"Call 'PTZ', now the fuel is about 7,200 (liters) left, and it can support cruising for more than two hours, it's over."

Glancing at the airspeed gauge and fuel level, Korolev responded quite easily.

For the Su-27, a heavy long-range fighter known for its large internal fuel, flight tests have shown that in the absence of external plug-ins, every ton of fuel can support the fighter to fly in an economical cruising state for 28 minutes; Converted, the equivalent of a fully fueled Su-27S can have a maximum stay time of four and a half hours. Four and a half hours, I have to say that this is a rather scary number, and the so-called "Su-27 does not need auxiliary fuel tanks" does not seem to be entirely unreasonable.

Of course, now Korolev is not flying a Su-27S, but in fuel conversion it is much the same.

After liaising with the Su-27UB long plane, he put his hand on the joystick and looked left and right, cruising at an altitude of thousands of meters, he could barely see a few MiG-29Ms that were distracting the enemy in front and below, but at such a distance, those blue and white camouflage figures were about to completely blend into the dark blue sea background. Thinking of the frequent lift-offs in the past few days, but only one real air battle has been fought, Korolev pursed his lips a little hesitantly, and he looked down at the weapon loading notice on the right side of the dashboard.

Two R-27R, two R-73M, these missiles are a little too little for the huge Su-27?

As far as Korolev is concerned, since he was selected by the regiment to receive new fighters, he has also changed the type of mission he performs, as the lookout and guardian of the "Yuntai" command group of the 237th Regiment, in order to reduce aerodynamic drag and ensure sufficient time in the air. Korolev's fighters did not carry much weapons. But even this missile is not necessarily useful.

Hiding behind a group of comrades in the front-line fighter regiment. The importance of providing them with air briefings and basic air command guidance is of course self-evident, but it can be a bit dull for pilots who like to fight in the blue sky. Now, although he is in control of the brand-new Sukhoi fighter, he needs to provide target search and irradiation for Zakharov sitting in the Su-27UB, and at the same time ensure the safety of this group of command twin aircraft.

Oh, or should I think so. You don't have to shoot to fight!

The huge Sukhoi fighter plane flew forward smoothly, and more and more target tracks were recorded on the display, when he noticed a target bright spot at an altitude of seven thousand meters in front of the side, and Korolev immediately contacted the long plane, and then confirmed that it was Viktor Rezenov's white No. 20 Su-27S.

From the radar, the White Twenty is approaching the enemy at a speed of 900 kilometers per hour, and it seems that Victor is in a good mood today, and will soon be going on a killing spree again!

As the number one ace of the 237th Fighter Aviation Regiment, or the entire Red Air Force, unlike the rest of the regiment who were looking forward to being selected to receive new fighters, Korolev, as a partner, was also quite puzzled why Viktor didn't choose to replace the new fighters; Is it because I'm worried about being like I am now? Stocked up with a clumsy two-seater because of the task of air command? But obviously this is impossible, for the terrifying Victor. A commander with a little brain will not let this number one ace do the command work, probably he is still worried that changing the landline on the spot will affect the combat performance......

With a look of adoration, Korolev looked in the direction of the White Twenty, and at the same time secretly admonished himself in his heart to work harder.

Compared to Victor, he is too far behind, but it's always okay to follow his example!

With this in mind, Korolev's handling was precise and skillful, and like the other command groups of the 237th regiment, his group of Su-27 twin aircraft continued to cruise smoothly on the side of the battlefield.

And in the sky where they are focused on monitoring, the battle between the intruder and the interceptor has begun.

In the face of low-flying Soviet Air Force interceptors, several F-15Cs of the Eighth Wing of the US Air Force, which were parallel to 6,700 meters in space, quickly accelerated to Mach 1.3 after receiving the target indication of the AWACS aircraft, preparing to carry out the first round of BVR assault on the MiGs surging from the north.

However, for the "Eagle", which has a high degree advantage, it can only use the radar down-view mode to search for targets, and it is difficult for the AN/APG-63 radar, which is interfered by ground clutter, to give full play to the search distance advantage. On the contrary, the MiG-29M formation of the 390th Regiment, which was approaching at a low altitude, moved forward in a sparse formation, and several fighters facing it head-on used the N019 radar VS mode to scan the front, and soon found a very obvious F-15C radar echo against the background of the open sky.

Basically spotting the opponent at the same time, the fighters of the 8th Wing, which had the advantage of altitude, launched the first batch of AIM-120Bs when the MiGs approached a distance of 60 kilometers.

As the launch button was pressed continuously, the "Slammers", who had been given ample initial velocity by the carrier aircraft, were like arrows off the string, pulling out thin and straight white smoke trails in the thin atmosphere, and flying away along the pre-set high-throw trajectory at a speed of more than Mach 3; In the face of the head-on interception of the "Slammer", several MiG-29Ms in direct proximity did not immediately receive the RWR warning, but the Su-27 command aircraft patrolling behind the battle line had already found the clues, and the experienced Major Zakharov issued a warning on the radio, and he immediately ordered the four MiG-29Ms that came out of the interception to separate left and right and enter the opposite direction to turn and avoid.

In the face of the surprise attack of the Americans, the battlefield experience of the old pilots again came into play.

Based on the operational doctrine arrangement, when the two belligerents approach head-on and the distance between each other is about 50 kilometers, US pilots who are more accustomed to BVR operations will often launch a batch of dense salvos of over-the-horizon missiles, and in the process, the fighters will first increase their speed and then slow down.

And it is now, noticing the sudden drop in speed of the approaching Americans from the display screen, this obvious sign of the launch of the BVR missile naturally cannot escape Zakharov's eyes; Relying on the tracking and scanning of the wingman radar, the simple number chain was transmitted to the two-seater long plane, and the enemy aircraft in the sky in front of them, which was far away 130 kilometers, were still steadily monitored, although the Su-27UB and N001 radar that the major was riding at this time had not even entered a stable tracking state.

In contrast, Zakharov couldn't help but feel once again that the radar performance of the new fighter is really good.

Since the N011 radar is so easy to use, if the Khmilov Instrument Research Institute, which cooperates with IAPO and KnAAPO, and the supporting manufacturers, make more efforts, maybe they can update the Su-27s of each aviation regiment, and will they be more confident in the face of the air pressure of the Americans? (To be continued......)

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