Chapter 763: Good Machine with Good Bullets

As someone who has seen the J-15, J-16 and even J-20 in this formation, Chang Haonan is relatively resistant to the J-16's elephant walk.

What makes him feel emotional is that he has the opportunity to participate in the modernization process of the Air Force and even the entire country.

Therefore, when he put down the telescope, Zheng Liangqun and Ding Gaoheng were still holding it and hadn't seen enough.

"What a pity, this is only half a regiment, and it can't be considered a third-generation aircraft."

Chang Haonan smacked his lips after saying this, picked up a bottle of water from the side, unscrewed it and took a sip.

Due to the different combat missions undertaken, the generation of fighter-bombers cannot generally be copied from fighters, but this is not a serious occasion, and it's okay as long as you can understand the meaning.

Zheng Liangqun took the telescope away from his eyes, looked at Chang Haonan with a sidelong look, and replied faintly:

"12, that's a lot..."

"If it was in the early 1990s, our regiment couldn't even get 12 aircraft ready to move at any time..."

The normal establishment of a fighter regiment is 24 aircraft, and the 50% flying rate doesn't seem high, but for the Chinese Air Force in the early years, unless they stopped flying for a period of time to carry out service support operations, those who could keep half of their aircraft flying were the elite among the elite.

And the aircraft models have to match -

New aircraft are unstable and have a high failure rate, and old aircraft fly too much and have a high failure rate...

At this time, 12 aircraft have left the taxiway and returned to the apron, and Ding Gaoheng also put down the telescope:

"I don't know much about the farther ones, but in 1984, the service support of the aircraft was completed by a group of technicians from various manufacturers in the aviation industry system. It's not like now, when they can be directly transferred from the parade troops to complete the task."

"Speaking of the 1984 military parade..."

Zheng Liangqun also interrupted:

"We kicked the J-5 out of the parade sequence before because we found that the fuel level of this model was too low last time. After completing the entire parade mission, the remaining fuel was very tight. In case of special circumstances, we need to circle twice, and the fuel level will reach the warning limit..."

When the two talked about fifteen years ago, their tone was very relaxed, and they seemed to be talking and laughing.

After all, these are memories of the past.

But looking back now, the situation back then was definitely severe.

In the mid-1980s, the main force of China was still the J-6, which was copied from the MiG-19.

The production of the J-7I was very small, and the J-7II was discontinued until 1986. There were still many technical defects that could not be solved, especially the turbojet 7B, which had a problem of ablation of the fuselage at the beginning of installation due to the increased combustion chamber temperature.

However, early typical third-generation fighters such as the F15, Su-27, and Mirage 2000 have gradually entered the service of the air forces of major countries.

Even the Air Self-Defense Force next door has been equipped with F15J since 1981.

For many troops, the situation they are facing is to use the first-generation aircraft to fight the third-generation aircraft.

Although Chang Haonan did not experience that era, he can be sure that Zheng Liangqun, who had just graduated from the aviation school and was put into the front line of combat readiness, and Ding Gaoheng, who had just taken over the work of the Science and Technology Commission, had a burden on their shoulders that was definitely not as light as they appear now.

No wonder the two were satisfied with the sight of the 12 JH-7s forming a formation.

"In my opinion, it's already pretty good to have these planes now. If there's anything that feels a little bit off, it's these airborne weapons."

Zheng Liangqun said to Chang Haonan as he looked at the planes parked one by one at the corresponding positions on the apron in front of him.

The JH-7A was equipped with two PL-5Es, two PL-11s, two Eagle Strike-81s and two wingtip rangefinders during the military parade.

The JH-7 prototype replaced the two PL-11s with two auxiliary fuel tanks.

Of course they were empty.

Some JH-7s that have undergone mid-term major modifications have added the function of launching semi-active missiles, but the performance of the 232H radar is really sorry for air search. If the radar is replaced, both the cost and the construction period will be out of control. Therefore, the PL-11 is generally still not the main equipment of the JH-7 troops.

"When we first got the PL-11, the comrades were still quite fresh about it, but in the past two years, the amount of semi-active missiles equipped, including the amount of practice during training, has also increased. Not to mention, in units equipped with J-8C and third-generation aircraft, almost every pilot can fire live ammunition once, and some top units have begun to explore tactics."

"However, after really starting to study tactics, you will find that there are still too many problems with semi-active missiles, especially medium-range semi-active missiles. Although they can be fired beyond visual range, the aircraft cannot make large-scale maneuvers before the missile hits the target, otherwise it will be unlocked."

"There is also the Eagle Strike 81, which is the same, but our troops have not used this model before. It was when we carried out the dike-building operation last time that I heard from the comrades of the naval aviation that the air-launched model's 50-kilometer range was a bit short, especially against the Americans and the Aegis system of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. Even ultra-low-altitude penetration is a bit insufficient."

For Chang Haonan and Ding Gaoheng, this is a very direct feedback from the front line.

"Luoyi 612 Institute has been working with the Pennant Design Bureau on the PL-12. Normally, it is estimated that it will be able to test-fire at the end of this year or the beginning of next year."

Although Chang Haonan has now become the leader of the Aviation Power Group, thanks to his position within the Science and Technology Commission, he still has some understanding of the situation of the aviation industry next door:

"In addition, the Aerospace Technology Research Institute is also developing an ultra-long-range air-to-air/air-to-ground multi-purpose missile to counter radiation or deal with large targets at ultra-long distances."

"Ultra-long-range?"

Zheng Liangqun just said it casually, but he didn't expect to receive feedback on the spot:

"How far...?"

For air-to-air missiles, although the range on paper is not the only important performance, being able to fire first is definitely a huge advantage in air combat or air-to-ground confrontation.

Even the criticized semi-active missiles can have great tactical value as long as the range is long enough.

"Well... the base is the Soviet R33. We have improved the new wing, warhead and seeker. According to the range of the national army, the air-to-air range is about 200 kilometers, and the air-to-ground range... may be slightly closer."

The reason why this model, which is currently temporarily named PL-13, was able to be approved is because of Chang Haonan's contribution.

Not only that, he also developed the passive search algorithm of the seeker.

Moreover, the relevant technology has become the key to reversing the situation in the Balkan Peninsula in the first half of the year.

It can also be regarded as indirectly saving the air-to-air missile research and development department of the Academy of Aerospace Technology.

Therefore, Chang Haonan is naturally very familiar with the performance indicators.

"Mr. Duo?"

Zheng Liangqun almost dropped the telescope to the ground.

He originally thought that it would be quite good to double the range based on the PL-11.

But who would have thought that it would be almost an order of magnitude more.

Although Zheng Liangqun had also heard that the AIM54 equipped by the Americans had a range of nearly 200 kilometers.

But hearing is hearing, and it is also someone else's.

In fact, the theoretical maximum range of the later models of R33 with MiG-31 as the carrier aircraft can be even farther, but that data is too imaginary. After changing to the normal standard (10,000 meters, the carrier aircraft and the target fly at 1.2 or 1.4 times the speed of sound), a huge discount will be made.

After improving the wings and optimizing the path algorithm, this number was stabilized at around 200 kilometers.

In actual combat, considering that the target cannot fly against you stupidly all the time, the effective range is even shorter.

But in any case, for the Chinese Air Force, which has just adapted to the 30-40 km visual range combat distance, the difference between 200 kilometers and 300 kilometers is actually very small.

Because they are both numbers that have no concept at all.

The Chinese Air Force currently does not even have any radar that can detect a fighter-sized target 200 kilometers away...

"200 kilometers."

Chang Haonan smiled and replied:

"It should be not far from the test, but it is a pity that it is difficult to measure the maximum range effect with the existing models."

Zheng Liangqun did not answer this time, but just opened his mouth slightly, as if he was imagining what it would be like for the enemy and us to shoot air-to-air missiles 150 kilometers or even farther apart.

After thinking for a long time, he felt that it seemed that it was difficult to deal with this level of air combat with fighters alone.

Only early warning aircraft...

Thinking of this, Zheng Liangqun's eyes swept back and forth between Ding Gaoheng and Chang Haonan again.

Obviously he wanted to ask.

But he felt that he seemed to be a little greedy.

After all, the domestic fighters have just been put on the right track, and now he is considering the domestic early warning aircraft...

In short, he didn't speak in the end.

So, the atmosphere between the three people fell into a slightly weird silence.

Until the roar of the engines of another team of aircraft broke the silence.

This time, even without a telescope, Chang Haonan could recognize that they were 6 J-9s from the iconic pointed nose and double delta wing features.

The normal gray paint indicates that they are not the aircraft of the August 1st Flying Demonstration Team.

That is the trainer aircraft echelon at the Flight Academy.

Chang Jiayao should be on the last or the second to last aircraft among them.

"General Chang."

Zheng Liangqun came over and said:

"According to our training arrangement, there will be flight training in the morning and review and training review in the afternoon. In addition to lunch, there will be about two hours of free time. Of course, you can't leave the camp. You see..."

The meaning of this sentence is very clear-

After Chang Jiayao's flight training, Chang Haonan will definitely not go directly to the apron to find her.

It will have a bad impact.

It will also bring a lot of unnecessary pressure to Chang Jiayao.

So we should go to the living area and wait.

"Commander Zheng, how about you take the two of us to the living area to have a look?"

Ding Gaoheng next to him also created an opportunity for Chang Haonan:

"I heard that the aircrew kitchen responsible for the military parade is one level higher than the usual aircrew kitchen standard. It just so happens that we can catch up today, so how about we both take advantage of it?"