Chapter 332 - 324 Attack Completed_1

This time, it was an atmospheric damage effect test.

The test subject was a specially modified GJ-21 "Meteor" jet.

The Meteor Advanced Trainer had undergone in-depth modifications for unmanned flight, stripping away anything that could be discarded, even fueling only half the normal amount, reducing its weight by about 20%.

A grey-black ablative material roughly 3X3 meters in size was attached to its dorsal surface, which was the target for the Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 to irradiate.

After extreme weight reduction, the GJ-21 would descend slightly after climbing to an altitude of 21,500 meters to achieve a speed of 2.1 Mach, maintaining it for around 20 seconds.

In the eyes of the nearby air traffic control, a drone designated as the Unmanned Meteor Trainer had taken off from the base, already reported in advance for the purpose of testing new improved engines, climbing rapidly, seemingly heading for high-altitude, high-speed tests.

The Air Force’s radar operators checked the identification number, confirmed it was correct, and then ignored it, as these unmanned test flights flew at very high altitudes, not interfering with other aircraft.

The unmanned Meteor jet, internally coded as 2231, meaning the thirty-first of the second batch of production models, was now beginning to circle, controlled from the ground.

Lin Ju looked anxiously at the crisscrossing routes displayed on the screen in the secret center, indicating that the Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 needed 2 more minutes to reach the area where it could launch an attack.

Three low-orbit communication satellites and one geostationary "Mountain" platform sent signals to the base at a frequency above the normal communication range, while also providing auxiliary calibration for the Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1.

To simulate a real situation, the 2231 jet had its satellite navigation turned off, and before the Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 could locate the target, it had to rely on low-orbit satellite detection, then activate its own comprehensive precision positioning means, including optical, infrared, and electromagnetic waves, to lock on.

The area above the base where 2231 circled was only a very small square for the Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 hovering at an altitude of 270 kilometers, the attack window lasting only 2 minutes in total, with full-power attacks requiring 150 seconds of cooldown each time, so there was only one chance.

Lin Ju looked out from the bunker window towards the sky, at this moment it was a rare cloudless time, so the attack effect should be ideal.

As the Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 was about to enter the attack window, the operator of the 2231 jet received the command to push the engine into an overload afterburner state, providing over 16 tons of thrust at the cost of its lifespan, with the engine rotor speed exceeding the load by a full 35%.

The jet’s speed immediately increased rapidly, its altitude rising to 21,000 meters, and then according to the preset, it accelerated for the last time on a shallow dive using an irregular arc-shaped route.

The nearby radar station immediately noticed the conspicuous high-altitude speed of 2231, but didn’t think much of it, after all, it was out of sight.

But in the secret control center of Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1, over a dozen engineers were on edge, closely monitoring the status of the Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1.

The nearly 3 billion yuan of cost and even more in research and development expenses were not in vain, as in the 17th second after entering the attack window, the Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 onboard computer automatically searched for and locked onto 2231.

"Target locked, making fine adjustments for aiming!"

At an altitude of 270,000 meters above the rapidly accelerating Meteor Advanced Trainer, the RCS of Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 carefully operated for a few seconds under the control of SC09, the cylindrical satellite imperceptibly shifted a little bit in angle.

The other four small lasers used for calibration attempted to irradiate the ablative heat-resistant coating in the central part of craft 2231, which is designed for objects reentering the atmosphere, with the ability to withstand extremely high temperatures and friction.

The laser light reflected back would vary based on the shape and material of the irradiated area, and it was these slight differences that the gyroscopes and the prisms inside the 11 laser lenses relied upon to deflect under electromagnetic action.

seconds into the attack window, the onboard computer felt the reflected laser light stabilize and match the characteristics of the ablative coating.

"Calibration complete, initiate attack!"

The ground staff merely announced the status, in reality, apart from selecting the attack targets, everything else was computer-controlled, otherwise there would be no time.

Lin Ju and Zhao Xiaowen both tensed up, over 5 billion yuan invested, and it was this moment that would show the outcome.

Under the bright afternoon sun, a beam of laser spanning 270 kilometers passed through the dense atmosphere, its energy attenuated by nearly 30% and dispersed with distance, finally forming a light column about 3 meters in diameter on the ground.

The instant the seven 140-kilowatt gas lasers of Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 were activated, the irregular coating on the back of the Meteor jet traveling at 2.13 Mach was covered by the prototype’s light spot.

Quickly heated by the transmission of high-frequency photons, the coating, normally used to counter atmospheric friction at speeds of 20 Mach, began to melt and erode layer by layer against the opposing high-speed airflow.

In the control center, temperature sensors on the surface of craft 2231 still showed no abnormalities. By now, 19 seconds of irradiation time from Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 passed, with half of the maximum 40-second tracking and irradiation time gone.

seconds, 21 seconds, 22 seconds... 33 seconds!

The temperature sensor readings beneath the ablative coating on the jet’s backplate leaped from over 100 degrees; they rocketed to four digits in an instant and changed to "E---" before they could be clearly seen.

Zhao Xiaowen immediately turned her gaze to the radar that had been tracking craft 2231, where the radar reflection indeed started to change.

Once the ablative coating on the jet’s backplate was entirely gone, the craft was exposed to over 680 kilowatts of laser. The skin began to distort and deform under the high temperature; the more than twice the speed of sound airflow ripped the softened skin away, exposing the fragile internal structure to the air and the beam.

The position of the ablative material was at the center of the craft. When this area also began to deform, the pressure on the front part of the plane started to bend and compress the body. The automatic flight control attempted to adjust the flight surfaces to save the plane, but the aircraft began to uncontrollably break apart at the rear.

It only took 7 seconds for the ablative material to be breached and for the radar cross-section of craft 2231 to turn into an irregular shape, from the 29th to the 36th second. By the 40th second, Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 had lost its target and automatically shut down the lasers.

The advanced trainer jet, flying at twice the speed of sound, had broken, collided, torn apart, and turned into a spinning, falling pile of debris of varying sizes. The calibration lasers could no longer find the original signal.

Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 and the low-orbit satellites assisting it did a rough search of the 50x50 kilometer area around them and found no signals similar to the target, deeming it destroyed and sending a message of "Attack complete, target destroyed" back to the ground.

From the moment Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 entered the attack window, it took a total of 95 seconds to complete the entire process from search, lock-on, attack, to damage infliction; out of which, destruction took only 40 seconds, with the ablative material burned away in 33 seconds, a material capable of withstanding the high temperatures of atmospheric friction during reentry.

Without a doubt, even as just a validation unit, Thousand-Jun Stick No. 1 possessed capabilities ready for practical use.