Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Long Spear Pierces Through Armor

  Santos finally breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving Mark's submitted report.

  In fact, when the Investigation and Analysis Bureau analyzed the "evidence" sent by the United States, Santos made a similar judgment and ruled out the suspicion of the United States.

  Politicians are not judges, they don't talk about evidence but interests and the motives generated by those interests.

  The US has no motive to attack an Indian aircraft carrier and cannot gain any benefit from sinking one, so there is no reason for it to do something that would be unprofitable.

  Jai Pal not only provided "evidence" but also promised wider and more comprehensive assistance to India.

  With the commitment from the United States, Santos' confidence soared again.

  On the morning of July 7, as the sky in New Delhi had just brightened up, the Indian Air Force launched a comprehensive attack, targeting the Pakistan Air Force, ground air defense command centers, air defense missile positions and air bases, attempting to win a decisive victory, thoroughly defeating Pakistan's air defense capabilities and seizing air superiority.

  The Indian Air Force has miscalculated again and now they will face not only Pakistan Air Force.

  Less than five minutes after the air raid siren sounded, Liang Guoxiang and Di Boqing boarded their planes.

  "Fuel gauge normal, radar normal, communication equipment normal, data link normal..."

  "Engine normal, altimeter normal, airspeed indicator normal, hydraulic pressure normal..."

  The two quickly checked the airborne equipment, and nothing was left behind.

  Because only pilots went to Pakistan for the war, ground support work was undertaken by the Pakistani Air Force. Yesterday, a J-10 piloted by a pilot assisting Pakistan crashed while patrolling due to engine failure. Fortunately, the pilot ejected in time and landed within Pakistan's borders. Due to this incident, the General Staff Department will dispatch special forces sent to Gwadar Port for search and rescue tasks to take over and be responsible for rescuing the parachuted pilots.

  "After everything has been checked, everything is normal." As soon as he finished speaking, the Pakistani ground crew member who was in charge of assisting the fighter jet to take off gave a thumbs up. "Liang Ge, how confident are you about the harvest?"

  "It's good enough to encounter the enemy in the first battle." Liang Guoxiang also gave a thumbs up to the Pakistani ground crew outside, indicating that they could take off. "I don't want my godson to become an orphan, bringing you back alive is my top priority."

  "Don't say unlucky words." Di Boqing connected the communication channel with the airport. "Long Spear calling Brave Warrior, Long Spear calling Brave Warrior."

  "Warrior received, airport cleaned up, no suspicious targets in nearby airspace, take off immediately."

  Under the lead of J-10B, twelve J-10 fighter jets formed two columns and slowly taxied to the runway. As the engines reached maximum thrust, the two J-10s at the front row slid for less than 400 meters on the runway before taking off and soaring into the blue sky.

  "Warrior calls for long spear, switch to channel 112, receive command from Air Command Center."

  "Long spear received, accepting command from Air Command Center."

  Di Boqing contacted the Airborne Command Center, Liang Guoxiang re-checked the key equipment of the fighter jet, especially the ammunition it carried. Six "Thunder-12" and four "Thunder-11", only with a spare oil tank on the belly pylon, standard air-to-air combat configuration.

  At an altitude of 4,500 meters, the formation turned eastward.

  Because they were guided and commanded by the early warning aircraft throughout, the radar on the fighter jets was not activated. Before entering the combat zone, Liang Kuo-hua and Tiu Chih-cheng had nothing much to do.

  "Eagle Eye summons Long Spear."

  "Long spear received." Di Boqing quickly entered the state, "Eagle Eye" was the code name for the early warning aircraft.

  "Turn heading to 075, altitude 3500, accept navigation information."

  "Understood, navigation information received." Di Boqing said as he transmitted the navigation information to other fighter jets in the fleet.

  Navigation information is sent by the early warning aircraft to the lead aircraft through the tactical data link, and then sent by the lead aircraft to the wingman, occupying only one communication line of the early warning aircraft.

  Under Liang Guoxiang's leadership, the fleet frequently adjusted its route. Liang Guoxiang knew that this was a "warm-up exercise" before the battle.

  Because the tactical data link on the Saab 2000 AEW&C does not fully match that of the Chinese J-10, only very limited information can be transmitted, and it is impossible to transmit all battlefield information to the fighter like the F-16, allowing the pilot to grasp the situation in a timely manner.

  For this reason, each squadron is equipped with a two-seat J-10B and an additional "professional" navigator.

  Indian AWACS had definitely detected the "Long Lance" formation and guided fighter jets to intercept. Before both sides' fighter jets formally "met", they would, based on information provided by the AWACS, try to seize advantageous positions and launch a preemptive attack. If all went as expected, neither side would be able to occupy an advantageous position.

  About fifteen minutes later, "Eagle Eye" sent back intelligence on enemy aircraft.

  Dozens of bright spots appeared on the main screen, densely packed, making people's scalp feel numb just by looking at them.

  "Thirty-six fighter jets, damn it, all Su-30MKIs." Di Boqing's information was more accurate than Liang Guoxiang's. "Liang Ge, this is going to be interesting."

  "Distribute objectives, use cross-attack tactics, don't show weakness."

  Liang Guoxiang also felt a bit numb in his scalp, as the number of enemy planes was three times that of the "Long Spear" squadron.

  The domestically-made fire-control radar on the J-10 fighter jet can track 12 targets simultaneously and guide missiles to attack six of them. To increase the hit rate, two missiles are usually used to attack one enemy aircraft. By adopting a crossfire tactic where two fighter jets open fire at six enemy aircraft simultaneously, the hit rate can be maximized.

  "Hawk Eye hails Long Spear, now within intercept range, cleared to open fire at will."

  "Long spear received, ready to fire at any time." Di Boqing paused for a moment, "Liang Ge, go!"

  "Damn it, Indian asshole!" Liang Guoxiang immediately took over the command and activated the fire control radar on the fighter jet. "All aircraft, attention! Activate radar, aim at target, prepare to launch missile."

  The 12 J-10s in dense formation immediately dispersed.

  Twelve pilots, in accordance with the attack order assigned by Di Poqing, quickly locked onto six targets and inputted target data into the "Thunder-12" medium-range air-to-air missile.

  When Liang Guoxiang pressed the launch button, he hesitated for a moment.

  Two explosive bolts connecting the missile to the launcher exploded simultaneously, pushing the missile out. Immediately, the rocket engine on the missile ignited, accelerating the missile's speed from nearly Mach 1 to Mach 4. In less than ten seconds, seventy-two white silk-like smoke trails appeared in the azure sky.

  "Three aircraft formation, accelerate forward."

  Twelve J-10s formed an air combat formation, and one after another ignited the afterburning chambers of their engines.

  Liang Guoxiang knew that the Su-30MKI fleet 80 kilometers away also launched missiles. At this time, he was gambling on luck.

  The R-77 missile uses a mid-course inertial/command guidance pattern with an active radar terminal stage. If the Indian pilot's nerve is not big enough, he will dodge immediately after launching the missile and cannot provide instructions for the R-77. The missile flies under the control of the inertial guidance system for sixty kilometers, and when it is about twenty kilometers away from the "Long Lance" aircraft group, it starts the radar and enters the active attack phase. If the distance can be shortened to within sixty kilometers before that, the R-77 will miss the "Long Lance" aircraft group before entering the active attack phase, thus wasting it in vain.

  Liang Guoxiang is not only relying on luck but also competing with his opponents in terms of courage.

  When J-10B broke the sound barrier, Su-30MKI formation turned around.

  Indian pilots were unaware that they were engaging Chinese pilots and not Pakistani pilots.

  Time flies quickly, R-77 with a speed of Mach 4 can fly 60 kilometers in just 50 seconds. J-10 needs to fly 20 kilometers within 50 seconds, the speed must exceed Mach 1.34. J-10 accelerates from Mach 0.95 to Mach 1.5 in just 40 seconds. Therefore, J-10's average speed within 50 seconds is exactly Mach 1.34!

  Liang Guoxiang's calculations are extremely accurate, even more so than computers.

  Dozens of R-77 missiles flew past the formation like a hail of darts, and all thirteen pilots breathed a sigh of relief.

  "Brother Liang, you're really damn awesome."

  "Don't be too optimistic."

  At this time, the difficult problem was handed over to Indian pilots.

  After the first batch of R-77 was lost, the combat distance had shortened to about 70 kilometers. The "Thunder-12" launched by J-10 also approached the Su-30MKI fleet. If the Su-30MKI fleet continued to escape, there would be a great opportunity to avoid the "Thunder-12", but it would fall into a passive situation in the dogfighting stage. If the Su-30MKI turned back and used R-77 for the second round of interception, it would face the test of "Thunder-12".

  To flee is not an option, nor is not fleeing.

  Finally, the Su-30MKI fleet split into two batches, with 12 continuing to retreat and 24 turning to engage in combat with J-10.

  A wrong decision, a decision that couldn't be more wrong.

  "Relock target, provide missile with targeting data." Liang Guoxiang revealed a hint of a smile. "Everyone hold steady, follow the lead aircraft's maneuver."

  Twelve J-10s relocked onto their targets with fire control radar and transmitted the target data to the already launched missiles.

  Before "Thunder-12" entered the active attack phase, 24 Su-30MKIs launched a second batch of R-77 missiles at their fastest speed and also illuminated the J-10 fleet with fire control radar.

  The radar warning device sounded, and Liang Guoxiang immediately pulled back the control stick, "Full speed climb, full speed climb!"

  Twelve J-10s simultaneously climbed at their fastest speed.

  Cannot repeat the old trick, must adopt new tactics to avoid. The maximum attack height difference of R-77 is only 10,000 meters, and J-10 was flying at an altitude of only 3,500 meters when it was attacked. As long as the flight altitude is raised to 14,000 meters before the arrival of R-77, the missile can be avoided, making the second round of medium-range interception by Indian fighter jets fall flat.

  The J-10's maximum climb rate at sea level exceeds 340 meters per second. Although the climb rate is slightly slower at high altitude, it can definitely climb to an altitude of 10,000 meters within 50 seconds.

  The overload generated by full-speed climbing is very large, and J-10 is like a runaway wild horse.

  Liang Guoxiang was not worried about the fighter losing control, but instead hoped that it would behave even more "wildly", because the faster it rose, the better it could avoid enemy missiles.

  Ten thousand meters high in the sky, the blue sky is exceptionally pure.

  The pilots on the fighter planes had no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery. After shaking off the second batch of R-77s, they would engage in a dogfight with enemy aircraft.

  The radar warning device emitted a sharp, piercing whine, the missile warning signal, indicating that the missile was approaching.

  "Brother Liang, look quickly, we dodged it."

  Under the machine group, dozens of orange-red "fireworks" burst out. When R-77 reached its maximum attack range and lost power, the self-destruction system on the missile was activated, blasting out a fiery flower.

  "Three aircraft formation, dogfighting mode, let's give India a lesson in aerial combat!"

  Under the leadership of the Long Machine, twelve J-10s swooped down from high altitude like predatory eagles and pounced on the Su-30MKI fleet.