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

Chapter 327 David, will you die if you don't brag!

When it comes to maneuverability, missiles are always superior to fighter jets. The latter can only fly up to 9G at most, but modern air-to-air missiles can easily reach 35G overload.

However, this does not mean that being targeted by a missile means certain death. There are many ways for fighter jets to evade missiles. Even though the Python-3 missile is a third-generation air-to-air missile with the capability of head-on attacks, its seeker head is still not free from cataracts. It only sees a dot, not an image.

When the MiG-23 was flying head-on and almost met the first Python-3 missile, it suddenly climbed and quickly disappeared from the first Python-3 missile's field of vision. The flares it released became the most dazzling presence in the Python-3 missile's field of vision.

So the Python-3 missile chose a different target: it flew toward the flare.

However, the second Python-3 missile was not attracted by the flare in front of it. The MiG-23 fighter jet, which was climbing rapidly, had its afterburner engaged, and the flames at its tail grew larger and larger. It felt that the flames burning in the afterburner were more attractive.

So the Python-3 missile kept its eyes firmly on the target and climbed upwards along with it!
That's right, it's climbing.

Solid rocket engines burn very quickly. Once the white smoke at the tail disappears, it means the missile has entered the inertial flight phase. If it's flying horizontally, it can fly for a long time, but if it's climbing...

Kinetic energy is rapidly consumed and converted into gravitational potential energy. Its speed decreases and decreases. When it is almost within the kill radius of the warhead, it finally gives up. Watching the target fly further and further away and unable to catch up, it chooses to self-destruct.

Both Python-3 missiles were evaded!
In the F-15 fighter jet, Ilan's eyes were filled with excitement. Clearly, he had encountered a formidable opponent, and such an opponent excited him.

"Christmas tree calling Doraemon, follow me!" he called over the radio while engaging the engine afterburner. The two F100 engines roared up, propelling the massive heavy fighter jet to accelerate, and then... he pulled up the nose of the aircraft.

In terms of vertical climb, no aircraft can compare to the F-15!

Due to its complex variable-sweep wing design and stainless steel wing box, the MiG-23 has an empty weight of 9.6 tons and a maximum afterburner thrust of only 13 tons. In air combat, after carrying fuel and ammunition, its thrust-to-weight ratio is maintained at around 0.9.

While the F-15 has an empty weight of 13 tons, the afterburner thrust of a single engine exceeds 10 tons. With the propulsion of two engines, the thrust-to-weight ratio in air combat can easily exceed 1. This is also an advantage of twin-engine heavy fighters. Although there was no concept of fighter mafia when the F-15 was being developed, aircraft designers knew how important ample power was.

Simply put, the F-15 can climb vertically with ease, while the MiG-23 loses speed during the climb!
As Ilan climbed, he caught up with his target. The distance between them was getting closer and closer. He switched to autocannon mode, and on his head-up display, the heatsink was already aimed at the MiG-23 ahead...

Just then, as if sensing something, the MiG-23 adjusted its attitude during the climb and began to rotate, turning its ascent trajectory into a spiral!
Ilan followed behind, and if he wanted to aim, he could only do the same thing. The two planes were like two intertwined snakes, spiraling upwards. In professional air combat terminology, this is called a scissor climb!
Ilan wasn't in a hurry. He believed that his engine was stronger than the opponent's. He would wait until the opponent's speed dropped to the point of stalling before he had to push the control stick to level off or dive. At that time, his machine gun would have the best firing window.

Against this kind of opponent, you have to use machine guns to show respect. Actually, in situations like this, Python-3 missiles simply can't be launched. This proves that in air combat, machine guns are never outdated!

Just as Ilan was strolling leisurely like a hunter chasing its prey, he suddenly frowned, and the next moment, he quickly pulled the lever to break free from the pursuit.

Two bright, bomb-like objects are falling from above; those are... the MiG-23's auxiliary fuel tanks!

During the climb, Major Adil saw two plumes of white smoke in the cockpit rearview mirror and knew something was wrong. Although he couldn't see directly behind him, he knew that an F-15 was catching up.

Trying to climb against an F-15 is practically suicide, but he had no other choice but to use the stick to rotate and climb while frantically thinking of a solution.

Finally, a few seconds later, he remembered that he hadn't jettisoned his external fuel tank, so he urgently jettisoned it. Unexpectedly, this trick worked. In order to avoid being hit by the external fuel tank, the F-15 below had to detach from its tail!
The opportunity is here!

After jettisoning the auxiliary fuel tank, Major Adil pushed the control stick, and the nose began to tilt. The fuselage changed from a vertical position to a horizontal position. The severe overload made his eyes turn bloodshot, and everything around him seemed to be red.

Then... he saw the F-15 flying away below, and without hesitation, in a short time, he flipped 13 switches in the cockpit and completed all the preparations before the missile launch.

Flames flickered beneath the wings.

R-60, launch!
After making the emergency evasive maneuver, Ilan's eyes were still fixed on the MiG-23. The opponent's maneuverability was not high, but the timing of the leveling maneuver was perfect, with the opponent's nose pointing directly at his tail.

However... he didn't panic. The F-15 is highly maneuverable. He only needs to perform a 9G overload and roll away to avoid the enemy's attack. At the same time, his nose will quickly point towards the enemy, giving him another chance to fire.

What's more, he had a wingman following behind him!

The MiG-23's missile launch is very complicated, so the enemy should have no chance to attack it...

With that thought in mind, Ilan began to roll around, but... out of the corner of his eye, he saw white smoke coming out from under the wing of the MiG-23.

The other side was too fast!
"David, die!" Major Adil roared. If it weren't for their poor electronic technology, which had suppressed them from the moment they entered the battlefield, they would still have a chance to fight back. Now, even if it was one against two, or even one against four, he had nothing to fear!

boom!
Just then, an explosion rang out. Major Adil watched as the engine fire warning light in his cockpit came on, feeling helpless. Sure enough, one man can't fight against many; he had actually been hit by a missile from the enemy's wingman!
He watched his missile fly toward its target and reluctantly pulled the ejection pin.

boom!
The R-60 missile accurately hit the F-15 fighter jet. In the flash, the left engine of the F-15 was smoking, but no fire was seen. Ilan then piloted the damaged F-15 and slowly made his way back to base.
damn it!
What were the Russian engineers thinking? Couldn't they have designed a more normal missile?
Before the R-60, the main missile of the Russians was the R-13, which was a copy of the Sidewinder missile captured on the Eastern Front. This missile could only attack from behind and had very poor maneuverability.

Then, the Russians concluded from their experience: new missiles must be flexible enough!

Thus, the R-60 was born. For maneuverability, it weighed only 43.5 kg and had an effective range of only four kilometers, setting a record as the lightest and smallest air-to-air missile in the world.

It weighs only half as much as the Rattlesnake, and its warhead is also less than half the weight of the Rattlesnake, weighing only 3 kilograms, while the latter weighs 9.4 kilograms.

To make such a small warhead powerful enough, the Russians specially added a depleted uranium continuous rod warhead. Even so, the power is still not very good. Just like now, even if it hits the target, it can only watch helplessly as the target flies away!

In the air, Major Adil, who was landing, faced the damaged F-15 fighter jet returning to base. He couldn't help but clench his fist. Damn it, he had fought bravely, but he still failed to damage the target. It wasn't his fault, but the performance of the fighter jet was too poor!
That afternoon, the fierce air battle was almost one-sided. Although the Syrian Air Force fought bravely, they achieved very little. They lost dozens of aircraft, but only managed to kill a handful: three were damaged and two were shot down. The downed aircraft were all outdated A-4s.

This is the generational gap!
Fortunately, several enemy planes flew into the area of ​​ground-based air defense missiles during the air battle, and four of them were shot down by Eastern missiles. This can be considered the only decent result.

The capital of Syria.

"Today, we were almost completely overwhelmed. Our former advantages have vanished!" Taras said angrily. "The equipment we have is just too poor!"

"No, no, it's not that the equipment performance is poor, it's that the Syrian Air Force can't bring out the full potential of its fighter jets. Our MiG-23s are also third-generation fighters, the same generation as the enemy's F-15s and F-16s!" Gulayev shook his head.

"What do you mean by 'of the same generation'? They're clearly a generation behind. Once they take off, their radar and communications are jammed, so they have no idea where the enemy planes are! Their avionics systems are too outdated. Even if a few fighters manage to get close to the target and engage in close-range combat, they will be defeated due to the difference in maneuverability. I have complete records here, many of which are dictated by our excellent pilots!"

"It's just an excuse after a failure. If it were our Soviet pilots, we would have rammed the enemy plane down, even if it meant crashing into it," Gulayev continued, shaking his head.

To ask him to admit that Soviet aircraft were inferior? Absolutely not! Every defeat on the battlefield must be the pilot's fault! "Crash? Was there even a chance to crash? Before we even got to crash, we'd already been shot down. And those R-60 missiles, they're absolutely useless!" This time, Taras didn't back down and argued head-on with Gulayev.

Hafiz said helplessly, "Alright, Taras, now is not the time to assign blame, but to find a way to win this war. There will definitely be another war tomorrow, and we need to come up with a solution."

"Tonight, send the other missile batteries into the Bekaa Valley, switch to the new frequency band, and tomorrow we will surely be able to repeat the glory of the last war!" Gulayev said.

"As long as we turn on our radar, they can detect our frequency and will bring specialized anti-radiation missiles to destroy our radar vehicles..."

"It's alright, as long as we shoot down their planes before their anti-radiation missiles arrive! The 9K-37 is definitely out of the question, so we'll have to use the Cubic missile. Trust me, this missile won't be obsolete!"

"I think we should still urge the East to deliver the aircraft and missiles to us as soon as possible. Only the East's weapons and equipment can save us from this fate."

“That’s impossible. Even after we get the equipment, we’ll need a lot of time to break it in. Besides, the equipment from the East isn’t anything advanced. The so-called Super-7 is just a modified MiG-21; its performance won’t be better than the MiG-23.” Gulayev continued, “Once our MiG-29 production capacity comes up, we’ll sell you a batch. This is a fourth-generation fighter; it will definitely be able to completely suppress American third-generation fighters…”

Few people listened to him.

Thump thump thump... Just then, someone ran in: "Report, David's side announced that they achieved a brilliant score of 82 to 0 in today's Bekaa Valley air battle!"

"damn it!"

"What a shameless bunch!"

David Nation, Air Force Command.

"Today's battle basically achieved its intended objectives, but the new anti-aircraft missiles that appeared in the Bekaa Valley caused us considerable losses," David Ifry, the current Air Force Commander of the Kingdom of David, said with a serious expression. "Have you investigated the origin of this missile?"

This is absolutely a failure of intelligence work!
If it weren't for this sudden appearance of new missiles, they would have definitely blown all the air defense missile sites to smithereens!

"We haven't found anything yet, but we did find some pilots who launched the airstrikes on the area. Through their accounts, we've summarized some patterns, such as the fact that the radar frequency of this anti-aircraft missile can be switched at any time..."

“That’s impossible, even American technology can’t do that!” David Ifry immediately denied it: “Do they have multiple radars, operating them alternately?”

"do not know."

"That must be it, otherwise how could they have such advanced technology!"

"We also speculate that they may have imported a brand-new missile system from the East, after all... the electronic technology in the East is also very advanced."

David Ifry was stunned. He remembered the cooperation between IAI and the East, and how he had come into contact with a lot of East technology. He then reported that East's technology was very advanced!
If it's from the East...

“Send people to the East to protest. At this time, they cannot do anything to disrupt the balance of our region. That would be adding fuel to the fire, and the consequences would be something the East cannot afford!”

The Middle Eastern hegemon has become somewhat arrogant at this point! They can purchase all kinds of advanced weapons to gain an equipment advantage over neighboring countries, and any other country that buys corresponding weapons is seen as disrupting the regional balance!
Of course, this is also because the Beka Valley is too important to them!

The Beka Valley, located in the eastern part of Lituo and near the border of Xutuo, stretches from north to south, with a length of about 100 kilometers and a width of 16 kilometers, flanked by high mountains on both sides.

Anyone familiar with warfare can understand this terrain at a glance. Deploying troops here can protect the flank of Damascus, the capital of Syria. At the same time, it is the best assembly point for Syria if it wants to attack the Kingdom of David. After the Golan Heights are lost, this place will become an important base for Syria.

If Syrta holds this position, the Davidians will have their route to attack Lytau blocked.

In the southern part of the Bekaa Valley, there is the First Armored Division, the most powerful fighting force in Syria. If this force were to break out of the Bekaa Valley, it could directly cut off the David people's rear route to attack Syria and trap them!
Therefore, the Bekaa Valley must be destroyed, and this important task falls on the Eagle of David!
just now……

"Continue planning for tomorrow's battle, at all costs, to completely destroy the anti-aircraft missiles in the Bekaa Valley and the air power of the Syrian army!"

"Yes. So, how should we announce today's results?"

"We destroyed the SAM-6 missiles in the Bekaa Valley, which no longer pose a threat to us. At the same time, in the fierce air battle with Syria, we achieved a brilliant score of 82 to 0!"

The Davidians have always been fond of boasting. They want to create an image of invincibility in front of the people and the world. In this world full of enemies, they rely on their glorious achievements to frighten the surrounding Arabs into not daring to make a move!
"What about the wreckage of our warplanes and the captured pilots..."

"Those are all lies from the Syrian army, meant to demoralize our troops. We have suffered no losses!"

"Yes."

Whether others believe it or not, you have to believe it yourself first!
East, capital, airplane terminal.

"82 to 0, the Davids are still bragging as always." Qin Liang sighed, "For them, they'd die if they didn't brag."

Whether now or in the future, the people of David are prone to boasting, always claiming they suffered no losses and always exaggerating the extent of their enemies' losses, as if they were truly the little tyrants of the Middle East.

Old Lin's expression was complicated: "Liangzi, even if it wasn't 82-0, their result was still very impressive. Being behind means being vulnerable to attack; that's absolutely true! Our Air Force..."

What truly awakened the Eastern military was the Gulf War in the early 1990s, which led to the military embarking on a path of modernization reforms. The war in the 1980s was also a very shocking experience for the military.

In the past, we always thought that if our equipment was inferior, we could make up for it with numerical superiority. So what if we had to make more sacrifices? For victory, we are not afraid of sacrifice!
But now, the situation is different. If the equipment is inferior, then it will be beaten unilaterally. Even if the Eastern Air Force goes up, it will be beaten. The main fighter jet is the J-6, which is not even as good as the Syrian Tuo!
Qin Liang smiled and said, "Our air force doesn't need to rush. The equipment is almost complete!"

We have airborne early warning aircraft, the J-9 medium fighter jet has already made its maiden flight and is undergoing intensive test flights, we will use the twin-engine Q-6 for heavy fighter jets for now, and we will have twin-engine heavy stealth aircraft in the future. Electronic warfare aircraft are also under development. When our air force goes up there, we will crush them, okay?

"President Qin, President Qin, we've received news from CATIC that David is causing trouble at CATIC..."

Qin Liang's expression changed: "The Davidians? These clowns, do they really think we Easterners and Middle Easterners are as easy to bully as we are?"

　PS: Beka Valley map and continuous lever warhead.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)