Beep!
In the command center, a long alarm sounded.
The ground-based radars, which had been practically blind due to the excessive distance, all detected the Black Eagle's signal at that moment.
The signal was so clear that it was as if the Big Black Eagle had switched on a Luneburg lens and shoved itself right into the radars' sights!
Clearly, the engine damage had compromised the Black Eagle's stealth design.
At the same time, the combustion chamber's sidewall had been pierced through, and the high-temperature fire's infrared emissions turned the Big Black Eagle into a blazing signal beacon in the sky.
"This is the Wildlife Protection Center, calling Protection Squadron No. 4. What happened?"
Seeing the Big Black Eagle's speed dropping precipitously, the commander hurriedly turned on the microphone and questioned Protection Squadron No. 4, the closest unit.
"Protection Squadron No. 4 responding. Through optical instruments, we have observed damage to the Black Eagle's scramjet engine. It has lost thrust and is gliding downward. We are maintaining electronic suppression to prevent the enemy base from activating the Black Eagle's self-destruct command!"
"Determine the cause of the Black Eagle's damage. Confirm its gliding descent trajectory, altitude, speed, angle, and other parameters."
"Protection Squadron No. 4 acknowledged."
Less than a minute later.
A massive amount of data came in.
The command center immediately began analyzing it.
Before long, the Black Eagle's crash trajectory appeared on the big screen.
For a hypersonic aircraft like the Black Eagle, its aerodynamic layout's performance went without saying.
Even without engine thrust, it could not possibly crash straight down.
Instead, it would descend along a gliding trajectory like a kite drifting down in the wind.
"Report. According to calculations.
The Black Eagle will glide down in a parabolic arc, with the final impact point near the border waters.
Latitude 24 north, longitude 118 east. Sea entry angle: 18.8 degrees. Speed: 247.7 kilometers per hour.
The angle is too steep and the speed too high. The impact will completely destroy the airframe."
"Report. Protection Squadron No. 4 has discovered a small drone with a wingspan of two meters circling the Black Eagle at supersonic cruising speed. It is suspected to be related to the Black Eagle's engine damage."
A two-meter small drone?
And it could cruise at supersonic speed.
The commander froze for a moment, then recalled the source of the Black Eagle intelligence.
"No. 4, does this drone's exhaust show densely packed Mach rings? Does its engine nozzle have a protruding cone?"
"Report. No Mach rings or nozzle cone have been observed, nor have we seen any protruding cone.
The other party's engine nozzle has roughly the same structure as that of an ordinary fighter jet, but it is emitting an azure glow.
Also, aside from the engine nozzle.
There are glows jetting out beneath the fuselage, from both sides, and even from the top of the fuselage. It looks like a hedgehog."
Blue glow?
Like a hedgehog?
What kind of drone was that?
The commander thought for a moment. "Send a public-code communication. Greet them and see if we can establish contact."
"Understood. Sending public-code communication—holy shit, Cao Cao!"
"No. 4, what happened? Has something gone wrong?"
Hearing the shocked cry over the comms, the commander hurriedly asked.
"Report. This drone suddenly charged the target and performed synchronized midair docking with it!
After docking, it nudged the target's rudder, changing the target's direction. At the same time, using the aerodynamic effect created by their proximity, it lifted the target's nose!"
"Report. The Black Eagle's descent attitude has changed.
Recalculating trajectory. The Black Eagle's crash path has changed from a gliding parabola into a smooth descent curve.
The final impact point has shifted 89 kilometers west and 36 kilometers north, away from the border and into inland waters.
Sea entry angle: 7.3 degrees. Speed: 102 kilometers per hour.
The angle is shallow and the speed moderate. With the seawater cushioning the impact, most of the airframe can remain intact."
"Hiss!"
The commander sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly ordered, "Contact the nearby navy. Seal off the target's crash area and retrieve the fallen Big Black Eagle immediately."
"Yes!"
The entire command center sprang into action.
The commander also took out a secure phone and reported the situation.
While waiting for the call to connect, he looked at the Black Eagle's suddenly gentler crash trajectory on the big screen, his heart filled with shock.
Just who was the godlike figure behind that drone?!
"Done."
At a seaside park in Penghai City.
Watching the Black Eagle's descent trajectory, Chen Yi ran the numbers in his head and satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
He believed that, as a responsible developing country.
The country would certainly take responsibility for the Black Eagle that this ordinary citizen had damaged by throwing something from high altitude.
They would salvage it, carefully repair and improve it, thoroughly study and restore it, then send it back.
That way, the friendly relations between the two countries would not be damaged over such a minor matter.
"Time to head back for lunch. The battery is below 3 percent too."
"This hypersonic joyride really burns through endurance."
After circling in the air for a while, Chen Yi checked the remaining charge, raised the drone's nose, and aimed toward Penghai City.
After calculating the distance in his head, the drone began accelerating.
Once it reached subsonic speed, Chen Yi shut down the ion thrusters and relied on the drone's excellent aerodynamic layout to glide toward Penghai.
Its remaining battery life was already insufficient.
To return, he could only rely on gliding flight.
More than half an hour later.
After intermittently reigniting its engines several times along the way, the drone glided several hundred kilometers and arrived above the park.
Chen Yi restarted the ion thrusters and used the last bit of power to successfully land the drone nearby.
He carried the drone back to the car. It had nearly exhausted its propellant, discarded most of its batteries, and now weighed less than twenty kilograms.
Chen Yi drove away from the park, intending to go home for lunch and then get some proper sleep.
Bzzzz.
Just after leaving the park, the phone beside the center console began ringing.
It was a numberless call.
The kind that looked special at a glance.
"Hello, who is this?"
Chen Yi pulled over to the roadside and answered the call.
"Little Chen, that drone just now was yours, wasn't it?"
Professor Zhang's voice came from the other end.
Though phrased as a question, his tone was full of certainty.
"Professor, which drone are you talking about?"
"The drone that damaged the Black Eagle's engine and used ion propulsion."
"Oh, that one. It's mine."
Chen Yi answered honestly. "It's a newly built rechargeable drone.
I was test-flying it and collecting data. Part of the battery ran out.
To reduce the load, I threw the batteries away from high altitude.
I just didn't expect the Big Black Eagle, after activating scramjet mode, to consume so much energy. It got hungry and slurped up two of the batteries nearby.
I didn't mean to do it. I accidentally fed the Big Black Eagle. You won't hold me responsible, right?"
"..."
On the other end, Professor Zhang's eyelid twitched.
Why did that tone and description.
Sound so punchable?
We deliberately laid an ambush with four flight squadrons.
Yet in the end, we could only watch helplessly as the other side sped away.
Meanwhile, your "accidental" feeding landed a direct hit on the Big Black Eagle.
After taking several deep breaths, Professor Zhang suppressed the urge to go over and beat Chen Yi up, then seriously affirmed Chen Yi's contribution.
"Don't worry, we won't hold you responsible. You did very well this time. You've rendered great service."
"Oh, then I'm relieved."
"When we recover this Black Eagle, would you like to come study it with us?"
"This..." Chen Yi immediately became interested. "I can participate too?"
This was an eighteen-meter Black Eagle, the famous SR-72, one of the world's top large drones.
As a drone enthusiast, he was naturally very interested in studying such a drone.
Not to mention, some of the Black Eagle's airframe structures and exterior layout would provide major inspiration for his future development of large drones.
Its airframe stealth design would be even more enlightening for Chen Yi's own drone stealth capabilities.
"If even you, the eagle catcher, can't do it, then no one can."
Professor Zhang laughed, then changed the subject. "By the way, how did you achieve ion propulsion within the atmosphere?"
"It was simple. It was just a matter of approach.
I modified the engine structure, combined the characteristics of turbofan ducts and ramjets, then used electric-field acceleration to replace combustion-driven compression and acceleration.
The airframe and engine were designed to be lightweight, with the entire body made of carbon fiber.
Finally, paired with higher-energy-density batteries, the drone flew.
But I don't think this solution would be useful to you."
Chen Yi did not hide anything and openly explained his design concept.
Professor Zhang imagined it for a moment and acknowledged Chen Yi's point.
They really could not use this solution.
Its cost-effectiveness was far too low.
Simply put, Chen Yi's solution still used ducted and ramjet propulsion.
It merely replaced combustion compression with ion electric propulsion, then paired that with an ultra-lightweight all-carbon-fiber airframe to improve the engine's thrust-to-weight ratio.
Such a solution looked advanced and refined, and it was stylish to use.
But for the sake of that little bit of sophistication, refinement, and style.
It sacrificed the engine's afterburning burst performance and the high-temperature resistance of modern fighter jets.
Of course, most importantly, it sacrificed endurance and sustained combat capability.
When modern fighter jets engaged in prolonged aerial combat.
Aerial tankers could wait nearby, ready to provide cover and refueling at any time.
For long-endurance missions, aerial tankers could also be deployed in advance to replenish fuel in the sky, easily extending range to over ten thousand kilometers.
But if they switched to Chen Yi's rechargeable ion-propulsion drone.
Right in the heat of aerial combat, a teammate might suddenly say.
"Can someone open the back of my head—oh, no, open my rear fuselage cover and swap out my battery midair?"
Before the enemy killed them, they would collapse on their own first.
"If there were a small reactor that could add a range-extending power generation system and enable permanent endurance, ion-propulsion fighter aircraft would have tremendous potential.
With the characteristics of ion thrusters.
They could adapt to anything—low altitude, high altitude, near-space, even outer space and interplanetary combat."
Professor Zhang thought of another solution, then rejected it himself the next second.
Stuffing a reactor into an aircraft's belly, along with a range-extending system—such a plan was unrealistic. It was way too futuristic.
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