Chapter 118 Tomcat's Weakness

When Lieutenant William left, everyone's eyes were filled with worry.

"Originally, we thought that the Soviet aircraft only had the advantages of high altitude and high speed, just like the previous second-generation aircraft. Our third-generation aircraft pays more attention to maneuverability and is an advanced fighter guided by the energy maneuverability theory. However, now it seems that we still underestimated the maneuverability of the MiG-25." said Colonel Steve, captain of the aircraft carrier.

"The performance of the MiG-25 is good. We can see that the climb rate of this fighter is not low, and it has been diving to low altitude following our Tomcat fighter. I think the Soviets did not receive the order to fire at us, so they did not launch missiles. Otherwise, our Tomcat fighter would not have crashed due to mechanical failure. It would have been hit by the enemy from behind with an infrared missile. The Soviets' short-range missiles are also very advanced." Colonel Ted also said.

Before setting off, they had originally planned to detour to the waters of the Sea of ​​Japan to demonstrate to the Soviets, but in the end, they were beaten by the Soviets right at their doorstep. Such a result was difficult for the two senior officers of the aircraft carrier to accept, but this was the fact.

"Okay, no matter how much advantage the Soviet fighters have, we can't be discouraged. We need to complete our mission." Vice Admiral Jonard, commander of the Seventh Fleet, said, "Now, I am announcing a secret mission. Please note, it is top secret. There is an important mission that requires the cooperation of our fleet."

………

"According to the American generation classification, the Tomcat fighter is considered a third-generation fighter, which is our fourth-generation standard." Andre said, "This fighter has strong maneuverability, especially the variable sweep wing, which is automatically controlled by a computer and can maintain a suitable sweep angle at all times, with the most suitable performance in all airspaces. We must be very careful in close combat with them."

After returning to Sokolovka, Andrei rushed to Vladivostok to report to Lieutenant General Konstantin Burman, Commander-in-Chief of the Far Eastern Air Defense Force. Also present were leaders of other regiments under the Air Defense Force.

As the only pilot with experience in fighting with American Tomcat fighters, Andre was valued by the Air Defense Force. Andre's actions this time did not receive any criticism. On the contrary, Lieutenant General Constantine praised Andre's bold action, believing that this action had dealt a heavy blow to the confidence of the U.S. Naval Aviation Force.

You know, the Soviet Union has always been a continental army, and its navy has not been able to compete with the US Navy. And Andrei actually flew over the US aircraft carrier formation at a very low altitude, which shows that the strength of the aircraft carrier formation promoted by the Americans is a disguise, and their real combat effectiveness is still vulnerable!

Strategically despise the opponent, tactically take the opponent seriously! The performance of the American F-4, F-5 fighters has been mastered by the Soviet Air Defense Force. Only the most advanced F-14 fighter still retains the veil of mystery. Therefore, Andrei's experience is very important now, because he fought with the American planes at close range! Moreover, he "shot down" the opponent!

"It's automatically controlled by the computer, Captain Andre, how did you know?" Just as Andre finished speaking, the captain of an aviation regiment asked.

The speaker was Malinlovsky, the commander of the 41st Regiment. His aviation regiment was equipped with all MiG-23s, which were also variable-sweep wing fighters. After all, variable-sweep wings were a trend at the time.

However, the swept wings of the MiG-23 are not automatic, but are completely controlled manually. During intense dogfights, pilots need to manually adjust the sweep angle to achieve the advantages of variable swept wings. Moreover, the angles are not arbitrary, but only three manually controlled angles. In a fierce battle, who has the energy to pay attention to the sweep angle? Therefore, many pilots are accustomed to controlling the swept wings in the middle position and then fix them.

And the American planes could actually be controlled automatically by computers? This made him a little unbelievable.

"Yes, automatic control, because during the fight with the enemy, I observed that the angle of the enemy's swept wings changed continuously. Moreover, the enemy was performing a high-overload maneuver at the time, and I'm afraid his fingers didn't have time to flip the manual adjustment switch." Andre said: "The American electronic technology is much better than ours. My fighter was locked by them at a distance of more than 100 kilometers, and then two Phoenix missiles were launched."

A distance of more than 100 kilometers! Even the most powerful MiG-25 airborne radar cannot reach this level.

"Does this type of fighter have any weaknesses?" another person asked. In today's air combat, close combat is still the main method. Although the air defense force likes to launch its medium-range missiles under ground guidance and leave after the attack, the target of such combat is slow-moving bombers. If it is an advanced fighter, the effect of its own medium-range missiles is very poor. If it wants to shoot down the opponent, it can only engage in close combat.

According to Andre, if the opponent's movable swept wings are computer-controlled automatic swept wings, it would be very dangerous to fight with such a fighter.

"Yes, their engines are not mature yet." Andre said, "Their aircraft are capable of high-overload maneuvers, but their engines limit the performance of their aircraft. So, once we get into a close-range fight with them, we can give it a try. As long as we don't let them get the first chance to attack, they are likely to have mechanical failures."

In a dogfight with an opponent, the chance actually depends on the opponent's mechanical failure. This sounds hard to accept, but Andre knows that this is the fact. In later generations, if it were not for the interests of the US top brass, the Tomcat would never have been retired. The Americans' F-15, F-16 and other advanced third-generation aircraft did not dare to engage in close combat with the Tomcat. The Tomcat equipped with the F110 engine was an invincible existence in the sky!

Fortunately, it’s only TF30 now!

"The American aircraft carrier fleet is still conducting exercises in the Pacific Ocean. Moscow has instructed our Far Eastern Military District to continue monitoring it." Lieutenant General Constantine continued, "Next, we will mainly dispatch Tu-95 reconnaissance aircraft for long-range reconnaissance, escorted by the 592nd Regiment that just arrived at the Kamene-Iruchiy base. We must protect our reconnaissance aircraft and not let the Americans do anything untoward."

"Yes." said the commander of the 592nd Regiment.

"Andre, you stay, the others can go." said Lieutenant General Constantine.