Chapter 1099: Confrontation in the Air
S-band is a very common signal source.
From radio communications, to search radar, to measurement and control networks, S-band may be used in everything.
Of course, passive reconnaissance must be based on the nature of the signal.
Otherwise, you will find that there are radiation sources in all directions, and there will be no point in "reconnaissance".
As the latest strategic reconnaissance drone of the US military, the Global Hawk's equipment can directly display the location and characteristics of the received signal on the equipment operator's screen.
For example, the signal from the eastern lower hemisphere 100 kilometers away is also in the S-band. The pulse width is as high as hundreds of Mhz, and the power is enough to burn through ordinary jammers. It is obviously a working machine. Among them search radar.
But the new signal just detected comes from almost directly above the aircraft. The pulse width is only single digits Mhz and the power is quite weak, which is consistent with all the characteristics of a radio communication system.
Considering that the drone was flying at an altitude of 17,000 meters at this time, it seems unlikely that there happened to be an aircraft at a higher position.
Therefore, the operator judged that this was a signal from a communications satellite, and there was nothing wrong with it.
Ted Lynch also quickly adjusted the heading from 110 to 40, which was basically flying northeast along the border.
As a veteran reconnaissance aircraft pilot, even if he is no longer in the cockpit, he still maintains due caution.
Especially in Central Asia, a place with complicated situations.
After flying for five minutes as scheduled, Lynch turned to look at his partner next to him:
"How is it, is it over?"
Although there is almost no concept of control radius for drones with satellite antennas, after all, they are flying in someone else's Kyrgyz airspace, and he still hopes not to deviate too much from the route notified in advance.
Moreover, the superiors also set a time limit for task execution in advance.
The mission area must be evacuated before 1 a.m. local time (5 a.m. Beijing time).
However, the other party hesitated for a moment:
“It’s best to turn around and fly again.”
"Ah?"
Lin Qi's hand almost shook.
“This signal... is a bit strange.”
The operator frowned, picked up the cup and took a sip of coffee:
“Although the characteristics are satisfactory for satellite communication... But the analysis results are too simple, and it doesn’t look like it’s transmitting any useful information.”
Another advantage of Global Hawk is that it has achieved real-time intelligence analysis to a considerable extent by relying on high-throughput data links and supercomputers on the ground.
Even if the specific communication content cannot be deciphered, the communication capacity can be used to determine whether the analysis target is a false signal.
This function was actually prepared for electronic reconnaissance during wartime, but it just happened to be used in the current environment.
Considering that there is almost no possibility of falsification of satellite signals, and that turning a 180° turn on such a large straight-wing aircraft is actually a very time-consuming task, Lynch was somewhat reluctant:
“But the above only requires us to capture unfamiliar satellite signals in this area, and does not provide information about signal characteristics?”
For a moment, the operation cabin fell into silence.
In fact, this mission seemed very weird from the beginning.
Most of the time, as pilots of strategic reconnaissance aircraft such as the Global Hawk, they have the authority to understand more specific situations and even make appropriate adjustments during the mission.
But today, they almost only got a simple request of "where to go and what to find", so when faced with unexpected situations, it is easy for crew members to have disagreements——
Due to the particularity of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, the captain in charge of the flight does not have the authority to say anything. In many cases, the needs of the reconnaissance mission will prevail.
In the end, Lynch chose to compromise.
"Okay..."
As he said that, he began to carefully adjust his flight attitude, preparing to repeat the flight path just now...
However, just as he completed the turn, , when he was about to return to the previous route, the operator next to him suddenly sat up straight.
I almost spilled the coffee in my hand.
Lin Qi looked at the other party with somewhat doubtful eyes.
But the latter stared straight at the screen in front of him:
"The signal...disappeared suddenly?"
......
Almost the same as At the same time.
Somewhere in western Xinjiang Province.
In a 54K6E2 air defense command vehicle, Zhu Xuejun, wearing a cotton coat, was sitting in front of the console, staring intently at a target track on the screen in front of him.
About 50 meters away, a 64N6E radar is working in a low-key manner.
This is a large-scale battlefield management radar that is only assigned to the brigade/regiment level headquarters. It can greatly reduce the work pressure of the 64N6E search radar.
As for the launching positions, they are deployed further away.
The reason for this arrangement is mainly to prevent all combat capabilities from being wiped out at once by anti-radiation means.
Zhu Xuejun, who was only a brigade commander four years ago, now has a star on his shoulders due to his many participation in major tactical verification and training missions.
And his old unit, the original 4th mixed air defense brigade of Jincheng Military Region, has now been upgraded to the 4th surface-to-air missile brigade.
However, because he was still in the adaptation period after receiving new equipment, Zhu Xuejun, who had already joined the Jincheng Military Region Air Force, returned to his old army and was responsible for the research and training of new tactics. This was originally just a normal work process, but now it will bring an unexpected benefit——
Zhu Xuejun has the authority to make many decisions that cannot be made by the brigade-level commander.
It is equivalent to reducing an intermediate command link.
"Chief of Staff, instructions from superiors."
The correspondent held a contact document in his hand and hurriedly came to the door of the command vehicle:
"Maintain control of the target. Monitor and track, and if the other party is still wandering around at 5 o'clock Beijing time, issue a warning."
"Okay."
Zhu Xuejun nodded calmly.
Under the current situation, it should be inconvenient for aviation troops to be dispatched.
Then we can only rely on their ground-guided troops as the last shield.
But the new brigade commander Fan Rongjian sitting next to him was not so calm:
"Chief of Staff, we are using missiles...how to issue a warning..."
The aviation force can accompany the aircraft, interfere with it, use infrared decoys, and even use machine guns to fire warning shots.
But if the anti-aircraft missile is shot out, it will really be impossible to take it back.
Besides, it is completely unreasonable for others to fly overseas the whole time, let alone call them out, even if they only lock them.
Zhu Xuejun hesitated for a moment and did not give an answer immediately, but then asked:
"Electronic reconnaissance battalion, did you still not detect the signal from the target?"
"No, the target remained silent the whole time."
Fan Rongjian shook his head, and then gestured towards the radar screen:< br>
“Currently we can only speculate based on the trajectory detected by the radar that the other party may be the latest RQ4A Global Hawk drone in service.”
“Huh——”
Upon hearing this speculation, Zhu Xuejun took a long breath and his expression became serious.
There was no active signal sent out, and the time was late at night, indicating that there was a high probability of conducting passive electronic reconnaissance.
In this case, if you react aggressively, you will fulfill the other party's wish.
But he couldn't do nothing.
In the end, I had to choose a compromise plan:
"Let the 30N6E radar be ready. When the time comes, you can conduct a power-on test, but it must be short and not allow the other party to capture too many signal characteristics..."
One disadvantage of imported equipment is that it has a small amplitude. The update frequency cannot keep up.
So, you need to pay more attention to confidentiality.
"Yes!"
Fan Rongjian saluted, then turned around and began to communicate with the first anti-aircraft missile battalion deployed on the westernmost side.
At this time, the target displayed on the radar had also completed a slow 180° turn, and seemed to be preparing to repeat its original route.
“TMD…”
Looking at the Americans who seemed to be a little unfinished, Zhu Xuejun could not help but curse in a low voice.
Although the frequency of equipment updates of the Chinese military, especially the air force, has not been slow in recent years, there is still a gap compared to powerful enemies.
Just like the Global Hawk flying in the sky, there is no model that can be used as a benchmark.
What's even more troublesome is that others have too great a geographical advantage.
You may not feel it when you look at it on the map.
But if you put it on a globe, you will find that there are almost all US military bases around China.
In a situation like today, the other party is clearly here to conduct reconnaissance and provocation, but there is no problem at all in terms of international law.
No matter how you deal with it, you will only suffer a dull loss.
Thinking of this, Zhu Xuejun's thoughts couldn't help but fly back to a few years ago -
Although he still doesn't know the full story of the incident, the technology he tested appeared abroad in the blink of an eye and achieved world-shocking results. At the same time, the opponent's precision-guided weapons exploded bizarrely...
It's hard not to connect these things.
As a soldier, he understood the requirements of confidentiality regulations and never told anyone about his speculations.
But faced with this situation, Zhu Xuejun inevitably started to think.
Interception by surface-to-air missiles or fighter jets has almost no room for maneuver in peacetime.
Besides, air defense and air defense are all defenses.
No matter how advanced the air defense system is, if it only responds passively, there will be loopholes sooner or later.
And if you can think of a way to interfere with or even mislead the opponent's route...
It seems to be a more feasible way of confrontation...
(End of this chapter)