With the large-scale bomber sorties, coupled with the air situation detection of the fleet's "Eagle Eye" early warning aircraft, the Russian aircraft carriers hiding in the western waters have released more fighters to reconnoitre.

In addition, just a few hours earlier, the F/A-18E/F fighters of the VFA-142 squadron on the USS Washington had reported that a Russian bomber had broken into the air defense circle to conduct reconnaissance while patrolling the perimeter and had shot down a Russian bomber that had broken into the air defense circle to conduct reconnaissance, all of which seemed to indicate that the polar bears had gradually lost patience after several days of hide-and-seek standoffs.

Now, the Russians have some information and are ready to use the air platform to launch an attack on the United States fleet?

That being the case, after standing for a while on the bridge of the seafaring ship with the portholes open and the cold wind blowing, and by the way a few words with the officer on duty, William Pratt walked down the gangway and left, having already made up his mind to go to the operational command room and work out a specific tactical plan with the staff officers, and to resolutely counterattack the attack of the Russians.

The world war has been fought to this day, and he William Pratt can not care about the victory or defeat of other battlefields, but the navy of the United States, which has a hundred years of glory, must not retreat, and now that their own carrier-based aviation forces still occupy a certain advantage, the Russians are so good that they want to give it a try, then let these guys who can only pour vodka and "Ula" charge take a good look, what kind of modern sea and air integrated warfare is, but don't think that there are anti-ship missiles that can be bulldozed!

Accompanied by his lieutenant all the way to the ship's elevator, Vice Admiral Pratt became more and more energetic, and he soon went to the operations command room, where the heavy deck and compartment of the aircraft carrier were protected, and discussed the battle shape with the officers against the large projected charts.

Facing the three types of threats from the Russians: long-range bombers, missile submarines, and surface warships. In accordance with the operational principles of the US Navy aircraft carrier battle group. Everyone quickly reached a consensus. Even if the huge Russian fleet takes the initiative to attack, the United States aircraft carrier battle group, which has 30 warships and more than 200 carrier-based fighters, needs not be afraid; the most important task at the moment is to keep a distance from the enemy fleet, and while strengthening forward antisubmarine operations and preventing Russian missile submarines from approaching the front, the number of "Tomcat" and "Hornet" fighters in the air will be increased, and two fighter interception lines with front and rear arrangements will be formed on the west side of the battle group.

In the face of the surprise attack of the "backfire", as long as the fighters in the air stick to their positions. The use of medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles for head-on interception can reduce the threat of Russian air-launched anti-ship missiles at a large range.

Tu-22M3 "Backfire", these big guys dragging dazzling tail flames, in the face of F-14 "Tomcat" fighters, not to mention that it is difficult to approach the aircraft carrier battle group, even if there are some lucky breakthroughs, the anti-ship missiles they launch can also be used by fighters on the second layer of defense line, or ship-to-air missile systems on escort ships to carry out two rounds of interception, coupled with the unified and coordinated electronic jamming of the fleet, the threat will be relatively much lower.

Next, just resist a wave of missile raids. The Russian fleet, whose offensive rhythm is disrupted, will be passive, and the US military will only need to take advantage of the chaos to send reconnaissance planes to determine the enemy's position. It is possible to launch a wave of attacks with the numerical superiority of carrier-based aircraft, and when dozens of fighters carrying "Harpoons" are in the air, the Russian air defense system will definitely not be able to withstand it!

This is probably the idea, but when this order is really to be issued to all ships, the staff officers put forward some other considerations, believing that there may be some omissions in the battle plan just drawn up.

In the face of the interception line of the fighters of the United States, the swarming Tu-22M3 "Backfire" will really rush forward one by one?

Knowing that the assault would cause heavy losses, but still driving the plane to charge, although the Russians are known as a "fighting nation", their heads will not be so tendoned, even if the current position of the US Navy fleet is still outside the combat radius of the Soviet shore-based fighters, they may send carrier-based aircraft to provide escort for them.

In this way, the operation of intercepting the "backfire" may not be as easy as imagined.

Based on this consideration, after some discussion, the vice admiral pointed and poked his finger on the chart with a laser pointer and briefly explained to everyone his plan, that is, relying on the numerical superiority of the aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft of the United States, and under the condition of accurately determining the approximate position of the enemy fleet, launch operations in two directions at the same time, divide troops into two routes, intercept the "backfire" and launch air strikes from the front.

In this regard, the Tbilisi-class aircraft carriers of the Russians have a limited number of fighters on board and do not seem to have much air-to-surface strike capability compared to the larger displacement of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers.

Now, the only thing to worry about is that those "sea guards" will appear around the roaring "Backfire" bomber fleet, escort these torch-like guys, and then intercept the U.S. Navy fighters that are ready to intercept head-on, so Vice Admiral William Pratt will plan to launch an offensive against the Russian surface fleet, so that no matter what the polar bears side decides, the difference in the number of fighters between the two sides is there, and maybe the Russians can take care of one or the other. The U.S. Navy, which is on the right and left, can deal a heavy blow to Ivan.

The tactical decision-making process is a race against time every moment, and the night operation on the huge aircraft carrier does not stop at all.

Sailing in high-threat sea areas, the aircraft carriers "John F. Kennedy" and "George Washington" on the north and south flanks of the formation are intermittently flying "Tomcats" and "Hornets" and at the same time recovering fighters that have been cruising for a certain period of time.

The night was dark, and in this battle, which was destined to be played by carrier-based aviation, the activity of submarines on both sides was just as frequent under the dark waves.

After nightfall, without the support of patrol planes for the time being, the three "Los Angeles" class attack nuclear submarines of the U.S. Navy roamed about 150 nautical miles in front of their own formation; If you want to guard against a sneak attack by the Russians' cruise missile submarines, the distance of 150 nautical miles is not far enough, but under the opponent's strong offensive and submarine situation, it is too dangerous to further extend the anti-submarine defense circle with underwater forces.

Combined with the pre-war intelligence research and judgment, the generals of the command now believe that even if Ivan's nuclear submarine sneaks close to the periphery of the aircraft carrier formation and cannot get the target Zhuyuan, it will not be able to launch missiles, and as for relying on other platforms for relay guidance, as long as it can ensure that there are no Russian reconnaissance planes hovering in the sky, it is easy to say.

Seeing the old enemy showing his long knife and nervously preparing to fight back, the huge fleet of the US Navy is sharpening its knives in the dark night, preparing to fight the Russians to the death in the dark night with no fingers in sight.

At the same time, just as the Tu-22M3 flotilla with bright engine tail flame and flat swept wings flew all the way east, across the Sea of Okhotsk and into the ocean, a fierce battle broke out in the airspace of northern Hokkaido, and the Red Navy ship formation patrolling the northwest Pacific Ocean was also ready for battle, and the surface battle group and the sea and air battle group deployed in front of it were separated from the front and rear, each relying on the MR-800 long-range warning radar on the main warship to sweep the sky, preparing to resist the inevitable air attack of US fighters.

In the era when carrier-based aviation was in full swing, the defense idea of surface ships was probably the trinity of "fighters, ship-to-air missiles, and close-in defense artillery."

As far as the Pacific Fleet is concerned, it is different from the usual mode of operation that relies solely on surface ships, and this time the surface battle group in front can be supported by two heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers, and if the commander intends to make a big gamble, he can even directly order all members of the surface battle group to assault, relying on the air shelter of the aircraft-carrying cruisers to approach the US aircraft carrier battle group, and once it enters the range coverage area of the heavy anti-ship missiles and also locates the position of the enemy fleet, it can immediately launch a dense salvo of anti-ship missiles. Then the American fleet would have only a dead end.

Of course, this situation will not actually happen, and in the face of the swarming missile warships and submarines, the US military will certainly go all out to block them, with fighter planes and ship-to-air missiles on one side and a larger number of fighters and air-launched anti-ship missiles on the other side.

The time was approaching midnight, and on the decks of the warships sailing on the ocean, it was almost impossible to see five fingers, and the waves crashed and the north wind howled for a moment; In this vast and boundless sea, the automatic navigation control system keeps the ships 10 to 12 kilometers apart, the Red Navy's surface battle group is on alert in an air defense formation, and the three Type 1164 missile cruisers arranged in the center of the formation in the shape of a "pin" ensure that at least one MR-800 long-range warning radar is turned on at every moment, providing the fleet with an early warning of air conditions at an altitude of 500 kilometers.

In addition, the MR-700/710 alert radar located at the top of the mainmast, including the 1164 and 956E, is also spaced on under the unified deployment of the formation, providing the fleet with 300 kilometers of high-altitude air conditions and 45 kilometers of ultra-low-altitude air situation alert.

In this set of air defense combat systems, unlike the US Navy's all-"Aegis" fleet, the Red Navy's ship-to-air missiles roughly have three categories: the 5V55K/L on the Type 1164 missile cruiser belongs to medium- and high-altitude and long-range missiles, which are responsible for suppressing incoming enemy aircraft to medium and low altitudes, and the 3M80 on the 956/956E destroyers is medium- and low-altitude, medium- and short-range missiles, which are responsible for intercepting enemy aircraft driven to medium- and low-altitude by Type 1164, as well as anti-ship missiles flying over the sea. The short-range missiles equipped on each ship are mainly used for their own defense, and together with the rapid-fire guns, they form the last safety barrier of the ship. (To be continued......)