Chapter 697: Radar Catches Ghosts, Anti-Aircraft Guns Exorcise Evil Spirits

Two 1R shells exploded about 15 meters to the right side of the Spirit of Kansas, and the flying fragments shattered almost the entire outer part of the wing.

If it were a conventionally configured aircraft, such damage might not be fatal.

But for the flying-wing B2 bomber, almost all of its core flight actions rely on this part of the action surface.

As a result, the aircraft under attack began to bank uncontrollably to the right.

It was only then that Marlott and Statham in the cabin came to their senses and realized that such continuous and evenly distributed explosions should come from anti-aircraft guns rather than anti-aircraft missiles.

For a moment, the two of them even had the illusion of time and space intersecting, thinking that they had gone back to World War II to fly B29...

But thinking back, the pilot's instinct is still there.

Almost as soon as the first two shells exploded, they tried to steer the aircraft to the left to avoid the densest part of the anti-aircraft fire as much as possible.

However, after losing the right side of action, this action is almost destined to be impossible to complete.

The plane immediately got into the denser barrage that followed.

The subsequent fragments quickly shattered the fuel pipeline and engine, and the leaked high-temperature gas quickly ignited a long flame behind the fuselage...

"Prepare to eject!"

Colonel Statham, who had more combat experience, first realized that it was impossible to save the Spirit of Kansas. At this critical moment of life and death, he naturally did not consider the impact of losing a precious strategic bomber, and in this kind of situation. The risk of parachuting behind enemy lines is that you can only prepare to escape immediately.

"Wait a moment!"

Malot's qualifications are more experienced. His instructor in the flight school participated in the battle in Annan, so he can still remember some key points at this time.

No matter how shabby an airplane is, it is still a titanium alloy or aluminum alloy box, which is much stronger than the human body when faced with debris flying all over the sky.

There are so many explosions going on outside right now, popping them out is a sure way to die...

Fortunately for the two of them, the anti-aircraft guns on the ground that had been in service for almost 40 years, even though they had been urgently maintained after being dragged out, were equipped with old ammunition that was also old and could only dispersion. It's pretty unsatisfactory.

Therefore, after the explosion, the riddled aircraft still maintained its most basic structural integrity.

But it has also begun to enter an uncontrollable spiral.

The two pilots quickly pulled the ejection handle between their legs and were thrown into the night sky in an extremely awkward posture.

All this sounds long, but in fact, only half a minute has passed since the first shell exploded.

Not far away, the crew members of EA6B also recovered from the initial shock. The co-pilot almost hurriedly switched the radio to the frequency for contacting the aircraft carrier and shouted loudly:

"Echo 01 calls the Roosevelt! Echo 01 calls the Roosevelt! AV12 is hit by anti-aircraft fire! AV12 is hit by anti-aircraft fire! The plane is burning and we can't see whether the pilot successfully ejected!"

The authorities were fascinated by the onlookers. Although it was night, he could clearly see outside that it was a dense barrage fired by anti-aircraft artillery.

At the same time, the pilot, who was worried about being attacked in the same way, also quickly controlled the aircraft to make an emergency climb.

Echo 01 currently only carries an anti-radiation missile, so there is no good way to deal with it. However, the threat of anti-aircraft artillery to maneuverable tactical aircraft is very limited, as long as the route is not too rigid.

God knows how the other party happened to capture the time window when the Spirit of Kansas climbed and turned.

The content of their call was obviously so shocking that the radio was silent for a few seconds before responding:

"Were you attacked? Or..."

Obviously, the command staff on the Roosevelt still did not fully realize the seriousness of the situation.

"AV12 was hit! Falling!"

The anxious co-pilot interrupted the other party directly and repeated the current situation.

At this time, the other party finally reacted:

"Please report the location where AV12 was hit. Their echo signal cannot be seen on the radar. We are coordinating the combat rescue team..."

The voice can be heard clearly trembling.

Even for the US military, this kind of mission spanning three services is not easy to coordinate, especially now that there is a big mess.

Moreover, the B2's stealth performance is fair to both friendly and enemy radars...

"The crash location is...in the 100 direction of our plane, about 2.5 kilometers away..."

The night sky in the Balkans has now returned to silence, and the crew members of Echo 01 can only report a general direction based on estimates:

"In addition, there should be an anti-aircraft gun position near the crash site. Follow-up air power and search and rescue teams must pay attention..."

"..."

…

In fact, Echo 01’s worries are a bit unfounded.

After completing the half-minute round of short shooting, Lieutenant Colonel Danny didn't even have time to confirm the results of the battle, and commanded his subordinates via remote control to quickly pack up their positions and prepare to evacuate.

The US military's air defense suppression operations still have to be respected.

The position squeezed in the middle of the ruins of the building must have been too late to move. The only way was to make a hasty disguise and evacuate the people quickly.

Anyway, the most important thing in this battle are the two passive detection radars that do not emit any signals throughout the entire process. There is no need to force the remaining things, as they will be gone if they are gone.

But the hundreds of experienced veterans under his command must be preserved.

There is still a battle to be fought later.

"battalion commander!"

At this moment, the staff officer outside the command cabin suddenly poked his head in:

"We hit it! We hit it!"

After hearing this, Danny was stunned for a moment, then put down the walkie-talkie and almost stumbled to the outside of the command cabin——

In the direction where he had just directed the anti-aircraft artillery group to fire, a flash of fire was falling to the ground at an almost vertical angle...

"This...can really hit..."

Danny muttered in a bit of disbelief.

After all, this was his first battle using the new radar and anti-aircraft artillery, but he actually didn't have any confidence.

When the order to fire was just given, the expectation in my mind was that I would be satisfied if I could injure the target.

The result was a big one.

As he watched, Danny felt that his vision was a little blurry.

As an air defense force commander, although he achieved a world-renowned result at the beginning of the Allied operation, for more than half a month after that, he could only watch the opponent's planes coming and going above his head. He was free to ravage the land and people he had sworn to protect.

All the shame and frustration was finally released at this moment...

The younger staff officer next to him had a much simpler idea.

Looking at the slowly falling fireball in the night sky, he couldn't hide his excitement in his voice:

"Battal Commander, I feel that the movement this time... is bigger than the F117 we shot down last time..."

"boom--"

As soon as he finished speaking, a series of explosions came from the distant suburbs.

As if to verify what he just said.

Danny, who was still immersed in emo just now, was also awakened by this huge noise:

"It seems...it is indeed."

Although it was hard to see clearly at night, the thing that fell just now was obviously much larger than a normal tactical aircraft.

"Bigger than F117... but still a stealth aircraft..."

The lieutenant colonel's eyes suddenly lit up:

"B2..."

"We...we may have shot down a B2..."

After calming down the turbulent mood in his heart for a while, he turned to look at the staff officer who was still standing beside him:

"Quick, notify the ground troops, assemble immediately, and control the crash site before dawn. Be sure to leave enough image data!"

"Also, let each unit search within a limited area nearby to see if they can find something like a parachute, but they must return to concealment before dawn!"

This reflects his quality as an old fritter.

He judged the priority of the matter almost immediately -

Once daylight enters, ground force activities must be suspended.

Under the premise of limited time, the location of the aircraft wreckage is relatively certain and can be found by sending people there, which also involves the authenticity of the record.

As long as it can be confirmed that the latest strategic bomber has been shot down, the international impact may not be less than that of sinking a warship, which is of great significance to the current international outlook.

Relatively speaking, the pilot is secondary.

Firstly, he didn't know whether the pilot had parachuted. Secondly, even if he had jumped, he didn't know where the pilot would go. The aimless search was very inefficient.

So the main thing is to try your luck and don’t force it.

"yes!"

The staff officer also woke up from a dream, quickly raised his hand and saluted the lieutenant colonel, and then trotted away, preparing to go to the nearest army command post for support.

"call--"

After issuing this series of orders, the lieutenant colonel stood there and took a deep breath.

For him, this battle was originally a fight without any hope.

But at this moment, the situation seemed to have changed slightly.

If you can achieve iconic results continuously, then you may not be able to let powerful enemies retreat in advance.

But, he doesn't know it yet.

Shooting down a B2 is indeed big news.

But compared with another thing that happened tonight, it is almost nothing worth mentioning...