32: Chapter 32 "Thunderbolt" Type I anti-aircraft missile shoots down drone

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari immediately notified the two battalions dispatched to Shahba to set out at once to receive the second batch of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles.

The battalion commander stationed in Haibai already had experience receiving the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles twice before; having prepared in advance, he was the first to arrive at the location south of Shahba where the anti-aircraft missiles were placed.

The battalion commander immediately arranged for his soldiers to check the quantity of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles, and by the time he finished the count, the battalion stationed in Shahba had just arrived.

After a brief exchange to allocate the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles they would each transport, they began moving them without a moment's rest.

However, just as they were happily transporting the missiles, a soldier on guard in the distance suddenly contacted the battalion commander to report.

"Commander, we can hear the sound of a drone in the distance. We don't know if it's one of ours or from Israel. It's flying in our direction."

The battalion commander felt a bit panicky; if it were an enemy drone carrying bombs, this reception mission would be in trouble.

"Continue to maintain vigilance!"

The battalion commander ordered, while quickly dialing Lieutenant Colonel Haidari's phone.

"Colonel, we are currently receiving the second batch of anti-aircraft missiles, but an emergency has occurred—a drone is flying toward us."

"A drone? We haven't deployed any drones in that area, nor are there any drones performing missions in that vicinity," Lieutenant Colonel Haidari replied, not quite reacting yet.

"Then could it be an Israeli drone?"

"Israel's? Then what are you waiting for?! Are the anti-aircraft missiles you're receiving just for show?" Haidari immediately scolded the battalion commander upon hearing it might be an Israeli drone.

"Should I immediately arrange for the soldiers to use the anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down the incoming drone?"

"Take up the man-portable anti-aircraft missiles right now and take out any drone that dares to come!" Haidari gave the order without hesitation.

The battalion commander immediately had the soldiers stop transporting the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles and arranged for the temporary formation of over a dozen anti-aircraft missile launch teams, deploying them across the area.

The sentry soldiers sent the latest update: the drone was only 10 kilometers away from them and would soon be flying over their heads.

Seeing this, the battalion commander ordered the anti-aircraft missile launch teams in all directions to divide into three launch echelons per direction.

After the first launch echelon fired their anti-aircraft missiles, the second launch echelon would observe if the target was hit; if the target was missed, they were to launch immediately.

The third launch echelon would likewise observe the situation of the first two echelons; if the drone still hadn't been hit, they would immediately conduct a follow-up launch.

Finally, two more anti-aircraft missile launch echelons were deployed to wrap things up, striving to ensure no target slipped through the net.

Just as the battalion commander's orders were relayed, the drone likely discovered movement at their position and dove toward them, intending to perform photographic reconnaissance.

At that very moment, faster than it takes to tell, the first launch echelon facing the drone's direction pulled the trigger of a Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missile, and with a "whoosh," a missile flew out of the launch tube.

The sound of cutting through the air echoed as the anti-aircraft missile sped toward the drone high in the distance. The drone only saw a spark of fire before realizing it had been locked onto by an anti-aircraft missile.

Immediately, the drone flew erratically from side to side and released the decoy flares it carried. However, the anti-aircraft missile ignored the flares and came straight for the drone.

The soldiers of the second launch echelon, perhaps due to nervousness, saw that the first missile hadn't exploded yet and panicked, pulling the trigger of another Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missile.

The sound of another anti-aircraft missile launch occurred as it too lunged toward the drone.

But before the second anti-aircraft missile could enter the drone's attack range, a loud "boom" of an explosion was heard. The first anti-aircraft missile had finally hit the drone, letting out the sound of a blast.

A burst of bright fire appeared before the eyes of the officers and soldiers, then scattered around and slowly extinguished.

The second anti-aircraft missile failed to find a target and, after flying a certain distance, activated its self-destruct mechanism and exploded in mid-air.

The battalion commander was extremely astonished to see that only a single anti-aircraft missile had intercepted the drone.

He had previously seen Iran's anti-aircraft missiles intercepting Israeli drones, where firing four or five missiles sometimes still failed to shoot one down.

But this time, the very first anti-aircraft missile successfully shot down the drone, making the second missile a complete waste.

With such high shoot-down efficiency, how could the battalion commander not be shocked?

The battalion commander quickly arranged for soldiers to go and collect the wreckage of the downed drone, both to confirm if it was indeed an Israeli drone and to bring it back to the military research institute for analysis.

When the soldiers arrived at the crash site, most of the drone's components had been scattered into fragments and were hard to find; only one wing remained relatively intact, though it was riddled with holes.

From the unburned patterns on the wing, it could be vaguely determined to be an Israeli drone.

Upon hearing the soldiers' report, the battalion commander immediately reported to Lieutenant Colonel Haidari.

"Colonel, I just ordered the shoot-down of the incoming drone. We fired two Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missiles together and brought it down."

"Two? Very good, the hit rate of the Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missile is quite impressive." Haidari was very pleased to hear that it only took two Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missiles to down the drone.

"Actually, only one was needed for the kill; the other one self-destructed because it couldn't find a target," the battalion commander added.

"One? Really?!"

Haidari had tested a Tianlei Type I Anti-Aircraft Missile before, and back then, it also hit a target drone with a single shot. But to have such a high hit rate against a drone with even superior performance was somewhat hard for Haidari to believe.

"Yes. Just one," the battalion commander confirmed.

"Good!" Haidari shouted in praise. "After shooting it down, did you check which country the drone belonged to?"

"Judging by the wreckage, it is confirmed to be an Israeli drone."

"Haha, we finally shot down an Israeli drone."

Haidari did not hide his mood. Being able to shoot down one Israeli drone now meant they could shoot down even more in the future.

"..." The battalion commander could only listen, not wanting to interrupt Lieutenant Colonel Haidari's joyful mood.

Haidari soon said, "Finish transporting that second batch of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles immediately and return as soon as possible. If Israel discovers their drone has been shot down, they will react very quickly."

"Yes!"

The battalion commander quickly ordered the soldiers to speed up; because of the deployment to shoot down the drone, they had already delayed quite a bit of time, and now they had to hurry to complete the mission.

As the battalion commander directed the officers and soldiers to transport the anti-aircraft missiles and evacuate the area, two drones arrived late, appearing in the sky over the region.

The drones circled twice but found no traces at the location where the downed drone had sent its last signal and could only fly away helplessly.