Empire Conquest-Chapter 682 - 16 Opening Battle_3

Engaging with the complete system of the Empire’s Air Force, the Iraqi fighter jets, regardless of their claimed advanced performance, were practically defenseless.

The key issue was that the Iraqi Air Force had too many gaps in their system.

These problems became evident during the Iran-Iraq War.

In combat with Boi Air Force, the Iraqi Air Force had suffered from the lack of Early Warning Aircraft and the absence of long-range attack capabilities.

Thus, they spent a huge sum to purchase MG-29s from the Luosha Democratic Republic that could use Medium-range Air-to-Air Missiles.

Additionally, they bought over 20 MG-25 fighters capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 3 and posing a threat to Early Warning Aircraft.

Regrettably, the Iraqi Air Force never acquired any Early Warning Aircraft to operationalize.

Relying on Air Defense Radar, it was impossible to detect the 4 "War-11B" jets lying in wait at ultra-low altitude, hence, it was also impossible to recognize the trap.

Only after the two "War-10B" jets turned did Li Tianling start to climb with his fighter.

At this point, the "War-11B"’s most prominent performance advantage was fully displayed.

It obtained exceptional vertical maneuverability thanks to its superior thrust-to-weight ratio.

In aerial combat conditions, the "War-11B"’s thrust-to-weight ratio exceeded 1.25, and looking globally, the only fighter that could match it was Newland’s F-15A.

In fact, this was also the "War-11B"’s unique skill.

During opposition training with the Navy’s "War-9B," the Air Force pilots concluded that only by engaging in vertical maneuvers would they stand a chance of victory. To put it another way, the "War-11B"’s hovering capabilities were indeed not that great, but its climb and dive abilities could easily overpower other fighters.

This is also a major characteristic of "interceptors."

Don’t forget, when designing the "War-11," the Air Force explicitly required it to replace not only air superiority fighters but also all interceptors.

In extreme conditions, the "War-11B" could climb from sea level to 6,000 meters in 1 minute and to 10,000 meters in 2 minutes.

Of course, its acceleration ability was also outstanding.

Similarly, in extreme conditions, the "War-11B" could accelerate from a cruising speed of Mach 0.9 to Mach 2.25 at an altitude of 8,000 meters in just 115 seconds.

Li Tianling’s ambush plan hinged on the "War-11B"’s exceptional climbing and acceleration capabilities.

If the climb could be completed within 2 minutes, then even if detected by Iraq’s Air Defense Radar, with the Iraqi Air Force’s command structure, they might not issue the order in time for the two MG-29s, already within the ambush radius, to turn back, and those two Iraqi fighters would not have the chance to escape.

Of course, the execution of this plan depended mainly on the performance of the "Zhi-8C."

To put it accurately, it was about seizing control of all tactical nodes.

Furthermore, it concerned whether the two "Zhi-8C" would mess things up.

Fortunately, those two guys became calmer than anyone else once on the battlefield, surely they would not make any silly mistakes, let alone joke with their own lives.

In their own words, they haven’t married or had children yet – they were very afraid of dying.

Just as the "War-11B" Plane Group was climbing with full force, the two "War-10B" were escaping at full speed to the south.

According to the battle information from the Early Warning Aircraft, those two MG-29s had already activated their Fire Control Radar and were accelerating in pursuit of the escaping "War-10B."

The Iraqi fighters had locked onto the "War-10B" but had not fired yet simply because the missile range was insufficient.

Firing from tail-chase, the range of a Medium-range Air-to-Air Missile was only a third of what it would be in a head-on interception, and the probability of missing was extremely high.

Without sufficient confidence, pilots generally do not waste ammunition.