For the admirals of the Empire, the amazing performance of the Air Force's "Attack-11" in the counterinsurgency operation of the Kingdom of Ceylon was simply a resounding slap in the face.

In that year, the Imperial Navy reformulated the performance indicators of the "Attack-X" and directly abandoned the supersonic flight capability.

After the adjustment, stealth performance is in the first place, followed by a combat radius of 2,000 kilometers, and battlefield awareness and communication systems with low detectability. Because the precision-guided munitions represented by laser-guided bombs have matured, the Navy no longer emphasizes the bomb load, reducing it from 12 tons to 4 tons of internal bomb magazines, and setting up six additional 1,500-kilogram external heavy-duty points.

As for the take-off weight, it is still capped at 40 tons.

In fact, as long as supersonic flight capability is no longer required, it is not difficult to develop a stealth carrier-based attack aircraft of less than 40 tons using new technology.

The following year, in the 145th year of the new calendar, the three manufacturers came up with their own design plans.

Interestingly, the three manufacturers unanimously adopted the flying wing lift body layout, which seemed to be very avant-garde at the time.

It is also the only option that meets the stealth performance and long range indicators.

Because the designs of the three manufacturers were almost identical, at the end of the year, the Imperial Navy asked the three manufacturers to form a joint project team.

After that, the "Tap-X" project entered the fast lane.

Just three years later, at the end of the 148th year of the new calendar, the first prototype of the "Attack-X" officially rolled off the assembly line, and after the first flight, it received the military number of "Attack-12". Next, the contractor delivered seven prototypes, and the project entered the design flight test phase.

According to the plan, the design test flight work will be announced in the new year 151.

As expected, the first mass-produced prototypes, precisely improved to production standards, will be delivered to the Navy's teaching brigade in 151 New Calendar.

If all goes well, the first squadron of "Attack-15A" heavy attack aircraft will be formed at the end of 151 or the beginning of 152 in the new calendar.

The Imperial Navy will also enter the era of stealth.

It's just that it's still half a beat slower than the Air Force.

Of course, as long as the "Attack-12A" is successfully put into service, the third round of reform of the Imperial Navy will achieve a phased victory.

As for the value of such an attack aircraft, there is no need to doubt it at all.

Although the "Attack-12A" can only use two internal magazines and can carry up to 4 tons of ammunition when performing high-intensity strike missions with huge risks, which is much lower than that of the "Attack-5F", with its stronger survivability, the combat efficiency of the "Attack-12A" far exceeds that of the "Attack-5F".

To carry out a ground strike mission, the "Attack-12A" is generally mounted with four 1,000-kilogram, or eight 500-kilogram, or 12 250-kilogram laser-guided bombs, or two long-range air-to-surface missiles, or four to six short-range air-to-surface missiles.

Sea strikes, usually 2 heavy stealth anti-ship missiles of the 2000 kg class.

The key is the ability to strike at the sea.

Although the number of anti-ship missiles has been reduced from 6 to 2 and can only fly at subsonic speeds, this anti-ship missile tailored for the "Attack-12A" has the most outstanding penetration capability of its time, and its strike efficiency is dozens of times higher than that of the KD-12 used in the "Attack-5F".

In addition, it is capable of being used as an air-launched cruise missile.

In this way, the strike range of the Imperial Navy will be expanded from the 2,000-kilometer "tactical" level to the 3,500-kilometer "strategic" level.

It is a pity that the development of the XKD-30, nicknamed "Featherless Arrow", is progressing even slower than that of the "Attack-12A"!

The point is, the Navy's performance indicators are too demanding.

To put it simply, it is necessary to achieve a maximum range of 600 kilometers, a cruising flight speed of Mach 0.95, and a sprint flight speed of Mach 3 at sea level at an altitude of not less than Mach 3 in a projectile body of 2,000 kilograms, no more than 4 meters in length and 0.5 meters in diameter, and must also have stealth capabilities, an RCS area of less than 0.01 square meters, and a warhead mass of not less than 500 kilograms.

If you want to say, the bullet weight index is relatively generous.

The real issue is size.

Even if the Navy later abandoned the general requirement and no longer required that it could be carried and used by submarines, thus widening the diameter of the missile body to 0.8 meters, that is, the maximum allowed value of the "Attack-12A" magazine, it would be difficult for the missile body space to meet the tactical performance indicators proposed by the Navy.

Interestingly, the "cruise missile" version, which was the first to complete the development work, was finalized last year, and began mass production after the outbreak of the war, and its official designation KD-30A. Because supersonic sprint flight capability is not required, the cruising flight speed is reduced to Mach 0.85, so the KD-30A not only reduces the mass to 1650 kg, but also gains a range of 1500 km while maintaining a 500 kg warhead.

Because of its excellent performance, the KD-30A also gained favor with the Air Force.

However, it is not perfect.

The most prominent problem is that it is too expensive.

Even if at the request of the Ministry of National Defense, the Navy and the Air Force jointly issued an order, and the first batch of 15,000 pieces was purchased, and the ex-factory unit price was still five times that of the KD-20 and DD-20. According to the quotation provided by the factory, only stealth coatings and electronic equipment accounted for 60% of the total price.

Of course, in times of war, this price was barely acceptable.

What the Navy wants to get is actually an anti-ship type.

According to the latest version, the Imperial Navy has reduced the mass of the warhead to 250 kg.

The use of semi-armor-piercing warheads, and the loading of high-energy explosives normally used in torpedo torpedo heads, still have sufficient damage to large ships.

Of course, it would be better if the speed performance was reduced appropriately.

All in all, with the advent of the XKD-30, the Attack-12A will take the strike capabilities of the Imperial Navy's aircraft carrier battle group to a whole new level.

According to the deduction made by the Imperial Navy, a group of 20 "Attack-12A" can project 40 XKD-30s to form a saturation strike against a single aircraft carrier battle group. Because the "Attack-12A" is not only used to replace the "Attack-5", but also to replace part of the "Battle-12" that acts as an over-the-top, and will eventually be equipped with two groups in one carrier-based aviation group, with a total of 40 aircraft, so theoretically, after the Imperial Navy's aircraft carrier is equipped with the "Attack-12A", the sea strike capability will be doubled, and one aircraft carrier battle group can strike at the enemy's two aircraft carrier battle groups at the same time.

On the contrary, if the size of the "Attack-12A" is not increased, it will only be used to replace the "Attack-5", and the position of 20 heavy carrier-based aircraft will be freed up.

This means that carrier-based aviation has greater tactical flexibility.

For example, with 20 more heavy fighters, the combat capability of air supremacy can be doubled. If it is replaced by the "cruiser-4A", the anti-submarine warfare capability will be increased by three times. If 24 "Zhan-12s" continue to be retained, the overall combat efficiency will be increased by more than one time in low-intensity battles.

There is no doubt that this is the ideal aircraft carrier battle group.

From this, it is not difficult to see the value of the "Attack-12A" to the Imperial Navy, and why Zhou Yongtao did his best to support the development of this kind of carrier-based aircraft.

In a global war, the value of the "Attack-12A" is more prominent.

In fact, immediately after the outbreak of the Polish-Iranian War, the Imperial Navy placed an order for the "Attack-12A" and instructed the contractor to start mass production as soon as possible.

Because the design test flight has not yet been completed, and there will be acceptance test flights by the military after that, even if the order is obtained, the contractor will not be able to make the "Attack-12A" immediately mass-produced.

To this end, Chengfeng proposed to first achieve service status by adding combat systems on the basis of the prototype, and carry out pre-production batch mass production.

Unfortunately, even the pre-production batch will not be delivered until the second quarter of next year.

After that, habilitation training is also carried out.

Even in wartime, it would be good if these "Attack-12A" would be able to form combat effectiveness in the third quarter of next year, or even at the end of the year.

Prior to this, the main attack aircraft of the Imperial Navy was still the "Attack-5F".

Of course, the Navy needs more than new carrier-based attack aircraft.

After the Air Force-led "advanced fighter" was announced, the design team has shifted its focus to the naval version.

As expected, the "Zhan-21A", nicknamed "Fire Phoenix", will complete its development next year and is expected to be officially equipped with naval aviation in 152 of the new calendar.

By that time, the Imperial Naval Aviation, with two fourth-generation stealth carrier-based aircraft as the core, would inevitably be invincible.

It's just that Bai Huawei is not concerned about the new carrier-based aircraft that can only be obtained next year.

One of the first things he noticed when he arrived at Jumbo Harbor was that the Guia Fleet, especially Task Force 41, was not as capable as he had anticipated.

To say, don't be surprised.

Of the six major fleets of the Imperial Navy, namely the Second, Fourth, and Sixth Fleets on the Guia Ocean, and the Third, Fifth, and Seventh Fleets deployed in the Fanyan Ocean and the Sunset Ocean, only the Fourth Fleet had its home port at its overseas military base, Treasure Harbor, and the other fleets had their home ports on the mainland.

In addition, Jumbo Harbour was also home to the Second Command of the Imperial Navy's Guia Fleet.

Now, a problem arises. The warships of the Fourth Fleet, especially the capital ships that are frequently involved in deployments, will have a hard time getting the opportunity to return to their homeland.

Although over the past few decades, the Imperial Navy has been strengthening the infrastructure of Jumbo Harbor in order to increase the fighting power of the Guia Fleet and to strengthen its control over the Howaii Islands, and even to build the most complete fleet headquarters outside of the mainland, these efforts have not changed the essence of Jumbo Harbor, or to develop Jumbo Harbor into a modern and large port.

The point is not that the Imperial Navy is not invested enough, but that the population of the Khowaii Islands is simply too small.

The reason is also very simple, the imperial authorities cannot encourage immigration to the Khowaii Islands with great fanfare!

To this day, the Howaii Islands are still part of the Nuland Federation, and the city of Honu on Honu Island, where Treasure Harbour is located, is the capital of the Nuland Federation.

De jure, Treasure Harbor, as well as other military bases in the archipelago, belong to the Nuland Federation.

Although the Empire has severed diplomatic relations with the Nuland Federation, and the international community only recognizes the Nuland Republic, it is a recognized fact that the Howaii Islands belong to the Nuland Federation, so even if there are more than a dozen military bases controlled by the Imperial Army, the Imperial authorities have no right to emigrate to the Howaii Islands.

Today, the population of the Howaii Islands is less than 10 million!

The largest city, Honu, has only about 2 million inhabitants.

Crucially, the Khowaii Islands are severely lacking in resources, do not have the necessary conditions to develop industry, and are not even qualified to serve as a transit port. With the advent of civil airliners with a range of more than 12,000 kilometers, even trans-Guia flights no longer need to stop through the city of Honoo.

For decades, tourism has been the backbone of the Khowaii Islands' economy.

In addition, less than 50 per cent of the local population is educated and less than 5 per cent are in tertiary education.

It can be seen that even if the Empire invests enough resources here, it will not be able to make the Khowaii Islands a base for the Imperial Navy to advance.

If anything, in the Jumbo Harbor Shipyard, one-third of the engineers and senior mechanics are actually appointed by the shipyards of the Empire. Because it had not been possible to recruit enough skilled workers, and the cost of having the military come forward, the Imperial Navy had not increased its investment in Jumbo Harbor for more than 20 years, after the Polish-Iraqi War, and gradually reduced the size of the Fourth Fleet.

By the time Zhou Yongtao became the first assistant, Jumbo Port had been reduced to a second-class port.

Although in the following years, the Navy began to return to Jumbo Harbor and increase its investment, but in just a few years, many problems could not be solved at all.

The most representative is that the only 100,000-ton dry dock in Jumbo Harbor, that is, the only dry dock that can provide maintenance services for large aircraft carriers, was only repaired at the end of last year. Previously, the Fourth Fleet's large aircraft carriers could only return to the Imperial mainland for docking repairs.

Affected by this, among the three aircraft carriers of the 41 st Task Force, only the flagship "Liu Changxun" was docked for maintenance in the first half of this year, while the other two, namely "Zhou Kuande" and "He Yongxing," were originally scheduled to be docked for maintenance this year and next year.

Because the Great War had already broken out, the repair of 2 aircraft carriers could only be postponed.

If the 100,000-ton dry dock in Jumbo Harbor is in good working order, the three aircraft carriers of Task Force 41 will be in perfect condition.

Bai Huawei is really not sure about the status of the other two aircraft carriers, especially the "Zhou Kuande".

The ship is the third ship of the "Chen Bingxun" class and the last of the first batch, and its technical condition is not very good, and because it has been deployed in Zhenbao Harbor for a long time, the modernization and improvement that should have been carried out in the mid-term overhaul has also been postponed to the third docking repair.

Where did you think that before the third docking repair began, the global war came.

Because the "Chen Bingxun" and the second ship, the "Tang Zude," were both modernized and improved during the mid-term overhaul, and the three ships of the second batch had already adopted new electronic equipment during the construction period, the "Zhou Kuande" was regarded as the one in the worst state among the aircraft carriers in active service.

If you want to say it, even 3 ships of the older "Imperial" class are not comparable.

According to the information obtained by Bai Huawei, the actual output power of the "Zhou Kuande" power system can only reach 85% of the maximum designed power. Of the 4 steam catapults, 3 have been used 60% of the overhaul cycle, and the best one is also 40%. The self-defense weapon systems are still in the same state as when they were built and delivered, such as the terminal interception system to deal with anti-ship missiles, and the three 730B "Fire Whirlwind" rapid-fire guns.

However, what Bai Huawei is most worried about is actually the state of the officers and soldiers.

According to the plan, the "Zhou Kuande" should be docked for maintenance in July, and the officers and men of the ship will be given a long vacation for half a year, and many officers and men have booked return air tickets in advance.

With the outbreak of war, vacations became a dream.

What is terrible is that at the beginning of this year, the "Zhou Kuande" aircraft carrier battle group went to Fanyanyang to participate in the annual fleet confrontation exercise, and only returned to Zhenbao Harbor at the end of June. Because it was necessary to prepare for docking repairs, the ship did not enter the port and dock during the deployment.

After returning to Zhenbao Harbor, more than 5,000 people only went ashore to rest for less than half a month before they boarded the aircraft carrier again and began the combat readiness deployment that has lasted until now.

After 9 months of deployment, will the officers and men of the ship still be in good condition?