Japan Space-Time Strange Chronicles

Gaiden: A Certain Pilot's Fluff

This is the second chapter this month.

A total of four chapters including this one will be in the style of a romantic comedy. However, I have never written a romantic comedy myself, so I am not sure if I have done it well or not.

In addition, this chapter will go a little deeper into the mystery of this world.

- Kazuhiro Kasami

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September 13, 2023

Japan, North America, Bay Morioka District

This was shortly before Japan established diplomatic relations with the continent. A new Air Self-Defense Force base was being built in the northwestern part of the Americas, at a point roughly equivalent to Montreal, Canada in the old world.

In preparation for a possible attack from Europe, they have purchased Type 88 anti-ship missile normally deployed by the Ground Self-Defense Force and the outdated Type 96 Multi-Purpose Missile System, middle-range multi-purpose missile, Type 11 surface-to-air missile for base air defense. In addition, there are fifteen FT-4 fighters as attack-capable aircraft, two F-4EJ Kai Phantoms as multirole, as well as ten Type Zero Model 21 and Attack Bomber "Ryusei", each of which exhibited specifications almost identical to their originals, purchased from private companies and manufactured for training and for use in attack missions, respectively.

The fact that the Zeros, which were supposed to be for training purposes, could be used in actual combat if the need arose was due to the Ministry of Defense and the SDF's almost desperate desire to 'use what is available for now' in the current situation where all weapons are in short supply. In fact, even fighters like Zero can take on almost any nation.

These Zeros were equipped with many electronic devices in its cockpit, two 12,7 mm machine guns used by the SDF, and a newly built 60 kg bomb under the fuselage. Although its firepower is considerably less than that of the original Zero, it is one that has greatly increased stability.

In addition, a total of eight OTO Melara 127 mm single rapid-fire guns for interception are lined up in the coastal area near the base as gun batteries, although they are used and operated in an old-fashioned manner. These guns are controlled by the Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel at the base, and as soon as they detect an enemy and receive orders, they are able to intercept approaching ships and aircraft according to the target assignment by radar.

The fixed-base automatic interception system incorporates a newly developed VLS-mounted anti-air missile launcher. This is an application of the VLS mounted on destroyers, with the launchers embedded in the ground, and missiles can be replenished from containers that exist underground, with a total of 180 cells in a single base.

The type of munition used was the new Type 23 short-range surface-to-air missile, which was a Type 11 short-range SAM with an extended range of 30 kilometers, with improved rocket boosters, as a domestic version of the Evolved Sea Sparrow had not been produced at that time, and its intercept capability was reputed to be accurate enough to be used for end-stage interception of cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles. This is because the Ministry of Defense concluded that the method used in a certain Japan isekai novel as a desperate measure to extend the range of the medium-range multi-purpose missile was surprisingly effective for a hastily manufactured product. Of course, since it is a VLS, it still has the ability to fire ASROCs, so it can also fire anti-submarine rockets.

The base's very large active phased-array radar, built to operate it, was state-of-the-art equipment, capable of detecting up to 500 aerial and seaborne targets at once and engaging 18 targets simultaneously. This radar is 40 meters tall, larger than the 34-meter-high J/FPS-5 & 7 Fixed Warning and Control Radar (also known as the Gamera Radar) operated by the JASDF, but it is much more powerful because it is packed with various functions to detect targets over water as well.