The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

"What second booster?"

Han Xiangjie's question was so confusing that Fan Chaohui couldn't understand what it meant for a moment.

"I see the target..."

The former was about to give further explanation, but stopped abruptly before he could even begin to speak.

Because at this time, he has already reacted——

A second booster, of course, is impossible.

Which good person designed a second-stage boost for a cruise missile?

And more importantly, after the target was split into two, neither of them continued to fly like before, but after maintaining a short trajectory, they began to fall at the same time.

Although electronic nautical charts can only present two-dimensional graphics, the altitude numbers in the target information bar next to it are refreshed every second.

In just a few breaths, the number of points dropped from 22500 at the beginning to 20300.

Obviously, this could not be a pre-designed testing process.

But...

Disintegrated in mid-air...

As if to confirm his guess.

After about half a second of silence, the boat's communicator rang again.

This time, Xue Shijun even had a slight tremor in his voice when he spoke:

"Something's wrong with the target! I think... I think it might have disintegrated in mid-air!"

As a technician, he still tried his best to maintain rigor even in this situation and did not make any final statements.

Although no one could think of a second possibility.

"what?"

Fan Chaohui, who had already put on a life jacket, was climbing the ladder at the moment, but when he heard these words, he was stunned where he stood, not knowing whether to go up or down.

After hesitating for a moment, he let go and jumped down from the ladder.

This was an action that clearly did not comply with the safety rules on the boat, but neither he nor Han Xiangjie cared about that at the moment.

"what happened?"

Fan Chaohui strode to the chart table.

"A few seconds ago, the target's radar signal suddenly split into two... At first I thought it was something that had separated, but soon I discovered that both parts began to lose altitude rapidly, and now they are..."

When Han Xiangjie turned his gaze back to the target information column, the data on it just disappeared.

On the one hand, the bistatic radar still relies on the signal source being more than 300 kilometers away, so it cannot overcome the reduction in observation capability caused by the curvature of the earth.

On the other hand, the two signals were now split into many again, which was obviously beyond the processing range of this radar, which was originally designed to observe a single ultra-high-speed target.

Of course, in this situation, there is no need to explain anything.

Anyone can tell what happened.

This time, it was Han Xiangjie who first regained his composure:

"Xiao Xue, have all the data been recorded?"

He almost immediately realized that, both in terms of technology and public opinion, the observation results captured by the radar today would be of much higher value than expected.

"I've recorded it..."

Xue Shijun's voice still sounded a little confused:

"It's just that there were too many fragments produced by the final complete disintegration, and some of them didn't have time to generate detailed parameters..."

Han Xiangjie suppressed his excitement:

"It doesn't matter……"

He rubbed his hands, looked at Fan Zhaohui who was standing next to him, and continued to ask questions to the other end of the communicator:

"Can you use the partial trajectory generated, like the booster just did, to estimate the approximate area where these fragments will fall?"

This question also directly awakened the latter who was in shock:

"Old Han, are you preparing to..."

Han Xiangjie interrupted him and signaled to continue later.

When everything was going according to plan before, he hardly showed any presence and just completed his tasks calmly.

But now, faced with such an unexpected situation, the independent judgment developed over more than 20 years of submarine career began to play a role.

With just a few words, Han Xiangjie had taken control of the overall situation.

There was silence on the communicator for a moment:

"Yes, it is possible, but these fragments are too small and will be seriously affected by crosswind and resistance, so the accuracy will be poor..."

"It's ok."

Han Xiangjie replied calmly:

"In this case, the splashdown area will be very large, so a rough range will suffice..."

A few seconds later:

"I have marked it in the system. You should be able to see it on the nautical chart."

Sure enough, a striking red circle appeared on the chart table.

The nearest edge is approximately 95 nautical miles west of the boat.

"Old Han, do you want to go over there and take a look?"

After ending the call, Fan Chaohui asked again.

"Ah."

Han Xiangjie hummed without even looking up, and quickly planned the sailing distance on the nautical chart:

"We can't drive at full speed for 95 nautical miles, but it only takes about 6 hours to get there... Based on my personal experience, if there are some debris with coincidental shapes, then they may float on the sea for a long enough time. Even if not, we can collect some water samples. I don't know much about cruise missiles, but if it is an airplane, then the fuel can probably last for a few days on the sea surface."

Fan Chaohui's eyes flickered, and he was obviously persuaded.

Compared to a mere booster, the hypersonic vehicle itself is obviously more valuable.

Even though it is impossible to salvage a complete wreckage in the high seas and ocean, as Han Xiangjie said, we have to try our luck after all.

Even if we get the fuel samples prepared by the Americans for the scramjet engine, it will have some technical value.

"But the enemy's surface ships may also head there..."

He was no longer questioning the other party, but trying to convince himself.

Han Xiangjie's actions were even faster. He picked up the communicator and began to give orders in an orderly manner:

"Retract the antenna and close the missile bay door."

"Attention everyone on board, prepare to dive!"

"Chief Engineer, increase the reactor output power and pay close attention to the radiation parameters of the power compartment!"

"..."

After everyone on the boat got busy again, he turned to Fan Zhaohui and explained:

"The enemy is now about 200 nautical miles behind us, and is still tracking and monitoring our fleet. Even if we leave immediately, it will take another 6-7 hours to catch up, and it is at the other end of this sea area, leaving us plenty of time... Moreover, considering the time they will arrive, I even doubt that the Americans will necessarily make a special trip. The only thing we need to be careful about is the satellite, so we need to complete the operation underwater..."

The latter's last bit of worry was also dispelled, and the expression on his face changed slightly:

"In fact, in addition to the UUV, my team also has a professional diver who can exit the cabin through the torpedo tube and operate at a depth of about tens of meters for a period of time..."