F-12 Flying Leopard, Helicopter and Drone

  J-10 Super Dragon has verified its powerful combat capability and also gained favor from the air forces of this era which are still using old-fashioned equipment.

  Zhi Yiming has accumulated 48 J-10 fighter jets at the Dalian Naval Base, and due to the special nature of this high-tech troop, he left a complete set of ground crew and pilots in the Air Force Command.

  After meeting with the high-level officials, they gave him more freedom and trust. So in addition to the 24 aircraft allocated to the Air Force, Qi Yiming was able to retain a 24-aircraft aviation regiment configuration at the Dalianor Base to ensure the safety of the base. Moreover, deploying fighter jets near Xilingol League is itself for the defense of the capital's sky.

  Wang Hai took away not only 24 fighter jets and skilled ground technical personnel, flight instructors, but also several types of weapons specially prepared by Qi Yiming for the current two-mountain rotation battle.

  The second most important fighter after the J-10, is the JH-7 Flying Leopard. Although the world's air forces are gradually shifting towards multi-purpose aircraft such as the Su-24 and JH-7, specialized fighter-bombers like these have become increasingly limited, while aircraft like the Su-30 and F-15E will slowly gain popularity. However, for China, the Flying Leopard remains a relatively inexpensive and practical ground attack weapon.

  This fighter was researched in 1973 as a replacement plan for the Q-5, at that time mainly choosing between Nanchang's JH-7, Xi'an's H-7 and Shenyang's JH-8. At that time, because Shenyang's JH-8II progress was not up to par, the JH-8 was directly abandoned, while the JH-6 was due to insufficient design capabilities, adopting a large amount of new technology resulted in the aircraft being overweight and unable to fly.

  The Xifei was developed on the basis of the domestication of the Spey engine introduced by Rolls-Royce, and the actual first flight took place in 1988. It entered service with the PLA in the mid-1990s. At that time, there was a small anecdote about the dispute between the navy and the air force over the cockpit design. The air force hoped for a side-by-side seating arrangement, which would provide better visibility and allow the two pilots to share instrument panel data and cooperate with each other. However, the naval aviation branch mainly used anti-ship missiles and other weapons for attacks, and required an additional weapon control officer to operate the air-to-ship missile system, so they hoped to adopt a tandem seating arrangement.

  This project was once abandoned in 1985 and restarted the following year. With Qiyi's return, there would be no more twists and turns, and he could directly bring over a complete JH-7A prototype.

  The Flying Leopard fighter, although touted as a fourth-generation (new standard) aircraft, actually has the body of a second or third generation fighter. This is related to the limitations of the conditions at the time and the insufficient design level. Although it was designed for low-altitude bombing, its low-altitude penetration performance was good, but its low-altitude subsonic maneuverability was poor, and flight accidents occurred repeatedly. However, after gradually transitioning to low-altitude penetration in the new century, using precision-guided weapons outside the defense zone to attack, the problems at low altitude and low speed were slightly corrected, making this fighter still able to play a major role.

  The Q-5I, with a maximum weapon load of 9 tons, is capable of launching LS, LT, FT and other series of guided weapons. The aerodynamic shape has been fine-tuned to enhance some low-altitude and low-speed performance. The biggest feature is the improvement of advanced terrain matching system, installation of comprehensive data link for all military services, and more powerful mission computer and other avionics equipment.

  The first batch of 24 JH-7 fighter-bombers, Qiyi hopes that Wang Hai will send them to the southwestern border and join the battle against Vietnam. With precise guided weapon attack capabilities, these JH-7s can provide excellent close air support for ground troops even in high-altitude battles, making it easier to implement battlefield interdiction in this region. The 9-ton payload is larger than that of the current H-5 and H-6 bombers, and the precision-guided capability allows frontline soldiers to call in air support at any time and take out enemy targets with surgical precision.

  In order to build a more perfect air-ground integrated combat coordination system, Qi Yiming also allocated the production capacity of light weapons in the barracks to the terminal of the production data chain. At that time, the infantry of TG can also be connected to the data chain for air support, and beat the Vietnamese.

  The Vietnamese, after the Vietnam War and the invasion of Cambodia, also trained a batch of good pilots. The main fighter jets they used were the Mig-21 and Su-22, both of which are second-generation aircraft. The Su-22 is an attack aircraft. Even if the pilots were excellent, facing the JH-7 would still be no match. After all, according to new calculations, the JH-7 surpasses the Mig-21 responsible for air superiority by two generations and also has large overloading capabilities. Although compared to the J-10's maneuverability it is rubbish, but compared to the second-generation aircraft that only know how to fly forward with their heads down, it is much stronger.

  The Flying Leopard is not a Mig-21 with a head-on air intake, but rather it has an extremely excellent Doppler pulse radar on its head, which can detect and attack the enemy first without any problem. Moreover, the JH-7 has the capability to launch active medium-range missiles, so even if it carries two medium-range missiles, it will still have some combat effectiveness after firing them off.

  This is just the first batch of Flying Leopard, and the next batch will be sent to a southwestern aviation regiment. The 48 Flying Leopards will form a massive firepower suppression network, and can even double as fighter jets to engage in aerial combat with the Vietnamese who are being bullied to tears. This battle shouldn't be too easy, should it?

  Zhi Yimeng believes that when the Flying Leopard starts to show its fangs, the Air Force and Naval Aviation will also raise it to a position similar to that of the J-10, as the main fighter jet for the Air Force and Naval Aviation. Zhi Yimeng now thinks that the 80s was the heyday of the Flying Leopard, with brutal and terrifying ground attacks, and still able to bully the current mainstream second and third generation aircraft in air combat, at a price that is still shockingly cheap. How can this not be satisfying?

  These two fighter jets will be the main weapons of the Sky Dynasty Air Force in this phase. Some people may ask why they chose a medium multi-purpose fighter and an air-to-ground strike fighter, but did not include a heavy air superiority fighter. Qi Yiming also has his own considerations here. He indeed has the technical data for producing J-11, but after all, it is a copy of the Russian Su-27, which Russia is currently using. If the rabbit suddenly has one too, Russia will definitely be furious and want to tear its hair out. The saliva war is the most troublesome, and the wingman may not necessarily be Qi Yiming's best choice.

  To be honest, the J-10, equipped with AESA radar, excellent aerodynamic layout and complete weapon system, although it is a medium-sized aircraft, can somehow beat the heavy air superiority fighters like F-15 and Su-27. Talking about beyond visual range combat, the Super Dragon has an active phased array radar, which can detect enemies first and attack multiple targets; talking about close-range dogfighting, it also has absolutely sensitive maneuverability, which already occupies a certain advantage. It is said that many countries are only equipped with medium-sized fighters, without heavy ones, even the two of the five major powers, Britain and France, use medium-sized aircraft like Typhoon and Rafale.

  Zhi Yimeng also has plans for a heavy-duty air superiority fighter, but it's not just a sidekick. He is now waiting for his base to be upgraded and the combat lab to be opened, after which he can once again grasp new technologies and manufacturing capabilities for new weapons. At that time, he will have more options, such as the black eagle fighter, which was inexplicably assigned to Nan Bang, a twin-engine heavy air superiority fighter. Zhi Yimeng looked up the data and found that this black eagle fighter is actually more like the Su-47 Golden Eagle, with a bomb bay that can hold two medium-range missiles or one 500kg bomb, and its forward-swept wings give it extremely strong subsonic maneuverability and smooth supersonic transition performance.

  This formidable fighter has a maximum payload of around 10 tons, and also has some stealth capabilities. As a counter to the F-15, it seems somewhat extravagant, and even against the F-22, it may not necessarily be at a disadvantage.

  Another option is the MiG fighter in the Red Alert 3 series, which is not a MiG-21 or MiG-29. It also uses twin engines with large thrust and has good aerodynamic layout, making its maneuverability quite good. However, it falls short of the Black Hawk in terms of range and payload capacity. Its strengths lie in its lightweight body and strong defensive capabilities, and the use of nested air-to-air missiles that have significant lethality.

  Zhiyi still tends to choose the Black Hawk fighter jet later, which is closer to the price of the modern-day Black Hawk. Although it did not adopt many new technologies, but increased combat effectiveness insignificantly compared to the more expensive MiG fighters.

  Apart from the main fighter jets, transport planes, bombers and special aircraft have not been included in the large-scale production plan. Instead, helicopters and drones that can be quickly put into the next two mountain wheel battles are more favored by Qi Yiming.

  The helicopters chosen were the Z-9 Haitun and Z-20, but not armed helicopters. At this stage, the role of general-purpose helicopters is slightly greater, and the Vietnamese People's Army lacks countermeasures in the war zone, so the armed version of the Z-9G and Z-20 with rocket pods and 30mm machine guns can suppress the Vietnamese.

  The role of drones during this period is also significant. The main products produced by Zhiyuan are the CH-802 land-based handheld reconnaissance drone, the CH-3 integrated strike and reconnaissance drone, and the ASN-109 general-purpose drone. There is a bigger problem here, these drones more or less need the support of Beidou satellites, otherwise the failure rate will be higher, of course GPS is also universal, but it can't be used for a lifetime, and before the combat laboratory is implemented, the Beidou system cannot start construction. Fortunately, with relatively ordinary methods such as laser guidance, it is still possible to effectively strike the enemy.

  The adoption of drones is mainly due to the complex terrain conditions during the war with Vietnam, which caused various troubles for combat. The drones equipped with synthetic aperture radar and thermal imaging instruments made it impossible for the Vietnamese army to hide in the jungle. The CH-3 carrying AR-1 missiles can conduct precision strikes against them. These drones can also provide more detailed and accurate intelligence for the ground forces, eliminating the need to send out large numbers of reconnaissance troops and risking casualties. Additionally, drones equipped with guided pods can assist the Flying Leopard in completing mid-course guidance for ground strike missions, improving combat effectiveness.