Chapter 110 – Mocking the Flagship
Lao Tzu is here again! Andre was full of excitement.
Originally, the plan was simple: fly over the American aircraft carrier, complete the reconnaissance mission, and return. But that wasn't enough fun. Andre decided to give the U.S. Navy another punch to the gut.
So, Andrei came back. When they first passed over the aircraft carrier, the three MiG-25s had already disengaged afterburners and begun to decelerate. After flying beyond the American formation, they should've turned at the designated point and returned to Sakhalin Island. Instead, two MiG-25PD fighters were now racing back toward the American carrier formation at ultra-low altitude.
With no early warning aircraft airborne, the carrier's radar had significant blind spots. The two MiG-25s approaching from the rear were only detected at 30 kilometers. Coincidentally, two American Tomcat fighters were also returning to the fleet, and the Americans mistook the incoming MiGs for their own. As a result, the Soviets slipped easily into the heart of the American carrier formation.
Americans loved to boast that their carrier groups were impenetrable. What now? If these MiG-25s were carrying bombs, they could have done real damage.
Ahead was the carrier itself. From the sky, the wide flight deck looked like a small leaf on the ocean, swaying with the waves. Landing on such a target was no easy task.
Andre eyed the Fresnel optical landing system, adjusted his trajectory, and flew toward the carrier with precision. This was a first—for him in this life, and for Soviet aviation as a whole. But in his previous life, back in China, Andre had already flown carrier landings in simulators.
He wasn't really going to land—just making it look that way. With a grin, Andre broadcast: "Landing gear down!"
Hydraulics hissed, the gear doors opened, and the landing gear lowered into position.
Of course, Andre had no intention of touching the deck. A slight misjudgment could cause the MiG-25's massive gear to buckle. This was just for show. Hopefully, the MiG-25R orbiting above was capturing this on film.
Behind him, Lieutenant Alexander admired Andre to the point of awe. Only Andre would dare pull something like this on the Americans—it was just too outrageous.
Then came Andre's next command: "Afterburner on!"
The rear nozzles erupted in flame, the engines pushing 110,000 newtons of thrust. With half the fuel burned, the MiG-25 was lighter and accelerated like a rocket.
The pushback sensation hit hard. The deck below blurred past, gone in an instant.
"SHIT!" yelled a crewman on the flight deck as everyone dove to the ground, shielding themselves.
One unlucky sailor was picked up by the blast and thrown backward, saved only by a deck guardrail—but not before breaking his leg.
On the bridge, Colonel Steve had watched in stunned silence when it seemed the Soviets were preparing to land. From his angle, he could clearly see the red star on the wings. Could it be defection? Soviet pilots abandoning their side? Were they really about to land?
Then came the shockwave—literally. A violent blast of air slammed into the bridge. Steve staggered back, nearly falling. The windows had been open. The jetwash was like a hurricane.
"Damn! Soviet aircraft!" Ted, the flight wing commander, snapped out of it first. "Fire! Shoot them down!"
Lieutenant General Jonard had had enough. For the U.S. Navy, the deck was sacred ground. And just now, the Soviets had violated that space—U.S. territory. This couldn't go unpunished.
When Ted's order was relayed to the airborne Tomcats, Major George had already spotted the two MiG-25s streaking away from the carrier. His blood boiled.
Those MiGs had humiliated U.S. Naval Aviation.
Kill them!
The two Tomcats, about to begin their descent, instead pulled up sharply. Afterburners lit, wings swept back for high-speed pursuit. They raced after the Soviet planes, determined to engage.
"Radar lock. Fire Phoenix!" George barked to his backseater as he strapped on his oxygen mask.
The weapons officer worked quickly but calmly—until a red light blinked on.
"Cooling system fault. Missile can't launch." His voice was grim.
The AIM-54 Phoenix was a massive, sophisticated missile with an active seeker and a maze of internal electronics, many still relying on vacuum tubes. All that complexity generated serious heat. If it wasn't cooled properly using the F-14's internal system, the missile could overheat, catch fire, or even endanger the host aircraft.
Without cooling, the missile was useless. This was a known issue. Only with the later AIM-54C did solid-state components reduce heat generation and eliminate the problem.
But now, the coolant system had failed. The Phoenix missile was inert.