Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 273 The Unbreakable Red Line

The Su-24MKI fighter jets of the 30th Eagle Squadron once again participated in the battle in key areas.Originally, the fighter jets of this squadron have gradually shifted to the defense mission of the Leh-Istanbul line-mainly responding to the increasingly active mobilization of the Chinese Air Force in the north.The Air Staff even believed that the fighting in the south was almost over, and it seemed pointless to exhaust the elite squadrons.But the army was once again unable to support it alone. They carried out an offensive that exceeded the air support capabilities, directly across the Suleiman Mountains and approached Quetta, the westernmost important town in Pakistan. Quetta's distance exceeded the combat radius of most Indian Air Force combat aircraft.

Things are getting weird for fighting hero Goya.At the wing's routine intelligence briefing, the intelligence officer reported a new situation: a Chinese-made fighter jet that looked like the Sukhoi Su-30 appeared in the mission area and directly participated in the battle.These Chinese planes no longer even modify the red badges, and they no longer pretend to use English to communicate. At the same time, there are Chinese early warning planes entering this area.Those Mirage 2 fighter jets, which carried two 500kg bombs and were barely able to approach Quetta from the front-line airport, were not opponents at all.The cover of the Lions Squadron, as always, disappointed their superiors; the lions were still afraid of close combat, and did not dare to stay too long over the mountains at this point in the war.As long as there is a sign of trouble, they will leave their phantoms and run fast.Those elusive surface-to-air missile units in the Suleiman Mountains really frightened the lions.

Captain Goya knew that those who had never experienced low-altitude missile attacks would panic during the first few missile attacks.However, the Eagle Squadron has excellent tactics and has roughly grasped the attack characteristics of the Hongqi-9 missile. It is known that the active radar at the end of this missile is turned on late, and in fact it is quite dependent on the instructions in the middle to correct the trajectory.It is not difficult to quickly get rid of radar exposure in mountainous areas, as long as you are willing to take some risks.In addition, Goya also really wants to shoot down a few of those single-seat fighters called J-11s.In any case, it is unacceptable to compare these aircraft with the Su-30MKI. These Chinese-made aircraft do not have vector nozzles and phased array radars. Except for a slight advantage in climbing, all aspects of performance lag behind the Eagle’s Su-30 fighter.

All four fighters participating in the emergency operation carried no bombs, only air-to-air weapons, and anti-radiation missiles for self-defense.The task of throwing the bombs finally fell to the Lion Squadron. There is a new saying in the squadron: as soon as the eagle appears, the lion will be reduced to the role of the underdog.

Goya speculated that air battles with enemy aircraft would definitely take place over the Suleiman Mountains, and the R77 could attack large, inflexible aircraft like the Il-76 at the edge of the envelope.Therefore, the Chinese Air Force is bound to stick to this red line, and a fierce battle will be inevitable.

After taking off, the formation began to approach the scheduled rendezvous point. In the plan, there were many other units participating in the attack, but Goya doubted whether such a large and unreasonable plan could be completed. Although India has a huge air force, the air force The command ability has always been limited, and every previous large-scale fleet operation has failed tactically.

"Here are the eagles, are the flying snakes here? I need them to suppress the ground radar." Goya asked.

"The flying snakes won't arrive, they have another mission." Someone in the A50 command plane replied.

Goya sneered and switched the communication channel.This was within his expectations.The flying snakes are always inexplicable. They often fly to the wrong area to interfere with their own communication, but it is difficult to find them at critical moments.

"Attention Eagles, we are not going to be dealing with the Pakistan Air Force anymore, I hope you understand. They use completely different aircraft and tactics."

"Chinese pilots have no actual combat experience." Said a wingman pilot.

"Actually, they have been in the war secretly for as long as the war itself, so don't underestimate the enemy, especially when they bring an early warning aircraft." Goya warned his wingman, he felt that he had grown up rapidly, if he is now The squadron leader of the 24th squadron has also completed his duties.

"Fortress, the lions are moving too slowly, they should have appeared in the confluence area long ago." Goya complained, this was on purpose, he knew the lions could hear his words directly from the radio.

"They're still getting close."

It was getting late.If the enemy intends to approach by the afterglow of the sun, it is a good time. The downward vision ability of A50 has not been excellent, especially in such terrain.Goya ordered his wingman to turn on the radar to detect the front.

The opponent's radar detection arrived almost at the same time. It was not any known Pakistani early warning aircraft, and its location was probably in the remote Afghan border area.

"Eagle, this is the fortress. There is a problem with the lion's navigation, and the sky is too dark, so we can only catch up later."

"Attention Eagle, the enemy has a satellite navigation system, and we can't get cheap in this regard." He said to the remaining three Su-3MKIs.

"I don't want lions to make trouble," said another wingman pilot. "The enemy's fighter plane is too similar to ours, and those novice fighters may not be able to tell the difference."

The Su-30MKI captured some fleeting fuzzy signals, and at the same time intermittently discovered the start-up characteristics of the enemy's fighter jet radar, which indicated that the enemy's command plane was dispatching troops and knew how to deal with it.

"Once their ground-to-air radar is turned on later, don't... panic..." Before he finished speaking, a phased array radar hidden deep in the mountains suddenly appeared, and quickly caught the entire eagle formation. , Their ground radar has been silent before, and the only one that can guide the irradiation radar to quickly point to the target is the early warning aircraft. The Chinese ground-air coordination capability is obviously higher than that of Pakistan.

"Turn with me to avoid radar."

The eagle immediately launched an evasive action, which made the opponent's sneak attack plan of quickly turning on the machine and then firing failed. The distant A50 saw the enemy launch several missiles. These peaks also blocked the enemy's radar beams (ground and air) for him, as well as his own radar.However, the A50 does not have an advantage in detection distance, which makes the situation take a turn for the worse.

"Look, their missiles," said the weapons operator.

Goya turned his head, and there were clusters of flames on the other side of the mountain making a sharp turn and flying away from him. These missiles obviously changed their routes temporarily and flew towards other targets behind, most likely the Lion Squadron approaching in a daze.

A wingman fired an anti-radiation missile at the ground radar in the distance. This action forced the opponent to shut down immediately. The missile still flew to the target position according to inertial navigation, but Goya did not expect to hit it.

He lowered his head to check the information sent by the data link, 4 enemy planes had already rushed in front of him, and he had gained the altitude advantage.This is consistent with his expectations. What the Chinese Air Force wants to maintain is air supremacy over the mountains to ensure that the takeoff and landing at Quetta Airport will not be threatened.

"The formation is disbanded and immediately put into battle."

The eagle was attacked by a special formation composed of 2 J-10s and 2 J-11Bs. Song Ning took the lead and firmly grabbed the two rapidly rising enemy planes in the air. He expected that there were still a few minutes before dark. Last chance for air combat within visual range.After a face-to-face meeting, the two sides immediately fired medium-range bombs, hoping to eliminate the enemy as soon as possible.Song Ning and his wingmen quickly raised their heads to avoid the enemy's radar pulses, which made all four R4s lose their targets.Song Ning's action itself also made his radar lose its target. The two SD77s were interfered by ground clutter and chaff from the opponent during the final guidance stage, and failed to hit.

The pull-up action of the Indian fighter plane was extremely rough. Obviously, the vector nozzle was working, but the climb was not fast, which showed that it was carrying too many weapons and fuel.Song Ning immediately disbanded with his wingman, circled to two sides, and each flew towards a target.The enemy's counterattack was swift, and the R73 missile was launched off-axis immediately.Sammy once said that this missile is almost infallible from 3/9 o'clock, assuming you can't just do nothing.Song Ning increased the overload cut in, and turned his head to observe the enemy's missiles from time to time. The missile's wake drew a uniform arc and flew out of sight.Song Ning didn't use the helmet sight in the same position to retaliate. He doesn't have as many weapons as the Su-30, and he can fire randomly.

Song Ning didn't know if he was eyeing the lead plane, but he only knew that it was the first one to come out of the valley.The enemy plane tried to get rid of the J-10 fighter through a tight grapple, but the climb of this two-seater aircraft was not outstanding among heavy aircraft, especially when it was fully loaded with weapons, it gradually fell into a disadvantage in several rounds of pursuit. It made the Indian pilots frizzy.He started to call for help, but the 4-on-4 air battle in the air was inextricably fought.None of the warplanes were free to rescue others.

Using vector technology is his only chance. This technology is very unreliable and must be carried out at a low speed. Once the counterattack fails, the fighter will be in greater danger due to loss of energy. However, seeing the light fighters behind begin to occupy The vantage point, the pilot has no choice.He began to slow down and turn sharply, and the cumbersome fighter forcefully pointed its nose at the opponent like a giant bird flying backwards.

The J-10 fighter jet briefly flashed past the middle of the Su-30MKI HUD. The phased array radar quickly captured the target, but after pressing the launch button, the missile did not leave the launch pad. It may be caused by the violent action. Failure, he immediately switched weapons in a hurry.The J-10 has quickly escaped from sight by a dive.

Su 30 started to turn on the afterburner, but he knew that he had encountered an old hand, and he would not give himself such a long time to increase his speed. He could only increase his speed by diving.Night landed in the Suleiman Mountains in good time, which made the pilot completely unable to see the valley below. The rear enemy aircraft radar had begun to track, and the warning sounded throughout the cabin airport.

"Enemy missiles," yelled the weapons operator in the back seat.He has already seen the two missiles launched by the Chinese fighter planes becoming brighter and brighter.With no extra choice, the Indian pilot almost dodged the missile in the valley with his eyes closed.

Song Ning didn't dare to chase the enemy plane in the mountains at night, he watched the enemy plane turn and hit the mountain. Two PL2C missiles then hit the burning wreckage in the valley.

(End of this chapter)