Chapter 112 Water Spray
The Brass Knight, a heavy anti-aircraft missile of the US Navy, has an effective range of more than 80 kilometers and has long-range killing capabilities. However, this huge missile is heavy and large in size. After launching the two missiles on the launch arm, reloading it is not a simple problem.
Under normal circumstances, missiles are divided into three parts: warhead, main body, and booster. These are stored separately. In combat status, these three parts are assembled. On the front deck of the Chicago, the area closest to the launch pad is Area 1, where missiles are finally assembled and loaded. Forward is Area 2, where a crane is arranged, and further forward is Area 3, where 30 missiles are stored, 15 on each side.
The assembly and mounting of missiles are all done by crane, and their automatic launching performance is not as advanced as that of torpedoes. It takes at least five minutes to prepare for the launch!
Therefore, the Bronze Knight only has one strike capability. Andre originally thought that he was completely safe after evading the interception of the American air defense system, but now, he was unexpectedly locked again!
What is it this time? It must be the American Tomcat carrier-based aircraft! Damn, these ghosts are still there!
The one who came was George's wingman Captain William. George's fighter plane Phoenix had a malfunction and could not be launched, but Captain William's Phoenix system was still working normally. So Captain William piloted his Tomcat fighter plane, climbed quickly, and prepared to launch the Phoenix missile.
The range of a missile is closely related to its carrier aircraft, because the carrier aircraft can give the missile a certain initial velocity in advance, which allows the missile to have a longer launch distance. At the same time, in order to further increase its range, the Phoenix missile must first climb to an altitude of more than 20,000 meters.
Therefore, although the Tomcat fighter was able to search for the two MiG-25s with radar, it was still far away from launch and it needed to provide energy for the missiles!
The Tf-30 engine bursts out a thrust of more than 90 kilonewtons. The swept-wing fighter has very little flight resistance, and the fighter is constantly accelerating and climbing.
At this time, the Bronze Knight had completed the first attack process, and the two MiG-25 fighters had already left their own aircraft carrier formation nearly 80 kilometers!
Can't wait any longer! Seeing that their altitude had risen to 10,000 and their speed had exceeded Mach 1.2, Captain William finally asked the radar operator in the back seat to lock on the target and then launch the missile!
Fire flashed under the belly of the plane, and the rocket engines at the tails of the two Phoenix missiles ignited, pushing the missiles off the launch pad. White smoke billowed, almost surrounding the Tomcat fighter.
After the Phoenix missile was ignited, it did not fly directly to the target, but continued to climb until it reached 24,000 meters, then it would level off, receiving radar illumination from the carrier aircraft behind to guide itself, and at the same time be ready to switch to the active guidance stage at any time.
At the same time, the target aircraft was also accelerating its climb.
To be on the safe side, William's Tomcat fighter also locked onto the lagging MiG-25 when aiming, so that he would be more confident of shooting down the opponent.
"Alexander, keep climbing!" Andre ordered Alexander as he listened to the beeping sound of the radar locking on in his earphones.
Damn it, the Americans still won't stop! In this case, I can't blame myself for being rude!
The speed and altitude of Alexander's fighter plane were just right. By the time the enemy's missiles arrived, his fighter plane would surely be able to fly to an altitude of 26,000 to 27,000 meters and completely ignore those missiles. However, Andre's fighter plane was in a bit of trouble.
Now, since the Americans are still coming to provoke, Andrei is itching to compete with his American counterparts and let them know the excellent performance of the Soviet Union's steel fighter planes!
If you don't reciprocate, it's impolite! Since you want to shoot me, you have to face my missile!
After giving Alexander the order, Andre stepped on the rudder. The fighter plane had reached Mach 1.5 at this time, and the turning radius was incredibly large. Andre did not dare to let the overload be too great to prevent the fighter plane from disintegrating due to excessive overload.
At the same time, during the overload, Andre reached out and flipped various switches to preheat the radar and start the TP-26-SH1 forward-looking infrared search/tracking system. The will to fight filled Andre's consciousness.
On the AWG-9 radar screen, the radar officer happily reported, "The target distance is shortening. The Phoenix missile has sufficient range!" as he watched the other side turn around and fly towards him.
Captain William was also excited. He would become the first carrier-based pilot in the Navy to shoot down a Soviet aircraft in recent years! As for how to wipe his butt, it was not something he could consider. He only cared about fighting now!
The airspace was out of the range of the anti-aircraft missiles of the aircraft carrier formation. The radars of the warships could still search for the target. Everyone stood up in the bridge of the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier. George's Tomcat fighter had landed. After all, the Phoenix missiles with heat dissipation problems could explode at any time. William's fighter originally planned to chase after them, fire two Phoenix missiles from a distance, and then return home, but now, the Soviets turned around!
This is the rhythm of an air battle!
That's good, we can test the performance of the Soviet aircraft! At the same time, we can also test the performance of our own weapons! Steve and others are paying attention to the air battle situation at the forefront.
Captain William was very excited. The enemy was flying like this, and was going to hit his Phoenix missile head-on! The Phoenix missile's head-on interception capability was quite outstanding, and the active guidance head would definitely lock onto the enemy!
He guessed correctly, Andre was going to take the initiative to collide with those Phoenix missiles!
The Phoenix missile's various statistics sound very impressive, such as its range of one or two hundred kilometers, its active radar guidance, and its overload of 17G. However, Andre knows that these statistics were obtained under certain ideal conditions!
For example, overload only occurs during the power stage, and when the engine is burned out, every maneuver of the missile will consume precious energy!
The two R-15 engines at the rear were roaring. Andre had great confidence in the current ground crew. There would be no more problems with the maintenance of the fighter! Andre needed more thrust!
As his finger flipped the switch in the control area on the right, Andre felt the fighter plane vibrating excitedly, the engine roaring, and the speed increasing rapidly!
If you can stick your head into the huge air intake, you can see that the shower-head-like water spray device in the air intake is continuously spraying a mixed solution of water and ethanol.
This is also one of the features of the MiG-25, water spray afterburner!