Chapter 188: The Dazzling Tuna Missile

Sharman loudly asked, “How far is it from our ship?”

“Still 100 kilometers away, speed 3 Mach!”

“Launch two Barak missiles immediately for interception!”

After giving the order, Sharman’s mind became somewhat confused.

If he remembered correctly, the Tang Country’s Jiangwei II-class frigate is equipped with the YJ-83 anti-ship missile, which has a cruising speed of 0.9 Mach and a terminal sprint speed of only 1.5 Mach.

How could the cruising speed of this missile be 3 Mach? That’s the same speed as our BrahMos anti-ship missile.

Sharman rushed to the radar screen and asked, “Are you sure there is no miscalculation? Is the incoming missile really traveling at 3 Mach?”

“Captain, it is indeed 3 Mach. Now it is less than 70 kilometers from us.”

In this short span of time, the missile had advanced another 30 kilometers.

Sharman watched as two Barak missiles streaked across the night sky, heading south, and felt somewhat relieved.

But thinking about the current performance of the incoming missile, he started to feel uneasy again.

It was totally unexpected; how could the Jiangwei II-class have supersonic anti-ship missiles?

“My god, it is now just three meters above sea level!” the radar officer exclaimed.

Anti-ship missiles generally reduce their altitude for sea-skimming flight only when they are 15-20 kilometers from their target.

This missile was performing sea-skimming flight so early, undoubtedly greatly increasing the difficulty of interception by air defense missiles.

Hearing this, Sharman was startled and felt even more uneasy.

“Order the launch of four more Barak missiles for interception! Prepare the close-in weapons system to fire as well!”

The navy personnel of the Asan country were well-trained and managed to launch another four Barak air defense missiles in a very short time.

Interception of a single missile with two rounds of six air defense missiles was unprecedented in the naval training of Asan country.

Generally, for a single target, the simultaneous interception of two air defense missiles was sure to be successful.

“Report: first wave of Barak air defense missiles interception failed! Incoming missile is now 40 kilometers from our ship!”

Sharman’s heart sank, but fortunately, he had arranged for a second launch; waiting any longer would have been too late.

Before he could finish his thought, he heard another shout.

“Report: second wave of Barak air defense missiles interception failed!”

“What? Impossible! Order the close-in weapons system to open fire with full force; we must shoot down this missile!”

At this moment, on the dark Indian Ocean, the alarm of the Kozhin warship sounded mournfully, and its close-range guns desperately poured a barrage of fire toward the southern sky.

Sharman, holding his binoculars and looking to the south, could faintly see a bright point tracing a serpentine path, rapidly approaching the Kozhin.

His heart chilled; the missile had been executing serpentine maneuvers from such a distance? No wonder the Barak missiles hadn’t successfully intercepted it.

Suddenly, when the bright point was 5000 meters away from the warship, it made a wide turn!

“It’s over!”

Sharman cried out in alarm. That turn was too crafty; did it know the range and position of our close-in guns?

Yes, the missile had indeed made a wide turn just outside the range of the close-in weapons, perfectly avoiding their firing arc, slipping into a blind spot where the barrage of fire completely missed.

Then, with a dazzling speed, it plunged into the mid-aft section near the waterline of the Kozhin.

With a “boom,” followed by continuous explosions, those were probably the ship’s vertical launch system’s missiles detonating.

Seconds later, an even larger explosion erupted.

In the black night of the Indian Ocean, a spectacular firework blazed intensely.

The 6500-ton Garg class second warship of Asan country rapidly sank into the ocean following the ammunition detonation.

With the missile hit causing the ship’s missiles to detonate, not a single one of the 250 crew members survived.

…

On the southern sea surface, aboard the 053H Dodoma-class frigate.

Tajik, with his mouth wide open, stared at the radar screen where the Kozhin’s signals had vanished, still unable to comprehend what he’d just witnessed.

Although the daytime missile test had amazed him,

that was against an utterly defenseless target ship, and he still had reservations about the missile’s actual combat performance.

He hadn’t expected to witness the combat effectiveness of the Tuna missile that very night.

This… this is… simply…

Tajik was lost for words; he didn’t know how to describe the power of the Tuna missile; it was truly dazzling.

From the radar, one could see that the Tuna missile had managed to evade interception by two rounds of six air defense missiles, and then, just beyond the range of four six-barreled 30mm machine guns, it cleverly avoided their firing arc, striking the Kozhin from a blind spot with finesse.

So, this Tuna missile was also an intelligent missile!

On one hand, Tajik was delighted that his nation had such a powerful military-industrial complex, but on the other, he was troubled by the mess in front of him.

If the missile hadn’t been so powerful and Asan country had intercepted it, perhaps tonight’s standoff would have been uneventful.

After all, the clear coded message he had sent at the direction of the Ministry of Defence indicated that the Asan country warship had launched missiles first.

The BrahMos anti-ship missile, launched by the Kozhin, had been precisely intercepted by the Tuna missile at a distance of 50 kilometers from the warship.

Although radar detection showed the missile target was slightly off from the ship, it still qualified as a highly threatening target, and the air defense system automatically reacted.

That’s right, the defense system on the warship was in an automatic state, possibly set that way during the afternoon missile test and forgotten in the excitement of a successful test launch, and not checked before the emergency departure that evening.

Therefore, the missile retaliating against the Kozhin was not something Tajik had wanted to launch.

It was the automated response of the defense system to a threatening target, and since the Kozhin had launched a missile at the Dodoma, it was naturally classified as an enemy ship by the system.

And being an enemy ship, it had to be struck to eliminate the threat.

The clear coded telegram that Tajik sent was indeed the truth. It could be classified as an accidental launch caused by a system malfunction, which attacked the Kozhin.

It was truly a mistaken strike!

Tajik said to his executive officer, “Send a report to the Ministry of Defence, explaining that we accidentally fired a missile that sank the Asan country’s Kozhin destroyer, and wait for further instructions!”

“Yes, Captain.”

At this moment, all the officers and soldiers on the bridge were both excited and nervous.

The warship’s first trial run after retrofitting had sunk a destroyer with an Aegis system – what a tremendous victory that was?

But could it possibly trigger a war with Asan country? Against Asan country, they had little chance of winning.

++++++++

“Star Ocean, immediately assess the possible reactions from Asan country after the sinking of the Kozhin.”

Du Qiu watched the big screen; he had also seen that scene just now through the Harrier UAV deployed in the airspace above this sea area.

The defense system he designed was truly formidable; it perfectly met the design expectations.

In fact, Du Qiu’s help in retrofitting the Tanga Federation’s warship was also a sort of test run in mind.

For instance, this autonomous defense system was one Du Qiu planned to deploy on space warships in the future.

In spaceflight, too many unexpected situations, such as encounters with meteorites, could occur.

If someone discovers a meteorite, also traveling at high speed, coming towards the warship, and then reacts, it will surely be too late.

Then, the warship could be lightly damaged or, in the worst case, destroyed with no survivors.

The dark space is fraught with peril at every turn.

Unexpectedly, Captain Tajik had not turned off the autonomous defense system during the voyage.

Probably it had been activated during the afternoon missile test and then forgotten about; after all, they were pleased with the successful test firing.

Now that the incident had happened, Du Qiu could only face it calmly.

The voice of Star Ocean began, “Sir, there are wars and two methods with four possibilities: one, Asan country announces war on the Tanga Federation!

After defeat, the Tanga Federation hands over the offending captain, related missile technology, etc., and pays compensation.

Two, both parties negotiate a resolution, with Asan country demanding the Tanga Federation to punish the captain and others involved, and Tanga Federation pays some money.

Three, both sides still negotiate a resolution, but after Asan country learns about the Tanga Federation warship retrofitting, it demands Tanga Federation’s missile technology as compensation.

Four, countries like the United States know the truth and help Asan country pressure the Tanga Federation, acquiring the relevant missile technology.”

Du Qiu frowned and said, “Your four scenarios all result in the Tanga Federation losing. Can’t the Tanga Federation win the war with Asan country?”

“Sir, in a war between the Tanga Federation and Asan country, the Tanga Federation has no chance of victory.”

“What if we fully support them?”

“Oh, then they could definitely win, but we would certainly be exposed to the world.”

Du Qiu couldn’t help but rub his temples again; he hadn’t made this gesture in a long time.

Mainly because he has been using the crystal pillow to enter the dream world, so his migraines had almost stopped occurring.

“There is one more possibility,” Star Ocean’s voice rang out again.

“Let’s hear it.”

Star Ocean said, “The Tanga Federation could rely on its relationship with Tang Country to counterbalance Asan country, preventing the war from commencing.

Of course, the Tanga Federation also needs to issue a timely statement, claiming that during their warship’s retrofitting trial voyage, in response to Kozhin’s initial attack, their soldiers, in a state of panic, launched a missile that sank the Kozhin.

Didn’t the Dodoma also release a clear coded telegram? It serves as evidence.

However, the missile technology will definitely be speculated by the world.

After all, one missile sank a ship with 48 Barak air defense missiles; just thinking about it implies the missile is highly powerful.”