Chapter 264

Although we were still watching it on a TV set, it was different from the news broadcast; this was practically a live broadcast!

"Oh, God, what is this?" James muttered.

"Digital sand table, or also called electronic sand table—just input the map into a computer and it can display the corresponding terrain; this…shouldn't be hard to imagine, right? You haven't seen one before?"

Qin Miao's gaze, his tone—clearly he was speaking to a bunch of country bumpkins!

Before coming, they still wanted to save some face for the Easterners, even if the Easterners were country bumpkins, they couldn't say it out loud; after all they were brothers in the same trench—this exercise, no matter how you look at it, seemed like a retort to the old Maozi…

I never expected the Easterners' technological development to be so rapid, with this line of thinking, this creativity…far surpassing the Western world!

They all felt a bit ashamed.

"This is just a petty trick." Finally, the French couldn't hold back; Claude spoke up: "On the battlefield, what ultimately decides victory or defeat is weaponry and equipment, especially aircraft—after all, without air superiority, there is nothing; even the strongest army cannot withstand aerial bombardment…"

At that moment, a voice came from the TV set representing the Red Army headquarters.

"Immediately locate the target, prepare to launch aircraft, and conduct precision bombing!"

What?

Claude widened his eyes: "At the outset of the war, you can already determine the target's position and still carry out precision bombing?"

"Exactly, what era is this—are we still doing carpet bombing? We have BeiDou satellites; of course we can quickly determine the target's position and rapidly launch aircraft; as for precision bombing… gentlemen, just look at TV set number two."

On TV set number two, the simulated Blue Army forces were still advancing rapidly; after each segment they would plant a flag, which represented the territory already occupied by the Blue Army—each hill, warehouse, transportation hub, power station… and so on, all occupied by the Blue Army!

Some of those positions may have been predetermined, while others were just flags planted at random, making it impossible to fix their coordinates.

"Look, TV set number three—what are the people inside doing?" Sterling shouted.

On this TV set, an airfield in the rear is shown; at this moment, in the airfield, pilots are running toward their aircraft while ground crews are tense loading bombs, but… they aren't simply attaching the bombs and calling it done; instead, they take an electronic device, connect it to the bomb, and then begin… inputting something?

When did these iron bombs need to be connected to electronic equipment?

"Input the target coordinates scouted ahead into the bomb. Didn't we just say we need precision bombing?"

"That's impossible—how would the bomb fly to the target according to your demands? Currently, only laser-guided and TV-guided bombs can do that, and they require pilot or ground personnel guidance; you…"

"That technology is long obsolete; we have BeiDou satellites."

BeiDou satellites again?

"What can BeiDou satellites do? Could they provide voice guidance like in a car?" Claude's words had barely left his mouth when he suddenly realized—of course, you can use a navigation satellite!

Although they can't provide voice guidance, they can send commands to change the bomb's flight path—this way, the bomb really grows eyes!

Qin Miao glanced at the other person, a smile appearing on his face: "Exactly, it's linguistic guidance—using a language the bomb can understand."

Everyone present was an industry professional, and they quickly realized: "The uses of this navigation satellite are truly huge!"

"Yeah, we…"

"We NATO also have our own navigation satellite!" Seeing the big guy's expression full of expectation, James hurriedly introduced: "Our GPS is currently in the testing phase; it won't be long before we complete the global network setup! By then, all NATO member states will be able to use our GPS—for free!"

The Frenchmen's faces grew even uglier.

Although we aren't a NATO country, we at least belong to the Western bloc—you Americans are being too stingy, aren't you?

Amid their complex gazes, inside the TV set those aircraft had already been loaded with bombs, taxied onto the runway, and took off one after another!

Claude suddenly thought of something and shouted loudly: "Telescope, give me a telescope!"

For safety's sake, the observation platform certainly couldn't be too close to the battlefield, but to have a sense of being on the scene it also couldn't be too far—you could see it with the naked eye, and a telescope would make it even clearer.

Claude picked up the telescope, found the blue flags on the exercise field ahead, then looked toward the sky, searching for the taking‑off aircraft.

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes…

The aircraft formation finally arrived!

These aircraft were merely flying level; near the target they dropped the bombs, and when Claude heard the bombs' whistling, his expression grew complex.

Level bombing requires an advanced bomb‑aiming device; even on their Mirage 2000s, the radar's dedicated ground‑bombing function is still under development! Now the Mirage 2000 also needs to rely on dive bombing to hit those targets accurately.

In this regard, have the Easterners already surpassed the French?

No, no, impossible—the Easterners are just showing off; maybe they're even faking it, for example by burying explosives under those blue flags…

With that thought, he began scanning the sky, and when he caught sight of a falling bomb, the telescope followed its descent…

Wait!

The bomb's tail fin actually moved? The bomb's flight direction actually changed!

Sure enough, this thing can turn, just like a laser‑guided bomb, but the warhead lacks a laser seeker, so… it must be satellite‑guided?

In the midst of his thoughts, the bomb struck the ground, about ten meters from that flag; the next moment—boom! —the explosion's flames shot up, and the blue flag was blown into the air as well.

The hit precision is outrageously high!

So… the BeiDou navigation is truly powerful; we must bring this technology back and integrate it into our Mirage 2000s! Humph, the Americans' sour faces—we French won't even look at them; we are the proudest Gallic roosters, how could we bow before the eagle?

Claude lowered the telescope, looked up at the aircraft—these planes practically just dropped their bombs and fled, providing no subsequent guidance; this is truly a fire‑and‑forget weapon!

Eastern technology… really strong! Of course, we French aren't lacking this technology—it's just that the market is small, not worth researching; exactly, that's it!

The others were also watching this bombardment, their expressions complex.

Precision‑guided munitions—an advanced weapon capable of changing the battlefield!

Not only can they hit fixed targets; if you load them with cluster bombs they can also strike moving targets—even if they can't destroy a tank, they can still take out its tracks!

From landing to now, how much Eastern high tech have they witnessed? And what do those high technologies represent behind them?

High‑tech modern warfare! Using high‑tech means to gain advantage in war! Thinking of this, James's eyes lit up—this is also the way NATO should counter Soviet armored formations!

You fight yours, I fight mine!