Chapter 1325: There Was a Firework

Chapter 1325: There Was a Firework

Inside the destroyer Jincheng.

After the excitement of the encounter with the enemy fleet, the atmosphere on the entire ship returned to calm after nearly ten hours of boring sailing.

Compared with the explosive interactions within the first island chain, this sea area belongs to pure high seas and ocean, and even the Americans can't find any reason to impose obstacles.

On the one hand, China was restricted by the mission requirements, and on the other hand, it was the first time for China to come so close to North America, making it even less likely for China to make any drastic moves.

In addition to expressing auspicious words to each other through light language, the navigation operation also highlights a harmonious atmosphere.

Even Captain Zhang Xudong himself felt a little tired after staying up all night.

"Xu Wei!"

He turned around and called the trainee captain behind him, preparing to hand over the part of the command work that required concentration to him, while he himself recovered a little.

But before he could open his mouth, the situation on the electronic nautical chart had changed.

At the same time, the voice of the water director was heard:

"Captain, the two destroyers behind us suddenly changed direction, and it seems that they are intentionally breaking away from us."

This sudden situation instantly made Zhang Xudong refreshed.

"Only two?"

Returning to the chart table, I saw that the trajectories of the two targets marked as Shope and Prebel had changed, turning from northeast to south.

"It doesn't look like a normal escape action..."

He began to quickly assess the situation before him.

The Arleigh Burke's range is an often-overlooked disadvantage, but it's not likely to run out of fuel so quickly.

And if the test process is completed and the warning zone is cancelled, then the three warships should be evacuated together.

In fact, considering that this place is relatively close to the west coast of the United States, it is likely that we will have to continue tracking and monitoring until the target leaves or other ships arrive to take over the task...

"Report to Captain!"

Before Zhang Xudong could make a judgment, he heard the radar chief's report:

“雷达探测到一架大型飞机，距离270km、高度5500m、速度670km/h，航向220，识别为P3C或EP3C……”

In fact, it was a communications aircraft specially modified by the US Navy to transmit the X51A test flight signal. At this moment, it was rushing to the area where the signal disappeared to check the situation according to Peter Pace's order.

But the radar does not know these details and can only determine the signal characteristics of the L188 regional airliner platform.

The most common models of this platform are P3C and EP3C.

As an electronic warfare aircraft, the latter obviously has no reason to appear here.

Therefore, alarm bells instantly rang in Zhang Xudong's mind.

"Heading 220..."

"Just now, the enemy destroyer also turned due south..."

He quickly added several auxiliary marking lines on the electronic nautical chart.

Sure enough, the two tracks finally converged at a coordinate point within the test warning area.

At this moment, the people nearby also suddenly came to their senses.

"Lao Zhang, has our submarine been discovered?"

Lu Yuanjie immediately made the most reasonable guess.

If the departure of the destroyer can be considered a coincidence, then the appearance of the P3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft is almost an open secret.

"It's not clear yet, but we have to be prepared..."

Zhang Xudong shook his head, and then made a judgment almost in a flash:

"Let the Coconut City turn around and catch up, and delay the enemy fleet's speed as much as possible!"

……

at the same time.

Huaxia, Huairou Science City.

Perhaps it was because the experience of live broadcasting the last satellite interception was too painful, or perhaps it was simply because the confidentiality level of hypersonic weapons is higher than that of anti-satellite interception. In short, although the Pentagon and Boeing have done enough warm-up for this test, they still did not adopt the live broadcast method.

Instead, it was announced in advance that a press conference would be held to explain the situation after the test was completed.

Even so, as the world's first practical air-breathing hypersonic project, the X51A's test flight still attracted widespread attention from peers around the world.

Chang Haonan even organized a small meeting and brought several core R&D personnel to watch the entire press conference.

For the sake of concealment, once the submarine sets sail, its only way of communicating with the ground is through a long-wave radio station with an extremely low information density and which can only receive but not send. Therefore, the information obtained by the Long March 9 can only be transmitted back to the mainland after it reunites with the surface ship formation.

If you want more detailed data, you may even have to wait until you return.

It is definitely not as timely as the Americans' own response.

However, the United States still launched a surprise attack and temporarily announced that the press conference would be moved forward by half an hour.

So when Chang Haonan and others finished their work and turned on the TV, the face of the Pentagon spokesperson appeared on the screen.

"Can this press conference be brought forward?"

Xing Muchun's expression was a little awkward:

"Generally speaking, after the test is finished, the necessary data is sorted out to confirm that there are no problems, and then the results are released immediately... Could it be that the test was completed ahead of schedule?"

After all, he used to be a rocket engineer, so he is relatively familiar with this process.

"That's good... I don't have to go through all the red tape ahead."

After all, they did make some advance preparations, so they did not miss the most critical part.

Chang Haonan said this and turned up the volume of the TV.

Then the spokesman said:

"The first verification flight of the X51A provides a possible platform and technical support for achieving rapid global strikes, and proves the feasibility of sustained flight of aircraft powered by scramjet engines... At the same time, this test flight also created a series of new historical records, such as the scramjet engine working continuously for more than 140 seconds, greatly refreshing the 43s data of the X-12..."

"The X51A's ability to fly at hypersonic speeds in the atmosphere has an excellent penetration advantage and can easily break through the defense of any advanced air defense system. It is a clear deterrent to any potential destroyer of the international order... In addition to military uses, scramjet engines are also of great significance in areas such as space entry, reconnaissance, global arrival and commercial transportation..."

"..."

This statement was a perfect display of language art, leaving the people in front of the TV looking at each other in bewilderment.

They all saw the confusion on the faces of the other people.

"Did I miss any part?"

Jiang Zonglin adjusted the few remaining hairs on his side:

"Why does it seem like... I didn't hear anything valuable?"

Generally speaking, even for content released to the public, some symbolic but not so important test elements will be mentioned, such as the starting time and minute, the end time and minute when the target is hit, what key indicators are achieved in the process, etc.

Even if the test fails, it won't make much difference. You can just change the last part to wait for the results of the investigation.

But what the spokesperson said today is like the year-end summary that has to be written even though nothing has been done.

At first glance it seems like there is a lot of stuff, but upon actual analysis there is nothing.

"Let's not talk about this for now..."

Xing Muchun's eyes were still fixed on the screen, and his tone was a little confused:

"Did the test succeed or fail?"

Indeed, it is impossible to even determine the final results of the test from the content of this press conference.

Chang Haonan had never expected this to happen. He lowered his head to reflect on the situation for a moment, then analyzed:

"I guess...according to the American nature, if it really succeeded, they would definitely celebrate it. Now that they are talking about other things, it is probably that they failed."

"And I remember the spokesperson mentioned just now that the scramjet engine worked for more than 140 seconds... Even if it is calculated at Mach 6, it can only fly less than 300 kilometers, far from the previously announced range of 700 kilometers..."

Xing Muchun was immediately delighted when he heard this:

"So, you really set off fireworks for Mr. Chang's daughter?"

For a moment, the conference room was filled with a happy atmosphere.