Overlap! Repeat! Overlap!

17,000 meters altitude over the West Pacific.

Liu Jun pushed the J-15 to its altitude ceiling, entering the A-2 mission airspace. One hundred nautical miles from the Sky Pit, he prepared to launch a PL-15, also fitted with a new seeker, as instructed by Red Fox-1.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Liu Jun felt his combat experience increase slightly. He immediately realized that the PL-17 he had fired earlier must have successfully shot down a Sentinel. No, judging by the experience gained from downing three targets last time, it should have damaged one as well. He couldn't help but feel a bit awkward; his human radar was far more accurate at determining damage than the various instruments observing the battlefield.

On the KJ-3000's S-band radar, the ninety-six tracked targets, the moment the J-15 approached within 100 nautical miles, six of them broke away from the cluster and flew towards Liu Jun's position.

Six Sentinels formed two triangular formations, their speed increasing rapidly. They soon reached Mach 1, closing head-on with the Flying Shark. The time until engagement was measured in seconds!

"Red Fox-1 to Red Fox-2, pay attention! One o'clock high, distance 200, Type 1 (Sentinel), quantity: 3, approaching your position, estimated 310 seconds. Intercept in 300 seconds."

"Red Fox-2, roger."

Listening to the early warning message from the AWACS, Liu Jun formed a more accurate judgment of the current situation and prepared himself mentally.

200 kilometers. The two sides were closing head-on, with less than 300 seconds until the Sentinels were practically on top of them!

He tightened his grip on the control stick slightly, his mind racing with how to react if they entered dogfighting range, while simultaneously locking onto the lead Sentinel among the six incoming targets.

"Locked! Launch 3(?)"

Boom!

The PL-15 detached from the pylon and dropped, its dual-pulse engine igniting its first stage and rapidly accelerating towards the distant target. This was also an improved model, equipped with an anti-radiation seeker.

Through the data link, the KJ-3000's controller watched the PL-15 (HARM) appear on the tactical display, guiding it towards the Sentinel until the passive radar locked onto the source of the electromagnetic emissions.

After launching the PL-15, Liu Jun glanced at his remaining ordnance: four missiles and 150 rounds of cannon ammunition.

[Ready - PL11A]

[Ready - PL8B]

[Ready - Cannon]

"Red Fox-1 calling Red Fox-2, please static... attention 200 seconds static... intercept."

"Red Fox-2, understood!"

Hearing the static interference in the communication, he knew the Sentinels were closing in without the AWACS needing to remind him. Just then, his combat experience in his mind increased again. It seemed his earlier improved PL-15 had hit its target.

Just as he had thought, on the S-band radar, one of the six targets lost its RCS. The next second, the AWACS's communication came through: "Good kill!"

Liu Jun only paid brief attention to the controller's praise, his focus largely shifting back to the radar. Even if the J-15's radar wasn't active, the Flying Shark could still detect the approaching enemies through the AWACS's data link.

On the HUD, five boxes appeared, displaying their flight information.

Vector: 3.5 (angular unit, 0 degrees is directly ahead of the aircraft's nose, increasing clockwise, each unit is 1 degree, 360 degrees in a full circle)

Head on (approaching head-on)

IFF Identification: Enemy (EN)

VEL. 1M (Flight speed Mach 1)

AGL. 17500 (Altitude)

[Intercept in 100 seconds]

Although he couldn't visually see the targets yet, Liu Jun's nerves were on edge!

The PL11A had a lock-on range of approximately 40-50 kilometers, meaning they would be face-to-face in less than 80 seconds. Considering the Sentinel's engagement range, he needed to leave a safe distance for maneuvering.

Turning wasn't instantaneous. Just like a car turning, a fighter jet also decelerates when turning, requiring a certain distance (or time) to accelerate again. During this process, the head-on approaching Sentinels would not be slowing down!

Using HOTAS (Hands On Throttle-And-Stick), he activated the seekers of the two PL11A missiles on the pylons!

A humming sound echoed in his helmet, alerting Liu Jun that the PL11A seekers were active and searching for heat signatures within his field of view.

[Intercept in 80 seconds!]

Within Liu Jun's visual range, five prominent pixelated dots appeared. Almost simultaneously, the PL11A seekers also captured the heat signatures of the Sentinels.

Continuing forward in this situation would only accelerate the engagement time. He pressed the left cyclic, preparing to initiate a left turn early, rather than waiting until they were face-to-face, when it would be difficult to escape enemy pursuit! This was a form of leading turn, but used here to shake off the enemy.

The J-15 Flying Shark's nose angled away from the five approaching Sentinels, changing the dynamic envelope for missile launch. Liu Jun turned his head to look at the five slightly enlarging pixelated dots. With the aid of his helmet-mounted sight, the PL11A seekers "locked" onto the incoming targets!

Regardless of the heat signature generated by the Sentinels themselves or whether they employed infrared suppression, at Mach 1 flight speed, the airframe would rub against the air at high velocity, generating heat on the "skin" through friction. The PL11A seekers were capturing this heat source!

Beep beep beep!

The seeker locked firmly onto the heat signature within its field of view!

"Launch 2!"

Swish! Swish!

The rocket motors ignited, and the PL11A flew forward along the pylon rails. However, unlike conventional launches, this was an off-boresight launch, where the seeker was misaligned with the missile's axis.

After flying to a safe distance, the two PL11A missiles' rocket motors propelled them forward, while the control surfaces adjusted their flight path.

At 17,000 meters altitude, their white contrails clearly displayed their flight path. The two PL11A missiles executed a wide arc turn in the air, heading towards the approaching Sentinels. The seekers remained locked onto the planar imaging, awaiting the missiles to enter the kill zone for detonation of their enhanced warheads.

Liu Jun didn't even glance at the PL11A's kill effect. In this short time, the distance between the two sides had closed to within 30 km, meaning less than a minute until their closest point of approach.

He pressed the cyclic to roll, pulled positive Gs, and dove downwards in a break-S maneuver, sacrificing altitude for speed while reversing his heading by 180 degrees.

The moment the aircraft nose pitched down, Liu Jun pushed the throttle, using Earth's gravity to accelerate and regain the speed the Flying Shark had lost during the turn.

Watching the rapidly increasing airspeed, Liu Jun didn't forget to look back, observing the enemy's exact position. Within his retina, two dazzling balls of fire appeared in his field of vision. The remaining three Sentinels, their surfaces shimmering with a dazzling seven-colored light, were in a dive right behind the Flying Shark, tenaciously locked onto Liu Jun's six o'clock!

At this moment, inside the Combat Operations Center, Red Fox-2 had merged with the enemy. A technician reported the situation:

[Report, Commander! Red Fox-2 has merged (Target Merge, radar contact, friendly and enemy identifiers overlapping on the radar display), Type 1, 3 enemy aircraft (Bandits)!]

Instantly, the atmosphere in the entire command center could be felt to become serious. The hushed conversations also ceased, and everyone was staring at the main screen.

On the screen, the fighter jets responsible for cover were approaching the battlefield.