Chapter 496 - 487: Aftermath_1

Pentagon.

While Xuehu was stirring up chaos in the Western Pacific, it was still early morning in America, a time when the staff had just entered their working state, but now it was already past midnight.

Nuclear war alerts hadn’t caused too much panic here, as a quick glance at the satellites would reassure them that things weren’t so far out of hand.

The launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile could be identified by its extremely strong and unique infrared signature. Sensing satellites simply needed to spot a large heat source moving at thousands of kilometers per hour to trigger an alert.

If, after tracking its trajectory, the target was suspected to be on domestic soil or that of an ally, it would then generate the highest level of warning.

However, the heat signature of Xuehu’s flight was far less significant than a rocket’s trail, especially after special treatment, and only the nearby, too-late-to-evaluate Pacific Fleet was briefly thrown into confusion.

For the next few hours, rather than bracing for a nuclear war, it was more about flexing muscles as an opportunity for a show of force, given the violation of the airspace of two allies and the offender just flitting away without consequence. They needed to respond strongly to maintain credibility.

It was like someone who had been spooked by a practical joke; although harmless, they must brandish their fangs and claws to show that they wouldn’t be scared off even if it were real.

The impact of the 8·12 Incident would surely be profound. Setting aside the violation of airspace, what exactly was that "misguided" aircraft?

The absence of rocket launch traces suggested that it wasn’t launched by a rocket but had likely taken off autonomously from an airport.

An aircraft that took off from an airport and accelerated on its own, flying over 6000 kilometers from detection (as it was about to leave the mainland) and back to the disappearance of its signal in the northeast, reaching a minimum speed of Mach 6.8 and a maximum speed of Mach 12.1, with an average speed of Mach 10.9. What kind of monster aircraft was this?

And a few hours later, the intelligence room began compiling information from the Chinese internet and found that from the previous day in Yinchuan to the "Higgins," in Jiaodong Peninsula where it was first spotted, people in the cities in between also noticed bright spots in the sky and heard very distinct booms.

Linking the cities would account for a distance of about 1000 kilometers, and considering China’s penchant for setting up various secret bases in the northwestern deserts, it meant that the confirmed flight range of the unidentified aircraft from take-off to return exceeded 8500 kilometers.

Thus, logically deducing, its design range had to be at least over 10000 kilometers – a bona fide strategic bomber capable of direct flights to North America.

An aircraft capable of Mach 12, with radar low-detectability, a range of over 10,000 kilometers, and a flight altitude greater than 60,000 meters; each specification alone was enough to send chills down one’s spine.

Taking another look at the content of the announcement by China National Pass, admitting the presence of a test pilot, indicated this was not an unmanned aircraft; any plane capable of carrying a person to these specifications could not be anything but large.

During the hotline phone call last night among five countries, everyone wanted to know what it was, but the Chinese were tight-lipped, revealing only the crucial information that it was "piloted," aside from completely baffling statements about "a plane for meteorological purposes." After all, the distinction between an aircraft illegally crossing airspace for civilian versus military purposes was not a trivial matter.

Speaking of "meteorological aircraft," everyone was rather familiar with this. When the U2 was shot down in Union territory back in the day, America had said the same thing. It was a case of giving them a taste of their own medicine.

Although this issue was glossed over in the end, everyone was highly interested in the unknown aircraft and was striving to get as much information as possible.

However, for the Pentagon, the confirmable specifications alone were already terrifying enough.

The entire Air Force Intelligence Room had a two-hour steering discussion meeting, and except for occasional remarks from the technical experts, everyone else was in a dreadful silence.

Throughout the history of aerial combat, initially, it was the primitive stage of maneuver warfare. Then, with the maturity of technology, it evolved into energy-maneuver warfare, i.e., high-altitude and high-speed theory, which reached its peak in the second generation of jet fighters after World War II. Any new jet that couldn’t reach the "double two" standard—Mach 2 and 20,000 meters—was almost too embarrassed to show its face, giving rise to monsters like the XB70 "Valkyrie" and the SR71 "Blackbird," capable of Mach 3.

However, as missile technology matured, the high-altitude, high-speed theory gradually waned, and air combat moved toward information dominance. But now it seems that the high-altitude, high-speed theory wasn’t outdated?

Or rather, the reason they had given up on high-altitude, high-speed flight in the past was because they were not "high enough" nor "fast enough."

When NACA and aerospace industry experts convened and saw "Mach 12," "60,000 meters," "manned," "atmospheric aircraft," and "10,000 kilometers range," they shook their heads initially, considering it completely impossible to combine these five criteria.

But facts speak louder than words, and they could only rack their brains for what kind of technology could achieve this feat.

Major General Kerry, with a face so dark it looked like it could drip water, also knew that the plane couldn’t be deciphered for the time being, and turned to ask:

"Before you ask whether we can build such an aircraft, tell me how we can shoot it down."

The technical experts fell silent for a while, then someone said:

"The Standard Missile-3 has such capability, but there’s a problem with radar guidance. The enemy’s aircraft obviously employed stealth design; although there seem to be many issues now, it is still in the experimental phase, and they will certainly solve these problems in the future."

"The Patriot 3 also has potential, with similar problems, as does THAAD. In theory, all missiles with anti-missile capabilities are more or less the same."

"..."

After some discussion, they realized that although theoretically there were several missiles capable of reaching the target, guidance was a major issue. If they could think of flaws, others were surely working on improvements. Coupled with the natural barriers of altitude and speed, actually shooting it down was still very challenging.

Kerry: "All of you are talking about land-based and sea-based antimissile systems, can’t we use an aircraft to shoot it down?"

He was not puzzled; aside from the costly downside of deploying these land-based and sea-based anti-missile systems, the biggest issue was their difficulty in relocating, while their target aircraft could change course at will.

At worst, the aircraft could simply fly around them. Earth was so big, it wasn’t possible to stuff Aegis ships and anti-missile positions everywhere.

The best solution was still to use an interceptor aircraft for interception, greatly enhancing flexibility and response capability.

This question plunged the experts into silence again. An interceptor that could catch a Mach 12 aircraft? It would then have to fly at least Mach 10 itself, which seemed impossible.

"Maybe... lasers?"

A Raytheon Company expert uttered a word, spurring further contemplation.

It sounded feasible; America was developing sea-based, land-based, and space-based laser systems, including missile projects, and using them against aircraft should be viable.

But the problem remained. If the laser system was land-based or sea-based, it had similar issues to the anti-missile systems. If it was space-based, it still lacked a carrier aircraft that flew fast enough, bringing the problem back to square one.

The Air Force Intelligence Room struggled with discussing countermeasures but was soon interrupted by the arrival of a Presidential Assistant.

The latter walked in, pointing fingers sequentially at the NACA experts, the head of the intelligence bureau, and Major General Kerry:

"Gentleman, the President needs an explanation."