Great Power Long Sky

Starting from Donghai Airport, the aircraft flies eastward. When approaching the so-called median line, it turns northeast and enters from the southwest of Airspace No. 3. It flies more than 200 kilometers before entering the northeastern region.

The route is 612 kilometers long, which is close to the maximum combat radius of the J-6 and J-7 fighter jets.

This means that fighter jets performing reconnaissance missions need to carry at least two external fuel tanks.

Tang Enjie and others put forward their ideas, which were all different.

The focus is on when and how to implement it.

The discussion was lively, but Li Lu remained silent, deep in thought.

Seeing that neither side could convince the other, and without hearing a satisfactory idea, Xu Hailiang immediately raised his chin, pointed at Li Lu, and said, "Li Lu, acting captain of the Sixth Squadron, you speak."

Everyone turned to look at Li Lu.

Li Lu slowly stood up, still looking deep in thought. He said, "Yes, Chief of Staff. The Navy has no information on the latest location of the Kitty Hawk. This enemy intelligence report from the Navy is from three days ago."

Each person received a copy of the relevant materials, which were laid out in front of them.

"Three days is enough time for the Kitty Hawk to travel 3,600 kilometers, and even at cruising speed, it is enough for it to complete a long-distance maneuver of 2,000 kilometers."

Li Lu paused, then glanced at everyone. "What you all just mentioned was based on the assumption that the Kitty Hawk was still in the same position as it was three days ago. I think that's inappropriate."

"During these three days, the Yuanling radar station did not detect the main aircraft carried by the Kitty Hawk, such as the F-14, F-18, and A-6. Therefore, it cannot be simply assumed that the Kitty Hawk was loitering in the northeastern sea area of ​​Airspace No. 3."

Li Lu dismissed the ideas proposed by others with just a few words, because the assumption that "the Kitty Hawk was in the same position as three days ago" was unfounded, and everyone else's plans were based on this premise.

He made a good point, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Currently, our military lacks early warning and detection capabilities for distant sea surface targets, and has almost no ability to detect targets hundreds of kilometers away.

The People's Liberation Army Air Force is currently unable to see or hit anything.

Li Lu continued, "I believe we should use multiple sorties in succession to cover the entire No. 3 airspace. If we cannot find Kitty Hawk in this area, it means it is already outside our maximum reconnaissance range."

This is a clumsy method, but it is the most suitable method under the current circumstances.

Xu Hailiang was holding the operational recommendations sent by the Air Force Command in his hand. Li Lu's recommendations coincided with those put forward by the Air Force Command.

Everyone is well aware that this is the first time the Air Force has carried out a long-range maritime search mission, and it's to find an aircraft carrier. The Air Force Command will not raise the bar; finding it is a victory in itself.

As to how to proceed, the Air Force Command only provided operational suggestions to the 7th Air Regiment, giving the 7th Air Regiment room to make full use of its capabilities.

Xu Hailiang said, "Without accurate enemy intelligence reports, it's safer to cast a wide net and catch a lot of fish. Taking Comrade Li Lu's suggestion as our guide, we will immediately formulate a combat plan."

Li Lu said, "Chief of Staff, I suggest we launch the operation as soon as possible, the sooner the better."

He spoke for everyone, and at that moment everyone was eager to get their hands on the Kitty Hawk and take off immediately.

Li Lu's desire to launch the operation as soon as possible stemmed not only from an urgent desire for battle, but also from tactical considerations.

The Kitty Hawk has been deployed overseas for more than six months, and it could be withdrawn north to its home port at any time, to be replaced by the Enterprise. This back-and-forth will likely delay the reconnaissance operation for a considerable period.

The 7th Air Regiment is a fully equipped and staffed flight unit, with both aircraft and pilots at full strength. New pilots make up only one-fifth of the total, and Li Lu's 6th Squadron has the largest proportion of new pilots among all squadrons.

Regarding personnel composition, only Li Lu and Xue Shuang from the Sixth Squadron were included in the operation plan.

Chen Qi was a member of the tactical testing group, but he was also the squadron leader of the second squadron.

Outside of the tactical testing group, Chen Qi was to return to the Second Company and lead his soldiers on missions.

As a result, the Sixth Squadron had the fewest pilots deployed.

Li Lu and Xue Shuang were assigned to a group, flying J-6 modified fighter jets. They were the first to take off after dawn the next day. All the J-7Es were assigned to other squadrons, and they took off in batches every thirty minutes after them.

If the Kitty Hawk cannot be found during the day, reconnaissance missions will continue the following night.

It was past 10 p.m. when they finished preparing for the operation. Li Lu and his comrades ate a simple meal and then returned to their dormitory to rest and recharge.

Xue Shuang couldn't sleep, so she came over to chat with Li Lu and saw Li Lu writing and drawing on a piece of white paper.

He said, "You haven't rested yet either? What are you drawing?"

Li Lu said, "Sit down, pour your own tea. I've compiled all the latest intelligence, analyzed the possible locations of the Kitty Hawk, and calculated the flight path and search distance."

These tasks had already been completed during the combat preparations, but clearly, Li Lu had some new ideas.

Xue Shuang took a closer look. It wasn't much different from the plan determined during combat preparation, just more detailed. Since it was essentially a needle-in-a-haystack search, pilots had a lot of freedom during the mission, so making the plan more detailed was perfectly normal.

Xue Shuang sat down, her brows slightly furrowed, and remained silent.

Seeing this, Li Lu stopped writing, poured him a cup of tea, and asked, "What's on your mind?"

Xue Shuang held the teacup and said slowly, "The air defense radius of the Kitty Hawk is 500 kilometers, and when defending in one direction, the radius reaches 800 kilometers."

"Their F-14s can intercept us from as far as 800 kilometers away, and even without considering the return flight, our range is too far."

"I have no other thoughts than worrying that all my efforts will be in vain, that the fuel will be wasted, and that I will feel guilty if the Kitty Hawk is not found."

Li Lu understood; Xue Shuang was becoming somewhat pessimistic.

Then Xue Shuang sighed and said, "Even though the JH-7 has a thousand flaws, its long range is a real fact. Why doesn't our air force buy some?"

The JH-7 fighter-bomber was a new aircraft developed by Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group using the Spey engines they had previously imported. However, at that time, the Air Force had already decided to import the Su-27 and looked down on the JH-7.

What many people don't know is that the Air Force has always been arrogant. Even when they only had J-5 and J-6 fighters, they dared to propose technical specifications that surpassed the most advanced fighter jets of the United States and the Soviet Union.

Or rather, the People's Army has never lacked confidence and vision; the hand-drawn aircraft carrier map hanging on the earthen wall in the cave dwellings of Yan'an decades ago is proof of this.

Li Lu said, "The JH-7 is a good aircraft. The Air Force did not expect that the introduction of Su-27s would coincide with the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a result, time was wasted, and it would be a loss to go back and buy the JH-7s."

When the first batch of Su-27s were introduced, negotiations were initially held with the Soviet Union. However, halfway through the negotiations, the Soviet Union suddenly disappeared. After they had sorted out their internal affairs, the negotiations shifted to Russia, and several more years passed.

With only so much money available, the Air Force chose the former over the better and half-finished Su-27 acquisition plan.

The JH-7 fighter-bomber has a combat radius of up to 1,200 kilometers, making it the longest-flying and heaviest-carrying fighter jet in the current military, even though its air combat capabilities are not even comparable to the J-7.

But for Hainan Airlines, this long-legged aircraft was tailor-made for them, so Hainan Airlines bought the JH-7, which officially entered service in 1992.

In other words, at this stage, Hainan Airlines' aircraft along the southeast coast are better than those of the Air Force.

Xue Shuang suddenly said, "Back when we were at Guanqiao Airfield, didn't you want to borrow a Su-27 from the Ninth Regiment? If we had that plane, all the problems would have been solved."

The Su-27 and the JH-7 have similar ranges; both are long-range aircraft.

Li Lu nodded, but then immediately shook his head and said, "Even if we borrowed it, we wouldn't be able to use it."

He lowered his voice and said, "During the large-scale military exercise at the end of last year, there was a problem with the Su-27 of the Ninth Regiment."

Xue Shuang's ears perked up.

Li Lu said in a deep voice, "Many of the equipment interfaces of Soviet-made fighter jets are incompatible with ours. They have their own supporting command system, and the supporting air-to-air missiles need to be unlocked by Russian technicians before they can be used."

"The twelve Su-27s that the Ninth Regiment dispatched at that time were just empty shells that could only fire their cannons, and they required a separate crew to serve them."

Xue Shuang was stunned; this was a secret he never expected.

That mighty and imposing fighter jet, the only one capable of rivaling the US F-14, actually suffered from culture shock as the protagonist of the Barents Sea Scalpel Incident.

Li Lu shrugged and said, "So the reconnaissance mission was assigned to our Seventh Regiment because the Ninth Regiment can't do it right now."

"We had previously considered borrowing the Su-27 that the Ninth Regiment had left here, which had malfunctioned, to familiarize ourselves with the aircraft and see if we could integrate it into tactical trials. Now it seems unlikely that we can do so."

Xue Shuang said angrily, "Isn't this just like spending billions to buy back some empty shells? The Russians are scoundrels."

Li Lu laughed and said, "They've never been good people; they've always been wary of us. In short, we can't count on Su-27 anytime soon. We still need to find a way based on the equipment we have."

"I consulted with my superiors, and tomorrow we can continue to contact Fang Dong directly to improve efficiency."

Li Lu said, "My comrade, the difficulties are only temporary. Before long, we will have our own third-generation fighter jet, a domestically produced one, with technology comparable to the F-16."

Xue Shuang raised her eyebrows slightly and said, "You mean Project Ten? It's been ten years, and the maiden flight is still a long way off."

Before the J-10 took to the skies for the first time, many people simply couldn't believe that they would soon possess a domestically produced third-generation fighter jet that was on par with the world's most advanced levels.

At this time, it was just a code name for "Project Ten," and the official name J-10 had not even been determined yet. Even the Air Force, which had firmly supported the project at the beginning, was not sure about it.

It's the first time a young woman has been married, and no one knows what the final outcome will be.

Li Lu, however, was full of confidence. He raised his chin slightly and said with high spirits, "I'll get you flying a J-10 within a year."

"I'm going back to rest. I'm not listening to your nonsense." Xue Shuang didn't believe a single word of it.

Technological development and equipment manufacturing cannot be skipped simply because someone has connections at higher levels. For leaders, transferring someone is just a matter of a word, but equipment manufacturing is a rigorous science, and it cannot be accomplished by someone just saying a few words.

Li Lu smiled but remained silent.