The United States has just launched the most powerful weapon in history – a missilelaunching satellite called "Thor's Hammer" that can strike anywhere on the planet in seconds. The world's other major superpowers, Russia and China, are rocked by America 's development, and they scramble to respond by gaining control of the seas.But when terrorists hijack Pakistani missiles and fire them at Indian cities, U.S. President Joseph Gardner has only one option – to use the untested Thor's Hammer. But when something goes awry, Pakistan decides to give China naval strategic advantage by granting access to Middle Eastern ports.To make matters worse, Somali pirates board a Chinese freighter and slaughter the crew. China responds by brutally attacking and then occupying Somalia, quickly setting up missile pads that can target U.S. Naval ships. Now the U.S. high command is on red alert and the country's security is in total jeopardy…Another flash point quickly emerges – in Earth's orbit. When Chinese and Russian spacecraft surround an American space station, the threat is clear: negotiate and compromise, or China and Russia will cripple the U.S. Navy with ballistic missiles. Will the world's superpowers be plunged into a full-scale war?With Executive Intent, the New York Times bestselling master thriller-writer Dale Brown crafts an action-packed tale of intrigue and technological weaponry that pits the world's superpowers in a contest for Earth's oceans and ultimate high ground – space.
Book 16 in the Patrick McLanahan series, 2010
This novel is dedicated to my hardworking family,
who refuse to give in even during tough economic
and personal times.
Remember Always the Family.
JOSEPH GARDNER, President of the United States
KENNETH PHOENIX, Vice President
WALTER KORDUS, White House Chief of Staff
STACY ANNE BARBEAU, Secretary of State
MARCUS COLBY, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
DAVID C. KEELEY, Deputy Secretary of State for Asia
DEBORAH A. CARLSON, Assistant Secretary of State for Chinese Affairs
CONRAD CARLYLE, President’s National Security Adviser
MILLER TURNER, Secretary of Defense
GERALD VISTA, Director of National Intelligence
SALAZAR “SAL” BANDERAS, Secretary of the Air Force
ANN PAGE, Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for Space
TIMOTHY DOBSON, Assistant Deputy Director for Strategic Program Research, Central Intelligence Agency
ANNETTE DOUGLASS, Assistant Deputy Secretary of State
GENERAL TAYLOR J. BAIN, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
ADMIRAL BENJAMIN KELLY, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
GENERAL CHARLES HUFFMAN, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff
USN ADMIRAL RICHARD COWAN, Chief of Naval Operations
USAF GENERAL ROBERT WIEHL, Commander, U.S. Space Command and USAF Space Command
U.S. NAVY ADMIRAL SHERMAN HUDDY, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command
U.S. ARMY GENERAL THOMAS GREENE, Commander, U.S. Africa Command
COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR FRANK NAUERT, NCOIC, U.S. Africa Command
U.S. AIR FORCE LIEUTENANT GENERAL PATRICK MCLANAHAN (RET.)
BRIGADIER GENERAL KAI RAYDON, Commander, U.S. Space Defense Force, Armstrong Space Station
U.S. ARMY COLONEL ALAN CAMEROTA, Substitute Space-Station Commander
U.S. AIR FORCE COLONEL GIA “BOXER” CAZZOTTO, Commander, 7th Expeditionary Bomb Wing, EB-1C Vampire-Bomber Aircraft Commander
WAYNE “WHACK” MACOMBER, “Tin Man” Commando and Cybernetic Infantry Device (CID) Pilot
U.S. ARMY RESERVE LIEUTENANT COLONEL JASON RICHTER, Commander, U.S. Army Infantry Transformational Battlelab, Fort Polk, Louisiana; CID Engineer and Pilot
CHARLIE TURLOCK, CID Pilot
U.S. AIR FORCE MAJOR ALAN “FRODO” FRIEL, EB-1C Vampire-Bomber Mission Commander
U.S. NAVY COMMANDER SCOTT BREAM, XS-19 Midnight Spaceplane Pilot
AIR FORCE MAJOR DANA COLWIN, XS-19 Midnight Spaceplane Pilot
MARINE CORPS MAJOR JESSICA “GONZO” FAULKNER, Spaceplane Pilot
U.S. AIR FORCE FIRST LIEUTENANT JEFFREY MCCALLUM, Spacecraft Electronics Technician
U.S. AIR FORCE SENIOR MASTER SERGEANT VALERIE “SEEKER” LUKAS, Senior Noncommissioned Officer of Armstrong Space Station
PETTY OFFICER PAUL MALKIN, Rescue Swimmer, USS Rourke
JONATHAN COLIN MASTERS, Chief Engineer, Sky Masters Inc.
HUNTER “BOOMER” NOBLE, Vice President of Engineering, Sky Masters Inc.; S-9 Black Stallion and XS-19 Midnight Spaceplane Pilot
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
ZHOU QIANG, Premier of the People’s Republic of China
TANG ZHAOXING, Minister of Foreign Affairs
ZUNG CHUNXIAN, Minister of National Defense
GENERAL HUA ZHILUN, Commander of 11th Strategic Rocket Forces, People’s Liberation Army Air Forces
LI JIANZHU, Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
IGOR TRUZNYEV, President of the Russian Federation
AIR FORCES GENERAL ANDREI DARZOV, Chief of Staff of the Russian Defense Forces
BORIS TARZOV, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations
PAKISTANIS
AMANULLAH MAZAR, President of Pakistan
INDIANS
SHANTOSH PAWAR, Prime Minister of India
BRAZILIANS
ERNESTO NASCIMENTO, Brazilian Ambassador to the United Nations and Temporary Chairman of the U.N. Security Council
YEMENIS
SALAM AL-JUFRI, Employee of Yemeni Fish Company Limited
AESA-Active Electronically Scanned Array, a radar system that uses pulsed radar beams instead of a mechanically moving antenna to search the sky
AIM-9 Sidewinder-American heat-seeking air-to-air missile
AIM-120 AMRAAM-American Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, radar-guided air-to-air missile
AL-52 Dragon-a B-52 bomber modified to carry an antiballistic-missile laser
AN/FPS/79-space tracking radar
AN/SPY-1-advanced shipborne air and space control radar
APG-79-fire control radar aboard the American F/A-18 Hornet fighter
AS-17 Krypton-Russian hypersonic air-launched attack missile
AWACS-Airborne Warning and Control System, an aircraft-based radar system used to track air and sea targets
BAMS-Broad Area Maritime Surveillance, a U.S. Navy program to use long-range unmanned aircraft for surveillance near a naval battle group
C-802-Chinese ship-or shore-launched antiship or land-attack missile
COIL-Chlorine-Oxygen-Iodine Laser, a system that uses a chemical reaction to produce laser light
Dong Feng-21 (DF-21)-Chinese submarine-or land-based mobile surface-to-surface solid-fuel rocket
