176: A torrent of steel in the sky, the largest air battle since World War II breaks out!

Operation 'Dragon's Roar' was a secret codename for an operation formulated by Dragon Country when it delivered 36 J-10E fighter jets to the Iraq Air Force!

Its strategic objective was to demilitarize the Iran Air Force through a large-scale 'lure the enemy deep' air battle!

This was to compensate for Iraq's disadvantage against the Iran Air Force!

In the worst-case scenario, the Iraq Air Force, relying on the 'Dragon's Roar' military plan, had to annihilate the main force of the Iran Air Force, bringing the number of fighter jets on both sides to a balanced level!

For this, the Dragon Country Air Force began secret planning when delivering these 36 J-10E to Iraq!

And carried out a top-secret delivery, deceiving all!

Afterward, for the 'Dragon's Roar' operation to proceed smoothly, Dragon Country and Iraq even spared no effort in putting on a 'performance' on the international stage!

Continuously showing weakness to the enemy!

"Excellent, we can now initiate the 'Dragon's Roar' plan!" Marshal Xu Yong'an said with a smile, nodding his head.

This past month or so could be said to be the most frustrating period for the Dragon Country military in recent years.

Almost all countries globally believed that Dragon Country had abandoned all its interests in Iraq and the Middle East, and had carried out the maximum strategic contraction, conceding to the two superpowers!

Under these circumstances, taking advantage of Dragon Country's inability to be distracted by its surroundings, many neighboring countries began to strategically ride roughshod over Dragon Country!

For example, in the western plateau region, the White Elephant Country began to frequently operate in the border areas, intending to stir up trouble in the border region, taking advantage of Dragon Country's strategic contraction.

Including in the east, the Island Country's F-16 fighter jets also frequently took off, approaching Dragon Country's airspace for probing.

Even the Monkey Country, which had been taught a lesson by Dragon Country two years ago, became bolder, provoking and testing Dragon Country's bottom line... The reason these countries chose this timing to act was simply because they saw Dragon Country adopting a stance of strategic contraction amidst the turbulent international situation, not daring to confront the superpowers head-on!

And as long as they acted against Dragon Country, they would certainly gain the support of the two world superpowers!

So they naturally wanted to take advantage of this 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity to bite off a piece of flesh from Dragon Country's border and body!

"Initiate the 'Dragon's Roar' plan and launch a counterattack!"

"After such a long period of frustration, it's time for something big!"

"Although the military strength of our few surrounding small countries isn't much, their ability to 'trim their sails to the wind' is truly excellent!"

"I've kept a record of everything these countries have done over the past month. Once the 'Dragon's Roar' operation is over and I have the energy, I'll deal with them one by one!" Army Commander-in-Chief Zhou Zhengbang also said with a face full of murderous intent.

"Alright!"

"I will immediately communicate with the Iraq Ministry of Defense and have them proceed as planned!" Peng Lin nodded.

As the chief designer of the J-10 'Vigorous Dragon' fighter jet, no one understood the performance and tactical characteristics of this aircraft better than he did.

And this 'Dragon's Roar' operation was personally planned by him!

...Iraq.

Inside the Ministry of Defense's underground command center.

Saddam stared at the electronic sand table, and after receiving the strategic assessment from the distant East, a hint of a smile finally appeared on his serious face.

"Initiate the 'Dragon's Roar' plan!" He decisively gave the order.

At the same time, under the cover of night, the Iraq Air Force secretly transferred 36 J-10E from the underground reinforced hangars in Rumaila, Mosul, and Basra to the depths of the desert.

Considering the buyers' needs, the export version of the J-10E adopted a centerline twin missile pylon on the belly, allowing the J-10E to carry 6 medium-range missiles and 2 dogfight missiles.

The firepower was greatly enhanced!

This time, all 36 J-10E were dispatched with full ammunition!

Ground crew quickly covered runway traces with camouflage nets and used decoys to confuse the superpowers' reconnaissance satellites.

Additionally, fake radar stations and scrapped tanks were dragged to the border to serve as bait, and communication channels released confusing signals.

Air defense units shut down real radars, keeping only a few disguised positions online.

The entire defense system was like an invisible giant net poised to strike, just waiting for the command to counterattack!

...April 3rd.

Both The Wall Street Journal in the West and the Pravda of the Soviet Union released news that the Iran Air Force would launch a large-scale air strike operation code-named 'Steel Storm' against Iraq in the near future!

The goal was to demilitarize the Iraq Defense Forces!

With the overt and covert support of the Soviet Union and the USA, Iran was brimming with confidence, claiming that this would be the largest modern air force operation since World War II!

It was even touted as a large-scale air strike demilitarization operation that could be recorded in modern air combat textbooks!

The Iran Revolutionary Forces even directly raised black flags in the capital to show their determination to avenge the previous disastrous defeat of the army!

At the same time, after two days of urgent tactical preparations, the Iran Air Force also began to act!

After the 'Iron Wing Storm' probing operation achieved great success, the Iran Air Force high command and the Mammoth Bear military advisory group unanimously concluded that Iraq's air defense system was in disarray and completely lacked large-scale regional air defense capabilities.

Therefore, the Iran Air Force decided to launch a full-scale air strike operation code-named 'Steel Storm'!

The objectives of this operation were to paralyze radar stations and airfields throughout Iraq, completely strip it of its air defense capabilities, destroy the Rumaila oil field facilities built with Dragon Country's aid, cut off Iraq's war economic lifeline, and dismantle the remaining forces of the Iraq Air Force to clear obstacles for subsequent ground armored unit advances!

For this operation, the Iran Air Force would launch an all-out attack, mobilizing a total of 210 aircraft, including F-14 'Tomcats', MiG-25 'Foxbats', and Su-25 'Frogfoots', divided into four echelons!

First echelon: 12 MiG-25 fighter jets carrying electronic jamming pods, penetrating Iraq's airspace at Mach 3.2, deliberately triggering air defense radars to lure Iraq's fighter jets to intercept.

2 Il-76 electronic warfare aircraft activated the 'Khibiny' electronic warfare system to implement multi-band jamming and blocking of Iraq's communication channels, creating an electromagnetic fog.

Second echelon: 48 F-14 'Tomcats' for air superiority, carrying AIM-54 'Phoenix' long-range missiles, establishing a 'killing corridor' at 15,000 meters altitude, specifically targeting Iraq's interceptors.

24 MiG-23 fighter jets carrying R-60 short-range dogfight missiles, responsible for low-altitude dogfighting and clearing any stragglers.

Third echelon: 36 Su-25 attack aircraft carrying Kh-25 anti-radiation missiles and RBK-500 cluster bombs, focusing on bombing radar stations and air defense positions.

18 F-4 'Phantom' fighter jets dropping BLU-107 bunker-buster bombs to destroy the Iraq Air Force's underground hangars.

Fourth echelon: A mixed formation of 72 aircraft of various types, including F-5 and MiG-21, conducting saturation bombing of key facilities such as the Rumaila oil field and the Baghdad automobile factory!

The entire 'Steel Storm' air strike operation was subjected to a full night of deliberation and tactical simulations by the Mammoth Bear Air Force expert group.

Combining the tactical data detected from the Iraq air defense system during the preliminary 'Iron Wing Storm', their largest modern air strike since World War II would tear apart the Iraq Air Force and air defense system overnight!

By the next morning, five heavy armored divisions of ground forces would cross the Arab River, completing the demilitarization of the Iraq Defense Forces!

...April 4th, early morning!

Over the Persian Gulf, an 'aerial steel torrent' from Iran tore through the night sky!

The largest modern air battle since World War II erupted in the Middle East!