Among the 432 fighter jets attacking the main formation, as many as 216 escort fighters.

Because the US military aircraft group had to bypass the reconnaissance formation heading south, air combat was carried out in batches, starting from 550 kilometers away from the main formation and fighting until less than 200 kilometers away from the main formation. As the US military aircraft group entered the interception range of regional air defense missiles, the air combat was declared over.

During the twenty-minute air battle, the fighter planes on both sides fought all their strength.[]

The battle was extremely fierce, and it can be said that there was no distinction between the top and bottom. The main reason was that the nine carrier-based aviation corps of the US Pacific Fleet were all the main forces, and the average flight time of the pilot was more than 3,000 hours. Although before that, the US pilots did not have much practical experience, especially large-scale air combat experience, long-term high-intensity training gave the US pilots extremely high tactical qualities. You should know that before the outbreak of the war, the average annual flight training time of the US Navy pilots was as high as 600 hours, which was twice the world average.

Fortunately, the Chinese Navy pilots are not rookies.

Compared with US pilots, the average annual flight training time of Chinese naval pilots is not much different, and half of the pilots have participated in the Second Digo Garcia Naval Battle, and some pilots have participated in the Second Indian Ocean War seven years ago, with richer practical experience.

In this battle, both sides made some mistakes.

The biggest mistake of the Chinese fleet is that there are only 48 air defense fighter jets that were lifted off early, that is, these forty-eight fighters formed the first air defense interception line, and there were as many as 108 US fighters. As a result, the forty-eight J-33bs failed to play a big role. In other words, the first air defense interception line 550 kilometers away from the fleet failed to disperse the US attack formation, nor did it threaten the attack aircraft group.

As a result, the first batch of US attack aircraft carrying anti-ship missiles launched missiles without being blocked about 500 kilometers away from the main formation.

If the US military did not make any mistakes, the fate of the main formation would definitely be very tragic.

You should know that when guiding air defense fighters to fight, it is difficult for air defense warships to intercept anti-ship missiles. If they concentrate their efforts to intercept anti-ship missiles, they cannot cover and support air defense fighters. More importantly, at this time, all fighters entering the regional air defense missile interception range, whether they are US fighters or fleet air defense fighters, may be attacked by air defense warships.

Generally speaking, the fire control system of an air defense warship will be locked.

In other words, as long as there are fighter jets in the attack area, the air defense warships will not actively launch air defense missiles. If they want to launch air defense missiles, they must use manual operation methods. When human control is carried out, the interception efficiency of air defense missiles will be reduced by more than 90%.

Fortunately, the US military made a serious mistake at this time.

After defeating the first batch of air defense fighters, the US escort fighters flying in the front did not continue to advance, at least not all rushed towards the main formation. There were less than forty US fighters flying towards the main formation, and other US fighters went to hunt down the fleeing air defense fighters.

The result was that the second batch of air defense fighters easily defeated the approaching US escort fighters.

Immediately afterwards, these air defense fighters left the attack area of ​​the fleet's air defense missiles, allowing air defense warships to convert to anti-missile interception operations.

When the second batch of escort fighters of the US military arrived, the air defense fighters had already built a new air defense interception line south of the main formation.

At this time, the anti-ship missiles projected by the US attack aircraft group had approached the main formation.

The anti-missile operation begins immediately.

It must be admitted that the twenty-minute warning time provided by the reconnaissance formation played a crucial role, such as allowing all four large integrated warships to maneuver to the most appropriate position.

In the battle to intercept anti-ship missiles, four large integrated warships played a crucial role.

Before using the last interception system, more than 80% of anti-ship missiles were shot down by regional air defense missiles, and the rest were shot down during the last crossing.

This round of attack by the US military only consumed hundreds of regional air defense missiles from the main formation.

Judging from the situation at that time, if the US escort fighter jets ignored the fleeing air defense fighter jets and instead concentrated its efforts to sprint towards the main formation, the air defense combat efficiency of large comprehensive warships would definitely be greatly reduced, making the final interception system undertake heavier air defense tasks. Because each aircraft carrier has only one large comprehensive warship around, there are great loopholes in the air defense network that covers the aircraft carrier. That is to say, the aircraft carrier is likely to be attacked. Even if the last interception capabilities of the four aircraft carriers are very strong, other warships may be attacked.

Relatively speaking, the most serious mistake made by the US military is in the way of marshalling the aircraft.

It is not the pilot who needs to be responsible for this, but French himself.

When arranging the attack, French first asked the escort fighter to set off, and then the attack aircraft carrying anti-ship missiles and anti-ship guided bombs.

Now, the problem arises.

Under normal circumstances, the combat load of the escort fighter will not exceed two tons, while the combat load of the attack aircraft is between two tons and four tons. The result is that during the cruise flight stage, the speed of the escort fighter is faster than that of the attack aircraft, so it will always be in front of the attack aircraft.

In order to effectively cooperate with the attack aircraft group, when arranging attack missions, the attack aircraft must generally be asked to set off first and then dispatch the escort fighter. If the escort fighter is to be dispatched first, the escort fighter must be slowed down.

Unfortunately, the escort fighter jets in the US military fleet did not slow down.

As a result, when the main formation began to intercept anti-ship missiles, the US attack aircraft group carrying anti-ship guided bombs had not yet entered the regional air defense network of the main formation.

Although it is only a few dozen seconds apart, in the fast-paced modern war, dozens of seconds are enough to change the ending.

Judging from the situation at that time, if the second batch of US attack aircraft followed the anti-ship missiles to approach the main formation, the attack results would definitely be completely different. You should know that when large integrated warships intercept anti-ship missiles, it is difficult to intercept ultra-low-altitude penetration attack aircraft. The result is that when large integrated warships intercepted anti-ship missiles, the US attack aircraft had reached the bomb drop distance.

The result is conceivable that four large integrated warships cannot cope with two waves of attacks that arrive at the same time.

As long as the US pilots have sufficient determination, even if they cannot completely wipe out the main formation, they will be very sure to seriously damage the four aircraft carriers in the main formation.

Practical combat has proved that the US military pilots have sufficient determination.

At this time, a mistake made by the main formation played a crucial role.

The air defense fighter jets that were urgently launched did not intercept the attack aircraft group of ultra-low altitude penetration, or did not find the attack aircraft group of ultra-low altitude penetration at all, but regarded the second batch of escort fighters as the attack aircraft group. This is understandable, because no one expected that the US military would let half of the fighter jets perform escort missions. As a result, when the second batch of escort fighters were discovered, even Mu Haoyang believed that this was the US fighter jet that performed the attack mission.

An early warning aircraft have discovered a group of US military aircraft that are penetrating from ultra-low altitudes, and they must first intercept the "attack aircraft" that are penetrating from high altitudes. The reason is very simple. The projection distance of anti-ship guided bombs when dropped at high altitudes is three times that of ultra-low altitudes, that is, they can be dropped about 60 kilometers away from the target, which is just outside the interception area of ​​medium-range air defense missiles. Don't forget that in the battle to intercept anti-ship missiles, the four large integrated warships basically used up the regional air defense missiles.

As a result, when the pilot of the air defense fighter discovered that it was not an attack aircraft, but an escort fighter carrying air ammunition, the US attack aircraft entering from an ultra-low altitude had already broken through the air defense network and dispersed into attack teams to launch an attacking attack on the four aircraft carrier battle groups.

The battle has entered its final stage.

At this critical moment of life and death, the main formation has both lucky and unfortunate places.

Fortunately, in each aircraft carrier battle group, there is also a large comprehensive warship of ground strikes, and they are all located less than five kilometers away from the aircraft carrier, acting as a personal bodyguard for the aircraft carrier, able to cover the aircraft carrier with a powerful end-interception system, and play an air defense barrier.

Unfortunately, the four aircraft carrier battle groups are scattered and do not gather together. The reason is that when deploying carrier-based fighters, the aircraft carriers need a large range of activities, so they are scattered into battle groups centered on each, with a distance of more than 20 kilometers.

There is no doubt that it is definitely more difficult to deal with when four aircraft carrier battle groups gather together than to disperse activities.

You should know that as long as four aircraft carriers stay together, eight large comprehensive warships can provide all-round air defense cover, and there are overlapping areas in the direction of enemy aircraft attack. While the four aircraft carriers are scattered, the two large comprehensive warships can only provide air defense cover at most 240 degrees. In fact, the large comprehensive warships equipped with air defense are far away from the aircraft carrier, so only one large comprehensive warship is near the aircraft carrier, and can only provide about 120 degrees of air defense cover area in the direction of enemy aircraft attack, and cannot be fully covered.

Because more than 20 minutes ago, the main formation had already turned to sail eastward and the US military fleet entered from the south, the first one was not the leading aircraft carrier battle group, but the battle group of the "Huashan" and "Hengshan" aircraft carriers in the center of the formation.

At least two-thirds of U.S. attack aircraft rushed towards the two aircraft carriers.

Among the remaining one-third of the US attack aircraft, only a dozen came to the Taishan, and the remaining twenty were all rushed towards the "Songshan" aircraft carrier battle group at the end of the formation.

At this time, formation air defense is no longer useful, and we can only look at the combat capabilities of the last interception system.
Chapter completed!