Chapter 69 The First Interception

The gloved hands began to sweat. As the speed increased, the temperature in the cockpit began to rise. When it reached Mach 3, the temperature in the cockpit would reach as high as 70 degrees. However, for the Soviet pilots, this difficulty was tolerable.

"The target is 300 kilometers away, the altitude is 28,000 kilometers, and the speed is Mach 3.2." The guide's voice continued to be heard in the headset.

Three hundred kilometers may seem like a long distance, but for an airplane flying at Mach 3, it is only five minutes. And if two airplanes flying at around Mach 3 are flying towards each other, it will only take about two minutes.

Andre only has one chance to intercept!

Radar on!

At the nose of the Iron Fighter, the inverted Cassegrain antenna of the Sapphire-25 radar radiated a strong electromagnetic signal toward the airspace ahead. With a peak power of 600 kilowatts, Andre instantly felt that the lights of the instruments in the cockpit were dimmed.

The temperature in the cabin continued to rise, and most of the power consumed by the radar was converted into heat and transmitted into the cockpit. Outdated electron tubes! Although it sounds powerful, in fact, a lot of it has become useless! Andre glanced at the radar screen. At this time, he had already rushed to an altitude of 28,000 meters. The direction was correct, and the interception had entered the countdown.

During its development, radar stealth was considered an important indicator for the Blackbird. However, due to friction with the air during its high-speed flight, a large ionized cloud was formed, and the signal characteristics were quite obvious.

Ten seconds later, a dark green spot appeared on the radar screen, and the target was found!

Single pulse mode, locked!

The Sapphire-25 radar began to send out pulse signals, which hit the target and were reflected back. At the same time, the MiG-25's electronic equipment began to calculate the fire control parameters and provide initial data for the radar-guided R-40R missile.

The Doppler method is used to filter out reflected clutter from the ground. At high altitudes today, a single pulse is the best choice.

This seems to be a long process. The fire control system is made entirely of vacuum tubes. Although it also has an onboard computer, it is actually an analog computing circuit of vacuum tubes. If it had an Intel 8086 chip, it would probably take less than a second to solve the problem.

The distance between the two sides was closing rapidly. Finally, when they were forty kilometers apart, a familiar voice came through the headphones.

"Lock completed, requesting launch." Andre placed his hand on the red button. Now it was just the last step. There had to be an order from the ground before the missile could be launched.

"Fire!" The order from the ground was brief and direct.

Fire! Andre's hand pressed the firing button hard.

Under the wings, flames flashed as four huge R-40 missiles, two infrared and two radar types, left the racks one after another.

At this time, the distance between the two sides has been shortened to twenty kilometers!

The R-40 missile is specially provided for use with the MiG-25. In order to be able to be launched at Mach 3, the missile has undergone many improvements. The infrared seeker uses a larger amount of liquid nitrogen for cooling, and the missile body has also undergone special heat protection treatment.

The infrared type can directly track the heat source, and the radar type requires the carrier's radar to provide a signal. The two types are used in combination. Even if four missiles cannot fly over it, I don't believe that we can't take down this Blackbird!

However, just two seconds after the missile flew out, Andre saw a red light flashing on the dashboard of the cockpit.

Oops, the radar is overheating!

The 600-kilowatt radar had been operating at peak power, searching, detecting, locking, and providing the illumination needed for the semi-active radar. Most of the power was converted into heat, causing the temperature of the nose to rise rapidly. In order to cope with this situation, Mikoyan engineers had to use Freon to cool the front radar equipment compartment.

But now, due to long-term use, the radar system is still overheated! Andre's hand flipped the switch to reduce the power of the radar. Unfortunately, just after flipping a switch, the image on the radar screen disappeared.

Radar failure!

Without radar illumination, the two radar-guided R-40R missiles became uncontrolled rockets, drawing a graceful arc in the air, flying several hundred meters away from the SR-71, and then exploding.

The moment the radar malfunctioned, Andre knew that the R-40R attack had failed, but what would happen if the two infrared-guided R-40Ts attacked?

Now the two sides are still flying head-on, and Andre has only one chance to intercept! Andre knows that in history, the SR-71 has never been shot down, which means that the performance of these two missiles of the MiG-25 must be very poor!

What to do? The interception window is so short. If the other party flies past it, Andre will definitely not be able to catch up even if he turns the plane in the air and chases it! Mach 3.2 is the maximum speed of the MiG-25, and the SR-71 can fly at a maximum of Mach 3.5!

Damn, if only there was a machine gun! The MiG-25, a huge interceptor, only has four R-40 missiles to intercept! Now, after launching these missiles, Andre no longer has any other means of interception.

The two R-40T missiles were still flying. Since the infrared seeker in front was round, the flight resistance was greatly increased. After being launched from the carrier aircraft, they fell behind the R-40R missiles.

The infrared-seeking missiles of this era only had the ability to attack from behind, but because the Blackbird flew at a speed of Mach 3, the aerodynamic drag and friction generated temperatures of several hundred degrees, so the missile could lock onto the target in a head-on attack.

The R-40T continued to fly forward. The huge heat source in front was accurately captured by the seeker. The circuit of the electron tube transmitted signals to control the control surfaces at the back. After superimposing the speed of the carrier aircraft, the speed of the missile increased to Mach 5. Facing the oncoming Blackbird at Mach 3, it bravely rushed forward!

With a relative speed of Mach 8, it can fly three kilometers in one second! A distance of twenty kilometers only takes six or seven seconds!

"MiG-25! The missile has been launched!" Almost at the same time, inside the Blackbird, the reconnaissance system officer in the back seat looked at the screen in front of him and shouted to the pilot in the front cabin.

Lieutenant Colonel Olmsted said calmly: "Don't worry, those missiles can't hit us."

Lieutenant Colonel Olmsted pushed the control lever with his right hand to turn, and pulled the throttle lever to the end with his left hand, allowing the Blackbird to turn while sprinting at top speed.

Fly towards it!