In a frighteningly plausible tale, a new independent state emerges from the Chinese Democratic Revolution and the fall of the Soviet Empire. This state calls itself Greater Manchuria, and is nuclear-armed thanks to its new leader. It also stands in close proximity to Japan, which has come to feel abandoned by the West. In order to assure its public that Greater Manchuria will never use its weapons against Japan, the Japanese execute a plan involving the launch of a new and devastating weapon known as the Scorpion. Yet the Japanese plan has more than military repercussions, as worldwide outrage at the Japanese attack provokes the U.N. to blockade the trade-dependent nation. But Japan resolves to destroy the blockade and does, using its superior submarine fleet and a squadron of Firestar fighters. Admiral Michael Pacino returns as advisor to Captain David Kane, whose "mission impossible" is to sink the Japanese sub fleet.Barracuda, Final Bearing is an absolutely accurate representation by a veteran Navy officer of submarine combat, both as it exists today and as it will surely exist in the very near future.