Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 22 In the Name of Anti-Terrorism

"Scorpion team, 65 kilometers away from the target."

"Boss, this is the Scorpion Squad. We just flew over Kasur and didn't see any lights. The enemy seems to have taken precautions."

"It may be the light control. They must have received news of the air strike in the north. They cannot know our attack target."

"Squad Scorpion understands."

Pandit worried that if the target was also controlled by lights, the ordinary bombs carried on the plane would not be effective.

"All check the weapon switch and turn on the laser-guided bomb switch."

Pandit went on to say that the thought that the mission was half done, at least from a distance, relieved him a little.Regardless of whether he could see the target or not, he could sneak back to the border from the east as soon as he finished dropping the bomb.So he began to check the weapon control panel calmly, and turned on the switch of the low-resistance bomb.

"Surface-to-air radar is on." A cold female voice floated in the cabin, and the alarm system worked.Captain Pandit lowered his head to check his bearings. At 4 o'clock, there was an E-band radar wave constantly scanning and trying to track it. This was obviously a Pakistani radar, but he didn't know how far away. However, Captain Pandit was a careful person. I know that in order to live a long life, it is better to be prepared for everything.

"Scorpion team, lower the altitude to 400 meters."

"Scorpion 2 understands."

The four planes descended at a moderate sweep, leaving the nearby Panther team on top, and the Pakistanis on the ground should now be able to clearly hear the roar of the planes passing overhead in the night sky.The low-altitude performance of the MiG 27 is good, and it is still a bomber suitable for low-altitude assaults. But having said that, this is also an aircraft that is easily shot down by anti-aircraft guns, so Pandit must always pay attention to the radar of the surrounding anti-aircraft gun positions.

"There are still 15 kilometers away from the target. The formation maintains its course and enters the runway to bomb one by one."

Pandit turned on the CRT monitor on the right side and switched on the reconnaissance pod. Under the green background, the dazzling lights that should be at the airport at night were completely invisible. Obviously, there was also a power outage here.After a while, he found the airfield, a tall building that was obviously the navigation tower that should be attacked first.He thought there should be no guards inside, since it is a civilian airport after all.

"This is Scorpion [-]. The enemy has implemented a blackout. They request to abandon the bombing of the airport runway and prepare for precision bombing of the airport facilities."

"Scorpion One, it is approved to abandon the bombing of the runway, and laser-guided bombs can be used to bomb the airport facilities." The command immediately agreed with the captain's opinion. The obvious target, so only two planes in the first attack wave carried laser-guided bombs, and the Pandit plane carried only ordinary low-drag bombs.

"Scorpion 2, No. 3 will be bombed by you, and I will implement laser irradiation."

"Scorpion 2 understands."

Everything was as rehearsed in advance. The No. 2 and No. 3 planes carrying laser-guided bombs began to climb rapidly, while Pandit minimized the sweep angle, just like taking off and landing, so that the MiG-27 could fly smoothly at a low speed Well, the captain's task now is to launch the laser smoothly and accurately, but he can't fly over the target before the bombs of No. 2 and No. 3 aircraft fall.

The laser light emitted by the laser pod accurately irradiated the navigation tower, and from the low-light display CRT in the cabin, one could see a slightly swaying white light on a dark-toned building ahead.

"Scorpion 2 saw it."

The captain looked up and saw that the two planes in front of his head were speeding up and flying towards the target. They were at a dangerous altitude above 1000 meters and could be easily captured by radar, but the attack was only a matter of an instant.

A violent explosion suddenly appeared ahead, and the bomb accurately destroyed the navigation facilities of this civilian airport.Immediately the tower burst into flames.

"Scorpion leader, we hit the target." No. 2 aircraft called.

"I saw it, return immediately."

"Captain, at the moment of the explosion, I saw two C130 aircraft on one side of the apron. It was at the end of the runway." No. 2 aircraft continued to report.This made Captain Pandit a little bit excited. Since the target is ahead, maybe he can try his luck with his ordinary bombs. He remembers that there is an open space after the end of this runway, just like all airports, outside the runway There will be a meadow with no dwellings.So even if it misses (almost certainly) it won't blow up any civilian targets.He thought that on the first day of the war, he couldn't return empty-handed.

"Leave it to us, you return immediately, pay attention to the surface-to-air missiles around."

The captain himself did not withdraw from the battle, he continued to maintain the automatic level flight control of the aircraft, and began to search with his low-light reconnaissance pod. According to the description of the pilot who had already dropped the bomb, he really found the two aircraft at the end of the airport, and they were well hidden. If it weren't for the flames of the explosion, it would be easy for them to be confused.

"Scorpion 4, follow me closely, we can't take the bomb back, we have to conduct a horizontal bombing."

"However, we can't see the target." Scorpion No. 4 said behind.Indeed, since the reconnaissance pod is fixedly installed on the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, the angle of view is limited. When the aircraft approaches the sky above the target, it cannot see the target below.Unless the pilot is wearing night vision goggles, looking down from the cockpit is nothing more than black eyes.

The captain pondered for a while. The wingman's argument was not unreasonable, but he felt that it was unreasonable to go back without dropping a single bomb on the first day of the war.

"Don't worry, I am very familiar with the situation here. I guarantee that there are no civilian targets within one kilometer nearby, and we will not go to court-martial. Turn on the low-resistance bomb switch." Captain Pandit said.

"The switch is on."

"Direction 255, speed 320."

"Very good, keep flying horizontally, and follow me into the bombing area at the same speed."

The captain quickly adjusted the course. While he could still see, he had to point the nose at the target. The laser range finder quickly calculated the distance to the target, but it could not provide any parameters for the timing of bombing.On the MiG-27, using a computer to calculate the landing point of continuous bombing must put the target within the HUD aperture directly in front of it. This is only an option for daytime bombing.

The captain decided to put aside any sights and drop the bombs completely according to his own experience, but he remembered one thing, the anti-runway bombs carried by the two MiG-27s with deceleration parachutes had different advances from ordinary free-fall bombs , he thought, must be as calm as possible, the bombs will blow up a dense wall of fire, and maybe one will explode near the target.

"Turn on the bomb fuze switch."

"opened."

The target moved slowly on the screen in front of the captain, and finally disappeared from the bottom of the screen. It was out of the field of view of the reconnaissance pod, which meant that it was in front of the eyes, but it was just invisible.

"Scorpion 4, wait for my password. Be calm."

"Scorpion 4 understands."

"..."

"bomb."

"Already voted."

The two planes dropped their bombs one after the other, then turned away.After turning more than half a circle, the delayed bomb exploded behind him.Captain Pandit turned his head. He saw a mosque collapsing in the flames.

"Captain, we seem to be..."

"This……"

"Will there be trouble?"

"No, don't talk about it on the radio, let's go back."

(End of this chapter)