Chapter 1198 Discovered?

Chapter 1198 Discovered?

Following Captain Zhang Xudong's order, the combat information center of Jincheng immediately became busy.

Unlike passive positioning systems such as GPS, the Beidou-1 system currently providing services requires the receiving terminal to send a request signal in advance, and then the ground control center station completes the positioning and timing services.

Although this working mode results in a narrow effective service area, poor terminal concealment, and no height and speed measurement functions, it is not a big problem for a destroyer sailing not far from the Chinese coastline.

On the contrary, the advantages of fast first-time positioning speed and relatively high timing accuracy are quite meaningful for this mission.

Just a few seconds later, a report came from a battle position not far away:

"Report to the captain... time synchronization completed."

Sitting on it was a staff member of China Electronics Technology Group who was wearing camouflage uniform but had no title.

Faced with the high-pressure scene of a war on the warship, the voice seemed somewhat unconfident.

"Don't be nervous, just do it the same way as in the previous ground test."

Zhang Xudong left his position, walked slowly behind the operator, and put a hand on the other's shoulder.

When the 346 radar was originally designed, it was not considered to conduct dual-base coordinated operations with land-based radar stations. Therefore, this temporarily installed module is completely independent of the ship's combat command system, and the captain cannot see the specific working situation at his position.

With the captain's encouragement, several temporary radar operators stabilized their mentality to some extent:

"Injecting orthogonal sampling and motion compensation algorithms..."

Another technician nearby reported in a deep voice while inputting a series of preset commands into the system.

Soon, a sinusoidal calibration spatial spectrum appeared on the display.

However, the position of the spectral lines is not clear, and even the position and height of the peaks are constantly changing.

"Notify the Yongjia to leave the formation, activate the auxiliary antenna, and prepare to test the carrier frequency synchronization and phase calibration results."

Zhang Xudong took the microphone of the radio communication equipment and personally gave orders to another frigate in the fleet.

What followed was a somewhat depressing silence.

All that was left was the occasional short beep from some equipment.

On the sea outside the CIC, the No. 526 frigate, which was originally following closely behind the Jincheng, quickly turned its bow and accelerated eastward, and raised an additional whip antenna above the helicopter hangar.

When the number of radiation sources, their positions, and the array manifold are known, the active correction algorithm is extremely efficient.

Almost at the same time as the calibration signal was sent, the spectrum displayed on the Jincheng's radar display began to change.

After several adjustments, the clarity of the spectrum and the consistency of the peaks were visibly better than before.

At the same time, several ground radars located near the coastlines of Zhejiang and Min provinces were carrying out similar work.

As receivers, they do not need the assistance of auxiliary antennas. They only need to separate the direct wave from the received signal, solve the initial phase, and finally compensate during signal processing...

"Comrade Captain."

About half an hour later, a technician took off his headphones and turned to look at Zhang Xudong behind him:

"The dual radars have been calibrated. The relative initial phase errors of the antennas are within 0.75 degrees, the frequency deviation is less than 0.03Hz, and the equivalent input signal-to-noise ratio is about 70dB..."

"..."

Zhang Xudong came from a navigation background and was not proficient in radar, but as the captain of China's first regional air defense ship, he had received a considerable amount of training before boarding the ship, so he could also understand the meaning of these numbers.

"The calibration is so good?"

He looked at the screens lined up in front of him with some surprise.

During the ground test, comrades from China Electronics Technology Group Corporation and the Air Force Equipment Research Institute had repeatedly warned that this dual-base radar, which was modified halfway, might not be very effective, causing Zhang Xudong to have very low expectations in his mind.

However, the current results are not only not bad, but can even be said to be quite good.

However, the technician shook his head and explained:

"The equipment has just been debugged, and its accuracy is definitely very good. However, the constant temperature crystal oscillator focuses on improving the short-term stability characteristics, and the long-term stability capability is relatively average. Therefore, there will be a certain amount of accumulated error in the subsequent continuous work. It will need to be recalibrated if it maintains the search state for 2-3 hours continuously..."

Perhaps for radar developers, this is a kind of unavoidable regret.

But for Zhang Xudong, who uses radar, a single startup time of two to three hours is actually not short.

As the largest electricity consumer on the entire ship, 346 is not supposed to work 24 hours a day.

Especially since this mission is highly targeted, it is enough to be able to play a role during the most critical period of time.

……

For the next two or three days, everything seemed to be full of tension.

The Air Self-Defense Force's P3C and F15J took off at an unprecedented frequency and frequently probed its southwest direction.

The fighter jets of the Chinese Navy and Air Force moved forward in a targeted manner to intercept and verify these enemies who were clearly plotting ill.

By July 7, the fourth day after the confrontation began, even China's latest early warning aircraft, which had just been put into service, had been put into the early warning command mission.

It can be said that in the past half century, this airspace has never seen such a tit-for-tat scene...

On the KJ-2000 command aircraft, Jiang Zengjian, commander of the Jinling Military Region Air Force, folded his hands under his chin and stared closely at the position of the opponent shown on the monitor in front of him.

In the past few days, the frequency of the Air Self-Defense Force's aircraft sorties has been crazy, making it difficult for China, which has insufficient new aircraft, to cope.

Therefore, the superiors decided to activate this aircraft in advance to take advantage of the data link and detection distance to provide a longer response time for the command and dispatch of the air formation.

"Taishan Squadron, prepare to head to J7 airspace to intercept the target aircraft group marked as 07. The enemy model is initially determined to be an F2 fighter..."

"Captain Huaihe, the No. 04 aircraft group in front of you has already lowered its altitude and retreated in advance. Pay attention to the remaining fuel and prepare to return..."

"Songshan 05, Songshan 06..."

Although all command orders still need to be spoken, thanks to the help of the latest data link, about 60% of the commands can be directly presented on the multi-function display in the fighter cockpit. Voice commands only serve as a reminder and confirmation, greatly reducing the workload of onboard commanders.

While issuing orders in an orderly manner, Jiang Zengjian was also paying close attention to the airspace further south.

Although the Air Self-Defense Force's formation looked large, most of its aircraft did not even fly over the so-called "center line" unilaterally claimed by the other side, and always maintained a safe distance of more than 30km between them and the Chinese interceptors.

In other words, it was a complete battle in the air.

It's most likely just a feint.

The real protagonists are probably those ghost-like F22 fighter jets.

Of course, in order to ensure safety, the activity area of ​​​​the KJ-2000 is located within the coastline. At this distance, the stealth aircraft itself may be difficult to detect. But as far as Jiang Zengjian knows, in order to ensure the best concealment, the F22 will not use the general data link (only receive but not send) that can easily expose signal characteristics, so it is difficult to form close cooperation with ordinary third-generation fighters such as the F15.

This also means that the deployment of stealth aircraft will inevitably bring some distinctive features to the entire airspace.

The direction where the Air Self-Defense Force has never appeared is the focus that needs the most attention.

It was for this reason that no matter how great the air pressure from the northeast was, he always kept the two J-11B four-plane formations on the ground and did not allow them to take off...about 400 kilometers away.

Captain Evan Robinson carefully maneuvered his plane, maintaining the planned northward course.

He had been observing the lively situation in the distant airspace through an E767 early warning aircraft, and it was basically certain that most of the attention of the Chinese Air Force had been drawn to the relatively northerly direction.

Even if the opponent may still have some backups, as long as there is no absolute numerical advantage, stealth aircraft can maintain an advantageous position in the confrontation.

This is the conclusion reached after countless confrontation exercises.

"The Self-Defense Forces have diverted the enemy's attention. We are adjusting our direction and preparing to deal with the ground radar on the coastline."

While giving the order, Robinson lowered his head to confirm the radar warning information given on the multi-function display.

Although the Chinese seemed a little embarrassed, they were obviously well prepared.

The two most threatening signals came from an area marked as Jingnan on the map, and the other came from the sea outside Yongcheng, forming an angle with each other.

If the course they choose deviates slightly, they can be easily detected from the side with a relatively large RCS, allowing the opponent to make targeted responses.

Fortunately, after the disaster in 99, the US Air Force learned from its mistakes and summarized ways to counter anti-stealth systems, and deployed a fully functional radar warning system on the F22.

When threatening radar waves are detected sweeping across the aircraft, the system will not only give the approximate location of the radiation source, but will also remind the pilot to adjust the heading or attitude at any time to minimize the reflected area exposed to electromagnetic waves.

Compared to the F117 or B2 that could only fly according to established bombing routes, the F22 has evolved into a more flexible and capable killer.

All he could see was that after adjusting the course slightly to the west, the signs of the two radioactive sources returned to "completely non-threatening".

This means that even if you get within a distance of 200km or even closer, the opponent will not be able to catch you clearly.

Of course, the actual battlefield situation changes rapidly, and it is not possible to rely rigidly on these devices to solve all problems.

Therefore, an excellent air commander is still needed to lead the operations on the front line.

And Colonel Robinson thought he was the best candidate.

However, what he didn't know was that just now, he just passed through a Z-shaped connection line formed by a dual-base radar...

……

As the four-plane formation got closer and closer to the Chinese airspace, the other pilots became more and more excited.

"Captain, should we go a little deeper later?"

The pilot of Unit 02 asked in a relaxed tone.

The U.S. military's radio discipline has always been poor, especially the pilots of the 43rd Squadron, who relied on the ultra-high concealment IFDL data link between F22 aircraft of the same type and became somewhat unscrupulous.

Robinson did not criticize his eager subordinate, but just reviewed the route map in front of him.

But in the end, he suppressed his impulse.

"No, strictly follow the plan before takeoff."

He tried to make his voice sound more serious:

"Regardless of whether the other side responds or not, return 17 miles from the coastline and do not enter Chinese airspace."

The order he received on this trip was to give the Chinese a warning, and as a result he was granted a considerable degree of freedom to act.

But it definitely does not include any actual invasion content.

As they were talking, the four-plane formation had already flown about 40 kilometers to the northwest.

The current airspace situation has also changed slightly.

"Captain, the other side's two Flankers are turning south and returning. They will pass by our two o'clock position in about 100 seconds, 115 miles away... Should we slow down a little?"

Unit 03 suddenly reported.

Robinson looked down again and found that indeed two Chinese targets had deviated from their previous route and were turning right in a tight route.

But 115 miles is really too far.

Although the Self-Defense Forces never had visual contact with the Chinese aircraft, radar alone could not confirm the Su-27SK and J-11B, two models with the same appearance but huge differences in radar performance.

But no existing fighter radar can detect its front hemisphere at a distance of more than 180 kilometers.

In fact, the warning system didn't even give any warning.

"Not for now. If the enemy is just returning, the nose of the plane should only pass by us for a split second. Even if they have radar on, it is unlikely..."

However, before he could finish his words, he saw that the two Flankers did not continue to return westward as they had expected, but instead leveled off after turning about 110 degrees and flew straight south.

At the same time, it was climbing at an accelerated speed and soon broke the speed of sound at an altitude of about 9500 meters.

This is obviously not the rhythm of preparing to return.

"Captain, this..."

Unit 03's tone was filled with urgency.

If the current course continues, the two sides will not really face each other.

But the other party's unusual behavior was not a good sign.

In the case where it is unable to open fire, if a third-generation aircraft really approaches within 20-30 kilometers, it is still possible to be detected or even locked by the airborne radar.

Robinson rechecked his surroundings and did not find any non-stealth friendly aircraft.

For a moment, he even thought that a group of F16s took off from the southeast to join in the fun, thus attracting the other party's attention.

However, this idea is obviously unrealistic.

"We will drop some altitude and evade to the west to avoid the radar in the northeast."

The colonel checked the fuel gauge and gave the order.

The F22 is not known for its range, and it is obviously impossible to carry auxiliary fuel tanks or conduct aerial refueling for this kind of mission, so if possible, he is not willing to fly at low altitude.

But at this point, it is obviously not the time to care about that little bit of fuel consumption.

As he pushed the control stick into a shallow dive, Robinson took another look at the radar screen.

A thought suddenly popped into his mind -

"Fuck, we...were we discovered?"