Aerial Precision Feeding

"Target altitude 48,000, speed Mach 5.3. At this speed, the scramjet engine must be engaged."

"Looking at the flight path, it seems quite fixed. This must be due to electronic jamming, with the automatic return flight program taking over control."

Watching the Big Black Eagle rapidly returning, Chen Yi controlled his drone to accelerate while thinking about how to intercept it.

Ramming it directly.

That was a good idea.

Although his drone was small and agile, after losing half its batteries and consuming some propellant, it weighed less than 30 kilograms.

But with its current hypersonic state, it could definitely smash the Big Black Eagle to pieces in mid-air.

The largest fragments would be no bigger than a palm, falling into the ocean without a trace.

"However, if I ram it, my drone will be gone too.

The test flight data for the ion thruster is still on board.

Building a drone is easy, but test flight data is hard to come by.

Also, it's a real shame to just smash this Big Black Eagle.

Not to mention its cost of hundreds of millions of dollars and the technology it contains.

If I can intercept it, obtaining a complete airframe or large wreckage.

Then I can study and fully understand the Black Eagle's parameters and stealth data, as well as its radar signature.

This strategic drone, which the enemy spent over a decade researching, would be equivalent to walking naked down the street in broad daylight in front of our radar from now on, rendering it useless.

The strategic value is unimaginable. Intercepting it would be a massive win."

Chen Yi pondered, then refreshed the radar imaging interface. A clear image of the Big Black Eagle appeared before his eyes.

Looking at the Big Black Eagle hanging upside down and maneuvering at high altitude during its high-speed return.

He saw the air intake, exposed by the upside-down position and furiously sucking in air, and a sudden idea struck Chen Yi.

Ramming it is inconvenient.

But since it's exposing its belly, adding some extra fuel to its engine should be fine.

"I almost forgot my drone can drop bombs, oh no, it can drop batteries.

In its hypersonic state, feeding in a two-kilogram battery.

Even though the scramjet engine's internal structure is simple, with no complex components like compressors, this can still penetrate the cabin and disable the engine."

Chen Yi envisioned it in his mind and felt it was feasible.

However, to execute this aerial feeding plan.

The two aircraft must fly in the same direction, one in front and one behind.

The drone would be in front, with the Big Black Eagle behind.

They would be like aerial refueling, achieving relative stillness.

Only then could the dropped battery accurately be fed into the Big Black Eagle's belly.

Since they had to fly in the same direction, the drone's speed must keep up.

Otherwise, he could only watch it fly away with regret.

Furthermore, the drone's attitude control had to be stable.

Otherwise, a massive Big Black Eagle, 18 meters long and weighing tons or even tens of tons, versus a drone just over a meter long and weighing less than 30 kilograms – if the attitude control was unstable, it would be blown away the moment it got close.

"Attitude control is not a problem.

The ion thruster excels at attitude control.

The only issue is the ion thruster's lack of burst capability.

To keep up with the speed, I must utilize the planet's gravity."

With this thought, Chen Yi pulled up the drone, ascending to an altitude of 80,000 meters.

The vertical takeoff and landing system engaged, adjusting its attitude in the supercritical space, turning its nose, and locking onto the rapidly flying Big Black Eagle with radar.

Beep beep beep!

The avionics system calculated the lead time.

Using the planet's gravity, the drone began to accelerate furiously!

Hiss!

Speed Mach 4.

The ion thruster's intake expanded, and the scramjet mode engaged.

Hypersonic airflow rushed into the thruster through the intake, then, after expansion and diffusion in the duct, entered the electric field acceleration chamber.

Xenon propellant sprayed out from the acceleration chamber, becoming ionized under the super-strong electric field, driving the high-speed airflow that had been rammed in, accelerating it backward along the axis of the electromagnetic field.

Boom! A brilliant blue ion glow erupted.

The drone's speed suddenly surged, it adjusted its angle, and began to slowly enter level flight, cutting diagonally towards the Big Black Eagle's flight path.

"Base calling Black Eagle 3, what's the situation?"

"Base calling Black Eagle 3, what's the situation?"

"Reporting, Base!

Black Eagle is encountering electronic jamming from Roaring Wolf, communications are down.

Before communications were cut, I initiated the automatic return-to-base flight program and activated the scramjet engine to climb altitude for our return.

With Black Eagle's critical space flight speed of Mach 6, the enemy's fighter jets and missiles can no longer catch up.

We estimate that in 10 seconds, Black Eagle will break free from the electronic jamming range and re-establish communication.

In 43 seconds, Black Eagle will leave the boundary and return to international waters."

"Very good.

If Black Eagle successfully returns, I will request commendation for you from the higher-ups.

The scumbag who leaked this intelligence will spend the rest of their life picking soap in prison!"

Ten seconds passed in the blink of an eye.

Breaking free from the electronic jamming range, Black Eagle's avionics control interface beeped, and the signal reconnected.

Black Eagle's radar image refreshed, and the optical imaging feed refreshed.

Key flight parameters such as altitude, speed, direction, and position were also refreshing.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Before the operator could carefully examine the flight parameters, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded, and the entire avionics interface flashed with red light.

Through the spy camera feed.

A small, exquisite drone, with blue light emanating from its tail and surroundings to stabilize its attitude, was flying in the same direction above the Big Black Eagle.

The closest distance between them was less than 15 meters.

At this hypersonic speed, it could almost be considered an embrace.

"Oh, God, where did this drone come from!"

Seeing this drone, the operator exclaimed in disbelief and hurriedly opened the weapon system, intending to shoot it down.

"Black Eagle 1, what drone? Where did it come from!"

The base commander heard him and urgently called out.

They all thought it was the "Eighth Master" from here that had caught up.

"A small drone, no! No, it's going to drop bombs, this drone is going to drop bombs!"

Just as the base commander finished speaking, the operator's terrified voice came through the comms.

The operator had just opened the weapon system and hadn't had time to lock on.

He saw the drone accelerate, moving to the front and above the Black Eagle, getting even closer.

The two aircraft were almost completely pressed together.

Then, the drone's belly indented, and seven or eight objects resembling large batteries were dropped one after another.

More than 5 of these batteries hit the Black Eagle's wings and fuselage.

The expected explosion did not occur.

In fact, because the relative speed between the batteries and the Black Eagle was not significant, these batteries did not cause any damage to the Black Eagle.

But before the operator could rejoice for a moment.

A terrifying scene unfolded.

Two batteries that were thrown near the engine air intake, due to the negative pressure caused by the full-power intake of the Black Eagle's scramjet engine.

After circling and tumbling in the air for a few rounds, they drew a beautiful arc and precisely flew into the engine's air intake.

Bang! Bang bang!

Sparks flew, and brilliant flames erupted from the side of the engine.

The batteries Chen Yi had fed, caught by the ram airflow of the scramjet engine, penetrated the engine's combustion chamber side wall at a relative speed exceeding Mach 4.

"Alarm! Alarm! Engine damaged, propellant leaking and igniting, system has automatically cut off fuel supply."

"Alarm! Alarm! Black Eagle 1 has lost engine thrust, speed is decreasing, altitude is decreasing, the fuselage has lost control and is falling!"

Piercing alarms sounded continuously.

Having lost engine thrust, the Black Eagle's speed plummeted.

The alarms synchronized to the base, and everyone was stunned.

The next moment, Mas, the highest-ranking commander at the base, regained his senses and urgently shouted.

"Quick, quick, quick!"

"Self-destruct! Initiate the self-destruct sequence for Black Eagle 1, don't let it fall into enemy territory!"

"Report, sir! Black Eagle 1's engine is damaged and has lost thrust. Roaring Wolf is catching up, and electronic jamming is preventing control commands from being sent!"

The operator's voice called out urgently.

Looking at the static reappearing on the avionics interface, he tried many times, but no matter how he tried.

He couldn't contact Black Eagle 1, let alone send the self-destruct command, which required multiple verifications and a complicated procedure.

"No!"

A desperate cry from the base commander echoed through the communication channel.