Chapter 158 MiG-31 AWACS
A fierce battle was raging in the sky over Hokkaido, and at this moment, a battle was about to begin in the Pacific Ocean east of Hokkaido.
No matter which water route the Soviet reinforcements took, they would eventually reach Kushiro by going around the Pacific Ocean! And the Soviets obviously couldn't go around from the south, so they could only go from the north!
Therefore, after receiving the order, the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier formation cruised in the northern direction, ran to the southern waters of Iturup Island, and directly blocked the gate!
This time, the Kitty Hawk was 800 kilometers away from Iturup Island, which effectively prevented it from being attacked by Soviet long-range bombers. The Tomcat carrier-based aircraft on the Kitty Hawk had a combat radius of up to 1,000 kilometers, which was completely within its own combat radius.
After daybreak, the USS Kitty Hawk launched an E-2 early warning aircraft, which cruised 400 kilometers ahead of the aircraft carrier. After discovering a formation on the sea emerging from the Kunashir Strait, it immediately called the Tomcat fighters in the rear.
The White House’s opinion was not to engage in a ground war, but the Soviet support at sea must be blocked. If the Soviets continued to transport subsequent personnel and supplies, and more and more Soviet troops landed on Hokkaido, it would be difficult to deal with.
Of course, it is not necessary to sink the Soviet merchant ships. As long as air supremacy is seized over the waters south of Kunashir Island, the Soviet Union's way to the south will be blocked.
These tasks all need to be completed by the US Navy!
In order to avoid the escalation of the situation due to close-range fire, the US Navy’s only option is to use carrier-based aircraft!
At this time, the four Tomcat fighters that received the order were flying towards the enemy at an ultra-low altitude, preparing to fly within 100 kilometers, then climb quickly, and then launch Phoenix missiles.
At the same time, the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in the rear continued to rapidly launch Tomcat fighters, preparing to seize air supremacy with the Soviets.
At a distance of just 200 kilometers, the Tomcat fighter formation was discovered by two MiG-31 interceptors cruising at high altitude. The interceptors immediately called on the MiG-25 fighters patrolling in the rear to intercept!
At this time, the MiG-31 plays the role of a typical early warning aircraft!
Phased array radar mainly controls the phase. By using ferrite phase shifters to control the phase of the radiated electromagnetic waves, the beam can be converged to the maximum extent, achieving the purpose of detecting farther and wider. When the MiG-31 was being developed, the role of the data link was emphasized. They can automatically coordinate and engage in combat under the control of the data link. Even the "leader" can directly control the autopilot of the "wingman" through the data link, fly to the target area, automatically intercept the target, and automatically engage in combat. All data exchanges do not require voice information to achieve the purpose of anti-interference.
At this time, the MiG-31 had not completed all the test flights of its projects before it was pulled to the battlefield. The Mikoyan Design Bureau also very much wanted to test the combat effectiveness of this fighter in actual combat, so these two fighters piloted by test pilots appeared in the sky of East Asia.
Test pilots are valuable, and they cannot go to air combat. Their role here is mainly to guide other fighters to engage in combat! At this time, the anti-interference ability of the MiG-31 far exceeds that of the Tu-126 early warning aircraft! Through the frequency-hopping radio, contact was made with the MiG-25 fleet.
The MiG-25 fighters of the 3rd Squadron of the 513th Regiment turned on the afterburners and climbed rapidly to gain an altitude advantage. At the same time, they prepared to guide the R-40 air-to-air missiles for medium-range interception.
"002, scan airspaces three, four, and six." Continuing to maintain a steady flight and guiding its own MiG-25 fighters to engage in combat, the pilot of a MiG-31 fighter shouted on the radio.
The MiG-31's powerful radar allows it to be used as an early warning aircraft, but it is a fighter jet after all and does not have omnidirectional vision. The MiG-31's radar can attack targets within a cone of plus or minus 70 degrees, which is even more abnormal than the AWG-9 radar and has long exceeded the rotation angle of the AWG-9's universal joint!
However, if you want to have omnidirectional vision, you still have to use your brain. Just like the balance beam early warning aircraft has to fly an S route when giving early warning, the MiG-31 also has to keep turning in order to grasp the surrounding situation.
No. 001 was commanding the MiG-25 to engage in combat, while No. 002 had to change course to protect the two wings of the maritime formation.
Andre pushed the joystick, and the huge MiG-31 turned and pointed its nose to the west, where an air battle over Hokkaido was going on fiercely. Thinking of this, Andre felt a little itchy in his heart.
Unable to resist Andre's application, the military district commander finally agreed to let Andre return to the 513th Regiment. Anyway, Andre had not systematically learned how to command army operations, and different fields have different worlds. It was okay for Andre to make suggestions, but as for the specific details, that was the work of the staff.
Although they agreed to let Andre return to the army, they did not want him to experience the front line. Therefore, Andre was sent to this MiG-31. According to the original plan, this fighter was to be used as a command aircraft to guide the MiG-25 fighters of the 513th Regiment to engage in combat. Since Andre was originally the commander of the 513th Regiment, it was easy for him to command.
Moreover, in this way Andre could satisfy his desire to fight in the air without being put in danger, as he was commanding from the rear.
Although Andrei had never flown a MiG-31, the characteristics of this fighter are similar to those of the MiG-25. Andrei flew a few sorties and mastered them completely. Of course, this is also related to the Soviet inheritance system. The Soviet Union did not engage in human-machine engineering, and the position of instruments did not change much for several generations, making it very easy to remember. This is also a feature of Soviet aircraft. If you know one model, you can remember the position of the instruments of almost all models.
At the same time, the radar operator in the back seat was Colonel Fedotov, who was originally a test pilot of the Mikoyan Design Bureau. He had been testing the MiG-31 and was most familiar with the aircraft. Once Andrei made an operational mistake, he could take over the operation of the aircraft at any time.
After all, there are not many people in the Mikoyan Design Bureau who can tinker with the huge electronic equipment in the rear cabin, and they can't ask engineers to fly over, right?
Test pilots face death every day. Test flying is a high-risk job, but it is also the job that men like the most. However, flying a fighter plane and fighting against enemy planes is also extremely desirable. Fedotov was excited for several days when they sent these two MiG-31 test planes to the Far East.
"There is nothing abnormal in airspace No. 3," reported Fedotov from the rear cabin.
Andrei operated the MiG-31, drawing a graceful route in the air and pointing the nose of the aircraft toward airspace No. 4 and No. 6 respectively.
"Airspace No. 6, four fighter jets! One hundred and fifty kilometers away!" At this moment, Fedotov in the rear cabin suddenly shouted loudly.
Airspace No. 6, the airspace east of Iturupu Island! The Americans actually wanted to launch a sneak attack!
The four enemy planes flying head-on were just bait! The Americans had actually learned to circle around and attack from the east!
At this time, the distance was only 150 kilometers! The opponent was climbing rapidly from a very low altitude, with an enviable climbing speed. It must be the American Tomcat fighter!
Continue to mobilize MiG-25 fighters from the rear? It's too late! The MiG-25 fighters of the third squadron were guided to intercept the targets flying from the south. The MiG-25s that continued to take off from the rear, although they were flying at full power, would take several minutes. During this time, the Americans had already flown over their own merchant fleet!
"Prepare to intercept!" Fedotov said with a hint of excitement: "Four R-33s, one second apart, four targets intercepted at the same time!"
R-33! The Phoenixski in the Soviet equipment sequence! This missile has almost the same range as the Phoenix, up to 120 kilometers! And the appearance is also quite similar, with 4 narrow and long side wings of the triangular truncated tip and 4 rectangular tail fins, weighing 490 kilograms. Four of them are semi-buried under the belly of the MiG-31!