At this moment, if there is a "ghost" in the sky ahead, it will most likely not be detected by radar.

In terms of radar detection equipment, Li Gejian's F-15E "Attack Eagle" is equipped with AN/APG-70 flat slit array antenna radar, which is considered to be at the upper middle level in this F-15 team, and the typical detection distance can exceed 150 kilometers for oncoming fighter targets; However, in the no-fly zone, the FSA's radar stealth "ghosts" will greatly shrink this number to less than 40 kilometers.

In this way, none of the "eagles" in the formation can detect the YF-23 at a long enough distance and carry out an effective BVR attack on it; If you do encounter a "ghost", it seems that the only option is to wait for your opponent to attack before trying to enter the fight.

Piloting a fighter plane to patrol the sky, Li Gejian is very aware of this situation of the enemy and the enemy, and he and his comrades-in-arms will not blindly stick to the rules and fight traditional over-the-horizon warfare with the Syrians.

Fighting beyond the visual range with stealth fighters, the F-15 "Eagle" not only lacks its own radar performance, but also has difficulties for the AIM-120 missile.

First of all, whether it is AN/APG-63 or AN/APG-70, the head-on detection capability of typical radar stealth targets is less than 40 kilometers, and the distance that can steadily track the target and provide solution conditions for the fire control system will only be shorter. Under such circumstances, no matter how long the range of the AIM-120 missile is, it is useless at all, and it only relies on a single aircraft to engage in combat, and when the missile hits out, the enemy plane has even entered visual contact, and the so-called "over-the-horizon air combat" is impossible to talk about.

The performance of the radar is insufficient, and the performance limitation of the missile is another serious problem.

Looking at the radar-guided missiles in service in the world. It doesn't matter if it's SARH or ARH mode. The ability to fight stealth fighters is limited by the locking distance of the homing head.

In this regard. The diameter of the AIM-120 series missiles is only six inches, that is, 180 millimeters, and the radar antenna aperture of the homing head will not be higher than this value, and it can only choose to work in the W band with a shorter wavelength, and this band has a worse detection capability for stealth fighters.

Under normal circumstances, the AIM-120B is equipped with an active radar seeker, which is aimed at a stealth target of about 0.01 square meters equivalent to RCS, and the head-on interception distance is less than 4,000 meters. What is the concept of this number? Considering that the missile and the target have been in a head-on approaching state, the relative speed will generally be close to, or even more than three times the speed of sound, which means that after the missile intercepts the target autonomously, it only takes three or four seconds to complete the target interception and parameter extraction, route calculation and homing command, rudder surface action and change the trajectory, gradually approaching and finally intersecting with the target......

So, don't think about BVR, at least don't expect to fight a traditional line-up shootout!

Combined with the above considerations, there are still four AIM-120B "Slammers" on both sides of the belly air intake, and four AIM-9X "Sidewinders" and two 610-gallon drop fuel tanks on the wing composite pylons. The F-15s of the Fifth Air Wing are clearly not afraid of the fight, and are ready to play a system to meet the threat of the FSA.

This threat. It quickly went from a PPT manuscript discussed before the war to a sky crisis that was about to erupt.

In the clear Syrian sky in the morning, on the background of the boundless sand-yellow dust storm, a series of slender fighters flying in the sky of Chengming, with diamond-shaped wings and huge hanging tails that are tilted outward, make these "ghosts" with long noses look like huge winged bats from afar.

On such a bad day, the FSA's YF-23 "ghosts" did not carry any bombs, and the narrow belly magazines were full of sword-like "Slammers", these free Syrian air elites, although they suffered frequent losses in previous battles, still chose to continue to attack unruly, flocks of black giant birds skimming the sky, the condensation of roaring engines was almost invisible, and flew all the way to the southeast under the guidance of the ground command station.

In the dusty weather, the FSA, which was unable to carry out air support and bombing missions, was tasked with rushing into the no-fly zone and competing with all the interceptors.

The formation flew at an altitude of several thousand meters, and the FSA fleet, which was not supported by early warning aircraft, was separated in a line of left and right, and the beams of the onboard PD radar swept the clear sky over and over again, and the surrounding air targets quickly flashed everywhere on the cockpit display. As usual every day, even in the dusty weather, the range of fighter planes in the Middle East sky did not decrease at all, and the Syrian rebel fighters, who were all enemies with their swords drawn and did not need any IFF, immediately dispersed into several small formations and approached their chosen targets.

After taking off, it engages on its own, relies on airborne radar to find the enemy, and then rushes over to catch and kill, this tactic of the FSA has become a habit.

Allowing fighters to "engage cheaply" with their own radars, at most with a little ground guidance, is not only inefficient, but also has a serious drawback, that is, it is impossible to maintain a stable fighter interception line, which can be said to be a reckless way of throwing away shields and poking spears indiscriminately, and only offensive air forces that do not undertake air defense tasks will occasionally use them.

However, in today's Syria, the surrounding SRAF and NATA are damaged and unable to carry out air strikes against the rebels, and the powerful ALSA has always been in charge of air superiority, and the ill-intentioned ECJA is even more unlikely to bomb the Liberal Party it secretly supports, and for a time the FSA could not find the opportunity to carry out air defense operations, and today this bad weather can not drop bombs, so fencing in the sky has become the only pastime of the Liberal pilots, even if the past heavy losses, I can't let these arrogant guys have the slightest scruples.

One of the characteristics of a madman is that he disregards everyone, including his own life, isn't it?

The suspected ALSA fighter was discovered, and rushed to the target with an inexplicable confidence and spirit, and the liberals who piloted the "ghost" still had basic tactical literacy and situational analysis ability, and the YF-23s, who opened the afterburner to break through the sound barrier, climbed all the way to a height of 7,000 meters, preparing to carry out a firepower over-the-horizon interception battle.

Since there is a lot of sand and dust on the ground at this time, and fighters are not allowed to fly low, the mode of BVR air combat has become very simple.

As long as you speed up and climb, drive high and fight, you can achieve a preemptive strike at once, especially when piloting stealth fighters against those third-generation aircraft of ALSA!

The radar steadily intercepted the target, the speed and altitude of the carrier aircraft have been increasing, and the fire control system quickly completed the calculation and confirmed that several enemy aircraft in front of the "Ghost" fleet were within the attack envelope of the AIM-120B missile; According to the system's control prompts, the FSA pilots pulled the rod and pedaled the rudder, entered the side turn to adjust the course, and maintained a track distance of about 5,000 kilometers from the target.

Confirming that the distance between friend and foe is 55 kilometers, the altitude difference is about 1,300 meters, the deployment was completed with a shout over the radio, and a trace of excitement flashed in the eyes of the FSA pilots behind the goggles. The idea of controlling an advanced fighter with good radar stealth characteristics can't help but make the leader of the team a little fluttering, raising his hand to point and poke on the display panel, assigning targets to other fighters, and then shouting into the intercom:

"Each aircraft intercepts the target, maintains the course, pays attention to the target allocation information, and launches the first wave of attacks in ten seconds!"

"-Understood!"

With a shout in the sky, after a short delay, the belly magazine of the rapidly flying "ghost" fighter plane slammed open, and the gray throwing guns ignited and accelerated in the process of throwing, dragging thick white smoke trails and swarming away.

At a distance of nearly 50 kilometers, a BVR attack was launched first, and the black "ghost" after the missile launch continued to fly forward, providing a period of medium-range command correction for the airborne missile. In the YF-23's protruding cockpit with good visibility, the Liberal commander's plan is very simple and straightforward, since the opponent's third-generation aircraft cannot pose a threat to the "ghost" in an over-the-horizon confrontation, the Liberal boys only need to keep pressing the opponent, and then turn sideways as a whole to approach the predetermined course of the ALSA fighter, so no matter which direction the opponent chooses to avoid left or right, they will directly fall into passivity.

The radar beams from the sky, accompanied by the air-to-air missiles flying quickly, were quickly detected by the ALSA fleet that turned on the omnidirectional RWR.

In the face of a round of over-the-horizon attacks by the FSA, the hired pilots flying the F-15 fighters did not panic in the slightest, they knew that this was inevitable -- since the airborne radar could not detect the "ghosts", the first sign of the appearance of the Liberal fighters was naturally the radar detection signal emitted by itself.

When formulating the battle plan, there were originally concerns that if the radar on the YF-23 "Ghost" was an advanced model with RFPM (RF_Power_Management, Radio Frequency Power Management) capabilities, the probability of being detected by the RWR would be greatly reduced, and the third-generation ALSA aircraft, which was at a technological disadvantage, would fall into a bitter battle. (To be continued......)