fueling safely. When it was done, it detached itself from the boom and flew back to the side of the aerial tanker for the next jet to fuel up.

  When the other four F-22SR Super Raptor jets had finished fueling up, they raised their altitude and left. The next flight wing started to tail the aerial tanker.

  Each aerial tanker could fuel a whole battalion of 20 F-22SR jets. The jets returned in groups of flight wings after fueling up.