Chapter 44: The Middle-Distance Battle
In the center of the formation, Long Yun listened to the alarm sound that filled the cockpit, and he observed that the enemy plane also began to maneuver, and the echo of the target on the radar became difficult to find, so he also began to turn sideways, trying to approach the enemy plane in a serpentine maneuver.
But Long Yun soon discovered that there was obviously more than one enemy plane that locked onto him: his maneuver had not been able to completely unlock the opponent's radar.
Time is of the essence, the missile just launched is already approaching the end of the encounter, and if it still cannot provide irradiation, then one can only hope for the luck of the only R-27T.
But in any case, the purpose of launching medium-range missiles has been partially achieved; Now that the fleet under his command has dispersed to engage the enemy according to the established tactics, and the opponent's evasive maneuvers have disrupted the formation, the next step is to evade the opponent's AIM-7F and prepare for the fight.
At this time, Long Yun found that the alarm display was a little more normal; This is not only good news, indicating that some enemy planes may have been shot down or have given up radar irradiation because of evasion, but also a warning that the "Sparrow" is already close at hand and must immediately carry out a major maneuver to avoid it.
Although there was a line between life and death, the speed was still enough to maneuver, and Long Yun's spirit at this time was highly concentrated, but his mind was surprisingly calm.
Glancing at the direction of the enemy plane's attack, Long Yun suddenly spotted two points of light that were whistling. In the flash of lightning, the slam pushed the lever to perform a dive side-slip maneuver, and Long Yun looked around vigilantly while watching the missile follow his maneuver and twisted track.
Like a divine help, while Long Yun was able to bear the large overload and sideslip, he was also able to realize that since he was being targeted by at least two enemy planes, there should be far more than two missiles around him.
Sure enough, in the sky almost directly ahead, almost imperceptible incoming missiles also entered his line of sight.
It's too late, it's fast, and it's not easy to dodge missiles that can be clearly seen with the naked eye!
Although the trajectory of the missile is still a black spot in the field of vision, and it is not known whether its carrier aircraft is still providing radar guidance at this time, it is impossible to gamble on matters of life and death.
In an air battle where life and death can be decided in an instant, there can be no hesitation.
Doing some mental arithmetic like lightning, knowing that the current speed and altitude are still ideal, enough to complete a high-overload maneuver, the Longyun lever is changed from a small angle dive, and at the same time, the afterburner is turned on for a large-angle climb.
In the dark and dreary sky, the water mist splashed on the fuselage that swept by, and the view of the cockpit became extremely bad.
Such a sudden change of course required Long Yun to bear a great overload, but he did not panic, but tried to lean his body back, and at the same time seize the two or three seconds before the black vision effect appeared to try to observe the incoming missiles to determine his next move.
If it were an ordinary pilot, doing such a thing at low altitude on a rainy day, then he must be impatient. With such a poor line of sight, can you still see missiles coming at a rapid pace?
But Long Yun is quite confident in his eyesight.
As the fighter plane climbed rapidly, Long Yun was satisfied to see that the missile that was supposed to meet his track head-on in two or three seconds could not climb in time, and wisps of gray-white smoke with depleted fuel swept below him one after another. The AIM-7F's maneuverability was not very good in the first place, not to mention that now that the thrusters had burned out, the violent climb tracking consumed the remaining kinetic energy of the "Sparrow", making it impossible for it to keep up with the full-fledged Long Yun.
However, at this time, the battle can be said to have just begun.
Just like the ancient Greek fighters who duel face to face, after throwing guns and fighting, it is a hand-to-hand combat with a white edge. The radio contact allowed Long Yun to determine the status of the wingman, and the lucky guy also avoided the attack of the medium-range missile, although only if he had attracted most of the enemy plane's radar lock.
Quickly judging the general position of the enemy aircraft, Long Yun ordered the wingman to follow his pace to fan overlay, immediately flatten and launch four R-73s at the fastest speed.
At this time, after the evasive maneuver, the on-board N019 radar of the MiG aircraft had just rediscovered the target, and the fire control system had not even calculated the killing probability; However, close combat is just around the corner, and at this time, it is the highest priority to take advantage of the range advantage of the R-73 missile and strike the enemy first.
As for not being able to hit the battle, there are a lot of things that need to rely on luck on the battlefield, and Long Yun naturally won't think about it.
Even if such a salvo is unlikely to hit an enemy aircraft, it can force it to maneuver to evade and fall into a disadvantage when engaging the enemy. And before entering the fight, it is also necessary to knock out the excess missiles and travel lightly, and it is enough to keep two R-73s in close combat, and any more will only drag down the maneuverability of the fighter.
At this moment, in the fighter plane that met him in person, the lieutenant pilot who was in command was thinking about tactics.
From the large radar display, it can be seen that the MiGs on the opposite side have divided their forces into two ways, intercepting the covering fleet he sent on one side, while the two planes in front of him are rushing straight towards him.
Having just experienced the dance of death with a medium-range missile, he was able to avoid it, but the fourth wing he commanded had already lost an F-16, which further raised his doubts about the combat capabilities of this wing.
In the past few days, as the main force of the wing in the Netherlands, he had already fought many times with the Soviet front-line aviation, and he also had a result at hand. Combined with pre-war intelligence analysis and his combat experience, the performance of medium-range missiles like the R-27 was not very satisfactory - frankly, the same so-so as the "Sparrow F" on his side was something that could be thrown off by maneuvering. Piloting the F-16 on an air superiority mission and being hit by the R-27 can only show that this unlucky guy is still a rookie.
On the other hand, considering that all the medium-range missiles on his side were missed, the lieutenant was keenly aware that this time it might be the old enemy MiG-29 again.
So, will today's battle allow him to add one or two more results?
Without allowing the opponent to have any thoughts, Long Yun's twin planes were fully opened, killing with the dual advantages of height and speed, and the enemy planes that had just dodged a wave of R-73s and were completely out of shape were mixed up.
Outnumbered, Long Yun ordered his wingman to separate from him for a single battle, trying to disrupt the rhythm of the enemy plane with high-speed raids; He didn't want to use the traditional two-plane tactics to confront as many as five enemy planes head-to-face, and a neat one-knife kill was the best choice at the moment.
Just as he was approaching the enemy plane at high speed, Long Yun suddenly noticed that there was a new face in his opponent this time, and at a glance in a hurry, the thick air intake and the double delta wing swept back in the outer section looked very conspicuous.
F-15! Two!