The "War-16" has a strike capability that exceeds all active attack aircraft, not only with larger ammunition capacity and longer range, but also with the ability to use all precision-guided munitions that are in service and will be put into service, and destroy ground and maritime targets under any meteorological conditions.

When lifted off with a maximum take-off weight of 46 tons, the "War-16A" can carry up to 16 tons of bombs, the maximum combat radius of full internal oil is 1,800 kilometers. One air refueling can reach 3,000 kilometers, and the transition range with 5 sub-fuel tanks can reach 7,500 kilometers.

Relatively speaking, the other performances of "War-16A" are not outstanding. The maximum flight speed is only Mach 1.6, the maximum available ceiling is 18,000 meters, the available overload is +5G to -2G, the maximum sea level flight speed is 1,100 kilometers per hour, and the maximum climb rate is 240 meters per second.

Of course, for super-heavy attack aircraft with a size close to tactical bombers, such flight performance is acceptable.

The Imperial Air Force chose the "War-16A" to develop a new generation of electronic attack aircraft based on it, which is to look at its huge improvement potential.

With a take-off weight of more than 45 tons and huge internal space, even if the "War-16A" does not have an internal bullet bay, it can place electronic warfare equipment inside the fuselage like the "Occasion-8FZ", thereby freeing up valuable external hanging points to carry ammunition to strike air defense systems.

Thanks to the miniaturization of electronic equipment, "War-16AD" only sacrificed the back fuel tank located behind the cockpit, and the internal oil load capacity was reduced by 1,800 kilograms. Because there are 5 heavy-duty external plug-in points of 2,000 kilograms, and generally no need to use heavy-duty ground strike ammunition, nor do you need to mount an electronic interference pod. You can usually use 3 heavy-duty external plug-in points to mount the secondary fuel tank, so the combat radius is not only not shortened, but also slightly increased, reaching 2,000 kilometers, and the maximum air stagnation time without air refueling is as high as 6 hours.

The key is the parallel two-seat layout adopted by the "War-16A".

As mentioned earlier, the Imperial Air Force initially regarded the "War-16" as a tactical bomber, so it also needed to consider the problems caused by long-term flights.

Obviously, at least 2 pilots are needed.

No matter how advanced the autonomous driving equipment is, as long as the normal mission cycle exceeds 6 hours, two pilots must be arranged.

On tactical aircraft, it is usually a column layout.

There are three advantages of this design: one is to reduce the windward area, that is, to reduce flight resistance; the other is to reduce the horizontal projection area, which is equivalent to reducing the probability of being hit by small-caliber high-fire weapons such as machine guns; the third is that the structure is simpler and can reduce the weight of hundreds of kilograms.

The disadvantages are also very prominent: it must be equipped with two sets of flight control systems, so communication and coordination between pilots are not very convenient.

For tactical bombers, the advantages of the column layout are not very valuable, and the disadvantages are more prominent.

That's why tactical bombers all adopt a side-by-side two-seat layout. In order to show the positioning of "heavy" and "attack", the side-by-side two-seat layout was adopted, and it has been used. It was not replaced with a vertical two-seat layout when it was modified later.

Of course, this is also related to the Air Force's hope to put the "War-16A" into production as soon as possible.

For electronic attack aircraft, the parallel two-seat layout is definitely better than the longitudinal two-seat layout, especially when there are only two pilots.

To be precise, there is only one pilot on the "War-16AD", and the electronic warfare officer sitting on the right is.

On the "Ocamp-5CZ", which also has air defense and suppression capabilities, there are 4 members. In addition to the pilot, there are 3 electronic warfare officers, and the front co-pilot also serves as a weapon officer. Because the "Ocamp-8FZ" has only 2 members, it does not have air defense and suppression capabilities.

Although with the advancement of technology, several electronic warfare officers are no longer needed to operate electronic warfare equipment, it is certainly necessary to allow two members to work together, such as pilots to control airborne weapons when necessary. It is obvious that sitting side by side can more effectively communicate and coordinate.

Of course, we can also use a set of electronic warfare control equipment together.

To be honest, the Imperial Air Force was very satisfied with the "War-16AD". It placed a batch purchase order before completing the acceptance test, and the first batch of purchases exceeded 200 aircraft. In addition to replacing the "Occurrence-8FZ", it also replaced the "War-10AD".

In the Air Force's tactical system, the status of "War-16AD" is still above "War-16A".

The reason is simple: the Imperial Air Force does not lack attack aircraft, and heavy attack aircraft is sufficient, not to mention that there are a large number of strategic bombers. In contrast, dedicated electronic attack aircraft are short of limits, and the "Ocamp-8FZ" lacks the ability to implement hard destruction.

During the Posar Bay War, the Imperial Air Force's attack aircraft fleet often needed the Navy's "Occasion-5CZ" to provide cover.

Not to mention the issue of combat efficiency, I can’t stand it in terms of face.

In addition, the comprehensive combat effectiveness of "Occasion-5CZ" does exceed that of "Occasion-8FZ", and even the ability to perform suppression and interference combat can be enhanced by carrying more electronic warfare pods. In addition, it has the ability to destroy hard, so the combat flexibility of "Occasion-5CZ" is far greater than that of "Occasion-8FZ".

Practical combat has long proved that hard destruction is the most reliable means of attack.

Faced with advanced air defense systems, the reliability of electromagnetic suppression interference is often challenged and even questioned by attack aircraft pilots.

According to the previous plan, the Air Force will retire all "Occurrence-8FZ" within 5 years, and only retain "War-10AD".

Although the "War-16AD" has been designed and entered the acceptance and test flight stage, if you have not received the grant, you will not be able to mass production.

In other words, in the future, we can only borrow the "Occurrence-5CZ" from the Navy to perform electronic warfare missions.

If the war hadn't broke out, the Imperial Air Force would have no electronic attack aircraft available for a long time.

Don’t forget that even the “Occurrence-5CZ” has to face the embarrassing situation where the body’s life is about to be exhausted and will be retired one after another after 10 years. However, the next generation of electronic attack aircraft is still led by the Navy and developed on the basis of the “Occurrence-12A” and has no direct relationship with the Air Force.

At that time, the Air Force still has to purchase "pickles".

It is not difficult to see from this that the value of "War-16AD" is so great.

Unfortunately, after the outbreak of the war, the procurement plan of "War-16AD" was approved. Even if the Imperial Air Force immediately adjusted its production plan and prioritized the "War-16AD" before "War-16A", and directly used the already produced fuselage, it was impossible to obtain enough "War-16AD" immediately, not to mention that the acceptance and test flight of "War-16AD" has not been completed.

So far, the Imperial Air Force has only more than 30 "War-16AD" aircraft, and more than 10 of them are undergoing acceptance and testing.

In other words, the remaining "War-16AD" all participated in the raid of Trivan.

This is also the main reason why the Imperial Air Force arranged for the "Occurrence-8FZ" to open the way in the front and let the "War-16AD" follow up in the back and perform the air defense and suppression mission.

The 20 "War-16AD" that participated in the war have not been accepted yet, and many electronic warfare equipment have not even been debugged!

Weapon control systems are actually ready-made. For example, the fire control radar comes from AESA developed for "War-11C/D", and completed combat tests before the war. The fire control software is similar to "War-10AD", and the debugging and matching work with the weapon system has been completed on the test aircraft.

To put it bluntly, these "War-16ADs" can carry anti-radiation missiles to perform strike missions, but they cannot use electronic warfare equipment.

Arranged "War-16AD" to perform air defense suppression tasks, but in fact, it is also conducting acceptance tests.

As for combat effectiveness, there is no need to worry about it.

The key is that "War-16AD" can mount and use many heavy weapons that "War-10AD" cannot use, thus obtaining a strike capability far exceeding "War-10AD".

For example, the KD-24A heavy anti-radiation missile with a range of more than 300 kilometers and a flight speed of up to Mach 4.

In fact, this kind of missile is tailor-made for "War-16AD".

The Imperial Air Force initially chose to use the "War-10A" to perform air defense suppression missions. One of the key reasons is that light fighters are more flexible. According to the theory at that time, light and flexible light fighters are easier to get rid of when attacked by air defense missiles.

Of course, the basis of this theory is that anti-radiation weapons are not advanced enough.

To put it bluntly, because anti-radiation weapons, such as anti-radiation missiles, have performance defects, air-defense suppression fighters have to venture into the effective range of air-defense missiles and launch an attack by fighting bayonets, so they can only choose combat aircraft with stronger survivability.

The same is true for actual combat results.

In the Poei War, the combat loss rate of air defense suppression fighter jets ranked first among tactical aircraft, and reached 5 times the average loss rate of tactical aviation. Even in the Poei War, the loss rate of air defense suppression fighter jets remained high, surpassing other tactical aircraft.

The reason is also very simple. No matter how agile fighter is, it is not as good as an air defense missile.

It is precisely this that the Imperial Air Force chose heavy attack aircraft and began to develop heavy anti-radiation missiles with longer ranges and better performance.

In fact, this statement should be said the opposite.

After deciding to develop heavy anti-radiation missiles, the Imperial Air Force discovered that it needed a heavy platform to carry and use this type of missile. If it was still a light platform like "War-10AD", after mounting two heavy anti-radiation missiles, you would not be able to carry other weapons and equipment.

Of course, the KD-24A is an unprecedented missile.

The seeker of KD-24A actually comes from KD-18C. It has full-band detection capabilities and memory functions. Moreover, the number of attack route calibration points has increased from 12 to 48, thereby obtaining more accurate route planning capabilities and being able to deal with deception and interference more effectively.

With a launch mass of up to 1,800 kilograms, the KD-24A has obtained a range of more than 300 kilometers and an average flight speed of more than Mach 4.

This speed is faster than most air defense missiles!

In addition, the range of 300 kilometers exceeds that of almost all air defense missiles today.

In other words, the "War-16AD" can launch KD-24A outside the range of enemy air defense missiles, and no longer need to compete with the air defense system for bayonets.

As for power, it must be enough.

The warhead weighing 250 kilograms has a killing radius of 100 meters, ensuring the destruction of any kind of anti-aircraft radar.

From another perspective, it is because there is no need to risk entering the strike range of air defense missiles, so there is no need to have air defense suppression fighter jets to have good maneuverability.

In fact, the KD-24A has not yet fully met the performance indicators proposed by the Air Force.

For example, you do not have the ability to deal with mobile targets and time-sensitive targets for the time being.

To put it bluntly, if the enemy deploys the radar on a maneuvering platform such as a tracked chassis, shuts down the power immediately after being threatened, and transfers at the fastest speed, it will be very sure to avoid the KD-24A fired from 300 kilometers away. After all, it takes at least 4 minutes to fly 300 kilometers at a speed of Mach 4. Common tracked vehicles can travel thousands of meters within 4 minutes. Combined with active baits, or fake targets with the same radiation characteristics, it is more likely to make the KD-24A blind.

The key is to deploy radar on a maneuverable platform and improve the tactical maneuverability of the platform itself is the main means to improve survivability.

It is precisely this that the Imperial Air Force proposed that anti-radiation missiles must have the ability to deal with time-sensitive maneuvering targets.

Simply put, after the target disappears, you can stay over the battlefield for a while, and wait until the target reappears before launching an attack.

This requirement is not simple at all, and it is very difficult to implement.

The key is that extending the time of stagnation and flight speed are inconsistent.

If the flight speed of Mach 4 remains unchanged, then 15 minutes of flight will require three times the fuel to increase, and the curb mass of the missile will exceed 4,000 kg.

Obviously, the Imperial Air Force will definitely not accept 4-ton anti-radiation missiles.

To obtain longer time to stagnate, the speed indicator must be reduced.

As long as you lower it to subsonic speed, not to mention getting 15 minutes of battlefield stagnation time, even if you fly for one hour, it will not be difficult.

Unfortunately, the Imperial Air Force also cannot accept anti-radiation missiles that fly too slowly.

In response to this contradiction, the only solution is to use two-level bullet bodies, or to separate the warhead from the bullet body during the attack stage, and equip the warhead with a small engine for acceleration to ensure that the sprint flight speed of Mach 4 is obtained during the attack stage.

This is the KD-24B that is still under development.

Although the same number is used, but the serial number is different, compared with the KD-24A, the KD-24B is actually a brand new missile.

Strictly speaking, except for the warhead and seeker, the two have nothing in common.

Of course, it is much more difficult to develop the KD-24B than the KD-24A.

The key is the power system.

The KD-24A's power system is actually a liquid fuel ramjet integrated with a rocket, and it is basically not technically difficult. The KD-24B requires at least two power systems, and these two power systems must reach extremely high technical standards.

To be said, the requirements put forward by the Imperial Air Force are too high.

To put it bluntly, on the basis of maintaining the flight performance of KD-24A, you can obtain at least 15 minutes of battlefield air stagnation time.

This means that it still needs to fly 300 kilometers at a speed of Mach 4!

After that, it only flew over the battlefield at subsonic speed for 15 minutes, and after rediscovering the target, it launched an attack at Mach 4.

The worst thing is that the curb weight must not exceed 1,800 kg.

In fact, this is also the upper limit of the universal heavy-load external plug-in points for tactical combat aircraft. Although it can be nominally hung at 2,000 kilograms of ammunition, in actual use, some margin must be left, especially when mounting missiles, special electrical adapters must be used.

There is no doubt that if you don’t increase quality and get better performance, more advanced technology will definitely be needed.

That's why the development and planning of KD-24B has been delayed again and again, and even after the outbreak of the war, it did not improve much and has only existed in the design drawings.
Chapter completed!