Empire Conquest

Chapter 667 - 10 A Bizarre Twist of Fate_2

Interesting was the fact that "730A" was much cheaper, so its export volume was several times that of "730B", outfitting hundreds of battleships from dozens of countries.

Relatively speaking, the main improvement of "730B" was the integration of the searching fire control radar into the gun mount.

To improve the destruction effect, the Imperial Navy had specially developed a type of artillery shell to counter anti-ship missiles, namely the 30mm caliber armor-piercing bullet.

In theory, only one hit was needed to destroy a tactical missile of the "Flying Fish" class.

Even to intercept heavy missiles, only 3 to 5 hits were required to ensure destruction.

According to tests conducted by the Imperial Navy, during a short burst lasting 3 seconds, the probability of hitting an anti-ship missile of the size of "Flying Fish" was as high as 85%. If the firing time was set to 5 seconds, the hit rate could reach 95%, but the continuous combat capability would be greatly reduced.

As for choosing a short burst or a long burst, it would be determined by the actual situation.

After that, within merely 2 years, the Imperial Navy concentrated on procuring more than 600 sets of "Fire Tornado" and equipped all major warships.

A 3000-ton class escort ship like the "Panzhihua" generally only had one set.

Actually, the "Panzhihua" had been in service for more than 10 years, and its design did not consider the need to install a rapid-fire gun weighing 10 tons.

Fortunately, the top of the helicopter’s hangar was spacious enough, and the difficulty of installing a set of "Fire Tornado" was not too great.

As a result, it was unable to deal with anti-ship missiles coming from the front.

Of course, anti-ship missiles were generally launched from the side of the ship.

Upon seeing the "Fire Tornado" rotating, Wei Shaolong secretly breathed a sigh of relief but then he raised the portable telescope hanging in front of his chest and looked in the northwest direction.

The initial phone call came from the deputy commander at the combat command center.

An early warning aircraft detected a high-speed flying target, deduced to be an anti-ship missile launched by an attack aircraft, and issued a missile attack alarm.

If it really was a missile, there definitely wouldn’t be enough time to avoid it.

"Woo--Woo--"

A few seconds later, a piercing air defense alarm went off.

However, the first thing to open fire was not the rapid-fire gun.

With a "swoosh" sound, a short-range air-defense missile nicknamed "Sea Snake" was shot from the eight-cell universal missile box located in front of the bridge.

The "Panzhihua" was just a 3000-ton class escort ship, not heavily armed.

Normally in the eight-cell launcher at the bow, 4 anti-submarine missiles and 4 air defense missiles were loaded, and the fire control channels could only handle one incoming target.

Unfortunately, that missile was wasted immediately.

Of course, there was nothing regretful about that.

"Sea Snake" was the Imperial Navy’s first type of short-range area air defense missile, not highly valued and further strained by a very tight budget, forcing the Imperial Navy to settle for less by repurposing the "KK-6" medium-range air-to-air missile, slightly modified for use as an air defense missile.

Its performance was certainly not advanced, mainly being cost-effective.

To be precise, it was indeed cost-effective.

Actually, the emergence of "Sea Snake" allowed 3000-ton class anti-submarine escort ships like "Panzhihua" to obtain effective air defense means for the first time.

Before this, escort ships could only rely on the main gun for air defense tasks.

Most of the time, they hid under the wings of cruisers and destroyers.

Not to mention countering sea-skimming anti-ship missiles, even intercepting mid to high-altitude enemy aircraft, "Sea Snake" only had a hit rate of sixty percent.

In complex environments, it merely had a psychologically comforting effect.

Actually, there were only about ten seconds left.

This time, the device that opened was the main gun set at the bow, a rapid-fire 80mm naval gun.

As for its effectiveness, it was equally minimal.

The main gun firing meant that the missile had entered the visible range, and the columns of water erupted by the shells from the gun indicated the incoming direction of the missile.

Holding the telescope and searching for a while, Wei Shaolong only then saw that small light spot.

Indeed there was only one light spot, and due to the interference from the water columns caused by the shells, it appeared intermittently.

"Captain!"

Alerted by a sailor, Wei Shaolong then noticed the supertanker on the left front side.

The supertanker had been in that direction, and after "Panzhihua" turned to accelerate, the distance had shortened a bit, and there was a deadly change in relative position.

When Wei Shaolong suddenly came to his senses and looked again toward the northwest, the small light had already disappeared, replaced by a white trail of smoke.

The missile had changed its course and was apparently abandoning the attack on the "Panzhihua" to target an oil tanker instead.

"Woo—"

At that moment, the "Fire Tornado" mounted on top of the hangar opened fire.

Unfortunately, the distance was too great, exceeding the effective range of the rapid-fire gun, and the scattering range of the bullets was too large, posing no threat to the missile.

About 20 seconds later, Wei Shaolong felt that it had all happened in an instant.

When the missile struck the oil tanker, creating a massive fireball, Wei Shaolong clenched his teeth and punched the tin railing in front of him.

It was not until several servicemen emerged that he managed to control his emotions and returned to the bridge.

Afterward, he issued an order to switch the whole ship from combat to combat rescue status and asked his second-in-command to immediately arrange for a helicopter to rescue the crew of the oil tanker.

However, the hastily launched helicopter did not go to rescue the crew.

A few minutes later, the battle group commander aboard the "Zhu Shijian" issued an order for Wei Shaolong to immediately send a helicopter to search for the parachuting Iraqi pilot.

...

At this moment, the "War-11B" piloted by Li Tianling flew over the "Panzhihua."

Initially, it was he who had shot down the "Super Flag" with the "KK-12A."

About 20 minutes earlier, he had received instructions from a navy early warning aircraft to head to the northwest waters of Boss Bay for a cover mission.

Li Tianling did not question why navy ship-borne fighters were not sent instead.

According to the new command system, the Joint Headquarters of the battle zone was the highest operational command body, no longer differentiating between military branches, nor refusing to execute combat missions arranged by other branches.

Before this, Li Tianling and his team had been escorting a navy transport aircraft launched from the "Zhu Shijian" heading to Riyadh.

For this mission, Li Tianling and his team conducted a second air refueling over Saudi airspace.

Fortunately, everyone was prepared in advance, each pilot carried two portions of high-energy rations, and they had prepared an extra plastic bag for urination.

Do not be surprised; during long flights, the first considerations are always food and bathroom needs.

To avoid defecating during the mission, if the flight exceeded four hours, pilots would empty their bowels prior to boarding.

Naturally, they would also avoid foods likely to cause diarrhea.

Furthermore, when the Iraqi attack aircraft appeared, the "Zhu Shijian" was in the process of retrieving the ship-borne aircraft deployed in the morning.

Anyway, the ones who could promptly reach the western waters of Boss Bay were only the few "War-11Bs" like Li Tianling.

As such, soon after racing to the scene, Li Tianling, supported by the naval early-warning aircraft, fired missiles at the Iraqi attack aircraft.

Unfortunately, it was still a half-step slow.

As for whether he shot down the enemy plane, Li Tianling himself was not sure.

He had fired from about 60 kilometers away, and the enemy aircraft was flying at ultra-low altitude, causing severe interference from the sea surface mirroring effect on the fire control radar.

Speaking of which, this is also a major issue for air force fighters.

The fire control radars used by navy fighters are specifically optimized for sea surface mirroring, making them more suitable for operations against a maritime backdrop.

However, when the two "KK-12As" entered the active guidance phase, the enemy aircraft did not perform any evasive maneuvers.

To speak of it, this was also a major advantage of the "War-11B."

Throughout the entire attack process, Li Tianling did not use the fighter’s fire control radar; all fire control data was provided by the navy’s early-warning aircraft.

Here, thanks to both the air force and navy adopting the No. 15 data link.

Additionally, both "KK-12As" utilized a mid-course command guidance attack mode.

This means that once Li Tianling’s "War-11B" got the target data from the early-warning aircraft, he only needed to operate the radar in communication mode, send ballistic correction commands to the launched "KK-12As," and did not need to maintain continuous illumination of the attack target.

The biggest advantage of this tactic was that the enemy aircraft wouldn’t realize they were locked on until they were attacked!

Of course, this tactic could only be used against attack aircraft lacking air combat capability.

If the adversary were a fighter, it would hardly be effective.

Not to mention anything else, at a distance of 60 kilometers, the enemy fighter’s radar would surely detect the "War-11B," eliminating the possibility of a sneak attack.

However, Li Tianling did not know that he had just fired the first shot for the Empire in this battle!