Chapter 206 J-8C, the First Victory!

"I specially found the video tape and watched the flight performance of this kind of aircraft at the Xiangzhou Air Show."

Islam, who retracted his body, rubbed his cheeks that were a little stiff due to the cold wind and said:

"I once thought that special effects were added to that video. It was simply...unforgettable."

This sudden compliment made the two Chinese pilots sitting in the third row of seats at a loss as to how to respond.

This overseas trip was urgent, and their superiors did not specifically emphasize confidentiality discipline, so they did not know whether they could discuss detailed aircraft performance with friendly pilots.

Chen Jialiang gave a somewhat stiff answer:

"It's really good. We just took the first flight training. I was shocked when I pulled the stick at low altitude."

"So it's really an interceptor, right?"

Perhaps worried about some ambiguity, Islam added another sentence after the translation:

"I mean, generally speaking, the range of advantages of aircraft performance is relatively limited, especially it is difficult to take into account both high-speed and low-speed segments at the same time."

This sentence posed another problem for the two people behind.

Chen Jialiang's face was almost frozen.

"Well... we have very excellent aircraft designers in China. They have optimized low altitude and low speed while ensuring the interception performance of the aircraft. You can rest assured."

At the same time, thousands of kilometers away, Chang Haonan, who was ready to sleep, suddenly sneezed for no reason.

…

After everything was ready for the bat hunting operation, it didn't take long to wait.

February 6, 1997, Thursday, the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Chinese New Year’s Eve.

The MiG-25 of the Triple Sonic Squadron is here again.

The radar station at an altitude of 5,374 meters captured the target as soon as the opponent took off, and then reported it to the Skardu base through the newly established communication mechanism between the two countries.

After all, it was my first time and I wasn’t very proficient, so it still took a little time.

But it's not a big problem.

Zheng Liangqun and Chen Jialiang, who had already put on full flight suits and were on standby, climbed into the cockpit as quickly as possible after receiving the order.

The pre-flight inspection had already been completed by the Aviation Industry Group staff who came with them. The Chinese ground staff wearing Pakistani military uniforms nearby had also undergone intensive training and quickly evacuated the power supply vehicle and air supply vehicle after waiting for the engine to start.

Everything went smoothly.

About five minutes later, almost at the ground radar station, it was reported that the MiG-25 was turning in the airspace of Afghanistan and preparing to enter the airspace of Pakistan. At the same time, the two pure white paints were painted with only 01 and 02 low-visibility paint on the fuselage surface. The degree-numbered J-8C aircraft lifted off the ground lightly.

In order to ensure better flight performance, Zheng Liangqun specifically requested that each aircraft carry only two PL-11s when taking off.

According to his opinion, the difficulty of shooting down the MiG-25 mainly lies in overcoming the speed and altitude. Therefore, if four missiles cannot hit the target, then four more missiles will not work.

It is better to remove some loads so that the aircraft can fly higher.

According to the plan previously formulated by Pakistan, the two aircraft quickly flew into the scheduled interception airspace and waited for the next order.

"Griffin Team, the target has crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains. The estimated contact time is 140 seconds."

A brief command in English came over the radio.

In this operation, two J-8Cs will be disguised as Islam's 9th Squadron aircraft, so the code name was also changed to "Griffin" of the 9th Squadron.

"Griffin 01 (02) received."

The two of them answered almost simultaneously, turning on the radar at the same time, preparing for interception operations.

Everything seemed to be going according to the original plan.

20 seconds later, the fire control radar that had temporarily changed its deployment position captured the target.

In the operations cabin, Captain Arshad Khan switched the radar to tracking mode. He almost caused a catastrophe last time and decided to wash away his shame this time.

However……

Five seconds later, the radar that had completed locking suddenly lost its target.

The captain was so shocked that he broke into a cold sweat and quickly switched back to the search mode. After discovering the target, he locked it again.

Another 5 seconds later, the radar lost its target again.

Arshad felt that he was about to faint. He quickly picked up the phone and reported the situation to the command center.

"Calambar cannot track the target! Repeat, Calambar cannot track the target!"

The originally relaxed atmosphere in the command center suddenly became tense.

The two J-8Cs also received the information subsequently. Since the fire control radar could not lock the target, the MiG-25 did not change its direction, but continued to fly at the original altitude and speed.

This piece of English was not among the predetermined command commands. Zheng Liangqun only understood a few words in it, but from the eager tone on the radio, he knew what he was worried about was coming.

"Report target position and prepare for interception."

While speaking, Zheng Liangqun had already pushed the throttle valve directly to the maximum afterburner state.

"Those tricks are really unreliable. In the end, we have to compete for height and speed."

He thought in his heart.

Fortunately, the radar station did not panic and quickly reported the new target position.

160 seconds after receiving the first interception command, the two aircraft finally appeared in front of the MiG-25.

It was 20 seconds later than the expected enemy contact time, and the direction was not directly opposite.

But there is still a chance.

At a distance of 20 kilometers from the target, Zheng Liangqun changed the fire control radar from search mode to tracking.

The response speed of the 1472 radar is very fast. According to past target shooting experience, within a few seconds, the words "approved to launch" will appear on the HUD.

However, the radars of both aircraft also lost sight of their targets seconds later.

"Um?"

Zheng Liangqun, who was almost about to pull the trigger to launch the missile, was dazed for a moment.

The wingman reported the same thing, with the target being lost a few seconds after locking on.

"Fxxk..."

Zheng Liangqun subconsciously said the only word he had ever learned to express strong emotions.

At this time, his plane had reached a speed of Mach 2.3, which was slightly faster than the MiG-25, and a slightly lower altitude of 21,500 meters. However, if he waited for a while, he would miss the most favorable angle.

"I can try a jump and try using the cannon."

Chen Jialiang proposed a somewhat crazy plan.

After all, the height difference is only more than 500 meters, so theoretically it is possible to compete.

The only problem is that a power jump is not a normal way of flying. In addition, the cannon must be fired during the flight, which may cause the aircraft to crash and kill people.

"No, we have other ways."

A somewhat unfamiliar voice appeared on the radio, and it took Zheng Liangqun about half a second to identify it as a radar engineer from the 14th Institute of Electrical Engineering.

Since the J-8C is still in the trial stage, in addition to ground staff, it also brought many technical personnel from the factory.

"Under the multi-function display, which should be the second from the right, there is a button labeled 'anti-drying'. Press it and try it."

Because it had only been a month since the aircraft was installed, even Zheng Liangqun, who was the backbone of the trial, had not tested all the functions of the aircraft.

But he did it anyway.

Then try locking on the target again.

At this time, the two J-8Cs were only about 16 kilometers away from the target, but they were about to enter a tail pursuit state.

Fortunately, the radar tracking status is stable.

Seconds passed without losing sight of the target.

The words "Permission to launch" appeared on the HUD.

As the two pilots pulled the triggers, two PL-11s were shot out from the launcher, trailing thick smoke and flames.

The huge initial speed given by the carrier aircraft allowed them to quickly accelerate to Mach 4.7, which was faster than the paper data.

At the same time, the pilot Major Palak Chopra sitting in the MiG-25 cabin no longer felt as calm as before.

The pod he carried on this mission was the latest improved pod by the US military. In addition to the same reconnaissance function as before, it can also perform adaptive azimuth interference on the fire control radar.

To put it simply, electromagnetic waves can be deceived through side-lobe interference, allowing the radar to lock on a false target in the wrong direction.

Of course, this kind of target is not as stable as a real aircraft, so the opponent's radar will soon unlock and will not launch missiles at false targets.

But it's enough.

Just now, he had relied on this function to avoid being locked by two radars.

However, the constant sound of alarms in the cabin now clearly reminded him that the plane had been locked.

And the signal source is located at the three o'clock position at the same height as himself.

Chopra's first thought was:

"Do they have a plane that can fly that high?"

He knew all the equipment of the Pakistan Air Force very well, and it was absolutely impossible for him to have anything that could fly to an altitude of 20,000 meters.

The second thought is:

"How did their radar get through the jamming so quickly?"

However, at this critical moment, he didn't bother to think about anything more, and quickly followed the standard operation of avoiding air interception, turning towards 9 o'clock and lowering the altitude.

The cockpit visibility of the MiG-25 was very poor, and he could not see what was behind the aircraft, but the RWR siren never stopped.

It was obvious that not only did the opponent fly at a sufficient height, but he could also keep up with him at speed.

And he didn't even know what it was that was following him and urging him to die.

Fear gradually began to overwhelm Chopra's sanity.

As a MiG-25 pilot, he had never experienced such a life-or-death crisis.

"If you get hit..."

Chopra knew that no ejection seat in the world could save a pilot's life at Mach 2.

Even the most advanced K36DM has a safe ejection limit of only Mach 1.5.

He was afraid.

At the last moment before being hit, the MiG-25 reduced its altitude and speed to a relatively safe level.

Zheng Liangqun, who was following closely behind, saw the light of fire when the target was hit, and after flying over, he discovered that the opponent's pilot had parachuted.

"I think we can send a search team to see if the other pilot is still alive, and..."

He turned to look at the spinning and falling wreckage of the enemy plane:

"And the target finally reduced its altitude and speed, so the wreckage may be relatively complete."

The command hall at the radio station was already filled with joy.

After calming down a little, the leading major general of the Chinese Air Force found the engineer from the 14th Institute of Electrical Engineering who had just snatched the microphone from his hand.

"Xiao Guo, why is that button you asked Lao Zheng to press so powerful?"

The engineer named Xiao Guo was obviously very excited at this time, and he immediately started talking about it:

"This starts from a cybernetics paper we saw a few months ago..."

Chang Haonan, who was making dumplings with Zhou Li thousands of kilometers away, sneezed again for no reason.