The old man crew operating the missiles were indeed professionals. Based on their experience on the battlefield, they did not place the anti-aircraft vehicle next to the Shilka River, but rather nearly a hundred meters away.
If their vehicle is a "high-performance version" equipped with the 9S16 flat box passive radar detection system, then they could get even further away.
However, each anti-aircraft company only had one of these vehicles, and Alexei had already sold them.
However, it doesn't matter. The manufacturer took into account the situation of dispersed positions during the development. The standard version of the SAM-9 can be used with the Shilka River and lock onto the target using the gun-aiming radar on the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun.
Because it was a late-model Shilka from 1985, the onboard RpK-2 Topol air search radar was still not fast at detecting targets, but it was much better than the earlier version, which had a kill probability of only 0.3.
"The target started to turn and it came towards us. The other side detected our radar signal."
Inside the control room, the commander's walkie-talkie crackled to life.
This is the observer he left outside. The young man has good eyesight; he can barely pinpoint Xia Yu and the others' location using night vision goggles.
But was the other party really coming just because of the airborne radar warning receiver?
Especially just a few minutes earlier, their other Shilka River tank was accurately hit by the enemy, which gave the veteran tank commander an instinctive feeling that something was wrong.
Because this style of play is really like the American team!
Did they upgrade their targeting pods and use precision-guided weapons?
So, experience really matters; the veteran train commander guessed half of it correctly and was able to quickly deduce the other half as well.
"Calling the observer: Did you see a laser beam during their attack just now?"
The old train conductor asked in rapid succession.
"No, no, wait, commander, there's a laser beam shining on your vehicle at the 8 o'clock position!"
The observer turned around and was horrified to discover that their anti-aircraft vehicle was being targeted by the enemy.
Invisible to the naked eye, but under the view of a low-light night vision device, the high-power laser beam is clearly visible.
Afica's army rarely has this awareness, so they fight poorly and suffer heavy losses. However, if they are willing to spend money and hire reliable foreign mercenaries, the intensity of the battle can instantly rise to a new level.
For example, the Shilka River train crew did not panic after learning that they had been locked onto by the other side from the ground.
"Dmitri, quick, level the gun barrels, fire at 5 o'clock from 8 o'clock and bombard them."
The tank commander quickly issued combat orders to the crew.
If we don't take out this ground-based illumination team, their vehicle will be a sitting duck.
"yes!"
The search radar was not turned off, but the Shilka River quickly switched from air-to-air to ground-to-ground. As the turret rotated to the 8 o'clock position, the muzzle of the four-barreled AZp-23 23mm anti-aircraft gun was also successfully leveled.
Even from nearly a kilometer away, 06 still witnessed this horrifying scene through the L-3 Insight ScARAb-Ground.
"We've been exposed. Quick, evacuate to the designated location."
With one click to shut down, 06 grabbed the machine and shouted for everyone to evacuate.
Having grown accustomed to seeing rebels and terrorists being ravaged by 20mm and 30mm machine guns, they have no desire to experience being concentrated fire from a quadruple 23mm machine gun.
This is also part of the operational plan: evacuate to a safe area immediately upon exposure.
After all, the boss said he would rather give them bonuses than send their families compensation.
Before entering the position, 05 had chosen a crater where they could take shelter from the artillery fire. The moment the artillery fire started, they were less than 10 meters away from the crater.
"Da la~ da la~ da la~~"
The distinctive, sharp sound of cannons rang out over the Shilka River.
In the continuous bursts of 4x5 rounds each, high-explosive incendiary tracer rounds and armor-piercing incendiary tracer rounds flew out of the gun barrel alternately, spinning and becoming the brightest line of fire in the night sky, sweeping over the position where 05 and the others had just been.
After making a sharp turn and flying back to the battlefield, Xia Yu saw the laser beam disappear and was about to ask what was going on when he witnessed this horrific scene.
This level of skill is impressive; the rebels have hired some real experts this time!
"Calling 05, what's the situation?"
Xia Yu immediately contacted his employees.
"We are safe, boss, you don't need to worry about us."
"05 responded loudly over the radio," 05 replied.
The four of them were crammed into the crater, with shells whizzing overhead. Luckily, they weren't programmable airburst shells, or they would have been riddled with holes by now.
If you do your homework beforehand, Soviet machine guns are relatively easy to defend against; just hide in a corner where they can't be hit.
This is easier to achieve in the wild, but much more difficult inside a building. It's hard to demolish a building in the Shilka River, but it's as easy to get through a wall as to get through paper. Even behind a load-bearing column, it's not very safe.
"Boss, this is I, we're on our way to the scene immediately!"
Anton's other group packed up their gear and prepared to head to Camp 4.
"No need. Stay put. The enemy is focusing on preventing ground-based beam guidance, so you'll be under close surveillance as well!"
Xia Yu did not accept Anton's request because it was meaningless.
"Mongoose, it's up to you this time."
The ground guidance team helps to roughly mark the target, and the fighter jet's laser targeting pod can do the rest.
"Leave it to me!"
Stimulated by caffeine, Hans was still in a state of excitement.
He then repeatedly pressed the buttons on both sides of the monitor to zoom in on the target area to the highest magnification.
"Whoosh~~"
A laser beam descended from the sky, nearly startling the observer in the tree so much that he fell off.
"Calling the commander, laser! Their fighter jets can also use laser targeting!"
This is bad news for the crew, but the good news is that the laser's trajectory is still being adjusted, and the enemy hasn't locked onto them yet.
In addition, they didn't fly very high; they just happened to be outside the range of the Shilka River.
"Quickly, we need to get moving."
The driver was told to start the car, and the conductor picked up the walkie-talkie again.
However, before he could switch channels, the laser beam from the sky shone on the vehicle on the Shilka River.
"Whoosh~~"
Hans pressed the pickle key, and the ghost in the sky dropped a second GbU-12.
"Buzz~~"
The driver stepped on the gas, almost stalling the 30-year-old UTD-20 diesel engine, but at least the car sped off.
As long as we take action, we can buy time.
"Vasily, what are you waiting for? I've already locked onto the target for you."
The train commander shouted into the radio.
Vasily is the name of the missile vehicle commander; they are not fighting as a single vehicle.
"Haha, I'm just waiting for the perfect moment!"
Vasily's voice finally came through the channel, and in the next second:
"Pfft~ Whoosh~~"
A hundred meters away, a SAM-9plus missile vehicle automatically ejected its launch box cover on the left outer side. The refurbished Arrow-1 missile shot out after activation, its target aimed directly at the incoming F-4K Phantom.
"Enemy missiles! Enemy missiles!"
The missile came hurtling towards us, and a piercing alarm sounded throughout the cabin. The infrared warning system detected the threat immediately.
Radar warnings are ineffective when facing infrared missiles, but where the hell did this missile come from?!
At this moment, Xia Yu really wanted to swear.
Although he was mentally prepared, the rebels had hidden themselves far too well.
Two Shilka tanks are displayed in the open, and then the outcome is decided by missiles in secret, right?
At first, Sasu didn't think that way, but isn't this the monster that the Shilka River can't defeat with concentrated fire defenses?
"Pfft~ Whoosh~~"
The second rocket-1 lifted off again, leaving both ground guidance teams stunned. "Boss, this... this..."
That's nothing, that's how the SAM-9 works. Fire two missiles in quick succession to increase the probability of a hit. Anyway, these missiles aren't as expensive as airplanes.
In addition, if the first shot misses, the aircraft will consume energy while maneuvering, which will inevitably make it "clumsy" when facing a second shot.
Faced with such a continuous offensive, will the Weasel crew be able to escape this time?
"Mongoose, abandon all gem roads!"
As Xia Yu pulled up the nose of the plane, he gave Hans the order.
"yes!"
At this point, survival is the priority; discard all attachments that can be thrown away.
"Boom!"
Losing laser guidance, at the same time that Hans discarded the remaining four GbU-12s, the one that had just been aimed at the Shilka River landed in a corner of the camp and exploded upon impact.
Ugh, my $1200 gamble, my 4x$1200 gamble.
This is the sound of money going down the drain.
Xia Yu's heart was bleeding. Luckily, the previous one could be reimbursed 500,000 yuan, otherwise he would have lost everything.
For a businessman, making less profit is a loss.
But with two missiles right behind him, and he's in a real bind, why is he so worried about losing these few coins? Is this guy too confident in his skills?
"I'm an air combat ace who's shot down five fighter jets. You think you can take me down with just two SAMs?"
Xia Yu turned off the infrared alarm, and the flashing "SAm" cursor on the screen went out. He silently repeated this to himself.
This is no joke!
The F-4K performed several maneuvers, using energy maneuvering theory to outmaneuver the missile for a while.
The SAM-9, also known as the Arrow-1 missile, has a head-on range of 7 kilometers, but it consumed a lot of energy before it even reached the halfway point, and its attitude became sluggish.
"Puff~ Puff~ Puff~ Puff~~"
Xia Yu fired half of the heat decoys without hesitation. No matter how strong the anti-jamming capability of the seeker head was, it could not filter out the interference of these false targets at this moment.
"Boom!"
The exploding missile turned into beautiful fireworks, illuminating the second Arrow-1 missile, which hadn't been used much.
At this moment, the F-4K, which had lost energy due to continuous maneuvering, stopped dodging, and Xia Yu turned the afterburner to the maximum.
"Boom!"
The monster's speed continued to increase until it broke the sound barrier, generating a shockwave.
Missiles that also accelerate to Mach 1 or higher followed closely behind. The SAM-9 Plus, which was equipped with solid fuel, could easily reach its maximum speed of Mach 2.
With a top speed of only Mach 1.9, the Spey Ghost, which couldn't even reach that speed at this moment, seemed to be in danger, but how could Xia Yu fight an unprepared battle?
He pressed several buttons on the dashboard, and a system inside the engine, similar to that of the Harrier, began to inject life into the engine.
"Buzz~~"
Once the old Spey reached its thrust limit, it was like it was on drugs, and the speed of the Phantom, which was being pursued by missiles little by little, suddenly increased dramatically.
Feeling the extreme acceleration, Hans subconsciously glanced at the airspeed indicator, only to see the needle, which had never broken the "2" mark, suddenly flash by.
This...this...the boss took the plane to have its engine replaced?
Xia Yu had planned to change it, but it was too late, so she changed it to water injection to speed things up first.
While its performance may not reach the supersonic cruise capabilities of the F-4X, it can still accelerate quickly enough to destroy a missile in a short time.
"Boom!"
The pursuit shifted from head-on to tail-to-tail, and after chasing for 10 kilometers, the SAM-9 Plus ran out of fuel and activated its self-destruct sequence. However, the shrapnel it emitted failed to hit the Phantom, which was only two or three hundred meters away.
With its water tank depleted, the F-4K's speed dropped back below Mach 2, but fortunately, it wasn't a big problem at this point.
Did it hit?
Hearing two explosions in succession, Anton and his men were not the only ones who were distressed; the old train commander and Vasily were equally worried.
However, the old radar display on the Shilka River, with its ever-flickering spot that had been flashing since the start of the battle, did not disappear with the sound of the explosion.
"Vasily, you blind fool, you missed!"
Infrared missiles are usually fired and then left unattended, but even though they didn't care about Vasily, the old tank commander still wanted to scold him.
"Don't worry, I still have two missiles in my car, enough to hold them off until they run out of fuel."
Vasily was in a good mood, after all, there was only one enemy, not to mention that he seemed to have just discarded most of his payload.
"I'm afraid I'll go crazy if I do it again. This money is just too hard to earn!"
"That's definitely true after all," the old train commander couldn't help but complain.
"They're heading this way again. Do they have laser-guided bombs?"
Seeing the light point turn and move towards them, he contacted Vasily again.
"Even if it exists, I'm not afraid. I've never shot down a laser-guided bomb before!"
The old tank commander knew that Vasily was referring to the events of 1994, when the Osmun had used a SAM-13 to shoot down a laser-guided FAB-500 aerial bomb (500 kg) that had been misfired.
But that's several vehicles firing multiple shots simultaneously; it's better to interrupt the enemy's laser beam than to replicate it.
"Calling the commander, the laser beam is coming down again, and it's aimed at the missile vehicle."
Although it flew out of sight, the spotter kept an eye on the entire battlefield environment, so he spotted the laser beam dropped by the F-4K immediately.
"This time he learned his lesson and aimed from outside my range, but I see he still has a few rounds left."
No more, no less, exactly two shots.
The distance is too far, and even the maximum magnification on the screen looks blurry. But it's not like we're shooting at a heavily armored target like a tank. The 136 kg multi-purpose MK-19 armor-piercing explosive/fragmentation warhead would kill us instantly if it grazed us.
Having survived the ordeal, Hans didn't hesitate to fire the coded laser beam, then selected the calf on the left, unlocked the guide head, and searched for the laser marker.
"Whoosh~~"
The missile engine ignited, and the AGM-65E, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, left its pylon and accelerated toward the missile launcher under the guidance of the coded laser beam.
Vasily was confident he could intercept it, but something was wrong with this laser-guided bomb!
Not only is it moving so fast, but it also has a tail flame.
"Boom~ Rumble~~"
A massive fireball rose amidst smoke, followed by two consecutive explosions. The remaining two Arrow-1 rockets on the launch pad undoubtedly detonated, tearing apart the incredulous Vasily and his crew.
It hit the first shot and was even faster.
There's a reason why they're expensive. When it comes to attacking air defense targets, missiles are the first choice. With their speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness, the enemy simply doesn't have time to react.
Xia Yu manually balanced the Ghost, which was lighter on the left and heavier on the right, while Hans in the back seat continued to operate the pod and reset the cursor to zero.
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