Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 107 A50I
The arrogance of the Indian Air Force Staff has created a small loophole. As in the past, they have developed a simple and effective route for the A50 early warning aircraft but lacks variation.According to the Air Force's intention to completely suppress the Pakistani Air Force, this early warning aircraft takes off from the Xindan base near New Delhi at noon every day to take over from another early warning aircraft of the same type.After it took off, it turned to the northwest and flew on a route parallel to the western border. It always kept a distance of about 100 to 200 kilometers from the border for meandering flights. It is very wise to keep this distance, which can ensure that the early warning aircraft is always outside the combat zone. Safe flight, but also allows it to completely monitor the entire airspace of Kashmir and northern Pakistan.Even if a plane takes off in Peshawar or Atak, the phased array radar on the plane can still see it; at the same time, this distance can maintain the advantage in detection range for Pakistan's Saab 2000 or the newly acquired ZDK03 command and early warning aircraft.

On the surface, this route looks foolproof, but in the last part of the entire voyage, that is, when it is about to leave the combat zone, the plane will leak some flaws. According to the established route, it will be 70 kilometers southeast of the Siachen Glacier. Turn so that for a short time the plane would be within range of a ground search radar in Aksai Chin.

The Indians of course know that there is a 3D radar that can monitor the northern airspace through the mountain pass, but they don't take it seriously because the A50 was exposed to this radar for a very short time, and they don't believe that the enemy's aircraft can drill so close under the nose Since the beginning of the war, the Pakistani air force has never broken through the Indian border for more than 40 kilometers.

In fact, the Indians do have a reason to underestimate the enemy, because this S-band stacked beam radar manufactured in the 80s has been erected on a hill for more than 20 years. According to intelligence, it was deployed there not because of its advanced performance. It's because the radar's bulky antenna has better wind resistance.The main task of this radar has been the same for many years. It has been monitoring the dispatch of MiG-21 and Mi-17 helicopters taking off from Srinagar. It also has a little reconnaissance effect on Indian military vehicles driving on the road, but in terms of side height Not very good, these situations are fully grasped by Indian intelligence agencies.

A week ago, when the A50I turned over the glacier for the first time, the radar operator on the Chinese side found this large early warning aircraft and several accompanying MiG-21 fighter jets on the screen. The operator looked at a cluster of light spots Flying east, then separated, the slower target continued east, while the MiG 21 turned back to Srinagar Airport.For several days, the unchanged route was recorded by careful operators.

Due to the current quasi-alliance relationship between China and Pakistan, the information on the route of the early warning aircraft was quickly reported to the Pakistani side, and finally this information appeared in the conversation between Colonel Sami and his superior.Sami was quickly moved by this information, and immediately conceived a risky plan. In addition to the difficult low-altitude flight part of this plan, another problem is the need for guidance from China.Sami expected that China would not agree to guide his fighter jets to the Indian early warning aircraft, because this request was politically too much.He had dealt with the Chinese pilot Song Ning before, and knew that the actions of the Chinese soldiers were restrained and conservative; but the major general thought he could give it a try, so he approached the Chinese major Song Ning (Song Ning was newly appointed and stayed in Pakistan as a liaison officer) and said With this idea in mind, as Sami expected, China refused to provide guidance for the sneak attack of Pakistani fighter jets a few hours later, on the grounds that if the voice guidance was intercepted by the other party, it would cause very big diplomatic troubles.However, the door was not closed. Song Ning also provided the Pakistani side with the route and time of the Indian early warning aircraft recorded by the radar in the past week. From the details recorded by the radar, this aircraft appeared on the side of the glacier every day. The time error is very small, and the route has not changed.This early warning aircraft will reach a relatively close distance from the border when it turns back at about 4 pm every day.These details gave a glimmer of light to Sami's adventure plan. He could drive a plane capable of flying at low altitude, secretly fly to the north side of the Siachen Glacier, suddenly cross the ridge at the approximate time, and turn on the radar to try his luck.

According to this rough idea, he felt that he could consider dispatching the F5C of the 16th Squadron or driving the newly arrived J-10B by himself to carry out this mission.He feels that only these two types of fighter jets are currently suitable for this raid. He thinks that the J-10B seems to be better, because the flying speed of this type of aircraft is higher than that of the Raiden fighter jet. Another reason is that the J-21B can carry a copy of the anti-radiation missile.As for the F10C of the 5th Squadron, it is because this aircraft has perfect low-altitude flight capabilities. Not long ago, Major Hassan of the 16th Squadron used the radar terrain tracking capability of the F5C to narrowly escape from the same area. This scene left a deep impression on the colonel.

However, Islam did not agree to dispatch the two types of aircraft mentioned above. The reason is that there are too few J-2Bs to be used in combat, and the F10Cs of the 5th Squadron have been designated by the Prime Minister to guard Fort ***, but the major general left one for Sammy. The next best option: a Thunderbolt BLOCK-16 urgently provided by China.The difference between this newly arrived fighter jet and the Raiden fighter jet currently equipped by the Black Spider Squadron is that it uses Chinese-made radar and avionics equipment, so it can launch SD-2-shaped medium-range missiles, and this aircraft can also use some precision guidance anti-ground weapons.

The colonel hesitated for a minute, and finally had to compromise. During the war, he couldn't pick and choose.

"Bring three fuel tanks and four missiles, I think I can try this plan." The colonel said eagerly, without the slightest fear.

"What about the other planes?"

"This mission does not require a wingman. The early warning aircraft can monitor the takeoff and landing of each airport. If it is detected as soon as it takes off, the mission will fail." The colonel said, as if he was talking about the entire air force, and only he could do it alone. It's like completing this task.

"A full ground-to-air flight?"

"That's right, these early warning aircraft have strong downward vision and are especially sensitive to high-speed targets, so before entering the mountainous area, they can only fly northward at a low airspeed for a certain distance, hoping that they can treat my small aircraft as a ground clutter." wave filtered out."

"What if they still find you?" Major General Islam couldn't help asking.

"In that case, I would probably be shot down near the border by a Su-30 he transferred out of sight." The colonel said calmly, as if he was explaining an exercise.

"Good luck! I will pray to the true God that you will come back safely." The major general sadly reached out and shook Sami's hand.

"One thing I have to pray too, that the Indian plane shows up on time, you know Indian pilots are not always on time. That's one of the reasons we always beat them."

At 11:50 noon the next day, Major Daniel and his crew walked out of the briefing room at Xindan Base and walked towards the huge A27I early warning aircraft at the end of the runway.This plane is larger than most passenger planes. Of course, it does not have many members. The crew and system operators have a total of 9 people. This number is already 25 more than the rated number, because it was found in actual combat that Commanding dozens of batches of aircraft in the air is a rather labor-intensive job.However, Major Daniel is not under any pressure. His responsibilities are limited, and he is only responsible for smooth flight. Yan is not unfamiliar at all.In comparison, he felt that it was safer to fly an AWACS aircraft, because the aircraft's great detection capabilities made it never have to risk flying to the front line, and transport aircraft sometimes had to fly to the urgent front line, thus exposing the enemy's air force.

Major Daniel and the co-pilot had just sat down and checked the flight instruments. He wanted to ask the communications sergeant to pour himself a cup of coffee, but the squadron leader's voice came from the radio, and he asked the aircraft code-named "God of War" to Don't dawdle the plane, take off immediately.Because another A50I is preparing to return, the delay in takeoff is likely to cause loopholes in the command over the theater.With a shrug, the major gave up his coffee and got to work fast.

Communications and route settings have always been the same, so it was done quickly.Lieutenant Colonel Singhania, the officer on duty at the back, ran over and patted him on the shoulder, indicating that everything behind was complete. Lieutenant Colonel Singhania was the highest officer of the plane, so he needed his permission to take off.Major Daniel began requesting takeoff.After getting an affirmative answer, he and the co-pilot started to push the trap valve and lowered the flaps at the same time, and the plane slowly began to taxi.He saw that the C130J transport plane of the "Invisible Viper" squadron beside the runway was loading light howitzers and was preparing to fly to the simple front-line airport. He thought, in comparison, his mission was easy and safe.

The plane slowly accelerated to 420 kilometers per hour, and the major began to lift the front wheels and retract the flaps at the same time. From the altimeter, the huge plane slowly lifted off the ground. How the plane with the huge radome is designed, but it can fly every time.

"As usual, we climbed to 8000 meters and then entered the scheduled route."

"Everything is fine Captain."

Major Daniel carefully steered the plane to turn. This plane has a complete automatic flight function, but he can't rely too much on automatic flight, because the early warning aircraft has high requirements for attitude control. The stability requirements that must be met, and the quality of the flight process is not up to you. Lieutenant Colonel Singhania is solely responsible for the assessment, so the major also has to be careful.

(End of this chapter)