It must be admitted that Ding Zhennan is indeed very bold and decisive.

Although in the joint exercises of the previous years, the probability of ultra-low-altitude penetration of the army aviation helicopter gunship has always been very high, but it certainly did not reach 100 percent, and after the helicopter gunship was exposed, it would certainly be hit by anti-aircraft fire and could easily be shot down.

If the army aviation's assault operation ends in failure, then almost all of these air strike forces that are now dispatched will be discovered at a distance of several hundred kilometers from the target.

In fact, as long as the assault of the army aviation is not completed as planned, the Iraqi air defense forces will be given at least an hour to prepare.

This is also the key to choosing the mobile deployment of air defense warning radar.

Because of its mobile deployment, the unit could only use radio equipment to communicate with the rear, that is, it could not use wired telephones with better anti-jamming performance.

That's the key to it!

In the past few days, the unit had been using radio stations and repeatedly contacted the rear, and its operating frequency and mode of operation had long been mastered by the electronic reconnaissance planes of the Imperial Air Force.

When attacking, the Imperial Air Force's electronic reconnaissance aircraft are able to suppress and interfere with it.

This means that the unit is not able to report to the rear immediately after an attack, that is, it is not possible to immediately send an alarm signal.

Provided, of course, that there are no other radio stations, or that the assault of the Army Air destroys all the command vehicles.

If this is not achieved, even if only one command vehicle is not completely destroyed and only a backup radio station that has not been used before is still available, the force will be able to issue an immediate warning, and Iraq's air defense forces will have one hour to prepare.

This is also the key to Ding Zhennan's order to launch an attack according to the original plan.

If you really delay it for an hour, the enemy will get an hour to prepare, and if you strike immediately, the enemy will get much less time to prepare.

For the Iraqi air defense forces, which are not very efficient in their operations, there is a big difference between an hour and a half.

So, did the army aviation's assault succeed?

It's almost 1 o'clock, not to mention other staff officers, even Ding Zhennan is a little nervous.

Fortunately, it was only a few minutes of nervousness.

"It worked!"

After the communications staff officer shouted loudly, the command center suddenly became silent, and to be precise, all the staff officers fell silent.

Obviously, no one reacted.

"It's successful, target 0 has been successfully destroyed, and the army aviation's helicopter gunship group is returning."

It was only at this time that the other staff officers understood.

Ding Zhennan also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but instead of celebrating with the other staff officers, he asked the communications staff officers to immediately arrange the operation of the special forces.

After the success of the assault operation, it was necessary for the Army Aviation to send helicopters to pick up the special forces that had gone deep behind enemy lines.

As for the assault, it has already been launched, there is no need to adjust.

…………

5 minutes ago, in the heart of Iraq.

After completing the steering, Lian Mingyang controlled the "Z-10A" back to ultra-low altitude, but did not get close to the ground, but maintained a flight altitude of about 50 meters.

At this altitude, the collision avoidance radar works normally, and driver assistance functions can also be used.

Autonomous driving?

We have not yet developed an autopilot system that can be used by helicopters.

In addition, helicopters tend to have short flight times, and the demand for autonomous driving is not very high, and only those combat aircraft that have to fly for long periods of time, such as bombers, transport aircraft, early warning command aircraft, and heavy fighters, need to be equipped with automatic driving systems.

As for the attack, it was not at all challenging.

In Lian Mingyang's words, that is, after receiving the information from the special forces, confirming the target, and the distance of the air defense radar is within 8 kilometers, the eight heavy anti-tank missiles carried are launched, and even if the task is completed, the next thing is to turn back.

In fact, when Lian Mingyang was steering the plane, those missiles were still on their way to the target.

8 kilometers is not a short time, and it takes about 20 seconds for an anti-tank missile with an average flight speed of only Mach 1.2.

When Lian Mingyang completed the turn, the missile hit the target.

Of course, the special forces who used laser designators to illuminate the missiles at the front sent a message at the first time, and all 16 missiles fired by the two gunships hit the target, destroying most of the vehicles of the air defense unit, including the radar vehicle and the command vehicle.

But that's not all.

In order to save fuel on the return voyage and to cover the retreat of the special forces, Lian Mingyang also let the two armed helicopters that were "substitutes" launch an attack.

As a result, when he turned to return home, the two "Z-10A" launched the 16 missiles on board.

It's a bit of a waste indeed.

Compared with the little fuel consumed, the heavy anti-tank missile with a unit price of up to 200,000 gold yuan is obviously more valuable!

After two rounds of missile bombardment, about 30 vehicles of the air defense unit were destroyed, and several hundred officers and men were either killed or wounded.

When he returned to the ultra-low altitude, Lian Mingyang received a message from the special forces.

The mission has been completed, and the destruction rate of the target reaches one hundred percent.

Is this war?

Lian Mingyang was very emotional, because he didn't see the target of the attack from beginning to end, and he didn't even use his own eyes to confirm whether the target had been destroyed.

Feelings, spend 40 million gold yuan to purchase the "Z-10A", just to carry and launch anti-tank missiles worth 200,000 yuan!

To put it mildly, there is little comparison with previous exercises.

However, this is indeed war, or modern war!

Perhaps the next sortie will be able to fire missiles at enemy tanks within visual range.

…………

Above Lian Mingyang's head, four "Attack-11s" flew in the opposite direction to the helicopter, that is, to the north, under the cover of night.

Although flying at an altitude of 8,000 meters, you can still see the fireball from the explosion on the ground.

So many missiles, like meteors, hit the vehicles parked in the desert in succession, and the fireballs from the explosions also lit up the night sky.

Not to mention that the pilot wears a low-light night vision device, even if it is naked, he can see it.

For the pilots of the four "Attack-11s", they only saw it, and did not take the battle that took place below.

Their goal is to the north, inside the city of Baghdad!

Of all the combat planes of the Liangxia Empire, only the "Attack-11" was able to penetrate the skies over Baghdad, which had been protected by dozens of anti-aircraft missile systems and thousands of anti-aircraft guns, without cover, and then dropped laser-guided bombs on closely protected strategic targets.

Other combat aircraft were attacked by anti-aircraft missiles before they could fly over Baghdad.

The Polish-Iranian war more than 10 years ago has proved that in the face of modern air defense systems, even ultra-low altitude penetration, the risks are very huge.

Not to mention combat aircraft, even cruise missiles, there is a high probability of being shot down.

This ability to penetrate deep into the army and take the head of the enemy's general is itself a unique skill of "Attack-11".

The Imperial Air Force spent tens of billions of gold dollars to develop and purchase 72 "Attack-11s", with an average unit price of up to 170 million gold dollars, equivalent to three times that of the "Battle-11B", in order to obtain an air assassin that can penetrate the most dense air defense system and can give the enemy a fatal blow after the start of the war.

At least in past joint exercises, the "Attack-11" has proved its capabilities without exception.

In fact, it took less than 45 minutes to fly.

Anyway, when the two "Attack-11s" of the first formation flew over Baghdad, this city with a population of more than 6 million, the largest in the Posha Bay region, and with a glorious history of thousands of years, has become a tumbling "volcano", but instead of magma, anti-aircraft artillery shells coated with tracer powder are sprayed!

In addition, there are anti-aircraft missiles that drag a long tail flame into the night sky.

The battle was scary, but it was scary.

Experienced pilots could see at a glance that the missiles and shells had no clear purpose, and the air defense forces were firing indiscriminately.

The most typical is that the anti-aircraft missile was fired directly into the air and did not turn after launch.

If the radar is in working condition, providing guidance to the missile, then the missile, after liftoff, will turn towards the target.

The same goes for anti-aircraft guns.

Relatively speaking, the threat of anti-aircraft guns is greater, mainly in large numbers, there must be several thousand.

Judging by the flight path of the tracer shells, none of the anti-aircraft guns had a clear target, and all of them were firing into the air in a scattering manner.

Seems to be trying their luck!

Obviously, there was no luck at all.

The "Attack-11" flew at an altitude of about 8,000 meters, while almost all anti-aircraft guns fired at an altitude of less than 5,000 meters. Those large-caliber anti-aircraft guns that can hit shells at more than 5,000 meters have basically entered military museums after the advent of anti-aircraft missiles.

At around 1:50, the leader's "Attack-11" took the lead in opening the bomb bay door and dropped two 1,000-kilogram laser-guided bombs in turn.

In fact, it was only half a minute in total.

Subsequently, a second "Attack-11" also dropped bombs.

The two "Attack-11s" did not turn back and continued to fly north, because they still had to use laser designators to illuminate the target.

Only after the bomb hits the target can it turn back.

Through the infrared imaging camera installed above the nose of the aircraft, the target can be clearly seen and accurately judged whether the bomb has hit the target.

In fact, the infrared imaging camera is also the only observation equipment of the "Attack-11".

In order to achieve stealth and avoid revealing its whereabouts due to the use of electronic equipment, the "Attack-11" is not only not equipped with a radar, but even the radio station is specially made.

In addition, if there is no special reason, the "Attack-11" does not use the radio to communicate with the outside world when performing tasks.

This, if anything, is also the most dissatisfying part of the rear commanders.

Each time, we have to wait for the "Attack-11" to return to the base or fly out of the dangerous airspace before we can know whether the bombing mission has been completed.

To solve this problem, the Air Force is already investing in the development of low-intercept radios.

Although the bomb flew entirely by inertia, the bomb was dropped at a distance of more than 10 kilometers, and it only took about one minute to hit the target.

If, after 1 minute, you don't see the target being hit, then you must have missed the target.

All 4 bombs hit accurately!

A few minutes later, two "Attack-11s" of the spare formation also entered the attack channel and dropped laser-guided bombs on four secondary targets.

In fact, it was not until the presidential palace, the headquarters of the Republican Guard, the capital air defense command, and the National Telecommunications Center building were hit by bombs that the air defense forces in Baghdad all woke up and knew that the fighters of the Liangxia Empire had been killed and dropped bombs.

At this moment, the anti-aircraft fire of Baghdad was noticeably increased several times.

If it used to be like a volcano, now Baghdad has become a detonated arsenal full of blinding fires.

Looking down from a height of several thousand meters, it looks a bit like an imperial city during the Spring Festival!

The anti-aircraft guns that fired blindly were not a threat at all, and were more like fireworks set off for the "Attack-11" to see off its way.

…………

About half an hour later, at about 1:30 a.m., eight cruise missiles launched by the "Han Shui" reached the sky over Baghdad.

Since then, dozens of more cruise missiles have been launched.

Although cruise missiles fly at ultra-low altitudes, even over land, the flight altitude is below 500 meters, but the flight speed of cruise missiles is very slow, only Mach 0.8 in the cruising stage, and only Mach 0.95 in the sprint stage, and it is very eye-catching in the night sky.

As long as it can be detected in time, it is easy to intercept.

In response to this problem, the methods adopted by the imperial army were also barbaric.

Attack from multiple directions at the same time with several cruise missiles against heavily protected and important targets by planning different flight routes.

Even if intercepted, one or several cruise missiles will always be able to break through the air defense network and hit the target.

For example, against the Tarawal Air Base on the outskirts of Baghdad, 12 cruise missiles were used, and the target was only the command center of the base.

It was for this reason that the Joint Forces Command announced that the attack with cruise missiles that night had a probability of destroying the target with an 86% probability.

Apparently, the missile's hit rate was not so high at all.

If you count all those that were shot down, the probability of a cruise missile penetrating will not exceed 65%.

That night, at least 14 of the 78 cruise missiles fired at Baghdad were shot down mid-flight, and three malfunctioned shortly after launch, and only 61 actually completed the flight, and no more than 55 hit the target. Of the 14 cruise missiles shot down, at least 12 were shot down by small-caliber anti-aircraft guns or anti-aircraft machine guns, and two were probably shot down by individual anti-aircraft missiles.

This statistical report is sufficient to prove that cruise missiles have obvious defects and that there is still a lot of room for improvement.

The key point is that the cruise missiles attacked targets in the suburbs and did not penetrate deep into the urban areas.

The reason is also very simple, there are too many anti-aircraft guns in the city.

According to pre-war statistics, the Iraqi army deployed at least 6,000 anti-aircraft guns in Baghdad, almost all of them small-caliber machine guns.

With so many anti-aircraft guns, any aircraft that penetrates from ultra-low altitudes becomes a target to be killed!

It is much less difficult to deal with targets in the suburbs.

However, a cruise missile assault is more like attracting enemy fire, that is, luring anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft guns to open fire, exposing air defense forces.

This also proves that cruise missiles are a "system" weapon, that is, highly dependent on military systems, or that combat efficiency is determined by the advanced degree of the system.

In other words, cruise missiles are a sharp weapon for penetrating defenses in the hands of large countries, but they are beautiful ornaments in the hands of small countries.

Behind the cruise missiles is a huge group of attack aircraft.

Flying at the forefront were the anti-aircraft suppression units nicknamed "Snow Owls"!