At the critical moment, Commander Lassiter stood up and picked up the communicator.
"Drive it toward the blockade net at all costs."
"It … is leaving the helicopter's field of view." The anti-submarine helicopter pilot subconsciously pushed the control lever.
"Then catch up to it. You have the authority to fire freely."
The two anti-submarine helicopters roared as they chased after the ship. Rocket depth charges were suspended from their bellies.
They also turned on the helicopters' fire control radars. At a distance where they could see, the fire control radars could firmly latch onto the ten-thousand-ton ship.
“？？？”
A few seconds after the fire control radars were turned on, the two helicopter pilots stared at the radar screen in bewilderment.
On it …
There was nothing on it.
"Can you lock onto it with the radar?" The two helicopter pilots asked each other through the communicator at the same time.
They received the reply that they couldn't. In fact, the radar couldn't even find the target. The pilots and weapon operators didn't have time to be surprised. They immediately switched to optical aiming mode and prepared to do it manually.
Then, they were shocked to discover that the black ship's silhouette was slowly shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
They increased the helicopter's speed to the maximum, but they were shocked to find that they still couldn't catch up to the ship's' footsteps'.
The helicopter couldn't catch up to the ship?
Even if it was a helicopter, the one they were piloting was equipped with two aviation turboshaft engines with a power output of 522 kilowatts. With a total of 1044 kilowatts of engines, if the weather was good, the helicopter could actually fly at a maximum speed of 250 kilometers per hour.
Even if the radar couldn't detect it, the pilots with Vision 3.0 could still see it.
"Re … Sir, that might not be a ship."
Commander Lassiter saw that the helicopters couldn't catch up to the ship. He roared, "If it's not a ship, then what is it? Could it be a submarine?"
"Are you blind? Why didn't you lock onto it with the radar?"
If Commander Lassiter was present, he would have kicked the two anti-submarine helicopter pilots into the sea. According to the video feed from the anti-submarine helicopter, the ship was clearly galloping in the distant sea.
The two anti-submarine helicopters seemed to be strolling in the air. They slowly chased after the ship's tail and watched it disappear into the distance.
"Sir, they're heading in the direction of the anti-submarine blockade net."
After that, the pilots of the two helicopters stopped talking, allowing the roars from the command ship to be heard.
They didn't know how to explain this strange phenomenon, but soon, the other side of the blockade would feel the unknown fear they were feeling now.
…
In fact, the moment the anti-submarine helicopter discovered the target, the three ships carrying out the blockade order immediately rushed towards the target at full speed.
The intelligence was wrong. That was not a submarine.
This point dispelled their previous confusion, because from the satellite photos, Monster Industries' secret cargo ship had no way of being related to the submarine.
Even if it was for the sake of carrying cargo, it shouldn't have completely forgotten about fluid mechanics.
Now, the mystery was solved. It was not a submarine at all, but a black "behemoth" that could gallop on the surface of the sea at high speed.
At the same time that the mystery was solved, another question arose in the hearts of everyone in the command room.
How fast could it run?
How did it evade the ubiquitous radar detection?
The deeper the mystery, the more determined Commander Lassiter was to capture this strange ship. This ship definitely had some advanced ship propulsion technology that they had yet to grasp.
It just so happened that the giant ship was "fleeing" toward the other end of the blockade net.
The time of encountering the giant ship was earlier than anyone had expected.
In less than twenty minutes, the sonar buoys they had previously set up clearly detected the ship's trajectory.
Sonar serial coordinates 174. Speed …
Speed 130 knots?
Their minds were violently shaken. It wasn't until a few minutes later when all the sonar buoys around them detected the data that the people in the command room dared to accept this fact.
There was no routine radio signal to leave behind evidence, nor were there any warning lights. This was a secret operation that couldn't be known to the outside world.
Therefore, when the giant ship entered the sonar buoy detection net, Commander Lassiter gave the order to fire a warning shot.
No matter how fast it was, it couldn't be faster than a missile.
This was a civilian ship. In the face of absolute force, they could only stop the ship.
Because the third frigate had received the order to investigate the source of the abnormal sound, it had already sailed a few dozen nautical miles ahead. Therefore, when the sonar detection net detected the target, the third frigate was less than twenty nautical miles away from the target ship.
Commander Lassiter gave up on the depth charge plan. That was only suitable for attacking submarines.
"Single reduced charge MK46 torpedo, fire a warning shot."
"Yes, sir." The third frigate's commander immediately responded.
A modified MK46 torpedo was thrown out of the torpedo tube by the frigate.
This dark gray metal cylinder nearly three meters long plunged into the sea, splashing waves. At the same time, the air compression thruster at the rear immediately activated and headed in the direction of the giant ship.
There was no need for the frigate to lock onto the target through radar.
The detection method of the torpedo had always been based on the active and passive sonar technology at the front.
Now, the surrounding hundreds of nautical miles were densely packed with passive sonar buoys. When the torpedo entered the water, the hundreds of sonar buoys were its eyes.
The modified MK46 torpedo was a lightweight torpedo. Its speed could reach forty knots, and it could even accelerate during the final sprint to hit the enemy ship.
In addition, under normal circumstances, this torpedo could carry close to fifty kilograms of explosive warhead. Now, it had been reduced to twenty kilograms and was set to explode twenty meters away from the target ship.
Even if it was a reduced charge torpedo, it was enough to completely scare the sailors on the target ship.
The torpedo skimmed across the water, leaving a trail of white bubbles like a thin snake. Under the guidance of the sonar buoys, it headed straight in the direction of the target ship.
The enemy ship was extremely fast, so the torpedo swept for less than ten minutes and was within ten nautical miles of the target ship.
The MK46 torpedo's range wasn't long, but the target was just a civilian ship. It was impossible for it to discover a torpedo that swept a few meters deep in the sea.
"Sonar buoys detection, torpedo is six nautical miles away from the target."
"Four nautical miles."
"Three nautical miles. Twenty seconds before the explosion. "
The information from the third frigate was continuously transmitted back to the command ship. At this time, some sailors had already run to the deck of the frigate, ready to watch the scene of the sea soaring.
They were only ten nautical miles away from the target ship. Standing on the deck, they could clearly see the end of the sea and the full outline of the black ship.
"Fifteen seconds, target locked, entering the sprint phase."
"Wait."
"The target seems to have discovered it, it began to turn."
"Oh my god, it … it's …"
The Humpback Whale was drifting.
When the torpedo was two nautical miles away from the Humpback Whale, the optical lenses around the hull captured the trajectory of the torpedo.
The Humpback Whale was a high-speed air cushion ship. It was different from the traditional ship's long and narrow body. Its length to width ratio was only three to one, and the bottom of the ship was not in contact with the water.
So in an impossible way, it forcibly threw out an S-shaped wave on the sea.
The MK46 torpedo was left behind as it entered the sprint phase. It was chasing after the huge target that was traveling at a speed of 130 knots at a speed of 50 knots.
After less than 20 seconds of futile pursuit, the MK46 torpedo sank into the sea because it had exhausted all of its power.
At this time, the distance between it and the Humpback Whale had been pulled back to three nautical miles.
This scene shocked everyone on the frigate.
Then the sailors on the deck saw an even more shocking scene. The black ship didn't turn around to escape, but slightly adjusted its angle and sailed in the direction of the frigate.
"Ah!"
"They … are they crazy?"
The distance between the two was less than five nautical miles. At this distance, the helmsman in the cockpit could clearly see the huge and terrifying black body of the Humpback Whale.
Its front end was diamond-shaped like a diamond.
Not sure if it was an illusion or because of the light, the helmsman seemed to find that the metal at the front of the giant ship was slightly different from the surrounding metal.
Under the sunlight, it reflected a little.
The frigate was only a small ship with a width of less than thirteen meters and a displacement of three thousand tons.
The frigate had been given the right to fire at any time. The commander roared in the battle command room, "Launch the Harpoon anti-ship missiles, we must let them know who the real master of the sea is."
"Sir … Sir, our fire control radar can't find the target."
"Same for the anti-sea radar, it's … invisible on the sea."
At this moment, the commander felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave in the North Pole. Due to the earth's curvature and the sea's easy absorption of electromagnetic waves, all the anti-sea radar on the ship couldn't search for the target more than thirty nautical miles away.
Of course, the warning and reconnaissance aircraft were not limited by the curvature detection.
Previously, the radar couldn't detect the ship target, so the commander naturally thought it was because the distance was too far.
Besides, with the dense sonar buoys, there was no need for the shipboard radar to lock on.
Now, after humiliating the MK46 torpedo, it aimed the bow of the ship at the corvette.
"Then change to optical lock, it's such a big ship, are you all blind?"
A few seconds later, a Harpoon anti-ship missile roared out.
Compared to the outdated torpedo, the parameters of the Harpoon anti-ship missile were more than ten times higher.
After launch, it could accelerate to Mach 0.9 in seven seconds, and its maximum range could reach 300 kilometers.
Intense white smoke rose, and the Harpoon anti-ship missile spurted out a scorching tail and shot toward the giant black ship.
The distance between the two was less than ten thousand meters. With the speed of the Harpoon anti-ship missile, the front of the giant ship could be seen exploding with a scorching fireball in twenty seconds.
S-shaped drift dodging?
The Harpoon anti-ship missile had many ways to lock on. Radar couldn't be used, but it had optical lock and infrared lock. Even if it missed, it could change direction again.
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