King Khalid Military City.

Before sitting in the cockpit, Li Tianling washed his face with cold water and drank a cup of strong coffee, but he still couldn't overcome the strong sleepiness.

Last night, he didn't rest at all.

It's not about the fighting in the Northwest Theater, and there's no way to get information from the front.

After a busy night, that is, preparing for this morning's action.

At this time, the auxiliary fuel tank hanging on the belly of the "Zhan-11B", that is, on the belly heavy hanging point, and the "Zhan-11" has sufficient range and generally does not hang the auxiliary fuel tank. It is also not a ground strike weapon, after all, the "Zhan-11B" is an air superiority fighter, and if it is to perform a strike mission, the "Zhan-10" or "Zhan-16" will be arranged. It was a very unique large missile that had never been used in combat before.

The length of the missile is more than 5 meters, and it is very stout, with a body diameter of more than 500 mm.

Look, like a cruise missile.

It's just that there are no wings of cruise missiles, there are no air intakes for turbine engines, and in addition, the warhead is conical, not oval of cruise missiles.

The key point is that this missile actually only has 4 relatively small tails.

In appearance, it looks more like a ballistic missile.

That's not a ballistic missile, though.

As for what kind of missile it was, Li Tianling knew very well, because he was one of the pilots of the missile's test launch, and the only successful one was completed by him.

It was an anti-satellite missile mounted and launched by a fighter jet!

After the war with the Western Continent Group, Li Tianling received a special order: not to participate in combat operations on this side of Posha Bay, and to lead the officers and men of the squadron to prepare for the upcoming special operation, including allowing the other pilots of the squadron to master the skills of firing missiles at extreme altitudes.

It's just that Li Tianling and the others did not receive an order to return to China.

The reason is also very simple: what anti-satellite missiles can deal with is low-orbit satellites, of which military reconnaissance satellites with the ability to change orbits are the mainstay, so there must be some reconnaissance satellites of the Western Continent Group that have changed orbits to avoid several major air bases on the mainland of the Liangxia Empire.

As a result, it would be necessary to deploy some fighters for anti-satellite missions far enough away from the mainland.

If anything, this is also the key to the development of airborne anti-satellite missiles by the Imperial Air Force, that is, they can be deployed to any air base in the world.

Theoretically, only a 2,000-meter-long hard runway is needed to allow large transport aircraft to take off and land for support and support missions, and then it will take half a day to prepare heavy fighters for anti-satellite missions.

If you prepare in advance, you can shorten the preparation time to 4 hours.

Compared with other anti-satellite weapons, airborne anti-satellite missiles have the most obvious advantages in strategic maneuvering.

It was precisely because of this that the Air Force Command asked Li Tianling to prepare them for battle in the King Khalid Military City.

What happened next, that is, the Western Continent Group took the lead in attacking the military satellites of the Liang Xia Empire, and the empire then set out to launch a counterattack, which was completely expected by Li Tianling, and did not let him catch the accident. On the contrary, he felt that the upper echelons of the empire had a little bit of women's kindness.

When a full-scale war breaks out, the first thing to be killed is the enemy's military satellites!

In all the strategic-level wargames, anti-satellite operations are indispensable, and they are all the highest priority, and they are the primary tasks after the start of the war.

The value of military satellites in modern warfare is simply too great.

In fact, the Imperial Army is the pioneer of military aerospace, and it is the number one beneficiary.

The most conspicuous feature of the third round of post-war military reform initiated by the imperial army is that it has greatly improved the status of many high-tech weapons and equipment, including military satellites, in modern warfare, and has achieved the goal of winning the next war by occupying the commanding heights of science and technology.

To this end, the Liangxia Empire took the lead in developing anti-satellite weapons.

To say, missiles are just one of them.

Although the combat efficiency of anti-satellite missiles is not the highest, there are still many shortcomings, such as long preparation time, lack of tactical flexibility, and can only attack low-orbit satellites, but there are also advantages that other anti-satellite weapons do not have, such as being able to deploy according to actual needs, almost not limited by geography, and when prepared, can effectively deal with those military satellites that carry out orbit change maneuvers.

The key is that anti-satellite missiles do not account for the establishment!

Theoretically, any "Zhan-11B" can mount and use this anti-satellite missile, codenamed "XKT-1," but all that is needed is to strengthen the heavy-duty hardpoints on the abdomen as necessary, remove the serial hardpoints at the front and rear, and let the pilots master the skills of launching missiles.

As for the technique, it's actually not that difficult.

To put it simply, it is to fly as high and fast as possible, and shoot the missile at a near-vertical angle before reaching the ultimate altitude.

Pilots need to be careful not to stall after launching a missile.

In fact, the real challenge is how to find the attacking satellite.

The Imperial Air Force invested in the construction of three anti-satellite radars on the Imperial mainland, and improved the radars of all large early warning command aircraft so that they could be used to detect satellites operating in low orbits, and then rely on an integrated data processing system to obtain real-time orbital maps of satellites.

The most important thing is that these three anti-satellite radars have already been built.

In addition, one-third of the Finger-8C has been upgraded, that is, the data processing software has been upgraded to increase the computing power of low-orbit targets.

Unfortunately, the XKT-1 is not yet fully finalized.

In fact, in the first half of the year, Li Tianling also participated in the flight test work of the XKT-1, and lifted off with a full-scale sample bomb, and through actual flight, obtained the flight envelope that the fighter could reach after carrying this large missile, so as to adjust the flight control system.

As far as Li Tianling knows, the XKT-1 has a total of only 11 test samples, and 6 rounds have been used up before.

Obviously, this amount is far from enough.

Even if mass production had been carried out ahead of schedule last month, before the situation worsened, the number of pieces of equipment would certainly not exceed 20 now.

Don't look at the XKT-1 as an airborne anti-satellite missile, but it's not cheap at all.

Those 11 sample bombs burned nearly 300 million gold dollars.

According to the procurement plan drawn up by the Air Force, after the completion of the research and development, more than 1,500 missiles were purchased with 12 billion gold dollars, and counting the more than 3 billion gold dollars spent on the development, the unit price of the KT-1 military procurement was close to 10 million gold dollars, making it the most expensive missile developed by the Imperial Air Force so far.

It's just that the missiles that we have now must be a drop in the bucket.

It is precisely for this reason that in yesterday's anti-satellite operation, the Imperial Air Force did not use such missiles, but used quite a few land-based anti-satellite missiles.

If we have to say, this land-based anti-satellite missile, numbered "KT-2A," is actually a "Shanhuo" medium-range ballistic missile that the army has invested in and developed, but has not procured or equipped.

To be precise, the "Mountain Fire" projectile body was used.

At that time, after the Army abandoned the "Mountain Fire" and canceled all medium-range ballistic missile programs, the Air Force approached the "Feiteng" company that developed the "Mountain Fire" missile and provided a sum of money for the "Feiteng" company to continue to improve this missile, focusing on improving the missile's ballistic performance.

In the beginning, the Air Force actually wanted to develop the "Mountain Fire" into a small launch vehicle that could be flexibly deployed.

To put it simply, it was used to carry out net replenishment launches during the war.

Because it is mainly used to launch small satellites, it does not require much carrying capacity, and it is enough to reach 500 kg in low earth orbit.

The key is to have enough tactical flexibility, that is, to be able to be on call.

Obviously, large liquid-fueled launch vehicles that can easily put several tons of cargo into orbit are not suitable for this type of launch mission.

As for the "wildfire", it is very appropriate.

On the basis of the existing one, the addition of the third stage will allow for a low-earth orbit carrying capacity of 500 kg. Thanks to the solid-fuel rocket engine, routine maintenance is also very easy. If the army is persuaded to purchase medium-range ballistic missiles after successful development, it will be able to give full play to the advantages of large-scale mass production, thereby greatly reducing prices and reaching the point where they can be used and equipped in large quantities.

Fundamentally, it is still a question of money, that is, the cost of developing a small launch vehicle alone will certainly be unbearable.

However, the Air Force soon discovered that the "Mountain Fire" was actually more suitable for carrying out anti-satellite missions, and could theoretically deal with medium- and high-orbit satellites.

With a kinetic warhead, the total quality control of the load is within 100 kilograms, and the third-stage rocket is added, and the launch height of the "Mountain Fire" can theoretically reach 5,000 kilometers.

At this height, it is capable of dealing with 80% of military satellites!

In addition, the "Mountain Fire" was designed to be a ballistic missile that was deployed in a mobile manner, and after being changed to an anti-satellite missile, it can still be deployed on a launch vehicle.

It is precisely for this that over the past few years, the Imperial Air Force has procured and equipped hundreds of KT-2s.

As for this number, because the ideal development time was later, after the air-launched type, the number obtained is also ranked after the air-launched type.

Interestingly, in order to achieve the goal of deceiving the enemy, these missiles still use the name "Mountain Fire" and are compiled in the army's equipment procurement catalog, and the reason for purchasing them is to use them for testing, after all, many target missiles are used in joint military exercises every year.

Do not forget that the Western Continent group has a large number of medium-range ballistic missiles, and the imperial army has also been developing anti-missile technology.

Just yesterday, these anti-satellite missiles, deployed on the empire's mainland, played a key role, shooting down more than 300 military satellites of the Western Continent Group in just a few hours.

According to internal information, the actual combat hit rate of the KT-2 was actually only 60%, which did not reach the design index of 80%.

In addition, the anti-satellite operation lasted several hours, and the Western Continent Group took advantage of this time to allow several reconnaissance satellites to complete the orbit change maneuver in a timely manner.

It is precisely for this reason that the Air Force sent transport planes overnight and sent 10 XKT-1s.

In accordance with the order given by the Air Force Command, as soon as these satellites pass over Posha Bay, they were shot down with XKT-1.

In fact, these satellites must have passed over Posha Bay.

In order to cover the Volga River, reconnaissance satellites must pass through Posha Bay, and there is no way to bypass Posha Bay.

Of course, Li Tianling and the others were busy all night, in fact, they were calculating and confirming the orbit of the satellite.

Although the Air Force sent several technical officers to accompany the transport plane transporting the missiles and also brought military computers, Li Tianling was not idle, after all, he had participated in the early test work of the XKT-1, and he was also from a professional background, so he knew very well the extreme performance of this missile.

Of course, it was not in vain.

Combined with the data provided by the anti-satellite radar, Li Tianling and the others determined that at this morning, that is, at about 11 a.m. local time on the 13th, they could get a chance to intercept, and then four hours later, there would be another chance, and the probability of two interceptions would not be less than 80 percent.

However, the key is to destroy 5 high-performance optical reconnaissance satellites.

According to the intelligence agency, all five satellites have been launched in the past three years and are equipped with the most sophisticated optical lenses available today.

If anything, the optical equipment of the Manman Empire is indeed unique in the world.

At the same orbital altitude, even if the CCD imaging equipment with poor performance is used, the reconnaissance satellites of the Empire can achieve comparable resolution.

If the intelligence provided by the MIA is correct, the reconnaissance satellite launched last year has a resolution of 0.3 meters.

After the defeat of these five satellites, the strategic reconnaissance capability of the Western Continent Group will be reduced by at least 8 percent, which will inevitably have an impact on the ongoing operations.

The point is that the Western Continent Group does not have a more effective means of strategic reconnaissance than reconnaissance satellites.

Li Tianling personally drew up a set of battle plans.

5 fighters were dispatched each in 2 interceptions.

Only after destroying the main target, the five optical reconnaissance satellites, will the other satellites be dealt with, and priority will be given to ensuring that the most valuable targets are eliminated.

In addition, Li Tianling personally participated in the interception operation.

It was precisely for this reason that he arranged for the ground crew to dismantle all the useless, to be precise, useless in anti-satellite operations on the "Zh-11B" he was driving.

This was done to allow the fighter to fly higher.

In fact, this is also the advantage of air-launched anti-satellite missiles.

Because it is mounted by a fighter jet, it can fly to an altitude of 20,000 meters and reach a flight speed of Mach 2, so it is equivalent to saving most of the first-stage rocket.

In order to be able to fly to Mach 2 after hanging the missile, the "Zhan-11B" was loaded with only 3 tons of fuel.

With this amount of fuel, you can only make one sprint flight.

After getting ready, Li Tianling went to change into a high-altitude anti-load suit.

When it was almost 10:15 a.m., the command tower sent an order to take off.

After completing the inspection work step by step, Li Tianling drove the fighter plane to the take-off point.

The other 4 fighters were behind, but all kept a good distance.

It is all the commanders who carry out the task, and the other 2 squadron leaders and 2 squad leaders, there is definitely no problem with their abilities, and there is no need for Li Tianling to pay special attention.

Besides, after wearing the anti-load suit, it is very inconvenient to move.

"Tianlong 001, the combat order has been confirmed, and the operation of the Sky-Breaking War has officially begun."

"Tianlong 001 received it and requested to take off."

"The request is approved and it can take off."

"Roger!"

After answering, Li Tianling didn't talk nonsense anymore and pushed the throttle stick to the end. He only let go of the brakes after feeling the engine vibrate violently.

After taxiing on the runway for less than 500 meters, the "Zhan-11B" reached the speed of lift-off.

After breaking away from the ground, the fighter rushed almost straight into the sky.

Vertical climbing has always been the specialty of the "Zhan-11", and dozens of climbing records set by the "Zhan-11A" have not been broken to this day.

If I want to say, this is also the only thing that the "Zhan-11" can show off.

Because the digital fly-by-wire control system is not used, the agility of the "Zhan-11" is not as good as that of the "Zhan-10", and even the "Zhan-9" with a variable sweep wing is not as good, and it can only rely on a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, that is, to focus on improving the vertical maneuverability of the fighter.