Lower the altitude; engage the enemy at close range.
Upon receiving the order, Zhang Peng immediately accelerated without hesitation, seizing the best angle for contact with the enemy so the missiles could be launched from an optimal position.
"Xiaojun, the next battle will be dangerous." Zhang Peng controlled the J-15S as he adjusted altitude, staring intently at the sea below in search of a suitable approach angle.
"Master, I'm a soldier."
Liu Jun replied as he adjusted the IRST's field of view ahead of the cockpit and searched for heat sources. He quickly captured one large heat source and three smaller ones.
The three smaller heat sources were circling the large one. From time to time, even stronger heat signatures appeared over the smaller sources, but they vanished almost instantly.
Those three smaller heat sources were the enemies attacking the 815A. Liu Jun checked the missile engagement envelope. The PL10 was not yet within range. Compared to medium-range missiles, short-range dogfight missiles had less range but could withstand greater overload, specifically designed to deal with highly maneuverable targets.
"Understood, Master."
The moment the order came through, Liu Jun understood the commander's intention: get within the engagement range of infrared dogfight missiles and use infrared missiles to attack the targets.
The enemy could jam radar-guided missiles, but they might not be able to affect infrared missiles. Their guidance methods were different. At that moment, Liu Jun wished they had been carrying a dual-guidance missile.
A missile equipped with both a radar seeker and an infrared seeker.
Unfortunately, they had not loaded that advanced equipment this time. They could only wait for the Flying Sharks arriving later as reinforcements to bring them.
A glance at the altimeter showed they had descended to 6,000 meters. They had spent time gaining an angular advantage, but that also meant entering the area with the strongest electromagnetic interference.
"Master, the radar has failed." Liu Jun looked at the radar and spoke to Zhang Peng in the front seat.
"Then we won't use the radar."
After saying that, Zhang Peng rocked his wings. The wingman following off his rear flank immediately understood his meaning. That was the tacit understanding forged through long training.
Throttle back! Roll the aircraft, pull the stick!
The J-15S circling high above dove toward the three unidentified aircraft below like a hunting falcon. Wingman 140 followed close behind, its PL10 seeker preheating. The other two J-15Ss did not follow them down, instead circling above the battlefield, waiting for a chance to ambush or provide cover.
Altitude: 5,000.
The helmet-mounted sight fixed on the three glass-colored aircraft entering view, and the PL10 seeker followed suit.
A long tone indicated that the seeker was active. Then, with a beep, the helmet sight indicated that the PL10 seeker had locked onto its target.
"Fire two—infrared missiles!"
Even without communications, Zhang Peng instinctively shouted the launch command as if it were muscle memory.
The two PL10s mounted on the wingtips ignited their engines and flew toward their respective locked targets. The remaining target, which had not been engaged by a missile, would be targeted by wingman 140, leaving one dogfight missile in reserve.
Potential energy and speed could be converted into one another. Launched almost vertically downward, the infrared missiles could fully exploit Earth's gravity to accelerate. After leaving the powered phase, they streaked like lightning toward the unidentified aircraft below.
After launching the missiles, they pulled out of the current flight envelope. Liu Jun pulled the stick a little harder and heard the onboard AI Sister's alert beside his ear.
Max G Max G
After pulling out, Liu Jun felt fine, but Zhang Peng in the front seat began breathing heavily. Resisting G-forces was no easy task. It took the veteran pilot quite a while to recover from the positive-G overload.
Seeing his master recover, Liu Jun gave up the idea of taking control. The J-15S regained altitude to maintain its energy advantage, reduced its bank angle, and visually observed the battlefield below, preparing to assess the missile damage.
The three PL10s had left their powered phase and entered the inertial phase. At their most maneuverable and with the most energy remaining, they pursued the glass-colored unidentified aircraft.
With his exceptional eyesight, Liu Jun could clearly see the PL10s, now out of powered flight, biting at the tails of those aircraft. That was why Zhang Peng had fought for an angular advantage earlier. Whether or not they were aircraft known to Earth, if they could fly, they had to possess a power source. A tail-on launch was the easiest way to score a hit.
The PL10s drew ever closer to the unidentified targets. Zhang Peng narrowed his eyes slightly and repeatedly scanned the missile impact countdown on the LCD display.
But for some reason, Liu Jun always felt something was off as he watched those unidentified aircraft. Below them, the Type 815A electronic reconnaissance ship was billowing black smoke. He could faintly see naval soldiers dragging hoses across the deck and spraying water. There must have been a fire not long ago, though it appeared to have been extinguished.
Three, two, one.
A tearing shriek echoed through the sky. The unidentified aircraft seemed to notice the incoming missiles and adjusted their flight paths to evade them. The next second, all three PL10s exploded more than twenty meters from the unidentified aircraft, fragments scattering in every direction.
The three unidentified aircraft seemed completely unharmed. After making a tight turn at low altitude, they swung their noses around and charged toward the J-15Ss.
"No hit! I repeat, the missiles failed to hit!" Zhang Peng shouted over the communications channel. As the enemy drew closer, the electromagnetic interference intensity increased by several orders of magnitude.
There was no need for further words at a time like this. The enemy had just evaded the missiles and was now climbing from below. Their speed could not recover immediately. Meanwhile, the J-15Ss held the high ground and possessed an absolute energy advantage. Run away with their tails between their legs now? Great East's pilots had no cowards.
The two J-15Ss charged head-on toward the three unidentified aircraft. During the dive, they swiftly switched the wingman and lead positions. Aircraft 140, which still had missiles, took the lead, while aircraft 139, which had expended its missiles, fell behind.
At the same time, the two J-15Ss circling at high altitude adjusted their launch angles, ready to fire PL10s at low-energy targets once their comrades tied down the enemy and drained their energy. The enemy had likely evaded earlier because they had still maintained high speed.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Whoosh!
When the two sides closed to two kilometers head-on, aircraft 140 launched its last wingtip-mounted PL10. Its engine ignited, and it flew straight toward the leading unidentified aircraft. Yet as the missile approached, Liu Jun felt that strange discomfort again. The PL10 passed through the vicinity of the unidentified aircraft in an extremely bizarre manner, failing to trigger its proximity fuse.
"What's going on?"
"Did the seeker malfunction?"
Watching the missile's flight path, not only was the pilot of aircraft 140 shocked, but the pilots in the other J-15Ss were as well. They had never encountered such a situation before. Both radar-guided and infrared-guided missiles had failed.
During that brief moment of stunned hesitation, the distance between both sides had already shrunk to 1.5 kilometers. For high-speed aircraft, that distance was practically face-to-face.
At this range, whoever broke away first would fall into a disadvantage. The advantage they had fought so hard to gain would be lost, and their energy advantage would be leveled.
When enemies met on a narrow road, the brave won! Great East's naval aviators did not run. Even if they had to ram the enemy, they would bring them down!
"Xiaojun! Prepare for dogfight!"
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