Like a mythical beast, the Ghost 1 strategic bomber seems to be slow at the edge of the atmosphere, but in fact it flies extremely fast.

"Arriving at the intended test area."

The routine announcement sounded in the not spacious cabin.

As an unconventional cruise, the "Ghost 1" sortie is naturally more than just a test of long-range flight capabilities.

Several missiles and bombs were also dropped for testing.

The main test missile was an air-launched anti-ship missile.

And, of course, there are some land-attack missiles and bombs.

It even contained two loitering missiles, which were very rare at this time.

In the blue waters of the North Pacific, there are several target ships.

All were converted from tankers and gas carriers.

They have their own compartments, and even if one compartment is penetrated by a missile, it will not be sunk directly.

Rather, it is able to hold out for a while longer and contribute more to weapons testing.

On board the target ship, numerous electronic devices have long been turned off.

The only way to spot them is to use radar to find them out of the ocean.

Of course, if a large number of reconnaissance drones are released on the surface of the sea, there is also a certain probability of finding them.

In addition to this, hundreds of sturdy black boxes were installed on top of the target ship.

They are able to collect data on the target ship when it is attacked.

"Target ship No. 1 has been spotted."

The crew, who was closely observing the radar display at all times, shouted at the first moment of sighting the target.

This area of the sea is far from the shipping lanes often traveled by merchant ships.

Therefore, the radar target that appears here is not a target ship, then it can only be a warship of another country.

And warships and tankers, the difference on the radar display is very large.

In addition, the No. 1 target ship has a special body shape and is particularly round.

This design has been used a lot in the last century, mainly to make use of the limited space and store more crude oil.

After entering the new century, thanks to the development of ultra-large ocean-going tankers, this design has been rarely applied.

As a result, it is quickly possible to identify it.

"The first round of weapons strike tests is about to begin, testing the target 'No. 1' anti-ship missile."

Several new missiles carried by the "Phantom 1" long-range strategic bomber are still in the process of development and have not yet been officially named.

So it's all just a simple number of names.

"Understood."

"Understood."

The operator responsible for the data import injects the target data scanned by the radar into the missile computing chip.

In the future, after the missiles are formally finalized and equipped, this work will be handed over to the intelligent combat system to carry out.

Now, we can only rely on manual injection of parameters.

It didn't take long, though.

It's less than half a minute.

Beneath the large triangular belly, one of the two polygonal hatches opens.

If you look up from below the bomber, you can also see eight missiles in the built-in magazine.

Phantasm One, as an ultra-long-range strategic bomber.

What needs to be carried out will be a strategic task.

Strike at important targets of the enemy.

Such as: command centers, airfields, main battle ships, aircraft carriers, etc.

This means that the missiles it carries are all large missiles with extremely long range and great power.

Or even a nuclear missile with a nuclear warhead!

It itself is an important part of the triad of nuclear strikes.

A missile with a blue-and-white pattern intertwined on its exterior.

It detached from the mount and ignited its own rocket engine.

Like thunder out of the clouds, rushing downward!

Generally, missiles are launched at a distance from the target.

But the advent of Ghost One has changed that to a great extent.

The stealth bomber located at a suborbital altitude can fly directly to the top of the enemy's head, and then directly launch the most direct empowerment attack!

Whether it's an air defense frigate, or an Aegis ship.

Direct empowerment attacks are difficult offenses for them to defend against.

Because the pitch angle of the weapon is limited.

The pitch angle of most close defense guns can be close to 90 degrees, but few reach 90 degrees.

This is dictated by the various drives inside the weapon system.

And anti-aircraft missiles are also difficult to directly defend against empowerment attacks.

Because the empowerment attack means, from the point of view of anti-aircraft missiles.

They have to attack vertically to the warhead to be able to defend against it.

And because the warhead area is very small, the probability of hitting is greatly reduced.

The interception efficiency may decrease several times!

Of course, the No. 1 anti-ship missile tested today is more than that.

The No. 1 anti-ship missile rushed downward, and at one point, under the action of the rocket engine and the gravitational acceleration of the earth itself, its speed even exceeded Mach 10!

Eighty kilometers is a fleeting distance.

Twenty seconds passed, and the missile was only 10 kilometers away from the target ship!

The rudder of the missile's tail began to rotate slightly, controlling the missile to start spinning regularly.

It's like a drill bit, from its original stationary state, it has begun to rotate violently!

After 3.5 seconds, the missile, like a diamond drill bit, penetrated directly into the upper deck of the tanker.

In less than 0,1 seconds, a violent explosion sounded.

An oil tanker with a full load displacement of tens of thousands of tons is as if someone has kicked it from the bottom of the sea.

Leap upwards!

The aftermath of the explosion even set off a gust of wind on the sea.

This explosion can be felt from the aftermath of the waves, even by a school of whales hundreds of kilometers away.

The instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm immediately made this group of whales move away from their original position.

Even escaped the clutches of a group of foot basin people who carried out whale hunting under the pretext of scientific research.

Before the weapons were tested, the researchers who were engaged in the development of the missile had already made sufficient calculations.

The optimal interval between weapons tests was derived.

They had to give a certain amount of time to the individual missiles.

Otherwise, there is a high chance of accidents.

For example, after being hit by a missile, another one came.

This led directly to the sinking of a target ship that could have undertaken more weapons experiments.

In line with the concept of economical use, the interval should also be slightly widened.

In fact, the missile is more powerful, which is also an important reason why there was no experimental ship in the vicinity of this missile test.

Even if the distance is ten nautical miles, there is still a certain risk to the crew and scientific research workers on the experimental ship.

Therefore, at this time, the experimental ship can wait at a relatively long distance from the area of the missile test.

After waiting for the weapons experiment to be completed, they went to the sea where the target ship sank and salvaged the numerous black boxes.

"Preparing for the test of the strike of the "Second missile". ”

About ten minutes passed, and the captain ordered a second round of weapons tests.

In fact, ten minutes only slightly reduced the impact of the first weapons experiment.

But they can't help it, and there are still many weapons to test today.

If they don't hurry, then they may not have enough fuel to fly home.

The No. 2 missile is even larger than the No. 1 missile, which has just completed the strike.

If missile 1 is compared to the thickness of a little thumb, then missile 2 is at least the thickness of a thumb.

It also has something to do with the fact that they don't play the same role.

As an anti-ship missile, the No. 1 missile pursues speed and accuracy more.

The No. 2 missile is a submunition.

What is pursued is the striking area.

The chubby No. 2 missile, after starting its own rocket engine, did not reach the super speed of the No. 1 missile.

Only Mach 6 speeds were reached.

But.

Such a speed is still a test for most air defense systems.

After forty seconds of flight.

When the No. 2 missile was less than 8 kilometers away from the target ship.

Missile No. 2 suddenly split on its own.

The nose of the missile split, and from the inside came out sixteen miniature missiles, which were less than a quarter of the size of the No. 1 missile.

Sixteen missiles fell rapidly from the sky like scattered flowers.

As if they had eyes, they attacked the key nodes of the target ship one after another.

Originally, even if it was attacked by the No. 1 missile, it might have been able to hold out for a while.

Under this bizarre way of blowing, it soon began to sink into the water.

The speed is very fast, well above the normal rate of sinking of the ingress water.

Generally, it takes several hours for a sunken ship to sink.

And after the target ship was hit, it only took a short time before it was already half sunk.

——

Thousands of miles away, base.

"Wouldn't it be nice for us to do that?"

Qiao Yang said worriedly.

"We're ready to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions."

The Convention on Cluster Munitions is intended to prevent large-scale harm to civilians in armed conflict.

Under no circumstances shall States parties to the Convention use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer cluster munitions.

In general, it is also prohibited to assist, encourage or induce any person to engage in any activity prohibited by a State Party to this Convention.

In addition to the above-mentioned prohibitions, States Parties that possess or are affected by cluster munitions are required to take action in specific areas: destruction of stockpiles, removal of cluster munition remnants and victim assistance. Stockpile Destruction Timeline – Each State Party is required to destroy all stockpiles of cluster munitions under its jurisdiction and control within eight years of the entry into force of the Convention for them.

The deadline may be extended for a period of 4 years, and in exceptional circumstances, a further 4 years may be allowed.

States Parties may retain limited quantities of cluster munitions and explosive submunitions for clean-up, training and the development of destruction techniques.

Clearance framework - States Parties are also required to clear their territories of unexploded submunitions within 10 years from the date of entry into force of the Convention for them.

If a State Party is unable to do so, it may request a five-year extension. Strong provisions on victim assistance - The Convention contains comprehensive provisions for victim assistance.

States Parties provide medical, rehabilitation, psychological assistance and social and economic reintegration to victims of cluster munitions in areas under their jurisdiction or control.

In addition, States Parties must assess their domestic needs and development plans in these areas and mobilize resources to meet their needs. This is the first time that specific provisions on victim assistance have been included in an IHL treaty.

Because cluster bombs are spread over a very large area, they are very vulnerable to harming civilians in the war zone.

In recent decades, cluster munitions have evolved into a humanitarian issue.

They have taken a heavy toll on civilians in armed conflicts, and such tragedies continue to be repeated in the aftermath of the war.

during armed conflict – the use of cluster munitions is intended to have a devastating effect in combat; They disperse explosive submunitions over a large area to destroy mobile or multiple military targets. The use of cluster munitions against military objectives in populated areas often results in a large number of civilian casualties.

Since submunitions are often unguided, wind and other factors can cause them to fall far beyond the target area.

In the aftermath of an armed conflict, a large proportion of the submunitions that have been scattered or released have not detonated as intended, resulting in the contamination of large areas by these deadly explosive ordnance.

These installations have already caused thousands of civilian casualties.

Their presence threatens agriculture and other basic activities.

It also hinders the reconstruction and development of infrastructure such as roads, railways and power plants. Children are curious about the shape and color of submunitions and always want to pick them up.

And the consequences of doing so are unimaginable – death, serious injury or physical disability.

The old chief was a little helpless when he heard this.

Qiao Yang has been engaged in scientific research for a long time, and his ideas in this regard are relatively simple.

"It remains to be seen whether we will join the Convention on Cluster Munitions."

"Why?" Qiao Yang said with some puzzlement.

"Many countries in the world want to adopt this convention."

Zhang Xingyang didn't say anything, because he already knew the specific reason.

"Because there are a few countries that are not going to join this treaty."

The old chief pointed out sharply:

"The main thing is the hairy bear and the eagle sauce."

"Our position is simple, as long as they join we will join, if they don't join, we won't join!"

In fact, among the countries that want to promote the establishment of this convention.

There are very few technologies available to produce cluster bombs, which is why they want to push for a ban on cluster bombs.

It's like that famous joke.

Q: If you don't donate 100 million?

A: Donate!

Q: If you have 1 billion donations, do you donate?

A: Donate!

Q: If you have a cow to donate, do you donate?

A: No!

Q: Why?

A: Because I really do have a cow!

Countries that possess cluster bomb technology will naturally not give up their military superiority.

"Judging from the concept of cluster bombs that everyone is now advocating, in fact, our split missiles cannot be regarded as cluster bombs."

Zhang Xingyang said at this time.

"Our bullets, with a complete guidance system, will not have the situation of unexploded bullets with traditional bullets."

From a technical point of view, it is more able to comfort Qiao Yang.

As a young man who is ignorant of the world, everyone has a high tolerance for Qiao Yang's naivety.

"Our smart chip ensures that the success rate of missile explosion is infinitely close to 100 percent."

"And there are multiple guarantees, you should know all of this."

Qiao Yang nodded after listening.

As a technologist, he has handled many of these things before. (End of chapter)