Chapter 557 The mysterious target from underwater

While the three of them were talking, the two helicopters conducted the next round of hovering searches.

For the first time, Lieutenant General Vojour took out a watch to keep time.

But the result was not much different from his previous mental arithmetic:

"Same as last time, another 140 seconds."

There was a bit of disbelief in his tone.

The so-called "flight performance" may include many parts, but for helicopters, hover time is definitely a very important indicator.

This is quite different from what Eurocopter technicians said before.

However, the facts are in front of us. Radar signals and time cannot deceive people, so there is no reason for people to disbelieve them.

He closed the cover of his pocket watch with a click, raised his head again and said:

"This shows that their helicopters can hover longer than ours."

At this point, the other people sitting around the command podium should have understood what the lieutenant general meant.

"The AS565's short hovering time is mainly due to the insufficient continuous output power of the engine under anti-submarine load, and it must be increased to take-off power to maintain hovering."

The aviation officer naturally knew the most about helicopters. After thinking for two or three seconds, he was the first to make a guess:

"So, maybe they switched to a more powerful engine."

In fact, there are shortcomings in the transmission system of the original French Dolphin series helicopters. Simply increasing the engine power will not only fail to increase the actual power output, but will also be counterproductive.

But this is something that only Eurocopter (and of course Icefly Group now) knows, and users don’t know the details.

So the first thing he thought of was naturally power upgrade.

“Or it unlocks longer takeoff power output time at the expense of engine life.”

Another person then added:

"Generally speaking, in order to ensure safety, a certain margin will be left when performing performance calibration. After all, the aircraft is produced by the Chinese themselves. Just adjust the flight control program to unlock some performance limitations."

Both guesses made the lieutenant general relax a little.

Whether it is a more powerful engine or a more extreme working state, it means greater fuel consumption.

In other words, although there is a big gap between what I expected at the beginning, at least I can still manage it in the end... right?

Wojru turned his attention back to the display screen in front of him.

Due to the different rhythms of advance and point-by-point detection, the two helicopters at this time had a relatively obvious difference in position, and were about to fly to the other side of the sea area designated for the exercise.

"Have you not found the target yet?"

He subconsciously raised his hand to wipe his forehead, but found that he was not sweating.

In early April in mid-to-high latitude waters, even if the air conditioner is not turned on, the cabin temperature above the ship surface is relatively suitable.

"We have no reports of suspicious signals from either side. Could it be..."

The aviation officer shook his head.

He seemed to want to say something more, but he was interrupted by a radio operator sitting not far away:

"Pilots reported that they could last up to 10 minutes before needing to return."

"Let the aviation department prepare to replenish fuel and prepare for the second takeoff."

Of course, Captain Bernalli didn't know about Vojul's brainstorming a few days ago, which he thought was a plan, and he just issued instructions as usual based on the situation during normal training.

But Wojru, who was sitting next to him, broke out in a cold sweat.

According to his thoughts from the past two days, the plot should be that the opponent's helicopter could not hold on and requested to return first.

For this reason, when planning the plan the night before, he specifically rejected the Chinese proposal to separate the two projects of submarine search and submarine attack, with an interval of one hour in between.

But he didn’t want to mess around, he planned everything step by step——

Because Ship 113 has double hangars, it can carry two anti-submarine helicopters.

Therefore, even if the first plane returns early, the second plane can take off to take over the mission.

It can earn face for oneself without interrupting the exercise and making it impossible to continue.

After all, in the final analysis, everyone is here to enhance relationships, not to ruin things.

It's normal to compete with each other, but it's not good if they are out of touch.

Who would have thought that in the end, after all the calculations, he would end up being cheated on himself.

There is no second helicopter on the Jean Bart. If it returns midway, it means that the anti-submarine activities on the right front of the fleet's sailing direction will be interrupted.

That's not a matter of losing one person.

"But their plane hovers longer than ours...how is that possible?"

Surprised, Vojour recalled the conversation he had with Flamel before setting off.

At that time, he also thought that he could help fellow villagers promote French helicopter products.

Now it seems that you are still promoting products?

It's just embarrassing to spin around in circles.

And it’s still humiliating itself.

The Chinese people opposite me didn't do anything, maybe they didn't even know anything, they just watched a good show.

"No, when I get back, I have to bring this matter up no matter what."

Vorul secretly gritted his teeth and made a decision.

If this was the case, he probably would have endured it. After all, it was not an honorable thing.

But now everyone uses similar helicopters, and others, China, still buy the technology from your Eurocopter company.

In the end, the performance was better than what we used ourselves?

Want some face?

Is your Eurocopter company a bit suspicious of Tonghua?

Worruel, who was a little annoyed and angry, was thinking more and more freely, and his expression became a bit gloomy.

Everyone else in the CIC on the same ship noticed that their leader was in a bad mood, but they looked at each other for a few times, and no one understood what made him angry.

After all, Warruer himself was responsible for connecting with China on the exercise plan.

Fortunately, the solemn atmosphere did not last long.

"Report, the Chinese Navy Ship 113 sent a communication. They have searched for a suspicious target. The location is 350 directions from the other side's own ship and 20 nautical miles away."

A correspondent who was responsible for communication between the two ships suddenly turned around to report.

Naturally, there cannot be any data link system between the Chinese Navy and the French Navy.

Being able to transmit messages across languages ​​without making mistakes is considered a tacit understanding.

Fortunately, the staff officers on the French side were of good quality and marked the position on the chart almost as soon as the correspondent finished speaking.

"Is this goal setting so extreme?"

The people of Vojur were numb.

Generally speaking, this kind of exercise will not be difficult for participating warships, so the target will be placed relatively in the middle, and it will be over in a moment.

But the target given by the Chinese was almost located on the westernmost side of the preset exercise area.

"Let the helicopter fly over and use the buoy to conduct a precise search."

Although he thought that the Chinese people were a bit unreasonable, the lieutenant general breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the helicopter to rush over quickly.

At least there has to be some sense of participation.

Moreover, a helicopter is much more fuel-efficient when flying than in a hovering state, and the range pressure is much smaller than the submarine search process of constantly changing altitudes and performing short hovers.

……

at the same time.

Twenty nautical miles away, on a Chinese Navy ship-based helicopter, four crew members were thinking exactly the same thing as Vojul.

The reason why each hover took longer than the French on the other side was, of course, not really due to lack of proficiency, but the difference in the anti-submarine training methods of the two warships.

In the French naval fleet, there will be Big Lynx helicopters with better performance and even Atlantic fixed-wing anti-submarine aircraft responsible for submarine search missions.

Therefore, unless the detailed location of the target has been determined and ready to be launched, the Panther helicopter will only use the passive monitoring mode with better concealment to avoid alerting the enemy.

The 052 destroyer is one of the only two warships in the Chinese Navy with modern anti-submarine capabilities. It must be able to search and attack submarines. Therefore, every time the Zhi-9C hovers, it will first passively detect and then conduct active search.

It will naturally take longer.

The reason why we were able to find the current target was that we discovered an extremely weak signal anomaly during an active search, and then deviated from the preset route and tracked it all the way here.

But as the distance gradually got closer, the passive mode of the suspended sonar gradually began to detect some weak sound signals, indicating that the other party was not in a completely silent state with the power system fully turned off.

"What did the ship say?"

The sonar operator in the back leaned over and asked the front right passenger.

The cabin noise of this new helicopter is much lower than that of older models of the past, and they can even communicate through normal volume instead of roaring.

"The French helicopter will arrive in five minutes. They have several sonobuoys and the monitoring area will be larger."

"But speaking of it, those people in the submarine force are really a bit inappropriate. They knew it was a joint exercise and still stopped at such a nook and cranny. If it weren't for good luck, they would have missed it."

The co-pilot complained somewhat helplessly.

"actually……"

The operator took a deep breath and said in an uncertain tone:

"I don't think this target looks like a 033..."

"what?"

The aircraft in the hovering state shook slightly.

"I have dealt with 033 too many times. As long as this boat is moving, the noise can be heard dozens of miles away. It will definitely not be like this."

The operator looked at the not too obvious voiceprint on the circular screen in front of him and said.