Chapter 1197 Offensive and Defensive Deployment

As the Pentagon had previously announced.

On July 15, 2005, five months ahead of schedule, the F22 was confirmed to have formally formed initial combat capability and was first equipped to the 27th and 94th squadrons at Langley Air Force Base.

At the same time as the announcement, the US Air Force also confirmed to the media, or promised that homeland security is still a top priority, so the two combat duty squadrons equipped with the latest fighters will first perform air defense interception missions to ensure that the country will no longer suffer from air attacks like 9/11.

There are also many media that the military is actually worried that the Self-Defense Forces’ confidentiality work is not strict enough, which may lead to the premature leakage of relevant data of the third batch of mass-produced models.

However, in any case, this means that the early models from the 27th Squadron will be sent to Japan to participate in the joint exercise.

Few people know the specific difference between the two, but according to the US military itself, the first two mass-produced batches of aircraft are different from the subsequent production models in hardware, so they cannot be upgraded to versions with full combat capability (FOC) and will only be used for training.

Of course, that's what it said.

But no matter how incomplete the version is, it is still a fourth-generation aircraft.

For China, which has already prepared to deal with it, these are opponents that cannot be underestimated.

In fact, at the same time as the Pentagon announced the IOC news, Colonel Evan Robinson had already led an air formation consisting of six F22s, and after two transfers and four aerial refuelings, they finally arrived at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.

There were also two C17 transport aircraft carrying ground crew and equipment -

Although some maintenance work on stealth coatings is difficult to perform overseas, the aircraft itself still needs to be serviced normally.

According to public information, the joint exercise will officially begin in a week.

Of course, the exercise is just a cover.

The actual purpose of this trip is to give China a head start.

So in the real plan that has not been made public and even the Air Self-Defense Force is not aware of, Robinson will take the opportunity to kill the opponent by surprise within this week.

On the one hand, it is to create a time difference.

On the other hand, the state of stealth coatings that are not adequately maintained will gradually deteriorate over time, so even from a technical point of view, the main task must be completed first.

The plan is indeed a good plan.

However, shortly after the F22 formation landed, Robinson was pulled to a mission preparation meeting by Brigadier General William Vogel, the base commander and commander of the 18th Fighter Wing, before he even had time to change his flight suit.

"Colonel, during the time you were flying from Guam, the Chinese Ministry of Defense also held a press conference."

Vogel took out an information brief that was obviously just sorted out, opened it and pushed it in front of Robinson:

"They also announced that they would conduct a defensive sea and air joint exercise "not targeting any country" in a week, and also designated several no-fly zones within the exclusive economic zone."

The latter had just completed a round of continuous high-intensity transfer flights. After getting off the plane, he didn't even have time to eat. At this moment, he simply glanced at the content of the report in front of him:

"Tit-for-tat, very good."

The colonel said while changing into a ground uniform:

"But if the weather permits, we should take action in the next two or three days to let the Chinese see how powerful they are...so their actions may be too late."

But Vogel next to him was not so optimistic.

He had fought with China for many years in the first island chain, and witnessed the opponent's main force from the inferior imitation version of MiG-21 to J-10 and J-11. He knew that he must not underestimate the enemy.

So he turned to the second page of the report himself:

"The exercise will start next week, but that's just what they say... Look, this is a photo taken by a reconnaissance satellite this morning."

He pointed to several satellite photos attached to it:

"A destroyer and two frigates are located near Daishan Island and are maneuvering toward the offshore waters of eastern Zhejiang... In addition, we also found that the ground radar units of the Chinese Air Force have also carried out large-scale mobile deployments in the past half month, and the number of aircraft stationed at the Kecheng base has doubled in the past week, and almost all of them are new models that have been in service in recent years..."

This piece of reconnaissance intelligence finally made Colonel Robinson's contempt lessen a little.

He leaned over slightly and carefully observed the situation at the Kecheng base.

Although the equipment level of the Chinese Air Force has improved rapidly in recent years, many supporting facilities have not been built in time.

Therefore, most of the aircraft in the airport are still parked in the open air, which is easy to distinguish.

Robinson may have some typical American arrogance, but he is definitely not stupid.

He knew very well that if the enemy used their absolute numerical advantage to directly build a radar wall without being able to fire, then even the F22 would not be able to break through the blockade face to face.

Fortunately, the attacking party in the confrontation would have the strategic initiative.

After a little thought, Robinson immediately decided to let the allies take on some of the dirty work:

"Brigadier General Vogel, in the past two or three days, you can consider asking the Air Self-Defense Force to increase the frequency of some take-off tests. The Chinese Air Force has a limited number of advanced aircraft, which can easily distract their combat effectiveness and attention, making these aircraft unable to do anything. Concentrate on us..."

Although his military rank is one level lower than Vogel, as the commander of the entire F22 formation, he has a high say in this plan named "Operation Knock Knock."

The operations of the Self-Defense Forces can even be indirectly directed through the headquarters in Japan.

Vogel naturally had no objection to this, since he didn't need his 18th Wing to work anyway.

So he nodded immediately.

But then, he gestured to the satellite photo above:

"Actually, I'm more worried about the destroyer." "According to China's public plan, these three ships will serve as the third force in the exercise and confront the red and blue sides at the same time."

Having said this, he paused and pulled out another document in front of him:

"But according to photo analysis, the fleet flagship is an air defense destroyer that has not yet been officially commissioned. It is somewhat similar in function to our Arleigh Burke..."

Robinson took the document.

Compared with the previous report, this time there is not much actual content on paper, but there are a few photos of warships taken from different angles.

The hull number "170" can be vaguely seen.

As Vogel said, the four-sided radar arranged around the superstructure does look somewhat similar to Arleigh Burke at first glance.

"How's the performance?"

Robinson asked curiously:

"I mean, compared to the Aegis system?"

"There is no particularly credible data yet, but the comprehensive capability is not estimated to exceed the current baseline version 5.1 of Aegis."

The brigadier shook his head:

"Specifically, the gallium arsenide phased array radar they use should be better than the AN/SPY-1 in terms of multi-target detection capabilities and beam flexibility, but the back-end information processing and air defense command system are definitely better than ours. Difference……"

"It should be fine."

Robinson said categorically:

"In the past two years, we have conducted several small-scale tests with the navy... As long as our exercise fleet keeps them 150-200 kilometers away, there is almost no need to worry about being detected by radar."

Vogel touched his chin flatly:

"The three destroyers of Ariake, Kirisame and Yudachi from the third escort group have left the port to prepare for the response. However, according to the exercise area announced by China, their three ships would not have been close to us. The sea is too close..."

"..."

…

Almost at the same time.

Off the coast of eastern Zhejiang.

One large, two small, and three gray-white painted warships were sailing in a column.

The first ship, the Type 052C destroyer Jincheng, officially numbered "170".

According to the original plan, the ship will officially hold an induction ceremony next week. As the Chinese Navy's first surface ship with regional air defense capabilities, it will join the battle sequence of the ninth destroyer detachment of the South China Sea Fleet.

But just about half a month ago, he had completed all preparations and suddenly received an order requiring him to participate in a joint technical verification with the Air Force radar unit before officially taking over the ship.

Externally, it is conducted in the name of joint naval and air exercises.

In fact, it stands to reason that although the ships that have just been received, especially the new models, will definitely have no problem in starting, it is difficult to fully exert the combat effectiveness of the equipment because the commanders and soldiers are not familiar with the performance of the equipment.

There may even be risks or even accidents caused by insufficient operating skills.

Fortunately, the new power system used by the 170 ship is quite advanced. During the nearly two-year sea trial, it showed reliability that far exceeded the design requirements. There is no need to worry about the problems of the ship itself.

As for the combat system...

There is really no way around this. Even if you work overtime, it is impossible to completely master it from scratch in just a few months.

Not to mention having to do some fancy things.

Therefore, in addition to the more than 200 people from the fleet, this voyage also brought some technical personnel from the Electronic Technology Group.

This made Colonel Zhang Xudong in CIC somewhat worried.

Although these people have all experienced sea life on the Bi Sheng, there is a big difference between short-term offshore testing and long-term sea voyages.

It had only been less than a full day of sailing, and several people had already begun to suffer from seasickness.

But soon, his thoughts were interrupted by a report from the bridge:

"Reporting to the captain, we have sailed to the designated sea area for the mission. We are switching to diesel engine drive and slowing down to 4 knots..."

Zhang Xudong calmed down and took a deep breath:

"Attention all departments!"

"Switch the satellite relay channel, send positioning information, and prepare for time synchronization calibration!"