Great Power Long Sky

The appropriate mounting method for carrying out ground support missions must be determined through collective discussion.

Standing in front of the blackboard, Li Lu clearly listed out the four possible loadout combinations for the J-7E fighter jet for missions in Airspace No. 3 and Beach No. 3 with chalk. He then turned around and began an in-depth and detailed tactical discussion with Zhao Chaoyang, Zhang Fei, Xue Shuang, and Chen Qi.

Zhao Chaoyang, in his capacity as the regimental chief of staff, spoke first, emphasizing that "the current mission area is locked in Airspace No. 3 and Beach No. 3, and the basic options are these four weapon and fuel combinations. Our core objective is to select the combination that has the optimal ratio between fuel load and weapon payload, and that best meets the needs of actual combat."

After a pause, Zhao Chaoyang said, "Or, based on certain tactical conditions, let's discuss and determine the corresponding mounting scheme today."

After listening, Chen Qi turned to look at him and asked, "Sixth Brother, shouldn't the premise for discussing all plans be to first ensure that the required operational radius for the mission is met?"

Upon hearing this, Li Lu glanced sideways at Chen Qi and replied briefly, "Nonsense."

Chen Qi chuckled somewhat sheepishly.

At this moment, Zhang Fei, the most experienced veteran pilot, spoke.

He stepped forward, pointed to the first combination scheme on the blackboard, and analyzed it clearly: "This scheme involves mounting a large 720-liter external fuel tank along the centerline of the fuselage, a 480-liter external fuel tank at the root of each wing, and then mounting an HF-7 rocket launcher on the outer side of each wing."

"The biggest advantage of this configuration is that it greatly extends the flight range, but the disadvantage is also obvious: the firepower is too weak. There are only fourteen rockets in total, which will be used up in a single attack wave. If facing the strong permanent coastal defenses in the tidal flats, this amount of firepower will probably be difficult to play a decisive destructive role."

Xue Shuang nodded repeatedly in agreement, and then added, "Yes, and if during the mission, a small group of enemy armored units suddenly attacks the beachhead, these fourteen rockets can at most destroy only a few armored vehicles."

"After exhausting their air-to-air firepower, all that's left is the cannons. But cannons have limited ammunition, and this configuration severely lacks the ability to sustain combat and cannot provide effective, long-term air support to ground troops."

The J-7E has only one 30mm cannon with 60 rounds of ammunition. This is because when this fighter jet was being upgraded, it was determined that air-to-air missiles would be the main weapon, so the dual cannon configuration was canceled and the ammunition capacity was also greatly reduced.

As Li Lu listened, he nodded in agreement. He picked up the chalk and unexpectedly drew a checkmark next to the column representing the first option.

He stated, "Clearly, the issue of sustained firepower is very prominent here. When planning payload configurations, we cannot simply consider whether the aircraft can successfully reach the target area; we must also consider whether, once arrived, it possesses sufficient and sustained strike capability to ensure it can provide tangible support to ground troops. Therefore, this first combination option can essentially be ruled out."

Chen Qi looked puzzled when he saw the checkmark Li Lu had made. He asked, "Sixth Brother, if you think this plan won't work, why did you check it? Shouldn't you have marked it with an 'X' to indicate rejection?"

Instead of answering directly, Li Lu countered with, "Is there a fundamental difference between a checkmark and an X here?"

"Hooks and forks, of course..." Chen Qi subconsciously wanted to argue, but he suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence and realized something.

Yes, do "√" and "×" really have fixed and unchanging symbolic meanings in the current discussion context?

Who says that a checkmark can only represent correctness or approval?

On the contrary, adopting this approach, which goes against everyday habits, can also serve a certain purpose in maintaining confidentiality.

"Sixth Brother is indeed Sixth Brother; his thinking is so meticulous. He's really amazing," Chen Qi thought to himself, admiring him inwardly.

In reality, Li Lu was forcing himself to remain calm. He had intended to draw an X, but somehow he had drawn a hook instead. Since that was the case, he might as well go with the flow and do as he pleased...

Xue Shuang pointed to the second payload configuration on the blackboard, his brows furrowing slightly, and said, "The second option is to replace the 480-liter auxiliary fuel tanks at the wing root with aerial firearms or bombs? Although this modification enhances firepower, the range will inevitably be significantly reduced."

"You should know that the straight-line distance between Airspace No. 3 and our airport is not short. If we encounter enemy aircraft and engage in dogfights during the mission, and we don't have enough fuel, our combat radius will be a problem."

Chen Qi quickly added, "Moreover, the requirements for flight altitude, speed, and attitude are higher for aerial bombs than for rockets. When carrying out low-altitude penetration missions, it is difficult to guarantee bombing accuracy. If there is a deviation and the target is not hit, not only will precious ammunition be wasted, but more importantly, the intended battlefield support mission cannot be completed."

Everyone nodded slightly in agreement.

Clearly, this mounting method is also unsuitable.

At this moment, Zhang Fei stroked his chin and pondered for a while before turning his attention to the third option. He analyzed, "With a 720-liter auxiliary fuel tank mounted on the fuselage centerline and the remaining hardpoints used for ammunition, this option seems to be the most suitable at present."

"The possibility that Xiao Xue just mentioned is real, and it's highly likely that we won't be able to gain air superiority on the battlefield. In that case, talking about ground support is meaningless."

Li Lu immediately said, "Director Zhang is right. What we need to discuss now is not the conventional mounting scheme, which does not need to be discussed."

"Instead, we need to discuss how to provide more fire support to the army without air superiority. Low-altitude penetration is inevitable. With a minimum combat radius of 500 kilometers, how can we carry the most munitions while flying at low altitude?"

Li Lu put a question mark after the last two mounting options.

He analyzed, "Having a 480-liter auxiliary fuel tank on one wing root and an HF-7 rocket launcher on the other wing root, this asymmetrical loadout would adversely affect the aircraft's handling performance in the air. Especially in complex environments with low weather conditions and poor visibility, the challenges are already enormous. If an unbalanced load is added on top of that, the handling burden and flight safety pressure would be too great. It is not considered."

Then, he tapped the blackboard lightly, pointed to the last mounting option, and said with a tone of inquiry and doubt, "So, what if we completely abandon the auxiliary fuel tanks and mount all kinds of ammunition? That would indeed achieve the most powerful firepower."

"Relying solely on internal fuel, the combat radius is no more than 400 kilometers. In other words, after flying over to complete a ground attack, it must immediately return to base. There is no redundancy in this process."

The J-7E, with no external fuel tanks and fully loaded, has a maximum combat radius of 400 kilometers. This is the data provided by the manufacturer, which is the flight envelope obtained during the type certification test flights.

As a light fighter jet, the J-7E has a rather limited range; even with three external fuel tanks, its maximum range is only 1900 kilometers.

In contrast, the Su-27 and JH-7 can fly over 3600 kilometers using only their internal fuel.

There is a real need to build larger and larger fighter jets.

All four mounting options had problems, and for a moment, everyone fell into deep thought, and the meeting room fell silent.

Li Lu crossed his arms and looked at the four plans on the blackboard, his gaze shifting back and forth between them.

His expression was solemn, and his mind was racing.

Each of these factors will influence the upcoming amphibious landing operation to support the 3rd Army.

By carrying more ammunition, the army can suffer fewer casualties. To achieve this goal, the first issue to address is the operational radius.

This is a closed loop.

Relying solely on internal fuel is a very risky approach, and everyone is well aware of this. In fact, this approach has already been decided – if necessary, we must take risks, even if it means crashing the planes on the beach, to provide the most intense firepower support to our big brother, the army.

Li Lu suddenly sighed, "Damn it, if only we could refuel in the air! Couldn't we just add a refueling probe to the J-7?"

Everyone was stunned. Zhao Chaoyang looked at Li Lu in surprise and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Even if we could install an oil refueling pipeline, where would you find a refueling machine?"

Li Lu replied matter-of-factly, "The H-6A tanker is in service now, so it shouldn't be difficult to request one from the higher-ups, right?"

Xue Shuang shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Old Li, the J-7 wasn't designed with aerial refueling in mind. Even setting aside our lack of aerial refueling capabilities, how would we possibly install it on the aircraft?"

Li Lu fell silent.

Adding a refueling probe to the J-7E is theoretically feasible; however, this is clearly not something that can be accomplished in a short time, as it is a long-term solution that cannot be implemented immediately.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Lu suddenly slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone awake.

He said, "I think we don't need to rack our brains here anymore. Let's finalize all the mounting options, communicate with the maintenance support team, and make a choice based on the specific circumstances."

"What we should be doing right now is conducting low-altitude flight training with different payload configurations, and damn well improving our low-altitude penetration capabilities first. Only munitions that can be delivered to the battlefield are meaningful."

"We have a second option, which is the JH-7. The problems we are discussing now do not exist with the JH-7."

Xue Shuang frowned and said, "But we haven't had time to modify it yet, so we need Gu Chen and the others to fly it."

Li Lu nodded, looked at Zhao Chaoyang, and asked for instructions, "Chief of Staff, I'd like to do some modifications with Gu Chen and the others in advance. They're all airplanes, and maybe in a few days I'll be able to fly a JH-7."

Gu Chen and the other three were ultimately from the Naval Aviation. With the large-scale military exercise scheduled for next month, the 7th Air Regiment naturally hoped that its own pilots would carry out the tasks assigned to them.

The JH-7 is a tandem two-seat fighter jet. Li Lu has exceptional flying talent, and the conversion training was a pre-planned program, but it was postponed due to pre-combat training.

With that in mind, Zhao Chaoyang nodded without hesitation and said, "Okay, you can ask the regimental commander. I have no problem with that."

……