Chapter 1134: Enemies don’t get together

The four peaceful yet anxious months passed quickly.

The sun, gradually approaching the Tropic of Cancer, brings the warm sunshine of early summer to the entire Eurasian continent.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Albatin Palace Airport.

A small twin-engine plane with a slightly strange appearance, as if there were two tumors on the side of the fuselage, landed unsteadily on the 3200-meter-long asphalt runway.

Although the approach was not very graceful due to the strong crosswind, a group of people on the tarmac in the distance still cheered and applauded.

The one with the brightest smile belonged to Shaul Mawita, who was standing in one of the two middle positions.

He is also the person in charge of IAI's bidding for this project.

After two and a half months of high-intensity final assembly and the subsequent one and a half months of intensive test flights, the G550 Sea Eagle prototype finally lived up to expectations and successfully completed all the test items arranged by the UAE.

"Your Excellency the Crown Prince,"

Mavita turned to look at Crown Prince Mohammed beside him and said with full confidence:

"I think you should have a fairly good understanding of the performance of our early warning aircraft these days, but I still want to add some additional technical details that were not involved in your test..."

"In addition to detecting aerial targets, the Sea Eagle can also monitor ground targets within a certain angle range. If you are willing to purchase special upgrades, you can even use synthetic aperture radar to perform certain strategic reconnaissance missions, which is extremely important for maintaining peace and stability in the Gulf region..."

"..."

It should be said that Mavita’s confidence is not without reason.

According to the test results of these three days, the Sea Eagle early warning aircraft is not inferior to the 707 platform "Falcon" previously equipped by the Davidian Air Force in terms of detection distance, multi-target capability, command level, airborne time, etc.

With a size of less than 40 tons, it is undoubtedly a hero among early warning aircraft.

The biggest drawback is the limited radar field of view, with the main detection range being only 120° left and right. However, this is an unavoidable problem for small and medium-sized early warning aircraft, and the same is true for the other two competitors.

Another problem is that the detection accuracy of L-band radar is not ideal.

However, as part of the long-range early warning system, accuracy itself is not the core indicator of the early warning aircraft.

The L-band brings a longer detection range, which can be clearly shown on paper.

All in all, it’s a big win no matter how you look at it.

Even Crown Prince Mohammed, who had been very picky in the early and middle stages, just nodded with satisfaction after hearing Mavita's explanation:

"Regarding the performance, I have reviewed the report given by the flight engineer and there are indeed no other questions."

"But I still want to confirm that if you win the bid, the delivery issue..."

Hearing this, Mavita's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

Fortunately, the Crown Prince stopped at the right time and did not mention such an embarrassing topic as the ring project, thus saving some face for both sides.

But from the other person's eyes, it was not difficult for Mavita to see that this was exactly what the other person was worried about.

While cursing his superior several times in his mind for causing this mess, he quickly explained:

"This No. 01 prototype will be put into service in our army after completing all tests. However, if your country finally decides to purchase the Sea Eagle early warning aircraft, then considering that the decision should be made at the end of this year or next year, the No. 02 aircraft currently under assembly can be delivered directly as a ready-made product..."

In order to defeat the two rivals in this long-distance competition, IAI has invested a lot of money.

Since you know that you have a bad reputation in the past, just deliver the goods directly.

There will be no worries now, right?

However, the Crown Prince's expression seemed to have not changed much from before.

I don't know if he really has no emotion in his heart, or if he has become accustomed to this expression during the process of being trained as an heir.

As the two were talking, the plane that had just landed had already slowed down and was slowly driving onto the taxiway following the command.

Crown Prince Mohammed also changed the subject:

"Mr. Mavita, as usual, we have arranged a dinner in the VIP reception hall. Please go and attend with other members of the delegation..."

Before 1982, this was an international airport fully open to the outside world.

But after the larger and more advanced Abu Dhabi International Airport came into use, it became a dedicated airport for business jets, which is quite rare in the world.

Specially serving the official fleet of the UAE and various wealthy and famous bosses.

Therefore, the relevant supporting facilities cannot be left behind.

As for why such a place was chosen as a testing base...

Firstly, there are no foreign troops stationed here, and it is not a civil aviation airport, so it is relatively quiet.

Secondly, and more importantly.

Al Batin Palace Airport is not managed by the UAE Air Force but directly by the royal family.

This matter is quite complicated.

Although the UAE has an area of only 8.3 square kilometers, less than one-fifth the size of Tongliao, as a "United Emirates", it has long been in a de facto feudal state.

Not only did each emirate have great freedom in finance and administration, it could even form its own army.

For example, the UAE Air Force has long been composed of two completely independent and non-subordinate armed forces: the Dubai Air Force and the Abu Dhabi Air Force.

This kind of abstract organizational structure poses huge problems not only in fighting but also in daily operations.

So by the end of the 90s, the two were finally merged under a unified command.

But no matter how much of a merger it is, the differences between the two sides naturally cannot be resolved in just a few years.

Including the UAE's unusually large-scale purchase of new combat equipment in recent years, there is also consideration of balancing the balance of power on both sides of the scale.

As for a major task like the selection of early warning aircraft, no matter which base in which sphere of influence the aircraft is arranged, the other side will obviously not be satisfied.

In the end, the royal family had to intervene directly.

It just so happened that the three types of early warning aircraft participating in the bidding were all modified from business jets, so the Alban Palace Airport naturally stood out from the few options.

Professional counterpart belongs to yes.

……

Soon, a group of dozens of people, led by staff, arrived at the magnificent VIP reception hall.

In fact, Mavita had always believed that after more than a decade in Europe, he should be considered a member of the upper class.

But after arriving in the UAE...

He felt that he still lacked some knowledge.

After briefly admiring the luxurious decorations around him, Mavita quickly got into the mood.

Dinner parties on this kind of occasion are not just about eating and drinking.

It also carries out commercial, diplomatic and intelligence functions.

And just when she was distracted just now, when Mavita turned her gaze back to the crowd, she suddenly couldn't find Crown Prince Mohammed.

Logically speaking, the man, wearing a burqa and headscarf, should be very conspicuous among a group of people in suits and ties.

However, he didn't make a fuss about it.

Instead, I felt a little secretly happy.

After all, according to the principle of equality of status, the person who should have been in contact with him was Abu Sabah, the head of the UAE delegation.

Crown Prince Mohammed was an additional attendee.

Moreover, Mavita was planning to do something not very friendly later, and if the Crown Prince himself was present, it would add a lot of trouble.

So he turned and looked behind him, and soon found his deputy, Elan Cops, among the crowd.

Of course, the latter actually has another identity.

They are the staff sent by the Davidian intelligence agency to help Mavita collect intelligence.

But just as he opened his mouth to call out to Elan, another voice came from behind him.

"Mr. Mavita."

Mavita, who was about to do something bad, was so frightened that he shuddered, and then he realized that the person who came was Abu Sabah, who was competing with him.

Fortunately, the latter did not notice his abnormality and just came over and clinked glasses lightly:

“I look forward to a successful cooperation with you!”

According to doctrine, neither of them can actually drink alcohol.

But fermenting grape juice...

Everyone understood it tacitly.

After some meaningless oral gymnastics, Mavita finally found a reason to break away from Sabah, and then immediately found Cops who was also hiding in a corner.

"Elan, what's going on?"

Cops's official identity is a technical engineer, so random tests have been carried out over the past few days.

"It's much easier than I thought..."

He shrugged and replied in a low voice:

"The UAE's testing method is very... traditional. They simply launched several unmanned target aircraft as targets and asked us to conduct search tests at different positions, altitudes and distances..."

"What's more advantageous to us is that the preparation of the target aircraft is also in the hands of technicians at the Albatin Palace Airport. They are not soldiers, so it is very easy to bribe them..."

Having said that, Copps took another sip of the drink in his cup, and then his tone became a little more serious:

"The only problem is that I found out through indirect inquiries that the French had emphasized the anti-interference capability of the early warning aircraft in their earliest paper proposal, but we don't know how they achieved it technically..."

In response to this, Mavita seemed quite relaxed and waved his hand immediately:

"The anti-jamming of modern radars is nothing more than using pulse compression processing technology to invalidate incoherent interference and shorten the effective response time of coherent interference... Elta has come up with several plans, but if the opponent is using an unmanned target drone... then some modifications may be needed."

"But this shouldn't be a big deal. According to our technical department's estimates, the French plan won't be tested until October this year at the earliest, and the Swedish plan won't be tested until early next year, so there's still plenty of time..."

Copps also breathed a sigh of relief:

"Then..."

He had just started to say a sentence when it was as if a mouthful of phlegm was stuck in his throat and he couldn't utter any further sound.

Mavita only saw the other person's mouth slowly open, and then slowly close.

"Elan?"

He shouted a little worriedly.

Copps simply raised his arm and pointed behind Mavita:

"Is your estimate... not quite accurate?"

The latter was still a little confused at this time:

"How can it be……"

As he said this, he turned around and looked out through the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

A setting sun hung on the horizon, emitting blood-red light that made it difficult for people to open their eyes.