Chapter 480: Whose Fleet?
The so-called low-altitude penetration refers to a low-altitude flight technology in which an aircraft carrying out military strike missions takes advantage of the blind spot of the air defense system caused by the curvature of the earth and the undulations of the terrain, gives full play to the longitudinal, horizontal, and lateral maneuvering capabilities of the aircraft, and uses the terrain as a cover to effectively evade various threats and improve the survivability of the aircraft and the success rate of the defense penetration mission.
Xu Jing's choice to implement a low-altitude penetration in an unfamiliar war zone was to take a certain risk, such as a seabird like Kang Xiaoshuai who was too late to avoid the plane. Although modern fighter jets are equipped with ultrasonic devices to repel birds, it stands to reason that the birds have no chance of escaping a collision when the fighter jet soars.
Of course, the danger of implementing low-altitude penetration tactics in an unfamiliar theater is far more dangerous than hitting a bird. Without pre-formulated route planning, it is impossible to rely on computers to achieve terrain following and terrain avoidance, which requires pilots to rely on the terrain tracking radar contained in the navigation pod and their own flight technology to avoid the danger of low-altitude flight caused by terrain. At the same time, fighter jets flying at low altitudes are also exposed to complex windshear and downdrafts.
However, unlike Kang Xiaoshuai, a rookie pilot who flew solo for the first time, Xu Jing and Feng Lan both belonged to the kind of old birds who became goblins in the light curtain of the dome, and it was precisely because of this that Xu Jing made the decision to break through the defense at a low altitude to bomb the British airfield in such a short time.
Kang Xiaoshuai almost carried out a sonic boom attack on the eight ancient planes at the gate of the British army's Puluo Airport, so the crash site of LN334 was only ten nautical miles away from Pulo. Xu Jing and the others had the opportunity to discover the British army's airfield without much effort.
"I'm rubbing, what the hell is this airport!? And what the hell are the planes below!? Feng Lan was stunned the moment she saw the British airfield.
Emergency field airfield? The length and width of the irregular dirt runway are not enough to take off and land any large transport aircraft, and it is even more impossible for jet fighters like the "Typhoon" to take off and land on such hard mud ground. Hit the trick? But we're not locked on by any surface-to-air missile radar? Even if she has become an old bird, Xu Jing is at a loss for such a situation.
"To blow up or not to blow up?" Feng Lan asked Xu Jing, who was still in the back seat, deep in thought.
"No, this should be a fake airfield used to deceive the radar, and those old planes probably didn't have time to camouflage." Like all time-travelers who had just arrived on this plane, Xu Jing overestimated his opponent.
"Then let the British go?" Feng Lan said unwillingly.
"Surprise them with aerial artillery, you can't go in vain!" Xu Jing said.
As a fighter with a focus on ground attack missions, the F-15E's low-altitude navigation and targeting system (LANTIRN) mounted on both sides of the fuselage allows it to accurately hit ground targets at night and in any adverse weather conditions when flying at low altitudes.
Although the F-15E, which left in a hurry, was not completely cleared, the British airfield that Xu Jing believed was used to confuse them would not be able to carry out that kind of confusing military operation in the short term.
"It's a lot like the Gretel Strait near Thailand, we are flying in a southwesterly direction, there is no way that the British are not stationed near the Strait of Malacca, the airport they are at should be there!" Xu Jing roughly guessed from memory that this sea area should be the Gretel Strait, and she thought that she had to gamble for the safety of nearby friendly forces.
"Calling all the Green Paint Zone combat units, we have raided a bewildering airfield of the British army and are heading in the direction of the Strait of Malacca in the hope of destroying the real air base of the British. God bless the green paint area! Relying on the F-15E fighter jet piloted by himself to raid an air base where the "Typhoon" fighter jets were stationed, Xu Jing could only send a message to the green paint area tragically.
"Ahh After flying about two hundred nautical miles in the direction of the Strait of Malacca, Feng Lan spotted a fleet on the radar screen and shared the information with Xu Jing in the back seat.
“Shit! Two large surface ships! Is it the British's Type 45 destroyer? No, these two are larger! It can't be a Poseidon-class amphibious assault ship, right? For the fleet that suddenly appeared on the radar screen, Xu Jing couldn't be calm anymore.
"We only have bombs, what are we going to do?" Feng Lan asked.
The F-15E fighter did not carry any ship-to-ground missiles, only cluster bombs and GBU-28 Paveway III laser-guided bombs. If LN2003 wanted to use these bombs to attack a fleet in front of it that did not respond to its friend or foe identification system, it would have to drop bombs against the opponent's anti-aircraft missiles. Well, here we are talking about the British anti-aircraft missile in Xu Jing's imagination.
What's worse is that after the GBU-28 "Paveway" laser-guided bomb is dropped, LN2003 must irradiate the target with a laser beam to guide the bomb to hit accurately. So Xu Jing clearly knew that even if he could hit the other party, it would be a lose-lose scene.
However, judging from the radar, the two largest surface ships in the front fleet are most likely John Bull's amphibious assault ships. Judging from the fact that the F-15C has been shot down in the green paint zone, it seems that the air supremacy in the nearby waters has changed hands in the hands of the British, at least so far LN2003 has not contacted any flight units in the green paint zone. Having lost air supremacy and allowing the amphibious assault ships carrying the "Sea Harrier" attack planes to wander nearby, the life of the other combat units in the green paint zone became more and more uncomfortable.
"This is LN2003, call all combat units in the green paint area, our plane has discovered the British fleet, and now we have decided to launch a surprise attack on its amphibious assault ships. God bless the green paint area! Xu Jing sent out what she thought was the "last" radio message, anti-aircraft missiles, naval guns and phalanx systems, she didn't feel that she and Feng Lan basically had no chance of surviving this trip.
"Lan, I'm tired, even if I change to a bigger cover that can't see the light curtain, I don't have the strength to continue, let's fight." Xu Jing said to Feng Lan.
"Go ahead, this is our ninety-eighth combat mission, and I'm tired too. Compared to the unlucky ones who fell to their deaths on the runway on the first landing, we earned it! After Feng Lan finished speaking, he pulled on the oxygen mask to increase the flight speed of the F-15E and flew towards the fleet in front.
"Whew, the other party's radar hasn't detected us yet, we have a chance! I hope those rough embryos in the green paint area can survive well! "LN2003 is getting closer to the fleet, but the on-board radar warning receiver does not beep.
"Lock on to the target and prepare to drop the GBU-28!" Could it be that the electronic warfare aircraft in the green paint area caused damage to the British's radar, Xu Jing thought to herself as she locked on to the target.