RPAGF #353 - Practical training
#353 - Practical training
"Our regiment returns to the forward airport on a fixed route and at a fixed time. The Second Regiment can freely determine the interception method and time?" Wei Yongguo looked at the exercise order issued by the leader of the First Air Division and smiled slightly. He knew that the division commander was increasing the intensity for him.
If it had been before the equipment change, Wei Yongguo might have considered arguing with the chief about modifications, but today, this level of intensity didn't even count as a drizzle.
With the J-5A's pair of 20-kilometer "eyes," there was no way the Second Regiment could sneak up on them!
As the number two figure in the First Air Division, Liu Zhiming was of course very clear that the advantage of the J-5 fighter lay in its high altitude and high speed. Its dogfighting ability was inferior to that of the Mustang, so the J-5 fighter's combat tactics were high-speed dives, hitting and running, avoiding entanglement with the enemy, and moving away to find new opportunities if it missed.
Anyway, it was fast, and opponents generally couldn't keep up. It was easy to leave. Liu Zhiming had also flown the J-5 in actual combat, and it was absolutely devastating against bombers. It could be considered a complete beatdown!
However, the J-5 also had obvious shortcomings. After all, the faster the speed, the narrower the field of vision. The J-5 fighter only had two traditional 20mm cannons, which led to a shockingly low hit rate. It was overwhelming to bully clumsy bombers, but to be honest, Liu Zhiming didn't think the advantage was too great against Mustang fighters.
Once it came to low-altitude maneuvering and dogfighting, the Mustang fighter had even more advantages than the J-5. Therefore, smart J-5 fighter pilots would never choose to engage in low-altitude dogfights with Mustang fighters, but would instead make good use of their fast acceleration and abundant power at high altitude to try to maneuver and bite the tail for attack!
This time, Liu Zhiming wanted to be a whetstone, so he had to drag his opponent into a dogfight below 5,000 meters.
So, he led the Second Regiment into the air early and ambushed in the clouds over the airspace that the First Regiment had to pass through on its return.
This kind of ambush tactic had been used before against the little devils and against the rogue Eagles. Although it sounded simple, it was indeed effective!
However, today, Wei Yongguo looked at the dense "enemy targets" on the radar, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Execute Operation Plan Number One!" Wei Yongguo simply instructed on the common channel, and then implemented radio silence for the entire regiment. Because he knew that the opponent would definitely cut into his channel to eavesdrop. He knew Sun Yongze of the Second Regiment's personality too well. This kid was determined to get a few jet fighters. As long as the exercise results were good this time, he would definitely ask the chief for a squadron of jet fighters to be assigned to his regiment.
Of course, this kid never dreamed that their regiment would also be fully equipped with new aircraft soon, because Wei Yongguo was very clear that the entire regiment of J-5s he brought back had been returned to the factory for modification. According to this quantity, at least another regiment of J-5As would be re-launched soon, and Sun Yongze and his Second Regiment would naturally have the best chance of receiving these fighters.
But Sun Yongze didn't know this yet, so he still had to work hard to earn an opportunity!
For them, the requirement for victory was very simple, which was to avoid the opponent's attack, no matter what method was used. It would be considered a victory if the opponent's radar didn't lock on for more than 30 seconds.
Driving the best propeller fighter of this era, Sun Yongze believed that he would definitely not be locked on by the First Air Regiment.
As long as he spotted the opponent, Sun Yongze would use his signature large S-shaped movements to blind Wei Yongguo and the others. Just escaping instead of trying to attack the target was too easy for them. As long as they maneuvered wildly in the 3,000 to 5,000 meter airspace, they wouldn't even know what their next move would be, let alone Wei Yongguo and the others, so it would be even more difficult to lock onto them!
Although it was a bit rogue-like, the rules didn't say anything, so don't worry about it. Winning is the only truth!
Ten kilometers!
Liu Zhiming and Sun Yongze were completely unaware of the First Air Regiment's advance. They were still circling in the clouds, waiting for the First Air Regiment to arrive. They occupied the entire cloud layer and were not afraid of the First Air Regiment breaking through from high or low altitude. With such a large-scale team, the planes circling at the edge of the clouds would definitely see them.
Now, to solve the opponent, you still have to rely on good eyesight!
Six kilometers!
Wei Yongguo and the First Air Regiment began to lock onto the most obvious and largest targets that appeared on their fire control radar! If it were actual combat, an attack could be launched after locking on for 10 seconds, so the pilots of the First Air Regiment were now reducing their speed to about 600 kilometers per hour, chasing their targets and maintaining a locked state.
However, their program today was not just that. This kind of surprise attack was just a small program.
After entering the 3-kilometer range, the pilots of the First Air Regiment began to actively avoid the large group of the Second Air Regiment's aircraft in the clouds. The three squadrons separated, with the aircraft of two squadrons circling outside the Second Air Regiment's field of vision. One squadron took the lead in breaking formation, bypassing them, entering their side and rear, re-finding targets, and starting to lock onto their tails.
Soon, the first squadron completed this operation. They circled away to a distance to give up their attack position and began to have the second and third squadrons silently lock on and attack from beyond visual range!
After completing this feat, Wei Yongguo broke the radio silence and began the final stage of close-range dogfight training, commanding the teams to form pairs and use traditional tactics to attack the Second Air Regiment's aircraft.
At this time, Liu Zhiming and Sun Yongze woke up as if from a dream. Like frightened birds, they began to maneuver at high speed and over a wide range!
If it were a beyond-visual-range battle, facing such a scene, both sides would be in chaos, and it would be difficult to distinguish between friend and foe. The visibility in the clouds was also extremely low, and it would most likely be a chaotic battle! Under normal conditions, jet fighters might suffer a big loss in this kind of scenario!
But with the friend-or-foe identification system and radar fire control, the pilots of the First Air Regiment were not flustered at all. They grabbed the targets that had no friend-or-foe response and followed the opponent's maneuvers closely, maintaining a distance of about 3 kilometers!
Making it impossible for the opponent to escape from the radar fire control!
After a half-hour melee, Wei Yongguo announced the end of the exercise and returned to base!
It wasn't because they had annihilated the opponent, but because the fuel was about to run out. The short-legged characteristic of less than 2 hours of high-intensity maneuvering quickly became apparent in combat.
If the J-5A still has shortcomings, then the short range and short loiter time are definitely its biggest defects at present!
However, before the new turbofan engine is developed, this shortcoming of jet fighters will continue for a long time.
"What? We were locked on at least three times?" Chen Shusheng, Liu Zhiming, and Sun Yongze, all the top leaders, were stunned when they saw the post-war exercise statistics! "Is there something wrong with this data?"
Sun Yongze asked in disbelief.
"I locked on 7 sorties!" Wei Yongguo said lightly, "You didn't even know we were locked on when we locked on to the target 3 kilometers away."
"Fire control radar has completely changed the air combat mode. We don't need the pilot's eyes to be good, we can still lock on to the opponent. Moreover, we discovered the Second Air Regiment 20 kilometers away, and we could determine the approximate position in the air, so we counted locking on to the target head-on during the approach as one time. Then, we split into three waves of sneak attacks, bypassing the front of the Second Air Regiment and attacking from the side and rear, which counted as the second time. Basically, each squadron could easily lock on to several sorties in this sneak attack, but we only counted it as one time."
"Then, in the melee after actively exposing the target near the Second Air Regiment, the worst of our First Air Regiment locked on to at least one target. The clouds have no effect on radar. Aircraft lacking radar are like blind men, but with radar, we can completely detect the target 20 kilometers away and lock on and destroy the target within 6 kilometers!"
Wei Yongguo slowly narrated the course of the battle, which surprised and delighted Chen Shusheng, Liu Zhiming, and Sun Yongze! What was surprising was that this was really the case, and the withdrawal of propeller fighters from history was already a countdown. What was gratifying was that such a powerful fighter was ours!
"Chief, we want this fighter for our regiment too!" Sun Yongze stared at Chen Shusheng.