Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 325 Anti-aircraft missile units in the Beka Valley
The Beka Valley, located in eastern Lituo and near the border with Xutuo, has fertile land and a mild climate, making it Lituo's main agricultural area.

As early as 1400 BC, people lived here and were very satisfied with the conditions, calling it the place of God. Later, the Romans invaded and the French colonists occupied it. It wasn't until after World War II, when the colonists were expelled, that the Arabs here gained independence.

However, the dawn of peace has not shone on this land. It has been the main battlefield in several Middle East wars, and now, the Davidians, using the assassination of the British ambassador as a pretext, have launched another large-scale invasion!
The so-called assassination attempt was merely a pretext, or even a self-directed one. After all, the Davidians had already been assembling troops and preparing for war during the previous South Atlantic War.

Currently, Iran and Iraq are still at war, the Arab world is fragmented, and Egypt and David have made peace. It can be said that with David's intervention this time, Lebanon and Syria can only fight alone and receive no support!

On June 6, the infamous Peace Operation in Galilee officially began. David's four brigades, an advance force of 6 men, crossed the border first and charged aggressively into the southern region of Ledo.

David Country, Palmasim Air Base.

The base is not large; you can't even see a single modern F-15 or F-16 fighter jet on the tarmac, but rather small, uniquely shaped aircraft.

The fuselage is slender and straight. At the rear of the fuselage, it is connected to the tail control surface by two longitudinal beams. Between these two longitudinal beams, the propeller can also be seen.

This is the mainstay of the David Air Force's equipment: the reconnaissance drone.

In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, the Davidians were dealt a heavy blow and were caught completely off guard by attacks from both sides. After the war, they learned from their experience that they had to strengthen their intelligence capabilities!

In 1975, IAI developed the Reconnaissance UAV, which could fly continuously for fifty hours and carry a ten-kilogram payload. In 1981, the Reconnaissance UAV underwent its first combat test and evaluation in a marathon run held in southern Lituo.

By this time, the ground crew had completed the maintenance work. They gently turned the propeller by hand, and the engine was quickly started. After emitting plumes of blue smoke, the engine began to work steadily.

The drone operator controls the drone, taxis onto the runway, and flies into the blue sky.

The reconnaissance operation using drones has officially begun!
Meanwhile, another large group of ground crew were maintaining another type of drone, slightly larger but with an overall shape similar to the Reconnaissance drone—the Tadiran Maverick drone. They were methodically attaching plastic balls to the aircraft; these balls, once in the air, could simulate the echoes of fighter jets.

At this moment, in the drone control room, the operator looked at the screen in front of him, feeling somewhat nervous. If the air defense deployment in the Beka Valley was the same as before, they would launch the Mighty Dog drones, and at the same time, a large number of air force aircraft would take off to destroy the air defense missile positions deployed there in one fell swoop.

The SAM-6, which once posed a huge threat to David's Eagle, must all be turned into scrap metal!

On the screen, the photos transmitted by the drone showed its direction of travel, flying over the land of David, flying to Syrta, and then... arriving over the Bekaa Valley.

The sky was clear, and the fighting in the distant capital of Lebanon made the situation tense. More soldiers could be seen guarding the missile sites, but... the missile sites remained the same as before!
One, two, a total of ten SAM-6 missile batteries, just like before, triple-launched missiles, tilted upwards, pointing straight to the sky, as if they might fly up at any moment.

The drone operator smiled, picked up the phone, and shouted, "Firebird Squadron 166 reporting: Beka Valley is unchanged; proceed as planned!"

At the Air Force Command, the long-awaiting generals finally broke into smiles.

"Good, excellent! Immediately issue the order and proceed according to the plan. This time, we must completely destroy the SAM-6 missile sites in Syria!"

Beka Valley, 336th Missile Company.

Company Commander Mahmoud had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, but he didn't smoke it. Instead, he looked up at the clear sky with a complex expression.

Walking while looking up at the sky, you naturally can't see the road ahead. After walking a few steps, bang!

He crashed headfirst into a missile launcher.

At the front of the missile launcher, the covers on the two tilted bodies had been propped up. When the platoon leader saw this, he quickly ran out and helped the company commander up.

"Company commander, when do you think the squid will arrive?"

"I don't know, it should be soon," Mahmoud replied, rubbing his head. The cigarette in his mouth had fallen to the ground, and he hesitated, wondering whether to pick it up and take a couple more puffs.

"Yeah, our whole company is looking forward to the squid coming. When it does, we'll have a cube-shaped squid explosion!"

The SAM-6 is the name given by NATO. In the Russians' mouth, this missile system is called 2K12, nicknamed the Cube. The troops equipped with these missiles also refer to this powerful weapon as the Cube.

Just then, another soldier who had propped up the lid heard the call through his earpiece and shouted loudly.

"Reporting, Company Commander! Radar vehicle reports: a large number of aerial targets detected!"

Mahmoud's expression changed, and he rushed back to the radar vehicle. Looking at the dense cluster of bright spots on the screen, he felt a chill run down his spine.

How many planes have arrived?

"Company commander, shall we open fire?"

Mahmoud did not answer immediately; he was having an internal struggle.

During the last meeting, my superiors said that the first wave of the Davidians' attack would most likely be drones. We should not be fooled and should not easily turn on the target illumination radar, otherwise... the consequences would be unimaginable.

Now, what should he choose?

If it's a drone, they obviously can't turn it on, otherwise they'll expose the electromagnetic signal characteristics of their equipment. But what if it's a real drone?
"The target is still twenty kilometers away!"

"Fifteen kilometers!"

Finally, Mahmoud couldn't withstand the pressure any longer.

"Activate the target illumination radar and launch the missile!"

"Yes!"

The 1S91 target illumination radar was quickly activated, and radar waves filled the sky. Instantly, the reconnaissance drones hovering in the sky received strong electromagnetic wave signals.

Behind us, Palmasim Air Base.

"Parameters of the target illumination radar for the enemy's SAM-6 missile have been obtained! They are as follows: Target 1, frequency..."

Echion Air Base.

This is the busiest time for the ground crew. They stand under the wings of the Phantom fighter jet, looking up, and quickly install one of the eighteen types of guidance heads from the trolley next to them onto the missile body, which is similar to that of the Sparrow missile.

This is naturally the anti-radiation missile specifically designed to attack radar, the Shrike.

During the Cold War, the Americans began developing two types of airborne anti-radiation missiles: the Raven and the Shrike. The Raven was abandoned midway through development, but the Shrike missile was successfully developed and deployed in the Vietnam War.

The missile it uses is actually the Sparrow 3, so its appearance is almost identical to the Sparrow missile. The most crucial trick is in the guidance head.

Given the technological level at the time, only the simplest passive direct detection single pulse technology could be used. In short, the warhead had an equiangular four-arm planar spiral antenna, the size of which was exactly one-quarter of the target radar wavelength.

The signals received by this quad-arm antenna form four beams that are orthogonal to each other and form a 45-degree angle with the missile's control surface. During the flight toward the target, if the missile deviates from the axis, a DC error signal will be generated on one of the antennas. After being transformed by the circuit, it will form a servo control signal, which will allow the servo to control the missile to fly toward the target.

It sounds simple, belonging to analog circuit technology, and seems to have no intelligence at all. However, in this era, most air-to-air missiles are also analog circuits. Only the East is using fully digital circuits.

This missile achieved its mission of attacking enemy radar, but it also had many shortcomings. For example, it could only fly towards the radar because it needed the radar signal to guide it. Therefore, in the Vietnam War, experienced radar operators would make this missile miss its target by suddenly shutting down the radar.

The Americans' solution was to add an inertial guidance system. Once the target is identified, the aircraft will continue to fly toward it even if the target is powered off, based on inertia.

Another drawback is that the frequency band covered by the seeker is too narrow, and this is a physical difference. The antenna size is fixed, so different seekers are needed to deal with radars of different frequency bands. Then... before the attack, the specific frequency of the target radar is determined, and then a suitable seeker is selected.

Wait a minute, couldn't we have known the data for the SAM-6 missile in advance?
The search radar is always on, and its signal can be obtained. However, the target illumination radar is only activated during combat. Moreover, for security reasons, the equipment developed by the Russians has several frequency bands that can be freely selected, using one in peacetime and switching to another in wartime. Even different missile batteries can use different frequencies without signal interference between them.

The drone's mission is to lure the enemy's radar into activating, confirm the exact radar frequency band, and then... swarm in!
The ground crew skillfully replaced the guidance head and then made adjustments; the whole process took less than a minute.

Then... the roar of engines filled the air, and one Phantom fighter jet after another slid onto the runway and took to the sky. Under the wings, there were two Shrike, two Sparrow, and two Rattlesnake missiles. The number of missiles they carried was not large, but it was enough for the first wave of attack.

After the Phantom fighters left, the F-16 fighters, fully loaded with ammunition, also taxied onto the runway.

In fact, the F-16 can also carry Shrike missiles, but it would be a waste to use such an advanced third-generation aircraft for anti-radar missions. The number of bombs they carry far exceeds that of second-generation aircraft, and attacking air defense missile sites is the most dangerous task. The F-16 is relatively expensive and not suitable for taking risks.

The last to take off were F-15s, heavy air superiority fighters designed to seize air supremacy. According to their plan, the Syrian government was overconfident in the SAM-6 missiles and would not deploy its air force until the missile sites were destroyed.

Their F-15s can just come in as the grand finale.

In the sky, E-2 early warning aircraft circled, providing command for the entire formation.

The so-called assassination was just a pretext. In order to strike at the Beka Valley, they had been conducting drills for one or two years. They even set up a one-to-one model of the Beka Valley in the desert and had practiced it countless times!

David's Falcons will once again demonstrate their might and wash away the humiliation suffered during the Yom Kippur War!

Beka Valley.

Mahmoud heard the explosion in the distance, and with a complicated expression, he stepped out of the radar vehicle and looked up at the sky.

Recently, a plane was blown into a fireball ten kilometers away. The scene was truly spectacular!
However... he felt uneasy all along, and he didn't know why, but he felt that something was wrong.

"Report! Report!" The infantry platoon leader in charge of guarding their missile company rushed over: "Something's wrong!"

"What's wrong?"

"Of the planes that were hit, we didn't see a single person parachuting. When we searched the wreckage, we only found some rubber products..."

Oh no, we've been tricked!

"Quickly, switch the radar frequency!"

"This will take four hours, we..."

The Russian KUKA missile was an early development product, and many of its circuits used vacuum tubes. Changing the frequency wasn't as simple as just typing a few keys on a keyboard! There was a lot of work to be done, and the radar operators would spend at least four hours on it!

David's air force was deployed in less than an hour!

"It's alright, we'll apply to our superiors. The advanced air defense missiles we imported from the East can give us these four hours of air defense time!"

Although the fighter jets from the East have not yet arrived, the air defense missiles from the East have!

After all, the production and training of surface-to-air missiles do not take long. The more advanced the missile, the shorter the training time, which is the opposite of that of fighter jets.

After saying that, Mahmoud strode back to the company command vehicle and started making phone calls.

Nearby, in the jungle, the roar of engines rose as a fleet of rugged off-road trucks emerged and pulled up about 500 meters from the missile battery, quickly deploying.

The transmitter tube struck the ground, pointing vertically towards the sky, and the flat radar antenna slowly rose up, eventually reaching a near-vertical position.

The soldiers of the SAM-6 missile company cast curious glances at them.

What kind of equipment is this? I've never seen anything like it before. The radar is flat, and there's that cylinder. The missile must be inside, right?

On the phased array radar vehicle.

"Radar warm-up!"

"The radar is functioning normally!"

"Target spotted, circling overhead!"

"Take it down!"

The target's echo was not large, so it should be a small aircraft. According to the assumptions made by the Easterners, this is very likely a drone used by the Davidians to monitor the battlefield. If we shoot it down, the Davidians will be blinded!
"Yes, target locked, fire!"

Bang!
The missile pierced the cover, sending fragments flying. Soldiers watching nearby were immediately hit on the head, but luckily they were wearing helmets, and the fragments didn't seem to be very heavy, being made of lightweight materials.

They looked up, watching curiously as the missile, trailing flames, flew into the sky, and then... another big thing fell down.

"Anyone who doesn't want to die, get the hell out of here!" Mahmoud shouted.

The SAM-6 missile uses a combination of ramjet and rocket engines. During launch, the rocket engine ignites first, propelling the missile to a speed of Mach 1.5. Then the ramjet engine ignites and starts. However, the rocket engine is not considered a booster because after the rocket burns out, the internal cavity becomes the combustion chamber of the ramjet engine, making full use of the space.

As a result, the missile soldiers in Syria were unaware that after the missile was launched, it would drop a booster section, and that it would have to break through the top cover to take off.

Now that they've seen it for themselves, they quickly backed away.

In the sky, the missile continued to accelerate, quickly reaching speeds of over Mach 3, faster than the SAM-6.

boom!
Amid the explosion, the reconnaissance drone was engulfed in a fireball, turned into fragments, and drifted downwards.

David Country, Air Force Base.

"The reconnaissance drones responsible for reconnaissance missions at missile sites No. 3 and No. 4 have lost contact!"

"Don't worry, our mission is complete. Now, the air force formations are about to arrive at the battlefield!"

At this point, the loss of the drone is acceptable because the drone has already completed its mission!

At this moment, above the Beka Valley, on a Phantom fighter jet.

"Damn it, where's the target radar signal? We're facing Missile Position 3, why aren't we getting the expected radar signal!" the radar officer in the back seat said angrily.

"They probably realized that the first targets shot down were all drones, and then they thought we were drones too. Don't worry." In the front seat, pilot Tughman's tone was calm: "Since their radar isn't turned on, that's even better. Call 101 Squadron and have them come and wake up these stupid Syrian missile soldiers with bombs!"

After saying that, he switched the communicator to external mode and skillfully called out: "Female rat calling junior soldier, female rat calling junior soldier, the target radar is not turned on, you can start the attack directly. I will be circling in the air. If you are locked on by the radar, don't panic, I will take care of it!"

"Junior Soldier Company received. We will arrive at the battlefield in one minute!"

Tugman turned the switch back on, a smile spreading across his face. This time, it would be a simple hunt!

Just then, the sound of a radar alarm receiver suddenly came through the headphones.

Locked, locked!

The other side couldn't hold back any longer and turned on the radar again! Tugman turned the plane around and flew in the direction of the radar wave indicated by the radar warning receiver, while calling out to the rear cockpit: "Hey buddy, launch our Shrike. Time to get to work and clean up the junior soldier squadron."

"No, Tugman, the Shrike can't lock onto the target!" a terrified voice rang out from the rear cabin.

　PS: Scouts above, fierce dogs below.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)