Chapter 545

Chapter 545: Aerial Weapons of Mass Destruction

“General Rogers, it’s great to see you here!”

“And you are?”

“I am Will Ketch, the vice president of Boeing!”

“It’s truly a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ketch.”

A white man in a neat suit shook hands with a U.S. military officer dressed in uniform and wearing black sunglasses.

As the two leaders met and exchanged friendly gestures, people from both sides shook hands according to their ranks.

In front of them stood a large 150-inch display screen, constantly switching between video footage captured by the six Global Hawks, with dedicated video editors selecting the best angles to show on the screen.

The brightness of the display was extremely high, remaining clear even under the sunlight.

In front of the area where the experts from various countries sat, there was a similar large display to show the positions of the fighter jets and some demonstrations observed through telescopes from the ground.

“It has started!”

General Rogers heard the roar of engines from the nearby tarmac. The fighter jets were conducting engine tests and pre-flight self-checks. After a while, he heard two unmanned F/A-XXs taxiing out from the tarmac. Not long after entering the runway, they synchronously powered up and swiftly took to the sky in a two-plane formation.

Vice President Will Ketch sat down with General Rogers to begin the introduction.

“The two aircraft ahead are in unmanned mode, with a minimum takeoff distance of 320 meters. After adjustments, they can also adapt to aircraft carrier takeoff and landing.”

The highlights and steps of the F/A-XX demonstration had been provided to him by his subordinates in a brief, which he only needed to recite.

As Boeing had been focused on carrier-based aircraft projects, they naturally sought to maintain their advantage. Although they were developing land-based fighter models, they had incorporated carrier-based features.

“Hmm, great aircraft, almost no tail flame, and it performs well in infrared suppression.”

With insider knowledge, General Rogers could glean a lot of information from the tail flame of the F/A-XX.

From igniting on the tarmac to sprinting and climbing on the runway, the vector nozzles emitted only a nearly transparent, faint white ring-shaped tail flame that quickly expanded into a large thermal plume. It was evident that special combustion methods and suppression technologies had been employed, noticeably reducing infrared signatures.

“It’s even better than the J-20. Old Yan, your 611 Institute specializes in domestic development, so your technical capabilities should be stronger than our imitation projects, yet it seems we’ve been outpaced by the Americans.”

Qiu from Shenyang Aircraft Corporation raised his telescope and watched as the manned F/A-XX followed suit, taking off in a dual aircraft formation. The earlier unmanned F/A-XX flew in a large circle before joining up, forming an angled line formation.

People from Shenyang Aircraft Corporation often liked to cluster with those from Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, leading to both competition and collaboration, while also gathering intelligence on each other’s new technologies.

“The investment and development cycles of the Americans are considerably stronger than ours. If we could increase our national investment in research and development by tenfold and enhance the education of technical talents, we might have a chance to compete with the Americans. Otherwise, we can only rely on the innate talents within our population base; in the end, fighter jets are all about burning money. The more you spend, the faster you progress.”

Professor Yan glanced at his apprentice Lin Mo, unable to suppress a sigh.

Generally, university graduates, even those from aviation majors, rarely made an immediate impact upon joining a design institute. Most needed ten years of honing to become useful. Finding a talented and eager apprentice was one of the most important challenges for any seasoned expert beyond work.

The substantial time spent on learning and training consumed almost half of an aviation professional’s lifespan. By the time their talents were recognized within the aviation industry, most would already be past the age of discernment and approaching the age of acceptance.

Currently, the prominent aviation experts in China predominantly followed a tradition of mentorship, with one senior expert guiding three or four apprentices, maximizing the use of limited resources and energy to pass down the country’s leading knowledge before their own time ran out—this had become an unspoken rule in the industry.

Noticing General Rogers’s keen interest, Vice President Will Ketch took the opportunity to elaborate, “Yes, we have made certain improvements to the engines of the experimental machine. The infrared response at the tail of the F/A-XX is even lower than that of infrared decoys. The existing AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles can’t distinguish between infrared decoys and the infrared response from the tail flame. This significantly enhances the combat strength of the F/A-XX during aerial combat, and our sixth-generation fighter has a stealth effect that surpasses the F-35 by about 40%. Of course, if it’s officially inducted, the military will still need to upgrade the radar. Otherwise, our fighter jets won’t show up on radar. Boeing is more than willing to provide this solution to the military.”

If someone from Lockheed Martin were present, they would certainly scold Boeing for their shamelessness, as they were clearly trying to eat from both sides while also eyeing the radar manufacturers like Northrop Grumman.

At this moment, the large screen displayed an aerial view of a desolate village. There were low adobe houses, minimal greenery, and layouts of around several dozen households, complete with a well, livestock pens, and a military barracks.

It was evident that the region was modeled after the Middle East, where America frequently operated, making this area a naturally chosen style for the hypothetical enemy.

Colored hollow circles marked the defensive structures and fire points outside the village, as well as the air defense positions. This was clearly the result of collaboration between ground reconnaissance personnel and high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance drones, capturing visuals and pinpointing enemy locations while transmitting data via military communication links to the digital combat platform.

If this were in the Middle East, it would present a tough nut to crack for ground troops, and in line with the habits of American soldiers, they would definitely call for air support.

With air support now in the mix, Boeing seemed to be directing a blockbuster filled with real gunfire and explosions.

A semi-transparent flat map appeared on the screen, showing various blocks as the pilots set their attack modes. Four different colors marked military coordinates, almost covering every part of the village and its surroundings.

Each color represented an F/A-XX fighter jet. Clearly, Boeing couldn’t create a fake village for each aircraft, so they divided the areas, allowing everyone to have a preliminary view.

Looking through binoculars, it seemed one could barely see the distant shadow of a village on the parched Groom Lake.

The four fighter jets immediately dispersed, encircling the village from different directions.

In the upper right corner of the large display screen, a global map showed four lights racing toward the village’s location.

In the footage captured by the Global Hawk, various areas of the village were suddenly engulfed by explosions and shockwaves. Although there was no immediate sound, the terrifying power of the fighter jets’ attack was still palpable.

Almost every impact point had been previously marked in the four colors. The smoke from the explosions perfectly filled the outlined colored areas.

The precise and concentrated assault left the aviation experts in stunned silence.

A few seconds later, a deep rumble echoed from afar, as if an explosion had just occurred.

Everyone realized that this was the effect of the airborne Metal Storm’s concentrated attack.

Truly deserving of its title as a map weapon, it could indeed freely set targeted attacks on the map, making it a super weapon against various defensive positions and maneuvering columns; nearly every piece of ammunition achieved results.

The instantaneous, ultra-high-density strike was almost unavoidable; the force transitioned from quantity to quality, overwhelming both tanks and armored vehicles—no matter how tough their armor was, they couldn’t withstand such a level of attack.

From beginning to end, no voices were heard from the pilots, which didn’t raise eyebrows; pilots’ communications were typically confidential.

From the visual effects on the screen, no one could discern which operations were performed by human pilots and which were selections made by the unmanned combat aircraft.

“YES! Well done!”

Jeffrey Hodge, the project team leader, clenched his fist with enthusiasm. His eyes, red from lack of sleep, still sparkled as he gazed mesmerized at the sky.

The ground attack effects were flawless.

Such precise strikes would not be surprising, even if they spelled out letters on the ground.

The four F/A-XXs once again passed over from the other side of the runway, discarding their Metal Storm launchers beneath their wings as they plunged toward the ground.

The affluent Boeing company had no intention of recovering and reusing them.

The large Metal Storm launcher crashed onto the ground, rolling a few times, while its body seemed to become lighter, as nothing remained beneath its wings.

The roar of jets suddenly became piercing as the four F/A-XX fighters accelerated sharply, their tail flames becoming ever more pronounced, and in the blink of an eye, they transformed into four small black dots, swiftly disappearing from view. The screen displayed their speed.

1 Mach… 2 Mach… 3 Mach… 4 Mach… 4.2 Mach… 4.3 Mach, stabilizing finally at 4.5 Mach.

Although it did not reach the design parameters of 5 times the speed of sound, the F/A-XX’s performance was still quite remarkable. For the vast majority of ground-to-air and air-to-air missiles around the world, catching up to it would be a daunting challenge.

After completing their supersonic flight demonstration, the F/A-XX squadron made a rapid ascent and began executing various supersonic maneuvers in the sky.

Classic tactical maneuvers such as the Cobra, Mongoose, Dutch Roll, Herbst climbing wall, Conical Maneuver, and Clock Maneuver were flawlessly performed in unison.

Whether through combined techniques or single tactical maneuvers, even aviation experts from various countries had to give perfect scores.

Among them, two of the F/A-XXs gradually revealed their increasingly distinct differences.