Two squadrons of 16 fighters were divided into four formations, each with two twin aircraft in each formation.

In traditional air combat tactics, a two-plane formation is the standard lineup.

However, during the Polish-Iranian War, the Imperial Air Force found that there were many shortcomings in the two-plane formation and took the lead in adjusting the tactics of air combat.

Among the several formations that appeared at that time, the most famous was the three-plane formation, with one long plane and two wingmen.

According to the statistics of the Imperial Air Force, sixty percent of the results achieved in the Polish-Iranian War belonged to the three-plane formation, while the traditional double-strike formation accounted for less than two percent.

The key is also that the loss rate of the three-plane formation in air combat is less than half that of the two-plane formation.

The popularity of the three-plane formation in the Polish-Iranian War is not unrelated to the traditional air combat mode that mainly uses machine guns, and there is nothing special about it in itself.

To say, during the last war, the three-plane formation tactics were widely used.

This shows from one side that air combat tactics are determined by technology!

After more than 10 years of development, especially during the Polish-Iranian War, the medium-range air-to-air missile, which was very immature, has possessed good enough performance and reliability, and has had an extremely huge impact on air warfare. The Imperial Air Force also adjusted its air combat tactics again in light of this change.

The two-plane formation is still the basic unit of air combat, but formation coordination has been added to this.

As a rule, a tactical unit is formed from two twin formations.

If the situation on the battlefield is more complex, such as if the opponent has sufficiently advanced technology and equipment, two tactical units will need to work together.

This is also the main reason why the Air Force set the squadron size at 8 aircraft.

Only now, the opponent is not strong.

Another tactical unit, Battle-11B, patrolled to the east, near Posha Bay, and was responsible for keeping an eye on enemy aircraft deployed on the Basra side.

This arrangement is actually taking care of Li Tianling.

Don't forget that Li Tianling had been delayed for a long time when he had returned to King Khalid Military City, so the tactical unit under his command remained in the west.

The "Zhan-10B" squadron is also divided into 2 tactical units, but they are both flying at medium and low altitudes, and the positions are slightly forward.

Such a deployment is related to the performance of the "Zhan-10B", or the defects.

As a medium-sized fighter with air supremacy, the "Zhan-10" strictly adopted the theory of energy maneuver that was only put forward at that time in the design stage. In the case of relying on high-performance engines to achieve a sufficiently high thrust-to-weight ratio, agility is maximized, i.e. horizontal maneuverability is enhanced.

As for other performance, the Air Force did not make excessive claims.

The "Zhan-10" itself is a spare tire for the "Zhan-11", which is a low-end product, and the price is also very cheap, so there is no reason to ask for too much.

As a result, the Zhan-10 became the first fighter of the Imperial Air Force to adopt a canard layout with a delta wing, and in doing so, gained exceptional agility.

If anything, the hovering performance is unmatched among third-generation fighters.

In addition, in the acquisition of a high-thrust engine, that is, the "Zh-10B", the vertical maneuverability performance, which was not so prominent before, has also been greatly improved.

However, the problem is just as prominent.

First of all, the internal fuel coefficient is low and the combat radius is short, so most of the time, it is necessary to carry 3 auxiliary fuel tanks to obtain sufficient range and air time.

The most immediate problem caused by this is the conflict between the auxiliary fuel tank and the ammunition.

The biggest problem with delta wings is that there are not enough overload points, and the number of paypoints under the wing is relatively small.

What's even worse is that in order to gain faster speed, the relative thickness of the wing of the "Zhan-10" is only 3%.

As a result, the wing's structural strength was not strong enough, so it was not possible to set wingtip anchors.

A medium fighter with a maximum take-off weight of more than 22 tons has only 9 external hardpoints, and on both sides of the inlet lip are equipment hardpoints, which can only be mounted with a mass of less than 150 kg and an indication pod, and cannot be used to hang weapons and ammunition.

That is, the "Zhan-10B" has only 7 weapon hardpoints.

Normally, the three hardpoints on the belly and inside of the wings are used to mount the drop fuel tanks, and the hardpoints on the outside of the wings are used to mount combat missiles with low mass.

As a result, only the hardpoint in the middle of the wing can be used to mount medium-range air-to-air missiles.

Although on the B type, a composite pylon is used, and theoretically a hardpoint can be hung with up to 3 missiles, but when it is actually used, considering the huge overload generated when maneuvering, a maximum of 2 missiles can be hung, and many pilots do not like the restriction of the flight envelope by the composite pylon.

In addition, it is also related to radar and electronic equipment.

If I want to say it, it is because the payload capacity is not strong enough, and the Air Force has never regarded the "Zhan-10" as the main fighter to seize air supremacy, and its highest requirement is to be able to fight with enemy aircraft, so it is very conservative in electronic equipment.

"Battle-10B" does not have the ability to use "KK-12A" to this day!

It's not just that the radar isn't good enough, it's also related to the lack of datalink equipment.

According to Li Tianling's test, the "Zhan-10B" can launch the "KK-12A," but it can only be used as a semi-active radar-guided missile. In order to bring out the performance of this new missile, it is necessary to improve the radar and equipment No. 16 datalink system.

Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that the "KK-12A" is only equipped with troops.

If anything, only a few "Battle-11Bs" of the "Expeditionary Mixed Wing" are capable of using the "KK-12A", and other fighters, including the "Battle-11B" of other units, do not have this capability. Even if you increase the promotion efforts, it will take a lot of time.

Because the performance of the "KK-6F" is really not very good, the pilots of the "Battle-10" do not like medium-range air-to-air missiles.

As a result, none of the eight "Zhan-10Bs" carried medium-range air-to-air missiles, and each carried four combat missiles.

According to the tactics arranged by Li Tianling, the task of these eight fighters is to engage in a dogfight with the intruding enemy planes, to be precise, to deal with the fish that slip through the net.

Of course, first of all, the "Battle-11B", which patrols at high altitudes, uses the "KK-12A" and "KK-6F" to intercept enemy aircraft at long distances.

It's just that the real main force is not the 16 fighters that came out of the front.

Behind the fighter jets, about 150 kilometers away, a Kn-8C is using radar to detect the airspace in the north and send the information to nearby fighter jets through a data link.

The key point is that battlefield information is mainly transmitted by data links.

Only when it is particularly necessary, such as when the identity of the intruding enemy aircraft is unclear, or if the combat order has not been confirmed, it is necessary to communicate with the pilot through the voice channel.

With the support of the datalink, the Finger-8C is capable of simultaneously guiding 48 fighters in 12 tactical units in air combat.

Relatively speaking, the previous "Finger-8B" was able to command up to 12 fighters in air combat at the same time.

For the same reason, there are 12 tactical command stations and 12 communication channels on the Finger-8B.

Obviously, this is equivalent to increasing the combat efficiency of the AWACS command aircraft by 4 times!

However, this time, the protagonist is not the "Finger-8C", but the "Detective-29C" electronic reconnaissance plane that flew with it.

Electronic reconnaissance aircraft is actually a general term, and it is more appropriate to call them "large electronic warfare aircraft" or "electronic jamming aircraft."

To put it simply, this large support aircraft, which uses the same platform as the early warning command aircraft, can not only detect and intercept electromagnetic signals within a radius of several hundred kilometers, but also use the high-power jammer to jam nearby electronic equipment, especially radar.

In addition, large aircraft can patrol the air for more than 10 hours, and there is no problem of having to return home frequently for refueling.

Although the jamming effect is not as good as that of specialized electronic warfare aircraft, and it does not have the ability to destroy hard, it still has a very great value in battles dominated by the struggle for air supremacy.

To put it simply, it can weaken the detection range of the enemy's fire-control radar through interference, and even make the enemy's fire-control radar malfunction.

The radar cannot work, and even the most advanced fighter can only be beaten.

Obviously, the "Detective-29C" is the protagonist.

The battle for air supremacy revolves around the "Detective-29C".

In the words of pilots, as long as electromagnetic interference has worked, air combat will become as simple as playing a game.

However, this is talking about over-the-horizon air combat.

It didn't take long for this "game" to begin.

When the indicator light turned on to remind the pilot that he had received new information, Li Tianling glanced at the clock on the navigation screen, and it was already 11:15 in the morning.

Early warning information from the command plane on the enemy situation.

A large formation of enemy planes is flying over Nasiriyah and is about to enter the no-fly zone, and the number of enemy planes is tentatively estimated to be more than 40.

Because it is very likely that the enemy aircraft will be in dense formations and will be more than 300 kilometers away from the AWACS aircraft, it is impossible to make an accurate judgment on the number of enemy aircraft.

However, even if there are only 40 of them, that's more than enough!

If anything, only the Iraqi Air Force will send so many fighters at once.

If it was 40 years ago, it would have been reasonable, after all, in that era when machine guns and machine guns decided the winner, a large number would definitely take advantage.

But now, quantity is not the number one factor that determines victory or defeat!

In air warfare dominated by missiles, a large number of people does not necessarily mean an advantage.

Relevant tactical information was sent directly to each fighter in the formation.

According to the instructions sent by the early warning command plane, another "Zhan-11B" tactical unit in the west has also received an order and will rush to participate in the battle.

The interception tactics were very simple, and Li Tianling's tactical unit made the first interception at a distance of 60 kilometers.

After that, another tactical unit of the "Zhan-11B" carried out a second interception at a distance of 40 km.

When the distance is shortened to about 30 kilometers, the two "Zhan-11B" tactical units will use the "KK-6F" to jointly carry out the third interception.

Next, it's time for the combat phase.

Provided, of course, that the enemy aircraft is not routed and is still flying south.

While speeding up the fighters, Li Tianling arranged tasks for his pilots through the formation communication channel, mainly to determine the order of firing.

The information sent by the early warning command plane is not detailed enough, but in fact it is not a big problem.

When the distance is shortened, after the fire control radar is activated, it will be able to detect the specific situation of the enemy aircraft, so as to obtain more accurate fire control information.

If the firing sequence is arranged in advance, i.e., engagement tactics, the preparation time before firing can be greatly reduced.

If anything, in addition to the huge overload generated by the fighter jet when it accelerates, it really feels like playing a video game.

All the pilot did was to control the control switch on the control panel, and complete the preparations before firing like playing a video game.

After about 10 minutes, the early warning command aircraft sent the order to open fire.

This is the last line of insurance.

After the order to open fire, the initiative of the operation is in the hands of the pilot, and the pilot will often strike at the first opportunity.

The point is, there's no time to waste!

By the time the command to open fire was received, the distance to the enemy aircraft group had been reduced to 80 kilometers!

This distance is actually a bit close.

For targets such as fighter jets, the "Zhan-11B" fire control radar has a detection range of about 200 kilometers, and the continuous tracking distance is also more than 100 kilometers.

However, due to the range of the missile, the performance of the radar is obviously excessive.

In addition, it is also related to the "Detective-29C".

When the early warning command plane gives the order to open fire, the distance between it and the enemy plane is about 250 kilometers, and if the "Detective-29C" begins to accelerate forward, the distance between the "reconnaissance and the enemy plane" may have been shortened to 200 kilometers, and this is also the longest distance for suppressing and jamming.

Farther away, the interference effect will be greatly reduced.

The three heads show that the one on the right side of the screen, that is, the electronic warfare screen, has a prompt message, and there is a strong electromagnetic interference source behind it.

However, it did not have an impact on the "Zhan-11B".

Among the incoming enemy aircraft, flying at the front was a batch of MG-29s with a number of about 10 units, followed by at least 20 "Mirage" F1s, and after that there was a batch of MG-23s.

None of these fighters are mysterious.

As early as a few years ago, the Imperial Air Force obtained key intelligence on these Western Continent fighters through various channels, especially intelligence agencies.

This includes data related to the fire control radar, such as the operating frequency and operating mode.

If you want to say, this is also the biggest shortcoming of the fighters of the Western Continent Group.

Whether it is the leading Empire, the rising star Luosha Democratic Republic, or the revitalized Locke State, they all have a strong manufacturing industry, but they are seriously lacking in the electronics industry, and they are far behind in the field of electronic technology, and the radar developed and produced is not advanced at all.

During the Iran-Iraq war, the Iraqi Air Force was beaten down by the Polish Air Force, which is the best proof of this.

Of course, Li Tianling didn't think much about it at all.

After activating the fire control radar, it took him less than half a minute to assign targets to the 3 wingmen, and immediately after that, he opened fire.

In just over 10 seconds, four "Battle-11Bs" each launched four "KK-12A".

At this time, the distance to the enemy aircraft was less than 60 kilometers.

On the radar screen in the middle, there was no obvious change in the dense dots of light representing the enemy planes, and the enemy planes did not seem to have noticed that they had been attacked.

This is the effect of electromagnetic interference, and the radar warning aircraft of the enemy aircraft is out of order because of interference!

In fact, it was not a malfunction, but was turned off by the pilots of enemy aircraft.

Time passed minute by minute, and after about 40 seconds, Li Tianling let out a long sigh of relief.

The missiles launched by them have already entered the final stage of self-guidance.

In addition, in about 20 seconds, another 4 "KK-11A" launched by "Zhan-12B" will also be launched.

At low altitude, 8 "Zhan-10Bs", also 2 tactical units, have also followed, and are expected to enter the battle in about 2 minutes.

Although Li Tianling did not give the order to slow down, began to energize the remaining four "KK-6Fs", and prepared to launch a second attack according to the arrangement of the early warning command aircraft, including him, all the pilots of the "Zhan-11B" knew that from now on, this would become the sky of the dragon.

After this battle, it will be the "Tyrannosaurus" and "Raptor" of the Imperial Air Force that will dominate the sky.