Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1353 The National Defense Commission Leaders Take the Initiative (6k)
Gao Zhendong and the leaders of the National Defense Commission, in high spirits, began to participate in the acceptance of the PD radar.

This matter has actually been going on for quite a while, but Gao Zhendong doesn't think it's that exaggerated. Mainly, he saw the time and final effect of Eighth Master's reverse-card radar in his previous life, so he is very calm no matter how long this thing has been going on.

Although military enthusiasts have always laughed at the Su-27's inverted locomotive, at least that locomotive was usable, and when it was first introduced, its parameters were not bad. However, the original locomotive of the J-8 was really unusable after a lot of trouble, mainly because it took too long to develop and could not keep up with the development of the times.

But inspecting this now is a completely different matter. If the truck-driving machine from the Eighth Master could satisfy comrades even today, then this radar would still be effective even if it were from the 80s.

It has achieved comprehensive leadership.

At that moment, the colleagues from the radar institute were giving a report.

"...The PD-63 radar adopts a number of new technologies, including a new traveling wave tube, a new antenna, a pulse Doppler system, and a digital signal processor array. It has advantages such as high sensitivity, long effective range, high accuracy, strong anti-interference capabilities, and multiple operating modes..."

The comrades nodded in agreement. These were things they were familiar with in principle but had never been able to use, such as traveling wave tubes and pulse Doppler systems.

Or they are technologies that you've never even heard of or thought of, such as planar slot antennas and digital signal processor arrays, which are vaguely referred to as "new types of antennas".

What they didn't expect was that even the Kingdom of Laos didn't have flat panel slot antennas and digital signal processors, and as for the Kingdom of Luo... they'd have to wait a little longer.

With so many new technologies incorporated into one device, it's impossible for this radar not to be good.

One colleague smiled and said, "The comrades at the Radar Institute have made a lot of efforts in seeking innovation and system integration. Under normal circumstances, it would be very difficult to succeed with such a large-scale application of new technologies, but you have managed to create a completely new system in such a short period of time, and you've done it very well. It's remarkable! Absolutely remarkable!"

This is something that has surprised and impressed many comrades. As we all know, the application of new technologies in a project generally cannot be too high, otherwise the risk of failure is very high.

The main highlight of new technologies is the word "new," which often means that not only is it new in itself, but its cooperation and coordination with other subsystems are also new.

If too many new technologies are used, numerous inexplicable problems will arise during the research and development process, seemingly endlessly. Furthermore, there is a lack of relevant experience and solutions, so projects that utilize too many new technologies generally do not yield very optimistic results.

A typical example of this is the later YF-22 and YF-23 developed by the Wang Guolao. In some aspects, the YF-23 is indeed outstanding in terms of parameters and is superior to the YF-22. In comparison, the YF-22 appears to be much more mediocre.

However, it was precisely because of this that the YF-23 was not selected. There were too many new technologies and the technical risks were too high. It was something that could be boasted about, but it was not necessarily something that could be implemented.

It is said that during the ATF program evaluation, each parameter has three states: red dot for failing to meet the standard, green dot for meeting the standard, and blue dot for excellent. The YF-23 was bad because it had more blue dots than green dots, while the YF-22 was exactly the opposite.

Many other comrades nodded in agreement after hearing what this comrade said: "Yes, this is very valuable. In this regard, the comrades from the radar institute should share their experience. We are here not only for the final acceptance meeting, but also for a learning meeting. We are here to learn from advanced experiences."

The other comrades nodded in agreement, clamoring to learn from the advanced experience. Anyway, today's final inspection was easy to understand after a quick glance at the parameter tables; it was impossible for it to fail. Especially for the comrades in the military, they had actually used this system.

Since that's the case, we might as well relax and take this opportunity to learn some valuable lessons.

If the final parameters of this PD-63 radar weren't so impressive, these comrades probably wouldn't have been able to say such things, or wouldn't have been willing to.

When tech people are arrogant, they can be genuinely arrogant. If your stuff isn't good, there's no way you can expect me to respect you. I'm only refraining from causing trouble because of our camaraderie. But if your stuff is truly top-notch, then they're quite flexible. Learning is no shame.

Upon hearing this, the comrades from the radar institute's expressions shifted, but they remained silent for a moment. It's mainly about experience... Generally, without the conditions to reproduce the scenario, it's not easy to learn.

However, since everyone was so enthusiastic, the comrades at the radar institute couldn't just keep quiet. They had to say something, so the chief engineer of the radar institute thought for a moment before smiling and saying, "I'll just say a few words. We can discuss the details later."

You deliberately went off-topic, but as the presenters today, they have to meet the comrades' requests while not taking the discussion too far astray.

"First of all, our preliminary work was done well enough. The system was clearly divided, the subsystem interfaces were well-defined, and the system interfaces were rigorous. Under these circumstances, each subsystem only needs to strictly follow the interface requirements in the preliminary work to meet the integration requirements. Moreover, the work within each subsystem is transparent to other subsystems and will not cause too much mutual influence or entanglement."

As he said this, the chief engineer was still thinking about Gao Zhendong's book, "Project Management System," which he thought was excellent.

"Secondly, for almost every new technology, we have prepared a relatively mature backup technology. Under these circumstances, our colleagues are much more relaxed and at ease, which is beneficial to the smooth progress of the project."

"Finally, and most importantly, the new technologies we use are already quite mature. A significant portion of them have been fully completed by the technology providers, and what we receive are directly usable spare parts or subsystems, which greatly benefits our work."

Traveling wave tubes are finished products that are obtained directly.

The planar slotted antenna was a pre-fabricated sample that we obtained directly, along with theoretical analysis. Based on this, the difficulty of making specific adaptations was not too high.

Digital signal processors are even easier; they come in finished chips, and all they have to do is design the circuits and program them. This is so much easier than building a digital signal processor from scratch.

Even for the slightly more complicated PD radar system, mature theories were directly obtained.

For the radar institute, these new technologies are not much more difficult than using a new component.

As for who provided it and what it contained, he couldn't say here. However, whether he said it or not, the comrades in the National Defense Commission and the military would know, since they were aware of it and some were even present when they received the technology.

Moreover… the providers of these technologies are also sitting here. If it needs to be said, the comrades from the National Defense Commission will naturally say it; otherwise, even if I wanted to speak, I would be silenced.

Even Chief Engineer Gao himself was often interrupted by the leaders of the National Defense Commission, let alone himself. Thinking of this, the chief engineer of the radar institute couldn't help but laugh.

The other comrades felt something was off after hearing his words. Did he have any experience? Yes? But would it be useful? It seemed so…

"Well, it seems that proper management and solid preliminary work are very important in the research and development of new equipment," one comrade said with a smile.

“That’s right, but I’m afraid not many new projects can meet this condition for the third point…” Another comrade said this with a strange expression on his face. New technologies being directly introduced into new projects in a near-finished form—where the hell are there so many good things like that?

The comrades at the radar institute found it difficult to respond to this, as they couldn't very well say they were just lucky.

The National Defense Commission is the most aware of this matter. The chief engineer also had a strange expression, as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't: "The preparation for new technologies must be solid, and they should be applied to new equipment in the most usable condition possible. Hmm, that's a good summary, not bad."

"Well, the chief engineer from the commission is really something..." The chief engineer from the radar institute nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, that's exactly what I meant. Next, our comrades will continue to report on the radar's situation..."

The colleague from the radar institute responsible for the report then continued with the presentation. For this kind of routine report, the chief engineer of the radar institute wouldn't need to personally take the stage. Most technical reports are like this; senior technical personnel from the reporting party participate, generally to oversee the process and provide support, not to personally deliver the report. If even reading the prepared report is done by senior technical personnel from the reporting party, there are likely two possibilities.

The first possibility is that they genuinely, extremely value this report.

The second possibility is that they are unsure of their chances, and the results may have some problems, though the extent of those problems is hard to say.

"...In order to solve the problem of traditional radar being severely affected by ground and sea clutter, during the development process, with the help of relevant experts, we started with moving target indication technology. After successfully applying MTI technology to the early signals of the trial installation and achieving good results, we continued our efforts and developed the anti-clutter technology of the final model to moving target detection. MTD can effectively counteract ground and sea clutter, and break through the long-standing problem of the enemy using low-altitude cover to penetrate defenses..."

When the report reached this point, the comrades at the radar institute had a hard time holding back, mainly because they had to resist looking at Gao Zhendong.

Many comrades began to whisper among themselves, discussing the matter amongst themselves, but their expressions were all excited.

They really hadn't expected that the clutter suppression of this PD-63 had reached such a high level. The general information section only mentioned that this radar used clutter suppression technology to combat clutter.

But I never expected that the clutter suppression technology used in this radar would have reached such a high level.

"If I remember correctly, MTI technology isn't practical in Romania yet, is it? And the Kingdom isn't using MTI technology very well either." One comrade seemed a little incredulous; this good news was almost too good to be true. As for MTD, he didn't mention it, mainly because he didn't know much about it. In fact, it wasn't until five or six years later that it truly matured and became widely known.

The first MTI that Romania actually used was around the time of the MiG-23, and even then, it wasn't an early model.

Many comrades were somewhat incredulous at this, mainly because radar technology is incredibly advanced, and they found it hard to believe that we had developed something even our northern counterparts hadn't yet. At this point, the comrades from the radar institute became quite enthusiastic: "Indeed, you're absolutely right. Our clutter suppression technology is world-leading. In fact, many of the technologies we mentioned in our report are world-leading, and it is precisely these world-leading technologies that provided us with the environment and foundation to upgrade MTI to the world's first MTD technology..."

There was an implied meaning in his words that he didn't quite want to say directly.

Just because they don't have it doesn't mean we don't. Our radar boasts many world-leading features!
With the power of the new traveling wave tube, the waveform control capability of the planar slot antenna, the computing power of the digital signal processor, and the PD system, if we don't build an MTD, even the comrades at the radar institute won't be able to pass their own test.

"Then MTI would have been a waste of time?" one comrade joked.

"No, no, MTI laid the foundation for our clutter suppression and we learned from the experience. It wasn't all for nothing. MTI is simple and cheap, and it has now been deployed to our weather radar to filter out targets such as flocks of birds..." The comrades from the radar institute smiled broadly.

MTD is good, but expensive; MTI is not quite as good, but it is cheap and is excellent for civilian use.

In this regard, the comrades from the Marine Equipment Bureau are very clear: "Yes, we can testify to this. We have installed weather radars on important coastal waters and the southern waters, including the Nanjiao Islands and other larger islands and reefs, forming a radar network that basically covers traditional fishing grounds. Compared with the previous models, the false alarm rate has been greatly reduced, which has strongly supported our fisheries and other work."

Unlike the new century, where many new technologies were first used for civilian purposes and then upgraded for military applications, in this era, almost all technologies that can be used for military purposes are first used for military purposes and then distributed to civilian use.

The word "Cold War" carries a lot of weight.

The comrades then realized that the PD-63 radar, which they had already highly regarded, was far more advanced than they had imagined. There were many things about it that could not be seen just by looking at the parameters.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the false alarm rate has been greatly reduced. It may sound like a small thing, but in reality, false alarms have a very significant impact on production activities.

Those with a high false alarm rate are already exhausted and overwhelmed just dealing with them. Even worse, everyone has heard the story of the boy who cried wolf.

Watching his comrades chatting happily, the leader of the National Defense Commission seemed to remember something and turned to Gao Zhendong quietly, saying, "Zhendong, this MTI, the... the hairy big brother in the north, hasn't been put to practical use yet, right?"

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes!"

Let alone MTD, even the MTI radar, which is barely practical, will not be developed by Russia for several years. Before that, even if they say they have it, just listen to it; it's not actually useful.

"Could we trade this with our comrades in the North for something?" In recent years, the leaders of the National Defense Commission have reaped considerable benefits from this approach, and many key technologies in national defense and industry have come about in this way.

Moreover, unlike a few years ago when we were somewhat constrained by technology and our comrades were hesitant to fully embrace it, the current National Defense Commission has seen more of the world and no longer holds back on technologies that are not so important or advanced.

The shift in thinking is even more important than the development of technology itself.

Now that we have a better MTD, it seems like it wouldn't be a bad idea to send it to our comrades in the north to relieve some of their pressure.

As for whether it will work or not, asking Gao Zhendong first is a very safe approach. He knows enough, his judgment is accurate enough, and his thinking is solid enough.

Gao Zhendong really didn't expect that his superiors would remember this matter and actually take the initiative to act.

He thought about it for a moment, following his leader's lead, and nodded repeatedly: "Good idea! Good idea! This thing is of little use to us now, but it is really urgently needed by our comrades in the north. Moreover, exporting this technology does not require exporting too advanced basic technology, which is just right for our current situation."

MTD requires far more fundamental technology than MTI, making it too exposed. MTI, on the other hand, is perfect, solving Romania's immediate needs without requiring the export of too much advanced technology, and its performance is just right.

Gao Zhendong happened to know why Luo Guo's MTI only became usable several years later—one important reason being the inherent flaws of analog delay lines. In equipment like radar, which requires precise manipulation of electromagnetic waves and signals, vacuum tubes were inherently inadequate. While powerful output could produce miraculous results, processing power was less of a concern.

To get Luo Guo to use our digital delay line, we don't need anything as advanced as a digital signal processor, which is perfect!
The defense commission leader was quite pleased with himself. "Hey, I'm the one who discovered this business opportunity. I was thinking of improvising a poem, but then I realized we were in a meeting, so I had to give up."

Gao Zhendong was unaware that his ears had escaped a disaster; he was listening with great interest to the report from his colleagues at the radar institute.

"...The PD-63 radar, and its derivative models, have proven very effective in recent years during trials. Guided by them, our comrades have launched numerous proactive and precise attacks, repelling and even eliminating various invading enemies..."

Especially in places like the North Bay, the Wang Guolao have suffered losses from this stuff more than once or twice.

"...Extensive testing has shown that this radar can function effectively in high-altitude, tropical, temperate, humid, salt spray, and cold regions, demonstrating high reliability and stability..."

Radar itself does not need to consider mobility, but it does need to consider environmental adaptability, which is what the colleagues at the radar institute emphasized.

There's no way around it; with such a large land area, all sorts of unpredictable climate changes arise, so we have to be prepared. The "flower-skirted country" has suffered a lot in this regard. Since the dismantling of its colonial system, they've installed a gas turbine that looks advanced, but it can't function properly in the tropics. They didn't consider the heat at all, causing it to overheat and reduce power output in the tropics.

"...PD-63 is currently mainly equipped on the Z-7 multi-role fighter jet, and is also used on some of the Navy's Attack-5 attack aircraft, as well as for some other purposes..."

The PD-63 variant was used in these two areas. Some temporary improved and derivative versions were used on surface-to-air missiles, patrol aircraft, and warships. The main reason was that we were too poor; we wanted to produce as few variants as possible, as long as they were functional.

As for early warning aircraft, those require specially designed equipment.

However, the comrades at the radar institute glossed over these details, saying that saying more would be a leak of classified information.

And now, the main event of the report has finally arrived.

"...Extensive testing has shown that the PD-63 radar on the Z-7 fighter jet has a maximum detection range of 100 kilometers against a target the size of a Q-5 attack aircraft..."

"How much? The size of the attack-5, capable of detecting targets 100 kilometers away?" This figure shocked all those who hadn't participated in the PD-63 project. After all, before this, the radar detection range of our fighter jets was only around 10 kilometers, and it was unreliable. If there were no clouds in the sky or it was daytime, it was better to just look at them directly.

The Attack-5 is derived from the Il-28. Although it is called a bomber, it is not very big, which means that its detection range against heavy fighters is not worse than that of the Il-28.

Many comrades breathed a sigh of relief. If fighter jets could be detected from 100 kilometers away, then heavy bombers could only be detected from an even greater distance. As for where the heavy bombers came from, that's none of your concern.

The radar institute staff nodded confidently: "Yes, 100 kilometers, and there are combat records to support it. The problem now is that the missile range can't keep up."

Speaking of this, the comrades from the Radar Institute felt quite proud. When the Thunder-3 first came out, it was used on the Zhan-6 interceptor, and its range even exceeded the actual search range of the Zhan-6 interceptor's weak radar. They were ridiculed by the comrades from the Guidance Research Institute.

We've finally turned things around!

Unbeknownst to them, the comrades at the Research Institute had not stopped their efforts; the unusual "internal contradiction" between search distance and firing range would continue to rage on.

Upon receiving an affirmative answer from the radar institute staff, the other comrades were genuinely excited. 100 kilometers isn't much for a ground-based radar station, but it comes at the cost of size and weight. A fighter jet with such a small nose, capable of seeing 100 kilometers—before that was even considered a pipe dream, it was certainly something no one dared to imagine.

"Okay...ok..."

The comrades' feelings were not yet over; even greater ones were yet to come.

"...This radar has look-down and fire-down capabilities, and can simultaneously track six targets and guide missiles to strike two of them..."

If the ability to look down was already known from MTD's report, then the ability to shoot down is a pleasant surprise, since seeing and being able to guide an attack are two different things.

But this little surprise can't compare to the following line, "fighting 6 against 2".

Before this, the comrades could not have imagined that this small radar not only had excellent performance, but also such advanced functions.

It's important to understand that at this point, surface-to-air/ship-to-air missiles can engage two or more targets while tracking multiple targets, which is achieved at the cost of a complex system.

(End of this chapter)