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

Chapter 431 Night Hawk Strikes
It was already past midnight, and even many people who enjoy nightlife should be tired by then.

At Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, a workday was in full swing. Yes, they were the real night owls, resting during the day and working at night. Everyone at the base lived a life with their days and nights reversed, which was, of course, because... their unit was designed to operate at night!
Pilot preparation room.

"This is our first combat mission, so I hope you can be in top form and complete our first strike!"

"Yes, sir!" Pilots Greg and Fister straightened their chests. After about a year of training, they were finally ready to go into battle.

We will let the whole world know our strength!

"That's right, our Nighthawks are the most terrifying ghosts in the night!"

That's right, their unit is the world's only stealth fighter unit, codenamed 4450 Tactical Squadron! They are operating F-117A Nighthawks!

Greg and Fister, carrying their helmets, headed towards the hangar. Their plane had never been seen during the day; even their training was conducted at night. Two unlucky individuals had crashed their planes because they couldn't adapt to night flying, but that didn't change their training methods.

Everyone who joins this unit has to be a night owl!
Inside the hangar.

Greg walked around his plane.

To this day, he still can't forget the scene when he first saw this kind of airplane. Like everyone else's first impression, he had a question in his mind: Can this multifaceted thing really fly?

However, when he flew the plane for the first time three months later, he felt incredibly exhilarated. The American technology felt like alien technology!
After landing, he was assigned the number 261, which was the only flight unit that did not have a nickname, only a number.

Greg climbed the gangway and onto the cockpit.

In the early 1980s, many aircraft still had a full instrument panel layout, while the F0117's cockpit already had a classic one-flat-three-lower layout. Those three flat-panel displays made it look more modern, and the interior space was quite good. During long flights, one could stretch out their legs or lift their buttocks off the seat and wiggle their waist.

After settling in, the serrated canopy above my head slowly closed. The only uncomfortable thing about the plane was that there was absolutely no rearward visibility; you couldn't see anything behind you! The cockpit wasn't bubble-shaped, but rather a shape made up of five pieces of glass, and there wasn't even any glass above my head!
However, once you get used to it, it's not a big deal.

As the engine started, the aircraft began to vibrate slightly. There was almost no noise in the cockpit. He looked down at the target map strapped to his leg. Once they reached their destination, they would need to visually identify the target and then use the aircraft's built-in laser to provide precision guidance for the bomb.

This is arguably the only difficult part.

However... since they joined Unit 4450, they have been training in this area all along, so it's not something that's too difficult to do.

The fighter jet taxied out of the hangar and onto the runway. Greg looked up and glanced at the surrounding scenery. Not bad, very beautiful.

Without afterburners, the aircraft took off very slowly. After the two fighter jets climbed and took off, the exhaust plumes of their engines were barely visible behind them as they disappeared completely into the darkness.

The ground crew watched the plane disappear into the distance, their eyes shining with excitement.

The battle is finally about to begin, and this weapon will demonstrate its formidable power on the battlefield!

At this time, in the east, it was only early evening.

“Mr. Benjing, the items are ready. You can take them back to Moscow now.”

"Qin, thank you so much for your help!" Benjing said with a face full of gratitude.

"No, no, we don't know anything about it. After all, this is a secret known only to the US and the Soviet Union."

"Yes, that's right! You know nothing."

"I heard that your search in the waters east of Sakhalin Island successfully attracted the attention of the Americans, who even sent an aircraft carrier group?"

"Yes, Qin, your suggestion is fantastic... cough cough, you know nothing about it, we came up with it ourselves."

"Hmm, I still feel it's not safe. After all, the Americans are the most cunning. Do you think it's possible that their surface formation is just for show, and their real killing move is to have special aircraft sneaking over Sakhalin Island while you're not paying attention to search for intelligence they haven't found?"

Honkyo felt his eyelids start to twitch.

"Qin, you're right. However, we have radar, so we can definitely detect them in advance."

"No, no." Qin Liang shook his head: "Mr. Benjing, you should know that in recent years, when we cooperated with the Americans, we have frequently mentioned a concept."

"Invisible?"

"That's right, it's stealth. Perhaps the Americans already have products with this technology that your ground radar might not be able to detect..."

"Then what do we do?"

"You should have early warning aircraft, right? If you can't detect them from the ground, perhaps you can find them better from the air? Moreover, early warning aircraft have a long search range. They don't even need to fly over Sakhalin Island. They can fly over the coastline of your Primorsky Krai and perhaps find them."

The famous F-117, since its emergence, has become the most powerful tool in the eyes of the Americans. They use this thing to kick open the enemy's air defense door, show off their power, and seem to be omnipotent.

However, over Yugoslavia, it suffered a crushing defeat, being shot down by the outdated SAM-3 missile, a shocking revelation that shattered its aura.

There are many reasons for this. For example, the radar cross-section of the F-117, which is said to be the size of a ping-pong ball, is only for a direct view. On the sides and behind, the radar cross-section increases significantly!

As for looking down from above, the radar cross-section is naturally not small either!

The F-117's service ceiling is certainly above 10,000 meters, but when dropping bombs, the limit is below 3050 meters. Therefore, an AWACS aircraft can easily detect this type of aircraft from a high altitude, and then...

The two sides are definitely going to fight!
Benjing nodded: "That's right, you're right. I'll wait until I get back..."

"It will be too late if you wait until you get back. You should notify them as soon as possible. After all, your early warning aircraft are mainly deployed in the Arctic region."

The Americans' AWACS aircraft are used as airborne command posts, but the Russians' AWACS aircraft are not; they are designed to provide early warning of ballistic missiles! This shows how enthusiastic the Russians are about waging nuclear war.

In the 1950s, the Tupolev Design Bureau had the advanced Tu-95 long-range bomber. Based on this, the Tu-114 passenger plane was developed. Using the passenger plane's airframe platform and equipped with advanced electronic equipment, it became the modern Tu-126 early warning aircraft.

The research and development dragged on until the mid-1960s, after all, the Russians had the weakest electronics technology, and integrating such a system was very difficult.

The radar antenna was positioned behind the aircraft, with a diameter of eleven meters and a height of two meters. Even so, the search range for a target the size of a bomber was only about three hundred kilometers. The most critical issue was the processing capacity; it could only track a maximum of eighty targets at the same time and command a maximum of ten fighter jets at once.

Overall performance... surpasses that of the E-2.
Comparing a strategic early warning aircraft to a carrier-based early warning aircraft is enough to illustrate how poor the performance of this aircraft is.

However, for the Russians, enough is enough. They deploy a few missiles in the Arctic region, Western Europe, and any direction from which missiles might be coming.

But... there's none to the east.

Despite the fact that the United States is just east of Russia, if it were to launch a ballistic missile attack, it would never cross the Pacific Ocean; the shortest trajectory would be to fly to the Arctic.

Seeing that Benjing was about to leave, Qin Liang seemed to remember something and continued, "Last time, some airborne radar parts we provided to Xutuo must have ended up in your hands, right?" "This..."

Honkyo really wanted to say that he didn't know!
"If a confrontation really breaks out, the Americans will definitely deploy advanced electronic jamming aircraft. Your existing airborne radars are not effective in such an environment. If a conflict really breaks out, you should send fighter jets equipped with such radars."

"These planes are still being assembled in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and we don't know if they'll make it in time..."

"Something is better than nothing," Qin Liang smiled.

The process of equipping fighter jets is complex, involving design, production, test flights, and finalization. Only after this series of processes can the fighter jets enter the armed forces. Moreover, the first batch of units equipped with the aircraft are primarily focused on mastering its performance. After these pilot units have trained for one or two years and their experience has been passed on, the fighter jet can be considered to have true combat capability.

The original T-10-1 made its maiden flight in 77. Two years later, six MiG-23s from Syria and two F-15s from David engaged in combat, and the result surprised the Russians, who found that the F-15's performance far exceeded their expectations.

Chief architect Simonov, taking a risk, decided to make significant modifications.

The newly built T-10S can outperform the F-15 in terms of performance, but its progress has been greatly delayed!

In April 1981, the new aircraft successfully completed its maiden flight. After six crashes and the loss of two test pilots, the aircraft was finally finalized in December 1983.

However, this only means the machine body is complete and the engine is mature, but... what about the radar?

Because of the excessively heavy radar, the fighter jet, which had already been designated Su-27, underwent another round of improvements, including weight reduction and drilling. This resulted in rickets, and the aircraft was not finally delivered to the military until 85.

Even now, with the adoption of Eastern avionics and the elimination of the "soft bone disease," this aircraft has only just been finalized, and it is clearly inappropriate for it to participate in combat at this time.

However, the Russians had no choice.

In the 1990s, the East introduced a large number of Su-27 fighter jets, gaining medium-range interception capability for the first time, which was very gratifying. However, when carrying out missions in the south, the screen would be filled with static whenever there was interference. In contrast, the J-8 fighter jets of our side used a domestically produced radar, which was able to detect and lock onto targets in complex electromagnetic interference.

This is the difference!
Now, if the Russians want to win and gain results, they must use advanced weapons!

This will once again make the Russians realize that if their electronic technology is not up to par, they will fall behind and be vulnerable to attack. As a result, they will completely abandon their previous erroneous stance and stand with the East.

After all, if they want to improve avionics technology, they have to rely on Northwestern Polytechnical University!

"Okay, Qin, I will pass on your suggestion to Moscow."

"This wasn't my suggestion; you all came up with it yourselves."

"Yeah, that's right!"

As the sun gradually sets, the earth returns to peace.

A unique aircraft flew over the Primorsky Krai region of the Russian Far East.

The aircraft is very large and long, clearly belonging to a large aircraft, and has some windows on the side, making it look like a passenger plane.

The wings with wing fences look somewhat outdated, and the engine suspended on them is even more unique, with two four-bladed coaxial counter-rotating propellers in front of the slender engine!
The 1.5 horsepower is output through the propeller, and the engine's exhaust nozzle can also spray air backward to further enhance the power output!
Russian engines are known for being very fuel-inefficient, which greatly limits the range of aircraft. However, this aircraft is an exception!
Propellers are highly efficient at low speeds, which results in a large takeoff weight. At the same time, as the aircraft's speed increases, the power of the tail jet also increases.

In normal flight, one-third of the power comes from the propeller and two-thirds from the jet. When flying at high speed, the propeller is no longer powered and simply rotates in the wind. All the power comes from the jet at the tail, which allows it to reach a maximum speed of 900 kilometers per hour!

Balancing range and speed, this engine enables a range of 13,000 kilometers with a maximum takeoff weight of 170 tons!

This is the famous NK-12 engine, unique in the world!
The only drawback is that the propeller is too big, which makes the plane very high off the ground and the landing gear very long. It's not a problem for a military aircraft, but it's a bit inconvenient for a passenger plane. Years ago, when Hermann Hedgehog was visiting the United States on his private jet, he found that the airport didn't have a gangway tall enough to get off the plane, so he couldn't get down!

At this time, compared with bombers and passenger planes, its most distinctive feature was the mushroom-shaped dome on its back, which housed the super-powerful vine radar.

Inside the cabin, Commander Alexander took a deep breath and looked at the others: "Comrades, now, we're going to get to work."

"Well, it seems like it's time to start living in the microwave again." Radar officer Ivan gave a helpless wry smile, touching his forehead where there wasn't much hair left.

The microwave oven is the best description of their living conditions.

The Tu-126 early warning aircraft is great in every way, except that, like other equipment, the Russian designers never considered the health of the operators.

Because the radar radiation is too powerful and there is a lack of shielding in the cabin, staying on such an aircraft for a long time can easily lead to radiation interference.

People in later generations are terrified of radiation, but in reality, ignoring the dosage is misleading. The electromagnetic radiation in daily life is so low that it only has a few watts and is not a problem at all. However, airborne radar early warning aircraft have megawatt levels, so they can cause some harm to the health of the crew.

They suffer from headaches and insomnia, and the most obvious sign is that after three years of service on an early warning aircraft, they will go bald.

"Comrades, for the sake of our motherland and our people, the radiation we suffer is nothing!" Alexander said. "Now, the enemy may use special aircraft to invade our airspace at any time. This is a great and sacred mission that history has given us: find them!"

"Yes!"

This theory used to work very well. Back then, as long as people shouted "For the Soviets!", countless people would be willing to sacrifice their lives. Of course, fewer and fewer people have this idea now.

The radar above their heads was activated, and soon all the metal parts in the cabin became statically charged. Everyone felt their few remaining hairs standing on end, and even the hairs on their chests stood on end.

Another long night!
The early warning aircraft circled the coastline, patrolling once, twice, three times...

Half an hour, an hour, two hours...

At 10 p.m., two blurry dots of light suddenly appeared on the radar screen.

"Report! Two targets spotted, altitude 3,000, speed 800, flying towards Sakhalin Island!"

Really!
Alexander's eyes widened: "Send this to the air force base on Sakhalin Island immediately via data link!"

Although the Russian data link has poor performance and is susceptible to interference, its high power allows for a transmission distance of up to 2,000 kilometers! From here to Sakhalin Island, it's only 200 kilometers, so data transmission is a breeze!
Sakhalin Island, Smirnik Base.

"What, two more have arrived?" Anatoly-Lirnukov's gaze turned cold. "Hmph, what are we waiting for? Take off our fighter jets immediately and shoot them down! Those damned Americans actually dare to try and smear us with civilian airliners!"

Lirnukov was a staunch activist, and he had given the order to shoot it down last time. This made some people in Moscow suspect that he should be made a scapegoat. The best way for him to clear his name was to prove that the plane that flew over was indeed a spy plane and that he was protecting the Soviet Union and had not made any mistakes!
Now that the Americans are here again, what are we waiting for!
“But our ground radar hasn’t detected anything!” the adjutant said from the side.

“Hmm, this means that the other side is using even more stealthy aircraft,” Lirnukov said. “It could be the legendary stealth aircraft. Hmph, so what if it's a stealth aircraft? Although our ground radar can't see it, our early warning aircraft can!”

On the tarmac, Lieutenant Colonel Osipovich quickly started the engine. Whether it was luck or misfortune, he was once again the one who took off with his wingman to intercept!

The last battle might make him a hero, or it might make him infamous for eternity, but he has no regrets. After all, as a soldier, obeying orders is his duty!
Now, the other side is here again, and this time, it definitely won't be a commercial airliner!
Stealth aircraft? So what if it's a stealth aircraft?
Two Su-15s took off again and disappeared into the dark night.

(End of this chapter)