Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 204 Blue Sky Guardian
"The target voyage is more than halfway."

"I see. Ready to launch."

"clear."

The weapons operator set about checking the fighter's navigation system.At this time, the formation was gradually approaching the final navigation point, and it was about to turn eastward according to the scheduled route and insert into Cochin Port, which was unlikely to be expected by the enemy. The error between GPS and Beidou system is as high as 1.5 kilometers, which shows that the American experiment is not over yet.Now the practical navigation system mastered by the Chinese has become the secret trump card in the hands of Major General Islam.In the counterattack he conceived, the J-11BS fighter will launch the Eagle Strike missile at the maximum range and then return.The biggest flaw of this plan is that the Eagle Strike missile is an extended-range anti-ship missile, so it only has an inertial navigation system, not a cruise missile that integrates the Beidou system or terrain matching capabilities.In the absence of relay guidance, the cumulative error cannot be corrected, and naturally it is difficult to take advantage of the maximum range.In the compromise plan, Hamid's formation would enter 150 kilometers outside Cochin Port at an altitude of 150 meters to obtain a position.If the enemy has a warning radar in that area, the attack formation may be exposed early.Once the Indian Air Force launches an interception in the Arabian Sea, the barely fueled Hamid formation may not be able to return, and his return journey almost needs to follow a straight line.Another question is how much the error of anti-ship missiles launched at such a distance will be, no one knows.If there is only a slight error, it will not affect the missile's attack on the sea. Once the missile's terminal guidance radar is turned on, it can search for the target by itself. However, considering that there are 8 large cargo tanker docks along the coast of Cochin Port, as well as container terminals.In addition, there are 11 mooring buoy berths protruding from the port, and several ships of more than [-] tons will berth there at any time.The complexity of its interior determines that such a tactically unlucky, technically incomplete sea-skimming attack is difficult to be effective.

"Major, the power supply of the warhead has been switched on." Said the pilot in the back seat.Now, the three missiles under the wings and muscles have entered the launch preparation stage. The pilot and a complex gyro navigation system have been powered on and quickly reached the speed that can work by themselves. The battery of the missile itself has also been connected, and the launch has been completed. It is imperative.

"We lowered the altitude to 150 meters."

"clear."

Hamid pointed the nose of the plane in the direction of the target.On the head-up display, the flashing launch permit logo disappeared for a while as the aircraft's movements increased, and soon began to appear on the left side.The wingmen followed closely behind, following up.It seems that everything is going well, and there are only 270 kilometers left from Cochin. He knows very well that even if the Indian Navy discovers the movement now, it is too late.It is impossible to move an aircraft carrier or a larger freighter in such a short time.

"Maybe we can get closer," Hamid said.He found that India's reconnaissance was very lax, so he thought of deceiving the enemy.

"Listen to you, squadron leader."

"Lionheart 2, let's lower the altitude a little more. Maybe we can get closer to 120 kilometers. This will make us more confident." The major said, now he doesn't care about the possibility that the radio may be intercepted, and it should be too late for the enemy to do anything now.

"What if they send out interceptor fighter jets?" the wingman asked.He believes that if Hamid's revised plan is followed, and the enemy's coast is too close, it is likely to be discovered by India's coastal security radar or fleet.

"Those subsonic fighter jets on Wellington Island should not be able to intercept us." Hamid replied confidently.He knew that the subsonic aircraft was the Sea Harrier Squadron deployed by the Indian Navy in the Port of Cochin. The major knew very well that the best fighter squadrons in India are currently in the north, and the squadrons in this area are mainly equipped with some second-generation aircraft.

The aircraft has passed the launch point on the electronic navigation chart.The major's formation continued to attack due east at a lower altitude.With just a few more minutes of adventure, they can reach a more valuable attacking position.For Eagle Strike missiles that rely entirely on inertial navigation and terminal radar guidance, the hit rate will be greatly increased.

With the deepening of the transition, a large number of secondary threats emerged on the electronic tactical threat system, and the system classified them one by one, including long-range radars from land, and destroyer radars from the southern sea. Bite fighters, fire control radars from the air and sea.Hamid reckons he has half the chances that he hasn't really been exposed (he has always had unrealistic fantasies about the inefficiency of the Indian Navy and Air Force).

"Okay, turn on the afterburner and prepare to launch the missile." He glanced at the fuel gauge and said.The plane is half full of fuel.However, after throwing away two and a half tons of ammunition, it can obviously reduce fuel consumption, so the major decided to increase the speed a little.

The two fighter jets successively dropped their respective missiles in the air 100 meters away, and the plane climbed up and began to turn slowly. The 6 missiles fell steadily, ignited and flew eastward on the calm sea.These missiles had a great initial velocity, accelerated to Mach 0.8 without much effort, and then lowered their altitude according to its own program.The pilot flew to the distant target according to the established route.It was an area of ​​unprecedented complexity. In fact, the aircraft carrier did not stop on a coast.Cochin Gang itself belongs to a lagoon.Across the center is Wellington Island, surrounded by islands connected by bridges, and most of the large berths in the port are hidden behind the islands.This is a huge test for anti-ship missiles with simple targets. Most of the missiles are obviously optimized for the endless sea.The main threats they need to focus on are electronic interference and false targets on the sea surface, which are more sensitive to the size of the target, and crossing a land full of trees and buildings is obviously not their specialty.The gamble of the Pakistan Air Force, in fact, is of little military significance, as Sami judged.

Several sea-skimming missiles flew towards the same target according to their own sets of inertial commands, but halfway through, the missiles began to disperse due to different degrees of error accumulation.They will turn on the radar search at roughly the same time, but what they see must be different.

The Indian air defense force had spotted the fighter jets, but was completely unaware of the missiles entering the harbour.The first person to see the first missile was a motorboat fishing outside the port.The captain was smoking a pipe, watching a small plane passing by the sea. The wings of this plane seemed a little small, and the sound was not quite right. After a while, he was sure that it was not a plane.The captain got out of the bridge and turned his head to look east.If it weren't for a cluster of flames in the tail, the missile would have been almost invisible.The cluster of flames hit a huge bulk carrier in the distance that was slowly sailing away from Vembanad Lake, and a violent explosion occurred immediately.The captain was a little puzzled. He felt that this was completely impossible. Recently, he had been listening to the battle reports from New Delhi every day. As far as he knew, Pakistan had completely lost its ability to fight back and would perish within a week or two.

The second missile to arrive managed to cross Wellington Island.Its actual path, almost exactly the intended course, lay out in front of it on a large radar cross-section surface; there was indeed a big ship there.The missile launched a round of maneuvers in the last few hundred meters. This is a preset set of actions to avoid standard short-range counterattacks. However, these evasive actions are completely redundant. It plunged headlong into a giant coal carrier flying the Cyprus flag. .This ship was temporarily towed by a tugboat to cover the front of the Weilante aircraft carrier, acting as a scapegoat, but the insignificant missiles caused limited damage to this tens of thousands of tons of empty freighter, and all the personnel on board were evacuated in advance.

The two deviated missiles that arrived later all left the port. They went deep into the interior of Kerala State from the direction of Vibin Island, and one hit a house.Another spent its fuel and fell in a rice field.

The last 2 missiles that arrived deviated from a larger distance, and they had no chance to get close to the real target. They turned half a circle in the bay and then passed the building of the Indian Fisheries University in the south, missing all large targets that could be attacked.The missile instructions apparently did not encounter such a situation, and now they are circling in circles on the south side of Wellington Island in a daze.After crossing the Vandross Long Bridge, it flew in a direction that ran counter to the real target, but the radar still found it.They saw a vague target at the end of the port, 2 kilometers away.There is the largest shipbuilding and repairing plant in India - Cochin Shipyard.There is indeed nothing there, and the Indian Navy's unfinished aircraft carrier INS Blue Sky Guardian is being intensively built there.This uncontested new aircraft carrier is not the goal that Pakistan's armed forces staff want, although they all know that it has been there for many years, stop building.This aircraft carrier is currently only 7% complete, and the progress of the project is nowhere in sight. Obviously, it will not be able to keep up with this war or even the next war.The Pakistani military is only focused on the real threat - the old aircraft carrier USS Villant carrying Sea Harrier fighter jets.Of course, when this absurd and chaotic attack finally ends, how will its military and political value be revealed?It is still unpredictable for the time being, maybe it will go against the original intention of all the planners and get some unexpected results?Of course, this is just another story.

2 missiles passed through the gantry hanger and passed through the half-opened aircraft carrier deck.Welders on deck watched as they went through, and then an explosion occurred inside the carrier. The 600-ton gantry crane collapsed backwards with the sound of the explosion and was hitting the deck forecastle.The missile's remaining fuel ignited a fire below several decks of the aircraft carrier, and four General Motors gas turbine power systems that had just been installed in place were burned.When the explosion happened, the project manager and the chief engineer himself were leading a group of workers on the fourth deck to check the drawings of the previous week's wiring, and no one has seen them since.

(End of this chapter)