Don't talk about martial arts, I'm a war contractor

Chapter 434: Bombing, bombing, boomerang! (Please give me a monthly ticket!)
The remaining targets will be acquired dynamically after the airstrike is launched. After all, once the fighting starts, the Tuareg are not stupid. They have a large number of bungalows vacated by civilians who fled, and they can hide in any one of them.

What is being competed for now is real-time intelligence. All the outdated Snowy Owl drones have been withdrawn to the homeland and replaced with a new batch of MQ-9 Reapers that can carry missiles.

It would be fine if the number of enemies was small, but in a town clearing operation like this, the cost of using Hellfire is a bit high.

On the whole, the old GBU guidance kit is more cost-effective. The Chinese don’t even use their own domestically produced JDAM AASM hammer much, and they are really stingy.

In the following week, two MQ-9 drones, without bombs but equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks, took off alternately for long-endurance reconnaissance.

In the city of Kidar, which was scanned frame by frame by the drone's optoelectronic camera, the elders' veiled eyes were staring at the sky.

He couldn't see the Reaper drone flying high in the sky, but there had been no news from the Hairen and Jihuo Defense for several days.

Something was not right. The other party must be observing them using invisible means, looking for flaws and preparing to attack.

If a military satellite is used, they will be completely helpless. But if a large drone is used, there are ways to deal with it.

But the problem now is that we cannot alert the enemy. The organization’s secret weapons must be kept until after the war breaks out.

Yes, portable air defense missiles cannot defeat high-altitude reconnaissance drones and long-range bombing fighter jets. This requires a proper short-range air defense missile.

"This is a period of time for all members to remain alert, as enemy airstrikes will soon arrive."

The elder instructed his deputy beside him.

Unlike the government forces, the ground forces of the Hai people will not enter the battlefield until the air force fighters have finished bombing. The survivability of the Toucans of the Marian Air Force can only be said to be slightly stronger than that of the fighters.

“This time many young people in the tribe will be killed or injured, but the Tuareg people will not accept their fate. Only Azawad can decide our fate!”

The deputy was sad, but he reaffirmed his belief once again.

But the Kurds also think so, and whether they can achieve it can only be decided on the battlefield.

The date of the attack soon arrived. In the military hangar at Oga Airport, an F-4K and two F-16s completed their preparations for takeoff.

Twelve GBU-12s filled the heavy racks of three fighter jets, while the C-135FR outside the hangar taxied to the start of the runway and took off before the fighter jets.

Except for the red Fighting Falcon with modified conformal fuel tanks, the combat radius of the F-4K and Mirage-2000D in beast mode is a bit below standard.

Therefore, even though the straight-line distance from Oga to Kidar is less than 500 kilometers, in order to prevent emergencies, refueling aircraft are needed to escort the fighter jets.

Of course, the price is 15 per flight.

This brings the total income to 45, plus the basic costs of 20 per sortie for the Spey Phantom and 40 per sortie for the Red Falcon.

There is also the launch cost of the GBU-12, which is 2 euros per unit. For such a ground bombing mission, the total revenue for Jiehuo Defense is about 220 million euros.

Well, it is about the price of two unmanned target drones, MiG-21 and Yak-52.

But that is the benefit that can only be obtained with the support of an entire aircraft carrier museum system, and these three fighter jets are just the air force for concentrated fire defense.

This level of profitability is already quite good, not to mention that there are many air strike contracts throughout the deployment cycle.

"Buzz~buzz~~"

Two Mirage 2000Ds then took off, and Xia Yu, who had put on his equipment, sat in the back seat of the F-16.

He came here to experience it, while Hans next door came here to help the old man.

As his physical condition deteriorates, Alvin is ready to transfer to a museum to fly electric fans next year.

During this period, Hans will help share the ground attack work.

As for the Horseshoe Bat crew of only one person, if he is too busy, there will be wingmen to help illuminate and guide.

However, in a low-intensity battlefield like Afika, the pace of ground attacks is very slow and a single crew can handle it, but the fruit bats are a little too old.

Horseshoe bats and tube-nosed bats, both in their thirties, are very fit and energetic. After finishing their overseas labor service, they can return to their home country and work for another ten or twenty years, unlike Alvin who has to retire and find a job.

"set off!"

Following Xia Yu's orders, three fighter jets slid out of the hangar one after another and slid towards the starting position of the runway.

"Buzz~Boom~~"

The throttle was pushed forward, and the leading fruit bat crew turned on the afterburner to take off. The horseshoe bats and tube-nosed bats followed closely behind. The three planes merged with the two Mirage 2000Ds circling in the sky, forming a five-plane formation and accelerated towards Kidar.

At the STAFF base in the city that received the bombing notice, the blue helmets were on high alert, and the Azawad militants mixed in with the Tuareg civilians were also very vigilant.

Especially after the black spy they hired reported that five fighter jets carrying bombs took off from Oga Airport.

This is why clearing operations are difficult. As soon as your fighter jets take off, people will notice it, and the effectiveness of the bombing will be greatly reduced.

But this is Afika. Not to mention the buildings that are comparable in strength and fortification to those of the former Soviet Union, even the ordinary brick-concrete buildings in Syria cannot compare.

The bombardment formations that arrived in the airspace near Kidar began to enter the attack position one by one until the first Mirage 2000D dropped a GBU-12.

"Boom~~"

After flying just 12 kilometers, the MK82 warhead of the precision-guided munition exploded in the center of a courtyard. The shock wave directly razed three earthen houses and the walls to the ground.

The loud explosions and rising smoke caused the civilians of Kidar to flee in all directions.

Some of them ran out of the city, some ran home, and some ran to the STABILIZATION Mission’s base. Many Azawad militants on the street followed familiar civilians and ran back to their homes to seek refuge.

This strategy was very effective, but after several days of reconnaissance and analysis, it was determined that it was a building occupied by militants, and none of the people in the house or the pickup truck could escape.

"Boom~boom~boom~~"

One GBU-12 after another was fired down, destroying the target compound in sequence according to the briefing.

But a total of 52 laser-guided bombs all landed, conservatively eliminating only 100 militants of the Azawad Coordination Movement and more than 30 pickup trucks.

These separatist armed groups are better at exploiting civilians than extremist groups. Not only do they hide their soldiers among the people, they also remove the supports of their vehicles and park them together with civilian pickup trucks.

Drones cannot distinguish, so the main target is still personnel.

After dismantling more than 60 yards, the bombing formation, which had exhausted its ammunition, began to return.

The two F-16s still had 65% of the remaining fuel, so they returned to Oga first, found the other three fighters that were lined up by the Cow crew to complete aerial refueling, and then returned.

The city of Kidar below was in a mess. From the perspective of the MQ-9 that stayed to continue reconnaissance, the first convoy of vehicles had already packed their bags and were fleeing.

The refugee camp next to the stabilization mission’s base was also officially opened to accept refugees.

"Why didn't the Chief shoot down those damn fighters?"

An Azawad militant complained as he collected the bodies of his companions in the ruins.

"We obviously have..."

"Bache, the leader asked us to be patient. We have to wait until the enemy lets down their guard before we can deliver a fatal blow." said the companion who was helping to carry the corpses.

Bache could accept this statement. The enemy's vigilance would definitely be the highest when attacking for the first time, but he felt very uncomfortable losing his companions who had fought against the government forces together.

"Don't worry, we will avenge them."

The comfort from his companions gradually calmed Bache's anger.

However, the two of them survived the first day and the second day, but could not wait until the sunset on the third day.

"Boom~boom~boom~~"

The continuous bombing caused the Coordination of Azawad to lose nearly 400 people. There was nothing they could do about it, as the wood-and-mud houses with a thin layer of earth had no shelter at all!
However, just as Leader Taiquidda had expected, the bombing squadron gradually relaxed its vigilance.

If a laser-guided bomb is dropped outside the defense zone, the target will have no chance of counterattacking.

But Xia Yu had no control over the hairy pilots, but he could still remind his own employees to be vigilant.

"I seriously doubt that the Tuareg have access to Gaddafi's arsenal in the desert. The desert holds no secrets for them, so the threat we face is more than just MANPADS."

After returning to the government army's base on the border and arranging the ground forces to prepare for departure, Xia Yu held a telephone conference with Oga's four people.

"The Chinese didn't provide any anti-radiation missiles. If you encounter short-range anti-aircraft fire, immediately drop all your missiles and leave the battlefield."

"Especially the Fruit Bat crew. The F-4K's maneuverability is poor, and it has no advantage against older anti-aircraft missiles. If you can't escape, you should parachute when you need to."

If a fighter jet crashes, you can still ask the Chinese for compensation, but if an employee’s life is lost, there is no way to get it back.

"Yes, boss!"

Everyone responded in unison.

The Chinese also have similar speculations, but the female deer and hail are equipment that can be purchased on the international arms market.

In comparison, short-range air defense missiles are not only shipped in small quantities, but are also expensive and are not as common as portable air defense missiles.

So their vigilance was not high. On the fourth bombing day of this week, the pilots, after breakfast, walked towards the fighter planes on which they had just completed the bomb loading operation.

The four pilots of the Hair Army were already talking about how to spend their vacation after returning home, and the expressions of the four people from the Fire Defense Department became much more serious.

The other side limited the number of Mirage 6Ds to 2000 while the pilots rested. The pilots were rotated for actual combat, and their deployment period ranged from a few months to half a year.

This group of four people was supposed to return home in early April, just in time to end this week-long ground bombing.

But the Coordination of Azawad obviously did not want them to go back, and two wheeled platforms carrying four cylindrical shells drove from two basements to the earthen houses on the ground.

The leader officially gave the order for today's counterattack. Regardless of whether it would be successful or not, they would fire all eight missiles.

Because there were only these two vehicles and the eight missiles on them in that secret arsenal.

This is also the reason why they have kept the refurbished missiles at the bottom of the box without using them, and today is the most appropriate time.

"Ager, the enemy is taking off."

Taiquidda's deputy walked into the house with a satellite phone and spoke to Ager, a college student in charge of two anti-aircraft missile vehicles.

The informant called and told them the information that the bombing formation had taken off. According to previous data, the other party would arrive over Kidar in half an hour at most.

"When their first bomb lands, this missile can only reach 16 kilometers at most, and we don't have a command vehicle yet."

Agger replied calmly.

Let the enemy in and fight, this was the tactic they agreed upon together.

This is also the only flaw left by the Chinese who use the second-generation Paveway in order to save money.

For example, if the Chinese people in China all replaced their missiles with JDAMs to clear the way, how could a 16-kilometer missile be used to hunt down fighter jets dropping bombs from dozens of kilometers away? The correct approach would be to get some medium- and long-range air defense missiles.

"Pearl bless you, I hope their targets are not our two compounds."

The deputy prayed devoutly.

According to probability theory, it doesn't matter if you don't pray. There are tens of thousands of courtyards in Kidar, and the probability of randomly selecting dozens of them each time is still not as high as the probability of someone in your address book appearing around you and wanting to punch you.

In fact, this kind of courtyard connected by tunnels is indeed not on the list of targets selected for MQ-9 drone reconnaissance.

Until the door of the house, which had never been opened before, was pushed down along with the earth wall by two pickup trucks with bulldozers welded to them.

"Boom~~"

The first GBU-12 landed today, and the pickup truck, which had been running for a long time, crashed into the earth wall and rushed into the courtyard.

Two Sidewinder anti-aircraft missile vehicles rushed out. The five fighter jets focused on ground bombing did not see this scene, but the MQ-5 Reaper patrolling the entire Kidar soon discovered the abnormality.

"咻~咻~咻~咻~~"

The two vehicles ignited four French-made Sidewinder short-range air defense missiles in a row and left the launch tubes. Guided by the Ku-band target indication radar of the launch unit, they flew towards the locked Mirage-2000N and the single-seat Fighting Falcon next to it.

“Beep~beep~beep~beep~~”

Alarms rang throughout the cabins of the two fighter jets. With a distance of less than 10 kilometers, it seemed as if a close combat would occur in the next moment.

The horseshoe bat did not panic. He was at a relatively far distance and after getting rid of all the laser-guided bombs, he made a turn and changed direction while successfully breaking the sound barrier, leaving the two anti-aircraft missiles behind.

There was no other reason. The radar warning receiver identified the incoming missile as the Sidewinder short-range air defense missile, also known as the Gallic Short Arrow.

This missile can only fly a little over Mach 2, so as long as the position is right, it can escape without even firing jammers.

But the pilots on the other Mirage 2000D panicked, as their radar warning receivers also identified their own missiles.

So is this a boomerang?
The Chinese who sold rattlesnakes to Gaddafi in the last century would never have dreamed that 18 years later, their fighter jets would be chased and beaten by their old friends in Mary.

Fortunately, there were two people in the crew, and the weapons officer in the back seat threw away the unfired GBU-12 in time.

Seeing that he could not shake off the two Sidewinders by changing direction and accelerating, the pilot simply gave up trying to escape. While climbing upwards, he also fired all the infrared decoy bombs and jamming foil strips.

"Boom~Boom~~"

After all, it is an antique. When it approached to a distance of less than 2000 meters from the Mirage-350D, the missile's infrared proximity fuse was automatically activated, and then it was detonated prematurely by dense jamming bombs.

It was a close call, it was almost shot down. Even if I could eject, I would have become the biggest joke of the Air Force.

"咻~咻~~"

Seeing that all four shots missed, a launch vehicle on the ground fired the last two Sidewinder rounds.

(End of this chapter)