A Near Miss

Chapter 38 Falling short of success

At that moment, Tian Yuan's anxious voice came through the phone again: "Damn it, the enemy planes have flown out of our radar range. Could you give us their coordinates again?"

Upon hearing Tian Yuan's voice, Wu Zu, Lei Fu, and Professor Li quickly turned their attention to the radar screen.

On the radar screen, the signal from the U.S. reconnaissance aircraft had disappeared.

"No way, it flew away so quickly?" Lei Fu looked frustrated and turned to Wu Zu. "Do we have any other options?"

Wu Zu shook his head. "I'm afraid there's no way. We can't possibly run around on foot to track the signal."

Professor Li also showed a regretful expression, "The U2 reconnaissance aircraft is a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft with extremely high flight speed. Even if one of its engines is destroyed, the J-7 fighter jet still cannot catch up with it."

Hearing the helplessness in Professor Li's words, Wu Zu also felt very uncomfortable.

Eagle reconnaissance planes brazenly intrude into China's airspace, even spying on the arsenal above China's arms factories, and China is powerless to stop them.

If it weren't for the reconnaissance radar they developed making a discovery, the Dragon Kingdom probably wouldn't even know that a reconnaissance plane was lurking overhead.

Wu Zu secretly resolved that the development of the military industry in the Dragon Kingdom was indeed too lagging behind and that it was necessary to accelerate the pace.

Lei Fu stood up, looked up at the azure sky, and couldn't help but sigh heavily.

"What a great opportunity! If we can intercept the U.S. U2 spy plane, the U.S. will be at a disadvantage in terms of public opinion."

But Professor Li disagreed. "Haven't the U.S. done this kind of thing enough? They're always like this, incredibly shameless. They won't easily be put on the defensive over something like this, unless we're stronger than them and truly on par with them!"

In the skies above China, the U2 reconnaissance plane from the United States was flying at high speed toward the Rock Sea.

Even with its right-wing engine damaged and trailing long plumes of black smoke, the J-7 fighter jet still couldn't match its performance.

Tian Yuan led several team members in a full-scale chase, but all they could see were plumes of thick black smoke.

Even at maximum speed, the fighter jets could not catch up with the U2 reconnaissance aircraft.

"What a pity, we were so close to catching them!"

"Who says otherwise? If we had been any faster, we could have surrounded them, but they still managed to get away."

"I wanted to launch another missile, but the enemy plane disappeared in a flash, and I couldn't catch up with it at all."

Hearing the team members' regrets and sighs through his headset, Tian Yuan felt a pang of sadness.

He glanced at the fuel level in the tank. "Alright, everyone, it's time to head back!"

He then led several fighter jets back to the eastern air base.

As soon as the fighter jet landed on the runway, a group of people immediately surrounded it.

"How's it going? Have you spotted the enemy?"

Before Tian Yuan even got off the plane, Feng Zhenliang, commander of the Eastern Military Region Air Force, eagerly inquired about the matter.

Upon hearing the question, Tian Yuan couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"We were so close! Our missile successfully destroyed its right wing engine, but we still failed at the last minute."

Upon hearing this, Feng Zhenliang couldn't help but pat Tian Yuan on the shoulder.

"Well done, you've done your best. It's quite remarkable that you were able to launch a missile and destroy the enemy aircraft's right wing engine when your radar was inferior to theirs."

Tian Yuan quickly explained, "Reporting to the commander, we actually launched the missile after receiving the coordinates from the Jiangnan Arsenal!"

Upon hearing this, both Feng Zhenliang and his chief of staff Song Che were stunned.

"What? You mean the coordinates provided by the Jiangnan Arsenal?"

"That's right. They first gave us the general direction and location of the enemy reconnaissance plane, which we only discovered after we arrived. Then they provided the enemy's precise coordinates!"

Feng Zhenliang was shocked. "That's amazing? Not only can it obtain the enemy's coordinates, but it can also calculate the enemy aircraft's flight direction? That's incredible."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Song Che, "When did they get such advanced equipment?"

Song Che looked equally bewildered. "I don't know either!"

At this moment, Tian Yuan suggested, "Commander, Chief of Staff, I think we might as well go and take a look ourselves."

Tian Yuan made this suggestion because he heard a child's voice in his earpiece, and Lei Fu had complete faith in the coordinates provided by the child. He had a feeling that the child was no ordinary person.

Song Che looked at Feng Zhenliang and said, "Why don't we go take a trip there? We can check out their new equipment. If they really have more advanced radar, we need to equip our troops with it as soon as possible!"

"That's right, let's not delay, let's set off now!"

After finishing his work, Feng Zhenliang immediately took a car with Song Che to the Jiangnan Arsenal.

The top floor of the laboratory at the Jiangnan Arsenal.

Professor Li carefully held the radar made by Wu Zu, and suddenly a question came to mind.

"By the way, how did you calculate the coordinates you reported to them before?"

To be honest, Wu Zu was able to pinpoint the location of enemy reconnaissance aircraft in an extremely short time; his mind is even more powerful than a computer!

Although it was already the 80s, China's technological level was still relatively backward. At present, only the United States could manufacture computers, and China could only rely on imports.

Analyzing the lead time of enemy reconnaissance aircraft requires extremely advanced computers, which—

Such computers are probably only available to the U.S. military.

He was really curious about how Wu Zu had managed to do it.

Upon hearing Professor Li's question, Wu Zu smiled slightly and said, "Actually, this radar has an algorithm that can quickly calculate the relevant data."

Professor Li was taken aback. He picked up the radar, carefully parted the spiderweb-like tangled wires, and saw a black object the size of a fingernail.

"Is this what you mean?"

Professor Li pointed to the black object and asked in confusion.

"That's right, this is called a chip, which is like the brain of a radar. The signals received by the radar are transmitted to the chip, and the chip can quickly calculate the results."

As Wu Zu spoke, he explained, pointing with his finger to the connection lines between the chip and other parts of the radar.

Professor Li suddenly understood after hearing this.

Professor Li was amazed when he saw the chip, which was only the size of a fingernail.

"Wow, that's amazing! You're a genius to be able to make something like this!"

Just then, two figures suddenly appeared at the top floor entrance.

One of the men wearing a Zhongshan suit was Wu Guodong.

As soon as he saw Wu Zu, he rushed straight over without saying a word.

"You brat, hiding here! Tell me, why didn't you tell your parents before touching the things in my bag?"

Seeing Wu Guodong's fierce appearance, Lei Fu's face darkened, and he immediately stepped in front of him.

"Comrade, how can you be so harsh on the child!"