The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

Chapter 1477 Sea Dragon's Minions

Two months later.

When Zheng Hui stopped his car at the gate of Xingcheng base, it was already getting dark.

After lowering the car window, the cold sea breeze from western Liaoning in late winter blew in his face with a salty and humid smell, forcing him to subconsciously tighten his coat.

The guard at the gate of the base checked his ID and his eyes lingered on the brand new naval officer's ID for a few seconds.

"Major Zheng Hui, welcome to join the navy." The young lieutenant saluted him with a standard military salute, with a hint of joking in his tone.

Due to the particularity of carrier-based fixed-wing aviation, when this force was established, it was authorized to select outstanding pilots from the entire army rather than the entire navy.

Zheng Hui came here to participate in the training as early as the end of 2008, but he has always been an air force pilot.

Firstly, the elimination rate of carrier-based aircraft pilots is not low. If they fail the test, they will have to return to their original unit, so it is impossible to change their identity before the results come out.

Secondly, unless the entire system is transferred, the procedures for completing the change of military branch alone are quite complicated.

In short, it was not until two days ago that he and two other Air Force comrades officially completed the organizational changes and put on navy blue uniforms representing the navy.

When Zheng Hui received his officer's certificate, he felt a subtle feeling in his heart.

Of course he has feelings for the old army stationed in the northwest of the motherland.

If he just wanted to transfer to the navy, he would definitely not sign up even if it meant being transferred to the developed eastern region.

But this is a carrier-based aircraft.

At least at this moment in China, I am afraid no one can withstand such temptation.

The car made many twists and turns and entered the base. Zheng Hui subconsciously looked towards the air defense area in the distance.

The newly-developed carrier-based aviation force has not yet reached the stage of practicing night takeoffs and landings. Therefore, according to common sense, the J-15s are usually used to conduct dispatching and mooring training on the simulated deck at this time.

Pilots are not required to participate, but it is often more exciting than flight training.

However, today's simulation training area was unusually quiet. Several dispatch models simulating the J-15, Z-12 and Z-9 were all covered with a soft cover to prevent them from being eroded by the salt spray environment.

Apparently, the ground crew had no plans to conduct training today.

On the apron in the other direction, eight aircraft were parked under their respective hangars, while a Y-8 transport aircraft was parked quietly near one of the hangars.

Around them, several staff members in dark blue training uniforms were busy operating the transfer equipment, obviously unloading cargo.

A little further away, there were several guards armed with live ammunition.

"strangeness……"

Zheng Hui narrowed his eyes, trying to see clearly the cargo that the Y-9 was unloading.

It was a long object tightly wrapped in camouflage tarpaulin. Judging from the part not blocked by the cabin, it was at least four to five meters long, or even longer.

Because the distance was too far, he couldn't identify what it was exactly, but his intuition told him that it was definitely not an ordinary aircraft part.

As the main training ground for the naval aviation force, the Xingcheng base has a spare parts consumption level far exceeding that of units of the same level. Therefore, heavy transport aircraft such as the Il-76 are usually responsible for transporting aviation supplies.

The medium-sized Y-9 rarely appears here.

"Are we going to get any new equipment?"

Before getting out of the car, he asked the officer who was sitting in the passenger seat.

The latter shook his head:

"How can a deputy commander of a small vehicle company know something that you pilots don't know?"

Zheng Hui actually felt that he had been away from work in recent days and might have missed some information.

But after thinking about it, I felt that what the other person said was right, so after thanking him as usual, I picked up my luggage, opened the car door and prepared to get off.

"Major Zheng!"

Just then, a loud voice came from behind.

Zheng Hui turned around and saw a captain walking towards him quickly.

"Director Li, what's the matter?"

"I was just about to deliver some documents to the dormitory when I ran into you downstairs. I just received a notice that there will be a meeting in Conference Room 3 at o'clock tonight and you need to attend."

Zheng Hui looked at his watch - 17:20, not yet the class time.

Meetings are rarely held at times like this.

"What kind of meeting?"

He asked, noticing a subtle change in Lieutenant Lee's expression.

"I don't know the specifics, I just received orders to inform you."

Officer Li handed him an access card and said, "This is your temporary pass. Meeting Room 3 is on the second floor of the command building. You need to swipe your card to enter."

After taking the card, Zheng Hui became even more confused.

Conference Room No. 3 is one of the most confidential conference rooms in the base. It is only occasionally used by the special aircraft regiment stationed here, usually before missions against the Air Self-Defense Force or the South Korean Air Force.

However, the fact that he was informed through notification rather than a bugle call, and that he had not received any request to return to the team early, indicated that it was not a combat mission.

Besides, their troops are far from being combat-ready. Even if they need a few aircraft for escort, there is another naval aviation brigade equipped with J-11BH nearby.

He thought of the Y-9 and the mysterious cargo, and vaguely felt that something important was about to happen.

"I understand. I will attend on time."

Zheng Hui nodded and decided to go to the temporary dormitory to put down his luggage first, and then go directly to the meeting room.

At 18:45 sharp, Zheng Hui stood in front of the door of Meeting Room 3 fifteen minutes early, swiped his card and pushed the door open.

The scene before him startled him slightly - there were less than ten people in the conference room, and most of them were senior officers from the base and the troops. He immediately recognized Chief of Staff Wang Wei of the carrier-based aircraft unit, Director Bi Fengchun of the base combat center, and several heads of technical departments.

There were only two pilots without positions, including himself and another Major Lin Shuyan from the East China Sea Fleet, who had participated in the operation against the F22 that year.

It’s a pity that the assigned patrol area was too remote and they were unable to meet each other.

"Zheng Hui, please take a seat first." Senior Colonel Wang Wei, who was sitting at the first seat on the right side of the conference table, nodded to him and then turned to the others: "Since everyone is here so early, let's start earlier and not wait until seven o'clock."

Zheng Hui quickly walked to an empty seat and sat down with his back straight.

Wang Wei is a famous "Iron-faced Pope" of the naval aviation force. He participated in the writing of China's first set of carrier-based aircraft training syllabus and now serves as the chief of staff and instructor of the carrier-based aircraft force.

The door of the conference room was closed by the guard from the outside, and then the sound of the electronic lock being activated was heard.

Wang Wei didn't waste any time and turned on the projector. A PPT page marked "Top Secret" immediately appeared on the big screen.

"Comrades, what we discussed today is top secret. Any form of recording and dissemination is strictly prohibited." Wang Wei's voice was deep and powerful. "First of all, I would like to inform you of a situation: the compilation of the takeoff load spectrum of the J-15 carrier-based aircraft is nearing completion, and most of the ammunition that can be equipped on the No. 16 ship has been tested."

Judging from current rumors, the first aircraft carrier will most likely be named after Liaoning Province, and there will not even be a second competitor.

But at present it is still customary to call them by their hull numbers.

The screen switched to the next page, showing a series of photos of the J-15 equipped with different weapon configurations.

"We have completed the adaptation tests of the main ammunition such as the Eagle Strike-83K, PL-12, PL-13, as well as the buddy refueling and electronic countermeasure pods, and the flight envelope under takeoff and landing conditions has also been basically determined." Wang Wei continued, "But there are still some new ammunition under development, which will be mainly equipped on catapult-type aircraft carriers in the future."

Following Wang Wei's operation, a brand new picture appeared on the screen -

A three-dimensional model of a missile about 6.5 meters long and with an obvious waverider design.

Zheng Hui's eyes widened instantly.

The streamlined front body, flat belly air intake and unique tail wing layout...

It was strikingly similar to the US X-51A Waverider hypersonic aircraft that he had seen in internal documents, but there were obvious differences - the tail design of this missile was simpler and the overall proportions were more compact.

In addition, the front part that looks like a duck's beak also has a lot of extra details.

There was a slight commotion in the conference room.

Major Lin Shuyan muttered quietly: "What's this new thing?"

Zheng Hui couldn't take his eyes off the missile. He suddenly realized that this was most likely the mysterious cargo unloaded by the Y-9 in the afternoon.

The size fits perfectly, and this level of gear does require special transportation.

"It seems someone has recognized him." Wang Wei's eyes swept through the crowd and finally stopped at Zheng Hui. "Comrade Zheng Hui, what do you think?"

Zheng Hui cleared his throat:

"Reporting to the commander, the appearance of this missile is very similar to that of the US X-51A 'Waverider' hypersonic aircraft, but the aerodynamic layout is more optimized, especially the front body design and the position of the air inlet."

Wang Wei nodded:

"Almost correct. This is an early concept verification model of an air-breathing hypersonic missile. The development code name... has not been determined yet. However, compared with the X-51A, it uses a more advanced scramjet engine and thermal management technology. The theoretical maximum speed can reach more than Mach 10, and the range exceeds 2500 kilometers."

There was silence in the conference room.

Everyone here knows what 2500 kilometers means.

This will completely change the rules of naval warfare and more than double the strike radius of an aircraft carrier battle group.

Of course, this number is undoubtedly data based on a high-altitude trajectory.

But hypersonic weapons don’t matter whether they are concealed or not.

No one can stop it anyway.