Great Power Long Sky

"We must look at things from two perspectives. This attempt to take off and train during a weather window fully proves that this method is feasible."

"The malfunction of the airborne radio on the Dongsanguai fighter jet was an accidental and sudden situation. We can strengthen the inspection in this regard and come up with backup communication methods, such as installing a shortwave radio so that communication can be guaranteed without air-to-air communication within the airspace of this airport."

"Based on the above two points, I believe we can continue training."

During the discussion, Li Lu made his stance clear and his opinions resolute.

In the past, Feng Liang would have rejected Li Lu's opinion without hesitation. However, now that it was wartime, the 7th Air Regiment's pre-battle training was lagging behind, so he had to consider it carefully.

Xu Hailiang, Zhang Fei, and others successively expressed their opinions, which were consistent with Li Lu's.

These two are senior pilots in the group, and their opinions carry significant weight.

Feng Liang no longer hesitated and signed off on the special training plan.

What he didn't know was that by signing his name, he had opened the prelude to the People's Liberation Army Air Force's free air combat training under low weather conditions, which was of great significance.

The pilots, including Li Lu, who were carrying out special training missions, did not expect that they would be the first unit in the People's Air Force to conduct free air combat training under low weather conditions as a whole.

Le Ning was appointed as the chief weather forecaster, responsible for forecasting weather windows.

Le Ning's previous successes have allowed him to identify some patterns, giving him confidence to predict weather windows more accurately.

He was certain of one thing—the next week would be mostly overcast with continuous spring rain. His task was to find more precise weather windows over these seven days to provide crucial information for the troops' training.

On the 7th Air Regiment's side, Li Lu took the lead in formulating a training plan, adding a small amount of low-level low-altitude penetration and ground attack training, as well as live-fire training on ground targets, to the basic content of free air combat.

The regiment approved the training plan and submitted it directly to the joint military exercise command for approval.

The joint military exercise command welcomed the troops' initiative to strengthen training and increase its difficulty, and quickly approved the training plan of the 7th Air Regiment.

The above process was completed in just one day, which is extremely efficient by today's standards.

On February 20, the 2th Air Regiment officially began low-weather combat training under wartime conditions. As required by the joint military exercise command, the aircraft were to carry live ammunition during flights, ready to immediately transition into actual combat.

In other words, when the 7th Air Regiment was engaged in free air combat, its fighter jets were equipped with cannon shells.

In this situation, both sides must exercise extreme caution. Weapon safety switches must be approved by the tower commander before use.

The tactical test team taught pilots from other squadrons free air combat on a one-to-one basis in order to improve their air combat capabilities as soon as possible.

Apart from the aircraft on combat duty, all other aircraft in the 7th Air Regiment participated in training. Less than six months later, the unit once again entered a state of high-intensity pre-combat training with all personnel and equipment—the same was true during last year's large-scale military exercise.

Li Lu turned his attention to the ground attack training subject—this subject includes several entry attack methods, among which low-altitude penetration attack is the most difficult.

In addition to seizing air superiority over airspace No. 3, the joint military exercise command also assigned the 7th Air Regiment the tactical mission of supporting the 3rd Army Group in its amphibious landing operation on beach No. 3.

Airspace No. 3 corresponds to Beach No. 3. The two major tasks of the 7th Air Regiment are complementary and closely related. Without air superiority, supporting the 3rd Army Group's beach landing operations is out of the question.

Generally speaking, gaining air superiority and providing ground support are sequential processes; air superiority must be achieved first, followed by ground support.

Li Lu was very clear about this point, and at the same time he was very clear about another point—if the Kitty Hawks went all out, they would only need two squadrons of F-14D fighters to contend with the 7th Air Regiment, or even fewer.

The performance differences between the fighter jets are too great.

In this situation, the 7th Air Regiment must be prepared to support the 3rd Army's amphibious assault operations without air superiority.

There is only one way – low-altitude penetration and ground attack.

Is free air combat difficult?

It is difficult, extremely difficult, and a completely unfamiliar training method for the current People's Air Force.

Low-altitude penetration and ground attack are more difficult than free air combat, whether on land or at sea!

Even Li Lu wouldn't dare to rush into this subject. He had to start with low-level training—first, conduct live-fire training on ground targets according to the usual procedures, then conduct low-altitude flight training, then conduct low-altitude flight training over the sea, gradually reducing the altitude, and finally connecting these stages to conduct a complete low-altitude penetration and ground attack training.

This is equivalent to breaking down low-altitude penetration and ground attack training into several stages.

The current mission of the People's Liberation Army Air Force is homeland air defense, which includes flight units and surface-to-air missile units.

Training on striking ground targets with fighter jets is rare, except for attack aircraft units. The People's Liberation Army Air Force is equipped with specialized ground attack aircraft, which are called attack aircraft abroad, but we call them ground attack aircraft.

That is the famous Q-5 attack aircraft.

From the day it was formed, the attack aircraft unit was clearly designed with ground attack as its operational objective, and its mission was to support the army's operations.

Fighter regiments rarely conduct ground attack training. Fighter jets are used to seize air superiority and intercept invading enemy aircraft, rather than to support army units in combat.

After the Gulf War, this concept changed within the military, and fighter jet units also gained the ability to provide air support for ground forces in combat.

With the development of the J-7E, an improved model, the types of air-to-ground rockets and bombs that it can actually carry are quite diverse.

比较常用的是57-2型57毫米口径航空火箭弹、90-1型90毫米口径空地火箭弹，以及多种质量规格的航弹。

The Type 57-2 air-to-air rocket is capable of shooting down aircraft. The People's Liberation Army Air Force has a history of using this type of air-to-air rocket to shoot down invading "Firebee" unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

This type of aircraft fire can also be used for ground attacks, with a power comparable to that of a 60mm mortar shell.

This type of rocket is launched using the UV-57-16 rocket launcher, which has 16 tubes and is suitable for use by high-altitude, high-speed fighter jets.

The real ground attack weapon is the Type 90-1 air-to-ground rocket, with a 90mm caliber, a 11-pound warhead, and an effective range of 8 kilometers. It can effectively strike hardened ground fortifications and armored targets; any tank hit by one of these rockets will be destroyed.

It is launched using the HF-7 rocket launcher, which has a 7-tube configuration.

The 57mm caliber air-launched guns were not very useful, so Li Lu went straight for the 90mm caliber air-launched guns. But then a problem arose: after mounting three external fuel tanks, the J-7E could only carry two HF-7 rocket launchers, which was already the limit.

The J-7E has a maximum payload of 1.6 tons and uses two types of external fuel tanks: 720-liter tanks on the centerline pylon and 480-liter tanks on the wing root hardpoints on both sides. The three external fuel tanks weigh a total of 1.3 tons.

In other words, only 300 kg of ammunition can be carried.

A single HF-7 rocket launcher plus seven Type 90-1 air-to-ground rockets weighs close to 150 kilograms, so carrying 14 90mm air-to-ground rockets is already the limit.

With only 14 air-to-ground firearms, the firepower is somewhat weak.