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

"Can't see the target?"

When he heard the news, West's brain shut down for a moment.

The Rear Admiral's naval service experience so far can be described as colorful.

For example, when the Zeal was sunk fifteen years ago, when he was still a lieutenant colonel, he watched two A4 attack planes fly over, drop bombs, and then hit them.

This is not an opportunity that every commander has.

But facing the situation in front of him, he still couldn't make a judgment for a while.

The warning radar had clearly detected a flying object approaching at high speed, but the early warning helicopter, which was supposed to have a better view, reported that it had found nothing.

"Could it be that it's not a Chinese plane, but a UFO?"

The late 90s was a period when UFO fanaticism was at its most intense, and even West, as a naval admiral, was not immune to some effects.

Fortunately, the radio operator quickly reported the subsequent situation and did not let the fleet commander continue to think wildly:

"Neptune reported that they encountered electromagnetic interference, and there were all clutter signals in that direction!"

West didn't know whether to be happy or worried for a moment.

On the one hand, the Chinese are always easier to deal with than the aliens.

But on the other hand, this means that the other party has quite powerful electronic jamming capabilities, at least not weaker than the US military in 1991.

When both sides clearly have no intention of misfire, electronic warfare is almost the trump card in the confrontation.

At the same time, this also means that the Sea Javelin anti-aircraft missiles in the fleet will not be able to lock on the target.

At this moment, the target distance displayed on the radar screen was close to within 150km.

The rear admiral no longer cared to think about where the Chinese had assembled an aircraft with such a long range, and where they had obtained the electronic warfare technology that could blind their own early warning aircraft.

He could only use all the strength at hand to survive this wave first.

As West's order was issued, the deck of the USS Excellence aircraft carrier entered an unprecedented busy state.

It should be said that the Royal Navy has demonstrated a training level consistent with that of a veteran maritime overlord.

The aviation department quickly coordinated to divide the four aircraft preparing to land into two batches to free up two available take-off and landing points. At the same time, the auxiliary fuel tanks of the other two Sea Harriers on standby were removed so that they could meet the weight requirements for vertical take-off. .

Just a few minutes later, the two aircraft flown by Major Ian Watson and Captain Randall Brown completed the take-off procedure, successfully switched to level flight mode, and flew towards the target location.

The voice of the commander on the early warning helicopter came over the radio:

"Clover, the other party may have implemented electromagnetic interference. Our X-band radar cannot see the target, but we have also not found that the target is using radar. You may be able to take advantage of this."

In 1983, when Watson was a rookie, he encountered a radio failure that prevented him from finding the aircraft carrier and landed on a passing cargo ship just as he was running out of fuel.

Since then, four-leaf clover has become his call sign.

"receive."

Watson turned on the radar and tried it, and found that, as the early warning aircraft said, the direction of the target was full of clutter. Although this indicated that there must be something, it prevented them from using the AIM120 air-to-air missile as their trump card.

In the vertical takeoff state, his onboard fuel was only enough to fly about 270 kilometers at economic speed, so he didn't have much time to struggle.

In the end, the major decided to follow the advice of the early warning aircraft, turn off the ineffective radar, make a slight circle, and approach the enemy from the side.

He knew that the cockpit visibility of most Soviet-made fighter jets was very poor, so it was difficult to detect the presence of targets on the sides, especially on the sides and below, without using radar.

If you are lucky enough, you can even cut directly into the opponent's back hemisphere and gain a huge first-hand advantage.

As long as it can be delayed for 8-10 minutes, it will be enough to clear the take-off deck and allow other planes behind to take off in the normal way.

"Major, after engaging the enemy, remember to determine the model of the opponent's aircraft. It is best to use a camera gun to leave image data. It may be useful after we return."

This time the order came directly from West in CIC.

The current situation seemed to be back on track. The two Sea Harriers should be enough to entangle each other, so he began to wonder what model the Chinese had sent out, which could fly nearly 1600 kilometers.

"Maybe they weren't planning to fly back at all?"

Lieutenant General Boise, who had been a little nervous by the tense atmosphere in the CIC, finally found an opportunity to speak. In his opinion, the situation should be under control.

But this joke that he thought was funny didn't get any response, and even the captain who was on his side didn't look at him.

"Those three aircraft changed direction and passed towards our two Sea Harriers."

Colonel Dennis looked at the radar interface and said in shock,

"But didn't Clover and the others turn off the radar?"

Since neither side was using radar, they should have been blind, but the response made by the other side was obviously targeted.

"Who knows what witchcraft they used..."

West, who was a little exhausted, shook his head.

"In any case, at least they didn't continue to rush towards us. The Chinese plane probably doesn't have much fuel left. It won't last long before it returns."

Having said this, the major general finally breathed a sigh of relief and leaned his upper body back on the backrest.

……

A few minutes later, Watson, who had just received the warning, had made visual contact with the target at a distance of about 30 kilometers from the fleet.

However, the three-plane formation of the Chinese Air Force occupied a favorable position with its back to the setting sun, making it difficult for the British pilots to look directly at the target.

But despite this, the major still vaguely saw that there was a model with a slender body, which looked very similar to the old acquaintance Su-15 in terms of outline.

Of course, China does not have such an aircraft, so it should be their own J-8B.

After determining the target information, Watson felt a little relieved.

Under normal circumstances, the overall flight performance of an interceptor aircraft is the worst at the current flight altitude of about 8000 meters. If it really falls into a circle, then with the good nose directivity and the high stability performance brought by the high thrust-to-weight ratio, There should be no reason why Sea Harrier should be at a disadvantage.

Everything developed as he expected.

The opponent's three aircraft seemed to have no intention of continuing to fly towards the fleet, but calmly entered into a dogfight with him.

"Come on, monkeys..."

The moment the planes from both sides passed each other, Watson said to himself.

However, just as he rolled 90° to prepare for a large-angle instantaneous disk, he suddenly saw three other long tails at a lower altitude than himself, streaking across the sea, heading towards the sea. Extending in the direction of the fleet...

"No, they don't just have three planes!"

The major shouted into the radio:

"Fleet, there are three other planes passing in your direction, be careful to intercept them!"

On the other side, Rear Admiral West, who suddenly received this report on the aircraft carrier, jumped up from his chair.

He grabbed the microphone as quickly as possible and asked the entire fleet to prepare close-defense weapons.

Rationally speaking, he believed that the other party would not actually fire on him.

But the memory of the past allowed him to complete a series of instructions almost uncontrollably.

However, it was too late.

In mid-air, Wang Wei in the cockpit had already seen the mast rising from the sea level in the distance.

He knew that was the goal this time.

In the mission briefing, there was no further explanation of the "flyby" action.

Theoretically, the reconnaissance pod he carries can take pictures in a 65° range to the side. As long as the image of the target fleet can be recorded in the camera, the mission should be completed.

But Wang Wei has some higher requirements for himself.

He hoped to pass directly above the opponent's aircraft carrier Excellence and take pictures of the opponent's flight deck.

That must be a very precious image.

The height of the flight formation dropped to an astonishing 30 meters. Fortunately, the nearby sea was calm and there was no chance of a big wave suddenly coming.

In order to ensure the imaging effect, the three aircraft reduced their speed at the last moment when approaching the target.

If he is still flying the old J-8B, it will be difficult for him to maintain level flight at a speed of less than 400km/h.

But this magical aircraft actually maintained a speed of about 300km/h at ultra-low altitude and flew stably.

Wang Wei adjusted the course one last time and pointed the nose of the aircraft towards the aircraft carrier deck in the center of the fleet.

He could even see the two Sea Harrier fighter jets on the flight deck preparing to take off, as well as the crew members looking up at him in shock or horror.