The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 923 Plateau Environment Test
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

An army base.

The roar of an aircraft engine came from the air.

Liu Tao and others used binoculars to see the helicopter clearly.

A military leader said excitedly: "Comrade Liu Tao, our 'Wu Diao' helicopter is really good. It is so big and can go to the plateau. We thought the 'Ray Diao' helicopter was already very good, but we didn't expect that in just a few years, we have the heavy-duty 'Wu Diao' helicopter. With the 'Wu Diao' helicopter, our supply on the plateau is no longer a problem."

Liu Tao was holding a telescope and looking at the "Wudiao" helicopter in the sky. He came here this time because the "Wudiao" helicopter was undergoing plateau testing.

China has a large number of plateaus, including the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Inner Mongolia Plateau, and the Loess Plateau.

For a long time, the worst environment for the Chinese army has been those garrisons located on the plateaus. These plateaus are at high altitudes, the oxygen is relatively thin, transportation is inconvenient, and supply has always been a big problem.

The harsh environment is the biggest test of a soldier's will.

Among these plateaus, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has the worst environment. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the largest plateau in China and the highest in the world. It is known as the "Roof of the World" and the "Third Pole". It starts from the southern edge of the Himalayas in the south and ends at the Kunlun Mountains, the Altun Mountains and the northern edge of the Qilian Mountains in the north. The west is bordered by the Pamir Plateau and the Karakoram Mountains, and the east and northeast are connected to the western section of the Qinling Mountains and the Loess Plateau.

Many military bases are located at an altitude of more than 5000 meters.

One can imagine how difficult it is to supply materials.

Especially in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, the supply of weapons, ammunition and materials there is most unfavorable.

If we have helicopters, the supply problem will be greatly alleviated.

In recent years, thirty "Ray Eagle" helicopters have been allocated to the plateau troops. One of the important reasons is to improve the supply of weapons, ammunition and daily necessities for the plateau troops.

"Our 'Wu Diao' helicopter is probably the only heavy helicopter in the world that can go to the plateau. This was also taken into consideration when the helicopter was designed from the beginning." Liu Tao smiled, "Now it is a 20-ton heavy helicopter. In the future, there will be 30-ton heavy helicopters, or even 40-ton heavy helicopters. Our troop supply capabilities will definitely be greatly enhanced."

For these plateau troops, transportation is inconvenient and material supply is difficult. Helicopters can undoubtedly solve the problem of material supply.

The purpose of the plateau test of the Wudiao helicopter on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is to test its performance on the plateau.

You know, different environments have a great impact on helicopters.

A helicopter can take off on a plain, but if it is on a plateau, it may not even be able to take off.

Not all helicopters can be used in plateau environments.

When Liu Tao developed the "Wudiao" helicopter, he took the needs of the plateau into consideration.

This is in line with the "Ray Sculpture" helicopter.

Since the birth of the laser helicopter, its excellent performance on the plateau has been proven countless times.

As for the Wudiao helicopter's performance being tested in high altitude conditions, Liu Tao is full of confidence in it.

In fact, this time the "Wu Diao" helicopter was transporting 15 tons of daily necessities to supply military bases along the way.

The military base where they are now is located at an altitude of 5200 meters, where ordinary people even have difficulty breathing oxygen and have to rely on oxygen cylinders to survive.

While the soldiers were moving supplies, Liu Tao walked over to chat with the test pilots and learn about their feelings about the mission.

They flew a full 5 kilometers, supplying supplies to five military outposts along the way.

"Leader, I think the performance of the 'Wudiao' helicopter is excellent and it performs very well in the plateau environment. We can optimistically predict that it will be very suitable for the plateau environment." said the test pilot.

This time, the Flight Test Academy dispatched four "Wudiao" helicopters to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Loess Plateau and the Inner Mongolia Plateau, and conducted tests on these four plateaus at the same time instead of going to other places for testing.

As long as the tests on these four plateaus are completed, it can be completely confirmed that the "Wudiao" meets the comprehensive needs in the plateau environment.

"We should despise the enemy strategically, but we need to take him seriously tactically," Liu Tao reminded.

"Understood, Commander!" the test pilot responded.

Then the test pilot began to rest.

Ground crew members were checking the Wudiao helicopter and adding fuel carried by the helicopter into the fuel tank.

Liu Tao and the leaders of the Air Force walked towards the "Wudiao" helicopters. Now all the "Wudiao" helicopters are in the flight test academy, undergoing a series of tests.

So far, Guizhou Aircraft Industry Group has produced a total of seven "Wudiao" helicopters.

Liu Tao attaches great importance to the helicopter field.

Unlike fighter jets, helicopters were destined from the beginning to be used for both military and civilian purposes, and have a wide range of applications.

Compared with fighter jets, helicopters have obvious shortcomings: their speed is limited, they cannot fly high enough, and they can be easily shot down on the battlefield.

However, helicopters also have obvious advantages. The outstanding features of helicopters are that they can perform low-altitude (several meters above the ground), low-speed (starting from hovering) and maneuverable flight with the nose unchanged, especially vertical take-off and landing in a small area.

Due to these characteristics, it has broad applications and development prospects. In the military, it has been widely used in ground attack, airborne landing, weapon transportation, logistics support, battlefield rescue, reconnaissance and patrol, command and control, communication, anti-submarine minesweeping, electronic countermeasures, etc.

In the civilian field, it is used for short-distance transportation, medical rescue, disaster relief, emergency rescue, lifting equipment, geological exploration, forest fire fighting, aerial photography, etc. The transportation of personnel and materials between offshore oil wells and bases is an important aspect of civilian use.

In theory, helicopters have a broad market in both military and civilian use.

Although the 'Ray Eagle' helicopter is now mainly supplied to the military, and the 'Wu Diao' was mainly used for military purposes for ten years after its finalization, it must be said that the helicopter market in the civilian field is also very broad.

Liu Tao will not give up this piece of meat easily.

Moreover, in terms of helicopters, Panshan Group is also constantly developing more subdivided fields and developing helicopters of different tonnages to ensure that it can continue to produce according to demand.

For example, if you only need a 1.5-ton helicopter, they can produce it as long as there is an order.

Continuously subdividing fields and developing helicopters for different application scenarios is also what Panshan Group needs to continue to do in the future.

Panshan Group is not only looking to sell domestically, it is also looking to export.

There is no other reason, the profits in overseas markets are more lucrative.

The price of a product is often much higher than that of the same domestic product, so you can imagine how staggering the profit is.

(End of this chapter)