Chapter 1132 Persian Gulf Air Battle
Before this, the Joint Force Navy had already launched 156 cruise missiles today.
So far, all the cruise missiles prepared by the Joint Force have been launched.
It will take about half a month before cruise missiles are available.
The Joint Force Command did not expect that the consumption of cruise missiles would be so fast.
In the first two days, the Joint Force's offensive was the most fierce, but with the consumption of aircraft and missiles, especially the damage of warships, on the third day, the offensive dropped a lot, and today, the offensive dropped a lot again.
"Attention, Iraqi fighter jets were found to take off, 42, Tammuz Air Force Base near Basra in southern Iraq." The Hawkeye early warning aircraft sent an early warning.
The formation was flying over the Persian Gulf, about 100 kilometers away from the Iraqi coastline. Because it was a high-altitude cruise flight, it had been discovered by Iraq's long-range radar network.
Iraq still has a relatively complete air defense system. Iraq has introduced various radar systems from China and Russia. In particular, some of the radar systems are mobile, highly maneuverable, and survivable. They are not easily attacked, and they can detect this aggressive air strike force from a long distance.
"Attention, climb to 15,000, accelerate to 1.6, and prepare to launch the Phoenix!" The commander of the US carrier-based aircraft conducted combat command: "Targets are assigned through data links!"
Both the F-14 fighter and the F/A-18 fighter are equipped with a new data link system, which can assign targets to each aircraft through the lead aircraft to prevent omissions.
The tail engine emits heat flow, the wings are swept back, and the huge F-14 fighter fleet begins to accelerate and fly in the front, while the F/A-18 fighter is also accelerating.
The Phoenix missile at the bottom of the F-14 fighter is powered on and enters the self-check state.
The Phoenix missile is a heavy long-range air-to-air missile developed by the US Navy. It uses radar active guidance and has a long range, great power, and the ability to attack multiple targets at the same time.
The Phoenix missile is the first long-range air-to-air missile developed and equipped by the United States after World War II. It is also the world's first active radar-guided long-range air-to-air missile with fire-and-forget and multi-target attack capabilities.
The Phoenix missile is only equipped on the F-14 fighter, and can only carry 6 missiles at a time. The missile was put into service at the end of 1974 and discontinued in 1980. A total of 2,580 missiles were produced, with a development cost of US$450 million and a procurement cost of US$950 million. The unit price was US$458,000, which was US$458,000 in the 1970s!
On the other hand, the Iraqi Air Force has 42 fighters, including 18 Su-27 fighters, 18 MiG-29 fighters, and 6 J-11E fighters.
The Su-27 fighter is a single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, air superiority heavy fighter developed by the Soviet Sukhoi Design Bureau. It has a maximum ceiling of 18,000 meters, a maximum bomb load of 6,800 kg, a combat radius of 1,600 kilometers, a fuel tank capacity of 9 tons, a maximum speed of 2.35 Mach, and is equipped with K-60M, K73 short-range air-to-air missiles and K27 medium-range air-to-air missiles.
The MiG-29 fighter is a twin-engine medium-sized fighter developed and produced by the Soviet Mikoyan Design Bureau. It began to be equipped in the army in 1983. It has an empty weight of 8,175 kg, a normal take-off weight of 15,000 kg, a maximum take-off weight of 18,000 kg, a maximum fuel load of 3,200 kg, a maximum external weapon load of 4,500 kg, and 7 hanging points, carrying K27 medium-range air-to-air missiles and R73 close-range air combat missiles.
J-11E fighter, a single-seat export model of J-11 fighter, equipped with 'PLC-8' short-range air-to-air missiles and 'PLC-12' air-to-air missiles
PL means 'Thunderbolt' series missiles, and C means export model.
The Iraqi Air Force is also ready for battle.
Kill the Americans! Protect Iraq!
This is the persistent belief of Iraqi soldiers!
Now they are driving their own fighters to fight with the Americans in the sky.
This is not the first time that Su-27 and MiG-29 have fought with F-14 fighters and F/A-18 fighters, but it is the first time that J-11 fighters have fought with F-14 fighters and F/A-18 fighters.
At this time, there was no fear in the eyes of Iraqi pilots. F-14 fighters are equipped with Phoenix long-range air-to-air missiles. If they don't know the defects, they will only be beaten without fighting back, but from the beginning they know how to get rid of the lock of F-14 fighters.
As long as you change direction and go around the radial direction of the opponent's radar, the pulse Doppler radar will filter it out as clutter, causing the opponent to lose lock!
In addition, after the opponent's missile is launched, jamming bombs are launched.
Of course, you can also maneuver to get rid of it.
The Phoenix missile was launched, but it failed to shoot down an Iraqi fighter.
As the distance closed, it had entered the attack range of medium-range air-to-air missiles.
"Boom~~"
A J-11E fighter launched a 'PLC-12' medium-range air-to-air missile, aiming at an F-14 fighter.
The F-14 fighter maneuvered, but this time it was a little slow to get rid of it, and the wing was hit by the missile, losing balance, and the altitude continued to drop.
The fighters on both sides continued to launch air-to-air missiles and fight with air-to-air missiles.
The development of science and technology has made the third-generation fighter jets mainly use medium-range air-to-air missiles and short-range air-to-air missiles, and airborne weapons such as aircraft guns are difficult to use.
The F/A-18 fighter jets are equipped with ground attack weapons, and the number of air-to-air missiles is not as good as Iraq. In addition, the number of fighter jets is at a disadvantage. Even if the American carrier-based pilots are more experienced, it is difficult to make up for the gap between the two sides in this regard.
After paying three F-14 fighter jets and six F/A-18 fighter jets, the Americans retreated, but the battle was not over. The second wave of American attacks came.
This time there were 25 F-14 fighter jets and 32 F/A fighter jets. As early as the early warning aircraft discovered the Iraqi aircraft, the two US aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf began to launch carrier-based aircraft.
The air battle between the two sides was more than 200 kilometers away from the aircraft carrier formation and at a relatively high altitude. The Americans did not use anti-aircraft missiles. There were very few anti-aircraft missiles left, and they had to be prepared for any eventuality.
The Iraqi air force pilots did not fight the Americans immediately, but retreated towards Iraq, waiting for reinforcements.
Now, after the previous consumption, Iraq's air force is not much.
Even if there are volunteers from Arab brother countries flying planes to participate in the war, the number of air forces is not as good as that of the joint forces.
In this case, it is necessary to rely on ground air defense forces.
Anti-aircraft missiles all have the function of identifying friend or foe, which can lock enemy aircraft and attack them.
This is also the strategy of the Iraqi Air Force, using this method to consume the US Air Force and prevent the US Marine Corps from landing operations in Iraqi waters.
With the minefields, Iraq optimistically estimates that it can at least stop the Americans for three years.
As long as the southern waters are defended, the Americans cannot enter Iraq relying solely on the northeastern defense line.
The cruelty of mountain warfare will make the Americans bleed. (End of this chapter)
