Dominate South Asia

Although many fighter jets are rated at a maximum speed of twice the speed of sound, that is only the limit when they are flying at high altitude without external attachments. Once auxiliary fuel tanks, missiles, etc. are attached, the maneuverability will be greatly reduced. For example, the two F-15Es in the United States now cannot fly at supersonic speed even with full afterburner even with so many things attached.

The only ones that can exceed Mach 2 in normal flight are the Soviet MiG-25 and MiG-31! Among them, the MiG-31 is an improved version of the MiG-25, using a turbofan engine, which greatly reduces the fuel consumption rate. However, due to the poor high-altitude performance of the turbofan engine, the maximum speed of the MiG-31 is not as high as that of the MiG-25.

And now, the aircraft that took off from the Iranian Air Force base is undoubtedly the MiG-25!

The origin of this batch of MiG-25s can be said to be ill-fated. During the Iran-Iraq War, in order to fight against the Iranian Tomcat fighters, Iraq introduced a series of advanced weapons from the Soviet Union, including this MiG-25 fighter that can fly to Mach 3. In the battle with the Iranians, the MiG-25 went deep into the interior of Iran many times to carry out bombing missions. The Iranian Tomcat fighters could not effectively intercept this high-altitude and high-speed fighter. It was originally introduced as a fighter, but later it was used for ground bombing, which can be regarded as an alternative move by Iraq.

After the Iran-Iraq War, these MiG-25s were still in service in the Iraqi Air Force base, and the maintenance condition was good. As a result, when the Americans came aggressively, some Iraqi Air Force pilots, afraid of war, actually flew their planes and defected to the old enemy Iran!

Saddam was very angry, but it was absolutely impossible to get these fighters back from Iran. So, this batch of fighters became the fighters of the Iranian Air Force.

Now, facing the American fighter planes crossing the border, these two MiG-25s specially used for interception are put to use. After taking off from the airport, they accelerated and climbed at an altitude of 20,000 meters. At a speed of Mach 2.5, they flew towards the two F-15 fighter planes crossing the border.

"Attention, two MiG-25s were found at three o'clock." The early warning aircraft urgently notified the two F-15Es in front of this situation: "Drop the bombs and prepare to enter the air battle. Be careful not to fire first!"

The United States is not made of mud. Having just occupied Iraq, the US military has a complacent mood and thinks it is the most powerful. And now. The Iranian Air Force is clearly covering up the two Scud missile launchers below. In this case, let's have a contest with the Iranian Air Force!

"Received." Captain Lockett replied on the radio: "Let's have a contest with the Iranian Air Force!"

The weapon operator behind him pressed the button. Four bombs and three auxiliary fuel tanks fell down swayingly.

The F-15E, which had thrown away its bombs and auxiliary fuel tanks, felt lighter. With the afterburner turned on and the surging power coming, the F-15E began to climb rapidly and accumulate enough combat energy.

This fighter-bomber, which was improved from the F-15D fighter, has the same air combat capability as the F-15D. Now, two Sparrow missiles plus two Sidewinder missiles are enough to fight the MiG-25.

At the beginning, when the Soviets were just equipped with the MiG-25 that could fly to Mach 3, the Western camp was panicked. This fighter seemed to be invincible, and the West could not find a fighter that could match it.

Until later, the MiG-25 flew from the Soviet Far East. Captain Belenko, who longed for the free world of the West, let the West know everything about this "advanced" fighter, which turned out to be achieved by stainless steel and high-thrust engines! The poor control performance is just a flying brick.

Especially the simple fire control system, the radar has great power. But most of it is radiated in the form of heat, and the target processing ability is poor. The matching R-40 air-to-air missile has a range of no more than 30 kilometers.

Such a fighter is not a threat to the enemy! The current F-15E fighter uses the advanced AN/APG-70 radar, which is specially optimized for fast targets such as the MiG-25. With the Sparrow missile, it can intercept head-on at a distance of 40 kilometers!

Of course, not firing the first shot is also a strategic consideration of the United States. What we are playing now is the heartbeat when locking the opponent. If the opponent dares to launch a missile first, then fight back without hesitation! Pull the opponent into the airspace where the F-15 is good at, even with a Sidewinder missile, it can easily kill the MiG-25!

With this idea, the two F-15E fighters flew towards each other quickly, and a cone-shaped shock wave formed by white mist appeared on the nose. With a sound like clapping, the aircraft has exceeded the speed of sound.

The radar reflection area of ​​a huge fighter like the MiG-25 is huge, almost the same as that of a bomber. The AN/APG-70 radar found the two clear target echoes at a distance of 150 kilometers.

"Okay, let's get closer to a distance of 80 kilometers and then launch missiles!" Captain Lockett said: "Prepare a Sparrow."

In the past, during the Vietnam War, the reliability of the Sparrow missile was as poor as that of an uncontrolled rocket, but now, with the continuous advancement of electronic technology, the performance of this missile has become increasingly perfect. It once had a 90% hit rate when shooting, and it has almost reached 40% in actual combat.

"Understood." The weapons operator in the rear cabin said, and began to turn the button in front.

The two-seat layout brought about the dispersion of personnel tasks. The weapons operator in the rear cabin was specialized in operating various ground attack weapons and medium-range guided missiles, while the pilot in the front was only responsible for flying the plane and dogfighting.

The distance of 150 kilometers was measured in seconds for fighters with a relative speed of Mach 4. When the distance was 80 kilometers, Locket slightly retracted the throttle and said, "Prepare to lock the opponent."

When the radar enters the locking state from the scanning state, the short but strong electromagnetic pulse emitted will stimulate the opponent's radar warning receiver. Hearing this sound during flight is a phenomenon that all pilots are unwilling to face.

Lock the opponent and force the opponent to return home!

"Okay." The radar operator in the rear cabin turned the switch on the radar panel. At this moment, he saw a red light flashing on his operating panel, and then a unique sound like a cat's meowing came from the headset.

"AWG-9 radar signal!" The radar operator said, "Damn it, we are locked by the AWG-9 radar!"

AWG-9, the airborne radar of the Tomcat fighter, once made the Iraqi Air Force pilots avoid the battle and return home immediately when they heard the sound of the radar warning receiver. Now, it is transmitted from the direction of the MiG-25 fighter. What's going on?

No one answered them. At this time, the two MiG-25s on the opposite side had completed the lock. The pilot pressed the switch that had just been added to the panel, and a thick smoke came out from under the wing of the MiG-25. A huge missile detached from the launcher and flew forward.

If you look at it from the outside, it seems to be somewhat similar to the Phoenix, but the huge four-piece triangular tail is quite different from the Phoenix.

This missile is the characteristic of Iran, modified from the ground-to-air Hawk missile!

When the MiG-25 flew to Iran, Iran was quite satisfied with this aircraft that could fly at Mach 3. Now that the Soviet Union was in chaos, it would not be too difficult to get a considerable number of spare parts. Moreover, Iran also found some experienced ground crews. After maintenance, at least five aircraft were in combat status.

The backward fire control system of the MiG-25 was also replaced by the AWG-9 radar system by the Iranians. In the transaction with Pakistan, Iran obtained a large number of AWG-9 radar systems. In addition to leaving a certain amount of backup for its own Tomcat fighters, there were also several extra sets, which were installed on the MiG-25.

There is no doubt about the ability of Iranian technicians. Under the comprehensive sanctions imposed by the United States, and there was no other company in the world equipped with Tomcat fighters except the US Navy, and the parts were simply impossible to find, the Iranian ground crews managed to maintain the operation of more than 30 Tomcats, and many of the parts were made by themselves.

The fighter planes can make do, but the Iranians can't get more of the complex Phoenix missile system, so the self-reliant Iranians came up with a new way, which is to use Hawk surface-to-air missiles instead! This missile can be smuggled on the international market.

The Hawk missile weighs about 600 kilograms, slightly heavier than the 450 kilograms of the Phoenix missile. Both use radar semi-active guidance with X-band continuous wave radar illumination, and the launch control method is also very similar, which can be completed with less complicated improvements. Moreover, the Hawk surface-to-air missile can reach a height of 10,000 meters and a range of 30 kilometers when launched from the ground, and when launched under the aircraft mount, the height can exceed 20,000 meters and the range can exceed 100 kilometers, which is very close to the Phoenix.

Since the modification can be successfully made on the Tomcat fighter, the transformation of the MiG-25 with more backward electronic technology did not encounter too many difficulties. The Iranian ground crew successfully transformed these MiG-25s and made them a killer for long-range interception!

Now, these two MiG-25 fighters equipped with Hawk missiles launched super missiles at the two F-15E aircraft that were still full of confidence!

Iranians are stubborn at times, as tough as the Soviet Union! They will never let go of the aircraft that invaded their airspace! (To be continued ~^~)