What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 476 Swifts Over the Rainforest

The eight gnats are still operating in a manned + unmanned mode, with one manned version and three unmanned versions.

Besides air defense equipment, another key asset for ground forces is the AN/TPQ-36A counter-battery radar mounted on the M113 armored vehicle, which is now temporarily used as an air defense radar.

There were four radars operating in real time on the fleet, and as darkness fell, the soldiers continued to search using their thermal imaging binoculars.

"I have a feeling that Hans might suddenly be heard in the woods, followed by 150mm shells flying towards us?"

"This is impossible."

Ryan dismissed Seton's guess without a second thought:
"It won't be easy to tow heavy artillery over here. It can only be moved along the road, and the traces alone will inevitably be detected by our satellites or aircraft."

"Be careful of the mortars, though they're not very powerful, they can easily take out a few unlucky guys... Torres, go check if the counter-battery radar is working, Torres!"

Torres, who had been summoned, was looking around with his binoculars when he was scolded. Only then did he nervously go to check the radar.

Everyone knew what was going on; these past few days, Torres had been saying that something was watching them, and he had even brought up a legend from his hometown:
There is a type of "Mothman" with wings on its back, possessing night vision and agile flight capabilities. It moves almost silently and likes to suck flesh from behind people using its mouthparts like pulling threads.

He often heard a faint buzzing sound but couldn't find the target, much like the flapping wings of the Mothman.

However, others didn't believe this, saying that the rainforest was teeming with mosquitoes, and that a mosquito killer could kill a pound of mosquitoes a day, so how could the buzzing be any less?
However, as darkness fell, Ryan also heard a buzzing sound.

It's very dense, frequent, and most likely quite far away, so it doesn't seem like a mosquito.

The friction of his clothes made his back itch a little, as if there was a Mothman there... Damn Torres, he's said so much that he's almost starting to believe it.

The noise and the humid environment made him even more irritable. He rubbed his back and decided to find a place to lean against for a while. Just as he sat down, he saw the setting sun at the same height as the treetops. In that instant, he saw a dark figure flash through the gap in the bushes.

Maybe it's an eagle or a monkey.

However, a minute later he still opened his eyes with unease, took out his infrared binoculars and immediately saw a cluster of bright red dots amidst a blue-yellow background.

The T6 drone is gasoline-powered. Although the machine itself does not get very hot, it cannot handle the scalding exhaust fumes, which are too conspicuous under infrared vision and emit a temperature that is definitely not that of a living organism.

"Enemy attack!"

Ryan's shout startled everyone, and he immediately turned on his walkie-talkie to warn all the ships in the fleet.

Torres and Sitton immediately moved closer:
"What is that? Where are the enemies?"

"It's a machine... Torres, give me a Stinger!"

Ryan picked up the Stinger, slung it over his shoulder, and quickly activated the lock... but failed.

The miniature gasoline engine's power is not as high as that of a motorcycle, and coupled with its intermittent flashing light while hidden in the jungle, the Stinger's seeker head could not lock onto it.

"Fake."

At this moment, Seton, following Ryan's guidance, finally located the drone using an infrared telescope, but the distance was almost at the limit of a sniper rifle, making it nearly impossible to hit.

Torres didn't have time to figure out what was going on, because the radar was also warning him!

"Air strike!"

The four Gnats suddenly pulled up as they approached the convoy, simultaneously launching eight AIM-9B infrared air-to-air missiles.

By the time the radar issued a warning, the fighter jets were already close to the top of the convoy and used their familiar overhead dive tactic.

The vulnerable civilian ship was no match for the near-vertical overhead attack. Just as the unprepared soldiers on deck were in a panic, four Gnats exploded simultaneously in the sky. A minute later, two F-15s flew overhead, one in front and one behind, seemingly showing off their victory.

……

"There are still enemies in area E4! Team A, intercept them! Team B, immediately search area C2; they may have taken off from there!"

Inside the cabin of the "Wanglou" early warning aircraft, Wayne urgently issued missions to the various air squadrons.

For a minister to personally go to the front lines and even directly enter fighter jets carries considerable risks.

But there are good reasons for him to do so: the Air Force must perform better and be more effective than the Navy.

It was thought that the series of defeats would weaken the Navy, but the fact that Congress kept increasing the Navy's budget and adding new projects made Wayne really restless.

The general trend of cutting military spending will not change; that's all his money!

In fact, the swarm of gnats was detected when it was still more than 100 kilometers away from the Amazon River. At that time, they had just entered the 160-kilometer range of E3, which gave the pilot a fright.

However, it turns out that ultra-low-altitude tree-tip penetration is not entirely unsolvable. This time, there were no turbulent waters or severe weather like when flying over the sea, and the E3 was able to detect the target amidst the clutter.

But Wayne didn't want to alert them. He simply sent a squadron of F-15s to deal with them. Then, following the gnats' flight path, he quickly located their possible takeoff area, which happened to be C2 on the map.

After sending out the remaining 15 F-15s, he still wasn't satisfied. He timed it ten minutes before notifying the air force base in the United States. As a result, eight Mirage 2000 fighters took off in the darkness and headed straight for the suspicious area with afterburners engaged!

……

Two fighter jets were shot down.

Two fighter jets were shot down.

Two fighter jets were shot down.

"Damn, that's so sneaky!"

Tang Wen cursed under his breath; all eight mosquito gnats were wiped out within three minutes of being discovered.

He originally intended to test the waters by dividing his fighter jets into two formations and launching them at different times, hoping to ambush the enemy, but they were all exposed prematurely.

This is enough to prove that there were already many fighter jets circling around waiting to ambush the attacking group. Although it was not unexpected, the attack was still a bit too fierce.

Having failed in his initial attempt, Tang Wen immediately abandoned all his original plans and first reviewed the course of the battle:

The swarm of gnats was shot down just as it launched its attack. What were they waiting for before that?
Should they search for any remaining potential second wave of aircraft, or take the opportunity to locate a so-called "air force base"?
A few hundred kilometers is less than half an hour for a fighter jet... Should we retaliate? And with what force?
As Tang Wen put on his mosquito repellent suit, he closed his eyes after he was fully dressed. The next second, he appeared at the port of Queen Maud in Antarctica, boarded the salvaged aircraft carrier USS Zeppelin, and then they flashed into the Amazon rainforest.

Although there were only three air defense towers built, there were more than thirty ports hidden in the rainforest. Tang Wen chose the one located in western Amazonas state, the furthest from Peru.

In the dark swamp, the Graf Zeppelin suddenly appeared in the closed pool of the port, and eight supersonic versions of the Super Swift spawned on its deck.

Each Super Swift carries a full six AIM-9B missiles—don't ask why there are no active radar missiles, at least the infrared air-to-air missiles won't be completely blinded by interference.

The eight Super Swifts almost instantly teleported onto the catapults, and were then launched into the air in a flash, soaring through the gaps in the trees and leaving long trails of flame as they climbed.

One minute later, another eight Super Swifts were launched.

(End of this chapter)