Empire Conquest-Chapter 865 - 102: Ground War (Part 2)

Against aircraft tens or even hundreds of kilometers away, fragment warheads are fully sufficient.

However, against ballistic missiles diving down from overhead at speeds of Mach 10 or even Mach 20, it is certainly not enough.

Many intercepted "Scuds" and "Husseins," even if hit by "Divine Archers," had debris fall near their targets.

According to unverified reports, the missile that hit the Riyadh "Imperial Hotel" had already been intercepted, and what hit the hotel was a fuel tank that detached after interception, containing some toxic chemical fuel inside.

In any case, Iraq’s ballistic missiles are indeed a major threat.

To counter these ballistic missiles and stabilize Saudi Arabia and other Allies, the Empire Air Force deployed dozens of "War-16A" aircraft specifically to hunt ballistic missile launch vehicles.

Of course, they achieved very good results.

By September, in the first half of the month, the number of ballistic missile attacks had significantly decreased to less than a third of August’s count.

The "Zhi-10A" Joint Command Aircraft played a key role.

According to the war reports submitted by the Empire Air Force, roughly two-thirds of the missile launch vehicles were discovered by the "Zhi-10A" and guided by it for the "War-16A" to launch attacks.

Of course, the value of "Zhi-10A" is not limited to this.

As the world’s first Joint Command Aircraft, the "Zhi-10A" is an indispensable air command platform in the Empire’s vigorously promoted Air-Ground Joint Operations.

Simply put, the "Zhi-10A" serves as the link and bridge between the Air Force and the Army.

Although the "Zhi-10A" is classified under the Air Force, each "Zhi-10A" has several Army officers onboard responsible for coordination.

Assisting the Army in winning ground wars is the top mission of the "Zhi-10A."

As for guiding Air Force fighters and attack aircraft in ground attack missions, even without the "Zhi-10A," the "Zhi-8C" can accomplish it.

After entering the ground war phase, the value of the "Zhi-10A" was manifested.

In the three-plus hours before dawn, over 300 "War-12," "Attack-5," and "Attack-6" aircraft dispatched by the Navy Air Force, under the guidance of "Zhi-10A," concentrated on bombing Iraqi troops entrenched in Kuwait and elite units deployed in southern Iraq.

In just a short three-plus hours, over a thousand military targets were destroyed.

It must be said that this is mainly due to the efforts of intelligence agencies.

Without accurate intelligence, it would be impossible to achieve such high strike efficiency.

This was also the primary task of military intelligence agencies led by the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Joint Forces intelligence departments over the past month.

To locate and mark suspicious targets and confirm their nature.

Additionally, it is largely related to the large-scale usage of precision-guided munitions.

Of the over 300 aircraft dispatched, half were "War-12s," and virtually all "War-12s" used laser-guided bombs.

In fact, the "War-12" is the only ship-borne aircraft in the Empire Navy Air Force that can independently use laser-guided bombs.

The key is the tactical reconnaissance pod jointly developed by the Air Force and Navy.

This tactical reconnaissance pod consists of two units, one equipped with a multi-spectrum camera that can be used day and night and can display captured images directly on compatible operational aircraft screens. The other is equipped with a high-powered laser indicator, also with ranging capabilities, capable of targeting up to 20 kilometers away, while the laser-guided bomb’s delivery range generally does not exceed this distance.

Currently, only "War-10," "War-12," and "War-16" multi-purpose fighters can use it.

It’s not because the tactical reconnaissance pod is too large, but because it requires data bus support. For older fighters and attack aircraft without data buses, the tactical reconnaissance pod cannot be used directly, even if laser-guided bombs are loaded, requiring cooperation with other operational aircraft.

Consequently, during the airstrike phase, old attack aircraft like "Attack-5" and "Attack-6" almost exclusively used unguided bombs. Even when laser-guided bombs were necessary, they were deployed in pairs, with one aircraft using a laser indicator to mark the target.

To address this, the Empire Navy specifically developed a laser indicator pod that does not require a data bus.

The wide use of laser-guided bombs is also considered a lesson drawn from the Empire Air Force’s experiences over the past month, summarized from actual combat to enhance strike efficiency.

In battles against missile launch vehicles, "War-16A" primarily used laser-guided bombs.

Furthermore, the Air Force found that laser-guided bombs have the capability to engage low-speed, low-altitude flying targets.

According to combat reports, at least on two occasions, the "War-16A" used laser-guided bombs to attack enemy helicopters and destroyed them. In one instance, because the helicopter was flying close to the ground and it was noon with very high desert surface temperatures, the fighter’s combat missile could not lock onto the helicopter. Then, the pilot authorized the weapon operator in the rear seat to use a laser-guided bomb to attack.

Of course, the greatest value of laser-guided bombs is allowing combat aircraft to drop from medium to high altitudes where small-caliber High-altitude Guns and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles cannot reach, ensuring sufficient hit accuracy without risking low-altitude approaches for precision.

That is the key point.

In the previous month and more, especially after the end of the first airstrike phase, the operational aircraft losses of the Alliance Army were mostly due to being shot down by small-caliber High-altitude Guns or shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles while flying at ultra-low or low altitudes, with most being ambushed.

By now, the Iraqi army’s usable anti-aircraft weapons are almost solely small-caliber High-altitude Guns and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.

As such, in late August, the Air Force explicitly required that all combat operations patrolling the Battle Zone must not fly below 6000 meters, and bombing altitudes must not be below 4000 meters. After losing several fighter jets, this was further raised to 5000 meters.

Simply put, as long as you fly high enough, there’s no worry about being shot down.

However, this also means that ground attack operations are more reliant on laser-guided bombs.

Dropping bombs from 5000 meters altitude, even with wind-corrected bombs, might result in impact deviations of over 200 meters.

Fortunately, after the outbreak of the Boi War, especially after the Empire military increased procurement, the price of laser guidance components dropped.

Here, it’s necessary to acknowledge the foresight of the Empire Air Force and Navy Air Force.

In developing guided weapons, the Air Force and Sea Air clearly required the use of existing inventory, especially several standard caliber bombs.

The key reason is that the inventory is quite large!

Before the Boss Bay War, there were roughly 16 million 500-kilogram bombs in stock, and even 20 million 250-kilogram bombs.

That was historically at a low point in terms of inventory levels.

Due to astonishing ammunition consumption rates, and no one believed it would end quickly, by the later stages of the Boi War, the total bomb inventory of the Empire temporarily exceeded 50 million tons. At the time, more than 15 million tons were stored at forward bases alone.

Another key point is that, if stored, these bombs have a "shelf life" of at least 50 years.

Clearly, they couldn’t simply be scrapped.

Moreover, 250kg, 500kg, 1000kg, and 2000kg are the standard calibers of the Eastern Group, and all operational aircraft are designed to mount these bombs. For example, the payload points of fighters and attack aircraft are based on the bomb calibers.

In other words, there is no option for scrapping these calibers of bombs.

Even if they are consumed, the same bombs will be produced in the future.

This is the reason why the Empire Air Force and Sea Air explicitly emphasized developing guidance components to transform these inventory bombs into guided bombs.

Of course, the so-called guidance component mainly consists of a seeker head and the control aerodynamic surfaces driven by it.

The guidance component for a 500-kilogram bomb weighs less than 50 kilograms, not exceeding the surplus limit, and can be directly used on standard interface mounts.

Naturally, the greatest benefit of using guidance components is to make guided bombs more affordable.

Before the war broke out, a 500-kilogram laser-guided bomb’s price was set at 50,000 Gold Yuan, and after the war began, it dropped directly to 5,000 Gold Yuan. Once production scale expands, the procurement price of guidance components will drop by another two-thirds.

Given how affordable they are, there’s no reason not to use them extensively!