Chapter 70 Interception Failure

The Blackbird's turning speed is very slow. Flying at a speed of Mach 3.2, it requires a radius of hundreds of kilometers to turn. However, Lieutenant Colonel Olmsted is very confident because a head-on interception requires the missile to react quickly enough!

Two missiles streaked past from a distance. At such a speed, all that could be seen were two bright spots like meteors flashing by.

There are two more!

It was only a few seconds, and then two other missiles drew bright arcs and detonated their warheads several hundred meters away from the Blackbird.

The launch weight of the R-40T was nearly half a ton, and the warhead weighed nearly forty kilograms. Countless broken warheads were flying in the air. Unfortunately, these warhead fragments did not catch up with the Blackbird that accelerated to Mach 3.5!

Look, no missile can hit a Blackbird!

The R-40T missile was flying head-on, and the seeker had already locked onto the blackbird with its fiery infrared signature. However, the control circuit inside the missile could not keep up with the speed of the blackbird! When the signal was transmitted to the tail and the control surfaces were controlled, it was half a beat slower. In this way, it was originally thought that by moving the tail wing, it could jump in front of the blackbird and then detonate the warhead. At this high speed, it was not a precise collision. As long as it was close to a distance of more than ten meters, the warhead would detonate. Even if a broken rod hit the blackbird, it could cause the blackbird to lose control and crash!

Unfortunately, the control circuit was too slow! The relative speed was Mach 8, which could only be described as lightning speed. It was so fast that it still didn't explode!

If the rudders were more responsive, the control system had a faster reaction time, or if it was a rear-end attack, maybe it would work!

Only a few seconds passed, but it seemed as long as a century. Although it was not the first time for the reconnaissance system officer in the rear cabin to perform the mission, he still felt sweat on his back. He finally got rid of those missiles!

The MiG-25 followed the missile in front and flew towards the Blackbird. The blue target appeared clearly in Andre's field of vision.

The SR-71 Blackbird was originally black, but when it flew at a speed of more than Mach 3, the surface would turn light blue due to friction with the air. It was like a ball of blue flame, disappearing from Andre's sight in an instant.

Interception failed!

The previous interception was carried out with the basic MiG-25P model. Now, Andre was flying the improved MiG-25PD fighter, but still failed to intercept!

The ground controller's voice of returning came through the headset, and Andrei flew the fighter back to the Sokolovka base.

"The order from the Air Defense Force Command has been issued. We must shoot down the Blackbird by any means necessary! Even if we have to crash into it, we must crash the Americans down!" Colonel Ivanov, the commander of the 513th Regiment, said to all the pilots of the regiment.

The Americans were so arrogant. They only came at night before, but now they came during the day. They came to investigate in a big way! As the Soviet Union's national air defense force, we were helpless. It was really embarrassing!

"Our existing weapons and equipment are not capable of intercepting Blackbirds." Andre, who had just taken off a flight suit similar to a high-altitude compensation suit, sat on one side of the conference table and expressed his thoughts.

In his previous life, he was a pilot and had some knowledge of the world's aviation equipment. When the MiG-25 was introduced in the public information, it was said that the Soviet fighter plane with a speed of three times the speed of sound could follow behind the Blackbird to monitor the American reconnaissance. At that time, Andre was a little puzzled. The American Blackbird reconnaissance plane invaded the Soviet airspace, and the Soviets were very friendly and followed behind to monitor? Damn it, according to the Soviets' temper, they would have attacked long ago!

Now Andrei understood that the Soviets were just trying to flatter themselves, because the Soviets couldn't shoot down the Blackbird reconnaissance plane, so they could only follow behind!

Not only was the Blackbird impossible to be shot down, the Soviet Union's own MiG-25R reconnaissance aircraft also had no record of being shot down during a mission. Attacking aircraft traveling at more than three times the speed of sound is indeed beyond the current level of technology.

Due to the inherent defects of radio command remote control guidance and semi-active radar homing guidance, its accuracy is no longer enough to attack targets that move more than 600 meters in 1 second. At a closer distance, the shooting window is too narrow, and due to the low maneuverability of the missile, it is impossible to attack effectively. As for the air-to-air missiles with infrared guidance heads, the same is true. The maneuverability of the missiles at this time is not as good as the 35G to 50G overloads of later generations, and the electronic performance of the missiles is too poor, so they cannot launch effective attacks at all!

Since becoming a Soviet hero, Andrei has gained the respect of all the members of the regiment. Moreover, in the previous operations, Andrei has always been bold and aggressive. This time, everyone thought that Andrei would be able to shoot down the Blackbird if he went up to the sky, but now, the Blackbird still flew over triumphantly!

When Ivanov heard Andrei's words, he frowned and said to Andrei: "Andrei, do we really have no other way?"

"Yes!" Andre said firmly, "Our electronic technology is not yet capable of shooting down a target traveling at three times the speed of sound, but we can take a crude approach and modify my fighter plane to install two hanging cannons!"

With the current level, there is definitely no hope of using missiles to shoot down the Blackbird. The only thing we can rely on is the aircraft gun!

Although the Soviet Union was influenced by the theory of the omnipotence of missiles, it did not remove the aircraft guns from the second-generation aircraft like the West did. The MiG-21 and MiG-23 both used aircraft guns as their main weapons, but the MiG-25 was not equipped with an aircraft gun.

This is related to the combat objectives. MiG-21 and MiG-23 are fighters whose mission is to destroy enemy fighters. The Soviet Union's electronic technology and high-efficiency rocket engine technology are not mature, so they must continue to use aircraft guns. The United States, relying on the advancement of electronic technology, believes that aircraft guns are no longer useful. As a result, the Americans suffered a great loss in the Vietnam War.

However, the MiG-25 is an interceptor, and its mission is to quickly and efficiently intercept enemy bombers. Using missile attacks is the most appropriate option. The MiG-25 is not equipped with machine guns. It would only increase its own weight and be of no use.

But now, to shoot down Blackbirds, aircraft guns are a very good choice!

Hearing Andre's words, everyone was stunned. Use aircraft cannons?

"Andrei, this doesn't seem to work?" Ivanov couldn't help but deny it after hearing Andrei's words.