Staunton looked at his flight officer in disbelief.

"Skipper, the tender's launched another pair of ARADs!"
"Those poor bastards," Colonel Leonovna said softly.

"Fox One!" Hawk One snapped. "Fox One—four away!"
Four late-mark AIM-54 missiles dropped from the lead Tomcat's pallets, followed moments later by two more as Hawk Two's novice aircrew launched as well. The Mach-five Phoenix, the longest ranged air-to-air missile in the world, was totally outclassed by the incoming missiles. But Phoenix missiles were designed to knock down small cruise missiles in the most difficult targeting solution of all: head-on at extreme range. The Kanga missiles were larger than the Tomcats which had fired, and for all their massive speed, they were utterly incapable