Chapter 1321 Success? Partial Success?

At the same time.

On the B52H bomber participating in the test.

Major Nico Dunnell, the squadron leader of the 419th Air Test Squadron, was holding a camera and filming the X51A ignition acceleration scene through the cockpit glass.

As for the test process itself, a wide-angle side-view camera was installed on the outermost side of the left wing of their aircraft to capture the entire launch process.

But as a pilot of the test unit who had almost no chance to participate in actual combat, Dunnell, or the pilots of the entire 419th Squadron, had a tradition of taking pictures from the cockpit perspective.

Of course, this is also related to the relatively loose information management system of the US military.

In most cases, after such tests, contractors or the Pentagon will quickly release relevant videos and explanatory documents, so it doesn't matter if there is one more video with a different perspective.

Besides, there was no Tik Tok in those days, and these private video files were rarely circulated.

"Report to the command center, we have completed the weapon delivery, visually confirmed that the ignition is normal, the test target is climbing and has disappeared from the field of vision..."

Jack Marcel, who was sitting next to him in the co-pilot position, was reporting the news to the test command center at Edwards Base via radio.

For the pilots, as long as the weapons were successfully dropped, the rest of the matter had nothing to do with them.

After finishing the filming, Dunnell closed the DV in his hand, cancelled the bombing navigation mode that could automatically maintain the route on the control panel in front of him, and then pushed the disc joystick with both hands, preparing to descend a little.

Although the aircraft can maintain level flight above 16,000 meters through special modifications and reducing the amount of fuel, the fluttering operation feel will still make the pilot feel very sick.

Now that the mission is over, it is naturally better to return to below 14,000 meters as soon as possible.

But at this moment, the voice of Colonel Victor Manning, the commander of the wing, suddenly came from the radio:

"Take a look at your radar warning equipment, is there anything displayed?"

The co-pilot Marcel, who was adjusting the engine thrust, had to split his mind and take a look at the situation on the RWR display.

This aircraft had participated in the early testing of the AN/ALQ165 airborne self-defense jammer. Although the entire project ended in failure, the radar warning system specially modified for this purpose was retained.

"The airspace signal is clean, with only one S-band signal source at two o'clock. The model characteristics could not be identified, but the signal strength is very weak and it is in normal search mode. It is judged to be no threat..."

At this point, Marcel himself was stunned:

"It's strange... Is there any high-power S-band radar nearby?"

After all, the 346 radar is a new model that has only been in service for a few years. If some non-frontline troops do not have the opportunity to upgrade the latest version of the database, they will not be able to identify it.

His doubts were soon answered:

"They are two missile destroyers of the Chinese Navy, about 160 nautical miles away from you."

When he heard the first half of the sentence, Dunnell almost threw the control panel in his hand away-

I had never heard of such a thing before taking off. Now this lonely bomber is flying in the sky, and it is at an altitude where it is difficult to turn at a large angle. Then you tell me that it is targeted by two regional air defense ships?

Fortunately, the distance information that followed made him relieved.

160 nautical miles, that can indeed be considered completely non-threatening.

But what followed was another feeling of shock:

"But wait a minute, this is close to the west coast..."

He almost blurted out:

"Why can the Chinese Navy reach this position? What is the navy doing?"

The test airspace is located in the east of the central Pacific Ocean. Even in World War II, the Japanese fleet did not reach a place so close to the US mainland.

"Major, this is the high seas... The Navy can only block them outside the warning area, but it is impossible to stop others from sailing normally on the high seas..."

The voice from the radio was somewhat helpless:

"Okay, your mission has been successfully completed, end the conversation, and return home as soon as possible..."

On the other side, Colonel Manning, who put down the radio communicator, turned around and looked at several senior officers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sitting behind him:

"General, it has been confirmed again through the carrier aircraft. Except for the fleet that has begun to move away from the test area, there are no other suspicious radiation sources within the range. There is no need to worry about data leakage."

In fact, half an hour ago, the Air Force had already conducted a search again with satellites, so it was safe to start the test.

Besides, the verification aircraft has been launched now, even if any new signals are really found, it is too late.

It was just to dispel General Mosley's neurotic worries, so it was reconfirmed.

And while they were communicating with the bomber pilots, the bomb-borne sensors had already transmitted their own data back to the command center through the relay communication aircraft.

The combined flight body has flown for 25 seconds under the propulsion of the rocket booster, reaching an altitude of 18.7 km and a speed of Mach 4.7, and is still climbing and accelerating.

The dual inlet located below the front tangent cone also began to compress the supersonic incoming flow, providing sufficient operating conditions for the SJX61-1 scramjet engine that is about to start.

However, the signal light representing "permit to start" is still yellow, indicating that the start conditions have not been met at present, but it is still within the expected window range.

Everyone stared at the numbers on the big screen and almost forgot to breathe.

Another 10 seconds passed.

According to the flight plan, the booster rocket has entered the end of the work, and the speed of the assembly has reached 5.2 Mach, which is very close to the expected speed.

But Ke Lingjie's eyes twitched suddenly-

The inconspicuous acceleration curve in the lower right corner suddenly began to fluctuate. Although it still remained above 0, according to his experience, this was a manifestation of combustion chamber pressure oscillation.

35 seconds of effective working time.

Although it is indeed much stronger than the initial 29 seconds, there is still a difference of about 4 seconds from the result of the ground test.

Affected by this, the compression effect of the incoming flow generated by the inlet duct also began to oscillate slightly, and there is a tendency to gradually diverge.

Because the wind tunnel test was not perfect, Ke Lingjie lowered his expectations for this first test when setting the plan.

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But if the ramjet engine fails to ignite, it will be all over.

He even leaned in front of the microphone, ready to ask the staff to manually jettison the booster and force the main engine to start in advance.

Fortunately, the next second, the signal light turned from yellow to green, indicating that the ramjet engine had reached the most basic starting condition and the booster stage was separated.

A burst of warm applause suddenly broke out in the stands behind Ke Linjie.

This sudden change made him a little unsure of the situation, but listening to the applause and cheers around him, he had to bite the bullet and continue to wait.

The direct starting condition required for the scramjet engine is not speed but pressure, but according to the previous calculation, it takes about 5.4-5.5 Mach to meet this pressure requirement.

Now that the green light is on in advance, it is possible that the margin is too large during the calculation process...

After another second of taxiing, the fuel closed loop system filled the combustion chamber with JP7A fuel, and the first working point appeared in the working window of the SJX61-1 engine at the same time.

However, in the atmosphere of celebration around him, Ke Lingjie felt more and more unable to laugh.

For reasons that are still unknown, the engine operating parameters do not match the previous ground test, which means that either his calculation is wrong, or this engine that seems to be working normally has a problem...

No matter which one, it is not good news.

At this time, Air Force Chief of Staff Mosley walked straight to Ke Lingjie:

"Doctor, the start was successful, and the speed of the aircraft is increasing!"

"Yes...but we still need to observe the specific operation of the engine..."

The latter was already a little embarrassed at this time, so he had to deal with it while praying in his heart that the engine could stabilize the next 270 seconds of working time and accumulate enough data for him.

30 seconds...

60 seconds...

90 seconds...

After breaking through Mach 5.4, the aircraft seemed to struggle every time it accelerated, and it still failed to reach Mach 5.5 at 120 seconds.

However, this has at least crossed the threshold of hypersonic speed.

As long as it can fly stably throughout the entire journey, it can be said that the predetermined design parameters have been achieved.

But just when Ke Lingjie thought that the next 150 seconds would be spent in this dull manner.

At 139 seconds, the working curve of the scramjet engine suddenly fluctuated, and showed positive feedback in the next two seconds.

At 142 seconds, multiple systems including the fuel system and control system began to alarm at high temperatures.

Before everyone reacted.

At 143 seconds, the data completely disappeared from the big screen...