Chapter 1453 Absolute Shock

Many years later, facing the Star-Spangled Banner, Major General Andrew Scheer will recall that distant morning when he first saw a hypersonic aircraft with his own eyes on Chang'an Avenue in China.

In fact, the military parade was filled with the roar of engines, the sound of military music and the cheers of the crowd, and did not have the good reception conditions like those of television broadcast signals. Besides, he was an American after all, and his Chinese proficiency was far from that of a native speaker.

He was not brought out of his thoughts until Mitchell Leighton patted him on the shoulder from behind.

Then when he looked up, he saw two rows of black missiles gradually coming in front of him with rolling wheels.

The DF-16 was already a solid mid-range aircraft, and the improved DF-17 further extended the length of the gliding section. Coupled with the slightly aggressive appearance of the waverider design, it can be said to be full of oppression.

As attention was shifted back to the street in front of them, their hearing, which had been subconsciously blocked just now, gradually recovered. The low-frequency roar of the diesel engine turned into a nearly solid wall of sound, mixed with the metallic scraping sound of the turning drive shaft, turning into rhythmic vibrations on everyone's eardrums.

When the square array got closer, he could already see the precisely arranged rivets and welds, the high-temperature resistant coating emitting a bluish-gray glow under the sun, the missile body that was as thick as three people could hold together, and the protruding interstage separation ring in the middle that was like the scales of a giant python, reflecting tiny cold rays as the vehicle drove steadily...

For a moment, several American military attachés and even the entire foreign guest viewing area fell silent, seeming so out of place amid the thunderous atmosphere around them.

Most people can't even find an accurate word to describe how they feel at the moment.

Instead, a sentence suddenly popped up in the mind of the second-class lieutenant Kobayashi Shinichi from the Self-Defense Forces -

People's sorrows and joys are not shared, I just think they are noisy.

At this time, Major General Scheer, whose pupils were still trembling, also came back to his senses:

"Wait... Dongfeng 17?"

He subconsciously raised the telescope in his hand, but in fact, considering the current distance between the stands and the parade troops, this action was totally unnecessary, so he put it down in a panic.

He looked so helpless and somewhat funny.

Colonel Leighton in the back row reacted a little faster and put down the camera with exhausted storage space:

"It's a hypersonic vehicle... maybe, something like HTV2."

As an Air Force officer with a technical background, he quickly thought of his own competing products, but immediately pointed out a few differences:

"However, the upper surface design of this missile is more complex, and it also has a more obvious transition section and aerodynamic surface, which means that the main operating altitude should be lower than that of HTV2, and the range is probably much closer... It is likely to be a tactical-level weapon."

This analysis was indeed well-founded, but it did not save Sher's darkened face:

"Technical issues are not important..."

The latter's voice was trembling a little:

"The question now is, how are we going to explain this to our superiors?"

As early as the beginning of this year, when the national defense delegation visited China, they were severely hit in the face by China's sudden maiden flight of a stealth fighter.

Although Gates himself did not say anything harsh at the time, Washington later emphasized the forward-looking nature of intelligence gathering, which was obviously a warning to him as the military attaché in China.

As a result, less than a year later, the Chinese were caught off guard again.

And it’s even more serious—

No matter how advanced the fourth-generation fighter jets are, they are ultimately followers of the F22.

The Dongfeng 17 with a cold and sharp light in front of us is the only real trump card in the world.

Even the anti-ship ballistic missile DF-21D and intercontinental ballistic missile DF-31A that follow pale in comparison.

You know, this is a military parade.

Preparations began half a year in advance, and the parade was rehearsed semi-publicly for two full months!

It's much more embarrassing than the last time at the beginning of the year.

Leighton now realized the seriousness of the problem. If the Pentagon took its anger out on them because of this slap in the face, they would probably suffer the consequences.

So I quickly tried to find a way to pass on the blame:

"We haven't received any news related to this model before, and the Chinese have been rehearsing in the transportation state with the protective cover closed. Even if we investigate, it should be the problem of the intelligence department, right?"

Perhaps he felt that this reason was not enough, so he added:

"Besides, such a new type of weapon must be tested many times before entering service. What are our satellites and radars doing?"

No one could answer him.

The test launch of medium-range missiles is not like long-range or intercontinental missiles, which either have to travel far or have a high trajectory. For a country as vast as China, the entire process can be carried out in inland areas, thus avoiding detection from the ground and space.

What's more, hypersonic aircraft themselves have certain radar stealth capabilities, which increases the difficulty of overseas reconnaissance.

Although from the perspective of hindsight, there should have been many ways to determine the relevant trends in advance, it is meaningless to say so now that things have come to this.

The naval attaché, Captain Edward Collins, hoped to make amends from another angle:

"If we submit a detailed analysis report as quickly as possible, we may be able to make up for some of the omissions in our previous intelligence acquisition work..."

But under the double blow, Scheer has already given up on himself:

"It's too late... This military parade is being broadcast live around the world. The Pentagon will definitely see more details than we do, and we..."

He sighed, then looked at the military attachés from other allied countries:

"I'm afraid there are still many things on the scene that need to be dealt with."

Sure enough, before the words here fell, a hurried voice sounded in my ears:

"Major General, can the missile just now... hit Seoul or Busan?"

Sher tilted his head and saw that it was a colonel-level officer wearing a Korean path uniform.

The other party then realized that he had not yet revealed his specific identity, and it was really abrupt to ask such a question directly:

"I am Kim Hee-ho, the technical military attaché of South Korea. I have just been assigned to China and have not had time to visit your embassy yet..."

The appearance of several ballistic missile formations was at the end of the parade, and the fancy mass celebrations were obviously not the part that the military attachés needed to pay attention to.

Especially for several countries on the first island chain, the DF-17 is like a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads at all times. How can they have the mind to appreciate the performance that follows?

Rather, the more grand the Chinese people's celebration ceremony is, the colder the chill emanating from their hearts becomes.

It seemed that Kobayashi Shinichi, who had been pretending to be calm before, also came over quietly.

In fact, Sheer had just recognized the identity of the speaker. The reason why he did not give an answer immediately was, on the one hand, he was organizing his words, and on the other hand, he wanted to calm down so as not to behave too embarrassingly in front of his younger brother.

"Gliding hypersonic missiles do have a minimum range limit, but the opponent can completely launch them from the center of the country to circumvent this problem..."

After a short pause, he replied to Jin Xihao and all the military attachés from the allied countries around him:

"I think their real target is all the important military nodes in the first island chain, Wushan, Gunsan, Yokosuka, Kadena, and even Zhangyi and Subic Bay..."

This sentence is undoubtedly a threat, but also a bondage.

You are all on the Chinese people's menu, and no one can escape, so give up the idea of ​​easing relations alone as soon as possible.

Then, he changed the subject and gave an idea:

"But don't worry too much... As long as you cooperate with us and build a complete missile early warning system, and then cooperate with land-based and sea-based mid-term interceptor missiles, there is still a way to deal with the hypersonic threat..."

This statement is of course pure nonsense.

The U.S. military has been seriously researching the weaponization of hypersonic aircraft since the 90s, and has a fairly accurate estimate of the upper limit of the capabilities of missile defense systems.

Not to mention interception, even early warning is difficult.

But at least, such a statement can temporarily stabilize the allies and further increase the degree of military ties.

Especially after the financial crisis, even the wealthy U.S. military is somewhat unable to maintain its military presence around the world. If it can take this opportunity to transfer some financial pressure to its allies, it is obviously a plan that kills two birds with one stone...