Ghost Fleet is a 2015 techno-thriller by P. W. Singer and August Cole. Set in the near future, the book portrays a scenario in which a post-Communist China, assisted by Russia, is able to launch a technologically sophisticated attack against the United States in the Pacific, leading to the occupation of the Hawaiian Islands.
Plot
Prior to the main events of the novel, Indonesia has collapsed into a failed state following a second war in Timor, and a dirty bomb was detonated in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, causing a massive spike in the price of oil. A newly discovered natural gas field in the Mariana Trench provides China with energy security. Popular unrest leads to the removal of the Communist Party of China, and China is governed by a mix of businessmen and military leaders known as the Directorate. China and Russia have also developed the ability to detect and track nuclear-powered ships using Cherenkov radiation, allowing China to effectively neutralize the US Navy's nuclear submarine fleet. China plans to gain control of the third island chain and secure dominance in the western Pacific. Using a computer virus to first infiltrate the computer systems of the Defense Intelligence Agency, China launches a massive cyber-attack against the United States, crippling many technologically sophisticated systems, including the F-35 Lightning, which were compromised with infected microchips in the supply chain. The attack includes extensive use of anti-satellite weapons, leading to the disabling of the Global Positioning System and the loss of several communications and reconnaissance satellites critical to the U.S. military. Russian fighters and drones are able to launch a raid on the U.S. military base in Okinawa, and the U.S. military presence in Japan is neutralized. Supported by Russia, China is able to capture Hawaii after a bloody battle, establishing the Hawaii Special Administrative Zone. The attack leads to the near-complete destruction of the United States Pacific Fleet. The titular 'Ghost Fleet' refers to the United States Navy reserve fleets, which the United States re-activates as a low-tech fallback. The residents of Oʻahu and surviving U.S. military personnel launch an insurgency, known as the North ShoreMujahideen, against the Chinese occupiers using previous tactics learned from insurgents during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Private companies, such as Walmart, establish a supply chain using 3D printing technology to provide supplies for the war effort and the U.S. government initiates a program to recycle old microchips to negate the effects of the infected ones from China. Following the dissolution of NATO, the United States recognizes Greenland's independence from Denmark, in exchange for using the newly independent Kalaallit Nunaat fleet of icebreakers to move the ghost fleet through the Northwest Passage. An eccentric Silicon Valley billionaire, using his personal wealth and resources, seizes control of the Chinese space station and neutralizes China's anti-satellite systems. Simultaneously, another Silicon Valley magnate wages his own separate campaign against China by using his connections to get into contact with the hacktivist group Anonymous. The group manages to launch their own cyberattack, which cripples the Directorate's cyberwarfare capabilities indefinitely. The United States' military is ultimately able to liberate Hawaii, aided by the Ghost Fleet, the 82nd Airborne Division, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Special Operations Command and aircraft reactivated from the United States Air Forceboneyard. The war ends in a status quo ante bellum, with both the United States and the Directorate recovering from the effects of the conflict, however Russia breaks up into a collection of smaller states as a result of public opposition to Russia's participation in the war. One of the subplots in the story revolves around Carrie Shin, a surf instructor at the Moana Surfrider Hotel. She was previously engaged to a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps and was in the process of preparing her wedding when the Invasion of Hawaii began. It is implied in the text that she was previously the victim of systematic sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her father and was recovering with the help of her fiancé. He is subsequently killed during the invasion when his F-35 is compromised due to the malware in the Chinese-made microchips. Now psychologically changed, she begins a systematic campaign of killing Chinese soldiers who are occupying Honolulu. Earning her the moniker, the "Black Widow." Her killings come to the attention of both General Yu Xilai, the Chinese commander of the occupation and his subordinate, Russian Colonel Vladimir Markov. Her actions culminate in Shin and Markov establishing a grudging respect for one another and she feigns capture in order to get close to Yu, whom she violently strangles to death at his headquarters with Markov's silent consent; just as the U.S. counterattack begins.
Characters in ''Ghost Fleet''
Commander Jamie Simmons. Initially an executive officer for the USS Coronado, following the Battle of Hawaii he is placed in command of the USS Zumwalt.
Major Carolyne “Conan” Doyle, a United States Marine Corps officer on O'ahu during the Directorate invasion. She later becomes one of the primary leaders of the island's resistance movement, the North Shore Mujahideen.
Dr. Qi Jiangyong. A Chinese surgeon who uses BrainGate-inspired brain implant technology to conduct interrogations.
Daniel Aboye, a "Lost Boy" of Sudan turned Silicon Valley-magnate, Aboye helps marshal the information technology war effort, including Anonymous.
Colonel Vladimir Andreyevich Markov. A Spetsnaz officer stationed in Hawaii following its capture.
Vice Admiral Wang Xiaoqian. A leading military figure in the Directorate.
Admiral Agathe Abelsen. The leading naval figure of the newly independent Republic of Kalaallit Nunaat.
General Yu Xilai. Head of the Hawaii Special Administrative Zone, he is primarily engaged in overseeing the Directorate's counter-insurgency campaign.
Major General Sergei Sechin. A Russian officer stationed in Beijing, Sechin passes on critical information about the Directorate's Cherenkov radiation detection system to the United States via coded references to Pavel Chekov.
Carrie Shin. A female civilian who works at the Moana Surfrider Hotel in Waikiki Beach. Her fiancé was a Marine Corps fighter pilot who was killed during the Invasion of Hawaii. She goes on a personal vendetta by committing a series of increasingly gruesome murders of Chinese troops across Occupied Honolulu.
Ghost Fleet has been praised as a useful exploration of future conflict, and recommended by leaders of the United States military as recommended reading for troops. Admiral James Stavridis said the book is "A startling blueprint for the wars of the future and therefore needs to be read now!"
Attention from the Indonesian opposition
Indonesian opposition leader Prabowo Subianto cited a detail in Ghost Fleet regarding Indonesia's hypothetical disintegration in 2030 due to a second Timorese conflict, during a Great Indonesia Movement Party assembly speech on 18 September 2017, while treating the novel as an academic study. A video clip of the speech was posted to Gerindra's official Facebook page on 18 March 2018, which subsequently attracted criticism and derision. Singer remarked on Twitter over Prabowo's enthusiasm on the book's particular detail, saying: "There have been many unexpected twists and turns from this book experience, but this may take the cake."
