Chapter 1407 Half an Airplane
A few days later.
Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, USA.
Major General John Raymond, director of the Operations Reconnaissance Center, pushed the door into Admiral Robert Keller's office, brought a biting chill.
The former uniform had an unmelted snow on the badge of the "Aerospace Command" on the left chest of the military uniform, and the encrypted computer bag in his hand made a slight click when it came into contact with the desktop.
"Admiral, during the half month you went to Washington, we observed several frequent abnormal activities at Huangtianba Airport in southwestern China."
He said as he pulled out an infrared thermal image from his laptop. Huangtianba Airport in the western suburbs of Rongcheng looked like a group of ghost fires:
"Judging from order information, from December last year to January this year, the production of J-10 fighter jets was at a low point between two batches, but the characteristic signal strength of their assembly workshops and test workshops did not decrease but increased, and a position that had been in a quiet state for the past two years was suddenly reactivated recently..."
Robert Keller has just taken office for a while, and although he is from the Aerospace Command, he used to be responsible for commanding missile forces and was still a little unsure about satellite matters:
"Since it has been going on for half a month, shouldn't we further concentrate other reconnaissance resources?"
Raymond nodded:
"That's right, but in the past week, the clouds over Chengdu have been very low, which is very unfavorable for infrared and visible light reconnaissance, so we spent a little more time mobilizing two synthetic aperture radar satellites."
Keller finally sat upright from the office chair:
"So, what about the further conclusion?"
Raymond answered while opening another satellite photo:
"It's hard to say... This is why I came to you to report."
The admiral put on his glasses and approached the screen.
He saw a gap suddenly cracked in the center of the gray apron on the picture composed of black and white noise.
"This is a synthetic aperture imaging on the morning of January 25th local time. We successfully captured the target, but the radar beam encountered...some kind of structural interference."
Raymond's index finger hovered over a pixel cluster somewhere. In the image after magnification twenty times, the concrete ground strangely sunk out the outline of a half-machine:
"The imaging effect is not very clear, but you see here, it is a sharp diamond-shaped head, candle wings, and air intakes on both sides. It is obviously an airplane... But from the root of the main wing, all the structures disappeared into the void as if they were erased."
Keller frowned:
"So what is this?"
Then he glanced at Raymond standing on the side of his desk:
"Half Phantom Fighter?"
This sentence is a pun, and it means a bit of a joke.
The latter did not follow up, but just continued:
"From the outline of the appearance, it is obviously a fighter with stealth... or at least some stealth capabilities. It should correspond to the so-called "Project 20" that China has been advancing in recent years, but no further information has been observed yet, and it is still unclear why the second half of the fuselage disappeared."
Finally, perhaps in order to save respect, I added another sentence:
"Of course, theoretically, it cannot be ruled out that a simple signal processing error occurs..."
That being said, but everyone knows that this possibility only exists on paper, and the probability of appearing at this time and position is infinitely close to 0.
The two of them fell into thought at the same time.
Generally speaking, even stealth aircraft should have better stealth abilities in the first hemisphere than in the second hemisphere.
Moreover, radar stealth mainly faces the right hemisphere and the front and lower part, and it is difficult to act on electromagnetic signals from directly above. The vague but still recognizable head part is evidence.
"Is it possible..."
The general hesitated and spoke:
"Is this second half of the fuselage blocked by the metal roof of the shed, or something similar, causing the satellite signal to be reflected in advance?"
Raymond shook his head decisively.
"No, although metal shields block electromagnetic waves, they have extremely strong reflective capabilities and will also produce corresponding imaging, just like the roofs of these colored steel tiles nearby."
He pointed to some extremely clear and bright color blocks on the edge of the picture: "In addition, even if the Chinese really only built half of the plane to confuse us... or conduct some kind of test, the concrete material on the ground of the apron should reflect, but the signal intensity in the second half is two orders of magnitude lower than the background noise."
After the past two years of experience in various unexpected events (mainly attributed to China), he has become half an expert in this field, who was originally planning to be a gangster in the position of reconnaissance director.
Although it was forced.
They looked at each other again.
"Well, we must admit that sometimes satellites are not omnipotent, and no technical means can completely replace the naked eye and the human brain..."
Keller rubbed his somewhat swollen temple:
"So, what do the intelligence department say?"
Raymond curled his lips:
"Yesterday afternoon, we had already informed the Ministry of Defense Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency, but their insiders in China have suffered heavy losses in the past two years, and it seems that this...thing has not been parked outside for 24 hours, so it is impossible for open source intelligence to be completed so quickly. Both sides said it will take time to verify it."
After a while, Keller spoke again:
"Then wait..."
Then he instructed:
"In addition, don't leave satellite reconnaissance. If it is really a fourth-generation fighter, the efficiency of the Chinese people will be a bit terrible..."
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Raymond noticed that a new 2009 calendar was on the Admiral's desk.
On the cover is a timeline from 1943 to 2009.
Above the axis, there are blue marks from P59 to F-22.
Below the axis, there is a red mark from MiG 15 to J-11.
The time difference between the two sides reached its maximum in the 1970s and 1980s, but after entering the second half of the 1990s, it was collapsing at an exponential speed.
Perhaps because he noticed Raymond's sight, Keller took the initiative to explain:
"The Pentagon issued it, saying it symbolizes that we should gradually shift our strategic goals to the Pacific... I have a few more copies if you want it."
After saying that, he sighed again:
"In the past decade, the Chinese have been chasing us like they were riding rockets... The J-10 was about twenty years later than the F16, but if this is really a fourth-generation fighter jet, it means that this advantage has been shortened to about 10 years..."
"If this continues, when the next generation of aircraft is about to fly first in the two sides..."
The general smiled bitterly and shook his head, but he didn't take the second half seriously in his tone.
After all, even the F35 is still in a mess. I don’t know when it will form a complete combat capability. As for the next generation... there is not even a concept at the moment.
Thinking of this, he felt that waiting for the intelligence department to work is not a solution:
"In this way, when you go back, you will write a report to the Ministry of National Defense, and say that China's new generation of fighter jets that are benchmarking against F22 are about to fly for the first time. As for the demonstration process, you can do it yourself."
Keller pointed to the picture on the computer screen:
"If the Chinese make any big news, we can say that we have made a related reminder long ago and can make the pot..."
He originally wanted to say that he could turn the blame to CIA or DIA, but when he said that, he suddenly remembered a more serious possibility.
"Wait a minute..."
Raymond, who was ready to pack up his computer, stopped hearing this, waiting for his superiors to give further instructions.
"I got news when I was in Washington before that Secretary Gates was preparing for a round of visits to many countries in Asia and Pacific. According to the plan, he should go to China next month..."
Keller's voice vibrated slightly.
Raymond immediately thought of the same guess as the other party:
"You mean... they may choose the time window of the Ministry of Defense delegation to make their first flight in China?"
(This chapter ends)