Creak—the optical sensor of a military satellite in space zoomed in, watching this battle in the Western Pacific that had never been part of humanity's plans.
Inside Great East's Intelligence Integration Center, the commander stared grimly at the battlefield situation display. Officers below worked frantically to gather intelligence from the mission area, while the War Support department assisted and coordinated.
"Report, Commander. The latest intelligence from WJ7 shows that the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is attempting to disengage from the unidentified aircraft. Analysis of the optical images indicates that the flight deck has suffered severe damage and has lost the ability to launch and recover carrier-based aircraft."
"Electromagnetic interference within the mission area is severe, creating area-wide suppression. Both our side and the Americans have lost electromagnetic control. WJ7 has switched to its electro-optical system to track the targets."
Listening to the technician, the commander felt the situation was troublesome. Losing electromagnetic control meant being on the defensive.
"How is 815A?"
"We lost contact with it a few minutes ago. Satellite reconnaissance indicates that the 815 vessel has not lost power and is still attempting to leave the combat zone. The laser communications system is presumed damaged."
"Where are our Flying Sharks?" the commander asked in a low voice.
"They have entered the mission area."
The commander looked toward the four bright points on the battlefield display, each marked with a Flying Shark model, serial number, and pilot callsign. Under his gaze, the Flying Sharks slowly entered the mission area.
Time: 40 minutes after 815A came under attack.
Location: Western Pacific
Four J-15Ss arrived in the mission area (100,000 square kilometers).
The four radio-silent J-15Ss jettisoned their external fuel tanks, and internal fuel began feeding the engines. Zhang Peng glanced at the fuel gauge, then focused on controlling his fighter and seizing a favorable firing position.
Even with WJ7 serving as an AWACS ahead of them, airborne radar interference still made the battlefield complex.
Beep beep beep!
The airborne phased-array radar searched for the three aircraft attacking 815A in track-while-scan mode, but clutter interference across the battlefield was severe. Radar echoes were unstable, making effective target tracking impossible.
Increase main-lobe gain.
Liu Jun, acting as both weapons officer and radar officer, operated the avionics system and increased the main-lobe gain. The radar could only vaguely pick up three targets.
"Master, the radar can't lock onto the targets and establish stable tracking." Liu Jun repeatedly adjusted the radar, but it remained under electromagnetic suppression. "Can we have 815A provide midcourse guidance?"
"No. 815A's data link is down, and the communications channels are blocked. We can't reach it." Zhang Peng briefly explained the battlefield situation.
Even after a PL12 was launched, it needed guidance from a relay or the launch aircraft's radar until it reached the range where its active radar seeker could switch on. Only then could the missile use its own seeker to find and strike the target.
The radar interference was too severe to provide guidance. The enemy was also flying at low altitude, so under these conditions, the PL12's hit probability would be very low.
"Xiaojun, prepare to launch two PL12s."
Zhang Peng looked at the order transmitted through the data link. Clearly, they could not simply refuse to fire because the missiles might miss.
"Understood!"
The seekers powered up and preheated as data—firing parameters—was fed into the missiles, telling them the target's speed, heading, and other information.
The weapon safeties were released, and the fighter's fire-control system automatically guided the J-15S into the optimal launch attitude.
Launch three—active radar missile!
He pressed the button on the control stick. The Solid Rocket Engines of the two PL12s on the wing pylons ignited, thunderous blasts cracking through the air as they surged forward. Linked to the J-15S through the data link, they were guided toward the waters where 815A was located.
The other three J-15Ss launched PL12s as well, but only aircraft 139 had its radar activated to guide the multiple missiles.
After launch, the data link displayed the flight attitudes of all eight PL12s. Attacking from high altitude against low-flying targets, they held an absolute energy advantage. Accelerated by gravity, the missiles grew faster and faster. Soon after leaving the powered phase, they entered the inertial phase at Mach 3, their speed continuing to increase.
Liu Jun stared intently at the LCD display, slightly nervous. He was guiding eight PL12s now! It felt like a fresh college graduate commanding an entire artillery division.
However, as the eight PL12s gradually approached the area with the densest electromagnetic clutter, their seekers began suffering interference. With unstable echoes, the missiles entered inertial flight, heading toward the projected interception points based on the radar-detected targets without altering their flight paths.
This feeling of being electromagnetically suppressed put pressure on the pilots. They understood perfectly how passive combat would become under such conditions. Fortunately, the enemy had no missiles.
On the J-15S's LCD display, the data links between the eight PL12s and their launch aircraft disconnected. Liu Jun frowned.
In modern warfare, both spear and shield constantly improved.
Ever since the AIM-9B appeared, missiles had entered the battlefield. To counter AIM-9B attacks, flares that generated heat sources to deceive missile seekers were developed. In turn, seeker counter-countermeasures emerged to defeat flare deception.
Both sides rose in a spiraling race. From blind-zone mechanisms to narrowed fields of view, or both, missiles became increasingly sharper. Once imaging technology emerged, flares could no longer deceive missile seekers. The question then became how to prevent the enemy's infrared missiles from entering range. The safest way to deal with missiles was to stay outside their range.
Radar-guided missiles developed through the same process. If the enemy missile's seeker could be interfered with so that it could not find the target, the missile could be successfully evaded. Electronic interference existed precisely to disrupt radar missile seekers.
At that moment, the eight PL12s flying toward the low-altitude targets entered the range where their own seekers could activate. However, compared with the launch aircraft's high-powered phased-array radar, the PL12 seekers had a smaller search range and lower power.
Power affected signal strength. As the missiles descended from above like the Buddha's palm toward the three unidentified aircraft, their seekers entered the region of strongest electromagnetic interference.
In an instant, the seekers' echoes became utterly chaotic. What had originally been only three targets became multiple targets under electromagnetic interference. At the same time, because the enemy aircraft were flying almost against the sea surface, the seekers suffered multipath clutter as well. Unable to accurately identify their targets, the missile seekers guided the missiles into inertial flight.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
PL12 warheads exploded repeatedly around 815A, yet none hit the unidentified aircraft attacking it. Several missiles plunged into the sea, their self-destruct systems activating and blasting columns of water into the air.
Before long, WJ7 transmitted the damage assessment back to the Command Center. Seeing that the PL12 attack had been ineffective, the commander fell silent for a moment before saying in a low voice:
"Order the four-aircraft formation to descend and engage the enemy at close range!"
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