… Early in the morning on the day of the small moon pass. The battle came to an abrupt end. It seems that both sides are tired. Or tired of the fighting that you are going back and forth, half an hour before dawn came, the warring sides stopped their combat operations at the same time, and the attacking 9th Combat Individual Combat Brigade took the initiative to retreat a thousand kilometers to the north. The defending Israeli thugs, the Old Armored Brigade and the First Infantry Brigade, did not take the opportunity to counterattack.

The sudden silence on the battlefield is not a good thing.

In fact, the fighting did not stop, it just moved from the ground to the air.

That morning, the air power of the Republic and the United States exchanged knives several times over Syria. Although each has its own victory, the scale of each air battle is not large.

After the start of the war, both sides were desperately fighting for air supremacy.

In the first few days, both the Republic and the United States followed the traditional theory of air warfare, that is, to concentrate superior forces, first seize air supremacy, and then carry out air strikes.

Obviously, traditional tactical thinking has been put to the test.

This is not to say that there is a problem with the tactic of giving priority to seizing air supremacy, but before the air-space strike is put into practice, air supremacy is still the key to occupying the commanding heights on the battlefield, and seizing air supremacy is absolutely crucial. The problem is that the war in the Middle East has great peculiarities compared to previous wars. Not to mention anything else, the main forces of the US Air Force are all deployed outside the battlefield, and the main forces of the Republic Air Force are also deployed far from the range of the US military. That is, it is not possible to seize air supremacy by striking at the opponent's air bases, but only against the opponent's fighters in air combat. Because the performance of the heavy air supremacy fighters on both sides is in between. In addition, heavy air supremacy fighters are very expensive, even if they are a major country, it is impossible to purchase them in large quantities in peacetime, and they will not be able to order them urgently after the start of the war, and they will definitely not be able to catch up with the war attrition, so after a few days of fighting, the heavy fighters of the Republic and the United States have suffered heavy losses, and they are unable to grasp all the air supremacy before the newly ordered fighters are delivered.

Affected by this. Both sides adjusted their air combat tactics.

From the 7th. The Air Force of the Republic focused on escort convoys. That is, escorted by heavy air supremacy fighters for multi-role fighters performing strike missions. The Navy of the Republic also changed its tactics, leaving heavy fighters mainly on escort duty, in addition to leaving enough anti-aircraft fighters. In other words, the Republican ** team no longer rushes to seize air supremacy, and puts the guarantee of air support on a key basis.

The U.S. Air Force and Navy made similar adjustments on the same day, placing air support in key positions.

It is precisely because of this that the air battles in the morning of the day are almost always "encounters."

To be precise, it's an encounter in a special environment.

According to the relevant information released by the Air Force of the Republic after the war, after adjusting the operational tactics, the heavy air superiority fighters will not only escort the multi-role fighters on attack missions, but also accept the command of the air defense control area where they are located. That is, according to the information provided by the AWACS aircraft or the ground command station, go to intercept the enemy aircraft. In this way, the heavy air superiority fighter has to play the role of not only escort fighters, but also interceptors.

In fact, that's the only way to do it. Only to maximize the combat of heavy air supremacy fighters.

Because the losses in the past few days were very heavy, and in the case of limited troops, whoever can effectively wield the combat strength of the troops will be able to gain an advantage in air combat, so almost all the tactical adjustments are aimed at the air supremacy fighters, and they are all aimed at improving the combat effectiveness of the air supremacy fighters.

This tactical adjustment has produced a great deal of experience in air combat and even in the use of fighter jets

According to some data released by the US Air Force after the war, in the later stages of the war, all light and medium multirole fighters of the US military no longer carry medium-range interceptor missiles when performing non-air supremacy missions, and sometimes even combat missiles. The reason is very simple, when facing a heavy air superiority fighter with a powerful active defense system. If they cannot fire enough missiles at a time, the combat effectiveness of interceptor missiles and combat missiles will be almost zero, and they will not even be as good as the machine guns on fighter jets. The new address of this site has been changed to: Sishanwa plus 8 four, please log in to read

When a multirole fighter drops a missile for self-defense, it's not just the combat use that changes.

In a certain sense, this confrontation between the air forces of China and the United States has pointed out the direction for the future construction of the air force, that is, in the era of tactical change led by technology, the combat aircraft of the air force will once again focus on a certain kind of performance, and the nature of the fighter will be determined by this performance, and the fighter is the fighter, the attack plane is the attack plane, and the bomber is the bomber, and the multi-role fighter that has been in the limelight for decades will definitely be eliminated.

Some people say it's a step backwards, while others think it's a return to basics.

Looking back at the history of the development of air power, it can be seen that in the case of equal strength, combat aircraft have a very obvious performance focus. Only when a certain country has achieved absolute supremacy, the multi-role fighter is the dominant force in the air.

The reason for this phenomenon is simple: under the hegemony of time, it is difficult to challenge the air power that symbolizes hegemony.

From the beginning of the century to the end of the old century, the United States was in the near edge of the year. With a unique absolute hegemony, the U.S. Air Force is invincible all over the world. At some point, even the U.S. Naval and Marine Corps air forces struggled to meet decent opponents. Whether in the Gulf War or later in the Kosovo War, Afghanistan War, Iraq War, and Iran War, the US military could easily seize air supremacy and even completely defeat its opponent with air power. In order to make the most of the air combat mines, the US military will naturally attach importance to the performance of combat aircraft. In particular, the ability to crack down on the stock Ichiya.

Against this background, the old Tomcat fighters, which specialized in the air defense of the fleet, were honorably decommissioned. In the later Peninsula War, the US Naval Air Force suffered heavy losses due to the adversary who improved the model in the later stage, and the US Air Force's "Eagle" fighters were reduced on a large scale, and the output of the blade fighters used to replace the Wing was reduced again and again, and it was not until the Peninsula War that it was purchased in large quantities if it were not for the fact that the US Congress approved several procurement contracts after the Iranian War, so that the US Air Force could have expanded the size of the ugly aircraft group to more than the persuasion before the outbreak of the Korean Peninsula War. I'm afraid the U.S. military will lose even more. Even after the Peninsular War, because the Republic and the United States had a "balance of destruction" and both believed in the Cold War policy of "indirect confrontation", the US Air Force did not learn from the teachings and still mainly focused on multi-role fighters.

Objectively speaking, the Air Force of the Republic also took a detour.

Of course, among the many reasons that led the Republic and the United States to focus on multi-role fighters, the international market demand also played a very key role. Because heavy air supremacy fighters are very expensive, the unit price of the first century was $100 million, and by the end of the century, the unit price of the 2-flight plane was $100 million. When the 4 concave was in service, the unit price exceeded 100 million US dollars. The situation is similar with the Republic fighter jets, saying that Oda more than 100 million yuan is sold to the outside world. With such a high price, almost all countries are discouraged. For example, not to mention ordinary countries, even countries such as the United Kingdom can only mean meaning and buy old shelves. For the vast majority of countries, what is needed is not a heavy fighter with extremely strong performance and relatively single mission capability, but a light fighter that can perform a variety of tasks at a relatively low price, or a medium-sized fighter. In fact, because heavy fighters were so expensive, both the United States and the Republic had to use multi-role fighters as the main force.

In previous wars, the shortcomings of multi-role fighters have not yet been exposed.

In any case, with the exception of the Peninsular War, the Republic did not have a direct confrontation with the United States, and there was no need to divide the performance of fighters.

In fact, because of the outbreak of the war on the peninsula. The main forces of the Republican Air Force were on par with those of the US Air Force, and the area of engagement was too small, coupled with the premature withdrawal of the United States, so the problems exposed by the multi-role fighters did not attract attention.

Compared to any previous war. The war in the Middle East has challenged the air power of both sides like never before.

In the eyes of military strategists with a long-term vision, the problem is not only the actual combat value of multi-role fighters.

Before the war ended, Major General Meloch of the Republic Air Force and Major General Joyce Lee of the US Air Force successively put forward a theory that shocked the air forces of the two countries, that is, heavy air supremacy fighters would be quickly eliminated, and in addition to the more advanced air and space fighters that would dominate the sky in the future, they would be light air supremacy fighters that were specially born for air combat, had extremely strong agility, had a complete air combat system and an active defense system, could fight in any harsh environment, were relatively low in cost, and could equip troops in large quantities.

When this theory was proposed. Neither country's top brass recognized its significant price.

In any case, it is impossible for the top brass of the air forces of the two countries to believe that the heavy air supremacy fighter that dominates the skies will be eliminated, and that it will be replaced by a light air supremacy fighter like a "stall on the ground."

Fortunately, the top brass of the two countries did not ignore this theory.

In the case of having to admit the results of real combat, a change in the tactics of air combat will come sooner or later. For the air forces of two classes of great powers. Whoever can theoretically go ahead in air combat and be the first to explore new air combat tactics will be able to win the next war.

It can be said that at that time the air forces of both countries were a little hungry. The new address of this site has been changed to: Sishanwa plus 8 four, please log in to read

In Lei Jingming's words, no matter who can put forward revolutionary tactical ideas and operational theories, they can get the support of the Air Force.

Exactly so, shortly after the end of the war. The Air Force of the Republic modified a few planes, saying that Xiao Hao was conducting air combat tests. In order to prove his theory, Melech left the South Asian theater after being promoted to major general in the Air Force. He went to an air force experimental base in the northwest of the Republic and was personally responsible for the work of "countering forces", that is, using the improved Xiaofei to verify his air combat theory.

The US Air Force is also moving quickly. Formation of a similar counter-force with Chi fighters.

Although neither the Republic nor the U.S. Air Force has made public relevant information, judging from the later exhibitions, the theories of Melech and Lee have completely changed the face of air warfare.

As with the struggle for air supremacy, air support has encountered challenges.

As mentioned many times above, because both warring sides have stepped up their efforts to jam information, battlefield communications have never been able to remain open, thus making air support useless. In order to wield the power of air strikes, both warring sides can only keep their mission-carrying multirole fighters hundreds of kilometers from the battlefield. Then they use their weapons to strike at the enemy's fixed targets, or carry out covering bombardment of enemy positions.

Obviously, this is definitely not the air support that the ground forces of both sides want to get.

In the words of Major General Lee, who was in charge of air operations in the US army at the time, if he had a choice, he would rather use those state B dollar fighters who could provide the most direct fire support to the ground troops against the enemy's anti-aircraft fire, and the delicate jump did not even dare to venture into the interception area of the enemy's long-range air defense system.

Lee's complaint just illustrates the problem.

In essence, this is also a problem that the Air Force of the Republic needs to solve.

When dealing with weak enemies. Even when dealing with regional powers, a few rounds of high-intensity air strikes can destroy the opponent's air defense system and gain absolute air supremacy. In this case, not to mention high-performance multi-role fighters such as Hua and Xiaoxuan, even if it is an ordinary civilian aircraft, as long as it flies high enough, it can go around the enemy's head a few times, and then return to the rear base unharmed. That is, having mastered absolute air supremacy, the multi-role fighter will not be threatened if it maintains a sufficient flight altitude. In this way, such vital problems as the poor resistance to damage and low survivability of multi-role fighters will not be exposed.

Obviously, not any war will be so handy.

The fatal flaws of the multi-role fighter are exposed when it is necessary to carry out strike missions against enemy anti-aircraft fire, and it is necessary to use the pilot's eyes to find and aim at targets.

In fact, this is precisely the fault of "multi-purpose".

Although in the Republic Air Force, the small thugs have to take on a variety of tasks, including air defense. Because fighter jets are one of the most expensive types of munitions, and no country will buy fighter jets that the air forces of the producing countries are unwilling to equip, the Air Force of the Republic and the Air Force of the United States have to act as salesmen for their own countries. As a result, the Republic Air Force and the U.S. Air Force will not be able to procure light fighters according to actual operational needs.

In fact, when the U.S. Air Force announced that it would retire the old one, it was opposed by many people.

At that time, there were American generals who declared. With the retirement of the fighters, the US Air Force will no longer have genuine attack aircraft. The new address of this site has been changed to: Sishanwa plus 8 four, please log in to read

Because of its participation in many wars, the Air Force of the People's Republic of China paid more attention to the ground attack capability of multi-role fighters.

In a sense, the original competition with the army aviation... The Air Force wants to gain control of the attack aircraft in the true sense of the word. Instead of letting a light multi-role fighter that is not strong enough to carry out low-altitude attack missions. In fact, in the Indian war, it was precisely because almost all the low-altitude support tasks were undertaken that the lack of low-altitude attack aircraft in the Air Force was covered up, and the top brass of the Air Force was made aware of this problem. It is very regrettable that under the impact of the third military reform, the Air Force not only failed to obtain it. … The dominance of the 2-to-two ratio also lost the opportunity to open a single-minded attack aircraft on the basis of a dozen hands, and failed to make up for its own shortcomings.

By this time, both Pei Chengyi and Du Qiwei had realized the problems of air support.

It is a pity that Du Qiwei has no choice, because the hundreds of thugs who were retired before the year, except for a few in the museum's collection, are all poisoned as scrap metal. It is even more regrettable that the low-altitude attack aircraft improved by the US Army Air Force on the basis of the North 22 failed to pass the Pentagon's approval. And the brand-new low-altitude attack aircraft has not yet been test-flown yet. According to the US Army's equipment exhibition plan, the low-altitude attack aircraft, codenamed old, can only complete its flight in the year of Lifeng at the earliest, complete all tests before the year of Tian, and put into production in the year of force. To keep the show going, you have to make sure that you get enough funding every year.

Compared with Du Qiwei, Pei Chengyi's situation is much better.

Although in the early days of the war, due to the influence of forward bases, personnel transfers, equipment transportation, etc., the low-altitude attack aircraft group of the army aviation could not reach the battlefield in time, but after these days of efforts, the first batch of low-altitude attack aircraft units has arrived in Iraq and is ready for battle. The size of this unit is not large, and only a brigade of thugs looks at the strike capabilities of the old low-altitude attack aircraft.

In the words of Brigadier General Luo Liangqi, who commanded this unit, if you fight the entire main combat force of an armored brigade. Luo Liangshu absolutely did not brag, because in the Indian war, the army aviation's low-altitude attack aircraft group had a similar record.

For the southern front, which was still in a state of equilibrium, this situation could not last long.