Outside, in the pitch-black night sky, sitting in this sci-fi shaped fighter, every time, there is a sense of pride, and now, at the moment of the imminent attack, Wheatley is even more excited.

There was an extra padding in the butt, something unusual, 18 hours, and even Wheatley thought it would be a difficult flight. The biggest test for them is fatigue.

With the entire aircraft powered on, and then the target coordinates loaded into the avionics system using Smith Industries' data transmission modules, the attack became simpler and simpler with the use of advanced equipment, almost like playing a video game.

Wheatley methodically made all the preparations before takeoff, and by the time the tail roared, the canopy had closed and it was in the final stages of pre-takeoff.

The ground crew waved to signal that the engine had been successfully ignited, and Wheatley's plane gently slid onto the runway.

When this aircraft was developed, in order to reduce costs, it used existing components as much as possible, such as the F-16's 4-degree fly-by-wire control system, the C-130 environmental control system, the F-15 braking device, the F-15, F-16, and A-10's ACES2 ejection seats, and the F-18's similar engines.

By this time, the hour hand had already pointed to 12 o'clock, and the next day arrived.

"Tonopah, Nighthawk asks to take off." Wheatley said over the radio.

"Good luck with the take-off." The voice of the base commander came from the headset.

The engine was not afterburner, and the accelerator could only be fully opened, and the plane accelerated on the runway, and soon, it flew into the sky.

"One, two." A few kilometers away, take advantage of special infrared night vision devices. From this angle, the tail flame can be clearly seen, although the aircraft has tried to eliminate the tail flame as much as possible, it is still impossible to achieve the same temperature as the air.

As a result, these seemingly ordinary tourists who were secretly arranged around the base. During the night, the take-off of these special aircraft from the base was observed.

In the past, almost all of the training was taken off after it was completely dark, and after several hours of training, in the second half of the night, the plane had already landed, returned to the hangar, and trained all night. Even if it's over.

And like now, it is absolutely unusual to take off in the middle of the night!

"Through the Internet, send back the message and tell our people that the target has taken off!" Putting down the night vision device, the leader whispered.

The Internet is still new. There are many advantages to using it to communicate. For example, it is convenient and fast, for example, there is no electromagnetic radiation, it will not leak information, and the location will be exposed.

In later generations, such as when the United States attacked the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As long as the B-52 bombers in the airfield fly together, it can be deduced that in a few hours, they will launch an air raid on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and there is even a bombing schedule on the Internet, which is comparable to their bombing plan.

Right now. The Internet is still in its infancy, and few people think of using it to deliver this information, and there are no dedicated people to monitor it.

After the fighter takes off, it quickly climbs to an altitude of more than 10,000 meters, and this kind of aircraft has poor aerodynamic performance due to the fact that it takes care of its stealth performance, and only at high altitudes where the air is thin can it reduce fuel consumption.

"Attention, turn off all navigation lights, keep the radio silent, and go over the first refueling point." Wheatley said.

This is a stealth aircraft, and in the take-off and landing stages, it is necessary to turn on the navigation lights in order to ensure flight safety, and in normal flight, especially when approaching the target airspace, it is necessary to ensure that all navigation lights are turned off, otherwise, it is equivalent to turning on the flashlight in the dark night, and the anti-aircraft artillery troops on the ground can knock them down by sight.

After adjusting the flight attitude and aiming at the target airspace, the next step is to hand over to the autopilot.

If you were to be on high alert for these eighteen hours, your brain would have been tired, and you would have been able to rest during this time.

Wheatley released the joystick and used a fly-by-wire plane to fully control the flight with a computer, and he could now be a passenger for the time being.

After more than two hours of flying, which passed quickly, Wheatley regained his spirits and said on the radio: "Attention, turn on the navigation lights, our cows are in front." ”

A large KC-10 air tanker, cruising in the refueling area, waiting for the arrival of the tanker, a new type of tanker, much better than the US Air Force's KC-135 tanker.

At this time, under the belly behind the tanker, a round rod has been stretched out, which is a special refueling device, called the flying truss telescopic truss air refueling equipment, referred to as the hard refueling equipment.

The general refueling device is a hose, which is released by the tanker, and the aircraft that receives fuel needs to rely on superb flight skills to contact its own refueling probe on the funnel-shaped refueling cone floating anchor at the end of the hose.

The U.S. Air Force, on the other hand, uses hard-tube refueling, and for them, the success of refueling depends on the level of operation of the control personnel on the tanker.

At this time, in the control compartment of the tail of this KC-10 tanker, an operator was lying there, through the porthole, wearing a night vision device, looking at those points of light.

For the pilot of the tanker, all it takes is to follow his aircraft behind the tanker and open his refueling port at the same time, and the specially trained operator, at this time, is fully engrossed in operating the front refueling truss through the handle. The middle of the refueling truss is equipped with a V-shaped operating surface, and the angle between the trailing edge is about 130 degrees, and the effect of the V-shaped operating surface is similar to the elevator of an aircraft, and the refueling truss can be moved within a certain range by manipulating it. Up and down, left and right, can move back and forth, plus the refueling truss is composed of two stretchable rigid telescopic tubes, in this way, you can move back and forth in three-dimensional space, such as the common refueling rod in the United States, the telescopic distance of the inner tube is 6 meters, the upper and lower range of activity is 54 degrees respectively, and the transverse range of activity is 34 degrees, which is enough to meet the needs of the oil receiving machine in a wide range of adjustments.

The general refueling machine has a marking line on the back of the aircraft, which can make it easier for the refueler to operate the refueling truss for refueling in the air, and the current F-117, the fuselage is black, and there will be no obvious marking line, however, when the lid of the refueling port is opened, there is a fluorescent substance inside, which can be clearly seen by the refueler.

Skillfully operate the refueling truss and align the refueling port, when the two are connected, with a soft sound, the refueling truss will automatically lock, and at the same time, the fuel will be continuously delivered to the Nighthawk through the fuel pump.

In addition to making the operation of the oil receiving machine simpler, another advantage of this hard pipe refueling method is that because the refueling tube is very thick and it is a hard pipe, the speed of oil delivery is very fast, nearly ten times that of the hose! Soon, Nighthawk's fuel tank was full and began to detach.

One after another, six Nighthawks, all refueled, sailed back in formation, turned off their sailing lights, and they became ghosts in the darkness again. The sky began to brighten, a new day had arrived, and if you looked at it, you could see this black spot, after all, the Nighthawk was made to go out at night, and during the day, the Nighthawk could not yet be visually invisible.

But below is the land of the United States, and Americans occasionally see it, and there is no fuss, and, even if someone finds it, it can be explained by UFOs.

The formation continued to fly, the land turned into the sea, the day turned into night again, the diapers padded in the pants had long been washed with liquid, and the high-energy compressed food in one pocket of the flight suit was also eaten.

My body is really starting to get tired, and after this flight, it's time to rest! Wheatley said over the radio, "Nighthawk Six, join me for the final assault, and the rest of the planes will return to Florida Air Force Base." ”

This time six planes were used, mainly backup, since it was only the first attack, two were enough, and now, Wheatley chose the number six to act with him, because out of the six, only the six were in the best mental state, and the long-distance flight was a time for them to test their endurance.

"Roger, good luck." The other pilots said they pressed the lever, rolled and steered, and flew to Florida.

Wheatley, on the other hand, took the No. 6 fighter with him for the last refueling before the attack, and when the refueling was completed, they would go straight to Panama!

At the same time, at Howard Air Force Base in the Panama Canal Zone of the United States, a large number of warplanes were also loaded with ammunition, waiting for the Nighthawk to launch the first strike, and then join the attack, while the paratrooper units began to board the plane and prepare to parachute, and the more than 20,000 troops were also ready to start a rapid offensive.

Take Panama in one fell swoop!

In the dark night sky, Wheatley, who was about to enter the sky over Panama, once again confirmed that all the lights outside the plane had been turned off, leaving only the dim fluorescence of the dashboard in front of him.

The Nighthawk, which costs as much as $350 million, is the crystallization of American science and technology, and will show its advantages on this day and at this moment!

He began to gradually descend in altitude, entering a bombing route of about 6,000 meters. Thanks to the development of electronic technology, the United States has laser-guided bombs, which are high-precision ground attack weapons that can be used.

He didn't know that he was not a ghost in the dark at all, and his whereabouts had been tracked! (To be continued......)