With lofty ambitions, defend the blue sky of the motherland

Author: Li Longyi

In the morning light, a brigade of the Air Force Aviation Corps ushered in the first flight day of the new year. On the runway of the airport, several J-20 fighters were lined up and ready to go.

Under the order of the tower, the curtain of battle was opened. With the roar of the engines that shook the sky, Li Ling, a special pilot of the Air Force and commander of the brigade, flew out of the war eagle and stabbed into the sky like a sword.

Li Ling is a recipient of the "Golden Helmet" of the Air Force and a special pilot of the Air Force, who has repeatedly carried out major tasks such as stationing in the plateau for training, safeguarding rights at sea, conducting military parades on National Day, and escorting the remains of martyrs of the Volunteer Army back to China, and has written the mission of the People's Air Force in the new era.

The brigade was the first aviation unit formed by the People's Air Force, and was the first to shoot down an enemy plane in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and made outstanding achievements in battle. The spirit of striving to be the first is deeply engraved in the minds of the officers and men of the brigade.

The reporter walked into the hall of the air service building, and a line of eye-catching slogans was written on the huge display board: "The motherland names us with the first, and we want to use the first to repay the motherland!" ”

This is a sentence that Li Ling often hangs on his lips. He hoped to remind everyone at all times that they should remember that they are soldiers of heroic troops, continue to inherit the heroic spirit, and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests with stronger capabilities and more reliable means. "There is no second in air combat, only losing and winning." For Li Ling, the courage to compete for the first represents the pursuit of victory.

That year, Li Ling came to the predecessor unit of the brigade, and the first thing he did was to visit the ShiShi Museum. Photograph after photograph, piece by piece of historical material, brought his thoughts back to the war-torn years.

"Only then did I know that in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, our troops shot down and wounded 88 enemy planes, and so many combat heroes emerged." Li Ling said: "I feel that as a fighter pilot, we must cultivate the ability to defeat the enemy and win victory like our revolutionary predecessors. ”

Over the years, Li Ling often took the lead in training, and a flight often required multiple free air battles, and the load was pulled to 8 G, which was equivalent to 8 times his own weight on his body. "At the end of the day, his cockpit smelled of sweat." Comrade-in-arms said.

In 2011, the Air Force held its first "Golden Helmet" competition, and the brigade, as a seeded player, lost 59:166 in the first round.

"We will never forget that battle!" This failure moment alerted Li Ling, "When we are still pulling larger loads and moving faster than whom, the opponent has already taken the lead by electronic confrontation." Training methods must be changed so that information power can dominate combat effectiveness. ”

10 years later, in 2021, in the 11th "Golden Helmet" competition, the brigade won the first place in the group. In the past 10 years, the brigade has participated in 8 competitions, won the first place in the team 5 times, and 4 people have won the "Golden Helmet" for a total of 5 times. In the past 10 years, Li Ling has changed from a participant to a coach, and from a coach to a commander, playing an important role at each stage and continuing to contribute to the improvement of the brigade's combat effectiveness.

"Over the years, the brigade commander has led everyone together every day to carry out full-function development of weapons and equipment, research and demonstration of tactical tactics, find problems for us, think of countermeasures, and often be busy until late at night." Recalling the experience of these years, the captain of the flying brigade could not help but sigh.

"Drills are the pre-practice of future air combat, and victory or defeat is often between millimeters."

"Brigade commanders often tell us to use every drop of aviation fuel to improve combat effectiveness." Pilot Ye Qingfeng said. That year, the brigade had just tried out the new outline. At 7:00 p.m. on a certain flight day, Ye Qingfeng, who had been training for a day, sweated profusely, and just after getting off the fighter plane, he was taken to the tower by Li Ling for tactical commentary.

"I didn't expect the brigade commander to play back my flight video frame by frame, analyzing the operation and tactics. The commentary was given until 10 p.m. that day, and only the second round was discussed. Ye Qingfeng didn't understand it at first, until the next flight, he found that this night was not in vain, "I found that I was more skilled in operating the equipment, found the target, and launched the missile faster." ”

"Brigade commanders are good at delving into the details of combat and mastering the way to win." Wang Hongmin, political commissar of the brigade, said that Li Ling always repeatedly played videos of air combat with his opponents, studied one action after another, and pondered how to accurately kill the "enemy."

Li Ling told the pilots that it is necessary to establish the concept of "lift-off is combat", and every aircraft must fly out of combat effectiveness. Zhang Wei, a pilot who had participated in the air combat competition with Li Ling, told reporters: "When training and researching war, even if there is a little data error, he will definitely pull us to study it repeatedly until we understand it." ”

During a discussion, Li Ling asked everyone: "When turning in an air battle, how big is the Mach number that is the best?" ”

Pilots, you say what I say, and give answers based on your own experience. The answers vary, but the numerical differences are small. With such accuracy, Li Ling was not satisfied: "It seems that we have to study this matter carefully." ”

Later, for this data, Li Ling led the pilots to repeatedly demonstrate and test, and finally found the best solution in actual combat.

"Drills are the pre-practice of future air combat, and victory or defeat is often between millimeters!" In Li Ling's view, algorithms are tactics, and arithmetic is tactics. Over the years, through precise calculations and repeated deductions, many important combat parameters have been "cut" out by Li Ling, providing a solid support for winning the war.

"Exchanging hard training and fine flying for stronger combat effectiveness is the best reward for this honor."

The pilots in the brigade all said that Li Ling was usually very easy-going, but he was very serious in his work. Someone observed very carefully: "Especially in the commentary, the brigade commander never smiled. ”

"When training, comrades-in-arms can talk to you, but the enemy will not fight." Places you overlook in training can become your fatal injury. In Li Ling's view, on the battlefield, if you want to win the war, you must have absolute strength, so you must let everyone clearly see their own gaps and face the problems in order to solve the problem.

It was precisely under Li Ling's almost harsh high standards and strict requirements that the brigade trained a batch of excellent pilots. Pilot Xu Yinhui said: "The brigade commander is a leader in air combat, has a body of technology and experience, he is afraid that we will learn slowly and cannot learn the essence, so he is particularly serious with teaching, and we can feel this." ”

In 2016, when Xu Yinhui first arrived at this brigade, the high-intensity training rhythm made him a bit overwhelmed. He felt fortunate that from the preparation of ground research, to the same cabin to take off and fly, to the tower command flight, Li Ling passed on experience and cut actions bit by bit, helping him to make rapid progress. Today, Xu Yinhui has become a technically skilled squadron leader.

In this regard, Li Ling modestly said: "The potential of young people is infinite, and my responsibility is to teach methods, establish norms, and help them tap their potential." "Li Ling attaches great importance to the standardization of operating procedures, the purpose is to let pilots encounter any situation and problem, have a standard practice reference, and solve it according to the standardized procedures."

During a live-fire training session, the weather over the range gradually deteriorated, but several young pilots did not complete the bombing. "It looks like it's going to land with a bullet." Rare opportunity, just practice! Li Ling said.

Landing with a bomb has strict requirements on the remaining amount of oil and landing speed, which is a test of technology. The young pilots were a little nervous the first time they encountered this situation. "In any case, everyone should adhere to the principle of 'one thing is in the present, think about the process first', and calmly deal with the situation and handle the situation steadily." Li Ling sat on the tower and began to command, after learning more about the condition of each aircraft, calmly instructed the pilots to align themselves with the runway and put the speed bumper... In accordance with the process guided by Li Ling, the pilots successively piloted the fighters to land smoothly.

Under the leadership of Li Ling, the brigade's talent team has continued to grow and expand, and the tip of this sharp knife unit has become sharper and sharper, and more and more achievements have been made.

In 2019, the brigade's flying brigade was awarded the honorary title of "Strong Army Pioneer Flying Brigade" by the Central Military Commission. "This is our supreme honor." Li Ling said: "The mission is in hand, the responsibility is on the shoulders, only by staying on the pillow, bravely moving forward, and exchanging hard training and fine flying for stronger combat effectiveness is the best reward for this honor." (Li Longyi)

Source: People's Daily - People's Daily