Chapter 697: Radar catches ghosts, anti-aircraft guns exorcise evil spirits
Two 100×695mm.R shells exploded about 15 meters to the right of the Kansas Spirit, and the flying fragments shattered almost the entire outside of the wing. part.
If it were a conventionally configured aircraft, such damage might not be fatal.
But for the flying-wing B2 bomber, almost all of its core flight movements rely on this part of the action surface.
As a result, the aircraft under attack began to bank uncontrollably to the right.
It was only then that Marlott and Statham in the cabin came to their senses and realized that such continuous and evenly distributed explosions should come from anti-aircraft guns rather than anti-aircraft missiles.
For a moment, the two of them even had the illusion of time and space intersecting, thinking that they had gone back to World War II to fly B29...
But thinking about it, the pilot's instinct is still there. of.
Almost at the same time as the first two shells exploded, they tried to control the aircraft to turn to the left to avoid the densest part of the anti-aircraft fire as much as possible.
However, after losing the right side of action, this action is almost destined to be impossible to complete.
The aircraft immediately got into the denser barrage that followed.
The subsequent fragments quickly shattered the fuel pipeline and engine, and the leaked high-temperature gas quickly ignited a long flame behind the fuselage...
"Prepare to eject! ”
Colonel Statham, who has more combat experience, first realized that it was impossible to save the Spirit of Kansas. At this critical moment of life and death, he naturally did not consider the opportunity brought by the loss of a precious strategic bomber. What are the effects and risks of parachuting behind enemy lines? You can only prepare to escape immediately.
“Wait a minute!”
Malot's qualifications are more experienced. His instructor when he was in flight school participated in the battle in Annan, so he can still remember some key points at this time.
No matter how shabby an airplane is, it is still a titanium or aluminum alloy box, which is much stronger than the human body when faced with debris flying all over the sky.
There are explosions outside now, and ejecting them is a sure way to die...
Fortunately for the two of them, those on the ground have been in service for almost 40 years. Although the anti-aircraft artillery had been urgently maintained after being dragged out, its dispersion could only be considered unsatisfactory with the same old ammunition.
Therefore, after the explosion, the riddled aircraft still maintained its most basic structural integrity.
But it has also begun to enter an uncontrollable spiral.
The two pilots quickly pulled the ejection handle between their legs and were thrown into the night sky in an extremely awkward posture.
This all sounds long, but in fact, only half a minute has passed since the first shell exploded.
Not far away, the crew members of EA6B also recovered from the initial shock. The co-pilot almost hurriedly switched the radio to the frequency for contacting the aircraft carrier and shouted loudly inside:
"Echo 01 calls the Roosevelt! Echo 01 calls the Roosevelt! AV12 is hit by anti-aircraft fire! AV12 is hit by anti-aircraft fire! The plane is burning and we can't see if the pilot successfully ejected!"
The authorities were fascinated by the onlookers. Although it was night, he could clearly see it from outside. It was a dense barrage fired by anti-aircraft artillery.
At the same time, the pilot, who was worried about being attacked by the same attack, also quickly controlled the aircraft to make an emergency climb.
Echo 01 currently only carries one anti-radiation missile, so there is no good way to deal with it. However, the threat of anti-aircraft artillery to maneuverable tactical aircraft is very limited, as long as the route is not too rigid.
God knows how the other party happened to capture the time window when the Spirit of Kansas climbed and turned.
The content of their call was apparently so shocking that the radio was silent for several seconds before responding:
"Is it being attacked? Or..."
Obviously, the command staff on the Roosevelt still did not fully realize the seriousness of the situation.
"AV12 has been hit! It is falling!"
The anxious co-pilot interrupted the other party directly and repeated the current situation.
At this time, the opponent finally reacted:
"Please report the location where AV12 was hit. Their echo signal cannot be seen on the radar. We are coordinating the combat rescue team..."
The voice can be heard with obvious trembling.
Even for the US military, this kind of mission spanning three services is not easy to coordinate, especially now that there is a big mess.
Moreover, the B2's stealth performance is fair to both friendly and enemy radars...
"The crash location is...in the 100 direction of our aircraft, about 2.5 kilometers away... …”
The night sky in the Balkans has now returned to tranquility. The crew members of Echo 01 can only report a general direction based on estimates:
"In addition, there should be an anti-aircraft gun position near the crash site. Follow-up air power and search and rescue The team must pay attention to..."
"..."
...
Actually, Echo 01's worries are a bit unfounded.
After completing the half-minute round of short shooting, Lieutenant Colonel Danny didn't even have time to confirm the results of the battle, and commanded his subordinates via remote control to quickly pack up their positions and prepare to evacuate.
The US military’s air defense suppression operations must be respected.
The position squeezed among the ruins of the building must have been too late to move. The only way to do it was to make a hasty disguise and evacuate the people quickly.
Anyway, the most important thing in this battle are the two passive detection radars that do not emit any signals throughout the entire process. There is no need to force the rest, as it will be gone if it is gone.
But the hundreds of experienced veterans under his command must be preserved.
There is still a battle to be fought later.
"Battal Commander!" At this moment, the staff officer outside the command cabin suddenly poked his head in:
"Hit! We hit! "
After hearing this, Danny was stunned for a moment, then put down the walkie-talkie and almost stumbled to the outside of the command cabin——
In the direction where he had just directed the anti-aircraft artillery group to fire, a flash of fire was falling to the ground at an almost vertical angle...
"This...can really hit..."
Dan Ni muttered in disbelief.
After all, this was his first battle using the new radar and anti-aircraft artillery linkage, but he actually had no confidence.
When I first gave the order to fire, my expectation was that I would be satisfied if I could injure the target.
The result was a big one.
As he watched, Danny felt that his vision was a little blurry.
As an air defense force commander, although he achieved a world-renowned result at the beginning of the Allied operation, for more than half a month after that, he could only watch the opponent's aircraft. He came and went freely on his head, ravaging the land and people he had sworn to protect.
The humiliation and grievances felt were finally released at this moment...
The younger staff officer next to him had much simpler ideas.
Looking at the slowly falling fireball in the night sky, he couldn't hide his excitement in his voice:
"Battalion Commander, I feel that the movement this time... is bigger than the last time the F117 was shot down..."
"Boom——"
As soon as he finished speaking, a series of explosions came from the distant suburbs.
As if verifying the statement just made.
Danny, who was still immersed in emo just now, was also awakened by the huge noise:
"It seems...it is indeed."
Although he couldn't see clearly at night, he fell just now That thing is obviously much larger than a normal tactical aircraft.
"Bigger than F117...but still a stealth aircraft..."
The lieutenant colonel's eyes suddenly lit up:
"B2..."
"We...we may have shot down a B2..."
After calming down the turbulent mood in his heart, he turned to look at the still stunned The staff officer standing next to him said:
"Quick, notify the ground troops, assemble immediately, and control the crash point before dawn. Be sure to leave enough image data!"
"Also, let each unit search within a limited range nearby to see if they can find something like a parachute, but they must return to concealment before dawn!"
This reflects his quality as an old fritter.
He judged the priorities of the matter almost immediately -
Once it enters daylight, the activities of the ground troops must be suspended.
Under the premise of limited time, the location of the plane wreckage is relatively certain, and people can definitely find it if they are sent there, and it involves the authenticity of the record.
As long as the latest strategic bomber can be confirmed to be shot down, the international impact may not be less than that of sinking a warship, which is of great significance to the current international outlook.
Relatively speaking, the pilot is secondary.
Firstly, he didn’t know whether the pilot had parachuted. Secondly, even if he had jumped, he didn’t know where the pilot would float to. The aimless search efficiency was very low.
So the main thing is to try your luck and don’t force it.
"Yes!"
The staff officer also woke up from a dream, quickly raised his hand to salute the lieutenant colonel, and then trotted away, preparing to go to the nearest army command post for support.
"Huh——"
After issuing this series of orders, the lieutenant colonel stood there and took a deep breath.
For him, this battle was originally a struggle without any hope.
But at this moment, the situation seemed to have changed slightly.
If you can achieve iconic results continuously, then you may not be able to let powerful enemies retreat in advance.
But, he doesn't know it yet.
Shooting down a B2 is indeed big news.
But compared with another thing that happened tonight, it is almost nothing to mention...
(End of this chapter)