The door of the courtyard house has been welded dead

"Comrade Li Feng, I am very curious about the first generation you mentioned. Could it be that the Red Star Factory has already started the development of the next generation of vehicle-mounted self-propelled artillery?"

"This question may not be related to this meeting, but I still want to hear about your long-term plan. If you want to replace towed artillery, you can't just talk about it. At least, you have to let us see some good signs, right~!"

The leader sitting next to Director Shao did not look at all unconvinced after Li Feng finished speaking.

The Equipment Committee’s idea is different from that of the Artillery Department. The significance of developing new equipment is to replace old equipment. There is nothing unacceptable about this.

If you can't even accept this, you can go back to the past and pick up the old slide rifle from decades ago.

The huge amount of scientific research funds invested by the country every year can also be fully withdrawn and continued to be invested in the vast ocean of people's war.

"You can't just talk about it, you have to show the real thing~!"

Although he already knew what the next generation of vehicle-mounted artillery that Li Feng mentioned would look like, Director Shao pretended not to know it at this time. He picked up the pen cap and knocked it on the table, and his voice was very serious.

I agree with Li Feng. We should talk about the research progress of this highly confidential next-generation equipment here. At least, we have to let them see that what the Red Star Factory said about replacing towed artillery is not bragging.

"Yes~!"

"The first generation of vehicle-mounted artillery, the leaders have already seen it. Remember what I said at the beginning, it is purely mechanized and manually operated. Whether it is the elevation structure of the artillery or the extension and retraction of the spade, it is all mechanically adjusted through hydraulic or gear structures~!"

"The advantage of a purely mechanical structure is that even if there are any problems, they are easy to find and repair. As long as you study the manual and understand the technology, you can solve more than 85% of the problems by yourself~!"

"But in my opinion, this is just the first generation. It can only be called the first generation because, in my eyes, it is not smart enough. At most, it is the product of our factory's compromise with technology under the current circumstances~!"

“Tear it up~!”

Tearing off the enlarged photo on the wall, Li Feng took out a hand-drawn picture from his briefcase. After unfolding it, he slapped it directly on the wall and looked at the conference table below with a sharp gaze.

One by one, the leaders turned their gazes to the drawing. Those who were a little further away stood up, leaned forward, and studied the hand-drawn drawing.

"The second generation of vehicle-mounted artillery will be automated and electrically controlled."

"We installed a motor on the turret base, and through the operation buttons on the instrument console, the gun barrel can be elevated to an accuracy of 0.1 mil."

"The entire vehicle chassis will be covered with various circuits. After arriving at the combat position and parking, personnel can complete the electrification deployment at the co-pilot and rear consoles. With the help of the control console, the pitch angle and azimuth angle figures will be fed back to the operator through the electrical instruments."

"In this step, we will do our best to complete the automatic loading of shells, use the drive motor to send the shells in the ammunition tray into the barrel, and complete all preparations before firing~!"

Only a rough outline can be seen on the drawings, such as the operating buttons on the console. These have not yet been implemented, and even the prototype car has not yet been produced. However, combined with Li Feng's words, we can already see the ambition of the Red Star Factory.

"This is the second-generation vehicle-mounted artillery I envisioned. At present, it looks like just a prototype. The road to research and development will be very tortuous, ten times more difficult than mechanization, but this road is undoubtedly the direction we will continue to move forward~!"

"It is impossible to achieve the above design concept by just towing the artillery, a gun carriage, and the artillery body. This is an inherent deficiency. The vehicle-mounted artillery itself has an engine and the entire vehicle is powered, which provides a corresponding foundation and greater redundancy to complete the next generation of electrification layout."

"Of course, with the development of the times, the car body artillery will not only be limited to 122mm caliber artillery, 152mm and even larger calibers will be adapted to this system. However, to adapt to large-caliber artillery, it is not only a test of our factory's design capabilities, but also Hongyan Factory's ability to thoroughly understand vehicle engines and car body technologies."

"We are confident that we can complete the design and development work at this stage, but it will take time. Technology also has its lags. Maybe by the time we develop it, more advanced artillery technology will have come out, and production will have fallen behind. But this generation still needs to go."

Li Feng's voice suddenly rose, and he poked the blank spot on the drawing with his pointer.

"Because this is about the third generation - intelligent vehicle-mounted artillery!"

“Intelligent?”

The director of the Equipment Committee, who was sitting in the first seat, put down the enamel pot, and the metal base made a crisp sound when it collided with the table.

Director Shao also stared at Li Feng's face. He didn't expect that Li Feng even had an idea of ​​the third generation concept, which was something he didn't even know.

Even he was shocked, let alone these leaders who had just learned about the second-generation vehicle-mounted artillery and the concept of intelligence, but even they were not mentally prepared.

"What does intelligence mean specifically?" "After inputting the target coordinate system, the artillery can automatically complete positioning, adjust the elevation angle, load ammunition and launch under program control, all with one click."

Li Feng pulled out a palm-sized circuit board from his briefcase. It was an early khaki-colored circuit board inlaid with densely packed copper foil components, several finger-sized capacitors, and inductors with exposed copper wires.

Unfortunately, there are no integrated circuits on it, and even the few transistors that are there seem very stupid at the moment.

"This requires a breakthrough in transistor technology."

The conference room fell silent instantly.

The branches outside the window flapped against the glass in the breeze, as if they were also waiting with bated breath.

"Twelve years have passed since my country first proposed semiconductor technology research in 1954, and electron tubes still occupy a dominant position in industrial technology."

Li Feng remembered the two disassembled radios. Comparing the old and new radios, the new radio had already used circuit boards inside. Although the layout still looked a bit ugly and lacked industrial aesthetics, the bulky old radio still held on to the electron tubes.

“Electron tubes are large in size, consume a lot of power, and generate a lot of heat.”

Li Feng pulled out several graphs from the file bag and took out two radio stations as a sharp contrast.

"We have calculated that 73% of the battery power of the Bayi radio station, which uses electron tubes, is lost in the form of heat. During the test in the cold region of Northeast China, the electron tube equipment even automatically shut down due to overheating."

Li Feng suddenly raised the crude circuit board in his hand and faced the conference room. "Transistors are only a few tenths of the size of electron tubes, but their energy consumption is reduced by 70%!"

"But I heard that transistors are fragile in a nuclear environment?"

“This is exactly why we need to plan ahead!”

Li Feng walked quickly to the poster and drew a striking exclamation mark under "Third Generation Intelligence" with a red pen.

“The shadow of nuclear war is always hanging over us, but we cannot stand still because of fear. The advantages of transistors in conventional combat environments are too obvious. New radio stations have begun to use circuit boards and transistors. They are half the weight of old tube radio stations and can work 1.5 times longer!
"Last month, we disassembled a small Bayi radio that was sent to us. The circuit boards inside opened the eyes of our engineers. These transistors, the size of a fingernail, were arranged like precision soldiers, completing complex signal processing."

"But now, 90% of the country's research resources are concentrated in the field of electronic tubes. This is unscientific. If we want to complete complex independent computing tasks, coupled with the limited redundancy of the vehicle body, we will never achieve the intelligence I mentioned with only electronic tube technology."

Li Feng's finger joints turned white from rubbing together. In front of his eyes appeared the mountains of electronic tube parts in the future, the resource consumption they represented, and the red eyes of the technicians. All the hard work was burned to ashes by the integrated circuits in one day.

"We should invest more in transistors. Conventional warfare will be the mainstream of future battlefields. If we put aside electron tube technology and ignore its advantages, not only vehicle-mounted artillery, but also our intelligence will be delayed by at least 30 years."

"Red Star Factory is willing to draw on its most elite technical backbones to cooperate with the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Although the third-generation intelligent vehicle-mounted artillery is still in its infancy, as long as we master transistor technology, we will be able to overtake others!"

The sky outside the window gradually darkened, and the street lights were swaying with a dim glow in the cold wind.

The director of the Equipment Committee stood up, and his leather shoes made a crisp sound on the terrazzo floor.

"Comrade Li Feng, do you know what this decision means? This is not only a gamble on the future of the entire factory, but also a change in the entire technological route."

"I know."

Li Feng straightened his back, and the button on the collar of his military uniform hurt his neck.

"But if we don't take the gamble now and still ignore the advantages of transistors, our technology will still lag behind in 20 years. It may not be artillery, but unmanned aircraft, missiles invisible to radar, or a dangerous situation where all radio communications on the battlefield are cut off at the touch of a button by the opponent. In the workshop of the Red Star Factory, there is a slogan of 'self-reliance and hard work' hanging. We must not let it become an empty talk!"

The conference room fell into a long silence. The wall clock was ticking. Li Feng could hear his own violent heartbeat. The technical route, at least for him, would shift slightly, even a little bit, just a little bit.

Finally, the director of the Equipment Committee reached out and patted him on the shoulder, looking at the young man with a puzzled expression. He finally understood why Director Shao was so optimistic about this young man.

He wanted to use vehicle-mounted artillery to usher in a new era, an era that was separated by a hazy veil and no one dared to speak rashly.

His courage is greater than expected. (End of this chapter)