Great Power Long Sky

As the sun rises higher, the sea surface temperature increases accordingly, and looking down, one can see a faint haze reflecting the light.

The wind at low altitudes is rapidly weakening, and several clusters of cumulonimbus clouds from the east are drifting quickly toward us with the southeasterly winds at high altitudes.

At this moment, Li Lu made up his mind.

He didn't say anything pretentious or nonsense like "I'm the captain, I'm responsible."

Having chosen this profession and undertaken this lone warrior-like reconnaissance mission, Li Lu was fully prepared and aware of the challenges, as was Xue Shuang.

No matter what we do, there's only one goal—to prevent those two RF-5Es from getting close to the First Task Force.

Li Lu had two options: drive them away or shoot them down.

Choosing the first option will reveal your location, and the reconnaissance mission will fail.

In other words, Li Lu had no choice.

The current airspace is suitable, and cumulonimbus clouds drifting in from the east will soon arrive, providing excellent cover. This opportunity should not be missed.

Li Lu activated afterburner and slammed the throttle lever. The Spey turbofan engine roared, and the speed instantly increased.

The fifty Spey engines imported that year were MK202 models with afterburners, not the non-afterburner models. The maximum afterburner thrust of a single engine was 182 kN, or 18.6 tons.

The powerful thrust propelled the JH-7 forward, with its two tail nozzles opening to their maximum size, instantly increasing the diameter of the ejected airflow.

As the speed increases, the aircraft's attitude is increasingly affected by crosswinds.

When Li Lu saw that the speed exceeded 1,000 kilometers per hour, he decisively pulled the stick and applied the left rudder. The nose of the plane suddenly lifted up and turned to the left while climbing, and the pitch angle instantly reached 35 degrees.

The exhaust nozzle points downwards towards the sea surface, and the jet of water impacts the surface, flattening the waves and creating two shallow depressions.

At this time, the flight path of the JH-7 basically overlapped with that of the RF-5E. In other words, Li Lu was in the rear hemisphere of the RF-5E twin-aircraft formation, with only an altitude difference between them.

Airplanes do not have rearview mirrors.

Even if they did, the enemy wouldn't be able to see the scene below and behind them.

The RF-5E lacks a rear-view radar; in fact, it even removed its onboard radar to accommodate reconnaissance equipment, significantly reducing its range by the space it occupied.

Moreover, no fighter jet currently possesses the "deceptive gun" function, capable of firing backwards.

In short, Li Lu's current location is absolutely safe and concealed.

After climbing to an altitude of 500 meters, Li Lu leveled off, keeping a close eye on the two RF-5Es that were still completely unaware of him above and in front of him. He estimated the distance between them and sketched out the best attack route in his mind.

He wanted to adopt a bottom-up attack strategy, which would ensure that he would not be detected by any potential surface ships or airborne early warning aircraft, while also catching the enemy off guard.

We must take care of these two RF-5Es without anyone noticing.

"I'll take the hit," Li Lu reminded Xue Shuang.

Xue Shuang immediately replied, "Understood, go ahead and hit!"

Regardless of trust issues, the opportunity to fire is fleeting, and the pilot in the front cockpit knows the aircraft's lead best, making Li Lu the most suitable choice to fire.

Even when the RF-5E was within a five-kilometer range in a straight line, it maintained its cruising speed and continued to fly in formation.

Li Lu decisively pulled up the nose of the aircraft and simultaneously engaged afterburner to climb at a 35-degree angle.

He didn't aim the nose of the aircraft directly at the tail of the RF-5E, but instead tilted it slightly to the left.

This is done to avoid direct sunlight.

Li Lu needs to complete the attack in the shortest possible time and reduce his flight altitude as quickly as possible to ensure that his whereabouts remain undetected.

He disengaged the firing safety of the twin 23mm cannons, preparing to fire at any moment.

The two RF-5Es were completely unaware that a deadly threat was rapidly approaching from behind and below them.

Xue Shuang kept an eye on the aircraft's attitude so that Li Lu could concentrate on executing the attack program.

The two Spey turbofan engines roared, and aviation kerosene was injected into the combustion chamber at high speed. It was then instantly transformed into powerful thrust and ejected from the tail nozzle, propelling the JH-7 to accelerate its climb.

During test flights, the JH-7 reached a maximum speed of Mach 1.75, and even with payloads, its acceleration performance has not been significantly affected.

Li Lu didn't need to look at any instruments; he could accurately determine the distance simply by visually observing the changes in the size of the target outlines that frequently flashed through the gaps in the clouds.

The two RF-5Es were positioned at a moderate distance, one in front of the other. The lead aircraft was in front, while the wingman was to the side and rear, with a 50-meter gap between them and 50 meters between them. The two aircraft were flying at the same altitude, indicating that the formation was quite cautious.

What is an experienced shooter/driver?

When the battle signal light in his mind lit up, Li Lu's brain entered a top-level competitive state of high-frequency prediction. Every subtle change in the target's flight attitude and every frame of crosswind intensity would be given the most precise analysis by the "super processor" in his brain, drawing conclusions in an instant. These conclusions would then be transmitted to his limbs through the nerve center as commands, ultimately manifesting perfectly in his control.

With just one glance, Li Lu planned out the best attack route, the best aiming point, the strafing route, the timing of firing, and the frequency of pressing the firing switch.

Such an extremely complex operation flowchart floated before his eyes, much like a heads-up display.

Li Lu planned to use continuous bursts of fire to sweep across from left to right, shooting two fast-moving targets at once.

The timing is to wait until after emerging from the clouds, and the firing distance is reduced to 300 meters, in order to ensure absolute success.

As the JH-7 pierced the clouds at an angle and suddenly appeared above them, Li Lu decisively turned off the afterburner, which had been on for seven or eight seconds. The fighter jet's speed immediately slowed down, and it descended slowly due to gravity.

When the aircraft's speed is the same as the target's, the firing distance is exactly within 300 meters.

Li Lu's calculation results and manipulation actions were exactly the same, down to the millisecond!

With the same speed, i.e., the relative speed is zero, the firing distance is 230 meters!

This is an extremely dangerous firing distance.

Li Lu pressed the firing button, and at the same time, he used the stick and rudder to make the nose move to the right at a constant speed. The 23mm cannon shells shot out, leaving a dotted line from left to right, like a stroke of a pen across the belly of two RF-5Es.

The cockpit of the RF-5E in front was penetrated from the bottom, and the pilot inside was directly hit and killed. The shell hit the engine nacelle of the RF-5E on the side and rear, and both engines were instantly destroyed and stopped.

Li Lu steadied the nose of the aircraft and fired at the bottom of the cockpit of the RF-5E, whose engine had stopped. Three bursts of fire completely destroyed the cockpit.

Confirming the attack was effective, Li Lu immediately accelerated, pushed the stick, and dove to descend. The sudden surge of G-force pressed him and Xue Shuang in the rear cabin firmly against their seat backs, and the fuselage structure emitted a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

Two RF-5Es skidded and crashed into the sea.

From attacking to disengaging from the attack route and diving down, Li Lu only took three seconds.

The two RF-5E pilots did not react at all and crashed into the sea with their aircraft, becoming shark food.

……