"Target altitude: 48,000. Speed: Mach 5.3. At this speed, it must have activated its scramjet engine."
"Judging by its flight path, it seems rather fixed. It should be under electronic suppression, with the automatic return flight program having taken control."
Watching Big Black Eagle race back at extreme speed, Chen Yi accelerated his drone while considering how to intercept it.
He could just ram it.
That was a good option.
Although his drone was small and compact, after losing half its batteries and consuming some propellant, it weighed less than thirty kilograms.
But at its current hypersonic speed, it could definitely smash Big Black Eagle to pieces in midair.
The largest fragments would be no bigger than a palm, falling into the ocean without leaving 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 another drone would be easy, but the test-flight data would be hard to come by.
Besides, it would be a shame to smash Big Black Eagle to bits just like that.
Not to mention that it cost several hundred million dollars and contained all that technology.
If I can intercept it and obtain part of the intact airframe or some large wreckage.
Then I can study and fully understand Black Eagle's parameters, stealth data, and radar signature data.
This strategic drone, which took them more than a decade to develop, will be like someone running naked down the street in broad daylight before our radar in the future. It'll be completely useless.
The strategic value of that is unimaginable. If I intercept it, I'll make an absolute killing."
Chen Yi thought for a moment, then refreshed the radar imaging interface. A clear image of Big Black Eagle appeared before him.
He watched Big Black Eagle fly inverted at high altitude, maneuvering as it raced home.
Seeing its exposed underside and the intake gulping air like mad, an idea suddenly came to Chen Yi.
Ramming it would be inconvenient.
But since it had exposed its belly, there should be no problem giving its engine a little extra fuel.
"I almost forgot that my drone can drop bombs too. No, it can drop batteries.
At hypersonic speed, if I feed two-kilogram batteries into it.
Even if the scramjet's internal structure is simple and lacks precision components like compressors, they can still punch through the chamber and scrap the engine."
Chen Yi pictured it in his mind and felt it was feasible.
However, to carry out this aerial feeding plan.
The two aircraft had to fly in the same direction, one ahead of the other.
The drone had to be in front, with Big Black Eagle behind it.
Like aerial refueling, they had to achieve relative stillness.
Only then could the batteries dropped by the drone be precisely stuffed into Big Black Eagle's belly.
Since they needed to fly in the same direction, the drone's speed had to keep up.
Otherwise, he could only watch helplessly as the eagle flew away.
In addition, the drone's attitude control had to be stable.
Otherwise, one aircraft was an eighteen-meter-long Big Black Eagle weighing several or even over ten tons, while the other was a drone barely over a meter long and weighing less than thirty kilograms. If its attitude control was unstable, it would be blown away the instant it got close.
"Attitude control won't be a problem.
Ion thrusters excel at attitude control.
The only problem is that ion thrusters lack explosive acceleration.
To keep up with its speed, I'll have to use the planet's gravity."
With that thought, Chen Yi pulled the drone up and shot toward an altitude of eighty thousand meters.
The vertical takeoff and landing system activated. In near space, it adjusted its attitude, turned its nose around, and locked its radar onto the wildly speeding Big Black Eagle.
Beep, beep, beep!
The avionics system calculated the lead.
Using the planet's gravity, the drone began a frenzied sprint of acceleration!
Sizzle!
Speed: Mach 4.
The ion thruster's intake began expanding as over-compression mode activated.
Hypersonic airflow poured violently into the thruster through the intake, then passed through ducts to reduce pressure before entering the electric-field acceleration chamber.
Xenon propellant sprayed out from the acceleration chamber, ionizing under an immensely powerful electric field. It drove the supersonic airflow forced in by ram pressure, accelerating it along the electromagnetic field's axis before blasting it backward.
Boom! Azure ion glow bloomed.
The drone's speed surged violently. After adjusting its angle, it gradually entered level flight and cut diagonally toward Big Black Eagle's route.
"Base calling Black Eagle 3. What is your situation?"
"Base calling Black Eagle 3. What is your situation?"
"Reporting to base!
Black Eagle has encountered electronic suppression from Roaring Wolf. Communications have been cut off.
Before communications were severed, I urgently activated the automatic return flight program and started the scramjet engine to climb in altitude and return.
At Black Eagle's Mach 6 flight speed in near space, the enemy's fighter jets and missiles can no longer catch up.
In approximately ten seconds, Black Eagle will leave the electronic suppression range and reestablish communications.
In forty-three seconds, Black Eagle will cross the boundary and return to international waters."
"Very good.
If Black Eagle returns successfully, I'll request commendation for you from higher command.
The bastard who leaked the intelligence this time will spend the rest of his life picking up soap in prison!"
Ten seconds passed in the blink of an eye.
After leaving the electronic suppression range, Black Eagle's avionics control interface beeped as its signal reconnected.
Black Eagle's radar image refreshed, as did its optical camera feed.
Critical flight parameters such as altitude, speed, direction, and position also refreshed.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Before the operator could carefully examine the flight data, a piercing alarm suddenly blared, and waves of red light flashed across the entire avionics interface.
Through the spy camera's footage.
A small, compact drone was flying above Big Black Eagle in the same direction, blue glows spraying from its tail and all around it to stabilize its attitude.
The distance between them had narrowed to less than fifteen meters.
At hypersonic speed, it was practically an embrace.
"Oh, God, where did that drone come from?!"
Seeing the drone, the operator cried out in disbelief and hurriedly activated the weapons system, trying to shoot it down.
"Black Eagle 1, what drone? Where did this drone come from?!"
Hearing his words, the base commander shouted urgently.
They all thought Master Ba had caught up with it.
"A small drone—no! No! It's dropping bombs! That drone is dropping bombs!"
The base commander had barely finished speaking when the operator's terrified voice rang through the communications channel.
The operator had just activated the weapons system and had yet to lock on.
Then he saw the drone accelerate, moving to Black Eagle's upper front and closing the distance even further.
The two aircraft were almost completely pressed together.
Then the drone's belly recessed, and seven or eight objects resembling oversized batteries dropped one after another.
More than five of the batteries struck Black Eagle's wings and fuselage.
The expected explosion did not occur.
Because the speed difference between the batteries and Black Eagle was not great, the batteries did not cause much damage to Black Eagle.
But before the operator could rejoice for even a moment.
A terrifying scene unfolded.
Two batteries that struck near the engine intake were caught by the negative pressure generated by Big Black Eagle's scramjet engine operating at full intake power.
They spun through the air several times, tracing beautiful arcs as they flew precisely into the engine intake.
Bang! Bang bang!
Sparks flew everywhere as brilliant flames burst from the side of the engine.
The batteries Chen Yi had fed it, carried along by the scramjet's ram airflow at a relative speed exceeding four times the speed of sound, successfully punched through the sidewall of the engine's combustion chamber.
"Alert! Alert! Engine damaged. Propellant leak and fire detected. The fuel supply has been automatically cut off."
"Alert! Alert! Black Eagle 1 has lost engine thrust. Speed decreasing. Altitude decreasing. The airframe has lost control and is falling!"
The piercing alarms continued to blare.
Having lost engine thrust, Black Eagle's speed plummeted at once.
The alarms were transmitted to the base, leaving everyone stunned.
The next moment, Mas, the base's highest-ranking commander, came to his senses and shouted urgently.
"Quick, hurry!"
"Self-destruct! Activate Black Eagle 1's self-destruct sequence! Don't let Black Eagle crash into the target territory!"
"Reporting, sir, Black Eagle 1's engine has been damaged and it has lost thrust. Roaring Wolf has caught up and imposed electronic suppression. Control commands cannot be transmitted!"
The operator shouted anxiously.
Watching static reappear on the avionics interface, he tried again and again, but no matter what he did.
He could not contact Black Eagle 1, much less send the complicated self-destruct command that required multiple verifications.
"No!"
The base commander's despairing cry rang through the communications channel.
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