Great Power Long Sky

During holidays, enemy activity in the airspace to the southeast becomes exceptionally frequent, which has almost become a regular occurrence.

In short, external forces will never allow us to pass through any important moment peacefully.

As a temporary unit, the tactical test team consisted of members from various flight squadrons. The combat readiness duties and daily training intensity that these pilots normally undertook were not reduced in the slightest due to the temporary transfer.

Moreover, precisely because the pilots in the tactical test team were all selected outstanding personnel, the pressure they bore in terms of combat readiness responsibilities was even greater.

On the eve of New Year's Day, Li Lu specially summoned Fang Dong to the East China Sea airfield to discuss once again the improvement plan for tactics to detect stealth aircraft.

Fang Dong analyzed: "As we all know, the longer the radar wavelength, the farther its detection range can be, but the accuracy is relatively insufficient; conversely, the shorter the radar wavelength, the shorter the detection range will be, but the target positioning and identification will be more accurate."

He further explained: "The US military's F-22 fighter jet mainly relies on aerodynamic stealth design and radar-absorbing coating technology to achieve stealth. My comrades at the airfield and I have conducted many tests, and with the radar technology we currently possess, it is indeed very difficult to form a continuous and effective detection and tracking of this type of stealth aircraft."

"In the end, it still comes down to the direction we discussed before—deploying multiple mobile and adjustable radar sites in the relevant sea areas to form a cross-coverage detection of key airspace, and combining it with a variety of detection methods such as photoelectric and infrared."

"Even so, we are still not entirely confident that this plan will achieve the desired results in practice, and we need to put it into practice."

Li Lu nodded slowly after listening, understanding that what Fang Dong had said was all objective reality.

He said in a somber tone, "Over the past few months, that F-22 has not appeared in our surveillance range again, or rather, it may have appeared, but we failed to detect it in time. This passive situation is truly distressing."

Fang Dong pondered for a moment, then asked, "Captain Li, do you remember the time when the early warning radar at Yuanling Radar Station detected a weak signal from an F-22?"

"Of course I remember," Li Lu replied confidently. "Based on the visual confirmation conducted in the corresponding airspace at the time, the faint signal you detected can basically be identified as an F-22."

While considering the question carefully, Fang Dong said, "The radar used for the detection mission was a long-wave radar, which has an effective detection range of several hundred kilometers. Does this mean that long-wave or very long-wave radar has the capability to detect the F-22 to some extent?"

After careful consideration, Li Lu responded, "Based on the existing clues, we can lean towards this conclusion."

Fang Dong, having received approval, continued, "So, even if the signal is very weak and the information accuracy is limited, it at least proves that we can sense its existence. Conversely, this also shows that the F-22's stealth design is mainly aimed at radar bands such as centimeter waves and millimeter waves used for high-precision tracking."

"If we start by improving long-wave radar and carry out targeted technical optimization, we may have the opportunity to gradually solve the current problem of 'not being able to see' the F-22."

A gleam suddenly flashed in Li Lu's eyes, and he said excitedly, "You're right! Even if we can only grasp its general location, it's still much better than being completely passive and ignorant!"

He then said to Fang Dong in a solemn tone, "Old Fang, the situation has been complex and volatile these past two years, and you are well aware of the specifics. Your side is our most important 'eyes and ears,' and I won't elaborate on the strategic significance of this."

Fang Dong solemnly assured him, "Captain Li, don't worry, I will stay at my post during the Spring Festival and won't go anywhere. I will stay in the operations duty room and monitor the situation throughout. Our station chief has also given us considerable command and dispatch authority."

Just as the two were deep in conversation, the piercing battle alarm suddenly blared.

Li Lu immediately interrupted the conversation, turned around and rushed to the side, quickly grabbed his belt and fastened it as he ran outside.

Xue Shuang and Chen Qi followed closely behind, and the three of them swiftly jumped into the 212 jeep waiting outside. The driver immediately floored the accelerator, and the vehicle sped off towards the flight control room.

When they arrived at the flight control room, two J-7E fighters on duty were taking off in a two-aircraft formation with afterburner.

The scene before them was commonplace for the officers and soldiers of the 7th Air Regiment and the East China Sea Air Base.

Li Lu and his two companions rushed into the flight control room and immediately checked the air situation information on the blackboard.

"Two F-15s in one batch, flying from the northeast, probably from Okinawa," said Zhao Chaoyang, the duty officer for today.

"Li Lu, Xue Shuang, you're in the second batch. Chen Qi and I are in the third batch. Be ready to take off at any time."

"yes!"

Everyone prepared in an orderly manner.

Li Lu carefully studied the intelligence and discovered that the enemy planes' flight paths were different from before.

He pointed to the enemy plane's flight path drawn in pencil and said, "They took off from Okinawa Island, and their heading should be 210 degrees so that they can enter airspace number three."

"But they were flying south, heading 180 degrees, which is a bit strange."

Xue Shuang frowned and said, "Could it be enemy planes providing cover, while their main force is still behind?"

"That's possible." Li Lu nodded slightly.

The intelligence staff continuously received the latest intelligence from the Yuanling radar station and constantly updated the information on the blackboard.

Li Lu looked at it more and more and felt that the enemy plane's flight path was very strange. At this time, the others also noticed the problem.

It's not right.

"Why would they head south? That's the eastern airspace of the island, right at the edge of our maximum combat radius," Li Lu muttered to himself, frowning in thought.

"What's the point of doing this?"

If you don't get close, you won't be able to harass them. The enemy won't just go there for a stroll; they must have other purposes.

"Yuanling Radar Station has detected a second group of enemy aircraft, a P-3 anti-submarine patrol aircraft. Its location has been marked!" the intelligence officer suddenly reported.

Li Lu quickly looked over and saw that the P-3 anti-submarine patrol aircraft was flying very fast behind the group of F-15s.

Li Lu suddenly said, "Are there naval submarines operating in the waters east of the island? These enemy planes are heading towards them!"

Zhao Chaoyang was taken aback, and without saying a word, he picked up the phone and reported the analysis to his superiors.

Li Lu, however, said, "Deputy Regiment Commander, it will be too late by the time we've verified everything. Let's go up and intercept that P-3!"

"Okay, you and Xue Shuang set off immediately." Zhao Chaoyang said decisively.

Li Lu and Xue Shuang grabbed the chart board and rushed out.

Currently, coordination and communication between different branches of the armed forces can only be carried out through the military region command, and this process can easily take up to half an hour.

If there is a naval fleet in the waters east of the island, F-15s and P-3s pose a very large threat, as the navy currently has virtually no area air defense capability.

If it's a submarine, then the threat posed by that P-3 anti-submarine patrol aircraft would be enormous.