I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 741 - 639: "New" Airplane

Charlie was a pilot in the Royal Air Force of the England. After the catastrophe struck, because of England’s strategy to abandon the homeland to ensure the survival of its citizens, he and his flight squadron were relocated to an airbase in the southern region of France, where they stationed.

Stationed with them was another flight squadron from France, which made this airbase, not too large, appear somewhat crowded and cramped.

However, this was only temporary. Once the alien invasion began, the two flight squadrons stationed here and their planes were quickly exhausted.

A squadron usually consists of around 24 fighter jets, 50-80 pilots, a varying number of reserve pilots, and about two hundred ground personnel.

Under modern warfare modes, two squadrons constitute quite a powerful force, but faced with overwhelming alien creatures and harsh weather conditions, these two squadrons and their fighter jets not only failed to perform as expected, but also experienced significant losses at a rapid pace.

This resulted in, a month after the battle against the aliens began, at the airbase where Charlie stationed, the combined number of pilots from the two squadrons dwindled to about half their original number, over fifty fighter jets were lost, leaving only seven or eight that escaped damage due to engine destruction or lack of parts for maintenance.

Furthermore, the ground personnel also suffered certain losses; though not large, it still plunged the airbase’s morale deeply.

Though the saying "Air Force first-class, Navy second-class, Army third-class" is merely a joke, it indeed reflects the distinctions among the three branches to some extent. After all, Air Force pilots are precious, the Navy is a high-tech force, only the Army is ordinary.

Especially for the English, the Army is the only force among England’s three services without the Royal title.

Charlie used to be very proud of his identity as an elite pilot of the Royal Air Force.

But now, the Army, whom they’ve always looked down upon, is fighting desperately at the front lines, holding back the alien creatures’ attacks, while these Air Force personnel can only stay put at the airbase, which not only pricks their self-esteem, but undoubtedly exacerbates the low morale among the Air Force pilots.

The substantial aircraft losses not only prevent them from going into battle, but also render them idle. After all, with such low morale now, coupled with the aircraft losses, everyone is uninterested in training, and most simply gather in the dormitories to play cards and fight, killing time idly.

If not for the current resource scarcity, even these pilots find it challenging to purchase alcohol. Charlie believes the base would certainly have many drunkards.

Charlie himself is relatively self-disciplined, possibly due to his father’s strict demands from a young age. Charlie’s personality retains the demeanor and self-discipline of those British gentlemen from back in the day, and he doesn’t fall into debauchery like his teammates.

Nonetheless, Charlie feels he can only manage this far. After all, the whole base is in such a state, there isn’t much he can do.

Even the officers at the base are indifferent about restraining the pilots, and even routine training has become lax.

This left Charlie, who persisted in daily physical exercises to maintain his state, feeling quite helpless.

With a feeling of helplessness, Charlie picked up a lunch in the cafeteria, where he sat at a table to eat his meal.

Due to resource shortages, and the need to supply the front lines first, the base, originally with a fairly stable supply chain, has also gradually fallen into a state of scarcity. Lunch has dropped from what originally included bread, sausage, and vegetables, to now almost only potatoes and carrots.

Moreover, a large portion of these potatoes and carrots were grown by the base itself, after clearing an underground hangar that was devoid of planes, then building a greenhouse.

Charlie doesn’t feel much worth complaining about; one must be able to fight to fill the belly. Now without aircraft, these pilots are useless, so receiving poor treatment isn’t significant.

Yet, in such resignation, Charlie still felt somewhat unwilling. He greatly hoped the upper echelon could bring in new planes, allowing him to return to battle in the skies against the alien creatures; only then could he feel he wasn’t wasting his life.

In fact, Charlie was already filing a report, applying for reassignment to the front lines. Even if only to operate a machine gun in a trench, Charlie felt that was better than idly stagnating at the base.

However, it was evident Charlie’s superiors were reluctant to send valuable pilots to the front trenches. Even though they’re idle now, lacking new aircraft, they remained precious pilots and shouldn’t be squandered.

Just as Charlie ate his potatoes, contemplating how to convince his superiors to transfer him to the front lines, a pilot with French insignia rushed towards him, loudly shouting: "Hey! Charlie! Good news! We have new planes!"

"New planes? What kind of new planes?" Charlie, somewhat unclear about the situation, quickly grabbed the French pilot and asked: "Renault, explain clearly, what’s going on?"

The seized Renault was extremely excited, wildly gesticulating while expressing his emotions to Charlie: "New fighter jets! Charlie! The top has brought in new fighter jets! Twenty stored Harrier jets from the Cold War period and eighteen Mirage F1s! We have planes again! We can fly again!"

The French pilot Renault was a friend Charlie met after arriving at this base, someone who typically had a warm personality. Evidently, having planes to fly again was immensely exciting for him.

However, Charlie, besides feeling surprised, also felt puzzled and confused. He asked Renault: "Harriers and Mirage F1s? Cold War-era planes? From where did they dig these antiques out? Moreover, aren’t these antiques discontinued for many years? Are there still parts for maintenance?"

These Cold War-era planes belong to outdated third-generation jets, and compared to the current mainstream fourth-generation jets, or even the fifth-generation jets already commissioned by Flame Country, Lucia, and the Federation, they are undeniably obsolete and about to be eliminated.

But that doesn’t mean these jets can’t be used, having been the main models back in those days. Not many planes that were commissioned towards the Cold War’s end have been stored for just over twenty years, making them still usable for fighting aliens.

From a certain perspective, these third-generation jets are better suited than fourth-generation ones for battling aliens.