On the night of the 23rd, the Imperial Air Force launched its first attack.

At that time, Ding Zhennan was on his way back to Kara Harbor. Because of the need to detour to avoid the mainland of the country, the flight range was increased by thousands of kilometers, so the flight time was extended to nearly six hours. As always, Ding Zhennan slept after getting on the plane, making the most of the flight time.

The first round of air strikes was carried out in multiple waves.

There were hundreds of combat aircraft participating in the battle, and it was impossible to go into battle at the same time.

The first to arrive and be responsible for clearing the way was not the stealth attack aircraft that killed all sides in the Posha Bay War, but strategic bombers.

Obviously, this demonstrates the tactical flexibility of the Imperial Air Force.

The point is that before the scope of the strike can be extended, the roadblock, that is, the long-range warning radar deployed in Trivan and closely protected, must be eliminated.

If you have to say, this long-range warning radar, produced by the Republic of Nuland, has always been a big problem for the Imperial Air Force.

If nothing else, a detection range of more than 600 kilometers is enough to cover the entire island of Slan.

It is precisely in this way that the combat aircraft of the Imperial Air Force will be detected by this radar as long as they rise into the air and have not yet climbed to the cruising flight altitude.

Although the Imperial Air Force has deployed jamming equipment-for-tat and specially strengthened its electronic warfare capabilities, as long as the radar is still working, there is no secret about the deployment and activities of the Imperial Air Force on the Silan side, let alone large-scale troop movements.

Apparently, it was that radar that spotted the civilian airliner bound for the city of Coron, and then judged that the Imperial Air Force was carrying out a strategic airlift.

It stands to reason that this kind of high-risk assault operation is more suitable for the use of stealth attack aircraft such as the "Attack-11A".

During the Poshawan War, the Imperial Air Force used the "Attack-11A" to destroy the command center and communication nodes of the Iraqi army, completely paralyzing the Iraqi army, and the combat units could only fight on their own. In the ensuing battles, almost all high-risk missions were performed by stealth attack aircraft.

If anything, the "Attack-11A" was the only strike force in the hands of the Imperial Air Force capable of breaking through the existing air defense system.

It's just that the "Attack-11A" is mainly aimed at tactical and campaign-level air defense systems, and in the face of theater and strategic-level air defense systems, there is no advantage at all.

The key to this is actually the basic principle of the "Attack-11A" to achieve radar stealth.

Although the Imperial Air Force claimed that the "Attack-11A" could achieve complete stealth, in fact, the intensity of the reflected electromagnetic waves of specific wavelengths was reduced to a very low level in several main directions, so that the air defense radar could not distinguish the signals reflected by the attack aircraft from the background radiation.

There are only two ways to reduce the intensity of the reflected electromagnetic signal, one is to absorb the electromagnetic wave, and the other is to change the direction of the electromagnetic wave reflection.

The former mainly relies on special coatings that absorb electromagnetic waves.

The latter, on the other hand, is working on the aerodynamic shape.

Because any kind of special coating is only aimed at some wavelengths of electromagnetic waves, and the appearance of stealth is also related to wavelength, so this also directly determines that the "Attack-11A" can only achieve stealth in front of a small number of radars. As a tactical attack aircraft, it must be mainly aimed at fire control radars working in the centimeter and millimeter wave bands, and warning radars with longer wavelengths in the decimeter band, and the stealth effect will not be much better.

In addition, in several specific directions, the RCS value of the "Attack-11A" not only did not weaken, but on the contrary surpassed that of conventional combat aircraft.

It is precisely because of this that the combat use of the "Attack-11A" was severely limited.

Otherwise, Ding Zhennan would not have arranged for helicopter gunships to deal with the Iraqi army's long-range warning radar, so that the army aviation could fire the first shot of the Bosshawan War, but did not use stealth attack planes.

It's the same this time.

Even if the long-range warning radar is affected by the working wavelength, even if it detects a stealth attack aircraft, it may not be able to obtain accurate data, such as flight speed and flight altitude, and it cannot directly guide air defense fighters to intercept it, but it can issue an air defense alarm in a timely manner, so that the field air defense units that undertake air defense in important places can be deployed in place, and effective tactics can be adopted to pose a threat to stealth attack institutions.

As a matter of fact, in the confrontation exercises organized by the Imperial Air Force, the field air defense units have long proved that improving the battlefield mobility of the air defense system, especially the tactical flexibility of the fire control radar, can increase the combat efficiency of intercepting stealth attack planes by several times and greatly weaken the penetration capability of stealth attack planes.

A fire control radar deployed near the flight path can make the "Attack-11A" sink into the sand.

Obviously, it was not only the Imperial Air Force that understood this set of tactics, but also the Nuland Air Force.

The reason is that the F-117A, codenamed "Nighthawk", was officially added to the list several years ago, and the Nuland Air Force became the second air force to obtain stealth attack aircraft. With the F-117A stealth fighter, the Nuland Air Force has definitely mastered the tactics of dealing with stealth attack aircraft.

Here, a very critical issue is involved.

Trivan's long-range warning radar underwent a technical upgrade three years ago, shortly after the F-117A officially entered service, and the Nuland Air Force undertook all the work, without releasing any news after it was completed, and even letting the Van Rowe Air Force bear the related costs.

According to information available to the Military Intelligence Agency, this improvement is related to the detection of stealth targets.

The main thing is that this radar is closest to the Imperial mainland, as well as the main overseas military bases, and is the most likely to detect the stealth attack aircraft of the Imperial Air Force.

In other words, if the Nuland Air Force wants to obtain first-hand performance data on the Attack-11A, it will have to make full use of the long-range warning radar deployed in Trivan. Otherwise, the Nuland Air Force has no reason to pay out of its own pocket to upgrade the radar, which is not backward, for the Van Rowe Air Force.

In addition, the radar has been maintained by the Nuland Air Force.

Crucially, there are three military bases in Trifan that are controlled by the Nuland army, or shared with the Van Rowe army, and it is possible that field air defense systems have been deployed.

It is precisely because of this that in the first round of assault operations, the Imperial Air Force did not dispatch stealth attack aircraft.

Arranging strategic bombers to take the lead will at least ensure the safety of the combat platform.

In order to destroy the long-range warning radar, the Imperial Air Force dispatched a large group of 20 H-9Ds and used 240 cruise missiles.

Of course, the targets also included the command center, as well as several nearby air defense positions.

In order to enhance the effectiveness of the strike, the second wave of assault operations was still carried out by bombers, also using cruise missiles, but with a focus on bombing air bases.

In addition, it was simultaneously launched an air offensive operation to seize air supremacy.

Because the battle had already begun, and the air defense fighters had already taken to the air, the Imperial Air Force also poured out, and more than 100 air supremacy fighters alone were dispatched.

On Fan Yanyang's side, the first battle with the Nuland Air Force began.

Although at the strategic level, the deployment of combat troops in the country is basically of no practical significance, after all, in the case of no logistical support, the combat capability of the troops stationed abroad cannot be maintained for a long time, but for political reasons, after forming an alliance with the country of Van Luo, the Republic of Nuland has sent a considerable and combat-effective force to the country, and the air force is the mainstay.

The main force of this force is the "expeditionary air force" of the Nuland Air Force.

Even in peacetime, the expeditionary air force has no less than 200 combat aircraft, and the most advanced tactical aircraft are the mainstay. For example, as early as more than 10 years ago, in the second year of the official delivery of the F-15A/B, it was provided to the expeditionary air force, and the number of equipment at the peak reached 180, and the expeditionary air force was also the first foreign unit equipped with F-16C/D, and the priority even exceeded that of the local air defense force.

Of course, there are other reasons for this arrangement, such as the promotion of advanced fighter jets to Van Roe.

However, it is fundamentally aimed at strengthening the alliance with the Van Roe and ensuring that the Van Roe authorities can adhere to the strategic policy of alliance with the Nuland Republic.

In addition, it is to neutralize the threat from the Liang Xia Empire.

In times of war, it is even more difficult to underestimate.

Although for various reasons, most of the Nuland garrisons were deployed in the southern part of the Van Luo Kingdom, after the start of the war, especially after the Nuland Republic officially entered the war, these combat units stationed in the Van Luo Country had an impact on the development of the war situation that could not be underestimated.

The Imperial Air Force had not previously launched a strategic bombing campaign against the southern part of Van Roe Country, which was related to the Nuland Air Force.

If anything, the Nuland Expeditionary Air Force has always been a big problem for the Imperial Air Force.

At the outbreak of the war, the strength of the Nuland Expeditionary Air Force was: 80 F-15C/D, 120 F-16C/D, 60 A-10, 12 RF-4C, 8 C-130, 8 RC-135, 4 E-3B, 12 CH-47, 20 MH-60 and dozens of various types of service aircraft.

This scale surpasses the vast majority of second-rate air forces!

Although the number of fighters has decreased, especially heavy air supremacy fighters such as the F-15C/D, the number of support aircraft has increased significantly, and the comprehensive combat capability has improved considerably. The key is that those dozens of attack aircraft have very strong battlefield support capabilities.

In fact, after the official entry of the Van Luo Kingdom into the war, 60 A-10s were sent to the northwest region to provide close air support for the ground forces of the Van Army attacking Pakistan. It's just that because the Van Army did not show a strong desire to attack, the Nuland Air Force did not go all out.

In addition, it is very likely that in September, that is, before the official entry into the war, the Republic of Nuland sent a number of combat aircraft to the country in the name of providing human assistance, as well as parts and components needed to maintain combat effectiveness, so as to improve the combat capability of the expeditionary air force.

It's just that it's impossible to say how many there are.

According to the information provided by the Military Intelligence Agency, dozens of fighter jets could be assembled with just the spare parts sent to Trivan, although most of them were stored.

The reason is also very simple, combat aircraft will be damaged, and parts will be needed for repair.

In addition, a lot of consumables are required.

The point is that because the number of pilots is limited, even if there are more fighters, they may not be able to come in handy, and it is better to store them.

If anything, the Nuland Expeditionary Air Force is the main air force in the southern part of the country.

At the time of the drawing up of the plan, the Imperial Air Force regarded the Nuland Expeditionary Air Force as the number one rival, and the first phase of the operation was aimed at completely destroying it.

Of course, the Nuland Expeditionary Air Force was also well prepared.

The Republic of Nuland has officially entered the war, and Trifan is 108,000 miles away from Nuland proper, even if it is the closest, the military bases controlled by the allies are thousands of kilometers away, and the Nuland expeditionary aviation can only fight against the water, and only by fighting desperately can there be a glimmer of hope.

The battle on the night of the 23rd was enough to prove the fighting spirit of the Nuland expeditionary air force.

In the face of the menacing Imperial Air Force, the Nuland Expeditionary Air Force did not retreat, but also took the initiative to attack, and committed the main force.

According to the battle report sent by the city of Cologne, the Nuland expeditionary air force flew hundreds of sorties that night.

Just in the first engagement, more than 40 F-15 fighters were sorted.

Fortunately, the Imperial Air Force committed more troops.

The key is that the Imperial Air Force has hit a time gap.

As already mentioned, the first wave of attacks was launched by bombers, and all of them were air-launched cruise missiles.

Although the strike effect was not ideal, mainly because the targets were too scattered, and according to later reconnaissance reports, the goal of completely destroying the long-range air defense warning radar was not achieved, but this wave of long-range attacks not only shut down the warning radar, but also forced all the air defense units deployed in the vicinity to enter a combat state.

That is to say, the air defense units of the Van Rowe Air Force and the Nuland Air Force were all exposed.

After that, it was the second wave of air assaults, and the bombers were still in charge.

Judging from the combat situation at that time, the more than 40 F-15C/D fighters dispatched by the Nuland Expeditionary Air Force were actually sent to intercept bombers.

For this reason, the AWACS aircraft that coordinated the operation did not go forward, but remained near Trivan.

As a result, the F-15C/D fleet was more than 350 kilometers away from the E-3B when encountering the Battle-11B fleet from the Imperial Air Force. In contrast, the "Finger-8C" dispatched by the Imperial Air Force was only 150 kilometers behind, and there were large electronic reconnaissance planes accompanying the operation.

This situation is enough to determine the outcome of an air battle.

By the time the E-3B detected the "Battle-11B" group, it was too late, and the rapid assault F-15C/D group rushed directly into the ambush circle of the "Battle-11B". In the face of an enemy on three sides, even if the Nuland pilots showed amazing fighting spirit and superb tactical standards, they still could not turn the tide.

In the end, only a few F-15C/Ds escaped.

Although more than a dozen "Battle-11Bs" were also shot down in the battle, the results achieved were not worth mentioning compared with the heavy losses.

In addition, the airspace of the belligerents was over the high seas, more than 300 kilometers from Trivan and less than 200 kilometers from the city of Cologne.

This means that the downed Nuland pilots, even if they succeed in parachuting, may not be able to return to the team before the end of the war.

Crucially, this air battle disrupted the operational deployment of the Newland Expeditionary Air Force.

Because of the crushing defeat of the interception operation and the overwhelming force of the Imperial Air Force, the Nuland Expeditionary Air Force had to evacuate and transfer the support aircraft while strengthening its air supremacy, otherwise after being bombed, the support planes parked at the airfields in the theater would be destroyed.

From a command level, this is nothing short of a disaster.

What's more, there is also the-stirring stick of the Van Roe Air Force.

Fundamentally, this remains a question at the command level.

Since the beginning of the Bosshawan War, the subsequent large-scale combat operations have all proved without exception that the lag in the response speed of the command system is a common problem of the armies of various countries, and the coordinated operations across services and arms are the hardest hit areas, and even the imperial army has not completely solved the problems existing at the command level.

There is no doubt that the problems between the Nuland army and the Van Rowe army in joint operations must be more serious.