Chapter 1377 Commissioner Lord's Artificial Lake
The silence lasted for several minutes.
In the end, it was Colonel Kenton who stepped forward and directly switched the map on the big screen to the southeast coastal area.
Lord pointed his finger at the mountain range that ran from north to south and stretched for more than 300 kilometers, and the simulated structure of the underground fortifications was outlined on the No. 2 screen next to it.
"Reinforced concrete layers, seismic buffer zones, a network of circuitous tunnels..."
He listed them one by one:
"Although the depth of these permanent fortifications is not as deep as Cheyenne Mountain, they are also hidden under the granite layer. Conventional earth-penetrating warheads cannot even scratch the surface."
When it comes to the development and use of earth-penetrating weapons, no one can surpass the U.S. Air Force.
Although the Space Command itself is not equipped with any earth-penetrating weapons, it needs to consider defending against similar threats.
As early as the Cold War, they had conducted simulation calculations and even actual tests on various typical underground fortifications, and accumulated a large amount of engineering data.
"Unless they can pinpoint a weak point like an entrance or ventilation system..."
Kenton added, marking several green areas on the map:
"The thickness of the concrete layer at these locations is less than 20 meters. Even if the earth-penetrating warhead cannot directly penetrate the protective layer and detonate inside, it can still cause structural damage through the penetration-explosion principle."
Lord shook his head:
"Let's not talk about the source of intelligence. From a technical perspective, most of these areas face east, and it's difficult for ballistic missiles launched from the northwest to hit them directly. Air-dropped bunker-buster bombs require large bombers or even transport planes, and the chances of penetrating are not high... The Chinese Air Force has limited strategic equipment, so it's unlikely that they'll be sent out to undertake such high-risk missions."
In fact, his purpose was exactly the same as before, which was still to exaggerate the possible threats posed by China in the future, but without exceeding the psychological tolerance of the two houses.
This is a relatively subtle line, and the admiral himself is also a master at playing with people's hearts.
Therefore, he would occasionally deny the conclusion he wanted on the surface, wait for his subordinates to actively provide rebuttal arguments, and finally be "persuaded" reluctantly in order to demonstrate the qualities of "objectivity" and "listening to both sides to gain a clear understanding."
Just like it is now.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Raymond, who had not spoken for a while, seemed to suddenly remember something:
"The National Intelligence Agency shared a report with us before... Based on some key information they intercepted, they speculated that China might be developing ballistic missiles with terminal maneuvering and trajectory change technology."
He quickly tapped on the keyboard and soon found what he wanted:
"Combined with the fact that the same missile model has shown very different ranges in recent test launches, perhaps the enemy is preparing to hit the target on the reverse slope through terminal maneuvering. Assuming that multiple earth-penetrating warheads can penetrate the protective layer from the same angle, then after the second or third time..."
In fact, Raymond's analysis conclusion, by accident, was quite close to the truth.
However, the severity of the situation was still greatly underestimated.
Although not specially designed, the Xuanniao does have a certain ability to plan its trajectory, allowing it to first fly over the target and then fall at an angle in the opposite direction to hit a specific weak point.
Lord was very satisfied with this in his heart, but on the surface he still frowned. He glanced at the other party and continued speaking:
"It can detonate from the inside and turn the interior of the fortification into a pressure cooker?"
Raymond nodded.
Their unique skill is to use multiple bunker busters to repeatedly hit the same or similar location, destroying the geological structure in the entire range to destroy underground targets at greater depths or whose locations cannot be accurately determined.
"It's a good idea, but I've also read the report, and to be honest, the content is a bit... far-fetched."
Once again, the air in the operations center became tense.
The business of intelligence analysis itself is full of subjective factors. Unless there are particularly reliable internal channels to directly transmit intelligence, more than 95% of the conclusions can be called far-fetched.
So if you have to say that, then there is nothing to talk about.
Lord also realized that he seemed to have used too much force, so he quickly saved the situation:
"But you're right, in the long run, this is indeed an obvious problem."
After that, he quickly opened the weapons list on the sidebar of the electronic sand table and selected the Patriot air defense system:
"PAC-2 is mainly aimed at aerodynamic targets. The upper limit of the altitude when intercepting missiles is only 15 kilometers, and the range is 30 kilometers. In actual operations, the interception rate of targets above Mach 3 is only a single-digit percentage..."
Desert Storm 17 years ago was more of an arms trade show than a military operation.
Many of the promotional details are exaggerated.
But the Patriots are different.
The Patriot's hit rate in intercepting Scud missiles is based on some real data mixed in with the vast ocean.
It was not until the PAC1995 was put into service in 3 that it truly acquired usable missile interception capability.
Raymond frowned:
"You want them to upgrade their interceptor missiles?"
Lord was touched by what he said and quickly waved his hands:
"Watch your words, Joe. We are just soldiers. We are not responsible for making decisions, nor can we tell our allies what to do... We can only provide advice from a professional perspective."
"Okay, so you're 'suggesting' them to upgrade their interceptor missiles?"
Raymond had to correct his statement.
“It’s not an upgrade, it’s an additional purchase.”
Lord calls out a string of parameters:
"In addition, the Patriot system's firepower channels and ammunition reserves are seriously insufficient, and it is easy to be overloaded by a large number of targets... Therefore, perhaps for our allies... and of course for ourselves, a more practical option is the land-based Aegis. Anyway, Patriot does not have the ability to be deployed and deployed quickly."
"But that means missile stocks ..."
"The Pentagon has always had the idea of having the Aegis system launch Patriot interceptors, but it has lacked sufficient motivation in the past. This is a good opportunity to promote cooperation between contractors on both sides."
Just a few minutes later, the admiral had thrown the remark of "irresponsible decision-making" out of the window.
Raymond felt that this operation was like walking on a tightrope on a cliff, and if he was not careful he would fall to pieces.
But it was impossible to refuse the superior's request at the moment, so he nodded with difficulty:
"I'll go back and prepare the report."
Lord let out a long sigh of satisfaction, and the gloom on his face instantly disappeared, as if the conversation just now was just a daily greeting:
"Oh, by the way, have the analysis team process the satellite photos of the range to make the key points clearer so that those who read the report will not be confused..."
In fact, he hadn't said the second half of his sentence yet:
If you don’t understand something, you will start thinking, and if you start thinking, you will realize that there is a problem.
Raymond opened his mouth, but all his doubts were frozen in his throat.
He suddenly remembered the "rocket misjudgment" yesterday, when the blurry image of the mountainous area in Hunan Province was rendered as the FOBS orbital bombing system.
This time, the honeycomb pattern may become the birth certificate of a new interception system...
The sound of an electronic clock came from the end of the corridor. Lord straightened his collar and walked towards the elevator.
"Maybe I can add an artificial lake to my golf course..."
He thought this in his mind as he watched the elevator door slowly close.
