195: Chapter 195 Sunset Glow? Sunrise in the East!

Amidst a thunderous roar, the aerial formation flew overhead.

The first formation was just as Zhao Yang remembered—the J-7s trailing smoke, escorting an KJ-2000 airborne early warning aircraft as it flew past.

Even though the development speed of this timeline was faster, the Air Force at this time wasn't arrogant enough to have the J-10s trailing smoke.

The following formation was a massive helicopter fleet that rumbled overhead; the Z-8s, Z-9s, and attack helicopters were all models from his memory.

Then came the fighter jet formation.

Things had changed a lot.

The J-8s were gone, replaced by the J-10B leading the charge, followed by a Flying Leopard formation, with several models of Flankers trailing behind.

And then, Zhao Yang rubbed his eyes—it was actually a Flanker with small canards. Model: J-15, a carrier-based aircraft.

The broadcast announced it as the Naval Air Force unit, equipped for the 60,000-ton big baby. The crowd cheered.

General Feng patted Zhao Yang on the shoulder and whispered, "This aircraft has your contribution in it."

Zhao Yang played dumb, "Really? How come I don't know about it?"

General Feng laughed, "You didn't look at those materials carefully; they contained the flight control design for carrier-based aircraft. It's just that the Russians only had the concept back then and didn't have time to implement it. It was actually Director Luo from Shenyang Aircraft Corporation who discovered it; otherwise, nobody would have known that this thing was tucked inside."

Zhao Yang's heart stirred. Director Luo of this timeline, I wish you a long life.

At this moment, a huge roar erupted, and two big guys flew in from the distance—the HY-6 tankers.

Following them were two Flankers and two J-10Bs.

General Feng said with some regret, "The strategic airlifter platform is still lacking a bit; it didn't appear this time, and the tanker is still too small."

Zhao Yang nodded, then suddenly couldn't help but ask, "Does our J-10B have omnidirectional vector nozzles?"

General Feng shook his head, "The mass-produced models don't. The factory did build a few verification aircraft, but the Air Force felt it wasn't necessary—these days, no matter how good the maneuverability is, it can't beat a missile, and the added weight is better used for carrying more fuel."

Zhao Yang nodded in deep agreement, "For aircraft with vertical stabilizers, it's indeed unnecessary, but for those without, it's a must."

General Feng paused, his expression tightening as he lowered his voice, "Kid, you're wandering around with your keyboard again. I'm warning you, nobody cares if you wander around outside, but you need to restrain yourself domestically."

Zhao Yang was taken aback, then suddenly realized, "Elder Feng, you've wronged me. Besides, it seems you just leaked classified information."

General Feng pointed at Zhao Yang, "I can't be bothered with you. Keep watching; there's more good stuff."

Before he could finish speaking, four H-6s flew across the sky, and then an even duller roar came from the distance. Everyone present realized—there was still a bigger one.

As the sound drew closer, everyone—including those at the scene and those in front of their televisions—widened their eyes.

The commentator's voice became passionate, "Flying toward us now is our country's newest strategic bomber two-ship formation. Composed of two Air Force H-9 bombers, they are undergoing inspection in a low-altitude formation. The H-9 bomber is a strategic bomber independently developed by our country, with its most significant features being long range, high power, and high precision."

"It is currently the bomber with the longest range in the world, with a crew of four and a maximum range of over 20,000 kilometers. It is also a true 'acupoint striker,' with its heavy air-to-ground missiles having a range of over 1,500 kilometers and a precision within ten meters."

"The new air-to-ground missiles carried by the fighter are all independently developed by our country. Its appearance announces to the world that our Air Force now possesses strategic long-range precision strike capabilities."

Although he had already seen blurry photos, Zhao Yang still felt this thing was—hard to process.

Looking from afar, isn't this the Tu-160?

Looking up close, it really looks like the Tu-160.

Looking closer—damn, this really isn't the Tu-160!

The nose isn't the pointy type like the Tu-160, but rounded; the front half looks like an H-6 enlarged by a circle.

Reaching the midsection, it has the iconic side-by-side four-engine layout of the Tu-160, which is also the part that most resembles the Tu-160. Especially the wings, which have over 80% similarity to the fully extended Tu-160.

However, this thing does not have variable-sweep wings. The sweep angle of the H-9's wings is fixed, just like the H-6.

The original White Swan, if flying at subsonic speeds, has a maximum range of 12,000 kilometers, but if flying at supersonic speeds, fuel consumption increases exponentially, and the range is shortened to about 2,500 kilometers. The mutual constraint between speed and range is a physical law, and America's B-1B Lancer is about the same.

Therefore, in pursuit of a long range, the H-9 directly abandoned supersonic flight capability, with a maximum speed only reaching high subsonic speeds of Mach 0.8. For this reason, the H-9 abandoned the complex structure of the Tu-160's variable-sweep wings, and all the extra space and weight were used for fuel.

Coupled with special aerodynamic optimization for high-subsonic flight, this gives the H-9 a terrifying range—it can fly over 20,000 kilometers without refueling, surpassing America's B-52 and the Russian Tu-95 in one fell swoop, becoming the bomber with the longest range in the world.

Besides the terrifying range, the onboard missiles are even more hair-raising—air-launched ballistic missiles with a range of over 1,500 kilometers, capable of both nuclear and conventional payloads.

This means it can easily launch lethal attacks from outside enemy air defense capabilities.

At this moment, the whole country was boiling with excitement.

Zhao Yang's eyes also welled up—this is the feeling of creating history.

General Feng wiped away his tears and patted Zhao Yang's shoulder hard, "Xiao Zhao, in fifty years at most, Operation Sunset Glow will be declassified. By then, your contributions can be made public."

Zhao Yang steadied himself and asked, "Elder Feng, how was this kept secret? Such a huge thing, and foreign countries didn't know even a little bit."

"Test flights were all conducted at night, and it never left the hangar during the day. Plus, the hangar and the entire base were completely optically camouflaged," General Feng said. "Actually, we originally planned to make it public in two years, but the international situation won't allow it. We need to take advantage of the financial tsunami to absorb massive investments; we must show our sword to prevent others from getting jealous."

Zhao Yang nodded, "Indeed. By the way, Elder Feng, I discovered a while ago that America and Japan have been throwing a lot of money around in Southeast Asia; they might be planning something. Do the higher-ups know?"

General Feng frowned, "At least I don't know. After the ceremony ends in a while, tell me the details."

"Prepare a computer with internet access for me."

"Alright."

The highly anticipated military parade ended, and the international response was huge. Especially the discussions about the H-9, which made headlines in almost every country.

America and other such countries naturally kept harping on the fact that the H-9 could only cruise at subsonic speeds, calling it a big target, while deliberately ignoring those heavy air-to-ground missiles with a range of over 1,500 kilometers.

To put it bluntly, want to intercept the H-9? Do you have interceptors with a combat radius of over 1,500 kilometers?

As for the Russians, they weren't sour; they were all cursing—you have defiled our holy White Swan.

These discussions were temporarily irrelevant to Zhao Yang. He was in General Feng's office, under the strange expressions of several old guys, typing rapidly on his keyboard, hacking into the bank account of a leader of a certain island nation in Southeast Asia.