When QF1, enroute from Sydney to London, enters Indonesian airspace, it is behind schedule, but flying smoothly. None of the 400 plus people on board have any indication that their plane will face problems. Yet that's exactly what happens — in spectacular fashion. Problems strike first one engine, then another, and eventually the plane is forced down.Last located near the island of Sulawesi, no one knows where the plane has finally landed. Is it possible it has landed safely, or has it crashed? And why are the Indonesian government reluctant to let outside help in to help locate the wreckage?Meanwhile, intelligence services in the USA have put together seemingly unconnected snippets of information, which point to a deliberate plot to down the plane and ensure there are no survivors. Australian officials are reluctant to face this likelihood — it could mean all out war.Deep in the jungle of Sulawesi, the survivors of the crash are now fighting for their lives. Tracked by enemies better equipped and better trained than they are, they are running out time, until Sergeant Tom Wilkes and his SAS Unit are deployed to rescue the survivors and avert all-out war. Can it be done? Rogue Element is a political thriller. Lovers of espionage and covert operations, and those who like to predict possible futures for world politics will be intrigued.
For Sam
This novel is a work of fiction, written to sound like fact, the line between the two blurred so that you don’t twig to where one stops and the other begins. Of course, whether I’ve succeeded in that is up to you, the reader, to decide.
I’m not a social scientist, a historian or a military specialist. Much of the material contained in this story was found in the public domain. That said, I did call on the services of a number of experts where the available information was either inadequate or when good old-fashioned experience was required. I would very much like to thank those people publicly, because they only get two rewards in this business. One is the satisfaction of knowing that, where their specialty is concerned, at least accuracy has been maintained. Two is acknowledgement that they’d probably rather be out playing golf than sitting on the phone to me, or correcting the manuscript yet again.
And so… Thank you Andy Bates for taking me on the wildest 747 ride ever. Thank you ‘Woody’, former USAF F-16 fighter pilot, for your patience and enthusiasm. Thank you Gideon Marshall for showing me one end of an M16 from the other. Thank you Neville Farley, SASR veteran, for making sure I wasn’t completely off the planet. Thank you Chris Sherwood for the ins and outs on the Black Hawk. Thank you Mr Yuwono for the guided tour of Sulawesi. And thank you Bob Buick, Vietnam veteran and Military Medal winner, for your contacts and for your astonishing bravery under fire.
Also, thank you Patricia Rollins (me mum) for your tireless editing, suggestions and encouragement.
ACI — Airborne Control Interception
ADF — Australian Defence Force
AFB — Air force base
AGL — Above ground level
AIM-9 — Air-to-air heat-seeking missile
AMRAAM — Advanced medium range air-to-air missile
APC — Armoured patrol carrier
ASIS — Australian Secret Intelligence Service
ATC — Air traffic control
AV-8B —
AV-TUR — Jet fuel
AWACS — Airborne warning and control system
BVR — Beyond visual range (missile)
C-130 —
COMINT — Communications intelligence
COMPSTOMP — Computer Security, Tasking, Observation and Manipulation Protection
Cray XI — Super computer
CSAR — Combat Search and Rescue
DIO — (Australian) Defence Intelligence Organisation
DIGO — Defence Intelligence and Geospatial Organisation
DOD — (Australian) Department of Defence
DPRD — Dewan Perwakilan Rakjat Daerah — Indonesian Parliament
E&E Bay — Electronics and Equipment Bay
EA-6B —
ELINT — Electronic intelligence
ETFOR — United Nations peacekeeping force, East Timor
EW — Electronic Warfare
F/A-18E —
F14 —
F16 —
FIR — Flight Information Region
FMC — Flight Management Computer
GPS — Global positioning system
H&K MP5SD — 9 mm sub-machine gun
H&K USP — 9 mm pistol
HE — High explosive
HE 463 — High explosive M203-launched grenade
HUD — Head up display
IAE — Intelligence Assimilation Executive
INTERFET — Peacemaking force, East Timor
IRS — Inertial Reference System
KC-135 — Air-to-air tanker
LM — Loadmaster
LSA — Lowest safe altitude
LZ — Landing zone
M16 A2 — Military assault carbine
M203 — Grenade launcher
M26 AI — Anti-personnel hand grenade
M34 —
M4 — Military assault carbine
MAG — Mobile Assault Group
Minimi — Light machine gun
MLP — Marine landing platform
NSA — National Security Agency
NVG — Night vision goggles
OSCAR — Open systems core avionics requirement (weapons/stores computer)
PE — Plastic explosive
QNH — Area air pressure at sea level
RAAF — Royal Australian Air Force
ROE — Rules of engagement
RV — Rendezvous
S70 A9 —
SAR — Search and Rescue
SASR — Special Air Service Regiment
SBS — Special Boat Service
SEASection — South-East Asian Section
SIGINT — Signals intelligence
SRS — Special Recovery Squadron
Super Pumpa — Helicopter
TACBE — Tactical beacon (radio transceiver)
TNI — Tentara Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian army)
TNI-AU — Tentara Nasional Indonesia — Angkatan Udara (Indonesian airforce)
UH — Ultra high frequency
V22 —
VHF — Very high frequency
WAC — World Area Chart
Zulu — Universal Coordinated Time/Greenwich Mean Time
