Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1146: Come Early, Die Quickly
Seeing that most of the comrades were opposed, the comrades from the Southwest Aircraft Research Institute were not too fussy. They said that today's meeting was originally for the purpose of finalizing a plan, and they had made many plans, which were originally intended for discussion.

If everyone thinks it is okay, then keep it as one of the alternative options and report the next one.

If everyone thinks it is inappropriate and has sufficient reasons, then reject it and move on to the next one.

But the comrades in the Air Equipment Bureau were a little nervous. How could such a good thing be rejected just after looking at it? Is there anyone who can save it?

They turned their eyes and saw Gao Zhendong, they got it!
Comrade Gao Zhendong has always been known for saving where necessary and spending where necessary, and taking risks where necessary when it comes to high-tech equipment. Judging from his style and tendencies in many previous meetings, he has always taken relatively big steps in air force equipment, and what is commendable is that he has never suffered any setbacks as a result of taking big steps.

He is the most suitable person to save the variable-sweep wing.

The comrade from the Air Equipment Bureau directly called out: "Comrade Zhendong, what do you think?"

Gao Zhendong was enjoying listening to everyone's heated arguments, but he didn't expect to be named. The comrades in the Air Force still refused to give up.

To put it bluntly, considering that both the United States and the Russians currently have inadequate air equipment, it is indeed a bit too big a step for us to take now, but the key is that it is unnecessary.

In terms of effectiveness, variable sweep wing is a good choice except for specialized conditions such as carrier-based aircraft and attack aircraft, but it is not the best choice as a fighter in other situations. The key point is that it really can't do anything under the existing technical conditions.

The reason why the "Tomcat" is a good carrier-based aircraft is mainly that it has no rivals at sea. The Russian naval aviation force is very weak. It mainly faces the Russian bombers and plays the role of an interceptor.

Fight? Fight with the Yak-36/38? Forget it, those two can't even fly out of the range of their own ship-borne air defense missiles.

As for fighting against the enemy's land-based fighters, it has never been the F-14's main combat mission. Its main mission is to throw AIM-54 "Phoenix" from a distance.

Well, it’s up to you to fix the final nail in the coffin of the variable-sweep wing air superiority fighter.

"I also don't agree with the variable sweep wing proposal." Gao Zhendong was unambiguous and his position was very clear.

Hmm? The comrades in the Air Equipment Bureau were hit hard.

The leader of the Defense Work Committee asked, "Tell me your reasons."

He has no bias. Whether agreeing or disagreeing, the Defense Work Committee's responsibility is to find out the causes and consequences of each opinion and help make the final decision.

"In fact, my reasons are the same as those of most comrades just now. They are too complicated and the gains do not outweigh the losses. What's more important is that the biggest disadvantage of this plan is that it emphasizes the weaknesses and avoids the strengths."

Play to your weaknesses and avoid your strengths? Then this shortcoming is indeed very lacking.

"Please be more specific." The leader of the Defense Work Committee asked.

"The variable-sweep wing has a complex mechanical structure and is very heavy. I don't need to explain this, I believe everyone knows it."

Everyone nodded. It was obvious that this was lice on a bald man's head.

"Mechanics are very troublesome. To some extent, the design may not require much thought and everything may seem perfect, but problems often occur after use, which can easily cause incurable diseases. Our experience in mechanics is still insufficient to cope with this level of demand. So even if the design problem is solved, the risk in application is still great."

"Can't the problem be solved through materials?" asked the Air Force comrade. You are a materials expert.

Hey, you're talking about my specialty now: "Materials are important, but they are not omnipotent. Mechanical things are more about structure, transmission and experience. The variable sweep wing system is a very complex system. Using mechanical capabilities as the core of the new fighter plan is to avoid our relative advantage in electronics and use our mechanical disadvantages to confront them. This is unwise."

Electronic systems now have some advantages, but it doesn't make sense to go against the mechanical system.

"Ah, I see. Is this why you say we should play to our weaknesses and avoid our strengths?"

Gao Zhendong shook his head. "More than that. I said we should make the best use of our weaknesses and avoid our strengths for another reason. Our engine technology is limited. The engines we can produce may not look bad in terms of thrust-to-weight ratio, but the upper limit of maximum thrust is not optimistic. Any unnecessary dead weight should not exist on our air superiority fighters. The dead weight of the variable-sweep wing is too large. It simply adds another burden to the already heavy shoulders of our engines, which makes the situation worse."

It can't carry more than a few pounds in the first place, and instead of being used on a blade, it is used on a variable-sweep wing, which is of no use in air control combat.

What makes the variable sweep wing complex is not just the variable sweep wing system itself, but also the series of chain reactions it brings.

The variable-sweep wing occupies the fuel position, changes the fuel path, requires the layout of additional hydraulic lines, places higher demands on the aircraft's main load-bearing components, affects the layout of the aircraft's equipment, and affects the aircraft's aerodynamic center. What's more, the change in the wing sweep angle will cause the aircraft's aerodynamic center to move...

Most of the comrades present did not actually have a deep understanding of variable sweep wings. After listening to Gao Zhendong's words, they had a clear understanding. Even most of the comrades who opposed variable sweep wings only had a clear understanding at this time.

This thing doesn't seem to be so cost-effective for us at this stage.

But I have just seen foreign countries start to study variable sweep wings. How can Gao Zhendong do such in-depth research on variable sweep wings? I can only say that there is a real gap between people. "And in my opinion, if we can achieve continuous variable sweep wings that are linked to the flight control system in real time, it would be more or less interesting, but the cost is so high that it is better to work on other things."

For example, the variable-sweep wing of the MiG-23 is hard to describe. It is manually operated and has only a few fixed angles. It is of no use in air combat.

"More importantly, the benefits that variable-sweep wings can bring are either not very meaningful for fighter aircraft or can be obtained by other means."

Improving take-off and landing performance, increasing lift coefficient, improving subsonic maneuverability, etc., are actually just that, to put it bluntly, the improvements made by the variable sweep wing in these aspects may be offset by the dead weight it brings.

Gao Zhendong's words were originally a denial of the variable sweep wing, but some comrades' eyes lit up and they heard other meanings.

These are the comrades of the Air Force.

Oh, I see. You have a good plan that can achieve a similar effect, right?
In other words, at least it can be better than the variable-sweep wing in air combat, right?

Steady!

I really don’t know how they heard this meaning from Gao Zhendong’s words. Anyway, they were very straightforward: “Oh, we understand. It seems that variable sweep wings have many problems. Let’s not consider it for now. Next!”

Even the Defense Working Committee looked at them in surprise. Aren’t you guys voting too quickly and too decisively?
As a variable-sweep wing solution that keeps up with international advanced trends and is also highly anticipated, it was put first and was also the first to be basically rejected.

It is true that those who come early die quickly, but as for the second one, it seems much more conventional.

——An enlarged version of the Zhan-7.

This Zhan-7 is not the same as the previous Zhan-7. It is the multi-purpose fighter modified from the Gong-5, and the technology of which has been sold to Gaul.

This is also a routine operation, just like what Gao Zhendong saw in his previous life, where he enlarged Master 7 to become Master 8. It is the safest way, but it is a bit too damn safe.

As an excellent multi-functional fighter, the Z-7 is naturally highly praised by the troops. This thing is really easy to use.

But precisely because this thing is multifunctional and not outstanding in any particular aspect, the troops that have the Z-7 always feel that something is not right.

Do you think this thing is good? Good!

But is it any good as an air superiority fighter? It seems not very good. It really has no advantages to speak of. It is predictable. It doesn't fly very fast and it doesn't seem to be very agile.

There was no need for extensive discussion, and the fate of this plan was soon determined.

——Keep it. If you really have no choice, take a look at this as a backup.

At least this thing doesn't look as outrageous as the variable-sweep wing.

Gao Zhendong didn't say much about this plan. He really didn't know what to say, and everyone had the same opinion.

The comrades at the Southwest Aircraft Research Institute were not discouraged. They all knew that this thing was really hard to describe, so they moved on to introduce the next plan.

"Our plan 3 and plan 4 are actually of the same origin, but they have different technical difficulties and different effects."

Eh? This is interesting.

To be honest, it is indeed a bit difficult for the comrades at the Southwest Aircraft Research Institute to come up with a completely new and subversive plan. Not to mention now, we have not even achieved this in the past few decades in terms of fighter jets.

Even though the overall plan seems to have no details at all, it can be completed just by imagination.

But actually, this is the hardest part.

Those who have studied the history of domestic fighter jets know that when we truly proposed our own innovative overall plan, No. 10 was half of it, and No. 20 was the whole thing. As for the subversive ones, that was the business of Ginkgo brothers.

It is said that Type 10 is half-baked, and it has nothing to do with the legendary and ridiculous Lion. The design of that thing is completely different from Type 10. Anyone who can tie the close-range coupled light aircraft and the medium-range coupled medium aircraft together either has a problem with his eyes or a problem with his brain. Of course, the most likely possibility is a problem with his butt.

The real reason why we say that 10YE is half-hearted is that the concept of mid-range coupled full-moving canard scheme was not proposed by us first, or in other words, the definition of mid-range coupling is a bit vague.

Therefore, the Southwest Aircraft Research Institute said that Plans 3 and 4 are in the same vein, which greatly aroused the interest of comrades. This is a manifestation of in-depth thinking. Regardless of whether it is an innovative plan or not, at least enough thought and deep enough thought has been given.

(End of this chapter)