Chapter 68 No Restricted Area

Originally, when the Blackbird was designed, emphasis was placed on radar stealth. The black coating on the fuselage is the stealth coating. However, in reality, this aircraft is simply unable to hide its whereabouts. The huge sonic boom cloud becomes a good reflective carrier for long-range radars. Moreover, the fuselage is hot and can be easily detected by infrared devices.

However, the Blackbird is still able to move freely. Its unique skills are height and speed!

The altitude was still increasing. Olmsted calculated in his mind that it would take less than twenty minutes to fly over the target. By then, the altitude would rise to about 28,000. The first thing to be detected would be the Soviet Pacific Fleet's assets!

"Bai Yang, prepare the reconnaissance equipment." Olmsted said to his companion in the back seat.

The Blackbird is a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft, with the pilot in the front and the reconnaissance systems officer in the back.

"Understood." The personnel in the back seat began to turn on various reconnaissance equipment. As a powerful reconnaissance aircraft, it carried reconnaissance cameras, infrared and electronic detectors, AN/APQ-73 synthetic aperture side-looking radar and other advanced electronic and optical reconnaissance equipment. Moreover, these devices were mounted on rails and could move backwards when shooting to offset the errors caused by the aircraft's flight.

When it comes to optical photography, daytime is the best. So, after a few night flights a few days ago, the Americans found that the Soviet Union's proud MiG-25 fighters could not pose a threat to them at all. The Americans became bolder and finally started daytime reconnaissance!

Will I become the next Gary Powers? (U-2 pilot, shot down in 1960 while conducting reconnaissance over the Soviet Union.) Of course not! Back then, it was only the altitude, but now, it is both altitude and speed! The Soviets' backward electronic technology makes it impossible to build a missile that can intercept a reconnaissance aircraft at three times the speed of sound!

Just after the Blackbird flew over the Korean Peninsula, a large early warning radar deployed on the Hot Mountains in the Far East had already discovered this uninvited guest flying from high altitude and sent a warning signal to the interception force through the automated air defense network.

Sokolovka base.

"Report, the superiors have informed us that a suspicious target has been spotted, at an altitude of 26,000 kilometers and a speed of Mach 3. It has already crossed the Korean Peninsula and is heading north. The superiors have instructed us to be ready to intercept it at any time!"

Hearing this alarm, Kozhidub took a deep breath. The target of Mach 3 was the American Blackbird again! They were too arrogant! This time they came in broad daylight!

For the Soviet Air Defense Forces, the Blackbird is simply their natural enemy, especially the interceptor forces equipped with MiG-25!

Once upon a time, the American U-2 reconnaissance planes flew recklessly over Soviet territory, slapping the Soviet Air Defense Forces in the face, until later, with the loud bang of the SAM-2 missile, the Americans stopped their reconnaissance operations. A few years later, the Americans came back again, this time at a speed of Mach 3 and an altitude of more than 25,000 meters.

The only fighters that can fly to such a height are the Soviet MiG-25 fighters! In the past few days, the Sokolovka base has been in a state of disgrace. As an important air defense interceptor unit of the Far Eastern Military Region, the 513th Regiment, which has been equipped with the most advanced fighters such as the MiG-25, is really embarrassed. They have launched interception operations many times, but without exception, these interception operations have failed!

The Americans even proudly announced that there are no restricted areas for the SR-71!

"Sokolovka, Sokolovka, 032 requests takeoff and intercept!" At this moment, a familiar voice came from the radio.

On his way back, Andrei took a transport plane from Moscow to the Far East, so he quickly arrived in Sokolovka and held a meeting in the flight regiment to discuss how to deal with the American reconnaissance planes. However, the pilots who intercepted several times did not speak clearly, and Andrei knew that he could only be sure of his judgment if he went up and saw it himself. So he took on the combat readiness duty. Just when he had just put on his flight gear and was on standby in the duty room, the American reconnaissance plane came!

Running quickly to his fighter plane and sitting back in the cockpit, Andre felt the desire to fight burning in him.

And his own 032 fighter seemed to know that it was about to take off into combat again, and it was excitedly following Andre, like a war horse galloping on the battlefield.

Below the cockpit, on the stainless steel skin, bright five-pointed stars have been painted, two solid red five-pointed stars and one hollow red five-pointed star, which represents two kills and one injury. In the Cold War, this was difficult to achieve.

However, Andre was not completely confident about this interception operation because the opponent was the Blackbird!

The typical combat method of the Soviet Air Defense Force was to take off under ground guidance and use air-to-air missiles for long-range interception. For the pilot, he was just an operator in the entire interception operation and had to obey orders from the ground completely.

It is the task of the ground personnel to set the most suitable interception route for the MiG-25 and guide the fighter to a position where it can launch missiles.

So, after receiving the order, another five minutes passed, until the Blackbird flew over the Sea of ​​Japan, before the order to take off and intercept came.

As powerful as ever, Andre turned on the afterburner, and the two R-15 turbojet engines burst out with the maximum afterburner thrust, pushing this steel monster to taxi on the runway and take off. Under the wings, four missiles were so eye-catching.

In order to match the MiG-25's powerful interception capability, Soviet engineers also equipped the MiG-25 with missiles specifically for interception operations, the R-40 weighing half a ton!

The missile body is slender and adopts a canard aerodynamic layout. The trailing edge of the large swept-back trapezoidal wing is equipped with four control surfaces to control the flight of the missile. Generally speaking, this missile with low overload and limited performance is mainly used to intercept American bombers. This is also the main combat mission of the air defense force. Although Andrei's MiG-25PD can be equipped with the R-60 missile, the R-60 is useless for current interception. It is too light and the power of the warhead is also limited.

"Maintain the current climbing speed and deviate two degrees to the right." The voice of the ground guide came from the headset.

"032 received." Andre continued to climb according to the instructions from the ground, and at the same time, turned on some of the densely packed switches on the right.

The missile was pre-powered, the infrared seeker was cooled, and it was ready to launch at any time! The vacuum tube airborne radar also began to be powered on and heated. After half a minute, the vacuum tube preheating was completed, and the powerful radar could be started.