Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1467 In the end, we're still human (5k)

A 30mm autocannon with a rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute weighs 66 kilograms, while one with double the rate of fire weighs only 45 kilograms? That's completely reversed.

Don't underestimate the importance of those extra kilograms. Even the Su-27, with its massive size, went to great lengths to lighten its cannons, because internal space is even more crucial.

What Gao Zhendong was preparing to bring out was the revolutionary solution for the Su-27: the GSh-30-1 cannon.

"Yes, comrade, yes, I can," Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

Seeing his confidence, his comrades became excited. If this was true, it would save at least a hundred kilograms of weight on the cannon. After all, their initial goal was to at least use the twin-barreled Gast cannon. Although the ejection of the Gast cannon required some modifications and was a bit troublesome on this aircraft that required a smooth fuselage, the weight requirement was no more than 150 kilograms, the lower the better.

Gao Zhendong pulled out a piece of paper.

"Are you planning to draw directly from here?" The colleague from the Southwest Institute was a little surprised.

You just heard that even if you have an idea, you need to let it settle and think it over before you can turn it into a practical design, right? But judging from the looks of it, he's planning to start drawing right away.

If possible, Gao Zhendong would also like to use the system-generated drawings, but the problem is that these drawings are in his memory, not in the system.

It's definitely in the system, but it's expensive. Compared to one's own memories, even a small price or a limited chance is still a price to pay.

After all, any number divided by 0 is infinity.

There's no other way but to draw it slowly. Fortunately, the Gsh-30-1 is simple, so it's not difficult to draw. After all, there are many details that don't need to be drawn; you only need to show the essence.

The comrades watched Gao Zhendong begin to write with surprise and curiosity.

This is the gun barrel, this is the gas guide, this is the recoil spring...

Then things started to get really out of control.

One of the comrades in charge of this area discovered that Gao Zhendong had never drawn the feeding mechanism, or at least not the feeding mechanism that he was familiar with.

However, seeing that he hadn't even drawn the outline of the casing, the comrade felt relieved, thinking that it probably wasn't finished yet. After all, what to draw first and what to draw later was Gao's own business.

While he was still speculating, Gao Zhendong stopped writing, picked up the paper, examined it carefully, and then put it on the table.

"All right!"

"Is that all?" Gao Zhendong's words surprised the colleagues at the Southwest Institute. Chief Engineer Gao, have you forgotten something?
"Yes, all done."

"But... Chief Engineer Gao, I really don't quite understand it."

"It's alright, feel free to ask if you have any questions. This is just a diagram, and many details aren't shown in detail, so it's normal if you don't understand it," Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

The Air Force comrade didn't say anything. His habit was to only speak when necessary, and otherwise just quietly watch Chief Engineer Gao perform.

"But this is too superficial," the colleague from the Southwest Institute thought. "Maybe there's something I didn't understand. Let me ask."

"Chief Engineer Gao, where is the receiver of this cannon?"

"The absence of a receiver is for weight reduction. Some functions of the receiver, such as the load-bearing structure, are integrated into the bolt carrier and other systems, so the receiver is no longer needed. You know, you've fired AK-47s before, right? Those things can still fire even without a receiver cover, that's the same principle behind this gun."

The problem is that not only is there no receiver cover, but you can't even really see the receiver itself.

However, Gao Zhendong's words reminded him that, surprisingly, it was indeed achievable. In fact, the MiG-19's NR-30 cannon already had a similar concept, just not to this extent. No wonder that cannon was relatively light.

Okay, let's ask them one by one. At this point, the comrades from the Southwest Institute had realized the seriousness of the problem.

What he sees as missing may never have existed in the first place.

"What about the locking mechanism?"

"Here, this small vertically moving thing, see it? This is for locking. You've seen the breechblock of a large-caliber army gun, right? This is somewhat similar to that."

Unlike many small-caliber cannons and guns, which have similar bolt action, the Gsh-30-1, although also a small-caliber cannon, does not have that mechanism.

Now I understand, but new problems have arisen.

"If there's no backward-moving mechanism, how do you pull out the cartridge case?" For small-caliber cannons and guns, many cartridge cases are pulled out by the extractor on the backward-moving bolt. Since this thing doesn't have a backward-moving mechanism, it naturally can't pull out the shell.

Gao Zhendong pointed to a small push rod in front of the tiny locking mechanism and laughed, "Push it out with this."

Comrades looked closely and saw that the push rod, located in front of the cartridge rim, could indeed move backward to push the cartridge case out.

"But... this doesn't seem to have much movement distance, it's not enough to push the cartridge case out of the chamber as a whole, is it?" Something still doesn't seem right.

"It doesn't need to be pushed out completely; this mechanism is just used to push the cartridge case away from the chamber."

After firing, the cartridge case may fit very tightly into the chamber due to the pressure of the propellant gases, requiring the use of this ejector mechanism to forcefully push it out of the chamber.

"How do you eject the spent cartridge case?"

"It's propelled out by the pressure of the gunpowder in the barrel!"

The comrades at the Southwest Institute were a bit confused. They were playing with balanced projectile firing, with the gunpowder gas pushing the shell forward and the cartridge case backward.

This time he guessed right.

Gao Zhendong smiled smugly and said, "In this way, the ejected cartridge cases can balance some of the recoil."

The recoil of a 30mm shell is enormous. It is said that the 630mm cannon on the American A-10 Warthog could stop the plane when firing at full power.

Although it's just a joke, its powerful repercussions are evident.

The A-10's GAU-8/A shells are 30*173mm, while the GSh-30's shells are 30*165mm, roughly in the same class. Even disregarding the rate of fire bonus, the recoil of this gun is still quite significant for a medium-sized aircraft without any modifications.

It really does have a bit of a balanced projectile motion?! Is it really that amazing?
The comrades at the Southwest Institute were all dumbfounded. Although he was in charge of the system, he was in charge of the overall system, not the gunnery specialty. That was the job of the comrades who specifically developed the guns.

So whether it's reliable or not, he doesn't know, but in principle, it does seem to make some sense.

But there were some things he knew, because they had been troubling them for a long time.

"I doubt the barrel heat capacity of this cannon can withstand firing 150 shells at a rate of 1800 rounds per minute."

If the rate of fire is too high, the heat cannot dissipate, and the shell may explode spontaneously upon entering the chamber.

This is why high-rate-of-fire guns, without other treatments, have very thick and heavy barrels; they require a certain heat capacity.

Moreover, this problem is even more difficult to solve for aircraft cannons, because the barrel cannot be changed during combat.

Gao Zhendong pointed to the blueprint: "Here, there is a water tank for evaporative cooling. The heat is carried away by water vapor from between the barrel and the sleeve."

Water-cooled cannon? Is that even possible?

Since the days when weapons were loaded onto airplanes, apart from water-cooled Maxim machine guns, I've never heard of any weapons on airplanes being water-cooled. I never expected to see one here.

This is a bit too far-fetched.

"Will it work? Is this much water enough?"

Gao Zhendong nodded: "It will work. Don't worry, I've calculated it. Anyway, once the shells are used up, the water will be useless. In the air, we can just control the length of the bursts and limit the number of shells per shot. This kind of method was commonly used on older aircraft."

"I've calculated it," Gao Zhendong said, and it became a panacea. People had no choice but to believe him, because it was proven that when he said he had calculated it, he really had, and the result was always correct.

The colleagues at the Southwest Institute have roughly figured out what this thing is. To put it bluntly, it uses all conventional and unconventional methods to reduce weight to the extreme, even to the point of sacrificing some performance, but without sacrificing the main performance.

He calmed down and carefully studied the blueprint. The more he looked at it, the more interesting it seemed, as if it could actually work.

Although he thought it was fine, his comrades in the Air Force had some doubts, after all, they had more combat experience, and some were even more experienced. "Chief Engineer Gao, how do we deal with duds on this cannon?"

Machine guns are also machines, and machines are bound to malfunction sometimes; this is unavoidable.

The problem with aircraft cannons is that after a dud, the pilot has no way to deal with it; the cannon itself has to handle it. However, Gatling guns and Gastly guns are better off after a dud. The former uses external energy to eject the dud, while the latter uses the energy from the firing of a normal shell in another barrel to eject the dud.

However, neither of these methods works for single-barreled guns.

In most cases, a gas-fueled bullet is loaded in the middle of the barrel, and the force of the gas-fueled bullet is used to push out the dud bullet.

But looking at Chief Engineer Gao's cannon, there's no such thing at all. It seems that it was removed to reduce weight. But that's too extreme. Does that mean that the machine gun is useless if it encounters a dud?
This might be a bit too extreme.

Unexpectedly, Gao Zhendong cheerfully pointed to a small hole above the chamber on the blueprint.

"Here, do you see that? There's something that looks like a small blank cartridge. If there's no ejection after a certain period of time, this blank cartridge will fire, directly penetrating the dud cartridge case to ignite the propellant and launch the shell out, then eject normally."

The main idea is to achieve miracles through brute force. Gas purging? Forget about it. I'll just blow up the dud with one shot!

I am!

The comrades could only lament their lack of education, resorting to the phrase "I'll get by with my fucking skills."

"Chief Engineer Gao, is that even possible?"

"Why not? This extreme weight reduction eliminates everything unnecessary and also eliminates the possibility of duds." Gao Zhendong was overjoyed.

To be honest, when he saw the design of Gsh-30-1, his reaction was no less than that of these comrades.

The comrades looked at Gao Zhendong, who was smiling smugly, and then looked at the blueprints in front of them. It seemed... it seemed that it wasn't entirely unacceptable.
"But... this only clears one dud. What if a second dud occurs, or this clearance round also fails to fire?"

Gao Zhendong laughed even harder, mainly because he could already think of how surprising his comrades would be with what he was about to say, and the idea sounded very unorthodox.

That's all about luck!

"With less than 200 shells in total, it's incredibly unlucky to have two duds. The probability of that is very small, much smaller than the probability of failing to fire due to other factors. Don't overthink it. Some things should be ignored. We're working on engineering applications, not theoretical research. If it really happens, just run, hahaha."

The comrades looked at each other in bewilderment.

Can you do this?

One comrade mentally calculated the probability of two shells misfired, and then realized that the probability was indeed very small...

Well, it's quite obvious that Chief Engineer Gao hadn't overlooked the calculations.

Although this kind of luck-based approach seems rather unorthodox, there's a saying that goes something like, luck is also a part of ability.

The key point is that the Air Force personnel know that the probability of this happening is really low.

Gao Zhendong thought for a moment and said, "How about this, you go and collect the relevant data and calculate the failure rate. If the failure rate is acceptable, we'll use this plan. If it's not acceptable, we'll consider other plans. For example, we can add N obstacle-clearing rounds to the chamber and use a mechanical structure to automatically switch firing sequentially. The weight reduction effect may not be as extreme, but it's still acceptable and can resolve your concerns."

After all, the number of gas bombs used for obstacle clearance is limited.

Moreover, gas bombs rely on their own power to blow away duds, which places certain requirements on the amount of propellant in the gas bomb. This obstacle-clearing bomb is much simpler; it's just a fuse that directly detonates the dud itself, using the dud's energy to clear itself. The size requirements are much simpler.

Gao Zhendong's supplementary plan dispelled the comrades' concerns. Indeed, even if a sequential firing device is added, it is not an unacceptable price to pay. This sequential device, which operates in a non-high temperature and non-high pressure state, weighs at most 5 kilograms. Adding it to the 45 kilograms can still significantly reduce the weight.

That's okay.

"You can build a few prototype cannons based on these blueprints and this idea, and we'll see what they're like once we put them to the test. If they work, you can use them; if not, we can consider something else. Be bold, it won't cost much. And it's just a machine gun, so it's fine."

Gao Zhendong was genuinely not worried about the machine gun at all; if all else failed, using a twin-barreled 23mm cannon was also an option.

The comrades looked at the simple drawing from left to right. Although many data points were not marked, the more they looked at it, the more they felt that it made sense.

Chief Engineer Gao's expertise in guns and cannons is indeed unfathomable. Most importantly, he is completely unbound by tradition and can always come up with solutions that seem unbelievable yet perfectly suited to his needs.

"Thank you, Chief Engineer Gao. We'll give this a try and hopefully it can be used on the next prototype."

The new prototype continues to be assembled. Unlike the current prototype, which still has many subsystems such as cannons and avionics that are still being balanced, the new prototype will become more and more perfect.

Back at the guesthouse, Gao Zhendong ran into a committee leader who was smoking in the corridor.

He offered me a cigarette: "Have one. All done?"

He didn't ask "Is the matter finished?" but rather "Is it resolved?", which shows that he had great trust in Gao Zhendong's abilities.

"Yes, we've solved a small problem. Now, the big problems that need to be solved are becoming fewer and fewer," Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

"That's good. Fewer big problems mean the situation is getting clearer. The clearer the situation, the more similar problems there will be, making it easier to make a decision, hahaha."

He was shocked and extremely satisfied with this stealth fighter. It was completely transparent, and the idea of ​​shooting a blind person with a gun was something to look forward to.

"No wonder you insisted on using stealth technology even at the cost of delaying the development of an air superiority fighter. The changes this aircraft might bring could be revolutionary. Technology is becoming increasingly important."

Gao Zhendong nodded, then smiled and said, "But in the end, it is people who decide the victory in war."

The leader burst into laughter: "That's truly remarkable! To work in your field, achieve such great success, and still maintain such a perspective and a clear mind is truly rare!"

Many comrades easily fall into the trap of technological supremacy, especially those who are exposed to more advanced technologies. On the contrary, Gao Zhendong, who had almost access to and mastered the highest level of military technology, always clearly recognized the decisive role of "people," which put the leadership at ease.

The military really trains people; everyone who comes out is an outstanding individual.

With such a clear-headed and resolute colleague overseeing the technical aspects, I can be much more at ease about many things.

How could Gao Zhendong not be clear-headed about this? You've seen far more messy situations involving advanced weaponry and the dismantling of existing debts than I have. Even the retired old man's predictions during the Gulf War were thwarted by these corrupt officials who had been bribed to cover up their misdeeds.

Moreover, I have not only seen many instances of people using inferior weapons to smash their opponents and gain the upper hand, but I have also personally participated in such situations.

Gao Zhendong said, "In the past, when we only had willpower but no steel, we were still able to drive back enemies armed to the teeth. Now I only hope that we can maintain our willpower and at the same time have more steel."

Moreover, steel must also have a will.

But it was too early to say those words, and it wouldn't be appropriate to say them aloud, so Gao Zhendong just kept them to himself.

"Yes, well said! Well said!" The leader's laughter was full of satisfaction.

Watching Gao Zhendong finish his cigarette and stub it out in the ashtray, the leader turned around and said, "Go and get some rest. Don't come out unless it's something serious. We'll go back tomorrow."

When work comes, you have to do it, but if you have any free time, it's best to take a good rest.

Anyway, he saw that Gao Zhendong didn't bring any work materials. As long as he didn't go out, he couldn't avoid taking a break even if he wanted to.

If you have nothing to do, you can watch TV. You even made this color TV yourself.

Gao Zhendong nodded, smiled, and went back to his room.

Watching his figure, the leader suddenly realized something.

Oh no! For him, all he needs to do is a piece of paper and a pen. No matter how simple the conditions are, he can always find a way to work.

However, the words had already been spoken, and the leader couldn't take them back. He could only shake his head as he looked at Gao Zhendong's room door.

Let him be.

(End of this chapter)