Chapter 703

Chapter 703: King of Dogfights

The changes in the battlefield can always be unimaginable in just a second.

The sudden appearance of the Eagle King and another pilot who could possibly rival him made Lin Mo’s nerves tense up.

The enemy’s dual aircraft team launched a surprise attack, executing synchronized barrel rolls in the sky. Infrared heat flame bombs were released, creating a thick pathway of red light points.

The barrel roll maneuver is the most common way to evade missile pursuits. Before entering combat, almost all fighter jets were heavily loaded with infrared heat flame bombs.

Everyone knows that the best way to deal with missiles is to encapsulate yourself with heat flame bombs while evading, preventing the missiles from getting too close.

Both enemy aircraft demonstrated astonishing evasion maneuvers, skillfully dodging the oncoming combat missiles. They used their body positions to deliberately lure the missiles towards the infrared decoys.

Even more shocking was that the evasive maneuvers of the two fighter jets did not interfere with each other; they maintained a mostly intact offensive and defensive formation, leaving Lin Mo with no opportunities to exploit.

The simultaneous launch of eight combat missiles did not bring down any targets, as none of them hit.

The high-speed missiles collided with the infrared decoys, resulting in massive fireballs in the sky. The tremendous roar and ongoing shockwaves caused the cockpits of all the fighter jets to tremble.

“Missed!”

Lin Mo felt a heavy weight in his heart and had a rough assessment of the strengths of the Eagle King and the other pilot.

Although six missiles failed to hit, they helped gauge the enemy’s power. The true hard hitters, even if they were slightly weaker than the Eagle King, were still formidable.

Inside the Fifth Aerospace Training Center in China, Lin Mo frequently sparred with Colonel Jiang, who had participated in the Abyss Nirvana battle. The high-fidelity simulations provided him with deep experience against pilots who ranked higher than high tier, a privilege not given to all participants before entering the Abyss Nirvana.

Only Lin Mo, a promising recruit noticed by the Air Force high command, could obtain support and resources with their tacit approval. Additionally, Lin Mo was bold enough to risk his life for the Abyss Nirvana, garnering additional rewards that reverberated throughout the battlefield.

The most terrifying on the field are not the pilots who gain fame by shooting down numbers, but the experts who specialize in their aircraft. These specialists may not display a glorious reputation, but when they appear on the battlefield, they become the most fearsome assassins. Even a Dragon Knight can fall from the skies if they are not careful.

From the data collected by Sally and Yasha, the Eagle King is highly likely to be one of those aircraft specialists.

The reason is simple: the X-31 that the Eagle King pilots excels in close-range dogfighting, and only an expert could even hope to handle it.

“How is that possible?”

Yuri was nearly incredulous, his eyes wide open in disbelief; those were eight missiles, not eight cabbages, and they all missed.

At the beginning of the battle, the forward-swept wing fighter’s role in guiding the large formation of missile salvos attracted quite a bit of attention, and many witnesses saw this moment.

The spectators on the ground reacted in shock as well; no one expected that not a single combat missile would hit its target. It was simply astounding.

In an instant, Yuri felt a chill run through him. He finally understood why Lin Mo had launched six combat missiles at once; even those six missiles couldn’t hit, implying that their evasive skills were likely at the pinnacle of high tier!

“Damn it! Missed! That’s the hard-earned money of the party and the people!”

Yasha felt a pang in his heart, tightly clenching his fists, digging his nails in deeply. Couldn’t they at least conserve some missiles?

This soldier often spoke of the people’s interests and the sweat of the people, and perhaps this deeply ingrained belief is what made him a soldier in the elite unit.

Yasha felt a rising resentment toward Lin Mo; all these Air Knights were synonymous with extravagance. They carelessly squander their resources. If he had known, it might have been better to save and exchange for something valuable instead of setting off fireworks just to make noise. A single missile could buy fireworks that could last half a day without stopping!

“Damn, they are so wasteful!”

White Wolf, sitting close to the television, was wide-eyed. As he saw six missiles launch, he was visually and psychologically stunned. Would they only use the cannon, or would they go all out with missiles against any opponent?

It was as if they had a personal vendetta against the enemy aircraft or against the missiles themselves. Since White Wolf joined the military, he had never seen such extravagance. If he dared to waste missiles like that, he’d probably end up in the small dark room writing reflections.

“Go for it! Morin!”

Sally waved her small, rosy fists, cheering for Lin Mo.

She really didn’t care about any waste. The Dragoon Corporation, which was already financially tight, was now even poorer because they gifted Lin Mo.

…

Although the random shooting caused some chaos for the dual aircraft team consisting of the Eagle King and another fighter jet, it didn’t give Lin Mo and Yuri any opportunities to take advantage of the situation, like the mantis catching the cicada while the yellow sparrow waits behind.

Fortunately, Lin Mo’s early warning helped "Monkey" successfully dodge the two incoming combat missiles during the preemptive overload evasion maneuver.

In a prepared situation, taking down the near high-tier ace pilots was not an easy task.

“Number 13, Yuri, I can’t hold on much longer.”

“Monkey,” who was enduring high overload, began to feel dizzy. The recent missile volley had only bought him a few seconds to breathe, and now the enemy aircraft were getting closer to Lin Mo and Yuri’s formation.

If “Monkey” could just hold on for ten seconds, no, just five seconds, he could smoothly join Lin Mo and the others, gaining the protection of his companions and forming a sharp attack formation again.

But the enemy formation, now fully recovered, was charging at him with a dual scissor kill tactic, clearly targeting the damaged F-14 Tomcat, which was the weakest link on Lin Mo’s side and the easiest to take out. Eliminating him would significantly weaken Lin Mo’s forces.

…

“What a cunning guy, that detestable Eagle King.”

Lin Mo clearly saw the enemy raise a middle finger at him again in the cockpit after launching all their missiles.

Another provocation!

The arrogance of this gesture was off the charts, a most insulting challenge directed at Lin Mo.

Lin Mo remained unfazed, instead furrowing his brow.

This was not good news; the other side clearly believed they had already figured out that Lin Mo’s forward-swept wing fighter jet was equipped with a special long-range optical reconnaissance device, deliberately showing him that gesture.

“Number 13, find a way to stop them; we need to get Monkey back quickly.”

Yuri began to feel anxious. Although he knew he shouldn’t let emotions take over, he really didn’t want to lose his friend Monkey. Although he was a Muslim from Iran, he was a friend worth getting close to, both in character and combat skills.

“I’m thinking of a way. One of them is Colonel Eagle King from America. That guy is tough to deal with, especially his fighter jet. Be careful; that’s the X-31, the best in the world at close dogfighting. Don’t let him get close; you won’t have any chances.”

Lin Mo stared straight ahead, focusing intently on the enemy aircraft team approaching Monkey. He pushed the throttle forward, and the forward-swept wing fighter jet instantly reached Mach 3, leaving Yuri behind.

What was he planning to do by shaking off his wingman?!

Many onlookers showed surprise!

The fighter jet, the best at close dogfights! Realizing it was too late to chase the lead aircraft, Yuri couldn’t help but gasp.

Only aviation experts could see how powerful this fighter’s performance was. Lin Mo said nothing; it was clear that no current frontline fighter jet from any country could defeat the X-31 in close combat. The X-31 was undeniably the true king of dogfights.

This was also one of the reasons why Lin Mo extravagantly launched six missiles at the beginning.

This X-31 fighter jet was deployed in Syria. Perhaps America had improved its previously lethal shortcomings in stealth capabilities, validating its adaptability in combat beyond close dogfighting through real battle experiences.

A weapon that hasn’t been battle-tested would never become a true divine weapon.

The "Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability Verification" X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability (EFM) project was collaboratively researched by Boeing and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company. It was the first international cooperative project among the X series experimental aircraft.

The three thrust vectoring techniques applied to the X-31 represented America’s first significant research achievement in vector propulsion, rivaling that of Russia. This broke the longstanding dominance in aircraft design among various countries, where Russia specialized in vector technology, China focused on aerodynamic design, and America concentrated on engine thrust.

Even the vector technology used by the Japanese “Shinshin” squadron that Lin Mo shot down borrowed from X-31 technology, which Japan undoubtedly paid a great price for.

The technology validation of the X-31 was also a very bold attempt, and in fact, American efforts were nearly half successful.

It could fly normally at aerodynamic limits surpassing any conventional aircraft, achieving greater turning speeds at high angles of attack and low speeds.