Great Power Long Sky

During the seven-day standby period of New Year's Day, there were more than a dozen air situations every day, and Li Lu's tactical test team worked around the clock.

The atmosphere outside was becoming increasingly tense. The coastal frontline troops received a second-level transfer order, which meant that all personnel and posts were on standby at any time. Once the order was received, the troops were to be ready to be deployed in formation for combat.

The letters of request for battle written by officers and soldiers piled up on the desks of Xu Hailiang and Fang Zhenwei, and the troops' morale for battle was high.

The 7th Air Regiment spent January 1996 in a tense standoff.

As everyone knows, this year's Spring Festival is destined to be extraordinary.

The tactical test group's training in air combat without altitude difference is progressing rapidly. Li Lu guesses that there may be another large-scale military exercise this year, perhaps even larger than last year's. With tight deadlines and heavy tasks, he must ensure that the tactical test group achieves its first result and promotes it to the entire regiment before the large-scale military exercise begins.

Another key focus is low-altitude sea-skimming penetration and attack training.

With the approval of Deputy Division Commander Feng Liang, Li Lu decided to conduct simultaneous training in air combat with no altitude difference and low-altitude sea-skimming penetration attack.

The two crews of four pilots sent by the naval aviation were led by Lieutenant Colonel Gu Chen, the chief of staff of the 16th Naval Aviation Regiment. He was thirty-eight years old, the prime of his career as a pilot.

They were to stay at the East China Sea airfield to help the tactical test team modify the JH-7 fighter-bomber.

Everyone says that the 7th Air Regiment is a very capable fighting force, but when Gu Chen arrived here, he found that there were only twelve J-7E fighters, and the rest were all old J-6s.

He felt to some extent that the Seventh Regiment was not worthy of its name.

With the 7th Air Regiment shifting to a second-level deployment to deal with the frequent air situations, the tactical test group temporarily did not have time to conduct JH-7 conversion training, so Gu Chen and others were idle.

Gu Chen suggested going to the control tower to observe air combat training, and Xu Hailiang readily agreed.

That day happened to be the day when the entire tactical test team took off for a head-to-head battle, while Li Lu directed operations from the control tower.

Xue Shuang, Zhao Chaoyang, Chen Qi, and Zhang Fei; Xue Shuang vs. Chen Qi, Zhao Chaoyang vs. Zhang Fei; all training in aerial combat at the same level.

Li Lu has already reached the stage of dual-aircraft formation combat. His training efficiency and effectiveness are very good. He can often master the skills completely in just three to five training sessions.

In fact, the techniques, standards, tactical envelopes, etc. of air combat training without altitude difference were all blank. Li Lu explored them all through flight practice, and then determined them through group discussions to form a unified standard.

This is the significance of tactical testing.

Although Li Lu felt that Gu Chen was rather arrogant and somewhat looked down on them, the air force pilots who used first-generation and second-generation aircraft.

However, they still needed help modifying the JH-7 fighter-bomber, so Li Lu treated Gu Chen and the other three with great respect.

Four J-6 fighter jets engaged in a fierce aerial battle over the airport, darting back and forth, soaring up and down, and chasing each other, creating quite a spectacle.

Gu Chen observed carefully through his binoculars and was surprised to see that the J-6 fighters were often within a few hundred meters of each other during dogfights!

Moreover, it appears there are no height difference restrictions!

This is extremely dangerous aerial combat training!

When observing with the naked eye, it is difficult to accurately determine the distance and height of a layer due to the relative position and reference objects.

Gu Chen thought it was a problem with the visual perspective, so he put down his binoculars and craned his neck to look at the plotting board in front of the plotter.

Upon seeing this, he was shocked and almost doubted that he had gone to the wrong control tower.

The markings on the aeronautical chart are clear and unambiguous—there are no altitude restrictions, no heading restrictions, no lateral distance restrictions…

Isn't this just reckless?!

It's no wonder Gu Chen was shocked. Without an altitude difference, aerial combat training is practically the same as fighting enemy aircraft in real combat.

Isn't this jeopardizing flight safety?

Gu Chen looked at Li Lu, who was focused and frequently gave instructions, reminding the planes in the sky to pay attention to their flight maneuvers and pointing out problems with the pilots' controls.

Taking advantage of a lull in Li Lu's command, Gu Chen couldn't help but ask, "Captain Li, it seems your aerial combat training doesn't have altitude difference restrictions?"

Li Lu looked at Gu Chen, smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, the tactical test team was tasked with gradually increasing the altitude difference for air combat training, and we have already figured out the training methods for the basic stage."

"Buzz, Eagle's Nest, Brave Warrior, please return to course." Xue Shuang shook off Chen Qi's entanglement and flew more than ten kilometers in one breath, then called the control tower to return to course.

Li Lu glanced at the map board and replied, "Yongwu, take note: turn left 70 degrees, heading 30 degrees. Over."

"Turn left 70 degrees, heading 30 degrees, Yongwu understands." Xue Shuang repeated the instruction.

Without ground control and guidance, aircraft in the sky are like headless flies, unable to figure out their own position, their relative position to the airfield, or the heading of the airfield runway.

This requires the radar operator to report the aircraft's real-time position to the plotter, who then plots it on the plotting board. The aircraft's heading, speed, and altitude are all displayed on the plotter's board.

To put it simply, plotters and plotting boards are like "navigators".

All the positions in the control tower together form the "navigation system," hence the station has a unit called the navigation company, which is responsible for command and guidance work in the control tower.

However, the commander and plotter belong to the flight regiment. The plotter is positioned next to the commander, and the commander can tell the situation of the aircraft in the sky just by looking at the plotter board.

The remaining positions belong to the navigation company.

After hearing Li Lu's instructions, Gu Chen couldn't help but ask curiously, "Captain Li, aren't you using a radio call sign?"

Li Lu explained, "When the tactical test team conducts training, we use textual code names, which are the pilots' fixed training radio call signs, not based on the aircraft's serial number."

Gu Chen paused for a moment, opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end said nothing.

The pilot's radio call sign is fixed, and it's a single word chosen by the pilot himself. It's personalized, sounds impressive, and is very beneficial in boosting the pilot's training enthusiasm.

The principle of radio call signs is to enable commanders to match the aircraft in the sky with their numbers in the shortest possible time. They should be easy to remember, recognizable, and concise.

The first principle of in-flight communication is to be concise and clear. The pace of air combat is very fast, and there is no time for rambling exchanges.

Clearly, the tactical test team standardized the radio call signs used during pilot training, simplifying the command process and enabling commanders and pilots to understand the situation in the air more quickly.

With no altitude difference and the use of Western-style call signs, these are all unprecedented new styles and methods.

The routine air combat training conducted by the 7th Air Regiment's tactical test team had a significant impact on Gu Chen and the other three naval pilots.

Gu Chen couldn't help but compare his 16th Naval Aviation Regiment with the 7th Air Force Regiment. Apart from having more advanced aircraft, his regiment was far behind in terms of training.

A single air combat training exercise with no altitude difference left the entire naval aviation force far behind.

They're not just starting out; they already have a basic direction and methods.

Having flown fighter jets for so many years, Gu Chen could immediately tell that the pilots conducting aerial combat training were more skilled than him.

Li Lu was the leader of the tactical testing group; in other words, Li Lu's air combat skills were even higher than theirs.

Thinking of this, Gu Chen's gaze towards Li Lu no longer held the previous contempt.

Four J-6 fighter jets returned to base and landed one after another after completing the air combat training with no altitude difference. Li Lu finished his last command instructions, put down the microphone, signed his name on the duty roster, and filled in the combat log.

After doing all this, he smiled and said to Gu Chen, "Chief of Staff Gu, our zero-altitude air combat training has a new name: Free Air Combat."

"Next, we will remove all restrictions, expand the scope of the confrontation, develop a complete set of training methods, and then promote them throughout the entire regiment."

"Our air force has taken the lead, and your naval aviation should catch up soon."

Gu Chen forced a smile and said, "Captain Li, your air combat training is indeed very solid. However, air combat training without altitude difference is very risky. If you're not careful..."

"It's better to be more cautious in training."

Li Lu didn't argue, but smiled and nodded, "You're right."

There was no further discussion, and everyone left the control tower. Today's training work was now concluded, and the duty personnel would take over the tower's duties.

After leaving the control tower, Li Lu and the training staff officer prepared to get into the car and return to the inner field to discuss the day's training with Xue Shuang and the other three. This was something that had to be done after every training session.

They need to review the training and summarize the experience.

Gu Chen exchanged a few words with a Hainan Airlines pilot, who then jogged over and called out, "Captain Li, please wait a moment."

Li Lu had just sat in the passenger seat when he turned around and asked the driver to wait a moment.

When the pilot ran over, Li Lu asked with a smile, "Captain Qi Hong, what are the instructions?"

Qi Hong was Gu Chen's rear cockpit pilot, and Qi Hong himself was the squadron leader and the front cockpit pilot in the 16th Naval Aviation Regiment.

This time, the 16th Naval Aviation Regiment selected elite soldiers to help the 7th Air Regiment modify the JH-7 fighter-bombers, and Qi Hong stood out with his excellent technical skills.

Qi Hong, only twenty-six years old, was a rising star pilot of the same era as Li Lu.

Li Lu had a good impression of the tall and handsome Qi Hong. He was a friendly person with a good attitude. It was Qi Hong who had previously told Li Lu about the JH-7's control stick fee standards and air refueling information.

Qi Hong smiled and said, "Captain Li, stop joking. I want to ask you for a favor."

Li Lu quickly said, "No, no, no, you're an instructor here to help us with our modification training. How can you ask for anything? Just tell me what's wrong."

"Then I'll really tell you," Qi Hong said with a smile.

Li Lu gestured for them to proceed.

Qi Hong considered for a moment and said, "I'd like to follow you to learn about the situation of air combat training without altitude difference. I personally want to learn, but I don't know if it's in accordance with the rules..."

"This matter..." Li Lu's gaze passed over Qi Hong and looked at Gu Chen, who was still standing not far away.

Chief of Staff Gu felt a tickle in his heart, but he couldn't let go of his pride, so he sent over the youngest, Qi Hong.

Li Lu withdrew his gaze, smiled, and said, "There's no such thing as compliance or non-compliance. We're all comrades, learning and progressing together. We're about to have an analysis meeting. Come on, get in the car!"

"Thank you, Captain Li!"

Li Lu didn't think much of it. Tactics and strategies should be kept secret from the enemy, but should be taught to brother units without reservation. That's the rule.

But he never expected that from this moment on, he would have several followers. When he was modifying the JH-7, Gu Chen, Qi Hong and others were his instructors. When he was doing daily training, Gu Chen, Qi Hong and others called him instructor.

Each side has its own perspective.