Chapter 111: Getting Rid of the Brass Knight

USS Chicago heavy cruiser.

Fire, fire immediately! This order was not only passed to our fighters, but also to all escorting warships, who were given the right to open fire!

Lieutenant Colonel Johnson clenched his fist and gave the order: "Brass Knight, fire!"

The U.S. Navy's first generation of long-range heavy air defense missiles also assumed the mission of protecting the airspace of the aircraft carrier formation. Now, those two Soviet planes that came to cause trouble cannot be allowed to go back alive!

Following the order of Lieutenant Colonel Johnson, the large SPS-43 search radar at the rear of the warship was turned on at full power. At this time, the MiG-25 had already flown over their heads. The search radar could easily capture all the target data. With the operation of the radar operator, the SPS-30 tracking radar took over the baton. This circular radar standing on the second deck continued to track the target.

On the huge launch pad in front, the launch pads of two incredible Brass Knight missiles turned and aimed at the direction of the two flying fighters. Then, various launch data were loaded into the missiles.

"Two salvos, one target," said Lieutenant Colonel Johnson.

Today's warships do not have vertical launch nests like the MK41 that can resist saturation attacks. The double-arm launcher can only launch two missiles at a time. To be on the safe side and hit the target accurately, two missiles are usually aimed at one target.

Time passed quickly. The well-trained naval personnel compressed the launch time to the shortest possible time. However, the electronic system also needs time to react. It took 57 seconds from issuing the order to preparing for launch!

"Launch!" As the order was given, a launch operator pressed his finger on the red launch button.

On the front deck, two missiles ignited instantly, and the blazing flames covered the entire front deck.

11.6 meters long, 0.7 meters in diameter, and weighing more than 3,500 kilograms, this air defense missile is comparable to the heavy anti-ship missiles that appeared later. At the same time, this missile also uses the technology required by the now recognized long-range air defense missiles, such as ramjet engines!

The Brass Knight missile body is a cylinder consisting of two stages connected in series. The first stage is a solid booster with a stabilizing tail fin at the tail. The second stage uses a ramjet engine, which is 0.71 meters long and uses a liquid fuel made from a mixture of kerosene and a volatile oil.

The solid booster ignited first, and the hot tail stream burned the deck into a mess. Because it was converted from the position of the deck gun, it was not considered to deploy such a large anti-aircraft missile during construction, and it was impossible to eliminate the tail flame, so it could only be left to burn.

Fortunately, the personnel on the warship had long been accustomed to it and stayed far away. If they had stayed here at this time, they would definitely have become barbecue.

The solid booster quickly pushed the missile to a speed of 0.8 Mach and began to fall off. Then, the missile shook again, a hot wake appeared, and the ramjet engine ignited!

This missile adopts a rotating wing aerodynamic layout, with the control rudder located in the middle of the missile body and the tail fin at the rear of the missile body, all arranged in an "X" shape and in the same plane. At this time, the central cone at the head of the missile body is compressing the air, while the annular air inlet of the ramjet engine around the cone is pressing a steady stream of air into the engine to participate in combustion.

Ramjet engine! It can save the weight of carrying oxidizer and simplify the engine structure. Almost all anti-aircraft missiles of this era use ramjet engines, such as the British Sea Dart and the later Soviet SAM-6.

I have stirred up a hornet's nest! The Americans actually launched a missile! Hearing the sound of the crude radar warning receiver in his headphones, Andre couldn't help but feel depressed.

It doesn't feel good to be hit by a missile. Although I was flying a MiG-25 fighter, if I were at an altitude of 30,000 meters, or even 25,000 meters, I would definitely not be afraid of anything and the Americans would not be a threat to me.

But now, he had only climbed to 18,000 kilometers and was only 40 kilometers away from the American aircraft carrier formation, still within the killing radius of their air defense missiles!

What is coming? Andre thought quickly in his mind. At this distance, the Beagle and the Tatar could not fly so far. It was either the Phoenix launched by the US carrier-based aircraft or the Brass Knight launched by the naval ship!

In short, what is coming is a radar-guided missile, not an infrared missile. That's enough. The two types of missiles have different ways of shaking off.

The cockpit of the MiG-25 inherited the characteristics of traditional Soviet fighters. There was no rear view, and Andrei could only judge based on the sound of the crude radar warning receiver.

At this time, two Brass Knights were flying quickly. The ramjet engine gave the missile a high-speed capability of more than Mach 2. When the distance was close to ten kilometers, the SPG-49 target illumination radar was activated. This is a single-pulse radar that can perform continuous wave illumination, allowing the missile terminal to achieve self-guidance.

As the missile approached, the sound of the radar warning receiver began to become more urgent.

Andre counted silently in his mind, ten, nine, eight, seven. When he reached zero, he pushed the control stick hard and pedaled the rudder. At the same time, he controlled the release of the platinum bar with his other hand.

To deal with radar-guided missiles, you need to maneuver to get rid of them when the enemy is about to approach. With the interference of platinum bars, it is quite easy to get rid of them as long as the timing is right!

After all, today's missiles have limited maneuverability, and long-range missiles have large size and weight, so the overload is even smaller. Moreover, whether it is a semi-active seeker or an active seeker, the electronic technology is far from the level of AIM-120. Therefore, it is too easy to get rid of a few air-to-air missiles in this era!

The huge steel fighter, under Andre's operation, made a 4G overload turning action. At the same time, the released platinum bars flew all over the sky. The two huge Brass Knight missiles chasing from behind all lost their targets at this moment.

Andre was a little shocked when he saw the two huge missiles flying past him and then several kilometers away before self-destructing. If he had not dodged in time, he would have been hit by such a missile, even if it was within the killing radius, which would have been very dangerous.

"032, 032, what's the situation?" Alexander's question came through the headset.

The two planes were flying in formation just now and were about to speed up and separate. Andre made a maneuver and slowed down. Alexander noticed the fire in the distant sky and immediately became nervous.

"Everything is fine." Andre replied calmly: "027, keep climbing!"

After avoiding this missile attack, the long-range air defense missiles of the American aircraft carrier formation would be out of reach, and he and Alexander could form a formation and return home calmly.

However, at this moment, the sound of the radar warning receiver came again in the headset, and he was locked again!