I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

Hexagonal building.

It was still morning when the snow swans disturbed the Western Pacific, and it was the time when the staff had just entered working mode. It was already early morning.

Nuclear war warnings and the like did not cause much panic here. A glance at the satellite in the police duty room revealed that it was not that outrageous.

When an intercontinental ballistic missile is launched, the tail flame has extremely strong and unique infrared characteristics. Remote sensing satellites in the sky will warn you as long as they see a thing emitting huge heat moving at thousands of kilometers per hour.

If it re-judges the ballistic trajectory and finds that its target is highly suspected to be homeland or an ally, it will issue the highest alert.

However, the thermal characteristics of the Snow Pheasant during flight were far from comparable to those of rocket tail flames, not to mention that it had undergone special treatment. Only when it was so close was it too late to judge, and the Pacific Fleet panicked for a while.

The next few hours were less about guarding against a nuclear war than about taking the opportunity to flex their muscles. After all, the airspace of the two allies was forcibly violated and the perpetrator flew away with a slap on the butt. It would be unreasonable not to react violently.

It's like a person is suddenly startled by a prank. Although it is harmless, he has to show his teeth and claws to prove that he is not afraid even if it is true.

The impact of the 8.12 incident will definitely be extremely far-reaching. Let’s not mention the issue of violating the airspace. Let’s first talk about what the “traveling” aircraft is?

No trace of a rocket launch was detected, indicating that it was not launched by a rocket and most likely took off independently from the airport.

An aircraft that took off from the airport and accelerated autonomously. From the time it was detected (when it was about to leave the mainland) to the time when the signal disappeared when it returned to the northeast, it flew more than 6,000 kilometers, with a minimum speed of Mach 6.8, a maximum speed of Mach 12.1, and an average speed of Mach 10.9. , what kind of monster aircraft is this?

After a few hours, the intelligence room also began to compile intelligence on the Chinese Internet and found that from Yinchuan yesterday to the Jiaodong Peninsula where the "Higgins" discovered it, people in the inland cities between the two locations discovered the sky. highlights and heard an extremely obvious popping sound.

The distance connected through the city is about 1,000 kilometers, and considering that China likes to set up various secret bases in the northwest desert, this means that the unknown aircraft's confirmed range from takeoff to return is more than 8,500 kilometers.

Then it is reasonable to speculate that its design range is at least 10,000 kilometers, and a proper strategic bomber can fly directly to North America.

A Mach 12 aircraft, low radar detectability, a range of more than 10,000 kilometers, and a flying altitude of more than 60,000 meters are all indicators that make people sweat.

Let’s take another look at China’s report, which admits that there are test pilots, which shows that this is not an unmanned aerial vehicle, and an aircraft that can carry people to this level is not small by any means.

Last night when the five countries called the hotline, all parties wanted to know what it was, but the Chinese side was very strict. Apart from revealing the key information of "manned pilots", they only had the completely misleading statement of "weather aircraft". After all, it is illegal. There is a big difference between whether the aircraft crossing the airspace is a civilian aircraft or a military aircraft.

Speaking of "weather planes", everyone is familiar with it. Ami said the same thing when U2 was shot down in the alliance. It is right to repay the enemy with the same method.

Although this issue was finally cleared up, everyone is very interested in the unknown aircraft and is making every effort to obtain relevant information.

But for Hexagon, the indicators that can be confirmed now are scary enough.

The entire Air Force Intelligence Room held a two-hour steering seminar, and except for technical experts who occasionally spoke, everyone else was in terrible silence.

Throughout the history of air combat, it started with the theory of maneuvering victory in the primitive stage. Later, as the technology matured, it developed into the theory of energy victory, that is, the high-altitude and high-speed theory. It reached its peak in the second-generation jet era after World War II, and the new The aircraft cannot reach the "double two" indicator of Mach 2 and 20,000 meters, and it is too embarrassed to show it, and it has given birth to monsters such as the XB70 "Valkyrie" and the SR71 "Blackbird" that can fly Mach 3.

However, the high-altitude and high-speed theory has gradually declined as missile technology has become more mature, and air combat has begun to move toward informatization. As a result, it seems that the high-altitude and high-speed theory is not outdated now?

In other words, the reason why high-altitude highways were abandoned in the past was because they were not “high enough” or “fast enough”.

Experts from NACA and aviation companies who were summoned shook their heads immediately when they saw "Mach 12", "60,000 meters", "manned", "atmospheric aircraft" and "10,000 kilometers of range", thinking that these five indicators are combined. Totally impossible.

But facts speak louder than words, and they can only rack their brains to think about what kind of technology can achieve this.

Major General Carey, whose face was so gloomy that he could shed tears, also knew that the plane could not analyze anything for the time being, so he asked instead:

"Before you ask if we can build such a craft, you first tell me how to shoot it down."

The technical experts were silent for a while, and then someone said:

"The Standard Three has such capabilities, but there is a problem with radar guidance. The enemy aircraft obviously uses a stealth design. Although it seems that there are still many problems now, they are still in the experimental stage. They will definitely solve these troubles in the future."

"Patriot 3 also has potential, but the problems are similar. There is also THAAD. Missiles with anti-missile capabilities are theoretically similar."

"..."

After some discussion, everyone found that although there are many missiles that can be shot down in theory, guidance is a big problem. Others are definitely trying to improve the flaws they can think of. Coupled with the natural barriers of height and speed, it is still difficult to actually shoot them down. Very difficult.

Carey: "You are talking about road-based and sea-based anti-missile systems. Can't they be shot down by aircraft?"

He was not fooled. Not to mention the disadvantages of expensive deployment of these road-based and sea-based anti-missile systems, the biggest problem was that they were difficult to move, and their target aircraft could change their course at will.

At worst, the plane can just go around it. The earth is so big, there is no way it can be filled with Aegis ships and anti-missile emplacements everywhere.

The best way is to use interceptors to intercept, which greatly improves flexibility and responsiveness.

This question directly silenced the experts. Can an interceptor intercept Mach 12 aircraft? Then it has to fly to Mach 10 no matter what. How is this possible?

"Maybe... laser?"

A Raytheon expert uttered a word that made people think again.

It sounds feasible. Sea-based, road-based, and space-based lasers are being developed by Aramco, including projects for missiles. It should also be feasible to use them to fly aircraft.

But the problem still exists. If this level of laser is road-based or sea-based, the problem is similar to that of an anti-missile system. If it is space-based, there is still a lack of carrier aircraft that can fly fast enough, and the problem is back to the original point.

The Air Force Intelligence Room struggled to discuss response plans, but was quickly interrupted by the arrival of the presidential assistant.

The latter walked in and ran his fingers over the bodies of the NACA expert, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, and Major General Carey:

"Gentlemen, the president needs an explanation."