HINO CHARGE FLIGHT-12XSU-30MKI-0525 HRS –ANDAMANS SEA
Wing commander Jalan looked at his radar display ,the data link feed from Phalocn and his moving map display helped him make up his mind on the final tactical strike plan against the incoming dozen odd J-11 . Flying the state of the art Su-30mki ,perhaps the best air dominance fighter in the world in full operational service did not, make him complacent .On the contrary the available flying and navigational aid made him feel more like a combat manager and at the moment he was fine tuning his zero loss defensive strike plan using all the resources at his command –the dozen best combat aircraft with thrust vectoring ability along with very powerful electronic countermeasure capability, the available awac support –the pre knowledge of the flying limits of J-11 type aircraft and confidence in the skill level of his team mates
Rhino lead –rhino team –stand by to copy strike plan
-Standing by –rhino lead – rhino 2
Standing by –rhino lead –rhino 3 and the alert status came in quickly
- rhino team –rhino lead – execute strike plan orange glow –repeat orange glow
- copy that rhino lead –ready to execute plan orange glow on your command
- ocean eye – rhino charge lead – ready to execute orange glow –concur over
Commodore Manjit had to admire the guts of the young pilots .Instead of firing the long range R-77 s and then following up with R-73 shots up close in copy book style-Jalan was in effect asking permission to close in within r-73 range with radars off ,depending solely on the track guidance from the phalcon and then hit from right below the incoming J-11 s with R-73 in caged mode using the far superior turning climb ability of the mkis and then use R-77 s as secondary weapon to finish off the escaping J-11s
Thinking for just a few seconds commodore Manjit gave his sanction to the plan
-rhino lead –ocean eye –you have all signal green- we are turning over four consoles to your mission –happy hunting
- thanks ocean eye –executing now
- rhino team-rhino lead – execute orange glow -5 4 3 2 1 now .
The 12 Su 30 mkis broke up at right angles into four distinct flight . The first three stayed on course and reduced speed to 800 km./hr .The second groups turned starboard at angles and dived for the waves .The third group similarly turned port and once again went for the waves .The fourth group went vertical on full afterburner and climbed for maximum altitude and were soon crossing the 15 km band .
The PLAAF J-11 which was almost getting ready to launch their load of BVR missiles (Chinese copy of R-77) suddenly were with too many widely set target co ordinates and the threat priority assigned by their attack computer were no longer valid and the individual computers went on reset mode and restarted to assign new missile launch priority based on distance ,speed and altitude of the incoming Indian mkis ,aborting the already programmed in firing solution fed to the missiles guidance chips .
- rhino lead –ocean eye –distance to target 75 km –execute cross now
All the 12 mkis lit their afterburner and executed a simultaneous horizontal and vertical scissor maneuver. What happened is in a matter of second s the aircrafts that were flying top cover went for the waves as the 3 flankers flying on wave tops and barely detected on J-11 radar went vertical and took up the top cover position .At the same time the two flight s of three flankers from port and starboard changed side using their full thrust vectoring capability with hardly any altitude change.
The PLAAF flight could no longer maintain formation and still defend itself ass the Indian flankers were starting to envelope the Chinese flight in a deadly game of cat and mouse. As they split up to meet the Indian challenge –the IAF Phalocn noted the dispersion and fed exact position of individual PLAAF aircraft to the Indian sukhois.
- rhino lead- ocean eye –you have two J 11 on your tails 50 km and closing at high speed
- copy that ocean eye –tell me when to break
- standby rhino lead
- rhino 4 – bandit launched radar seeker on you deploy chaff and break away now
- thanks –ocean eye – bugging out now –chaff deployed
- rhino lead –ocean eye -time to play tango
- copy –ocean eye –rhino lead thanks
Jalan pulled the stick towards him self and to the starboard limits . As he pushed the throttle collective to full afterburner the jet skidded on its tail and was facing the incoming r-77 clones fired by the PLAAF J-11 .He squeezed off half a dozen chaff packet ,checked ECM pod was on and then pulled into a steep vertical climb ,allowing the pair of radar seekers to pass under and explode harmlessly far away. As his pushed the stick forward the flanker nosed down seeking out its prey ,which in this case was flight of three J-11 s hopelessly exposed and trying to get away from the Indian flanker looming up and forward but at maximum speed not having much success . So they executed only option still available put their collective nose down and dived for the ocean.
Jalan did not hesitate as he selected r-73 for all the three J-11 s and punched the firing trigger three times . The state of the art onboard attack computer took in the fire command ,checked the radar data and the aircraft information stored in its hard drive and decided on the target priority ,targeting the closest one first and then in sequence
There was no question of missing as Jalan looked at each of his doomed enemy ,the helmet mounted sight noted the Doppler shift of their radar echo and guided in the three missiles already launched . Two of the J-11 exploded one after another in the sky barely 100 meters over the ocean and third one crashed into the waves as its brave pilot tried to out run the archer.
- ocean eye –rhino lead –splash three –confirm please
- ocean eye copies –rhino lead splash three bandits –type J-11
