142: Formation coordinated combat: Beidou + J-10!

Approximately 45 minutes later, the maiden flight test of the J-10 'Vigorous Dragon' fighter jet officially concluded.

The fighter glided down at 230 km/h, the pilot lowered the landing gear, the all-moving canards deflected to -10° to act as speed brakes, and the tail parachute burst open!

The moment the tires touched the ground, the avionics bay automatically recorded critical flight data:

Flight Range: 550km flown without external fuel tanks!

Supersonic Cruise: Sustained flight at Mach 1.2 for 3 minutes, with no engine surge!

"The maiden flight of the Vigorous Dragon was a complete success!"

The control tower erupted in thunderous cheers and announced the news to the entire test flight base!

Subsequently, at the central command platform and beside the runway, everyone also joined in the excited cheering!

Everyone embraced each other with immense excitement!

On the runway, the J-10's vertical stabilizer gleamed in the sunlight, with "1001" prominently printed next to the August 1st military emblem!

From today onwards, Dragon Country's aviation history officially entered the era of third-generation aircraft!

While everyone at the entire test flight base was celebrating enthusiastically, Peng Lin, Marshal Xu Yong'an, and Commander Liu Yufei walked into a nearby command room.

On the large screen in the command room, the real-time flight position of the J-10 'Vigorous Dragon' fighter jet was projected!

Moreover, the short message function encrypted and transmitted the test flight data back, with an error margin of ≤ 5 meters!

"Chiefs, please look!"

"This is the 'Skynet' tactical data link that Beidou has built for the J-10 fighter jet formation!"

Peng Lin stood in front of the tactical screen and introduced it to the two.

At the same time, the display on the tactical screen switched to a simulated combat interface.

In the display, the flight paths and radar scan cone areas of four J-10 'Vigorous Dragon' fighter jets were synchronized in real-time!

"These four fighter jets will form a formation, and each jet will share data through Beidou's encrypted short message channel!"

"For example, on the battlefield, this formation can perform coordinated target locking!"

Peng Lin continued.

At the same time, the screen began to display a mission assignment animation:

During the formation's mission, after the lead aircraft's radar detected 6 enemy targets, the fire control system automatically assigned targets by threat level.

Aircraft No. 1 is responsible for the high-altitude, high-speed enemy early warning aircraft, Aircraft No. 2 suppresses two escort fighters, and Aircraft No. 3 and No. 4 divide the remaining targets.

Marshal Xu Yong'an, the Minister of National Defense, and Commander Liu Yufei of the Air Force looked at the animated demonstration, exchanged glances, and both showed expressions of excitement and enthusiasm.

They hadn't expected that the J-10 fighter jet, developed under Peng Lin's leadership, not only had powerful single-aircraft performance and combat capability but also possessed such a complementary formation collaborative combat system!

After all, four J-10 'Vigorous Dragon' fighter jets operating independently are completely different from four J-10 'Vigorous Dragon' fighter jets operating as a coordinated formation with a 'tactical data link'!

The combat capabilities of the two are not even on the same level!

"Comrade Peng Lin, you had another surprise prepared!"

Marshal Xu Yong'an tried to calm his excited mood and said.

The combat system formed by Beidou + J-10 can definitely elevate the combat capability of the J-10 formation to a new level!

"The Beidou Satellite Navigation System, from its initial design, was not only meant to serve the army but also focused on the navy, army, and air force!"

"During a formation's mission, if aircraft No. 3 runs out of missiles, the system will transfer the undestroyed targets in real-time to aircraft No. 2, which has sufficient ammunition, via the Beidou encrypted link, ensuring 'zero redundancy strike'!"

"Even if subjected to electronic warfare suppression, Beidou's frequency-hopping communication and ground-based augmentation stations can still maintain a formation data refresh rate of 1 second/time, with an error not exceeding 5 meters!"

Peng Lin continued to explain.

With the 'Beidou Satellite Navigation System,' the advantage of the J-10 formation in beyond-visual-range air combat is that the formation can complete the assignment of 12 targets and missile guidance within 30 seconds!

Furthermore, combined with Beidou's sub-meter level augmented signal, the hit rate of the PL-12 can increase from 85% to 98%!

"The future battlefield will no longer be an era of single-aircraft confrontation, but rather a systemic clash of 'satellite + fighter formations'!"

"Now, we have already taken this step ahead of time!"

"And this is the 'answer' we prepared for the Paris International Air Show!"

Peng Lin said with a smile.

As he spoke, the image on the large screen finally froze on a 3D dynamic sandbox of a J-10 formation encircling enemy aircraft.

The Paris International Air Show, as the most influential air show globally, has always been at the forefront of the most advanced air force technology confrontations between the two poles!

But this time, since the West extended an invitation to the Dragon Country Air Force, Dragon Country naturally wouldn't be content to be left out and was determined to showcase the most powerful aspect of its air force!

After all, the countries participating in this international air show are all potential customers!

Compared to army equipment, the price and profit of fighter jets are much, much larger!

This is the major part of the global arms trade market!

...August 22, 1980.

The Dragon Country Air Force officially established the Aviation Industry International Delegation, announcing to the world its participation in the Paris International Air Show.

And Peng Lin, the Chief Designer of Air Force Equipment Development, would serve as the head of the Dragon Country Aviation Industry Delegation!

For this debut of the Dragon Country Air Force at an international air show, Peng Lin specifically assembled a large delegation of members and various exhibition equipment!

Firstly, what the Dragon Country Aviation Industry Delegation mainly intended to "promote" and "display" at the Paris International Air Show was the Beidou Satellite Navigation System!

It has always been Peng Lin's goal to make the Beidou system an international global positioning system!

With the successful networking of Beidou in the Asia-Pacific region, the next step is global networking!

Therefore, Peng Lin naturally wanted to attract more potential user countries for the Beidou system!

Secondly, ranking in the first tier of weapons and equipment was the J-10 'Vigorous Dragon' fighter jet!

This was Dragon Country's first independently developed single-engine, light multi-role fighter, capable of performing various tasks and complex uses such as air-to-air and air-to-ground, possessing very rich military sales prospects internationally.

Peng Lin planned to develop an export version, the J-10E, and sell it at the Paris International Air Show!

After the J-10, ranking in the second tier of weapons and equipment that Dragon Country intended to exhibit were high-altitude, high-speed interceptors and helicopters such as the J-8, Z-20, WZ-10, Z-8, and Z-9.

In addition, there was also a display of the "Beidou + Combined Arms Brigade" army system.

Even more so, the Dragon Country Air Force also planned to have older fighter jets like the Q-5 and JJ-7 participate in the exhibition, with their main target market being some relatively poorer third-world countries!

...August 25th.

There were still four days until the opening of the air show.

On this day, a team composed of hundreds of top engineers, test pilots, and military representatives from the Dragon Country Aviation Industry Delegation, carrying the J-10 'Vigorous Dragon' fighter jet, Z-20 helicopter, and Beidou system, began to depart for Paris in batches!

This time, the Dragon Country Air Force's goal was to break through generation gaps with the concept of "systematic combat" and elevate its aviation industry to the world's first tier!