Diveling down from a height of 3,500 meters to attack Long Yun's White 20, the two F-15E fighters that broke away from the formation were from the 42nd Squadron of the 15th Fighter Wing of the United States Air Force, which had been in battle for a long time and suffered many casualties, that is, the old rival who had previously met Viktor Rezenov in the sky over the Black Sea.

The formation cruised in the skies over the Transcaucasia, and several "Attack Eagles" of the 42nd Squadron were commanded by experienced Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher Harris, whose mission was to maintain air supremacy for a certain range and cover NATO attack aircraft penetrating from low altitudes.

The Americans have long been aware of the white No. 20 Su-27S that slipped in at an ultra-low altitude.

Five or six minutes ago, he piloted his F-15E plane to cruise at an altitude of 3,700 meters, and the formation commander, Lieutenant Colonel Harris, instructed each fighter plane to be responsible for air surveillance in an airspace, while he asked Captain Harper in the back row to keep an eye on the low-flying "aardvarks."

Fletcher Harris, a battlefield veteran who had returned from a brutal aerial battle a few days ago and had two new shootdowns, had just been promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Air Force.

However, compared to the change in rank, the change he would have preferred has not occurred, and the well-equipped F-15E fighters in the wing are still sent by the command to carry out air escort missions again and again; Thinking of this, the lieutenant colonel shook his head a little helplessly, he felt that this kind of task could not fully exert the strong combat power of the "attack eagle" at all.

Yes, either relying on the AN/APG-70 and "Slammer" to fight the Russians' fighters, or hanging up with ground ammunition to turn Ivan's position into a sea of fire, this is the specialty of the "Attack Eagle"; However, there is no one of these two extremely painful tasks now. They are the elite division of heavy fighter-bombers. I still have to reluctantly hang a few thin AIM-120Bs and outdated AIM-7M. Follow the "Fighting Falcons" and "Aardvarks" that invade from ultra-low altitudes to act as battlefield guards.

In such a mission, they must not only be vigilant against the sky at all times and guard against the brave surprise attack of MiG planes, but also keep an eye on those bomb trucks at low altitudes, and finally there are ground-to-air missiles that will take off at any time.

However, compared to the previous boring missions, today's lift-off sortie, so far their actions are still a qiē shun lì; Presumably, the continuous fighting has greatly damaged the Russian Yankees in the north, and the "whippers" and "fulcrums" who frequently haunt the Caucasus are now becoming less and less. As for those "assemblers" or "frog-footed" attack planes that once gave NATO ground forces quite a headache, they did not dare to run around unscrupulously when they lacked the cover of air superiority fighters.

In short, the situation is normal, and is it a bland mission mode?

Unconsciously falling into thought, questioning in his heart whether such a task was a bit overkill, Lieutenant Colonel Harris recalled the previous fierce aerial battle, thinking that he was fighting the terrible "Caucasian Reaper", he tried his best to meet the air attack of many blue-gray "flanks", and also shot down one of them in the dogfight. But as a result, the cunning guy was not in the Caucasus at all. Instead, they ran to the Black Sea and writhed with the fighters of the Navy, not only killing half of the squadron of "Super Hornets" at once. He also shot down three B-1B "Lancers" at once!

Thinking of this, the lieutenant colonel's gloomy face suddenly became a little pale.

Thinking about the current combat mission, it is impossible to encounter the "flankers" of the Russians at medium and low altitudes, and Harris himself can't tell what he is worried about now, whether he is sorry for not being able to fight the "Grim Reaper", or whether he is glad that he did not meet the terrible air killer -

"Chief, a suspicious target has been found, in the direction of ten o'clock, at a speed of four hundred (knots)!"

"Oh?"

After recovering from meditation and seeing a new target designation on the monitor, Lieutenant Colonel Harris was stunned, "It shouldn't be a plane from the 'Titan' squadron, are you sure?" Send an IFF request to identify it. ”

"Okay, boss!"

Commanding the weapons operator, Harper Cartel, to identify the type of target, and the lieutenant colonel himself observed the ultra-low-altitude target on the radar display, his first reaction was "that's a 'fulcrum'", because if it were a "flogger", the Russians driving that thing would not be so stupid to get a high-speed plane that is only suitable for hitting and running to ultra-low altitudes.

But looking at the current interception distance, it seems that the conversion of the signal strength measured by the radar to the RCS is too big?

Time is tight and can't be thought about, anyway, as long as it is a Russian fighter plane, it will pose a serious threat to the low-altitude "Aardvarks", Lieutenant Colonel Harris raised his hand to turn on the pre-power of the two AIM-7M "Sparrows", but hesitated for a moment and stopped, at this time Captain Cartel reported that "IFF has no answer", he thought for a moment and then called on the radio:

"Postal_Three, Postal_Six, now turn to the direction of ten o'clock to meet the enemy; The target is ultra-low-altitude, suspected of being a 'fulcrum', and the number of jù information is being transmitted, and it is confirmed after receiving it, and it is over. ”

"Uh...... This is 'Postman' No. 3, the target message has been received, repeat, the message has been received, ready to engage the enemy, over. ”

"'Postman' Six received;

Sensing the threat at ultra-low altitudes, the two fighters in the command formation swooped down to take a look, and Lieutenant Colonel Harris returned to his mission, continuing to monitor the large area below the front with radar.

Based on the law of the activities of Russian fighters, they often infiltrate in multiple directions, sneak attacks and send reinforcements to the extreme, and he, a veteran of air combat, has learned many times, and the important thing now is not to continue to stare at the "fulcrum", but to be wary of whether there are other MiGs nearby.

After the command went to identify friend and foe and carry out the attack, less than thirty seconds later, a call from "Postman" No. 3 suddenly came from the channel; However, hearing the sound from the headphones, Harris frowned suspiciously, the panicked shout had clearly changed its tone, and he didn't react to what was happening for a while:

"Hoo, call 'Postman' No. 1, confirm that the enemy and the enemy plane are the 'sickle'! Oh, my God...... It's actually a 'flanker', and we—I'm on the attack! ”

"What? - Postman Three, you said you found ......"

Confused by the scattered words he heard, it took Harris a few seconds to realize what the word "sickle" meant, and he immediately shook his head with a thrill, but his mind was quite clear, and he immediately switched channels to call the low-altitude "Titan" squadron, telling them to keep an eye on the direction of seven o'clock, and if they were attacked by fighters, they would immediately throw away the bomb and run away.

Damn, is the postman number three reliable, how did he come across a "flanker" here, or that guy-

Oh, not really!

Suddenly remembering the fierce battle in the Caucasus, Lieutenant Colonel Harris had an extra heart, and he was shocked into a cold sweat, but at this time he was thinking, maybe this is another cunning conspiracy of the Russians?

Recalling the terrifying "Grim Reaper", Viktor Rezenov, who has always fought in air superiority operations, how could he run to an ultra-low altitude to intercept some attack aircraft - I have never heard him do this before, this can't be some bullshit crazy Ivan, imitating that guy's landline livery, just to deceive us!

Thinking of this, Harris had the intention to dive down with his wingman and get close to the visual distance to see what was going on, but considering that the combat mission of the 42nd Squadron was not only to take care of the F-111s below, but also to be responsible for maintaining air supremacy and blocking the air in the wide frontal airspace, Harris, who was in a dilemma, shook his head after calculating the number of fighters that could be mobilized at hand.

Since it was impossible to continue to divide the troops, the lieutenant colonel persuaded himself to calm down, he felt that there was no need to make too much fuss about this situation, the "postman" No. 3, the hairy boy from Wisconsin, was a little too neurotic?

Just when I was a little undecided and considering whether to launch a few "Slammers" to try my luck, staring at the target on the radar for a few seconds, Lieutenant Colonel Harris saw two bright spots in the low altitude chasing each other, and the IF identification marked one of the friendly fighters, the "Flanker" he was chasing.

A friendly fighter?

What do you mean, can't the radar miss it?

Just when he was completely puzzled, a terrified call came from the headset again, which made Harris suddenly fall into an ice cellar:

"But, damn it, 'Postman' Six called, Shit, -- OhJesus, Postal_Three's_hit! (Shit, - oh my god, Postman Six got shot!) ）”

"Hell yes, it's really that guy!"

Hearing the panic of his comrades, or with some incredulous calls, Harris shouted in the cockpit with his eyes wide open, there is nothing to doubt now, the "Caucasian Grim Reaper" is in the sky over Kutaisi!

For a moment, he only felt that both calves were going to cramp, and the lieutenant colonel calmly flipped the switch to call the "counter", and the cold sweat on his forehead was already dripping. Yes, there is no doubt that the "Flanker" is the landline of the "Caucasian Reaper"; Perhaps the "Postman" III, who had just been shot, would have looked away, but in less than a minute, escaped from the two "Attack Eagles" that were diving in pursuit, and also shot down one of them with a backhand?

With such terrifying combat power, who else would it be if it wasn't the "Grim Reaper"!

Completely stimulated by the scene that had just happened in front of him, the lieutenant colonel's only remaining sanity made him make a relatively wise deployment, he did not call the whole team of fighters to rush down and try to surround the terrible Russian "flanker", but immediately reported the situation to the command center, and at the same time called the F-111 fighters who had penetrated the defense at ultra-low altitude for the second time and immediately abandoned the mission, turned on the electronic jamming, and took the formation to turn away. (To be continued......)