Daytime air defense operations reflect a very serious and unresolved problem.

It is seriously lacking in air-to-air detection methods. Even the most advanced radar cannot guarantee that incoming enemy aircraft can be detected in time at any time.

Adding air defense warships and allowing all large warships to be equipped with radar is just a temporary measure.

The reason is also very simple. Air defense warships deployed in front are very susceptible to attacks, and after losing their combat effectiveness, there will inevitably be loopholes in the air defense network in the direction.

In addition, the radar carried by the warship is almost equivalent to the decoration of enemy aircraft flying at ultra-low altitudes.

If it is sunny during the day, it is not even as good as the lookout's eyes.

The problem is not on the radar, but is affected by the curvature of the earth.

The most effective solution is actually to increase the installation height of the radar.

It is precisely this that the Imperial Navy attaches great importance to large warships such as fast battleships, because only large warships can be equipped with masts high enough, and can also install radars at higher places, improve the detection distance of ultra-low-altitude targets, and enhance the efficiency of air defense operations.

Unfortunately, no matter how large a warship is, it is impossible to increase the mast height without limit.

In actual combat, even under relatively ideal conditions, the fast battleship can only provide about 10 minutes of air defense warning time.

In fact, "10 minutes" is a prerequisite for today's air defense tactics.

All the Imperial Navy's air defense tactics revolve around "10 minutes". During this time, not only will enemy aircraft be discovered, but fighter aircraft must also be organized to intercept enemy aircraft.

Simply put, it is necessary to let air defense fighters come forward and deploy them in the direction of enemy aircraft attacking, so as to ensure that they can immediately go to intercept after discovering enemy aircraft.

Obviously, this tactic simply doesn't work in high-intensity sea and air combat.

Under normal circumstances, a large aircraft carrier can carry up to about 40 fighter jets. Generally, there will be no more than 30 aircraft used for fleet air defense operations. The number of aircraft dispatched at a time must be about 20 aircraft, so it can perform air defense interception tasks in up to 3 directions.

To put it bluntly, there are not enough fighter jets.

The simplest solution is actually to increase the number of aircraft carriers and form two or even three aircraft carriers into a special mixed fleet.

However, this is not the most effective method.

If both sides are putting together more aircraft carriers, no matter how many aircraft carriers are added, it is impossible to fundamentally solve the problem of insufficient fighter jets.

On the contrary, too many warships are compiled together, which will inevitably turn command into disaster.

According to the experience explored by the Imperial Navy, the limit of the incorporation of three aircraft carriers into a special mixed fleet. If there is any increase, it will reduce the combat efficiency of the fleet due to command and coordination. If there is a problem in the battle, the consequences will be difficult to imagine.

The best way to improve air defense combat efficiency is actually to strengthen detection methods, strive to discover incoming enemy aircraft at as far as possible, and provide more air defense early warning time, so that air defense combat aircraft can be arranged backwards and intercepted after discovering enemy aircraft.

Obviously, this requires deploying the radar to a higher place.

The technical experts of the Imperial Navy had long thought that if the radar could fly into the sky and use an aircraft to carry the radar, this problem would be perfectly solved.

Of course, the radar has long been installed on the plane.

The Army Aviation has long been equipped with night fighters, and the symbol of night fighters is a small search radar, which can only detect and track enemy aircraft at night.

The Navy Aviation also purchased a batch of night fighter jets and equipped shore-based aviation to guard military ports and other important places.

But the problem is that night fighter jets are equipped with small radars, which not only have a close detection distance, but also have low reliability, and have very short working time.

It is not a big problem for fire control, but the boot time is only a few minutes.

If it is used for long-term detection and search, it will definitely not work.

Simply put, it is a radar that can work for a long time, has sufficient detection distance, and is very reliable, not small enough to be carried by an aircraft.

As for tactical-level carrier-based aircraft, it is even more impossible.

Don't forget that all night fighters are twin-engine long-range fighters, and the weight is twice that of ordinary carrier-based fighters, and about the same as medium bombers.

In fact, the first few night fighters were transformed from superior twin-engine medium bombers.

Now, the problem is back on the radar.

Long before the outbreak of the war, the Imperial Navy increased its investment in electronic equipment such as radars, and commissioned several domestic electronic manufacturers and research units to develop small search radars, and cooperated with carrier-based aircraft manufacturers to explore ways to install radars on carrier-based aircraft.

As far as Bai Zhizhan knows, the "radar aircraft" developed based on "Pili" has completed its first flight, but its performance is very poor.

There is nothing strange about choosing "Pili". This is the largest carrier-based aircraft with tonnage and size. After dismantling unnecessary equipment, it weighs about 1 ton to carry the radar.

The key is that the cockpit of "Pili" is large enough that after the self-defense machine gun in the rear can even be arranged as the fourth crew member.

In this way, the radar operator and communication commander can be carried in addition to the pilot and navigator.

In addition, the belly of the "Pili" machine is used to hang in the torpedo cabin and can be used to install radar.

Unfortunately, the miniaturization of the radar is still not good enough. It can also be said that the performance of the small radar is too poor, and there are still many problems that cannot be solved for the time being.

The most typical example is how to enable airborne radar to achieve 360-degree full airspace search.

After testing, the Navy did not order this kind of radar machine, but it still provided funds to manufacturers to continue exploring.

In short, daytime combat has once again proved that obtaining means to effectively detect ultra-low-altitude enemy aircraft has become the top priority for fleet air defense operations.

When the technology is unreliable, you can only use stupid methods.

That's right, the 11th Special Mixed Fleet has 2 fast battleships, 4 ocean-going cruisers, 4 heavy cruisers and 4 light cruisers.

There are 14 air defense warships!

In addition, among the eight destroyers, two of the team-leading ships were also equipped with radars.

Including the two large aircraft carriers, 18 warships in the 11th Special Mixed Fleet are equipped with radars.

There is no doubt that this is definitely the most luxurious lineup at the moment.

Not to mention anything else, just purchasing 18 air-to-air search radars is enough to build several cruisers.

The situation of the 12th Special Mixed Fleet is similar, but the destroyer team's lead ships were not equipped with radar, and the lineup was still very luxurious.

In Zhou Yongtao's words, only the Imperial Navy can equip so many warships with radar.

Of course, this is due to mass production.

Through mass production, that is, to expand production, the Imperial Navy has reduced the purchase price of radar by two-thirds, and can be widely equipped with various warships.

In addition, it is to purchase bundled and order voice radio and other equipment to reduce production costs for electronic manufacturers.

In fact, the Imperial Navy has long decided to fully popularize radar.

According to the new plan, starting next year, air-to-sea search radar will become the standard equipment for all ocean-going warships, including large destroyers.

By then, the air defense problem may be alleviated.
Chapter completed!