Chapter 680: Chapter 295 Missile Exchange Chapter 680: Chapter 295 Missile Exchange The number of anti-ship missiles launched by both sides reached an astounding 320, skimming over the sea, each flying towards their respective targets. Although it's daylight now, the congregation of so many missiles in such a small airspace possesses an extremely startling beauty.
Due to the differences in the cruising speeds of the two types of anti-ship missiles, when the first wave of missiles from the Artificial Whale began attacking the United Fleet's warships, the missiles launched by the United Fleet were still a long distance from the Artificial Whale; at this time, the Artificial Whale's missile launch sequence hadn't even been completed.
Because Yan Fei had previously issued an invitation for a bandit-exterminating mission, the United Fleet, fearing that the nearby Russian battleships would seize the opportunity, charged towards Dream Island without regard for anything else. However, due to the varying training intensities of the three countries' navies and the differences in the speeds of their respective warships, what was once a very orderly formation became very chaotic, losing their complete regional air defense capabilities.
With such a compromised air defense network, air defense operations can't reach perfect status, only offering the enemy opportunities to strike each separately. This was the very intention of Yan Fei's sudden invitation.
However, the command center of the United Fleet was located within the core area of Japan's two “Ten.Ten Fleets.” Even amid their frenzied charge, the formations of these two “Ten.Ten Fleets” were only slightly distorted. After detecting the incoming anti-ship missiles, the “Ten.Ten Fleets” quickly readjusted their formation, reestablished their regional air defense formation, and prepared to face the anti-ship missile attack.
Nevertheless, the Maritime Self-Defense Force of Japan could only ensure the safety of the two “Ten.Ten Fleets”; their massive supply fleet was outside the regional air defense formation and could not be adequately protected. They could only hope for the best. As for the fleets of Canada and Australia, they were completely scattered and couldn't regroup quickly enough to form a regional air defense system. When faced with the anti-ship missile attacks, they could only fend for themselves.
Far away on the sea surface, the first wave of 20 anti-ship missiles launched by the Artificial Whale had already arrived, but they didn't attack the central “Ten.Ten Fleets” of Japan, which had completed their air defense preparations. Instead, they began to strike the isolated warships in front.
With the capabilities of modern warships, once multiple vessels form a regional air defense network and coordinate in combat, even saturated attacks by anti-ship missiles won't be very successful. But once the single warship leaves the fleet's overall air defense net, its solo air defense capabilities become negligible.
Upon realizing they had become the target of anti-ship missiles, the flagship of the Canadian Navy, the Iroquois-class destroyer, didn't just sit and wait. Its shipborne radar began to scan desperately, the weapon system went into full operation, and it continuously launched air defense missiles for long-range interception.
The anti-ship missiles launched by the Artificial Whale were hypersonic, traveling at a very fast speed, reaching twice the speed of sound. Thus, the long-range interception by the Iroquois-class destroyer wasn't very effective. Even with the help of other isolated warships' air defense missiles, they only managed to intercept one of the Artificial Whale's missiles by chance.
After breaking through the long-range interception of the Iroquois-class destroyer, the second anti-ship missile from the Artificial Whale suddenly climbed in altitude and began a dive attack. Upon realizing their long-range interception was ineffective, the heart of the crew aboard the Iroquois-class destroyer tensed up, and as they saw the missile enter its final attack phase, they nervously manned the close-in weapon systems for the last stage of interception.
A stream of fire burst forth from the Iroquois-class destroyer, chasing the anti-ship missile through the sky. After entering its dive, the missile's speed had reached four times the speed of sound, greatly weakening the defense effect of the close-in weapon system. However, just as the anti-ship missile was about to strike the Iroquois-class destroyer, the close-in weapon system's fire finally hit and completely destroyed the missile.
The crew aboard the Iroquois-class destroyer didn't have time to cheer before spotting the second missile entering a dive attack. They continued to operate the close-in weapon system for interception. But by this time, more and more anti-ship missiles entered the dive attack phase, and after they exhausted all their efforts to destroy another missile, they could no longer withstand the attack of the third missile.
In the desperate looks of the entire crew of the Iroquois-class destroyer, the third missile fell from the sky, effortlessly striking the Iroquois-class destroyer's hull and penetrating its armor, followed by a violent explosion. Almost at the same time, two more missiles struck the Iroquois-class destroyer.
The anti-ship missiles fired by the Artificial Whale were incredibly powerful; one could significantly damage a missile destroyer, let alone three striking at once. The Iroquois-class destroyer underwent a series of fierce explosions, and then the hull was blasted to pieces. In a stroke of terrible misfortune, the ammunition aboard the destroyer detonated, and in a tremendous explosion, the Canadian flagship was completely shattered into pieces and sank rapidly.