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

Chapter 534 Bumblebee suffers another defeat, McDonnell Douglas is in big trouble!
Shanghai Aircraft Factory.

"Mr. Ma, we are very sorry, but considering that your company has recently seriously damaged our interests, unless you offer a sincere apology, we will cease all cooperation with you!"

Ed, an engineer at McDonnell Douglas, spoke the toughest words, but his attitude was quite weak, even obsequious.

It's obvious that this expression is saying, "Please, give us a way out."

Mr. Ma glanced at him: "You mean to say that you're stopping your cooperation with us on the C909 passenger plane?"

"Yes."

“Mr. Ed, you should know that if you really stop cooperating with us, you will have nothing left!”

Ed felt frustrated, but he still had to keep a straight face.

"This is our bottom line and principle."

“Mr. Ed, you should know how advanced our cooperative project is. If this project succeeds, it will definitely become the best-selling regional jet. For McDonnell Douglas, losing this cooperation opportunity will probably lead to a complete defeat in the civil aviation market.”

"I……"

Ed hesitated, then said, "Of course I know, but... the president told us to put this pressure on you, so I have to say it."

Just then, a secretary walked in and whispered something in Mr. Ma's ear.

Old Ma nodded.

“Okay, I understand, Mr. Ed. I'm informing you now that since McDonnell Douglas is unwilling to cooperate with us, then our Shanghai aircraft factory will completely abandon our cooperation with McDonnell Douglas. Of course, our C909 passenger jet will be launched on the market soon, and at that time…”

Mr. Ma glanced at the person opposite him: "Mr. Ed, if you are laid off by McDonnell Douglas, you can join us at any time. We still recognize your work ability."

If McDonnell Douglas had cooperated, it could have survived for a few more years. Now that McDonnell Douglas is severing ties with the East, its future is predictable!

McDonnell Douglas has lost its future, so its employees need to consider their future!

Ed took a deep breath: "Mr. Ma, we don't want to give up on this project. Rather than being laid off in the end, we'd rather join you now."

"Okay, on behalf of Shanghai Aircraft Factory, I welcome you to join us at Dongfang! The project remains unchanged and will continue. We look forward to the maiden flight of the C909 passenger aircraft!"

"Yes, I'm honored too!"

McDonnell Douglas headquarters in the United States.

John McDonald sat in his office, anxiously awaiting news.

"Mr. John, we've just received news that a carrier strike group in the Mediterranean has launched four Hornets to attack the Littor!"

"Great, great, that's fantastic! While our Hornet may not be as good as the Tomcat in air combat interception, its ground attack capability is definitely a hundred times better than the A-6 and A-7!"

This is, after all, a third-generation aircraft with advanced technology, featuring large leading-edge extensions and blended wing-body design. How could it be inferior to an outdated aircraft?

If Bumblebee can successfully complete this mission, his reputation will be restored!
Next…

John McDonald finally felt relieved.

beep, beep...

Another person rushed in: "Report, news has come from Shanghai."

Are Easterners willing to bow their heads?

"No, the Easterners have decided to sever all cooperation with us."

"what?"

John McDonald's expression changed: "Why is this happening? Where's Ed? Call him back immediately! Humph, he can't even handle this little thing, does he even want to work for McDonnell Douglas anymore?"

"Mr. Ed has submitted his resignation."

"What? A resignation letter? What does that mean?"

"He decided to leave McDonnell Douglas and officially join the Shanghai Aircraft Factory in the East."

John McDonald gritted his teeth: "Is this guy crazy? What's so great about the East? America is the gathering place for the world's elite!"

After World War II, the world's wealth flowed to the United States, and the world's scientific and technological elites also flocked to the United States. From that time on, the United States became the most desired place for elites around the world to immigrate.

Advanced technology, abundant resources, first-class education...

The United States doesn't even need to cultivate talent domestically; talent from all over the world will flow to the United States.

Now, there are even Americans joining the Eastern camp?
What's going on?

"Hmph, let him go. The departure of these short-sighted people will make our McDonnell Douglas company even better!"

John McDonald sneered. "We were planning to lay off staff anyway. With these useless people gone, we can reduce expenses and increase profits! This year's financial statements will look even better!"

"Then what about the regional jet we jointly developed with Dongfang..."

Although the deal fell through, the results of the research and development so far are still usable!
"Hmph, if the fuselage cross-section of that kind of passenger plane is made larger, we will have to readjust the production equipment, and the engines will have to be purchased from the East. All of these will increase our costs! We can launch a new generation of passenger planes by simply modifying the McDonnell Douglas-82!"

What research and development capabilities do people from the East have? We wouldn't even look at their results!
Under John McDonald's leadership, McDonnell Douglas was hurtling toward bankruptcy at breakneck speed.

Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean Sea, four Hornet fighter jets skimmed the surface of the sea, heading towards the coastline of Littoral.

Lituo does not have airborne early warning aircraft, so as long as it does not engage in provocative high-altitude flights, Lituo's ground-based air defense radar will not detect it!

Although they can still be detected when they are tens of kilometers away from the radar site, the radar sites along the Lituo coast are not completely connected to form an impenetrable wall. There are too many loopholes. As long as you find a loophole and sneak in, you can easily get around to the airspace above Wheeler Air Force Base!

As for the radar site... we can destroy it when we return to base!

In short, the purpose of this trip is to solve the problem once and for all!
For the U.S. Navy, attacking a country like Leeds should have been a very easy task, but for some reason, Mark still felt a little uneasy.

Is it because there was no accompanying electronic jammer?
Because the jammer is based on the A-6 airframe, the idea was rejected. Moreover, the jammer might alert the enemy; when the radar along the Lituo coast is filled with static, they might sense that they are about to be bombed!

Of course, the E-2 early warning aircraft in the distance were still patrolling the airspace, providing early warning at any time...

Just then, a voice came through the radio.

"Target spotted, appearing above Li Tuo!"

Mark's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the Lituo people had discovered their whereabouts and sent out fighter jets to intercept them?
If it's the same type of missile as last time...

Mark was starting to have second thoughts.

"At an altitude of 10,000 meters and a speed of 800 kilometers per hour, it is flying on... a commercial airliner's flight path. It should be a commercial airliner!"

After careful examination, the radar officer on the early warning aircraft arrived at a final conclusion.

At this moment, in the sky, a close formation of the JL-10 and two MiG-23s was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters. There was not much airflow interference in this place, and the formation was very close. For an E-2 early warning aircraft that uses a meter-wave antenna, it was impossible to distinguish them!
This tactic was devised after flying over once during the day. The instructor only takes one plane out of ten, and if they want to achieve enough results, they will take two more planes!

The two-seat JL-10 can also serve as an airborne command post, directing two other aircraft to approach the target via radio!
After all, although the JL-10's airborne radar is not large, it has excellent search capabilities. Even if the target is flying close to the ground, it can find the target in complex ground clutter!

In the back seat, Jagger carefully operated the airborne radar, constantly making adjustments, and time passed by, minute by minute.

"Target detected, distance 50, has entered our airspace!"

"Great! Lock on and attack!" Voropaev shouted.

Before takeoff, Matyashev's hesitant manner clearly suggested that they should take it easy and bring the missile back. However, once on the battlefield, the only thing to consider is how to win. If they don't eliminate the enemy, they might not even be able to return alive, let alone bring the missile back!
Jagham swiftly operated the fire control system, locked onto a target, and launched a missile. It was almost exactly the same thing he'd done during the day!
Across from us, a swarm of Bumblebee drones.

"Baseball bat call, baseball bat call, I'm locked on!"

Upon hearing this sound, Mark was somewhat bewildered. Had one of his wingmen been locked onto?
How could that be? The other side...

Those aren't civilian airliners, they're a formation of fighter jets!
That damned AWACS aircraft is giving false intelligence; isn't it sending us to our deaths?
Mark gritted his teeth: "Dump the bombs and turn back!"

At this point, there's no point in talking about fighting; survival is the top priority!

Puff, puff!
As the continuous sound of bombs hitting the sea filled the air, the Hornet fighter jets felt a sense of relief. They engaged afterburners and turned their aircraft around...

On the other side, Coach Shi is on the field.

"Oh no, they've escaped! Our missiles might miss their target!"

They were firing at almost their maximum range. If the other side had continued to fly head-on without fear of death, the missiles would have hit their targets. But now, with their shameless escape, the missiles might not have been able to catch up!

"Quickly, call our wingman and give chase!"

Whizzing!
Two MiG-23s followed behind, their pilots skillfully adjusting the wings to maximum sweep angle and engaging afterburners, drawing two bright lines in the dark sky as they aggressively pursued them!

There was a reason why variable-sweep wings were popular back then. The MiG-23, with its outdated turbojet engine, managed to achieve an internal fuel range of 1450 kilometers. With three external fuel tanks, the range could be doubled!
Moreover, its maximum speed can soar to Mach 2.35, and its horizontal acceleration performance is also good!

These are all benefits of variable sweep wings!

Even Coach Shi doesn't have that tackling ability!
Soon, the two fighter jets exceeded the speed of sound and continued to speed forward.

"Duke, Duke, two targets are rapidly approaching from behind you!"

Mark was annoyed when he heard the call from the AWACS.

The Hornet's performance in all aspects is terrible. Now that it needs to escape, acceleration is the most important thing. Unfortunately, the plane's acceleration is very poor. Even if it jettisons its external fuel tanks and bombs and only carries air superiority loads, its acceleration is still very slow!
After a lot of effort, it finally accelerated to Mach 1.5, while the two MiG-23s flying behind it at Mach 2.2 were like raging monsters.

There's no escaping it, there's absolutely no way to escape!
Mark gritted his teeth: "Duke Squadron, take note! Turn around and take out that damn tagalong behind us!"

They don't want to run anymore!

They were all excellent pilots, and they were operating the most advanced fighter jets!
Since the pursuers behind could fly at Mach 2.2, it means that it was not a JL-10, but a MiG-23, which is the most common aircraft in the Lithuanian Navy!

Only this thing can fly up to 2.2 with missiles and up to 2.35 without them. Although it flies fast, it is very cumbersome. In particular, the variable sweep wings have to be manually controlled, and the missiles it uses are not very good. It's worth a gamble, though.

Four Hornet fighter jets, divided into two pairs, turned around and rushed toward the oncoming target!
Then, Coach Shi came on.

"The other side has turned around and is flying head-on. Be careful and take cover!" Jagham shouted into the radio.

If it weren't for his shout, both MiG-23s would have been hit!

Now, upon hearing his words, the MiG-23 pilot quickly reached out to adjust the wings, reducing the sweep angle to a minimum and fully deploying the wings in preparation for close-range combat, while simultaneously flipping various switches to preheat the missiles…

Their biggest advantage is that they are high in the air, so they have plenty of energy to attack or dodge. The bumblebee that is climbing up head-on can only slowly climb up, even if it uses all its strength!
Even if the Sidewinder missile has locked onto the target, it cannot fire!
Ascending from 5,000 meters to 10,000 meters, the missile loses almost all of its kinetic energy, so how can it continue to fly toward the target?

As they continued their ascent, the MiG-23's missiles finally completed their preparations, and sparks flew beneath the wings.

The R-60 is a short-range air-to-air missile developed by the Russians in the 1960s. The early models only had simple tail-chase attack capabilities, but when it was improved to the R-60M, it finally had head-on attack capabilities.

Of course, considering the Russians' technological level, it can only be said that they have limited head-on interception capabilities; in reality, they are still subject to many constraints.

For example, now.

Seeing the missile being launched from the opposite side, Mark quickly turned the nose of the plane to the side, and at the same time, he rapidly fired flares one after another. In the dark night sky, the flares were so dazzling!
The R-60M that flew over was followed by a flare and then flew away.

Successfully escaped!

Mark glanced disdainfully at the fighter jet flying overhead, thinking to himself with contempt, "This piece of junk, the MiG-23, doesn't even deserve to be compared to us."

Our Bumblebee is the most advanced third-generation fighter jet!

If he encountered the JL-10, he would definitely turn around and run, but the MiG-23... has too many flaws, and its performance is far inferior to that of a third-generation fighter like the JL-10, so there is no need to worry about it at all!
Just then, the sound of a radar alarm receiver came through his headphones, pulling him back to reality.

This is……

Coach Ten has locked him in!
The instructor flies slowly, so it's only now that it's about 10 kilometers from the battlefield!

Flames flickered beneath the wings as the last Lightning-10 missile left its rack and flew toward its target!
At this moment, all the pride I had just felt seemed to have vanished without a trace!

Mark tried his best to break free from the missile's lock, but... the continuous alarm ringing in his headset was sounding the death knell for him.

boom!
The missile exploded in mid-air, and his plane was blown into a fireball in the sky!
boom!
On the other side, the MiG-23 was also shot down in mid-air, but... its missiles also damaged a Hornet!

Of the four Hornets that went on the mission, only two remained in the blink of an eye!
The pilot, nicknamed "Baseball Bat," yelled into the radio, and the next moment, Coach Ten was already in front of him.

"Launch Lightning 9!"

This is the first time they've used close-range air-to-air missiles!
This missile is really good; it locks on easily and flies towards the target, trailing a trail of fire!

However... just as they were about to chase the last Hornet, a call came over the radio from the ground.

"Two targets are approaching at high speed, likely Tomcat fighter jets. Please return to base immediately!"

In critical moments, the Tomcat fighter jet still comes to the rescue!
The trainer and the MiG-23 formation returned to base, and the airspace where the battle had just taken place returned to silence. Only the fallen pilots and the wreckage of the aircraft told the story of the brutal air combat that had just taken place!
Four Hornets launched a surprise attack, but only two returned. One of them was damaged and flew near the carrier group but was unable to land. The pilot had to eject and leave the plane in the sea!
On the USS America aircraft carrier.

"Hmph, we shouldn't have sent the Hornet in the first place. If it had been a Tomcat and an A-6 combination, this would never have happened!" Colonel Snowden was furious.

"Yes, this second mission failure has fully demonstrated Bumblebee's poor performance."

It can't match the Tomcat in air interception, and it can't match the A-6 in ground attack. This fighter jet is truly...

Swift took a deep breath: "Have the relevant personnel summarize the lessons learned from these two battles, give feedback to McDonnell Douglas, and have them modify the fighter jet design. If it's not upgraded, it simply won't meet the Navy's needs!"

McDonnell Douglas's sky has fallen!

At this moment, John McDonald was still awake, eagerly awaiting the Hornets' victory. Finally... his secretary rushed over.

"It's not good, it's not good!"

"what happened?"

"The bomber formation was ambushed; two planes were shot down and one was damaged."

"what?"

John McDonald jumped to his feet: "Why is this happening?"

"do not know."

"It must be the pilot's mistake, it must be the pilot's mistake!" John McDonald paced back and forth. "There's only one JL-10 and four Hornets on the other side. Even if they lose one, they can still gang up on them and beat them up. The pilot must be too incompetent!"

“Mr. John, the Navy’s investigation report on our fighter jets will be released soon. You… I’m afraid you need to be mentally prepared.”

"What preparation?"

"The Navy might abandon subsequent orders..."

Pfft!
John McDonald plopped back into his chair. Oh no, this is a big problem!
Before acquiring Douglas, McDonnell's main business was military aircraft. Now, the core of its military aircraft business is about to be affected!

(End of this chapter)