Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 72 Hidden Threat

"Captain, is there another big battle today?"

"That's right, at least two Su-2 squadrons will participate in the bombing with us. You see, these arrogant guys above have to hang ordinary aerial bombs now." Looking up and seeing the eagles hanging on the bombs, the captain felt a little relieved One point, "Listen, prepare to cross the border. Check the various systems, you have to pay attention and look back a few times. You know, our aircraft is no more than those fashionable new gadgets, and you can't be careless at any time." Pandey While reminding others, Te checked the weapon safety and warning devices.He knew that the blind spot of the MiG 30's backward electronic warning device is very large. If the enemy's radar shines on him from the rear and bottom of the fuselage (the direction commonly used by surface-to-air missile radars), or scans from the side, rear and top (the common direction of fighter jet fire control radars) If you don't, this old-fashioned "Selina" system probably won't have any response. He has already experienced this, so he has to remind his brothers to stay away.

"Look, I saw the Su-30 of Rhino, it's at 2 o'clock." A pilot said.

Pandit looked down at the clock on the instrument, now is not the time for rhinos to appear, and in fact, rhinos and lion squadrons are always a virtue, rarely approaching or crossing the border, the captain has not seen any rhinos so far , they always hide farther than themselves for 'cover'.

"Two o'clock?" The captain looked carefully.After a while, he also saw a few light-colored silhouettes in the sky.

"Fool, this is a Trident MiG-29B. If you can't recognize our own aircraft, I guess you probably can't recognize the enemy's aircraft. From now on, not every aircraft with double vertical tails is ours Yes, you can't make the same mistakes I did, so put your tricks on the line."

"clear."

In view of the lack of data links on the aircraft of the Scorpion Squadron, and the various sensors are in a rather backward state. In fact, after taking off, these aircraft are often in a state of black eyes. statement is practical.

"I have one more thing to remind you. In the event of an emergency, you don't have to turn back to the base. You will stay in the local territory for too long. You can land at Adampur nearby. Just like I did last time."

"Are these MiG-29s from Adam Bull reliable?"

"I think it's better than the Rhino Squadron. The pilots of the Trident have fought several tough battles with enemy planes."

"I hope they won't leave us and run away."

In the low altitude in the southeast, Captain Rolle was commanding a 5-plane formation to fly westward. Adam Bull was the closest to the bombing area, and his fleet flew almost straight there. The only tactical consideration for this route was the range.According to the requirements, for this attack, Rolle's MiG-29 also carried nearly a ton of aerial bombs.Within the Indian Air Force, doubts about the air combat capabilities of this fighter are growing day by day. Due to technical limitations in long-range air-to-air capabilities, the Air Force Staff currently tends to regard this air superiority fighter as a multi-role fighter-bomber use.All the pilots of the Trident Squadron believed that this was a big mistake, which made the MiG-29B with a limited range choose the worst strategy in the compromise between attack and defense and range, which limited flexibility. Also limited range.But at present, the upper echelon of the Air Force believes that the Su-30MKI can stand alone in the air, and the Trident Squadron with relatively backward equipment must transform and start attacking the ground.

"Tell me about your fuel situation." Captain Roll asked.The aircrafts of the Trident Squadron have different degrees of aging on the outside, and the upgrade stages of the internal equipment are not the same, and even the engines are slightly different. During such attack missions with a very limited range, the captain has to ask frequently, so as not to be confused. The plane was in a situation where it could not fly back.

Sure enough, the fuel tank under the belly of one plane was almost used up. This squadron rarely carried bombs and seldom flew at low altitudes, so some deviations from the estimated range on the ground were inevitable. If an enemy plane encountered at the far end of the route , How much air combat time is left is really doubtful. .

"What's this called?" thought the captain.It is meaningless to let the MiG-29 bomb with unguided bombs. Judging from the results of bombing training in previous years, the entire formation conducts unguided horizontal bombing at 1500 meters, and one bomb can fall on the dam. Even thank goodness.For such an attack effect, it is putting the cart before the horse to give up mounting medium-range bombs.But there was one thing that made him happy today. He heard Goya's voice on the radio.Although the Eagle Squadron is currently the unit most envied by pilots on the entire Punjab front, the captain is still very happy to be able to fight side by side with Goya.

"The trident calls the eagle, I see you."

"Captain Roll, good to hear from you," Goya replied.

"Eagle, we have to attack across the border first, we don't have much fuel. You have to cover us."

"Eagle understands. I heard that you encountered that Pakistani ace pilot again, I mean that 101." Goya turned the topic to the aspect he was interested in.

"Yes, I was almost shot down by him, but I have discovered the weakness of this type of aircraft. You can perform an afterburner climb in the vertical plane, which can drag down that Thunderbolt. Then, at the end of the bucket, there will be Opportunity to aim... don't fight him in a horizontal circle, and don't use a helmet meter to aim at high off-axis angles, it may work for others, but this guy is a ghost, it is difficult for him to work."

"Like I said last time, very strong frontline fighter," Goya said.He knew that what Rolle said was correct, which was consistent with the conclusion he had pondered. When he first dealt with this Thunderbolt, he still remembered the maneuverability of this far less powerful plane on the horizontal plane. , from 300km to 800km, the turns of this aircraft are excellent.These experiences between him and Roll are all due to their own setbacks. Fortunately, Goya was not shot down at the time. Now Goya is confident that he has fully grown up and can compete again.

"Well, it is true. But these front-line aircraft have great weaknesses. Recently, it has been difficult for them to take off from any front-line airport." Rolle said.In fact, this weakness is nothing more than relative to the heavy fighter units like the Eagle Squadron. For the Trident Squadron with a limited range, it is not the same.

"I wish we'd run into this guy. I guess he might be a squadron leader, maybe a major."

"Us? No, I don't want to run into this lunatic. I think the news from the Air Force intelligence department may be biased. These thunderbolts have never conducted a ground attack. Every time they appear, they are here to desperately."

The two captains were chatting on the radio, which made the ground and the commanders in the early warning aircraft feel baffled.They felt that the pilots should have paid more attention when crossing the border, but since these two are star pilots who have been on TV, no one interrupted them on purpose.

(End of this chapter)