153 Chapter 106: Destroying with Ease
The drone rapidly approached the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands, and when it was 20 kilometers away from the incident area, it suddenly ascended quickly, reaching an altitude of 500 meters. Its frame shook as two air-to-air missiles detached from the weapon racks and ignited, trailing white smoke as they streaked toward their target ahead.
The two Japan Self-Defense Forces' F-15J fighters were patrolling the skies, prepared to respond to Chinese fighter challenges. The moment the distant drone suddenly gained altitude, their onboard radars instantly picked up its trail. However, the waveform on their radar screens identified the aircraft as the latest model of an American F-15 fighter.
The two Japanese fighter pilots were clueless about why an American fighter would suddenly appear here, as they had received no intelligence of an American fighter's presence in the area when they set out on their mission. Could this American fighter be here to assist them? Yet, one thing was strange; their onboard radars had previously failed to detect this American aircraft, so how could it appear so suddenly in this location?
The two Japanese pilots, puzzled, had just opened the communication channel, intending to contact the F-15, when they suddenly received a radar warning. The opposing F-15 fighter had already launched two air-to-air missiles at them.
The Level 4 Drone Upgrade had selected the F-15 template, so its weapon system had also automatically transformed to match that of the F-15. The close combat missiles it was equipped with were AIM-120 air-to-air missiles, which have a maximum attack distance of 90 kilometers, but an effective attack range of 75 kilometers. Also, their speed reached Mach 4. Compared to before, the drone's missile attack capability had significantly improved, with an increase in both attack range and speed. With such an all-around enhancement, the drone could now break free from its previous limitation of not being able to attack and having to resort to cunning tricks and sneak attacks on the enemy.
The two Japanese F-15J fighters were shocked to detect the incoming missiles and had not expected to be attacked by an American fighter. The image of the American military as an unchallenged force, coupled with its formidable military strength, put tremendous pressure on them. Even though they detected the missile launch from the American fighter, they still didn't dare to retaliate with their own missiles. Instead, they reported the situation to their rear command and then turned tail to flee.
To evade the AIM-120 missiles, the two F-15Js accelerated away while releasing decoy flares. What they didn't realize was that the F-15 did not belong to The United States military and that it was equipped with the top-notch black technology of quantum radar. Once a target is locked by quantum radar, no amount of decoy flares can evade a missile's attack.
The F-15J fighters are the Japanese version of the American F-15, with a maximum speed of only Mach 2.5—no match for the AIM-120 missiles pursuing them at Mach 4. In just thirty seconds, the AIM-120 air-to-air missiles caught up to the two F-15Js, avoiding the released decoy flares and hitting the fighters with pinpoint accuracy, triggering two fiery explosions in the sky.
Sensing their dire predicament, both F-15J pilots had earlier pressed the ejection button and bailed out. Thus, beneath the glow of the explosions, two pristine white parachutes bloomed in the sky...
The three Japanese patrol boats below, which had been happily chatting away, were stunned when their aircraft were suddenly destroyed by missiles from an unknown source. They stood transfixed, even their conversation instinctively ceased. They watched the parachuting pilots, their minds struggling to comprehend what had happened.
Little Gu, the captain's son on the Helong, was live-streaming and managed to capture the moment the two missiles destroyed the F-15Js, which sent him into an ecstatic frenzy as he shouted in the live broadcast. The viewers who witnessed this scene in his live video became instantly excited, calling friends to share the news. In a very short time, the audience watching Little Gu's live stream surpassed a hundred thousand people.
It was not unusual for battles to happen between fighters in the world, but footage of fighters being destroyed by missiles was often too blurry to make out clearly. So, when a clear image of missiles striking fighters was captured, the audience watched with thrilled excitement. They completely forgot that this was a brutal dogfight, and the losing side could mean death...
Yan Fei's drone had appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the two F-15J fighters, completing the task in less than a minute and demonstrating extremely high combat efficiency. The drone then rapidly approached the scene of the incident and, almost concurrently with the destruction of the F-15Js, spotted the helicopter in mid-air. The drone closed in fast and fired a burst from its 30-millimeter naval cannon, bursting the hapless helicopter in mid-flight.
When the patrol ship Fushima realized the helicopter above had been blasted by an American fighter, and the same fighter was now approaching and appeared ready to attack them, they suddenly perceived the danger. The commander on board the Fushima was faced with a life-or-death decision and was scared out of his wits, turning ashen. The authoritative demeanor he usually commanded vanished in an instant, and he didn't even know to give the order. It was only after repeated prompting by his deputy that the commander began to issue orders for a dispersed retreat and reported the situation to the rear command. Consequently, the three Japanese patrol boats ceased their assault on the Helong and started to flee in three different directions.