Empire Conquest-Chapter 754 - 49 Rushing to the Front_2
Even now, there’s still a large number of these High-altitude Guns in the Iraqi Army, and they shot down several Alliance Army combat aircraft in the past month.
The protective design of the "Zhi-10A" was specifically aimed at the Shilkha’s 23 millimeter machine gun.
Don’t forget, the key parts of the "Zhi-10A" can withstand direct attacks from 23 millimeter high-explosive bombs, and the secondary parts can still function normally for more than half an hour after being hit.
More importantly, the Shilkha is indeed outdated.
Mainly due to the lack of advanced fire control systems, it is not very efficient in dealing with ultra-low altitude targets because of slow response.
In addition, the effective range of the 23 millimeter machine gun doesn’t even reach 3000 meters.
Not to mention that the "Zhi-10A" is equipped with the "Lian Nuo" KD-28 Heavy Anti-Tank Missile with a range of up to 8 kilometers, even cheap 80 millimeter rockets have a range of 3000 meters.
Relatively speaking, the 2S6 Tunguska self-propelled air defense system is a real threat.
As a self-propelled air defense system to replace the Shilkha, the Tunguska not only replaced the four 23 millimeter machine guns with two 30 millimeter machine guns with a longer range and greater power, greatly increasing the firepower against low-altitude targets and gaining the ability to destroy armed helicopters, but it also integrated two sets of a total of eight 9M311 type short-range Air Defense Missiles, solving the issue of the shorter range compared to Anti-tank Missiles.
To put it simply, the Tunguska was born to counter the "Zhi-10A."
Facing light armed helicopters like the "Z-7," the Shilkha may not be advanced, but it’s barely sufficient and still poses enough of a threat.
Only when dealing with heavy armed helicopters like the "Zhi-10A" does one require a more advanced air defense system.
According to intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Bureau, the Tunguska was actually developed to counter the "Zhi-10A," with the support of the West Continent Group for the Luosha Army’s new air defense system.
This system granted the Army effective field air defense capabilities for the first time!
Of course, the 9M311 can handle more than just armed helicopters, including the Air Force’s attack aircraft, as well as fighters flying below 5000 meters.
This was also a primary target mentioned by headquarter before the war, highlighting the importance of striking them first.
This order was not only given to the Land Air Force but also to the front-line Air Force.
As soon as a Tunguska is discovered, it must be reported immediately and attacked without delay.
Even Lian Mingyang had no confidence in dealing with the Tunguska immediately.
In fact, the Imperial Army also has a similar gun and missile integrated self-propelled air defense system, and its performance is no less than that of the Tunguska, even slightly better.
Last year, during the "Westward" exercise, Lian Mingyang and his team had suffered losses.
According to the conclusions drawn from the exercise, with similar operational systems on both sides, the exchange rate between armed helicopters and advanced self-propelled air defense systems ranged from 3 to 5.
What does this mean?
The procurement price of a Tunguska set does not exceed 10 million Gold Yuan, and a missile launcher vehicle is about 1 million.
Five vehicles would cost just 5 million Gold Yuan, and the military procurement price of the "Zhi-10A" is over 10 million Gold Yuan.
Moreover, the exchange rate of the "Zhi-10A" and the Main Battle Tank is over 20!
Lian Mingyang did not want to encounter the Tunguska, but if it really happened, there was no helping it.
"Squadron leader, look up!"
It wasn’t until his wingman pilot alerted him that Lian Mingyang looked up into the sky.
The sky was already turning white, though the sun hadn’t yet reached the ground.
His wingman pilot wasn’t calling his attention to the sunrise but to the combat aircraft flying high above.
They were all heavy Fighters heading west.
However, there were only a few, appearing to be Reconnaissance Aircraft.
They must be the "War-8FC" on a reconnaissance mission.
Although the "War-10" and "War-11" are already in mass service, due to the large number of equipment, many "War-8" are still in service.
Including the Reserve Forces, there are almost 2000 in total.
These fighters, apart from undertaking a portion of training, were mostly converted into multi-purpose fighters and employed as attack aircraft in large-scale wars.
However, the most valuable are actually the dedicated reconnaissance types, and the "War-8FC" is the latest tactical reconnaissance model.
Although its performance isn’t considered advanced, it’s more than sufficient for carrying out tactical reconnaissance missions.
When equipped with two reconnaissance pods and three auxiliary fuel tanks, its combat radius exceeds 1,200 kilometers, and after discarding the auxiliary fuel tanks, its high-altitude flight speed can reach Mach 2. At low altitude, it also has Mach 1.1, which isn’t much less than the current third-generation fighters.
Of course, the key is the reconnaissance pod.
With the reconnaissance pod, the "War-8FC" can obtain clear battlefield images from up to 60 kilometers away, even at low altitude, enabling it to capture images from a distance of 20 kilometers. A distance of 60 kilometers exceeds the range of most battle zone-level air defense missiles, and 20 kilometers is beyond the range of most short-range missiles.
As for the value of tactical reconnaissance aircraft, it goes without saying.
Despite the presence of reconnaissance satellites in the sky and the fact that joint command aircraft like the "Zhi-10A" can operate hundreds of kilometers away, tactical reconnaissance still relies on reconnaissance aircraft. The reason is simple: reconnaissance satellites cannot provide real-time intelligence, and joint command aircraft are scarce, and their synthetic aperture radars find it difficult to discern the specific models of equipment. Only tactical reconnaissance aircraft can obtain and provide accurate battlefield intelligence.
Otherwise, the Empire’s Air Force wouldn’t retain hundreds of tactical reconnaissance aircraft.
In large-scale wars, the mission of these reconnaissance aircraft is to arrive at the battlefield ahead of the attack forces to clarify the enemy’s troop deployment and direction of attack, among other battlefield conditions.
What’s different from the past is the use of digital cameras on the "War-8FC," which can use a high-speed intelligence data link developed specifically for reconnaissance aircraft to send photographed images digitally to the rear combat platform, eliminating the need to return to base and develop film.
This too is a major advancement!
To put it simply, the timeliness of tactical reconnaissance has improved from several hours in the past to just dozens of minutes, or even a few minutes now.
Do not underestimate this.
If you have to wait several hours to obtain tactical intelligence, commanders must make predictions when deploying defenses.
Reduced to a few minutes, commanders can adjust deployments in real-time based on changes in the battlefield situation.
In fact, the art of command in modern warfare is evolving towards "real-time" operations.
The third military revolution launched by the Imperial Army focuses on strengthening reconnaissance, communication, and command systems to achieve the ultimate goal of "find and destroy immediately."
The digital camera used on reconnaissance aircraft is one manifestation of this theory.
It is the digital camera that has brought tactical reconnaissance aircraft back into the spotlight.
However, there is definitely an early warning command aircraft or a dedicated communication relay aircraft in the rear of the battle line responsible for receiving and forwarding the battlefield information sent by the reconnaissance aircraft.
It’s more likely that there is a specialized intelligence support aircraft.
As expected, within about half an hour, this information will be transmitted to the armed helicopter piloted by Lian Mingyang via data link.
By then, it will be possible to know whether there is a "Tunguska" in the front.
As you can see, this is a brand-new mode of engagement.
In the era of mechanized warfare, decisive significance was attributed to firepower. For example, during the last war, powerful firepower could often annihilate all opponents. In many cases, commanders preferred to achieve combat objectives through firepower strikes rather than considering other methods.
Entering the era of electronic warfare, however, intelligence became the decisive factor.
In Boss Bay, the value of intelligence has already been proven. Accurate battlefield intelligence not only significantly increases the efficiency of firepower strikes but also reduces the need for firepower. When strike efficiency is sufficiently assured, surplus firepower becomes a burden.
If the trend continues, battlefield information will play a decisive role.
The joint exercises from the past few years and the ongoing Boss Bay War have validated the Imperial Army’s new tactics.
Officer and soldiers like Lian Mingyang who participated in combat operations have personally realized the power of the electronic era.
The key is the efficiency of combat.
In the era of mechanization, even the most powerful attack aircraft could destroy only a few tanks in one sortie, but now armed helicopters can destroy more than a dozen tanks in one sortie, and dedicated attack aircraft like "Attack-9" have an even more astounding anti-armor combat capability.
To put it more directly, the military forces of the electronic era can crush those of the mechanization era.
So, has the enemy across the battle line also entered the electronic era?
