Chapter 944 The Last Strategic Bomber (Counting Yesterday's)

These two things happened at almost the same time.

Ermao, Kiev Oblast, Priluki Air Base.

A Tu-154M passenger plane with a five-star red flag painted on its vertical tail was slowing down and taxiing with its thrust reverser turned on.

Due to age and disrepair, the track is slightly uneven and has even cracked in some fragile areas.

Fortunately, for a passenger aircraft that was originally designed with tactical use in mind, all this is not a problem.

As the speed of the aircraft continued to slow down, the two pilots were gradually able to devote some energy to observing both sides of the runway to find the location of the taxiway——

Normally, this would be what the tower tells them.

However, the tower commander at Preluki Air Force Base obviously had little experience, and coupled with his gross English accent, there were a lot of troubles just in the process of directing the plane to land.

Fortunately, the airspace near here is extremely clean, and there are no other aircraft.

So there won't be any safety issues.

It's just a pity for the passengers who are almost packed into canned meat in the cargo (passenger) cabin.

"I'm talking about Lao Zheng, the air traffic control at Ermao base... why does it feel so unreliable?"

On the seat in the front section of the cabin, Qin Han, the special representative for cooperation with Eastern European countries accompanying this visit, rubbed his head that was a little dizzy due to the violent shaking, and asked an officer in an air force uniform next to him.

"no way."

Zheng Xiashen, who was responsible for the entire pick-up task, picked up the big-brimmed hat that had just fallen to the ground, shook his head helplessly, and pointed to the outside of the porthole with his hand:

"You look at the environment around the runway."

"I conservatively estimate that this airport has not seen frequent landings and takeoffs for five or six years."

Priluki Air Base is located in a somewhat remote place near Kiev.

During the Cold War, this was the home of the 184th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, which existed as the most important force to deter NATO.

But now, with the 184th Regiment itself facing disbandment, naturally not many planes will visit here.

The equipment of the 184th Regiment itself only takes off every very long time.

The purpose of taking off is not for training or mission execution, but to ensure the basic operation of these aircraft as a bargaining chip with other countries.

Therefore, the person sitting in the tower now may not have directed 10 aircraft takeoffs and landings in his entire career.

Naturally, I don’t have any experience.

While the two were talking, Tu 154M had entered the taxiway to the right and was slowly driving towards the apron not far away.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Qin Han poked his head slightly and looked at the two dozen strategic bombers lined up on the tarmac.

The closest ones are several Figure 95s with four propellers.

And a little further away, there was their ultimate goal of coming this time——

Figure 160.

Although he was not a soldier, he still had some relevant knowledge before participating in this mission and was able to recognize these models that were famous back then.

"It's really sad that such a good airplane is left here to rust."

For a moment, Qin Han didn't even know how to describe his feeling at this time.

Finally, he still choked out a few words:

"What a pity……"

"yes……"

Zheng Xiashen sighed softly:

"Who would have thought that a country that could build 70,000 nuclear bombs and have been at tit-for-tat with the Americans for nearly half a century would suddenly fall apart..."

As a soldier, although he gave an affirmative answer, his tone was more filled with emotion.

When facing an enemy from within, no matter how powerful the army is, it will be difficult to play any role.

Qin Han realized that it was not easy to continue this topic, so he changed the subject and swallowed what he had just said:

"However, it's not entirely a pity."

"After all, it is precisely because of this that we have the opportunity to stand here today..."

"Actually... Representative Qin doesn't know something."

Zheng Xiashen smiled slightly:

"It should be...about six years ago. I also led a team here, but it was not as desolate as it is now. You can still see a few planes taking off and landing occasionally."

Hearing this, Qin Han's eyes widened slightly:

"Have you been here before?"

"Yes, and I am also sitting on this Tu 154..."

"Is it also for those planes?"

Qin Han reached out and gestured out the window.

At this time, the plane happened to be parked at the designated location on the apron.

The cabin announcement sounded that it was time to prepare to leave the plane.

"Yes, but it got messed up halfway through."

Zheng Xiashen stood up and tidied up his military appearance:

"At that time, I thought that the Chinese Air Force would forever miss out on these precious guys."

"I didn't expect that I would have a second chance now!"

His voice was trembling with excitement.

"It's also good luck that we caught up."

Qin Han also followed Zheng Xiashen to the aisle, preparing to get off the plane.

The two of them are the leaders of this Chinese delegation, but one is simply responsible for picking up the people at the airport, and the other is also responsible for many subsequent written procedures.

After all, the delivery of these Tu-160s was completed as part of the Ermao denuclearization process.

This is something that absolutely cannot be careless.

…

It wasn't until a few minutes after the plane came to a stop that a ramp truck hurried over and docked at the cabin door.

Immediately afterwards, the hatch opened.

A group of dozens of people, headed by Zheng Xiashen and Qin Han, filed down the gangway.

Not far from the plane, there were already several soldiers wearing various military uniforms, obviously from different countries, waiting for them.

Although ten years have passed since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the military uniforms of Da Mao and Er Mao are still relatively similar in shape.

Sometimes it's easier to tell the difference from accessories and color.

As for those wearing uniforms of a completely different style, it is not difficult to tell from the U.S. symbols on their collars that they are middle- and senior-level officers from the U.S. Army.

That's right, although the transaction subject involved is an aircraft belonging to Ermao.

But the main trading countries do not include Ermao itself.

The other two countries naturally brought a delegation each, but their planes landed a few hours earlier than China, so the rest of the people had already gone to Kiev to stay.

Only a few key people are left waiting here.

"Hello, friends from China."

The leader, a burly soldier with a tricolor flag embroidered on his left arm, walked up to Zheng Xiashen.

Both sides saluted simultaneously:

"I am Anatoly Alexeevich Noevich, responsible for the arms transfer and destruction."

"Mark Linton."

Another American soldier came forward shortly afterwards:

"Assistant to the U.S. Strategic Command, responsible for overseeing this weapons transfer and destruction."

Although he is called an "assistant", he actually carries three stars on his shoulders, and he is on the same level as Nogovitch and Zheng Xiashen.

In response, Zheng Xiashen and Qin Han also introduced their identities respectively.

"Okay, guys, let's relax."

Jack Linton spoke first, trying to liven up the atmosphere:

"According to the agreement we reached before, the formal documents cannot be signed until next week, so during this period, we will mainly finalize the details of this mission."

"Er Mao has prepared a convoy here. We can go back to the city to rest for a while..."

He had been waiting in the biting autumn wind for several hours. It was obvious that he couldn't stay any longer and wanted to return to the warmth of the hotel room.

"Still not."

Zheng Xiashen raised his hand slightly, indicating that he had other plans:

"We still hope to learn about the status of these pending weapons as soon as possible, especially the four Tu-160 bombers planned to be delivered to our country in the name of debt relief, so we will not go there with you for the time being."

Although China sent a small team here about half a month ago to confirm and maintain the status of several aircraft, and also to protect them from possible damage.

However, the matter was serious, and it was difficult for Zheng Xiashen to feel relieved until he personally confirmed that the plane was intact.

"Oh well."

The other two people also had no opinion on this:

"Anyway, I wish you... wish us all the best."

…

After being polite to the heads of delegations from the other two countries, Zheng Xiashen quickly found Lieutenant Colonel Hang Lijun who had been posted here in advance——

Strictly speaking, it was the latter who found him.

In fact, the other party had been notified long ago to come to pick up the plane, but there were senior foreign military leaders there just now, so it was inconvenient to rush over here.

"Welcome Deputy Commander Zheng..."

Hang Lijun stood at attention and saluted. He was originally going to say a few clichés, but as soon as he said a title, he was interrupted by Zheng Xiashen:

"Okay, we'll deal with the red tape later. What's going on with those planes?"

It was too obvious that he didn't like it in front of foreign troops, but in fact, he had been coveting it for a long time.

Even before this trip, he seemed to have submitted an application to his superiors, asking if he could personally fly one of the Tu-160s back to China.

As a result, I was severely criticized.

I can only live with my eyesight.

"Following the guidance of the ground crew here and several Tupolev technicians, we conducted a round of screening of the aircraft."

Hang Lijun didn't waste any time and immediately led Zheng Xiashen to the other side of the tarmac while reporting the report:

"Three of them are currently in a normal state and can fly normally. The core system of the other one has no problem, but there is some malfunction in the action part of the variable sweep wing. The left wing sweep angle can only be maintained at the fully extended 20° state."

"This aircraft can be repaired here by disassembling other aircraft parts and then flown back. However, it may take about a month. You can also fly back like this first and figure out a solution later."

Zheng Xiashen, on the other hand, almost did not hesitate:

"The night is long and the dream is many. 20° is 20°. Anyway, we are just transitioning and we are not engaging in supersonic penetration."

"So, of course, fly back first!"