Great warships

Chapter 1200 Tilt-rotor AWACS

Drones have many uses. Reconnaissance and attack are common ones. Being a radio relay aircraft is also one of them. They build a bridge between drones and the fleet in the sky. Even if they are discovered and attacked, it is not a big problem. The most they lose is a drone.

Without communication relay, the drone can also complete the mission and return home autonomously according to the pre-entered mission plan, and can also find satellite signals again. At least there will be no casualties.

"Having said all this, let's talk about the dock below. As an amphibious assault ship, the dock is very important. The hull of the 076 is larger, so the internal dock is also larger, which can accommodate six 726 hovercrafts to meet the combat needs of cross-sea landings."

Compared with aircraft carriers, the biggest feature of amphibious assault ships is that they can carry amphibious equipment, such as hovercraft!
The 726 hovercraft is another main equipment for cross-sea landing of the Eastern Navy. This hovercraft is not large, 150 tons, with a maximum carrying capacity of to tons. If it is a main battle tank, it can transport one, and if it is an infantry fighting vehicle, it can transport three.

Those amphibious armored vehicles that can float on the water, whether they are tanks or infantry fighting vehicles, are thin skins with big fillings. If you really want to charge to the front line, you still have to use main weapons such as 99 and 96 tanks, which can only be carried by hovercraft.

The hovercraft uses gas turbines to blow the side skirts to form an air cushion, thereby enabling it to cross obstacles. It is the main force for cross-sea landings. However, this weapon is large in size and can only be carried by amphibious warships.

Six hovercrafts mean six main battle tanks. If four are built, a tank battalion can be sent out at one time. With these heavy weapons as the backbone, and combined with a large number of amphibious vehicles and air power, beach landing will be easy!
Hearing about the six hovercrafts, everyone became excited again.

Big ships are good!

As warships get bigger, they are equipped with more weapons, but the number of personnel will not increase proportionally. For example, the 075-ton 076 and -ton carry six hovercrafts instead of four. However, only one captain is still needed on the warship. The deputy captain, aviation wing commander, etc. are all equipped according to the original organization and they are still the same people. However, the combat effectiveness can be increased by half. For the Eastern Navy, which is now expanding rapidly, this is very important, because it takes time to cultivate outstanding talents!

"Okay, that's right. We need this kind of equipment!" Wu Shengli nodded immediately. "As long as you can manufacture it for foreign customers and we can test it together and it passes, our navy can purchase this equipment. We will place an order for four ships!"

The navy is rich now and doesn't have to be stingy anymore. Two aircraft carriers are under construction, and they want to place orders for four amphibious assault ships. Even Qin Tao is very moved.

Moreover, I didn't expect that what the navy valued most was this dock. If I had known this earlier, I would have introduced the things that could be placed in the dock at the beginning and not introduced the others because the others would be useless.

"Speaking of hovercraft, our 726 hovercraft project has been started a long time ago. In the past, it could not be mass-produced due to problems with the gas turbine. Now that we have used the core engine of our self-developed engine to transform it, the problem has been solved, providing excellent equipment for our navy's cross-sea landing." A leader said.

Of course, the navy also attaches great importance to the issue of cross-sea landing, so it has introduced Ermao's Bison hovercraft a long time ago. This type of hovercraft is too large to be carried by amphibious landing ships, so the developed Type 726 hovercraft is slightly smaller, but still lacks a dedicated gas turbine.

Although hovercraft are small in size, they need strong power to hold up the air cushion. The previous 726 hovercraft was equipped with a UGT6000 gas turbine. Although it can be used, it is not easy to use. The engine produces strong low-frequency vibrations when working, which makes the vibration and noise of the hovercraft very high, and the working environment is also very harsh.

It was not until the domestically produced Taihang engine was finally successful and the corresponding gas turbine was improved that the power demand of the hovercraft was solved. At the same time, the East also had the only two hovercraft production technologies in the world, the other one being the Americans.

Talking about these things, everyone was very emotional, and some people also thought of something.

"Our hovercraft is indeed good. By the way, Mingzhou Group's ground effect vehicle is also good. This equipment can also be used for cross-sea landing." Someone spoke up.

Qin Tao coughed helplessly twice again: "Everyone, what we are discussing in the meeting today is 076, not our ground effect vehicle."

The ground-effect vehicle is of course also a powerful weapon, with a carrying capacity higher than that of the hovercraft, but it also has defects. When the carrying capacity is increased, it becomes almost impossible to land on land, and it can only take off and land on the sea. In this way, it plays the same role as the amphibious assault ship, carrying a large number of amphibious tanks, stopping after getting close, and releasing the tanks over.

Of course, its speed is faster and its transportation efficiency will be improved, but it is a bit difficult to fly directly to the enemy's beachhead or even behind enemy lines.

This is the situation where you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Today's meeting is 076, let's not always go off topic.

Everyone smiled and continued to talk about the amphibious assault ship.

The meeting lasted a whole morning. Qin Tao yawned as he listened to the entire meeting. Then he looked at his father-in-law and said, "Dad, is this a done deal? From now on, the Navy won't have to bid anymore?"

"Of course we still have to bid, and we have to follow the formal process." Wu Shengli said: "However, the Navy still trusts your Mingzhou Group and is very satisfied with your 076 plan. Of course, you have to continue to work hard. By the way, we still need to look at the development of tilt-rotor aircraft, especially the early warning type Z-. Our Navy will no longer have to worry about the long-range early warning capability of the ocean-going fleet."

"Okay." Qin Tao nodded: "I'll go to the aircraft factory with you."

"No, if we want to see the AWACS, we shouldn't go to the aircraft factory."

"Oh, that's the electronics unit. Shall we go to Institute 14?"

"Institute 38." Wu Shengli said.

Speaking of the big brother in domestic radar research and development, it must be the 14th Institute. They are involved in all areas, whether it is on the ground, in the sky, or in the sea. However, this does not mean that they can take on everything.

There are still other research institutes developing similar technologies, and the 38th Institute is one of them. In fact, Mr. Wang, who developed the early warning aircraft, also graduated from the 38th Institute.

Now, it is normal to add early warning radar to the tilt-rotor aircraft and place it in the 38th Institute.

Qin Tao nodded. He didn't feel anything about this arrangement until he went there. Then he realized what amazing things the 38th Institute had produced.

In the south, the river is fat.

This city looks inconspicuous and seems unknown. It is not high-profile or ostentatious, but it is also constantly developing. The city's buildings are changing with each passing day. The 38 institutions located in the High-tech Development Zone have the characteristics of a modern city.

"Mingzhou Feiyuan, the first project developed by your Mingzhou Group in Hefei, was sold out right after it was launched." When the car passed a residential area, the local leader who received them in the car said, "Other projects are not selling well, only your project can sell well, everyone has recognized Mingzhou Group, and they will not cheat the people."

"We are just taking the lead. If all developers can put the interests of the people first like us, then our real estate industry will develop in a healthy way." Qin Tao said: "It is not easy for ordinary people to buy houses. We must not fall into traps."

"Yes, some developers have decided to learn from you and also build houses before selling them. It's not easy for ordinary people." The local leader continued: "By the way, one of the buildings was sold as a whole to 38 families. Their family quarters were not enough, so they also started to buy commercial houses."

As they were talking, the car had already entered Institute 38. The area was shaded by green trees and small buildings. A large shed was built on the small playground of the institute. If everything went as expected, it should be the place for temporary modification of the tilt-rotor aircraft.

If other aircraft need to be modified, they can only go to the aircraft factory because the 38th Institute has no runway. However, the tilt-rotor aircraft is different. It can land vertically and directly on the playground. A shed can be set up and the modification can be done inside. In this way, the technicians of the 38th Institute do not have to run back and forth and can modify the aircraft at their doorstep. It is the simplest.

However, the moment he walked in, Qin Tao frowned.

"We have just started the modification, right? The radar dome on the back of the aircraft has not been installed yet?"

From the appearance, it is just an ordinary Z-30, with a short and thick fuselage, somewhat like a helicopter, the wings are not wide, the engines and propellers on both sides are particularly large, and there are double vertical tails. Everything looks so ordinary, yet so unique.

If the early warning aircraft is to be modified, the first step is to install the antenna. After all, the internal airborne equipment can be installed slowly later, but the installation of the antenna must be verified first. If there is a problem with the antenna, then further improvements must be made. In particular, according to the plan, the radar antenna installed on this aircraft is still triangular in shape, with phased array radar components installed on the three sides to achieve full coverage of electromagnetic waves.

The aerodynamic conditions of a tilt-rotor aircraft with vertical take-off and landing capabilities are inherently complex. The rotation of the propeller between the horizontal and vertical directions will cause a lot of airflow disturbances, so the shape of the radome is of paramount importance. If an unqualified radome is used, it is likely to cause a flight accident and ultimately fail to be finalized and equipped to the troops.

That's not right. The task of installing the radar dome should have been completed before flying here. After all, the 38th Institute is an electronics institute. The plane flew here to install electronic equipment, which means the preliminary work has been prepared.

What exactly is going on?

Qin Tao looked puzzled. At this moment, among the crowd of people busy around the plane, a fat middle-aged man came over and said, "I'm very sorry, leaders. I was too busy at work to meet you at the gate."

"It's okay, Chief Engineer Ouyang. I hope our arrival hasn't delayed your work." Wu Shengli was very familiar with this chief engineer, and he had a kind smile on his face: "How's the progress?"

"The progress is very good. I estimate that in another week, it will be ready to fly into the sky for testing."

"What are you testing? There's no radome yet. Are you planning to spend a week installing the radome?" Qin Tao couldn't help himself.

"Radar dome?" Chief Engineer Ouyang looked at Qin Tao and said, "You are Mr. Qin, right? I didn't see you when I went to the capital to report on work several times before. You probably don't know the technology used in our early warning aircraft. We don't need a mushroom dish or a triangular dish on our heads."

No need? Qin Tao was even more confused: "Then what should we use? Balance beam? If it's a balance beam, there will be blind spots in front and behind. For the navy, the enemy may come from any direction, so there can't be blind spots."

“Of course there is no blind spot.”

"what is that?"

Qin Tao was getting more and more curious. There was no mushroom plate, no triangular plate, and it was not a balance beam. Suddenly, Qin Tao thought of something: "Could it be that we already have conformal antenna technology?"

Isn't our technology developing too fast? I can't even react and can't keep up with the pace!

"Sure enough, President Qin is so capable. Even if he hasn't heard our report, he knows what we are doing!" Chief Engineer Ouyang said with emotion: "That's right, President Qin, we use conformal antenna technology. This technology was broken through three months ago. At that time, our vertical take-off and landing early warning aircraft was also officially started to be developed, so we decided to use conformal antenna technology to remove the radar cover and avoid any aerodynamic defects."

Even if it is an early warning aircraft that takes off and lands normally, the aerodynamic shape is greatly affected by the large plate on the top. The flight of this kind of early warning aircraft is very unstable and only experienced veterans can control it. Moreover, when flying, it cannot make any movements that drastically change the flight status, otherwise it may crash.

As for the tilt-rotor aircraft, it is even more difficult to add a large plate on the top. During vertical take-off and landing, various accidents may occur. Therefore, the team has been worried about the shape of the antenna. No matter how many times it is blown in the wind tunnel, it is impossible to achieve the most perfect state.

Now it’s good, just use conformal antenna!

This is the latest technology, a conformal antenna, as the name suggests, can remain consistent with the shape of an object. The biggest advantage of this is that it will not damage the shape of the aircraft and will not bring about aerodynamic changes. It is the same as before. Compared with those early warning aircraft with large plates, it is simply a breeze.

In the past, because the David people could not make the mushroom-shaped cover and did not have the ability to research aerodynamics, when manufacturing the Palcon early warning aircraft, they directly installed radar antennas on the nose and both sides of the fuselage, turning the passenger plane into an early warning aircraft with a big nose and big cheeks, in order to reduce the change in the aerodynamic shape. However, the internal antenna is still flat, and there is no antenna at the tail, so it will bring a large blind spot.

In phased array radar, the radiation of electromagnetic waves has been distributed to individual T/R units, but this does not mean that the position of the unit can be placed arbitrarily. If the position is different, the phase of the radiated electromagnetic wave may change. It must be placed accurately and integrated into the system. In order to reduce the complexity of the system, these units should be placed on a flat plate.

The conformal antenna has to be designed according to the shape of the aircraft. Generally, the shape is curved. In this way, when the components are placed, they will be curved. Each component has its own separate position, which makes it very difficult to integrate them.

Advanced computers are required to complete complex data calculations. In the entire world, only the East has this capability!

It is on this basis that the 38th Institute has made breakthroughs in conformal antenna technology.

Qin Tao knew the principles of these technologies, but he didn't understand the details. This required professionals to do professional things. He just briefly explained the general idea of ​​this technology, and Chief Engineer Ouyang had an expression of admiration on his face. Qin Tao felt a little embarrassed, thinking that he was just a half-baked expert.

"Are all the surface skins of our aircraft covered with these T/R components?" Qin Tao looked at the plane with interest.

“Not entirely,” said Chief Designer Ouyang. “Our conformal antenna technology is still very primitive. We found several locations on the fuselage, and tried to keep them flat, and embedded antenna components in these locations, and then integrated the antenna system.”

The appearance of this tilt-rotor aircraft is closer to that of a helicopter. The cross-section of the fuselage is not cylindrical, but square, which can maximize the utilization of the internal space. As for air resistance? Anyway, it can't fly very fast, as long as it is faster than a helicopter.

In this way, some conformal antennas can be buried in the upper, lower, left and right parts of the fuselage to achieve detection in four directions. Then, some antennas can be buried in the radar cover in front of the nose and the hatch behind the fuselage for entering and exiting the cabin, so that the aircraft will have the ability of omnidirectional scanning.

There is still a certain gap between it and the real skin antenna, which is to make the skin into an antenna and rivet it on directly, but this is already a big technological breakthrough.

Food should be eaten bite by bite, and technology should be broken through bit by bit.

"Good, well done. This way, our early warning aircraft will be even more advanced, and we can ask for a higher price when we export it." Qin Tao was very satisfied.

The early warning aircraft is a high-tech aircraft and is expensive. Now with the support of conformal antennas, it has to be sold at a higher price. If it is given to a wealthy customer, five hundred million US dollars for one should not be too expensive, right?
"Mr. Qin, can our aircraft be exported?" Chief Engineer Ouyang was quite excited.

"Yes, of course we can export them. We can only equip a few for our own use, so we have to export them in large quantities. In the future, our exported aircraft carriers can be equipped with a certain proportion of these early warning aircraft. You just need to develop them, and leave the export to me. By the way, have you verified this technology?"

"Of course, we modified a drone." said Chief Engineer Ouyang.

Qin Tao's eyes lit up again.

(End of this chapter)