What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 645 The Fall of the Ghost
The enhanced surveillance radar is only effective for 30 seconds, and the U-boat is not fast. Even if it detects the B2, it only has one chance. The 30-minute cooldown time is enough for the Ghost to fly out of the radar range.

Based on the news broadcast time, B2's speed, and taking into account turns and possible evasive maneuvers, Halsey analyzed a route.

假如B2选择从海上返航，那么22点35到22点55分期间的20分钟将会经过卡其湾，100公里半径的雷达有70%概率扫到。

The only U-boat equipped with enhanced surveillance radar sailed directly below the assumed course and waited for its opportunity, while the other 19 U-boats also surfaced one after another.

Since the coalition aircraft were previously thought to be B-1Bs or similar, the U-boats that came to intercept this time were not carrying gnats, but rather P-13A interceptors that burn coal dust.

Originally, this small device was intended to be launched from a large aircraft platform, as launching it directly from a submarine could not meet the minimum speed requirements of a pulverized coal ramjet engine.

With a maximum ejection payload of only 2.5 tons, the new P13A weighs only 1.8 tons. In addition, it has a 600-kilogram HTPB solid rocket booster attached to its belly, which can burn for 15 seconds and generate a thrust of up to 8.5 tons. The initial thrust-to-weight ratio at ejection can reach a crazy 3.55.

When the solid propellant fuel was exhausted, the P13A had already reached Mach 1.8 and was thousands of meters in the air. After the pulverized coal ramjet engine was started, it directly sprinted to Mach 2.5 and could burn for 10 minutes, making it practically a manned missile.

It's not very effective for long-range raids, but it's far superior to gnats for pinpoint interception. Its powerful speed and maneuverability, regardless of G-force, can take down a bunch of bombers with just a ramming attack.

The P13A's reload time is also 90 seconds, which means that only the first batch of 20 aircraft launched will have a chance to intercept, and any subsequent launches will be meaningless.

At 22:40, the enhanced surveillance radar was activated when B2 was closest to the U-boat and just passed overhead during the hypothetical route.

One second, two seconds, three seconds... the precious radar time kept passing, but there was no B2 overhead as expected.

At the 15th second, the AV-3 "New York Ghost" entered its effective range, just grazing the edge of a 100-kilometer radius.

[Enemy aircraft detected!]

The identity of the unidentified aircraft was confirmed in an instant; at an altitude of 1.2 meters, with this course and speed, there could be no other aircraft.

In an instant, the front of 20 U-boats lit up with dazzling flames, and 20 P13A aircraft rapidly took off with the help of solid propulsion and catapults, like 20 small suns rising at the same time and quickly passing through the clouds.

Once the solid rocket motors burn out and are jettisoned, the radar ceases to function. At this point, the AV-3 "New York Ghost" has discovered that it is locked onto and is moving away from the radar source at a distance of 94.5 kilometers and a heading of 325.

Twenty P13A pulverized coal ramjet engines were started. Their design was only theoretically feasible, and their actual structure could not support strong thrust and stable combustion output. But now, ideal equals reality.

At Mach 2.5, they are expected to reach the airspace surrounding AV-2 in 150 seconds.

Because the P-13A is so small that a person has to painfully curl up in the narrow delta tail fin, smaller than a gnat, it was immediately detected by the B-2 and the surrounding Indian radar stations and aircraft, who mistook it for a surface-launched ship-to-air missile.

Moreover, the USS Stanson, which was lingering in Campsite Bay, also spotted a target 320 kilometers away.

While the Indians were completely clueless about the targets of these "missiles," the USS Steinsen was aware of something.

As this was the B-2's first combat mission, the USS Steiner received instructions to wait for the B-2 to pass through its flight path in order to test whether its stealth performance had changed after a long-distance flight and whether any clues could be detected.

The USS Stanson roughly knew that the B-2 was right overhead, but there was still nothing on the radar... except for those 20 missiles.

No way?
The 20 "missiles" were still too far from the USS Stansen to be intercepted, but at that moment, the Indian fighter jets that had taken off seemed to have found their target and were also moving towards the missiles. After some deliberation, the USS Stansen made a decision:

Activate large-scale electronic jamming!
Regardless of whether those 20 missiles were aimed at the B-2 bomber, we cannot gamble on them; the Indian fighter jets must intercept them.

Sure enough, the Indian fighter jets that took off immediately went blind. Their onboard radar and communication frequencies were completely suppressed, and their formation became even more chaotic.

However, the captain of the USS Steinson had a hunch that the missiles launched from Khaki Bay were probably not from India, perhaps...

Suddenly, a new target appeared on the radar, at an altitude of 14000 meters and a speed of about Mach 0.8.

The target was turning and descending... no, it was shot down!
……

When the AV-3 "New York Ghost" was detected, it immediately and instinctively turned away from the radar source, as the B2 would be completely unsafe once detected.

In reality, it knew it had been detected not by the RWR fire control alarm, but by the sudden launch of 20 missiles. It turned, climbed, and accelerated.

The radar signal disappeared just fifteen seconds later. Although the 20 missiles were still approaching in its direction, the "New York Ghost" did not detect that the "missiles" had active radar. As for infrared lock-on, it was even more impossible. The B2's tail nozzle infrared processing was superb, and it was impossible to detect it from the back of the aircraft.

Don't be afraid. Although we don't know why we were locked on, the lock has been broken and the missile poses no threat. It will definitely pass by us at high speed and then self-destruct.

However, as expected, the 20 "missiles" rushed to an altitude of 2.8 meters in one go, but then they began to dive in the latter half of their flight... Theoretically, they should have given up if they could not find the target. This was clearly the prelude to an attack. Moreover, the AV-3 was surprised to find that these "missiles" actually formed a long, straight line.

What the hell is this?

In reality, the 20 P-13As had neither radar nor infrared search and rescue systems; their deployment was entirely based on prediction and mechanisms.

There are 150 seconds between the end of the radar scan and the expected arrival at the target area. The B2's bulky airframe cannot withstand large-scale maneuvers. Through reasonable estimation, it can be concluded that the B2 is in a fan-shaped area with a radius of 50 kilometers.

The 20 P13A aircraft were immediately deployed to conduct visual searches during the descent phase as well.

The transformed pilot possesses 360-degree vision, unaffected by day or night, far surpassing the extraordinary eyesight of the IJN's "fish-eye" lookout from back in the day.

Of course, this is just an explanation. The real reason is that World of Warships has a minimum detection distance for aircraft. This minimum detection distance is not related to radar. The maximum is 10 kilometers and the minimum is 2 kilometers. Therefore, Tang Wen believes that 2 kilometers may be the pilot's visual distance.

Each of the 20 P13A aircraft was responsible for an absolute detection area of ​​2 kilometers around them. With their own super high speed, they lined up in a row to form four absolute scan lines that were 10 kilometers long horizontally and 4 kilometers long vertically. They rotated slightly at an angle to scan the area where the B2 might exist!
这样的阵型下，当第2条“扫描线”的5架P13A扫过以后，左侧第二架P13A从A-3“纽约幽灵”的左下方直线距离1600米处掠过，再次点亮了这架幽灵。

[Enemy aircraft detected!]

The latter was watching in terror as two waves of five "warheads" swept past nearby. They thought they had escaped a disaster, but they did not expect that the 10 P13As on the first and second "scan lines" would immediately begin to make large-scale turns, actually turning around!
Based on their maneuvering trajectory, the AV-3 immediately realized that these missiles were still powered!
However, at this moment, the third scan line had already locked the B2 into a small area based on the positioning of the second line, and the five P13A aircraft immediately dispersed and rushed towards the location of the B2 in a circular pattern.

Two kilometers is far too close; the P13A can fly over it in just 2.5 seconds, so it's entirely a gamble.

At this moment, less than 10 seconds after the B2 was detected by the second scan line squadron, it realized that 10 "missiles" were heading straight for it from behind and began to maneuver.

[Enemy aircraft detected!]

第3扫描线的4架P13A都在超高速度下来不及机动错过，仅有1架电光火石之间偏转翼面，以相对1.7马赫的速度冲斜上方砸向了B2的右侧翼尖。

The "New York Ghost" felt a violent jolt as various piercing alarms went off one after another.

但此时第4扫描线的5架P13A也已经赶到，并且更加精准的完成定位，3架P13A同时机动，又近乎同时准确地砸中了B2的三角形机身。

In that instant, Tang Wen, who was attached to P13A's perspective, clearly saw the large black bat.

Three objects weighing a total of over 4 tons collided at a relative speed of over Mach 1.5. The extremely expensive Ghost was instantly reduced to fragments in the explosion, but just seconds before, two dazzling flames rose up.

The two pilots of the "New York Ghost" ejected immediately upon being attacked. The B2's flying wing is extremely difficult to control and has a statically unstable configuration. Once the aerodynamic configuration is damaged, there is no need for any rescue efforts, and the aircraft will definitely lose control and crash. The ejection seats were activated the moment the attack occurred.

This choice proved to be absolutely correct, but when the two pilots regained their senses from the violent rocket impact, they already saw the intense explosion in the distance.

The "New York Ghost" crashed, shot down in its first mission.

In that instant, the Stansen detected the shattered B2 and deduced their identities based on their altitude and speed... no, they also knew that the two pilots had ejected, about 30 kilometers away from the Stansen.

The USS Stanson immediately accelerated toward the crash site, and the wreckage of B2 could not be salvaged!
At this point, the P-13A, having completed its attack mission, knew there were no more targets and no detection capabilities left. It accelerated wildly to nearly Mach 3 before crashing into the sea, creating a series of high splashes.

The self-enhancing surveillance radar detected the target in 179 seconds and activated the radar in 194 seconds. Within three minutes, the system captain and pilots worked together with efficiency comparable to a missile computer, and with good luck and deployment, they took down a B-2.

Tang Wen really wanted to retrieve some of the wreckage, but unfortunately it was too far away and he had to give up.

But he wasn't regretful at all; instead, he was ecstatic!
98年4月8日晚22时44分，强大的B2首次亮相即折戟。

(End of this chapter)