Chapter 1099: A Long-Distance Confrontation

S-band is an extremely common signal source.

From radio communications, to search radar, to measurement and control networks, S-band may be used in everything.

Of course, passive reconnaissance must be based on the nature of the signal.

Otherwise, you will find that there are radiation sources in all directions, and there will be no point in "reconnaissance".

As the latest strategic reconnaissance drone of the US military, the Global Hawk's equipment can directly display the location and characteristics of the received signal on the equipment operator's screen.

For example, the signal from the eastern lower hemisphere 100 kilometers away is also in the S-band. The pulse width is as high as hundreds of Mhz, and the power is enough to burn through ordinary jammers. It is obviously a search radar at work.

But the new signal just detected comes from almost directly above the aircraft. The pulse width is only single digits Mhz and the power is quite weak, which is consistent with all the characteristics of a radio communication system.

Considering that the drone was flying at an altitude of 17,000 meters at this time, it seems unlikely that there happened to be an aircraft at a higher position.

Therefore, there was nothing wrong with the operator's judgment that this was a signal coming from a communications satellite.

Ted Lynch also quickly adjusted the heading from 110 to 40, which was basically flying northeast along the border.

As a veteran reconnaissance aircraft pilot, even if he is no longer in the cockpit, he still maintains due caution.

Especially in Central Asia, a place with complicated situations.

After flying for five minutes as promised, Lynch turned to look at his partner next to him:

"How's it going? Is it over?"

Although there is almost no concept of control radius for drones with satellite antennas, after all, they are flying in someone else's Kyrgyz airspace, and he still hopes not to deviate too much from the route notified in advance.

Moreover, superiors also set a time limit for task execution in advance.

The mission area must be evacuated before 1 a.m. local time (5 a.m. Beijing time).

However, the other party hesitated for a moment:

"It's better to turn around and fly again."

"Ah?"

Lin Qi's hand almost shook.

"This signal...is a bit strange."

The operator frowned, picked up the cup and took a sip of coffee:

"Although the characteristics satisfy satellite communications... the analysis results are too simple, and it doesn't look like it is transmitting any useful information."

Another advantage of Global Hawk is that it has achieved real-time intelligence analysis to a considerable extent by relying on high-throughput data links and supercomputers on the ground.

Even if the specific communication content cannot be deciphered, the communication capacity can be used to determine whether the analysis target is a false signal.

This function was actually prepared for electronic reconnaissance during wartime, but it just happened to be used in the current environment.

Considering that there is almost no possibility of falsification of satellite signals, and that turning a 180° turn on such a large straight-wing aircraft is actually a very time-consuming task, Lynch was somewhat reluctant:

"But it only requires us to capture strange satellite signals in this area, and it doesn't provide any information about the signal characteristics?"

For a moment, the operation cabin fell into silence.

In fact, this mission seemed very weird from the beginning.

Most of the time, as pilots of strategic reconnaissance aircraft such as the Global Hawk, they have the authority to understand more specific situations and even make appropriate adjustments during the mission.

But today, they almost only got a simple request of "where to go and what to find." Therefore, when faced with unexpected situations, it is easy for crew members to have disagreements——

Due to the particularity of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, the captain in charge of the flight does not have the authority to say anything. In many cases, the needs of the reconnaissance mission will prevail.

In the end, Lynch chose to compromise.

"All right……"

As he spoke, he began to carefully adjust his flight attitude, preparing to repeat the flight path just now...

However, just as he completed the turn and was about to return to the previous route, the operator next to him suddenly sat upright.

I almost spilled the coffee in my hand.

Lin Qi looked at the other party with somewhat doubtful eyes.

But the latter stared straight at the screen in front of him:

"The signal...disappeared suddenly?"

…

Almost at the same time.

Somewhere in western Xinjiang Province.

In a 54K6E2 air defense command vehicle, Zhu Xuejun, wearing a cotton coat, was sitting in front of the operating console, staring intently at a target track on the screen in front of him.

About 50 meters away, a 64N6E radar is working in a low-key manner.

This is a large-scale battlefield management radar that is only assigned to the brigade/regiment level headquarters, which can greatly reduce the work pressure of the 64N6E search radar.

As for the launch positions, they are deployed further away.

The reason for this arrangement is mainly to prevent all combat capabilities from being wiped out at once by anti-radiation means.

Zhu Xuejun, who was only a brigade commander four years ago, now has a star on his shoulders due to his many participation in major tactical verification and training missions.

And his old unit, the original 4th Combined Air Defense Brigade of the Jincheng Military Region, has now been upgraded to the 4th Surface-to-Air Missile Brigade.

However, because he was still in the adaptation period after receiving new equipment, Zhu Xuejun, who had already joined the Jincheng Military Region Air Force, returned to his old army and was responsible for the research and training of new tactics.

This was originally just a normal work process, but it brought an unexpected benefit at the moment-

Zhu Xuejun has the authority to make many decisions that the brigade-level commander cannot make.

It is equivalent to reducing a command link in the middle.

"Chief of Staff, the superior's order."

The communicator came to the door of the command vehicle in a hurry with a contact draft in his hand:

"Maintain surveillance and tracking of the target. If the other party is still hovering nearby at around 5 o'clock Beijing time, issue a warning to it."

"Okay."

Zhu Xuejun nodded calmly.

In this situation, it should be inconvenient for the aviation force to be dispatched.

Then they can only rely on their ground-to-air missile force as the last shield.

But the new brigade commander Fan Rongjian, who was sitting next to him, was not so calm:

"Chief of Staff, we use missiles... How to issue a warning..."

The aviation force can accompany, interfere, fire infrared decoys, and even use machine guns for warning shooting.

But if the air defense missiles are fired, they can't be taken back.

Besides, the other party was flying outside the country the whole time. Let alone launching a strike, even if they only locked on, it would be completely unreasonable.

Zhu Xuejun hesitated for a moment and did not give an answer immediately, but continued to ask:

"Electronic reconnaissance battalion, still did not detect the signal sent by the target?"

"No, the target remained silent throughout the whole process."

Fan Rongjian shook his head, then gestured to the radar screen:

"At present, we can only speculate based on the trajectory detected by the radar that the other party may be a newly commissioned RQ4A Global Hawk drone."

"Hu——"

Hearing this speculation, Zhu Xuejun let out a long breath, and his expression became solemn.

There was no active signal, and it was late at night, which meant that there was a high probability that passive electronic reconnaissance was being carried out.

In this case, if a big move was made to react, it would actually fulfill the other party's wish.

But he couldn't do nothing.

Finally, they had to choose a compromise:

"Let the 30N6E radar be ready, and then they can start a test, but it must be short, and they can't let the other side capture too many signal features..."

One disadvantage of imported equipment is that the frequency of small upgrades and updates can't keep up.

Therefore, more attention should be paid to confidentiality.

"Yes!"

Fan Rongjian saluted, then turned around and began to contact the first anti-aircraft missile battalion deployed on the westernmost side.

At this time, the target displayed on the radar had also completed a slow 180° turn, and seemed to be ready to repeat the original route.

"TMD..."

Looking at the Americans who seemed to be unsatisfied, Zhu Xuejun couldn't help but swear in a low voice.

Although the frequency of equipment updates of the Chinese army, especially the air force, has not been slow in recent years, there is still some gap compared to the strong enemies.

For example, the Global Hawk flying in the sky has no model to compare with.

What's more troublesome is that others have too much advantage in the geopolitical level.

You may not feel anything when you look at it on a map.

But if you put it on a globe, you will find that there are almost all US military bases around China.

In a situation like today, the other party is obviously here for reconnaissance and provocation, but there is no problem in international law.

No matter how you deal with it, you can only suffer a loss.

Thinking of this, Zhu Xuejun's thoughts flew back to a few years ago-

Although he still doesn't know the whole picture of the incident, the technology he tested appeared abroad in a blink of an eye and achieved world-shaking results. At the same time, the opponent's precision-guided weapons had a bizarre accidental bombing...

It's hard not to connect these things.

As a soldier, he understands the requirements of confidentiality regulations and has never told anyone about his guesses.

But facing this situation, Zhu Xuejun can't help but start thinking.

Means such as surface-to-air missiles or fighter interception have almost no operating space in peacetime.

Besides, air defense and air defense, nine out of ten defenses are empty.

No matter how advanced the air defense system is, if it is just passive response, it will sooner or later have loopholes.

And if we can find a way to interfere with or even mislead the opponent's route...

It seems to be a more feasible way to fight back...