Chapter Seventy-One: Escaping the Undead Bird

  MiG-23's pointed head broke through the huge sonic barrier, its wings adjusted to the largest rear-swept angle, like a flying dart, thick tail nozzle shot out pale purple flames, that was the result of afterburning chamber at work, soon, it accelerated to extreme speed.

  In theory, the afterburner can be supported for a maximum of three minutes. If it lasts any longer, there is a risk that the engine will be damaged. Afterburning is actually over-drafting the life of the engine.

  Arsalan doesn't care about that much, as long as he can succeed, then he will be a hero who can escape from the panda's pursuit within ten kilometers.

  Being hunted down and escaped is also heroic. Because up to now, no Iraqi aircraft that has come into contact with the pandas at this distance has survived.

  If it were a racing competition, the MiG-23 might not be able to outrun the F-14, but Iranian pilots have no interest in competing with him over who runs faster.

  In their eyes, this MiG fighter that had launched a sneak attack on its own side was as good as dead.

  They didn't open fire, although the distance is increasing now, but the weapons officer in their rear cabin had enough time to launch a missile.

  "Radar TWS mode, preparing for non-death bird." Abbas said.

  TWS mode, refers to the simultaneous scanning and tracking, in this case, the radar works in pulse Doppler search mode, while tracking a target, it scans the surrounding airspace to prevent other situations from occurring, is a common method used in deep combat conditions, it can track 24 targets simultaneously, and attack 6 of them with AIM-54, that is to say, under ideal circumstances, one F-15 can deal with an enemy squadron.

  Although in TWS working state, the radar's working distance is usually less than the maximum search distance. For example, for a radar with a 5 square meter reflection area, the maximum search distance is 213 kilometers, but in TWS state its effective distance is 167 kilometers. However, for the Mig aircraft that has just flown out twenty kilometers away, this distance is nothing.

  Because mechanical radar requires rotation, in this mode, it rotates once every two seconds, so the radar display updates the target position once every two seconds.

  Due to the scarcity of Phoenix missiles, each aircraft was only loaded with one Phoenix, three Sparrows and two Sidewinders. Although at this distance, using Sparrow would have been enough, Abbas decided to give the opponent a profound lesson by taking him down with the most powerful Phoenix.

  The weapons officer in the rear cabin quickly operated the radar, locked onto the target that was breaking away from the front, and provided guidance data for the AIM-54 Phoenix missile. The launch preparation was soon completed.

  "We have locked onto the target," reported the rear cabin's weapon systems officer.

  "Fire!" Abbas pressed the launch button without hesitation.

  A phoenix with a fiery tongue flew out of the panda's belly and rushed towards that light in the distance.

  In another Panda Inn, Akbari also launched Immortal Bird.

  The AIM-54 Phoenix is a heavy, long-range air-to-air missile system developed by the United States Navy. It has a range of over 100 miles (160 km), and can simultaneously attack multiple targets. Due to its large size, each missile weighs an astonishing 440 kg (970 lbs), nearly half a ton, and can only be carried on the F-14 Tomcat.

  The H-59 uses a large conical warhead; the warhead is fitted with 4 large triangular wings to provide lift and maintain stability for the missile; the tail section is fitted with 4 cruciform fins to control flight direction; the missile has a standard high-explosive fragmentation warhead, weighing 60 kg.

  The S-300PMU2 missile system uses different guidance modes at various stages from launch to target impact. After the missile is launched, it automatically climbs to an altitude of 24,000 - 30,000 meters and flies at a speed of Mach 5. In the initial stage, it follows a pre-programmed flight path. During the mid-course phase, the AWG-9 radar on board the "Bear" uses semi-active guidance. When the missile enters the terminal guidance phase, the onboard radar system is activated to search for and track the target. The missile then automatically dives towards the target at extremely high speed. Even if the warhead does not explode, the kinetic energy of the missile alone is sufficient to destroy an enemy aircraft.

  So, once hit by the phoenix, there is almost no chance of survival.

  Although the AIM-54 Phoenix is a standard equipment of the US Navy's Tomcat, it may be the Iranian Air Force that has used it in actual combat the most.

  Two birds that cannot die have flown into high altitude. At this time, the distance between the two sides is 23 kilometers. At this distance, the bird that cannot die only needs to fly for a dozen seconds or so.

  The rear cabin's weapon operator began to manipulate the radar in an unstable manner, with the 25.4 cm diameter CRT tactical information display screen in front of him flashing constantly. The 2-second-per-cycle scanning time allowed for six or seven refreshes, while the adjacent 12.7cm multi-function storage tube displayed detailed information.

  Fortunately, the driver was an improved model equipped with a "police horn" 3 radar warning system. Arslan heard a startling alarm in his earpiece and knew he had been locked on by the opponent.

  Arslan knew that the time for the final test had come.

  How to walk out of the shadow of the phoenix? After careful study of each battle, Arslan found that in the lucky escape cases, there were two times when they quickly dived and escaped from high altitude.

  This shows that although the other party's radar is powerful, it also has weaknesses. Of course, whether this weakness is indeed a weakness remains to be verified by oneself.

  Arsalan speculated that the opponent's radar would also lose its target in certain situations, and this loss of target would only have the best effect when launching a Dead Bird missile and when the Dead Bird missile was about to enter the no-escape zone.

  So he counted down in his heart, "Five, four, three, two, one..." He pushed the control stick forward and the MiG-23 began to dive at an almost vertical speed.

  This maneuver is very dangerous and can easily lead to a fatal spin if not executed carefully.

  However, only by diving down can the maximum maneuver be performed, and in the shortest time, fly over the longest distance, which may cause the opponent's radar to lose lock.

  The whip cracked, the airspeed indicator in front began to approach the red zone, and had already exceeded Mach 2.4; if it continued to fly like this, there was a possibility that the fighter jet would disintegrate in mid-air.

  The huge overload made Arslan feel unbearable, but he could still endure it, and he had to endure it.

  To become a pilot, you must have excellent physical fitness.

  The weapons officer in the rear cabin of Abbas suddenly found that the light spot on the radar had disappeared.

  AWG-9 radar with AIM-54 configuration was originally designed for high-speed intercepts against penetrating enemy strategic bombers. Although the radar used the advanced 8080 processor and an 8-bit assembly language program, the Track While Scan (TWS) mode, which tracked targets while scanning, was not very reliable. It worked better against slow-moving, low-maneuverability bombers, but against agile fighters, the opponent's violent maneuvers and rapid changes in position could cause the TWS mode to lose lock.

  If time permits, the AWG-9 radar can transform into an air combat maneuvering (ACM) mode. If the opponent performs various complex maneuvers such as rolling, it can be re-scanned and locked onto again. Moreover, the AIM-54 Phoenix missile has the ability to re-lock onto a target in flight, allowing the Phoenix to be re-commanded, locked onto, and attacked again.

  But now the distance is very close, and there is no time to re-lock, so the AIM-54 will enter self-guidance mode. However, due to the limited size of the AIM-54's guidance head radar antenna, the effect of self-guidance is very poor, and even the carrier aircraft's radar has lost its target. The radar of the "Phoenix" can't find the target at all: the opponent has already flown out of its fan-shaped scanning area. At this time, the AIM-54 "Phoenix" has become an uncontrolled rocket.

  "Target lock released, the Undead Bird missile will initiate self-destruct sequence in 20 seconds," said the rear cabin's weapon operator.

  "Switching radar to ACM, find that damned MiG," the pilot in the front cockpit said, starting to maneuver the aircraft to accelerate.

  PS: In order to write these chapters, I consulted a large amount of data and looked for ways to use outdated fighter jets to deal with the MiG-25. On the Iran-Iraq battlefield, there were indeed cases where outdated fighter jets shot down the MiG-25, as well as cases where they escaped from the MiG-25's clutches, but these were extremely rare, with luck being the main factor. It wasn't until they were equipped with the new Mirage F1 and Super 530 missiles that it became possible.

  Thanks for "Cang Ye Fei Long"'s reward!