Chapter 859

Chapter 859: The Two " Raptors" Run Fast

What is so strange about this intensive training course?

Jin Hongbao truly cannot guess what the instructors are planning. He has never experienced such a bizarre assessment and has never even heard of it before.

Although he participated in the Astronaut Selection alongside others, Jin Hongbao did not receive any special treatment from Lin Mo. This younger instructor was quite strict, showing no mercy during the previous tactical exercises, making him feel as if he was at death’s door like the other trainees.

The cockpit jolted as the landing gear of the J-10B fighter jet began to leave the ground, and the view in the targeting system transformed into the sky.

They are taking off!

At the moment of departure, a tangled heart was forcibly pulled back.

Just like the flawless blue sky, Jin Hongbao suddenly calmed down. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, pushing aside all distracting thoughts. Completing this assessment was now his top priority.

Having been a soldier for many years, his mental resilience was solid. He knew when to focus, and he steadied himself. The fighting spirit in his eyes quickly strengthened. No matter what happened, he would adhere to one principle: when the water rises, the earth is used to block it; when the enemy comes, the soldiers resist.

“Calling the J-10 team! Your operational airspace for the exercise is ×××.”

Just after takeoff, the voices of Quzhou Airport’s control tower came through the aviation helmets of the two fighter pilots. They recognized the voice of Colonel Cao Yueyang.

He had been absent all day, but unexpectedly, he was commanding from the control tower. Clearly, this assessment was extraordinary.

“Adong, turn on the Main Radar and open the data link sharing. I’ll be the main unit. The link password is…”

As the lead pilot, Jin Hongbao and his wingman, Miao Haodong, began to scan the airspace together. Although it seemed a bit premature, staying alert was crucial.

As the instructors often emphasized, the enemy would not give you the opportunity to prepare. The less you were on guard, the more likely they would launch a surprise attack.

“Got it, Bao Ge!”

Miao Haodong’s voice came through the radio channel. It was just a temporary exercise, so they didn’t care much about flight codes.

As long as they could understand each other, it was fine. After all these days, any member of the instructor group could recognize them.

Soon, the two fighter jets’ radar systems connected, scanning the front airspace with double efficiency, improving both accuracy and range.

They didn’t know when a battle might suddenly break out, so they followed Colonel Cao Yueyang’s orders from the control tower to fly to a specific coordinate area.

When enemy aircraft signals appeared on the radar screen, the tower would inform them in time, and then the assessment would commence.

“Be careful! We’re almost there!”

The fighter jets flew swiftly, and navigating the map was easier than eating. Jin Hongbao didn’t completely trust the radar; he frequently looked left and right, scanning intently.

The J-10B team maintained an altitude of 18,000 meters, ensuring they had sufficient maneuverability to handle any emergencies.

According to the electronic map, they confirmed they were flying over Jiaojiang in Taizhou, nearing the estuary of Taizhou Bay, but the operational exercise airspace was still beyond the bay. Could it be over the sea?

They were close to the exercise airspace, and the opponent could appear at any moment.

In the cockpit, Jin Hongbao and Miao Haodong exchanged glances, despite the helmet separating them. They both felt each other’s confusion. What exactly was the assessment project? Who was their opponent?

It was all too mysterious, like a cat scratching at the heart.

Being at sea from this position in China meant they could encounter anything—

Americans? Japanese man? Or even Major Lin Mo?

It was truly intriguing.

Though the fighter jet was not armed with missiles, Jin Hongbao knew that it was not entirely unarmed. The ammunition count showed that the 23mm cannon under the belly of the aircraft still had a baseline of ammunition in its chain, and that could indeed be lethal.

Beep! Beep!

The radar beeped continuously!

Jin Hongbao looked down in confusion, but the radar screen showed no abnormalities.

“Adong? Did you hear that just now?”

“Bao Ge, there were two faint beeps; you heard them too?”

“It seems it’s not an illusion! Be careful; maybe the radar detected something! Start performing the snake maneuver.”

“Got it, Bao Ge!”

Perhaps two larger birds interfered with the radar, likely albatrosses.

Birds nearly one meter long are known to be active near Diaoyu Island and Chiwai Island. Not only fighter pilots but any pilot must be aware of large birds that might interfere with the radar. For a jet, even colliding with a bird the size of a sparrow could lead to trouble.

Dodging the narrow, muddy Jiaojiang River below, the clear boundary between freshwater and seawater remained visible even at nearly twenty thousand meters high. The two J-10B fighter jets flew east in an S-shaped path, rapidly leaving the coastline behind, replaced by the deep blue sea beneath their bellies.

Beep! Beep!

“I see it!”

While piloting the fighter jet and watching the radar, Jin Hongbao and Miao Haodong shouted almost simultaneously as two light dot signals flashed at three o’clock.

Are those birds or fighter jets?

At this tense moment, the two pilots chose to believe their instincts.

The dual aircraft team quickly reacted, synchronously making sharp turns while holding the control sticks and continuously reporting flying parameters to maintain coordinated maneuvers. Such temporary combinations needed constant adjustments to achieve a level of tacit understanding.

“Maximize radar wave power output, increase sensitivity by 10%, and focus the scan!”

Before the command signal from Quzhou Airport control tower could be relayed via satellite, Jin Hongbao made his judgment. The possibility of a stealth fighter was high; only by coincidentally passing the strongest reflection angle of the radar beam could there be some vague response. If it were a stealth fighter, it would mean their stealth capabilities should not be underestimated.

The fighter jet’s main radar has incredible power; as long as the filtering system is turned off, no bird in the sky could escape the radar’s detection.

Increasing sensitivity means loosening the signal filtering mechanism, leading the radar screen to display flight objects with smaller reflective surfaces, including some larger birds.

The main radar system of the two J-10Bs was designed based on the standards of fourth-generation fighter jets with AESA active phased array radar. Each signal transmission and reception module began to concentrate radar wave power, simultaneously illuminating targets, and the radar screen immediately responded.

At a straight-line distance of 50 kilometers and an altitude of 12,000 meters, two light dot signals flew in a large arc, rapidly approaching.

“It’s a fighter jet! They are indeed simulating real combat!”

The reconnaissance results confirmed Jin Hongbao’s guess, but how could there be two?

Colonel Cao Yueyang was at the control tower, and Major Chen Jun was at the parking area, but Lin Mo was unaccounted for. Could Major Lin have a doppelg?nger? What was going on?

It wasn’t Lin Mo but someone else?

The onboard computer system quickly identified the two signals. To everyone’s surprise, they weren’t from Major Lin nor any Chinese aircraft; they were two F-22 “Raptor” jets.

How could this happen?

Inside the cockpit of the J-10B, Jin Hongbao and Miao Haodong were left in shock. Were the instructors crazy to use the most advanced U.S. Air Force fighter, the F-22 “Raptor,” as a training target? Or have the Americans gone mad? This was Chinese territory, not yet international waters.

Jin Hongbao was in awe of the instructors; they managed to bring Americans here for a training assessment, but how? Were the U.S. Air Force their family members, arriving at their beck and call?

Just as the two pilots were at a loss, the radio communication automatically activated.

“This is Quzhou Tower, notifying the J-10 team to cancel the assessment and return immediately. This is not a drill.”

Through the satellite connection, Colonel Cao Yueyang’s voice reached the two pilots’ ears.

“What? Return?”

“Cancel the assessment?”

Still in disbelief, Jin Hongbao and Miao Haodong could hardly accept the news. They had finally flown all the way here, only to have the assessment canceled before it even began.

“Yes, there is an unexpected situation. You both must return immediately; the assessment is temporarily suspended. Execute now.”

Colonel Cao Yueyang delivered his orders with undeniable authority.

“Adong, let’s hurry back!”

Realizing the severity of the situation, Jin Hongbao quickly turned the aircraft around, and Miao Haodong followed closely behind. The sonic booms echoed as both fighter jets entered supersonic mode, quickly distancing themselves from the approaching “Raptor” jets.

Just as they exited Taizhou Bay, they unexpectedly encountered two U.S. fighter jets, which were at least half a generation more advanced than the J-10B. Their luck was truly terrible.

Since this was just a training assessment, Jin Hongbao’s J-10B wasn’t armed with air-to-air missiles; relying solely on the limited cannon ammunition might not end well, even if the legendary air combat ace Erich Hartmann were here, he would probably also just wait for a tragedy to strike.

As the saying goes, if you walk a long path at night, you will eventually meet a ghost; this perfectly applied to the unlucky Lin Mo.

The previous two assessment groups went smoothly, as he piloted the X-8 “monstrous” variable wings fighter jet to impersonate the F-22 “Raptor” and ambushed those trainees with great effect.

The most effective way to distinguish talent from mediocrity is to test adaptive capabilities through unexpected situations. Lin Mo’s designed assessment plan achieved the instructors’ goals perfectly, accurately assessing the true abilities of those trainee pilots, and the scores were very objective.

But Lin Mo did not expect that by activating the “monstrous” radar simulation function to impersonate the F-22 “Raptor,” he would attract real "Raptors."