Empire Conquest-Chapter 824 - 83: The Three Horse-Drawn Carriages

The first shot of reprisal wasn’t fired by the 101st Air Assault Brigade.

At the start of the reprisal operation, the brigade was still over 100 kilometers behind the lines, with hundreds of soldiers in the midst of an assault mission awaiting orders to depart.

The first to engage in combat was the Air Force Tactical Air Force.

An entire squadron of 20 "Attack-9Bs".

In fact, this was also the first batch of "Attack-9Bs" obtained by the Empire’s Air Force.

As previously mentioned, during the design phase, the Empire’s Air Force did not require the "Attack-9" to have all-weather capability, especially night combat capability. Therefore, to reduce the difficulty of research and development and to keep the costs within a more acceptable range for the Air Force, complex electronic equipment was not installed in the design, making the "Attack-9A" essentially an attack aircraft that could only operate in daylight.

As a result, after the "Attack-9A" was officially in service, the Empire’s Air Force realized that even a basic attack aircraft needed all-weather capability. More precisely, it needed to be equipped with advanced observation and targeting equipment to use air-to-ground missiles and laser-guided bombs.

Following the official service of the "Attack-9A", the Air Force initiated the development project for the "Attack-9B".

Strictly speaking, it was actually an improvement.

However, the development and production of the "Attack-9B" did not proceed smoothly.

One could say it was also influenced by the "Attack-9A".

Due to the severe shortage of powerful attack aircraft, primarily for anti-tank operations, there was indeed a need in this area. Consequently, after entering production, the "Attack-9A" gained favor with the Empire’s Air Force, which placed orders for nearly a thousand units in just a few years, spread over three batches, with production scheduled until after New Calendar 155.

When the "Attack-9B" was finalized, about 500 "Attack-9As" had yet to be produced.

As a result, the Argument and Resolution Houses felt the Air Force did not need that many attack aircraft and repeatedly refused to approve the procurement plan for the "Attack-9B".

Fortunately, the Air Force found a solution.

According to the contract between the Empire’s Air Force and the aviation enterprise, the 482 ordered "Attack-9As" that had not yet been produced would all be upgraded to the B model, and the Air Force would pay the difference upon receipt. Crucially, the 476 "Attack-9As" already delivered would be gradually upgraded to the B model.

The first to be delivered were not newly produced "Attack-9Bs", but those converted from the A model to the "Attack-9B".

At the beginning of the year, the Empire’s Air Force accepted 60 "Attack-9Bs".

In reality, these "Attack-9Bs" were originally the "Attack-9APs" produced for Bakistan.

Due to the same significant defensive pressures—consider the armored forces of Fanluo Country being five times that of Bakistan, with more than 3,000 third-generation main battle tanks while Bakistan’s total tanks were less than 1,500—Bakistan expressed an interest in procurement shortly after the "Attack-9A" was introduced.

The "Attack-9AP" sold to Bakistan was essentially the Empire’s Air Force "Attack-9A", only with modifications catering to Bakistan’s actual conditions, such as replacing the operating system with one using the Bulan Language and adjusting the instrument readouts, ensuring that Bakistan pilots, who did not understand the Liangxia Language, could also operate these attack aircraft.

Though Bakistan was a staunch ally of the Empire, with many senior officers having received advanced training there, two centuries of colonial rule by the Bulan Kingdom meant many things couldn’t be changed in mere decades. Moreover, attack aircraft pilots weren’t highly regarded in Bakistan’s Air Force and couldn’t be considered elite.

Aside from these adjustments, the "Attack-9AP" and "Attack-9A" were almost identical.

When this batch of "Attack-9APs" was produced, the "Attack-9B" had already passed the type testing, and the Empire’s Air Force was actively seeking procurement funds.

Consequently, the Bakistan Air Force requested modifications to the "Attack-9AP" to meet the "Attack-9B" standards and was willing to bear the associated costs.

At the time, the Argument and Resolution Houses hadn’t approved the modification and upgrade plan for the "Attack-9A", and since "Attack-9A" production had ceased, aircraft manufacturers were certainly not going to let production lines sit idle—hundreds of technical workers on a production line needed to be employed—therefore, they used the Bakistan project as a stopgap.

This situation led to the "Attack-9APs" undergoing modifications first.

It was during this period that the Boss Bay War erupted.

Fearing a Global War would break out, the Empire’s Air Force requested the aircraft manufacturers to temporarily withhold delivery of these attack aircraft, making preparations for them to be converted into the Air Force model.

The process wasn’t complicated, primarily involving swapping out control panels and installing operating systems using Liangxia Characters.

Thus, the Empire’s Air Force was immediately able to receive these "Attack-9Bs" after hostilities commenced.

As only the all-weather capability was added, and there were no significant other changes, there was no need for pilots to undergo additional training.

As for the flight skills required for all-weather operation, they weren’t a major issue.

Attack aircraft pilots, also graduates of the Empire Air Force’s Flying Academy, mastered all-weather flying skills while piloting advanced training jets.

It should be said that the ability of attack aircraft pilots is similar to that of fighter pilots.

According to the Empire’s Air Force standards, the best pilots are primarily assigned to the Tactical Air Force, and pilots are allowed to choose their aircraft types. While most pilots would prioritize fighter jets, some outstanding pilots choose attack aircraft.

In the Tactical Air Force, positions involving attack aircraft and fighters are considered "Class A" and receive the highest benefits. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Importantly, attack aircraft are unmistakably more popular than bombers.

The reasons are simple: the operational flight time for attack aircraft is usually around 2 hours and rarely exceeds 5 hours, whereas bomber missions often last more than 10 hours.

Even a pilot with ample stamina would find 10 consecutive hours of flight to be extremely exhausting.