Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1287 So they were planning to cause trouble here?! (5k)

Huh? Why is that? Is it just for looks? The comrades were completely confused.

Gao Zhendong's idea was simple: "I'm not going to do stealth, but I'll make sure the foundation for stealth is solid. Even if the specific parameters, angles, and actual conditions are different, having a solid foundation, especially in the structural components, will make it easier to make changes later."

To put it bluntly, applying putty is always simpler than building a wall.

However, this is not difficult. Hexagons, right? The angles are all clear, so there is no difficulty in designing them. These hatch covers are not structural components or important functional components, but are closer to the covering components, so it is much easier to handle.

Since Gao Zhendong had already said so, the comrades from the Southwest Institute were not without ideas. They asked Gao Zhendong, "Chief Engineer Gao, does that mean the hardpoints on this aircraft should be made detachable? That way, the aircraft's wings can be made as smooth as possible."

This aircraft is intended to be controlled by fly-by-wire. The actuators on the wings are not large and have little impact on smoothness, but they have a significant impact on the hardpoints.

Early aircraft had non-removable hardpoints, which is why you asked this question.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes, make it detachable, but the internal load-bearing structure needs to be carefully considered. Where possible, the proportion of heavy-load hardpoints on the wings should be as large as possible."

That's easy to handle. As long as it's brought up early in the design process, it's not difficult to implement, especially for hardpoints near the inside of the wing.

"Chief Engineer Gao, shouldn't we also make the radar dome...?" A colleague from the Southwest Institute suddenly had a brilliant idea.

Gao Zhendong was pleasantly surprised. "Wow, that's amazing! You even answered the question first!"
"Hmm, this comrade reacted quickly. Yes, if possible, the trailing edge of the radar dome should also be serrated." The specific angle, size, and number of teeth are not important; what is important is mastering the technique of making serrations.

"Understood." The comrade, who had been praised by Gao Zhendong, was very happy.

Gao Zhendong held up the materials in his hand: "These are all general matters. Explain this plan to me in detail, and then let me take some time to digest it before we discuss it further."

The colleagues at the Southwest Institute were overjoyed. Giving a lecture to Chief Engineer Gao was a rare experience. Although it wasn't exactly a lecture, but more like a report, it was still quite a great feeling.

"Okay, we won't go into the parts of this plan we just discussed. The rest is as follows..."
-
At the end of May, a satellite, orbiting 400 kilometers above the Earth, glided slowly but swiftly over the southern sea area.

Its mission was to monitor a bay west of Lusson and take photos along the way.

Under the crystal-clear optical lens, everything is clearly visible.

However, even with a clear view this time, there wasn't much to be gained. Many areas in the southern sea were covered by white clouds, one of which covered the port.

In the more southwestern region, a circular cloud formation was also captured by the satellite's camera.

In Beijing, the naval personnel received the photos.

"The port is covered up, so you can't see anything."

"Well, this satellite mission was a waste of time. We'll have to rely on Be-6's surveillance to see if there are any changes."

The comrades were discussing it animatedly, but one of them frowned and stared intently at a photograph with a circular white spot.

"What have you discovered?" Another comrade, seeing his expression, knew that he must have made some discovery.

The comrade stroked his chin for a while, then his eyes suddenly lit up. He turned to the comrade next to him and said, "Staff Officer Liu, bring over last year's patrol report from the Be-6!"

"All of them?" If it's all of them, then there are a lot. There are twelve months in a year, and the Be-6 is located from south to north.

"No, no, no, I only need the report from the patrol of the Southern Reef Islands in the southern waters during last year's New Year period!" This comrade was quite confident in his memory.

"Yes!"

Staff Officer Liu turned to prepare materials, but the comrade turned back and said, "Go to the National Meteorological Administration immediately and ask a marine meteorology expert to come!"

This is quite a large-scale operation, and the objective is clear; it seems they've really remembered something.

"What did you find?"

"We'll wait for the meteorological experts and the Be-6 patrol report to arrive before making any decisions. It's still uncertain; we only have a slight guess."

About an hour and a half later, a marine meteorologist from the National Meteorological Administration looked up from the satellite image: "That's right, it's a typhoon that's forming. Based on experience and historical observations, this typhoon is quite strong and will pass over the South Reef Islands, with almost the entire archipelago within its range."

"Are there many typhoons like this?" the naval officer asked.

"There are many! According to the pattern, April to October is the peak season for typhoons in the southern sea area, with the most concentrated period from June to September. It's about time now."

After the marine meteorologist finished speaking, the naval comrades felt as if they had taken another step closer to the truth.

"Thank you, thank you so much. Comrade, we might need to trouble you a bit. Our comrades will take you back to your unit to explain the situation, and then we might need you to be stationed here with us for a while," the naval officer said.

"Ah, no problem, I'll go back and prepare right away and get over as soon as possible." The comrade from the meteorological bureau agreed without any hesitation.

Even if you don't know exactly what you're going to do, anyone would be excited to be involved in this kind of work.

After the meteorological bureau staff left, this officer quickly flipped through the Be-6's patrol reports. After looking through a few pages, he pointed heavily to one page with his finger: "This is it! This is it!"

The other comrades followed his gaze and saw a report about a Be-6 aircraft discovering an unusual convoy at sea near the South Reef Islands, and the date was also close to a typhoon.

"Tell me, now that everything's here, what did you discover?"

"According to this Be-6 patrol report, when the typhoon reaches a certain strength, the personnel from Dangui Province stationed on the major islands and reefs of the West Reef Islands will be evacuated and concentrated on Heping Island..."

Other comrades were somewhat puzzled: "Well, this is a fairly normal operation. Although it's not really necessary under normal circumstances, this kind of evacuation doesn't go against common sense."

As long as the buildings on the islands and reefs are sturdy enough and there are no problems with supplies, there is no need to go so far away. Just stay on the islands and reefs and weather the typhoon. It is much safer that way.

As for why the people stationed in Nanjiao, Anhui Province, would flee when a major typhoon hit, perhaps it's because they're timid, but the matter itself isn't unreasonable.

“Yes, I know, they must have made it a habit or a system. But this will create a power vacuum in the islands and reefs of the South Reef Islands, except for Heping Island!” The comrade became more and more agitated as he spoke.

Some of the other comrades realized: "You mean, the Americans want to take advantage of this vacuum to cause trouble? But they have no reason to cause trouble here, right? Even if the Americans are domineering, they wouldn't easily do something that's completely unreasonable. After all, they might be facing us."

"That's right, and the people stationed there now are from Danggui Province, so they have even less reason to cause trouble."

However, the comrade who discovered the problem felt that things were not so simple: "Yes, but there is a problem. What if it's not Citibank that's causing trouble?"

"Not Citibank? You mean..." Surely no one would be that stupid, right?
"That's exactly what I mean. The Americans are hiding behind the scenes, instigating Lu Song and even southern Jiaozhi to illegally occupy our islands during this power vacuum. This would tie up our energy and a significant portion of our naval and air forces for quite some time. After all, with the people from Dangui Province stationed there, we won't be able to take any action for now. But if other countries illegally occupy them, we'll definitely have to react. Even if it doesn't deplete our military resources, depleting our diplomatic resources will be just as useful." This comrade had a far-sighted vision, and his idea was correct.

In fact, a significant portion of the inhabited islands and reefs in the South Reef Islands were later illegally occupied for similar reasons. The personnel from the Angui Province stationed on the South Reefs temporarily abandoned their posts for various reasons, allowing unscrupulous individuals to take advantage of the situation. Whether there's anything fishy going on behind the scenes is unknown, but at least that's how it appears on the surface. "What you say makes some sense, but if that's the case, why didn't they do this before?"

"Because the Citizens only started getting bogged down in the quagmire of Cochinchina last year, it's not surprising that they're resorting to more underhanded tactics now that they're finding it increasingly difficult to extricate themselves."

The comrades were all making sounds like they had toothaches; it was truly disgusting. If we hadn't known, it wouldn't have mattered, but now that there were signs, we had to do something.

But amidst the disgust, a glint of excitement shone in the eyes of my comrades. What did trouble matter? If handled well, it could be an opportunity. To some extent, it wasn't appropriate to make any big moves when things were in the hands of "our own people," but once the situation changed, don't blame me for exercising my sovereignty.

If Gao Zhendong heard about this, he would definitely recall the words of that football coach in a comedy movie from his past life—"It's a deal, double happiness!"

"That makes sense, Staff Officer Liu, write this down." A comrade waved his hand and said excitedly.

Staff Officer Liu opened his paper and pen.

"The Cape City BE-6 patrol squadron maintains 24-hour uninterrupted surveillance of the waters off West Lushon."

"The attack aircraft units originally stationed on Jiuxing Island have been relocated to various bases in eastern Guangdong to free up airfields for the Zhan-7 fighter jet units."

"All of the Haijiao City Fighter-7 fighter jets have been relocated to Jiuxing Island."

"No fewer than twelve Z-6 bombers were assembled and ready to go at various airports around Cape Town."

"The destroyer and frigate of the Eastern Fleet, which are currently conducting long-range training in the southern waters, are heading to Jiuxing Island to meet up with the destroyer and frigate that are undergoing refit training on Jiuxing Island, and will be temporarily stationed on Jiuxing Island."

"More than 20 landing craft, carrying supplies, were mobilized from various bases in eastern Guangdong and assembled on Jiuxing Island."

"Using the existing troops on Jiuxing Island and Cape City, we will deploy them to the currently controlled islands and reefs in the West Reef and Middle Reef Islands to replace the experienced island-guarding officers and soldiers. After the replacement, these officers and soldiers will assemble on Jiuxing Island and await further orders!"

"Report to the Air Force to study assistance plans."

"..."

One deployment after another was made, and it was fortunate that Staff Officer Liu had a strong shorthand ability, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to remember so many.

It sounds like a grand display, but this has always been our practice: to be strategically dismissive but tactically attentive, and to always remember to concentrate superior forces to annihilate the enemy.

Of course, it would be best if the enemy is sensible and doesn't need us to eliminate them.

"You wrote it all down? Let me see."

The comrade who made the decision took the record, checked it to make sure it was correct, and said to Staff Officer Liu, "Let's proceed with this plan and submit it for approval from higher authorities!"

In Beijing, a high-ranking official received instructions on how to respond to a potential emergency and laughed: "The storm is brewing, the enemy is never giving up. Little do they know that the higher they jump, the harder they fall. The naval comrades are still very vigilant. Good, very good. Either don't move, or make them pay dearly. With such a large-scale operation, we should at least recoup some of the losses."

After receiving the request for assistance, an air force unit looked at the map and hesitated.

"This distance is a bit of a limit. Even if we start from Jiuxing Island, it's still 800 to 1000 kilometers away from the most important target area. 800 kilometers is already the limit of the combat radius of the Zhan-7, and it may not be able to reach 1000 kilometers."

Battles may not necessarily occur, but careful planning is essential.

"Hey, I remember Comrade Gao Zhendong proposed the idea of ​​aerial refueling aircraft back then, but we never paid attention to it, and now we're finding it troublesome," a comrade said with some regret.

"Since there is none, we have no choice but to fight a battle that has no future. We've survived such hard times in the past, so at least we can find a way now."

"What can you do?"

"Since the standard payload is a bit small, we should not use the 2 fuel, 4 medium and 2 short armaments for combat, but instead use 3 fuel, 2 medium and 2 short armaments, and follow a high-altitude mission profile throughout the entire flight. This can improve the combat radius a bit and barely reach 1000 kilometers. Although the air combat time may be shorter, at least we will not be helpless."

"Well, it's a bit of a stretch, but it's still usable. I suggest using the Attack-5 without anti-ship weapons, carrying external fuel tanks and four infrared air-to-air missiles to escort bombers at a distance of 1000 kilometers. Although its combat performance isn't great, it won't leave us completely passive. We can use the Thunder-3's performance to bully any possible enemies!"

Although the current attack-flying J-5 is equipped with a fire control radar, the radar of the J-5 is mainly used for ground attack and cannot guide semi-active medium-range air-to-air missiles. After all, the pulse PD of fighter jets is indeed not cheap, and it is a waste to equip the J-5 with this thing.

Nevertheless, it still has no problem providing the initial target parameters for the Raiden-3.

The Thunder-3 has the capability for head-on attacks, an extremely sensitive seeker, a 45G maneuvering overload, and an outrageous off-boresight launch angle. Even if the Attack-5 is not very maneuverable, with its 10-kilometer range, it can anticipate enemy fighters and not be completely passive in the face of attacks.

The main force prepared for this anti-ship operation is the medium bomber carrying the Junxun-62K. The attack-5, which had been transferred away from Jiuxing Island and seemed to have nothing to do, came in handy. The bombers took off from the surrounding airfields, and the attack-5 took off from Cape City. With the addition of external fuel tanks and light load, its combat radius can well cover the mission area.

As for each attack-5 carrying only 4 air-to-air missiles, it's partly for the sake of a lighter load, and partly because 4 missiles are enough. If 4 missiles per aircraft can't solve the problem, then it probably can't solve the problem either.

Another comrade nodded and said, "We'll fight whatever we have. That's all we can do for now." To be honest, these days, most countries' air forces would be green with envy if they saw the equipment in his hands.

"Well, if that's the case, then in conjunction with the navy's two large ships equipped with medium-range ship-to-air missiles, it shouldn't be a big problem." At this moment, the value of the two newly refitted destroyers began to show.

"What about the others? Early warning and command, or Tu-4 special mission?"

"The Tu-4 AWACS is undergoing final modifications and is probably too late. We'll use the Tu-4 SWAT in the future. After the Tu-4 SWAT is modified with a belly pulse PD, although its detection range, command capabilities, and electronic warfare capabilities are not as good as the Tu-4 AWACS that is being modified, it is at least passable in detecting enemy aircraft and ships, even though it is a bit ugly."

The comrades all laughed; this thing was truly ugly.

The Tu-4 AWACS aircraft took a considerable amount of time to develop a mature pulse PD radar and a dedicated model, coupled with its unusual aerodynamics and lack of experience. The impatient Air Force simply came up with a novel idea: inspired by the John Bull Gannet AWACS, they installed a rotatable fighter pulse PD antenna under the fuselage and placed the rear end of the radar inside the Tu-4 fuselage. It was a bit ugly, but it was actually usable, at least in terms of radar performance, it far surpassed the original Tu-4 Special Purpose Aircraft.

If the Be-6's structure weren't unsuitable for such modifications, the Air Force would probably have set its sights on the Be-6, given that the number of Be-6s is far greater than that of the scarce Tu-4s.

"Yes, with this thing, we can detect potential enemies at long range, and then we can use the attack-5 to carry infrared air-to-air missiles to fight back and forth with the enemy."

What maneuverability? As long as I can detect you at a long distance, I'll engage you 10 kilometers away, fire, then drop to low and run. I don't care about maneuverability at all. This approach might not be suitable for serious air combat, but it's perfect for harassment and cover.

If you're so capable, come down to low altitudes and chase us. See if the two types of infrared anti-aircraft missiles and radio proximity fuses on the frigates or even guided-missile frigates are just for show.

In reality, it's questionable whether a small number of enemy aircraft could even penetrate the defenses of the destroyer's medium-range semi-active radar-guided air defense missiles once a real battle begins.

Thinking about this, the comrades couldn't help but marvel once again at the naval and air system that Gao Zhendong had been working on for so many years. It wasn't entirely advanced, since we didn't have that much money, but in its advanced aspects, it was truly advanced and unsolvable. Even the most powerful enemy would have to break a tooth if they charged at it.

"Okay, then we'll submit it according to this plan."

Normally, the possibility of a battle is extremely small. The probability of an armed parade and a display of strength is much higher. After all, according to the analysis, the one who is really provoking us is not the American himself, but the cats and dogs. They are not as bold or capable as the American.

(End of this chapter)