The Blacklist

Chapter 215: Poor Man's Cruise Missile
The project manager affirmed: "No, we only have one prototype for this project, and it's right there!" As he spoke, he pointed to a large drone that was being inspected by several staff members in the middle of the hall next to him.

After Donald took a look at the white plane, he turned around and looked around the entire hall - Carrie once reminded him that something important must have been lost in this R&D center, and they might not even know it themselves!
After finding something covered with thick canvas in the corner against the wall, Donald walked over and asked, "What are these?"

The project manager said nonchalantly: "The unmanned target drone manufactured by Danbern Avionics is an antique that has been used since the last century. Now it can only be regarded as a souvenir..."

At this time, Donald had already walked up to the front, pulled aside the thick canvas, pointed at the three red target planes below that looked like winged missiles, and said, "There's an empty spot here. It looks like you lost a target plane!"

The project manager's face changed, but he still insisted: "Why steal a target aircraft that is more than 20 years old? Even if someone got it, it would take a whole team of technicians to restart it, check its power system, and install a new wireless flight control system... What's the point of doing this?"

Donald looked at the remaining three drones and said coldly, "That is to say, if a team of technicians can maintain and improve this drone and install a new flight control system, it can be flown, right?"

"Oh, yes, but..." The project manager still didn't understand.

Gibbs, who was standing nearby, had understood what was going on. He interrupted the project manager and said, "No need for 'buts'. Ask your people to check whether the new flight control system has been copied."

After some inspection, they found that the flight control system of the computer host had been copied. Although the access control of the research center does not require fingerprints, both the computer and the flight control system require fingerprints to be started!
Soon, by checking the surveillance videos of the past two days, they found the footage of the target plane being stolen the night before. Although the people participating in the operation were wearing hoods, Donald Gibbs and others still recognized that the leader was Eri based on his figure!

According to the technicians, although the stolen target drone is old, it can fly after repairing the engine and installing a new flight control system. It can even carry a payload of more than 25 pounds in its internal space!

Gibbs and the others thought of the car bomb and realized that if they loaded the drone with 25 pounds of explosives, it would become a poor man's cruise missile! But where would the target be?
The technicians said that this drone is very old. Even if it is equipped with the latest flight control system, the drone does not have autonomous capabilities. Take-off, landing and flight must be under manual intervention. The maximum control distance of the operating platform over the drone is 40 miles...

However, if the target of the attack is not determined, this range is useless! At this time, Elizabeth said, "I'll call and ask Lee for his opinion!"
-
After receiving Elizabeth's call, Carrie organized her words and made a very reasonable inference: "Liz, imagine that Eric really wants to take revenge on Gibbs, or the NCIS First Detective Team. The previous car explosion only sent Tony to the hospital, and he will definitely not be willing to accept that!
"So, Eric's next target should still be the navy, so as to attract NCIS to the scene... Don't worry, Eric will give Gibbs a chance and let him know where to find the target drone!"
-
When Elizabeth told Carrie what she said, several people in SER began to think about it, but Gibbs and other NCIS agents didn't care at all. What is this talking about? Is solving the case entirely based on guessing?

But just a few minutes later, McGee, a rookie from NCIS's first team, found the trace of the van loaded with the drone through city road surveillance, and followed the surveillance to its destination - an abandoned factory building on the outskirts of Norfolk, Virginia. At the moment when the factory door was finally closed, the face of Eric, the last person to enter, could even be clearly seen in the surveillance!
Although this was not something that was embarrassing, Gibbs and others were a little confused. Could Director Kerry, who was not present at the scene, foresee the future?

Without time to think, Gibbs hurriedly ordered NCIS personnel to rush to the abandoned factory, but this place is more than 260 miles away from the warehouse in Norfolk, so it seems that a Navy helicopter will have to be dispatched!

Donald asked Elizabeth, Mira and Nawabi to follow him. He didn't think Gibbs would prepare a seat for SER on the helicopter. He was ready to take them back to the post office. NCIS should be able to handle the rest! -
At around 3:30 in the afternoon, Gibbs and his team landed on the rooftop platform of a naval logistics station five kilometers away from the target factory, where vehicles and a team of naval guards had been prepared for them.

On the way here, McGee had already found out that this warehouse was less than 30 miles away from the Norfolk Naval Base. At : this afternoon, the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt and its four escort destroyers would return to the base, and the naval officers and soldiers on the five warships would leave the ships for rest...

In response, McGee was somewhat puzzled and asked: "Are these Hamas members going to use target drones to attack warships? That will never succeed, right?"

"No, their target is the families of the navy who are at the dock to welcome their relatives back..." Gibbs's face looked unhappy. He was a naval petty officer and knew how rare and happy it was for the officers and soldiers on the ship to return to their homeland to reunite with their relatives after being at sea for months or even longer. Now these guys were going to use their homemade "missiles" to carry out a terrorist attack on the families at the dock!
He couldn't even imagine how much of a psychological blow it would be to the officers and soldiers returning to Hong Kong if the other party really succeeded? How much of a blow would it be to the entire U.S. Navy? He had to stop this traitorous lunatic Eric! —
A little after four o'clock, Gibbs led a group of NCIS agents and a dozen Marine guards to surround the target factory and rushed in from several directions. As soon as they entered the factory, they were attacked by several armed gunmen, and the two sides immediately started a "ping pong pong" gunfight...

McGee did not enter the factory, but stayed with the convoy, using the drone operating platform from the R&D center to try to intercept the radio signal controlling the target drone, hack into the channel and seize control...

Just after two minutes, he heard a roar above his head. He looked up and saw a red winged missile being launched from the roof into the air. He hurriedly shouted into the intercom: "Gibbs, the target plane was launched from the roof of the factory!"

(End of this chapter)