Great Power Long Sky

Could it be that I accidentally broke through the core defense perimeter of the Kitty Hawk carrier battle group and flew into their rearguard formation? Is the Kitty Hawk actually in front of the Ticonderoga-class cruisers?

This possibility certainly exists.

When an aircraft carrier battle group is sailing in high-speed formation, the distance between ships will increase. Li Lu has only seen one Ticonderoga-class and one Arleigh Burke-class so far, which seems to prove this possibility.

Moreover, Li Lu and Xue Shuang were both very certain of one thing: the Ticonderoga-class destroyer was extremely fast, leaving a very long white trail. The Burke-class destroyer was slightly slower, but still had a speed of at least twenty knots.

"We might have stumbled into the rear guard formation; the Kitty Hawk is behind us," Li Lu said in a deep voice after thinking for a moment.

Xue Shuang was taken aback and said, "If the aircraft carrier battle group is sailing at full speed, the distance between the ships in the group will increase. With the visibility so low right now, it is indeed very possible!"

Li Lu said, "Yes, prepare to turn around and search along Ticonderoga's course..."

Before he could finish speaking, he caught a glimpse of a heavy silhouette slowly moving behind him through the rain on his left. The silhouette was indistinct in the rain, vaguely discernible, and appeared to be moving much slower than the Ticonderoga-class.

Do not!

It appears slow because of its large size!

"On the left wing!" Li Lu suddenly shouted.

That silhouette is definitely the side profile of the USS Kitty Hawk!

The massive hull resembled a steel behemoth on the sea, its imposing presence undiminished even in the rain. The outlines of fighter jets were faintly visible on the flight deck, and the island superstructure stood majestically.

This behemoth was currently not far to the left front of the 81291 JH-7 fighter-bomber, moving steadily across the sea like a mobile sea fortress, pressing down on us from all sides.

Suddenly, two trails of flame appeared on the flight deck of the USS Kitty Hawk, becoming clearer and clearer as they moved rapidly in parallel before quickly pointing diagonally toward the sky.

That's a fighter jet being catapulted into flight.

Li Lu gripped the control stick slightly, making a decision that was both extremely correct and extremely risky.

He slowly descended the flight altitude.

Xue Shuang watched as the pointer on the altimeter slowly descended, her heart leaping into her throat. The pointer descended slowly until it almost touched the bottom mark before stopping. If you didn't look closely, the pointer and the bottom mark would almost overlap!

He turned his head to look at the sea, and without having to look down, he saw one surging wave after another.

Over the radio, Li Lu's voice was steady: "The sea-skimming height should be five meters, and the wave height is a little over three meters... Our height is about the same as the speedboat's."

Xue Shuang's throat felt like it was being squeezed by something. He opened his mouth but no sound came out because he clearly saw that some of the seawater that had been splashed up by the collision of the waves was already level with the wings!

It should be noted that two PL-8 air-to-air missiles were also mounted under the wings!

Soon, Xue Shuang exhaled and said slowly, "Unless they see us, it will be very difficult for them to find our tracks."

Completely correct.

At this extreme altitude, the JH-7 fighter-bomber No. 81291 was like a speedboat skimming the surface of the sea, a little over twenty meters long and a dozen meters wide.

No shipborne or airborne radar can detect targets in this absolute blind spot, unless a visual search or a targeted infrared search is conducted.

In fact, the effectiveness of infrared search is greatly reduced in the current visibility and rainy weather.

The aircraft was swaying, and the airflow and gusts at this altitude were more numerous and irregular. However, Li Lu maintained the flight attitude through frequent micro-operations.

Only one thing changed—Li Lu reduced the speed to 380 kilometers per hour.

This was a speed he found after fully experiencing the flight environment at this altitude, one that would not cause the fighter jet to stall while achieving the smallest turning radius.

JH-7 fighter-bomber No. 81291 slowly passed by the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier, with the closest distance between them being eight kilometers. In fact, if it weren't for the Kitty Hawk's massive size, Li Lu would have had difficulty even seeing its outline at that distance.

Li Lu began to maintain altitude and speed while turning at the minimum radius. During this process, special attention must be paid to changes in airspeed, otherwise a stall can occur at any time. At this altitude, if the aircraft stalls, no pilot has time to make a rescue maneuver, and neither does Li Lu!

The lookout on the USS Kitty Hawk did not spot the JH-7 fighter-bomber that was so close at hand. As the rain grew thicker, the JH-7, flying at a speed of 380 kilometers per hour, produced a very weak exhaust plume from its engine nozzle. Because it was so close to the sea surface, the heat from the exhaust nozzle would be quickly dissipated by the water vapor, so the infrared detectors also failed to detect the JH-7.

The entire turning process made Xue Shuang's heart pound—he simultaneously realized the gap between his mental fortitude and Li Lu's.

When a fighter jet turns, the wings on both sides are at different heights. When turning to the left, the left wing is lower and the right wing is raised, and vice versa.

Xue Shuang saw the left wingtip gently cut into the surging waves, splashing water everywhere. If he opened the canopy at that moment, he felt that he could even reach out and touch the waves. Every time the left wingtip cut into a wave, the entire fighter jet trembled slightly, and was quickly and powerfully stabilized.

Several key flight parameters remained unchanged, including altitude, speed, and especially speed.

How did Li Lu manage to maintain the same speed while turning, while controlling the flight attitude?

At this moment, the radio was silent; Li Lu did not speak.

Xue Shuang knew that Li Lu's brain had entered the highest level of computing mode, with all resources forcibly allocated to processing manipulation actions. In this mode of extreme high-speed brain operation, language functions would automatically be locked.

The perilous turn was over, and as the fighter jet leveled off, Xue Shuang instinctively let out a heavy sigh of relief.

That was fucking exciting!

Li Lu's voice suddenly came through the radio, "Enemy ship, to the right rear, suspected to be an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, maintain visual vigilance."

Xue Shuang quickly turned her head to the right and saw a blurry outline in the rain that did indeed look like an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

"Did you see it when you turned the corner?" Xue Shuang couldn't help but ask.

Li Lu replied, "Yes, the distance is already six kilometers. The Kitty Hawk should be twelve kilometers ahead of us. In other words, the distance between that Burke-class destroyer and the Kitty Hawk should be eighteen kilometers."

"There are gaps we can exploit within this area."

Xue Shuang was even more impressed. When he was turning, his attention was entirely on the aircraft's attitude, and he didn't pay any attention to the surrounding situation at all. But Li Lu not only had to maneuver the fighter jet to turn, he also had the spare capacity to keep an eye on the surroundings.

That alone puts her way ahead of Xue Shuang by leaps and bounds.

After calming herself down, Xue Shuang asked, "What's the next step?"

Li Lu said calmly, "Using the weather, we'll sneak westward along the starboard side of the USS Kitty Hawk, create distance, climb to high altitude, and accelerate back to base to relay the message!"

"clear!"

This is the best way.