What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 572 Mitosis
The ground crew, who risked their lives, and the pilots, who did not want the plane to crash, worked together to create a miracle. What Mark did not know was that in order to deploy so many fighter jets, the ground personnel had carried out a lot of irregular operations, even simplifying the takeoff procedure. But as long as enough fighter jets were available, these were all insignificant little things.

Wayne requested a 15-minute delay in order to preserve the fighter jets and pilots as much as possible, especially since the Swifts, which had superior performance, had appeared in this formation.

但手里攥着65架战斗机的马克信心又足了起来，至少F15和F16进行1V3都不算难题。

The Gale-class rockets used in this sortie were particularly impressive:

6枚“天空闪光”+2枚AIM9M，8架狂风提供了64枚导弹。

Conversely, although the number of F-15s and F-16s, which constitute the main force, has increased, the unit performance of these aircraft has decreased.
Missile reserves are running low.

The 588 rounds of ammunition used in the afternoon were not enough to deplete the stock, and it wouldn't be a problem to gather another 588 rounds with Ying.

But that's the total stock of all bases; there's very little left that can be immediately allocated from the North.

It's important to know that the Air Force doesn't usually patrol with live ammunition. They either carry empty planes or a few training missiles. They only carry a few missiles to fire at targets during combat readiness missions or exercises.

The availability of missiles for this batch of fighter jets is quite tight. There are only 20 AIM-120s left, but there are more AIM-9Ls (in stock), with 145 available.

所以这次F15/F16的单机载弹量只有4枚或5枚，相比于前一批14枚/7枚的豪华配置下降的厉害。

There are still quite a few Skyflash medium-range missiles with British capabilities, but only the Tornado can carry them.

The F-16s, Mirage 2000Cs, and Tornadoes sent from the south were adequately equipped, carrying a total of only 108 missiles.

In particular, the Mirage 2000C only has the "Super 530D" and "Magic 2" ammunition mounted on the aircraft, and once those are used up, it loses its combat capability.

So although Mark has many fighter jets, his total ammunition reserves are only 337 rounds, which is not a small number—but just enough, and he probably needs to use them sparingly.

However, his current mission is not to annihilate the entire enemy force; he can certainly hold out until reinforcements arrive.

In his mind, the E3B's field of vision showed that its own forces were beginning to converge, and the Hans' fighters were only about 100 kilometers from the shore and had already begun to accelerate slightly.

The friendly aircraft group was divided into two parts of 27 and 30 aircraft. With the coordination of the E3B, they quickly achieved a basic uniform speed and maintained a distance, intending to intercept from two directions in order to break up the Han Air Force's interception.

280 kilometers, 250 kilometers, 200 kilometers...

"Attention all units: Release AIM-120 at 50 km, Super 530D at 40 km, and Skyflash at 30 km. In close-range engagements, launch AIM-9 and immediately disengage. Each missile must lock onto only one target!"

Mark reiterated the rules of engagement, while his E-3B and another AWACS aircraft provided indexes for the two groups, and risked maintaining the AWACS aircraft at a distance of about 170 kilometers.

As they drew closer, the radios of dozens of fighter jets fell silent, with only occasional simple instructions ringing out, and each pilot entering the rhythm according to the training program.

The pilots of the First Attack Group, who had already participated in the battle, recalled the scenes of indiscriminately hunting mosquitoes and tried to convince themselves that it was no big deal.

Because of the location of Daiying, the sky was already dark at 18 pm. When the pilots turned their heads, they could only see the glowing exhaust flames of the engines, which gathered together like fireflies in the night sky.

The two sides were within 120 kilometers of each other—it started raining.

It wasn't a sudden change in weather, but rather that it had already started raining in the combat zone, and thick clouds blocked the moonlight, making it almost impossible to see anything with the naked eye without a HUD.

The second echelon of "more than 200" fighter jets is still flying close to the sea, but this time, the strong guidance of the early warning aircraft did not miraculously evade detection like in the Guyana air raid, and they are still under the control of the coalition forces.

Everyone stared intently at the radar, awaiting instructions from the early warning aircraft.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened.

The two E3Bs detected the target group becoming blurry almost simultaneously, and then starting to split apart like a ghost image.

This is an extremely apt description. What they had seen before were identical fighter jets stacked one on top of the other. When the two layers of aircraft, which were almost integrated into one, split up, they still maintained their formation and performed the same maneuvers as if there was a mirror in between.

In the drizzling rain, the sea surface rippled with invisible, dense spray, only briefly illuminated by the engines of the two-story aircraft.

During E3B's observation, one target suddenly became two identical targets, moving along a symmetrical path, leading the operator to immediately suspect a problem with the equipment.

Mark frowned in surprise, and only realized something was wrong when another AWACS aircraft reported the same situation. His heart skipped a beat.

Coincidentally, someone on the AWACS aircraft had participated in the previous air battle over the South Mei commanded by Huai En, and suddenly exclaimed as if he had just remembered something:

"Damn it, has any of you seen footage of the Amazon air battles? The Hans fighters could even fly through the treetops. Maintaining a 1-meter distance and flying closely together must be no problem for them!"

They're deceiving us, using a dense formation to hide their numbers!

This immediately reminded everyone that although the Lost Empire's air force planes were incredibly bad, their flying skills were something that even many aces would find difficult to master.

What would be a pipe dream for others is probably not a difficult task for those superhuman pilots like Hans and those amazing vacuum tube computers!
Meanwhile, as the second echelon of aircraft began to climb and accelerate, the radar of the early warning aircraft started flashing wildly, constantly assigning new target numbers, and finally stopped at... 428.

The 428 enemy targets were divided into two groups of 214 aircraft each.

428 goals!
Even if every missile hits its target precisely, the remaining aircraft would be enough to devour them mercilessly!
Mark's face turned deathly pale instantly, and his brain went blank with only a ringing in his ears.

In fact, if a few reconnaissance planes had risked flying out a few times, there might have been a chance to discover the abnormality of the fleet. The limitations of radar were exposed in an unexpected way at this moment.

The number of enemy aircraft was twice as many as expected. This was not just a deviation, but a complete trap!
Our own aircraft group, let alone restraining the enemy, would likely be wiped out in the blink of an eye, like moths drawn to a flame, once the enemy formation is deployed.

As he had imagined, Tang Wen had long ago devised a strategy for dealing with extremely large aircraft formations:
Rolling and flattening.

Both are equipped with the same type of weapon and there is not much difference between them. However, the latter has a much longer range and greater performance, and can be left in the rear to rely on its powerful firepower and high speed to penetrate the defense line or disrupt the formation at critical moments.

The 300 gnats accelerated to almost their maximum speed, spreading out in a dense swarm that instantly filled the entire airspace, so many that the search radar almost crashed.

Meanwhile, the gnats are also engaging in large-scale maneuvers that are almost unimaginable to humans, constantly shifting their positions to interfere with radar and missile lock-on.

This is meaningless in normal air combat, but it makes a world of difference when the order of magnitude increases by two zeros:
It's true that the E3B can handle 400 targets simultaneously, but that's under specific conditions, at specific distances, and with specific targets. In reality, just identifying them would be incredibly demanding for a computer, let alone guiding an attack. Moreover, only a few dozen AIM-120s would require E3B guidance; the rest—Skyflash missiles, Super 530Ds—would have to fend for themselves… that would be an even greater disaster.

In particular, infrared air-to-air missiles like the AIM-9 and Magic are even worse.

Infrared air-to-air missiles don't have the intelligent brains of active radar missiles, and the control logic for dealing with densely packed real targets is not the focus of engineers' optimization efforts.

The Allied pilots realized the problem almost simultaneously, and the bald pilot immediately shouted into the radio:
"We've been deceived! This is double the target; charging straight in will only result in total annihilation!"

Patrice Aubry even contacted Mark directly:
"General, we need to change our strategy immediately and focus on harassment; we can't engage in a direct confrontation!"

Although they were still discussing it verbally, the Mirage 2000C he was piloting had already taken off on its own, and the other Mirage fighters followed suit. They weren't here to be cannon fodder for Dai Ying!

The Dutch and Norwegian air forces were more obedient, but they also subconsciously veered their rudders:
Anyone who wants to go head-to-head with seven times the number of opponents is absolutely insane, even if the opponents are all a bunch of "trash".

The success at 2:160 PM can be largely attributed to the advanced AIM120, with the other part being that half of the gnats were killed before they even had a chance to climb.

Now the enemy is coming on strong, and the AIM-120 they rely on is only a fraction of what it is!
Seeing this, Mark panicked. He knew consulting Wayne was futile, so in desperation he could only hastily issue an order:

"All units, climb to an altitude of 23000 feet (7000 meters) or higher, maintain a distance of at least 30 kilometers, and attack with medium-range missiles first!"

Mark's orders were immediately and resolutely carried out. At that moment, the pilots were like children standing on train tracks, scrambling to the side as a heavy steam locomotive rolled in.

When the two groups of aircraft completed their maneuvers, the distance between them was just beginning to enter the range of medium-range missiles.

52枚AIM120在E3B指挥下忙不迭的尽数扔了出去，然后是髪鸡的24枚“超级530D”，最后才是带英的72枚“天空闪光”。

After launching their medium-range missiles, the coalition fighters immediately scattered to the left and right without looking back to avoid the menacing gnats. The gnats, knowing the speed difference was too great, did not pursue but instead began to perform large-scale alternating maneuvers in an attempt to evade the missiles.

However, the 148 medium-range missiles were destined to only lock onto a small number of fighter jets. The 32 stealth Swifts behind them silently lowered their altitude to a minimum of more than ten meters, and then split into two groups of 16 aircraft each, rushing towards the southeast and southwest respectively.

With the throttle valve fully open and the solid rocket boosters fully engaged, the speed exceeded Mach 2 in just a few seconds, and even under the high-density air resistance at low altitudes, it still reached a top speed of Mach 2.15.

The distance between Losimouth Base and Oldgrove Base is only a little over 100 kilometers, which only takes a few minutes with high-speed flight.

这32架隐身雨燕挂载配置是1枚1400X对地炸弹以及2枚AIM9L，完全是奔着打击空军基地去的！

The medium-range missile attack wave was almost entirely blocked by the massive swarm of Gnats that had advanced. Suddenly, 32 stealth Swifts headed straight for the two bases, causing Mark to be terrified.
The air defense systems at the British air bases are pitifully weak. Although both bases have considered the possibility of being attacked and most of their aircraft are prepared to be transferred, losing these two bases would mean losing the entire northern air defense line!

He hadn't even considered this tiny possibility before the sortie, and now he could only helplessly call for F-15s or Tornadoes to respond and intercept.

Upon realizing their base was about to be raided, the Tornado pilots were instantly fired up. The 12 Tornados immediately split into two groups and gave chase, followed quickly by six F-15s, which also engaged afterburners to Mach 2 and locked their radars firmly on the target.

There's nothing else we can do.

They had just fired all their medium-range missiles, and the enemy was well beyond the AIM-9's pitiful 10-kilometer range.

Even if you catch up, it won't work:

The AIM-9's top speed is only Mach 2.2 to 2.5, which is far too fast to catch up!
Even the "sky flash" carried by the gale is no match. Its top speed of Mach 3 and the relative speed of the Swift at Mach 2.15 are only Mach 0.85. At this speed, the Swift can really rely on maneuvering to get rid of the target!
The 18 pursuing fighter jets had clearly locked onto the Swift, but could only watch helplessly as it got closer and closer to the base, almost in despair as they called for help to the ground.

Three minutes felt like an eternity for the pursuing pilots; they wished they could snap the stick to increase the speed even further. But for the ground crew, that amount of time was only enough to tow the fighter jet onto the runway.

Sixteen Swift rockets steadily sped along the ground, their Mach 2 air blasts blasting and destroying everything in their path. The exhaust plumes of their fixed rocket engines shone like tiny suns, accompanied by exaggerated explosions.

People on the ground saw a small sun moving along the horizon, and even the surrounding air vibrated in response to the movement of the rocket engine.

Even after the solid rocket booster ran out of fuel, the Swift maintained a speed of over Mach 1.5 thanks to its 700 kg weight reduction and a thrust-to-weight ratio of about 1.1, and was still able to keep its distance.

此时洛西茅斯基地还剩下3架F15和12架F16，已经有3架F16加力全开地起飞，径直朝着入侵者的方向逆流而上，并且同时将挂载的所有21枚AIM9发射出去（基地已无AIM120，使用全库存AIM9L方案）。

But by this time they had reached the range of the Fritz 1400X stealth glide bomb. The Swifts neatly jettisoned their bombs and then launched 32 AIM-9L missiles in response.

Exactly identical (strictly speaking, the latter is more stable in quality) AIM-9Ls passed each other at low altitude, at which point they would only need about 10 seconds to reach their target.

Neither side had time to maneuver; the three F-16s instantly turned into fragments that exploded in the night sky, and the 11 of the 16 stealth Swifts were also lost immediately.

The remaining five aircraft also failed to complete the kamikaze attack and were taken out by the catching-up F-15s using AIM-9L missiles.

Because the Swift's nose was packed with 350 kilograms of explosives, the power of the explosion terrified many people.

At the same time, 16 Fritz 1400X missiles also reached their target.

跑道上3架F15和3架F16正准备以最高效率的编队起飞升空，就遭到了16枚1.5吨重的炸弹攻击。

Since there was no need for anti-ship warfare, the Fritz 1400X manufactured by Tangwen adopted cluster munitions, specifically designed to strike large-scale targets such as air force bases.

Of the 16 bombs, one flew to the edge of the base without causing damage, while the remaining 15 bombs almost completely covered the airport and runway.

An F-15 that had just taken off was shredded in half by shrapnel as it lifted off the ground. It crashed and exploded, affecting its five teammates behind it.

The worst-hit was an F-16 that was being pushed toward the runway. It was almost directly hit by a bomb, turning it and more than 20 people around it into ashes.

The entire Lossiemouth base was instantly engulfed in flames. The nine fighter jets that hadn't had time to take off were buried in the explosion in the blink of an eye and never got to fly again.

Even more devastating than the damage to the aircraft was the impact on two KC135s, both of which were on their way to refuel reinforcements for (Switzerland and Hans). Hundreds of tons of aviation fuel were also ignited.

To the oncoming fighter jets, a fireball large enough to illuminate the entire area rose from the ground, tumbling and soaring upwards.

The explosion of hundreds of tons of aviation fuel affected seven or eight tanker trucks and an additional 11 auxiliary aircraft, resulting in an even more horrific chain of explosions.

(End of this chapter)