The Military-industrial Scientific Research System of the Academic Master Chapter 340

Chapter 340 The fast-running Western reporter

An hour later, the six aircraft participating in the operation finally entered the refueling area set up by the Air Force in advance.

Under the guidance of the operator, the pilot soon saw the IL-78 tanker ahead with its red and green navigation lights flashing.

Aerial refueling at night is definitely like dancing blindfolded on the tip of a knife.

If the docking fails, the refueling drogue may even be torn off.

This thing itself is not bad, but the fuel warning lights of several aircraft have been on for a while. If they can't refuel, they will definitely not be able to fly back to the Lingshui base.

Fortunately, everything was safe.

All successfully connected.

The UPAZ-1 refueling pod equipped on the IL-78 began delivering fuel to the six aircraft at a rate of approximately 1,600 liters per minute.

Wang Wei's heart, which had been hanging just now, was finally relieved.

Since the belly auxiliary fuel tank was replaced with a photo reconnaissance pod, its fuel capacity was the least optimistic among the entire mission formation. It could only last for about 10 minutes at most before it began to receive fuel.

It's finally continued now.

“Yuejiang 12, I happened to take a photo of you when you threw the auxiliary fuel tank into the middle of the opponent's fleet. I will give you a souvenir after you return.”

The voice of the pilot in the back seat of No. 21 came over the radio.

That is, the JH-7 that followed him and flew over the opponent's fleet.

This was not part of the initial mission plan, but the two pilots of aircraft No. 21 used to be the main force of the East China Sea Fleet aviation force. They often had various "friendly exchanges" with the Air Self-Defense Force and discovered each other during the mission. I often let the F4EJ backseat pilot, who was doing nothing most of the time, take photos with a camera to collect evidence, so I built one for myself.

The only fly in the ointment is that this camera, which is mainly used to take pictures of the Self-Defense Forces, is actually from Olympus.

“Thank you, it's very memorable.”

“Yuejiang 12, you threw two auxiliary fuel tanks at their fleet?”

Tang Yiping, who had been listening on the radio channel but never spoke, suddenly asked.

“Ah...yes, Commander.”

Wang Wei gave an explanation that he had already thought of:

“I carried one less auxiliary fuel tank than you guys, so in order to reduce fuel consumption on the return trip, I threw away the two empty auxiliary fuel tanks, which can reduce resistance.”

It is naturally impossible to deceive Tang Yiping with such nonsense.

Even if it is really necessary to dump the auxiliary fuel tank due to insufficient fuel, doing so at ultrlow altitude will only increase the risk.

But he decided not to expose this little trick.

China's aviation unit has been held back for too long with no results.

Originally, it would have been fine if it had always been in this state, but at the beginning of this year, the Air Force suddenly started a big operation in Kashmir.

As one of the few people who know the inside story, it is understandable that the young guys in the Naval Aviation Corps are itchy.

It was just an auxiliary fuel tank, and it was not like two bombs were actually dropped.

With such a shameful thing, the Royal Navy's first thought is definitely to cover the lid and make peace with it. There is absolutely no reason to make a big deal about it.

Of course not in China either.

The current overall trend in relations between China and Europe, including the United Kingdom, is to warm up. This kind of thing may be a big deal for the military, but at a higher level it is just a minor episode.

Although he felt it was a pity, Tang Yiping felt that it was a lot more balanced when he thought that Deputy Commander Zheng, who shot down the MiG-25, was not publicly publicized.

After the aerial refueling was completed, everyone returned to normal level flight.

The next 40 minutes of the return journey seemed extremely dull compared to this exciting night, so much so that it was a bit boring.

However, for Seward and Spencer on the Royal Cruise Ship, the real excitement has just begun. After experiencing such an incident, although the dinner party on the top floor was still going on, most people no longer had the excitement they had before.

The two reporters who were already sure that they had got the explosive information had long forgotten about the big shots on the ship. After filling their stomachs with a few bites of food, they returned to their suite as quickly as possible.

After the frightening 30 seconds just ended, the entire fleet fell into a headless state for nearly an hour.

Until recently, the huge fleet began to gradually turn around and sail south.

The USS Excellence aircraft carrier recovered four Sea Harrier fighter jets from two directions, but did not take off new aircraft to pursue the Chinese aircraft that had left—

Technically speaking, this is simply because the Sea Harrier, which can only fly at most about 900km/h when loaded with bombs, is simply impossible to catch up with the opponent's 6 supersonic aircraft in retreat. There is no need to make useless efforts.

But from a journalistic perspective, this kind of thing can be interpreted in ten thousand ways.

As for which one to adopt, it depends on the judgment of the media...

“What did you just take pictures of?”

In the living room of the suite, Spencer asked excitedly as he took out the laptop he had brought on board and turned it on.

“At the beginning, it was a plane approaching an aircraft carrier. What happened behind it? It was so chaotic. I wasn't really sure. I was taking pictures based on instinct.”

Seward next to him said as he took out a roughly square memory card from his camera.

“But we'll find out soon.”

Then he gently slapped Spencer's extended hand away:

“I'll do it myself, you're too messy, and you'll be in trouble if it breaks. This is SanDisk's new card. I spent 1,600 pounds to buy it, and the editor-in-chief actually said that they can only reimburse me half of the cost at most…”

This CF card with a capacity of up to 16MB was absolutely astonishing in 1997. Although it could only hold about 30 photos of average resolution together with the body storage, it was not suitable for most paper media. It's enough for use.

“Look, this is the first plane. It almost wiped the deck and flew over the Excellence..."

“This is the one closer to us in the back. I even captured the missiles under its wings. Oh my god..."

Siward's voice trembled slightly.

Coming from a writing business, she is actually not very good at taking pictures, but today, somehow, this camera seems to be like a divine help. More than half of the 30 photos are of great news value.

“You even clearly captured the aircraft's emblem and serial number. I think the editor-in-chief must like this photo very much.”

Spencer also praised next to him, "The one nearby is 81193... I think I should probably find an expert to explain the meaning of this group of numbers after I go back."

“No, we can't wait until we go back.”

Seward shook his head and said this was too slow:

“We will get the first draft out tonight and send it back to China via satellite network, so that the editor-in-chief can finalize the main tone of the report…”

The Guardian, where the two work, is not a neutral media, so many reports must make choices.

"etc…"

Spencer next to him said suddenly, and at the same time he reached out and took Seward's hand that controlled the mouse, pulled the photo back to the front, and then zoomed in:

The screen shows the Chinese plane just flying over the aircraft carrier.

“Look, this man standing next to the fence on the Excellent...”

"this…"

The resolution of digital cameras in this era did not yet support this level of magnification. The two could only guess from the other's uniform that this might be fleet commander Rear Admiral Alan West.

“Inna, do you think he was calm or panicked?”

Spencer, who retracted his hand, asked in a half-joking tone.

Siward looked back at him:

“Well…it depends on whether Major General West supports the Conservative Party or the Labor Party…”

(End of this chapter)

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