Pakistan, Aviation Industries Corporation.

A brand-new Tomcat fighter has been assembled, this is the 40th Tomcat fighter produced by Pakistan itself, Pakistan has developed very prominently in the defense industry in recent years.

However, this Tomcat fighter is a little different from the previous fighters, for example, under the nose, there are more antennas, the wing box part, under the air intake, and on the pylon on the belly, all of which are equipped with new pods, especially the pods under the wing box, the front end also has a small propeller-like thing, and the tall vertical tail is also covered with antennas.

President Mahmad looked at the fighter plane with great interest, his eyes full of admiration.

"Mr. President, this is a new generation of electronic warfare aircraft that we have developed ourselves." Next to Mhammad, the specific person in charge of the project, Asus, said: "This electronic warfare aircraft, nicknamed the Roaring Cat, maintains the same maneuverability as the prototype, and has the ability to increase powerful electronic warfare!" ”

As a cross-over Mhamad, he attaches great importance to the army's electronic warfare capability, and in modern warfare, electronic support has become a "special assault style" that attaches equal importance to firepower strikes. Since 1971, the EA-6B Prowler has been used by the U.S. Navy to suppress the enemy's electronic activities and obtain tactical electronic intelligence in the theater to support attack aircraft and ground forces. Historically, in the Gulf War, the EC-130H "Call Compass" and EA-6B, EF-111A "Raven" and F-4G "Weasel Rat" electronic warfare planes formed a joint formation to suppress the guidance, sighting system and communication command and control system of ground anti-aircraft fire at close range.

In the battles against the Soviets in previous years, in order to maintain their own electronic warfare capabilities, they attacked the Soviet Air Force. Under the impetus of Mahmoud, who was still the commander of the Air Force at that time, the Pakistani military conducted arduous negotiations with the US imperialism and obtained several valuable EC-130Hs in gold.

The Pakistan Air Force is very satisfied with this. Unfortunately, the honeymoon ended quickly, and the vigilance and even hostility of the US imperialists towards Pakistan also came after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, and Pakistan's aircraft carrier formation is also forming combat effectiveness, and the Navy urgently needs a carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft like the EA-6B "Prowler", and the Air Force also needs it. Pakistan's self-made mature airframe, there is only one kind of Tomcat, and in later generations, the use of carrier-based fighters to modify electronic warfare aircraft is already a trend. For example, the U.S. Navy used the F-18 fighter jet and modified the EF-18G electronic warfare aircraft. In this way, after several comparisons, Pakistan selected the airframe of its own Tomcat fighter and tried to improve it into an electronic warfare aircraft.

The F-111 airframe, which was based on the F14 airframe, was large enough and had a high load capacity, albeit in the era of the EA-6B. Four crew members were needed, but with constant advances in electronic systems. Now two people are enough to do the job, and the F-14, a two-seat fighter, is convenient for one person to fly in battle, and the other can carry out electronic warfare missions. As a heavy fighter, the F-14 has a good foundation and has great potential for improvement. In addition, it has all weapons systems and excellent maneuverability, which can effectively protect itself from enemy fighter attacks, and has a long range, which is convenient for long-term detention in the air to carry out electronic warfare missions. While performing the task of electronic pressing. It is also possible to carry Sidewinder missiles for self-defense, Hamm anti-radiation missiles to strike at enemy radar systems.

This modification has been developed since 89. As a derivative of the F-14, the EF-14 "Growling Cat" has the same mobility as the former, and has the same combat capabilities as the F-14, so it is fully capable of accompanying electronic support missions. The EF-14 can be loaded and dropped with a variety of weapons. These include the PL, R, AIM series of air-to-air missiles and the YJ, KH, AGM series of anti-radiation precision strike weapons, although the EF-14 does not have a built-in cannon, but it has considerable air combat capabilities, not only enough for self-defense, but even for escort missions.

This is an all-rounder fighter that, thanks to the F-14 body, can be ejected from an aircraft carrier and can be electronically suppressed in offensive operations with its own fighters.

"Not bad." "Electronic warfare is inevitable in future air warfare, and without a strong electronic warfare capability, it will not be possible to achieve victory in future wars, and aircraft carriers are an important force in defending our motherland, and the electronic warfare capabilities of carrier-based aircraft of aircraft carriers are also very important," Mhammad said. ”

Stepping on the ladder, Mhammad looked at the cockpit behind, all kinds of complex instruments are almost difficult to see, the main interface, is two large-area LCD screens, in recent years, Pakistan in terms of electronic technology progress, is the most obvious.

"Our fighter is mainly equipped with a new tactical receiver and a new tactical electronic jamming pod, which can efficiently perform the task of suppressing the ground-to-air missile radar system. We worked with Huaxia to automatically track the emission frequency of the interference object by analyzing its frequency hopping spectrum, and using long baseline interferometry to locate the radiation source more accurately to achieve track-and-target jamming. Atheus said.

In order to improve the anti-interference ability, the main way is to jump to a frequency band with the weakest interference every few seconds. The previous interference method is full-band high-power interference, which is the same as carpet bombing, although the effect is significant, but the interference energy required is quite large.

Now, this new jamming method jointly developed by Pakistan and China has greatly concentrated the interference energy and achieved "precision strike" in the field of electromagnetic spectrum for the first time. Therefore, although the jamming range of the EC-130H is only more than 100 kilometers, the jammer is not as powerful as it, and this jammer can effectively interfere with radar and other electronic facilities at a distance of 250 kilometers, which exceeds the strike range of any active anti-aircraft firepower.

"Our electronic warfare aircraft has also installed a new tactical receiver in the nose, and the jamming pod in the middle of the fuselage will not hinder the electronic monitoring function when carrying out full-band jamming against the enemy." Atheus continued, "In this way, our growling cat has perfect electromagnetic attack capabilities, electronic monitoring capabilities, and communication countermeasures. ”

Generally speaking, when electronic suppression is carried out, a communication channel is set aside for oneself, which allows oneself to communicate without being interfered with, but when the enemy is interfered with, electronic monitoring cannot be carried out. Now, Pakistan's electronic warfare plane, while jamming, can also intercept, and the technology in this regard is already at the world's advanced level, and it is even on the same starting line as the United States.

Mhammad nodded: "This electronic warfare aircraft must be tested as soon as possible, and after it is finalized, it will first equip our navy." ”

Now it's just being manufactured, and in the test flight, a lot of problems will be exposed.

"Yes, we will live up to your promise." Atheus said.

"What type of fighter is it flying now?" Next to Mhammad, the Chief of the General Staff of the Air Force, Elder Arslan, said.

Outside, on the runway, some technicians were busy around a plane.

"That's a Tomcat fighter that we modified with a new engine to verify supersonic cruise capability." Atheus said.

Modified new fighters! At present, Pakistan has been able to produce the F110 engine completely independently, and at the same time, it has thoroughly understood all the technology of this engine, and on this basis, it has developed a new thrust engine to meet the needs of future fighters.

However, this is a long process, and Pakistan's technical reserves are insufficient, and the project is progressing slowly. So, in this case, Pakistan signed a contract with the Soviet Union to import a batch, about twenty AL-37F engines and four AL-37FU engines.

The price demanded by the USSR was very high, and after repeated bargaining, it took half a year for the deal to be reached.

The deal was made because the Soviets were shy in their pockets and needed more money in the reforms, but also because the Soviets planned a new fighter with more advanced engines, and the AL-37 engine was just a transition.

The Pakistani side, after getting this batch of engines, tried to install them on its own Tomcat fighter, the size of the engine is close to the size of the F110, and the control system has been changed to digital, in this way, after more than a year of hard work, the task of modifying the Tomcat was finally completed.

Pakistan will not rely on this engine as the power of the future, by dismantling one or two of the engines, mastering the ideas of the Soviets, will be of great help to Pakistan to improve the power of the F110, and the vector nozzle of the AL-37FU is more unreliable, after all, it can be supplied to Pakistan for research and use, and now study these technologies first, it will always mature slowly, after all, the fighters of later generations must have vector nozzles!

"Let's go, let's see." When he heard that the experiment was going to be carried out, Mhammad was also excited and headed for the outside venue.

Participating in the commissioning, there are not only Pakistani technicians, but also Chengfei's technicians, and the team is actually Chengfei's Yang Wei!

When Mhammad walked here, the commissioning mission had just ended, and Kamal, a Pakistani test pilot, was walking in the direction of the fighter plane, carrying his helmet. (To be continued......)