Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 2 The Eagle
The plane taxied some distance, headed off the runway, and Goya pushed back the throttle to the middle position, stopping the afterburner.After he retracted the landing gear, the plane circled over Bareilly Airport and flew northwest.

"I know that Gudeba's 33rd Wing is a very common tactical attack wing. They are all old-fashioned aircraft. Well... anyway, there are some Phantoms and some Chinese-made MiGs." Gafar, who was sitting in the back, said in a tone Quite a bit of contempt.

"Unfortunately, our flight path runs counter to the battlefield. Maybe the guys from Lions Squadron can pick up this bargain. But I believe they will return empty-handed in the end. The day before yesterday, one of their planes was launched far east of Kasua They fired long-range missiles, and the enemy plane escaped calmly."

"Lions are always too reckless. Their tactic is to turn on the radar and patrol with swagger, for fear that others will not know." Weapons operator Jaafar said.

"Attention Eagle 302, this is the Eagle's Nest. The early warning aircraft at Xindan base has temporarily malfunctioned, and it seems to have returned. You are still navigating by ground radar. Over."

Bad news came over the radio, and the first uncertain event occurred. In the tradition of the Indian Air Force, these unexpected things are always inevitable.Lieutenant Goya didn't take it seriously. He continued to move forward at an altitude of 4500 meters according to the preset course, maintaining a medium speed. This route was basically a straight flight.

Gradually, the Su-30 fighter jets approached the actual line of control from the hinterland of the north.The radar warning device flashed a few times from time to time, and Jaafar checked them one by one. They were all ground navigation radars or G-band radio signals emitted by the Sam 19 missile site of the 6th Infantry Division, not the radar in the direction of Pakistan.

The large snow-capped mountains are already in sight, and the other side of the snow-capped mountains is the Pakistan-controlled area. Lieutenant Colonel Mosin said on the radio:
"Attention the eagles, the lions are in the air, the enemy is not coming towards Punjab, and their signal has disappeared. Our analysis shows that they have probably gone back, and they may also fly towards the north, which is your direction. We need you to stay at the border more for a while"

"Really disappeared? Over." The pilot asked.

"Not sure, just disappeared on the radar, there are too many mountains here, it's hard to keep track. It must be noted that their Mirage aircraft can fly very low for a while. If these Mirages go north at low altitude along the border. You can Eliminate him at a distance, don't get too close." Lieutenant Colonel Sinner said that the first thought in his mind is always to save the squadron's aircraft first, even if it is facing a Mirage 40 made 3 years ago.

"Hopefully, they took advantage of the nearby mountains to evade radar," Goya said.

"I suggest you maintain altitude and turn on the fire control radar," said the lieutenant colonel.

"receive."

2
The lieutenant had a premonition that he might hit right on the wrong side this time. If the enemy was secretly flying north along the border, then he might be in a small right azimuth, that is to say, in a condescending tailing state. He did not follow the lieutenant colonel's instructions. The instruction to turn on the radar is just to turn on the power of the IRST equipment and enter the infrared signal scanning state. This is a passive search method that is not easy to expose itself. It has a field of view close to the radar and better target resolution at short distances.

The radio paused for a while, then rang again.

"Eagle 302, this is the Eagle's Nest. Bad news, latest intel, Kargil's forward base has been attacked, these bastards, sure enough, are going north to avoid radar, they have played our air command, son of a bitch 181 Squadron (an early warning aircraft unit that failed in battle)." The lieutenant colonel said.Lieutenant Goya thought to himself: How could this be bad news?Is it because the army lost several bunkers?In his opinion, this is an excellent opportunity to make meritorious deeds, but he can't say it.

"Fortunately, we also saved a hand, and you are still in the air. Continue to search towards your 12 o'clock direction, remember the rules of engagement, only long-range attacks are allowed, and no close combat is allowed."

"understand!"

"Oh, by the way, and one more thing. Missiles can go through the Line of Control, but your planes can't. It's Congress' job to start a war, not your job."

"receive."

Goya pushed the throttle forward, the seat began to shove his back, and the plane quickly accelerated to 850 kilometers per hour.Obviously, the enemy plane should not flee west immediately after dropping the bomb.They would probably use the mountains to hide for a while, as they did when they came by stealth.The lieutenant made up his wishful thinking and rushed towards the general direction. The lieutenant colonel's rules of engagement had long been ignored by him.

"Should we turn on the fire control radar? Increase the search distance?" Jaafar asked from behind.

"No, that will only scare the snake away."

Goya knew very well that the target that the ground radar could not detect must be hiding behind the mountain, and it was foreseeable that they were trying to slip away in a large circle, because the further north the mountain was, the higher it was.

"Have you seen the snow-capped mountain ridge in front of us? We will definitely find something if we go over there."

"However, the rules of engagement prohibit us from crossing the Line of Actual Control."

"Don't worry about it so much. If my guess is correct, they are fleeing in the direction of 1 o'clock, and the angle is 90 degrees. In such a situation, we can definitely fire first."

Goya lowered the relative altitude all the way to 2700 meters, and the mountains in front were clearly visible. He leaned slightly to one side, lowered the slope and slid across the snow-capped mountains along the ridge.Communication with the ground was lost immediately, and a few seconds later, his head-up display showed something: a thin line composed of a series of light spots, and the infrared search and track system seemed to have caught the enemy plane.

"I still can't see clearly, maybe it's a small plane."

"Laser ranging failed, still too far away, maybe 25 kilometers ahead, at an altitude of about... 1600 meters."

For Lieutenant Goya, the good news is that the enemy puts their ass on him, so that it only takes a little time for him to sneak up on him, and the enemy plane is still in the dark.The bad side is that if the ground radar on a nearby enemy position is turned on, it will also reveal its whereabouts.

The information on the head-up display is constantly changing, and the search system is constantly scanning as the infrared signal increases.The target locking frame has successfully circled the target and entered the tracking state.The lieutenant chose the R73 missile, which is the most reliable sneak attack weapon. Unfortunately, there are only two on his plane, and the rest of the pylons are full of bulky semi-active radar-guided missiles, which is the preferred attack method of Lieutenant Colonel Mosin.

The lieutenant first pressed the weapon preparation switch according to the procedure, turned on the power supply of the R73 seeker, and the logo that allowed the launch finally began to flash.If he can't hold his breath, he can launch missiles now. Infrared-guided weapons can be launched without knowing the distance and speed of the target, as long as the person who presses the button dares to pat his chest to ensure that the other party is indeed within range.

Based on Goya's experience, if he can barely see a small aircraft like Mirage III or MiG 21 in broad daylight, then the distance is roughly between 8 and 10 kilometers.But he still can't see the plane clearly, so he has to keep tracking.

The dotted target on the head-up display is divided into two parts. It is now certain that there is more than one enemy plane, and the signal from the one in front is very unclear, perhaps blocked by clouds and fog.

"Dude, we only have two fighting missiles, why don't we fire at them with fire control radar, with radar-guided missiles," Jaafar said.

"No, we are still in the dark, and we cannot easily give up this advantage. You have to help me keep an eye on the ground radar in the west. They have some mobile missile positions west of the control line."

"Okay, leave it to me."

The enemy planes in front did not have any maneuvers, and they have not noticed the pursuers behind them.The lieutenant had shortened the distance between them to about 4 to 5 kilometers, and now he could clearly see the flat-tailless rear design of the plane behind. Obviously, it was a Mirage V fighter-bomber, the enemy plane's There are no fuel tanks or bombs under the wings, guess there should be two magic missiles.The lead plane further ahead was still invisible to the naked eye.Lieutenant Goya figured that launching an IR missile first would surely be able to stealthily take out an opponent first, or, switching immediately to the typical radar simultaneous scan and track mode, he could launch several R27s (there were six on the plane) ) to attack these two targets at the same time, but the enemy's RWS will immediately issue a warning, and will definitely take some countermeasures, maybe the form will become a real 6 to 2, which makes him a little difficult.

(End of this chapter)