Chapter 25: Pressure on the MiG-25 (Two More Chapters)

Island country, Fussa town, Tama County, headquarters of the US Forces Japan.

The American flag is flying in the sky above here. As a victorious nation, the United States arrogantly entered the island country and achieved the goal of stationing troops on the island country to balance the Soviet Union and China. And here is the Yokota Air Base, the headquarters of the U.S. Forces in Japan and the Fifth Air Force.

"The MiG-25 is the latest Soviet fighter. We underestimated its performance before." Colonel Russfield, director of the Intelligence Department of the U.S. Pacific Command, said to Lieutenant General Paul James, commander of the U.S. Forces in Japan and commander of the Fifth Air Force in Japan: "After our investigation over this period of time, we found that this fighter not only has excellent high-altitude and high-speed performance, but can also fly at a speed of more than Mach 2.5 at an altitude of about 30,000 meters. It also has considerable close combat capabilities. Through investigating the close combat between the Qingteng team and the Soviet MiG-25, we found that the F-4 fighter has a serious gap in various flight performance. Circling, accelerating and climbing, all aspects cannot compete with the MiG-25. Even if the other party is driven by an excellent pilot, the performance gap of the fighter is still very large."

After the defeat in the last engagement, the White House decision-making department did not rashly order continued military pressure, but quickly dispatched technical personnel to investigate the cause of the defeat, and the recovery of the EP-3 was also mainly focused on diplomacy.

Now, the results of the investigation surprised the Americans. The MiG-25 brought enormous pressure to their air force.

"Our Sparrow missiles cannot reach an altitude of 30,000 meters. At the same time, when the enemy accelerates to more than Mach 2, we cannot guarantee reliable head-on interception due to the reaction time of the electronic system." Colonel Russfield continued: "This will put us in a very difficult situation. We cannot intercept the enemy and let them fly over our heads. When we want to chase them, our missiles cannot catch up with their speed."

"What's even more terrifying is that this fighter has a considerable range. It can fly all the way from the Far East base across the way at supersonic speed, circle over the land, and then fly back! If the Soviets use this kind of plane to drop bombs, then we have no other choice but to use **** missiles."

"Yes, this type of aircraft puts too much pressure on our air defense system. We cannot deploy air defense positions across the entire island country," said Lieutenant General Paul.

Now, the other party came to investigate, and the results of the investigation were almost the same as what Lieutenant General Paul had.

Of course, they didn't know that these were just superficial impressions and the range was not that outrageous. The pilot of the fighter plane, Andre, flew back on one engine and there was an accident during landing.

As for dropping bombs, unless they are built-in, the increased air resistance will prevent the fighter from exceeding Mach 2 speed.

"You can take a look at the Soviet Pravda newspaper from the day before yesterday." At this moment, a thin middle-aged man with a gloomy face sitting on a chair said, putting a newspaper on the table.

"Locke, does your CIA collect intelligence from Soviet newspapers?" Looking at the newspaper, Colonel Lasfield couldn't help but sneer. Can the news in the newspaper be used as intelligence?

This middle-aged man is the head of the CIA's Far East department. He also came to Tokyo this time to coordinate the handling of the EP-3 incident.

In fact, this is a good question. Most of the intelligence the CIA obtained about the Soviet Union came from Soviet newspapers.

There was no way. Under the Soviet system, it was very difficult for intelligence personnel to carry out their work. No matter how many CIA directors changed, intelligence on the Soviet Union was obtained from newspapers. Although there were some exaggerated elements in the newspapers, they still had practical value after analysis.

For example, this Pravda newspaper reported on the front page how a captain pilot of the Soviet Air Defense Force, a guy named Vladimir Andrei, flew the Soviet Union's most advanced MiG-25 fighter to defend his country's air sovereignty. There may be some exaggeration in the above, but it can be matched. It should be the guy who flew over Hokkaido last time.

In particular, there are pictures on it. You can see the pilot named Andre climbing up the gangway to the plane. The helmet the pilot wears is specially designed for high-altitude flight, almost similar to an astronaut's helmet. You can also see the huge rectangular air intake of the plane and the round warhead of the missile mounted under the wing, which is an infrared-guided medium-range missile!

These are all information that can be mined.

Lieutenant General Paul picked up the newspaper and read it while hearing Locke say, "Of course, our CIA does not only collect intelligence from newspapers. Lieutenant General, we have mobilized an agent who has been lurking in the Soviet Union for four years. If things go well, we can persuade a MiG-25 pilot to defect to us in a MiG-25. By then, the EP-3 problem will be solved."

Inspire a MiG-25 pilot to defect in a MiG-25! Upon hearing this, Lieutenant General Paul was instantly moved.

If the rebellion is successful, that would be great! No matter how we analyze it now, it is only an afterthought. If we can get close to a MiG-25 and disassemble it for research, we will know why the Soviets developed this almost alien technology fighter. If possible, the United States can also copy a batch, and we will not bear such great pressure!

At the same time, the United States does not need to embarrass itself. The Soviets will definitely exchange EP-3 with the United States immediately. At that time, it will depend on the attitude of the United States. This is a good way to kill two birds with one stone! It is also worth using an agent who has been lurking for four years!

"Locke, this is a big deal. How do we need to cooperate?" asked Lieutenant General Paul.

"Keep it secret." Throwing down these two words, Locke walked away. He really couldn't stand Colonel Lasfield's expression.

Lieutenant General Paul continued to read the newspaper. Great hero? This guy went alone over Hokkaido. Was it planned by the Soviet leaders? Then why did the rest of the MiG-25s return after reaching the middle line of the Sea of ​​Japan?

Moreover, according to Soviet standards, this MiG-25 should be an interceptor, right? What is the difference between an interceptor and a fighter?

It seems that the answer to all the mysteries depends on the CIA. If they can incite Soviet pilots to defect and study the MiG-25 aircraft up close, they will be able to find the answer.