Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

"Fourth radar station reports, the target drone is changing altitude according to the predetermined program, and is expected to rendezvous in airspace fourteen!" the guide excitedly announced.

The biggest worry for everyone was, what if the target didn't descend?

If they were to engage a MiG-25 flying at 30,000 meters, the Mirage 2000 wouldn't be able to do it. Therefore, they could only meticulously design an action plan: strike when the target is taking off or landing!

To better scout the plateau, the Indians had placed their MiG-25s at the northernmost airfield. After taking off, they would fly over the high mountains during their ascent. At this time, their altitude hadn't yet been fully raised. Of course, they weren't worried either, as the East couldn't possibly drag the Hongqi-2 to those high peaks to target them, not even if they went one or two hundred kilometers deep into the plateau. Therefore, they only needed to climb to the predetermined altitude within that distance.

To save fuel, if they didn't use afterburners for rapid ascent during takeoff, their altitude would only be around 10,000 meters when flying over the highest mountains. Similarly, during landing, they would also descend to this altitude so that the round trip route would be the same. Otherwise, even if they flew over the base, the altitude would be too high, and they would have to circle a few times before landing.

The entire plan was more like a gamble: betting that the Indian pilots would start descending from a long distance! Now it seems they had bet correctly!

When the MiG-25 took off, even if their side could detect it, there wouldn't be enough time to take off and intercept. However, it was different when the other side was landing. Their side had observed its entire flight path and could even calculate how much fuel it had left and whether it could circle to land. The final conclusion was that it could only descend in advance.

Now, everyone who knew the inside story was full of anticipation.

"Tower calling Lightning, the target drone is flying according to the predetermined plan."

Ge Wenyong felt his heart beating a little faster. He reminded himself to remain calm and not mess things up. He took a deep breath of the gas inside the oxygen mask and then skillfully turned on the radar and started warming it up.

"Lightning received, please instruct the next action!"

"Maintain direction, turn on afterburner, accelerate to Mach 2!"

Camara grumbled as he flew, "I never thought that we've already entered the eighties and are still fighting under ground guidance."

The East was using the old Russian tactics: establishing radar stations on the ground to guide fighter jets to take off and intercept. Throughout the entire process, the pilots only needed to strictly follow orders. This was difficult for the West, which had always advocated freedom, to accept.

However, now it was for the bidding, to push the Mirage 2000 to the East, he had to honestly follow the East's requirements.

It was difficult for a sonic boom cloud to appear at an altitude of 20,000 meters. The plane only trembled twice before entering supersonic speed and then continuing to accelerate.

Ge Wenyong had been watching the radar screen. Finally, a bright spot appeared on the edge of the screen!

"Lightning reports, target drone just entered my right hemisphere, speed 0.9, altitude 22,000, distance eighty!" Ge Wenyong shouted excitedly.

The ground-based long-range radar used meter waves, which allowed for long-distance detection but with poor accuracy. The accuracy of airborne radar was quite high. When the fighter jet intercepted the target, it also meant that the fighter jet had switched from passive ground guidance to the active attack phase. The mission of the ground radar station was completed!

Sure enough, in Qin Yang's explanation, a response came from the radio again: "Distance sixty, altitude twenty-one thousand!"

"Alas, it seems you will have to import a batch of high-altitude target drones from us in France so that you can meet your daily training needs."

"Yes, as long as this target practice goes smoothly, everything will be easy to talk about."

While everyone was chatting, Ge Wenyong's report came again: "Distance forty, altitude twenty thousand, request to enter lock!"

Old Lin picked up the radio: "Enter lock when it's thirty kilometers away!"

Now it was scanning. The target wouldn't notice it was being tracked, but as soon as it entered lock, it would trigger the radar warning receiver on the target's equipment, and the other party might maneuver to evade. Therefore, it was best to get closer.

"Yes!"

The warplane in the sky was very fast. Therefore, in just a moment, the distance had decreased to thirty kilometers. Ge Wenyong in the rear cockpit quickly entered lock. At this moment, the radar antenna in front of the nose no longer rotated but stared firmly at the target. The strong electromagnetic waves irradiated the MiG-25, immediately triggering the MiG-25's radar warning receiver.

"Warning, warning, locked!" Instantly, a high-decibel Russian voice came from Mukhoyi's earphones, and a warning light flashed on the dashboard.

He immediately turned his head and looked around. Below was already a plateau with an altitude of five or six thousand meters. Could there be anti-aircraft missiles deployed on it? Impossible, absolutely impossible!

The next second, he was completely stunned. On his left, in the sky at almost the same altitude, white smoke appeared! One, two! What was that? It must be air-to-air missiles being launched! Two missiles fired simultaneously!

"Garuda calling base, Garuda calling base, under air-to-air missile interception, under air-to-air missile interception!" Mukhoyi shouted while quickly turning on the afterburner. He wanted to climb, he wanted to evade this terrifying attack!

At this time, Ge Wenyong didn't have time to appreciate the scene of the two Super Matra 530 air-to-air missiles being launched. Locking, launching, it was all done in one go. After that, his eyes continued to stare intently at the screen, and he was still counting down in his mouth.

"Twenty, nineteen, eighteen…"

Camara in front was also stabilizing the plane, using the nose to firmly aim at the target. This was the flaw of semi-active radar guidance: before the missile hit the target, the aircraft had to remain stationary, allowing the radar to continuously illuminate the target.

The white smoke slowly dissipated, and the outline of the target drone appeared in the distance. Although he couldn't see the details clearly, Camara judged from experience: "Your target drone is too big, isn't it?"

Ge Wenyong in the rear cockpit did not answer but continued to count down: "Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen…"

At this moment, time seemed very long and very short!