After several hours of large-scale search, the Empire finally got what it wanted through a joint operation of satellite and aerial searches. A suspicious ship was discovered about 600 nautical miles northeast of Stonehenge.
From the outside, this ship looks like an ordinary container freighter. It sails on the vast sea at a speed of more than ten knots like a normal transoceanic ship. It has the ship name and hull number that represent the company it belongs to.
From this point of view, this ship actually does not have much special features.
This sea area is not within the control area around Stonehenge, and there is nothing to blame for sailing here.
Therefore, the empire did not think there was anything wrong with the ship at first, and simply sent two nearby search fighter planes to investigate - and the two fighter planes flew over the ship at low altitude and observed it carefully.
The scene on the deck.
It was already dusk at this time, and due to the lighting problem, the two pilots did not see any problem at the first time - the container was indeed a container, the ship was indeed an ordinary ship, and the employees on it were on the platform near the bridge.
I pointed at the novelty of the aircraft in the sky and marveled at it. All this gave people the impression that it was indeed an ordinary ocean-going ship.
So the two fighters prepared to leave.
But I didn't expect that the pilot of one of the fighter planes was the type who was prone to sudden whims - he planned to imitate the scenes in those well-known videos and make a low-altitude pass on the side of these ships to make the employees on these ships grow taller.
experience.
As a result, while flying a fighter plane over the side, he suddenly noticed that something was wrong with the waterline of the ship.
Normally, a cargo ship loaded with containers will not have a shallow draft.
However, the waterline of this ship does not seem to be that deep. A long section of the waterline at the bow of the ship is exposed on the sea, some distance from the maximum waterline - it is as if the entire ship is operating close to no-load.
status.
Strange, are so many containers empty?
The pilot finished the tour, but he was confused.
He told his teammates about this discovery, and they also found it strange.
So the two thought for a while and reported the news and suspicions about the freighter to their superiors.
Upon hearing this, the superior felt that no suspicion could be let go at this time, so he issued an order. The nearest guided missile destroyer adjusted its direction and rushed here at full speed. Two helicopters also immediately took off and flew above the cargo ship.
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After the helicopter arrived, it requested the freighter to stop for inspection on the grounds of "pursuing pirates." However, unexpectedly, this request was flatly rejected by the container freighter on the grounds that this was high seas, and it continued sailing on its own terms.
The helicopter had no choice. They had no way to forcefully stop the freighter, so they had to report the situation and let their superiors make a decision.
The freighter has now become full of suspicions. Originally, the authorities were just suspicious, but now it is basically certain that there is something wrong with the freighter.
The freighter immediately became an important target.
So the superiors asked the guided missile destroyer to speed up, and at the same time asked the helicopters to keep a safe distance to follow, and at the same time asked the nearby fighter formations to move to the airspace and prepare - after all, this ship can release drones, so the air power
You must remain alert at all times and jump into battle immediately if the situation changes.
The helicopter followed me from a distance for about twenty minutes.
Later, the helicopter pilot noticed something on the freighter - changes, to be precise.
They discovered that the top covers of some containers on the freighter - mainly those that were laid sideways and facing the two sides - suddenly turned up, and then pointed "shuttle-like objects" protruded from these open containers.
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The helicopter pilot was shocked and immediately reported this special situation on the channel.
While they were racking their brains to explain what they saw, the "shuttle" in the container was also fired like a missile at an upward angle of about 45 degrees, accompanied by the unique sound of jetting and a puff of smoke.
Launched into the sky.
These things flying into the sky began to unfold when they were in mid-air.
"We mean, the container on that freighter just deployed - holy shit they launched!"
The helicopter pilot was reporting, but he must have noticed this scene, so he immediately screamed.
Just after leaving the container, these "shuttles" "turned out" two wings from below. The folded wing part was combined with its main part to form an aircraft with a flying wing structure.
Even if it has not yet reached the highest point after unpowered launch, the aircraft has been fully deployed and its own power system has started to operate simultaneously.
Along with a buzzing sound, their speed suddenly began to increase and they quickly climbed higher.
It is indeed a drone!
The helicopter pilot felt nervous.
Basically, there is no need to speculate. These drones are definitely related to the drones that participated in the attack on the Sea Wolf Squadron today.
There is no suspense now.
The empire predicted well, the enemy did release those drones through ships.
But this is not the time to feel happy about finding the target, or to sigh at the empire's excellent military deduction capabilities.
The first thing the pilots of the two helicopters realized was their situation at this time.
If these drones are indeed the ones that shot down the four Super Hornets of the Seawolf Squadron today, then their ordinary helicopter will definitely not be a combined enemy of these drones.
So the pilots of the two helicopters responded immediately - they reported the sudden emergency on the channel and flew quickly at the same time.
Under their operation, the helicopter approached the sea at high speed like it was crashing.
But the helicopter certainly wasn't trying to crash, they were just trying to quickly lower its altitude.
At the moment when they were about to come into close contact with the sea, the two helicopters managed to level up and returned to the hovering state - the helicopter's landing gear should be only a few meters away from the roiling waves.
You definitely can't run away, let alone fight, so helicopter pilots can only rely on this method to get as close to the sea as possible to avoid drone attacks.
I just hope there isn't any sophisticated technology on these drones.
As expected, the drones that had just risen into the air immediately adjusted their attitude and headed towards the two helicopters.
But perhaps because the locking technology used by these drones is similar to that of modern fighter aircraft, they do not have any good attack methods when faced with helicopters flying slowly at very low altitudes over the sea.
However, just because there is no good attack means, it does not mean that there is no way. With so many drones, as long as they get close enough to launch missiles, the helicopter will definitely not be able to avoid them.
What protected the helicopter was actually an Imperial fighter jet hovering at high altitude.
These fighter planes were originally circling in a wide range with the freighter as the center, so even though there were no helicopters, they immediately noticed the drones launched from the freighter, so they entered a combat stance without hesitation.
Facing UAVs with good radar stealth, the two fighters had no other choice but to close the distance and engage in close combat.
In fact, these two fighter jets can wait for reinforcements from their teammates at high altitude.
It is obviously an irrational behavior to challenge more than a dozen drones with excellent performance and excellent combat capabilities with the power of two fighter jets. In addition, their radar bombs are obviously a bit unreasonable to deal with such radar-invisible drones.
Optimistic, so the best way is to wait for the superiors to mobilize a large number of fighter planes, and everyone can encircle and suppress them together.
However, this means giving up the two helicopters below.
The two pilots thought for less than a second and came to the same conclusion.
At least move the drone's target away first.
Compared to helicopters, my jets are more capable than drones.
As long as these drones know who is the main target, then they can buy enough time for the helicopter below.
Even if you get hit, just skydive.
It's just that both pilots have forgotten one fact - parachuting is not an easy task in an air battle.
Therefore, the moment the dark sky at dusk was pierced by the flashes of missiles and cannons, the helicopter was temporarily safe.
The crew members of the two helicopters knew that the friendly forces were trying to buy them time, so they flew the helicopters to their ultimate speed without hesitation and left in a direction away from the battlefield.
In the air, the two fighter jets were already locked in a bitter battle.
Unlike the Sea Wolf Squadron, this time the fighter jets were not attacked by drones, but this does not mean that these drones are not a threat. Their small and flexible fuselage and relatively less obvious infrared heat sources can be more effective.
It avoids the tracking of missiles, and with its chaff and heat decoys, it appears to be able to face missile attacks from a certain distance with ease.
In the first wave of attacks, all the missiles of the two fighter jets missed their targets.
This is expected.
"Keep speed and height!"
One of the pilots said to his teammates: "There are too many of these drones. We must not let them get entangled."
"clear!"
The two fighters immediately adjusted their posture. Facing the drones with maneuverability and numerical advantages, they had to keep a safe distance.
They used the speed of the dive to launch a surprise attack, then pulled up, climbed, and escaped.
And their operation was indeed correct at this time.
Taking advantage of the fact that the drones have just been launched into the air and have not yet gained sufficient speed, they are energy suppressed to prevent them from using their own number and mobility to get close to you.
You must know that UAVs also consume energy when climbing from low altitudes to high altitudes. Although their limited power can provide them with a sufficient thrust-to-weight ratio due to their light empty weight, they still need to maintain speed when climbing to high altitudes.
Not that easy.
The speed of UAVs cannot be too low. The missiles they use are miniaturized close combat missiles. Once the speed of the carrier aircraft is low, the threat posed by the launch of these missiles will naturally be low.
During the second wave of raids, one of the fighter planes used an infrared grenade and hit a drone that had adjusted its direction during the climb, causing a sudden drop in energy.
The drone was instantly turned into a fireball.
"I killed one!"
The two pilots looked at the falling drone, feeling no joy at shooting down the enemy plane.
For no other reason than that the loss of one drone is only a drop in the bucket for all the drones flying in the sky.
There are still a large number of drones in the sky trying to get close to the two fighters to launch attacks - and because the two fighters have to maintain constant attacks, the energy difference between the two fighters and the drones is gradually narrowed.
They used two rounds of attacks to shoot down one drone, but the price they paid was that the remaining drones closed the distance.
If this continues, it will be difficult for them to reduce the number of drones to a safe level before they start fighting with them.
The two pilots had similar thoughts - the most terrifying thing about these drones was not their maneuverability and stealth, but their huge numbers and their ability to be consumed at any cost.
Not only can they launch attacks in groups like they did when they shot down all the Sea Wolf squadrons today, but they can also forcefully use their numbers during a head-on battle to bring the air battle to their advantage.
Just like now, facing the swarming drones, the two pilots must constantly maintain a state of suppression, but the suppression efficiency is not high due to the characteristics of the drones.
So in this way, their ammunition will always be exhausted, and it will be difficult to knock all the drones out of the sky before the ammunition is exhausted. As long as reinforcements cannot arrive quickly, they will eventually be let go.
On the road to chronic death.
For the enemy, it is profitable to use even ten drones in exchange for one imperial fighter plane. After all, the cost and cost are here.
A moment later, two fighter planes launched a third wave of attacks. This time they spent a certain amount of ammunition and shot down two drones.
But the remaining drones in the sky are already very close to the two fighters, and the missiles they launch can already pose a sufficient threat to the two fighters.
In this way, for the two fighters, the situation will take a turn for the worse. The drones can start to attack at this time to weaken the energy of the two fighters. The energy gap between the two sides will become smaller and smaller, and the two fighters will eventually fall into
A situation of being besieged from all sides.
Once such a situation takes shape, no matter how powerful the squadron is, there is no guarantee that it will be able to escape unscathed.
Both pilots felt the crisis, but they could not make any more responses. They could only work hard to slow down the deterioration of the situation. The few good news was that the two helicopters were killed because of their delay.
He successfully left the dangerous airspace due to time and shifting battlefield; and the nearest friendly fighter squadron was almost on the scene.