Operation Red Storm

Lore & Background

The novel begins with Muslim militants from Soviet Azerbaijan destroying an oil production refinery in Nizhnevartovsk, threatening the Soviet economy. The Politburo decides to seize the Persian Gulf militarily to recoup oil losses, but first must neutralize NATO. The Soviets launch a maskirovka, including a false flag bombing in the Kremlin framing West Germany. The war opens with a Soviet amphibious assault on Iceland, capturing the NATO airbase at Keflavík. A subsequent air attack sinks the French carrier Foch and the USS Saipan, killing over 2,000 sailors and Marines, while the USS Nimitz is forced into drydock. In Germany, General-Colonel Pavel Alekseyev achieves a breakthrough at Alfeld. NATO retakes Iceland, and a prisoner reveals the war's true cause. NATO destroys Soviet fuel supplies, and the Soviets face defeat. The KGB chief organizes a coup with Alekseyev, and the new government negotiates a ceasefire, returning to status quo ante bellum.

In Their Own Story

The Soviet Navy achieves an early victory by launching a bold amphibious landing on Iceland, taking control of the NATO airbase in Keflavík. This is followed by a substantial air attack against a combined American-French carrier battle group originally sent to reinforce Iceland with several landing ships full of US Marines. The ensuing battle results in serious losses to NATO's navies; the French Navy's Foch is sunk, and the landing ship USS Saipan explodes, taking over 2,000 sailors and Marines with her, while the USS Nimitz is forced to drydock in Britain to undergo lengthy repairs. While NATO's naval forces remain a significant threat, the Soviets are left in control of the strategically important GIUK gap. NATO and Soviet air and ground forces continue to battle ferociously in Germany, with both sides taking heavy losses. General-Colonel Pavel Alekseyev, the de facto Soviet senior commander on the ground, scores a breakthrough in a tank battle at Alfeld, opening the possibility of a Soviet advance beyond the Weser River with far less opposition from NATO forces. Meanwhile, a naval attack on Soviet bomber bases with cruise missiles launched by US Navy submarines opens a window for an amphibious counter-assault on Iceland, retaking the island and effectively closing the Atlantic to Soviet forces. Among the action, a Soviet prisoner captured during the retaking of Iceland reveals the true cause of the war, and a NATO air offensive swiftly destroys much of the Soviet military's available fuel supplies. With Iceland retaken, the United States is able to resupply the rest of NATO via the reopened sea lanes. By this point, Soviet tank and strategic bomber formations have taken punishing losses, forcing them to further cede the initiative as NATO prepares to mount a decisive counteroffensive. Mobilizing older tanks like the T-55 only adds to Warsaw Pact casualties, leaving the Warsaw Pact completely on the defensive. The Soviet leadership begins to realize that they face the possibility of outright defeat—either through a NATO military breakthrough or a war of attrition which, given their desperate shortage of oil supplies, would amount to the same result. The General Secretary considers using nuclear weapons to force a favorable end to the war. This infuriates Alekseyev, who had been mobilizing for a final counterattack on Germany but faces execution by the Soviet government for its slow timetable. The KGB chief organizes a coup along with Alekseyev and other members of the Politburo. The new Soviet government then negotiates for a ceasefire with NATO and a return to status quo ante bellum, ending the war.

Reader's Guide

The novel features a large cast of characters on both sides. NATO characters include Edward Morris, commanding officer of USS Pharris and later USS Reuben James; Daniel X. McCafferty, commanding officer of the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Chicago; Robert A. Toland III, NSA analyst and naval reservist; Michael D. Edwards, Jr., a US Air Force meteorological officer at Naval Air Station Keflavik who leads intelligence gathering during the Soviet occupation with the code name 'Beagle'; Jerry 'The Hammer' O'Malley, a US Navy helicopter pilot aboard Reuben James; Amelia 'Buns' Nakamura, an F-15C pilot who becomes the first American female fighter ace by shooting down three Tu-16 Badger bombers and later using ASM-135 anti-satellite missiles to destroy at least two Soviet naval radar reconnaissance satellites; Terry Mackall, an M1 Abrams tank commander in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment; Colonel Douglas 'Duke' Ellington, commander of the F-19 Stealth squadron; Colonel Charles DeWinter 'Chuck' Lowe, a Marine Corps officer who commands a regiment in the invasion force that recaptured Iceland; General Eugene Robinson, Supreme Allied Commander Europe; William Calloway, a British Reuters correspondent and SIS agent; and James Smith, a Marine sergeant serving under Lieutenant Edwards in Iceland. Soviet characters include Pavel Leonidovich Alekseyev, Deputy Commander of the Southwest Front and later Commander in Chief-Western Theater; Mikhail Eduardovich Sergetov, Energy Minister and non-voting member of the Politburo; Ivan Mikhailovich Sergetov, Alekseyev's aide-de-camp; Major Arkady Semyonovich Sorokin, a VDV officer; Boris Georgiyevich Kosov, Chairman of the KGB; Marshal Andrei Shavyrin, Chief of the General Staff; Marshal Yuri Rozhkov, Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Army; Marshal Fyodor Borisovitch Bukharin, Commander of the Kiev Military District; and Andrei Ilyich Chernyavin, a Spetsnaz officer. Other characters include Vigdis Agustdottir, an Icelandic civilian; Patrick Flynn, Associated Press Moscow Bureau chief; and Ibrahim Tolkadze, a militant Islamist of Azerbaijani descent working as an oil field engineer.

Did You Know?

• The novel debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list.
• It is one of two Clancy novels, along with SSN (1996), that are not set in the Ryanverse.
• The book lent its name to game development company Red Storm Entertainment, which Tom Clancy co-founded in 1996.
• The conflict is fought exclusively with conventional weapons, without escalating to nuclear warfare.
• Amelia 'Buns' Nakamura becomes the first American female fighter ace and also the first 'Space Ace' by destroying Soviet satellites with ASM-135 anti-satellite missiles.