Lu Zhou swore that it was definitely the most spectacular fireworks he had ever seen.

Of course, it is also the most money-burning one.

The airborne capsules that fell from the sky were like meteors piercing the cold night, and the surface coating vaporized by friction and the air waves actively sprayed by the buffer engine together weaved into an umbrella-shaped arc of fire, which overwhelmed the ground at a speed that tore through the sound barrier.

Standing next to a military jeep, looking at the airborne capsule falling from the sky through binoculars, Lu Zhou's eyes gradually became shocked.

After a long time, he put away his binoculars and sighed softly.

“…… Did you really make this thing? ”

As a hostage in this anti-terrorism exercise codenamed "Mission", Lu Zhou's position at the moment can be said to be the best viewing seat in the entire exercise.

It is precisely because of this that this shocking feeling is particularly intuitive and strong for him.

I still remember that when the Xiangrui had just flown and tested the lightning escape pod system that was still in the experimental stage on the way back.

At that time, Lu Zhou and Director Li and his party went to the Gurbantunggut Desert to select a site for the Tinder Project, and when they saw the lightning escape pod for the first time, Director Li couldn't take his eyes off it, and immediately asked him if he could use this thing in the army.

Considering the cost, Lu Zhou did not give an optimistic evaluation, but told him that this thing is equivalent to a space return capsule with an active jet system, and if he can accept this expensive cost, it would not hurt to give it a try.

After saying this, Lu Zhou couldn't remember it clearly, but he didn't expect that Director Li not only listened to it, but also really found someone to do a technical demonstration and get this thing out.

Standing next to Lu Zhou, Director Li, who also had a telescope around his neck, said with a happy smile.

"Haha, I didn't expect that we would have a chance to surprise our Academician Lu, it seems that these hundreds of millions of dollars are not a loss."

“…… Hundreds of millions? ”

"The R&D budget is almost this number," looking at Lu Zhou, who had an surprised expression, Director Li said with some emotion, "Actually, don't say that you didn't expect that when the secretary of the Air Force Equipment Department pulled me to talk about this, my expression was even more surprised than yours." ”

"When the project was first proposed, not many people were optimistic, and when I did the technical demonstration, it was almost noisy, and I also had the idea that I had to give it a try if I could succeed, so I put the project up under pressure. Unexpectedly, several veteran academicians of the Air Force Equipment Department and the Rocket Research Institute really lived up to the expectations of the country and the people, and really did it. ”

Lu Zhou: "This thing isn't cheap, is it?" ”

Director Li nodded and said: "It's not cheap, that's for sure, none of the things involved in the military industry are money-saving." Fortunately, the cost of our space flight is not high, and the cost of sending people and equipment to it is acceptable, saving a lot of expenses, in general, the cost of an airborne capsule is about equal to a medium-range missile, and this thing is disposable, as is a missile. ”

"In addition, this is still the cost of a single airborne capsule, if you count the equipment on the orbital airborne troops, as well as the accessories mounted on the airborne capsule itself, the cost is probably worth two medium-range missiles."

After more than two years of continuous improvement, the military version of the "Thunder" airborne capsule has evolved many improved versions on the basis of the original "Lightning" escape capsule as a universal version.

As its name suggests, "Thunder" emphasizes the ability to suppress airborne areas more than the "Lightning", which emphasizes more on the capacity and survivability of the crew.

When approaching 50 meters above the ground, the airborne capsule will take the initiative to spray smoke barrage into the landing area before hitting the ground target, and according to the specific attachments carried, it will project improvised bunkers, metal fragments, and even cluster/cluster bombs downward, so as to win greater battlefield advantages for the airborne units, and also bring psychological pressure to the defending enemy forces.

In addition, in order to make more effective use of space, the "Thunder" airborne cabin has streamlined a large amount of space for storing food, medicine, and survival tools compared to the "Lightning" escape cabin, and reduced the maximum number of passengers from six to four, with one seat in each of the four directions of southeast, south, west, and north, corresponding to four doors that are pushed outward.

Speaking of this, Director Li's voice also carried a little emotion.

“…… However, although it is a little more expensive, in terms of strategic value, the effect that five airborne capsules can produce is far from being comparable to ten medium-range missiles! ”

As he spoke, the airborne capsule that fell from the sky had already hit the hills two kilometers away, and a smoke barrage exploded at the same time as the airborne capsule landed.

Feeling the faint tremor coming from the ground, Lu Zhou glanced at Yan Yan, who was standing next to the jeep with his arms crossed.

"Speaking of which, should I cooperate and lie down here for a while?"

Yan Yan joked: "If you want to cooperate, you can do it, do you need me to help you." ”

Lu Zhou glanced at his clothes.

"Forget it, I still like this white shirt."

Suddenly remembering something, Director Li coughed and said, "Let me say by the way, if there is really an accident...... It's more important than image or human life. ”

Lu Zhou: "...... You don't have to say this, I know it. ”

As he spoke, the lights were already lit not far away, and a group of soldiers of the Orbital Airborne Forces, armed to the teeth and holding paratrooper rifles in their hands, had advanced to the side of the jeep, and formed a defensive formation on the spot, protecting everyone near the jeep in the middle.

"The Thunder Squad has arrived at the target area, the target vehicle has been controlled, and the personnel are safe!"

"Move on to the next subject walkthrough!"

"Roger!"

The voice of the man at the head of the conversation, Lu Zhou always felt a little familiar, but because the black combat uniform armed these soldiers from head to toe, he couldn't remember where he heard it for a while.

As he passed by, he could feel the man look at him a few times, and his instincts told him it was a grateful gaze.

Smiling and nodding to him, Lu Zhou didn't disturb them acting, and watched them disappear into the woods on the side.

From the launch to the landing of the airborne troops, and then to the advance to the hostage's area, the total time was 49 minutes and 27 seconds, which was more than 10 minutes faster than the original one-hour passing line.

On the battlefield, time is of the essence, and even if it is just an extra 10 minutes of evacuation time, a critical moment can change the course of the entire battle.

The officer standing next to Lu Zhou glanced at the stopwatch and nodded approvingly.

"Today is lucky, it's a sunny day, if it's a rainy day, I'm afraid it will be a lot of trouble."

Lu Zhou: "I think it's already very strong. ”

"yes."

Looking at the flares falling slowly in the sky, Director Li nodded and continued with emotion.

"Even the United States, which has spread military bases all over the world, does not dare to say that it can send seals to any corner of the planet in an hour."

"But from now on, we can!"