The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 402 Rockets, Missiles, and Computers

Compared with other aircraft, helicopters are a completely new type, and the experience gained from fixed-wing propeller aircraft cannot be directly copied.

The key point is that helicopters were not given much attention, so it took a long time from design to finalization and mass production, and was completed just after the early warning aircraft.

Then, according to the plan of producing one generation, researching and developing one generation, and pre-researching one generation, while these first-generation finalized aircraft are in mass production and service, the Academy of Engineering's new generation of aircraft and engines have also entered the experimental stage.

The new engine and new aircraft will be developed simultaneously.

The core model remains a multi-role attack aircraft, a larger and heavier twin-engine jet.

The fuselage is sixteen meters long and has a wingspan of sixteen meters. Its empty weight is twelve tons, its maximum take-off weight is twenty-six tons, its maximum payload is eight tons, and its maximum range is five thousand kilometers.

It is expected to be put into mass production and service within the next three to five years.

After this type of aircraft is completed, the existing new fighter type 1 will not be unemployed, but will form a high-low combination and be used for different types of combat missions.

The development of bombers and transport aircraft also follows the same model. Based on the original six-engine entry-level strategic bomber, a larger eight-engine large strategic bomber and an even larger strategic transport aircraft are developed.

The early warning aircraft will not be updated in the short term, and efforts will mainly be made to upgrade the engine and radio detection equipment.

The carrier-based aircraft system must continue to develop catapults with greater power.

Zhu Jianxuan took a look at the new twin-engine attack aircraft under test. This guy with a larger payload and longer range looked fatter than the single-engine new Type 1 fighter.

The slender aircraft such as MiG-15, MiG-21, F86 and F104 in the previous life may not appear in the Ming Air Force.

Because if nothing unexpected happens, Ming's combat aircraft will continue to develop along this technological route, and will eventually produce something similar to the J-16.

It will always focus on attack, with a little maneuverability, not for air combat, but for better control.

However, things that are even more slender than early jets have appeared: rockets and rockets, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles.

The development of the missile was originally carried out simultaneously with the turbo engine, but was later separated into a separate project team.

This project team is divided into three subgroups, which are responsible for developing rockets and rockets, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles.

The rocket has the simplest structure, and we quickly completed technical verification, entered the functional development stage, and quickly produced practical results.

Various small and medium-sized rockets have been mass-produced and rolled off the production line in recent years, and have begun to be deployed on a small-scale trial basis in the military.

Large rockets are not cost-effective militarily and are actually carriers of ballistic missiles.

Equipping a rocket with a guidance system turns it into a missile.

The engine of a ballistic missile will send the missile as high as possible and provide the missile with the highest possible speed.

After the missile's fuel is used up, it relies on inertia to fly towards the designated target.

The trajectory of this missile is a parabola, which is very similar to the trajectory of a artillery shell, so it is called a "ballistic missile."

The principle of ballistic trajectory is simple and crude. The maximum speed of early missiles can easily exceed the speed of sound or even two or three times the speed of sound. The biggest difficulty is accuracy control.

Because Zhu Jianxuan’s goal was very high, he required a range of 300 kilometers, while maintaining a dispersion within 500 meters.

Three years ago, the Academy of Engineering had achieved a maximum range of 300 kilometers, and this year it even achieved a range of 500 kilometers.

But the dispersion is still more than one kilometer, and if there is a malfunction, it may even drift dozens of kilometers away.

When Zhu Jianxuan came to the Academy of Engineering, he would often ask about the progress of this matter. If there was a missile launch experiment, he would go to the launch site to watch it in person.

The craftsmen therefore knew that Zhu Jianxuan attached great importance to this matter.

Today, Zhu Jianxuan came to the rocket and missile laboratory again and asked if there were any experiments scheduled recently. Zheng Fuguang reported in an annoyed tone:

"We have failed to live up to the Majesty's trust. We have never been able to achieve sufficient results in the technology of large missiles because we have no new good ideas and therefore no experimental plans."

Zhu Jianxuan nodded slightly:

"Well, precision is something that needs to be accumulated through experience, and you just need to slowly figure it out.

"If it is difficult to move forward in this direction, we can continue to design and develop larger missiles and continue to increase the maximum range of the missiles.

“Break through 1,000 kilometers, 2,000 kilometers, 5,000 kilometers, or even 80,000 kilometers.”

Zheng Fuguang opened his mouth wide when he heard this:

"This... Your Majesty, please forgive me, a range of thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers, how should it be used tactically?

“The manufacturing cost of large missiles is too high, and the key is that they are disposable consumables. I am worried that the military will not be able to use them on a large scale.

Zheng Fuguang wanted to ask what the use of 10,000 kilometers was, but when facing the emperor, he had to ask as tactfully as possible, rather than using a questioning or rhetorical tone.

In fact, Wang Lai next to him and many of the craftsmen in the surrounding missile laboratories also had similar ideas.

Zhu Jianxuan smiled and looked around at the craftsmen gathered around him:

"Is there anyone who has thought about... using rockets to send observation instruments as high as possible into the sky?

"Send filming equipment and radio communication equipment to high altitudes to observe the situation on the ground or provide communication support for the ground.

“In theory, as long as the altitude is high enough, at least three devices are needed to achieve global communication.

"The key is that if there are enough devices, space-to-earth communications can be achieved in remote areas, and communication with the outside world can be achieved in deserts, tropical rainforests and deep seas.

“This communication function is very important and should be realized as much as possible even if it is costly.

"Ballistic missiles can reach thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers away, so they can naturally deliver things to an altitude of thousands of kilometers. All we need to do is replace the warhead with communication equipment.

“If we send these devices to an altitude of thousands of kilometers and accelerate them to above the first cosmic speed, they can continue to operate like the moon.

"Now that the basic principles of ballistic missiles have been verified, preparations for the artificial moon experiment can begin."

All the craftsmen at the logic site understood this, but most of them were not responsible for the relevant research, so they did not think of doing so for a while.

But as Zhu Jianxuan said, there are indeed many craftsmen who have had similar ideas.

However, this experiment is very difficult and costly. The key is that the large rocket it relies on has not been completed yet, and no one has formally proposed to do this experiment.

Now that Zhu Jianxuan had directly proposed it, these craftsmen with ideas cheered on the spot:
"Artificial moon? Communication between heaven and earth?"

"This project is so good. We really have to make this large missile."

"With this thing, we can truly achieve global communications without blind spots."

"Why didn't I think of that before?"

"So His Majesty already had a plan. This large ballistic missile was originally prepared for the artificial moon?"

Zhu Jianxuan's large missiles are not only used to launch satellites, but also to carry real killer weapons, fission or even fusion type atomic weapons. It is of course not cost-effective to use a disposable large missile to attack the enemy with a conventional warhead, and the cost-effectiveness is also very ugly, but it is worth it if it is replaced with a nuclear warhead.

Research on radioactive elements and fission theory actually began a long time ago, but it was highly confidential and progressed slowly.

Zhu Jianxuan did not mention these things publicly. By replacing the satellite carried by the rocket with a nuclear warhead, it can be quickly transformed into a strategic missile. There is no technical gap between the two.

Zhu Jianxuan continued to arrange plans according to the goal of launching a satellite:

"We will directly set up an artificial moon project team, temporarily attach it to the ballistic missile project team, and work with the missile project team to design large rockets and missiles.

“At the same time, we are also designing automated space-to-ground communications equipment, and will begin launching experiments once the missile has enough energy.

“We probably won’t be able to do anything this year, but everyone can use their brains, brainstorm, discuss and analyze how this experiment should be implemented.

“People who have relevant knowledge and want to join this project team can also directly contact Li Rui or Wang Lai to sign up.

"There will be a formal imperial decree after the New Year."

A group of craftsmen quickly bowed and agreed:

"I obey your orders."

After Zhu Jianxuan finished talking about ballistic missiles, he went to look at the current cruise missiles. These smaller missiles can be placed in the indoor test field of the Academy of Engineering.

A cruise missile can be considered a disposable drone.

Early cruise missiles in history looked like small airplanes, and early cruise missile experiments involved installing navigation systems on airplanes.

Even if Zhu Jianxuan had foresight, there was no way he could completely skip this stage.

Because early missiles were made to look like airplanes, the data and production capabilities accumulated by the existing aircraft industry could be utilized.

The Ming Dynasty’s missile experiments were also conducted in this way.

First, the missile's seeker effectiveness was verified on a conventional piston-propeller aircraft.

After the jet aircraft experiment is successful, we will turn to the jet aircraft and continue to make adjustments, reducing the size and the size of the wings and tail as much as possible.

This is how an early cruise missile was designed.

The first generation of cruise missiles that the Ming Dynasty has just put into service also has a rather small aircraft appearance.

However, compared to an airplane, its wings are smaller, and the body without a cockpit has become more rounded, making it look fat and non-threatening.

This cruise missile weighs nearly three tons, has a range of only 40 kilometers, and a flight speed of 800 kilometers per hour.

Of course it is nothing in the new century, but in this world it is absolutely black technology.

Moreover, this thing was the last one to be completed among the scientific research projects of Tiangong in the past ten years.

Because it needs to be guided by radio detection equipment, that is, radar.

The final verification can only be completed after the "radar" is born. It has just entered the mass production stage and has not yet been officially delivered to the military.

As for cruise missiles, Zhu Jianxuan's instructions were simple. Each one was difficult to do, and the goal was to achieve farther, faster, and more accurate.

Then we went to the radar laboratory. Radar was a transliteration in Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, but some corresponding meanings were also added when transliterating it.

Lei can correspond to electricity, and Da can correspond to communication. The working principle of this device is to emit radio waves and reflect them back after reaching the target.

Through this transmission and reception process, the location of the target and possible other information are calculated.

The word radar can barely correspond to these functions.

Although the "radio detection" used by the Japanese is more accurate, it obviously does not sound as impressive as radar.

When the Ming Dynasty officially began to research this equipment, the official name was radio detection equipment, but Zhu Jianxuan would occasionally subconsciously call it radar.

The name radar was also learned by many craftsmen, who later consciously made some interpretations and felt that the name was very appropriate.

After Zhu Jianxuan knew about it, he didn't mind continuing to use the name "Radar" as long as there was no misunderstanding.

Zhu Jianxuan gave some new instructions to the radar laboratory, exploring the feasibility of over-the-horizon radar based on the principle of radio wave reflection.

The original type of radar transmits radio waves in a straight line, while the surface of the earth is curved.

Radio waves cannot exceed the horizon, so the detection distance naturally cannot exceed the horizon. The maximum detection distance is the same as the theoretical maximum visible distance of the naked eye.

Depending on the radar's height from the ground, the observable distance is between thirty and forty kilometers.

But radio waves can actually be reflected. Shortwave radio relies on reflection to transmit signals directly around the world.

By utilizing the principle of radio wave reflection, it is possible to detect objects beyond the horizon. If successful, we can create over-the-horizon radar.

As for the more complex and sophisticated phased array radar, we will have to wait at least until the next decade before considering it.

To continue to gain experience in transistors and computers.

Under the direct guidance of Zhu Jianxuan, the craftsmen in the computer laboratory first completed the binary general computing verification using vacuum tubes, and also produced transistors.

Then the formal design went straight to the transistor computer route, without staying too long on the road of vacuum tube computers.

The large computers that have been manufactured now can perform hundreds of thousands of calculations per second.

According to Zhu Jianxuan's own judgment, the current computer level of the Ming Dynasty is roughly equivalent to that of the United States in the 1950s and China in the 1960s in the previous life.

However, the computer in front of Zhu Jianxuan now has a graphic display, keyboard and mouse.

These epoch-making input and output tools were connected to computers or produced early on because of Zhu Jianxuan's direct suggestions.

This type of computer no longer relies entirely on paper tape input and output, and its operating convenience has reached the level of the 1970s.

Zhu Jianxuan watched the craftsmen on site operate the machines for a while, and then he took the relevant craftsmen from the computer laboratory to give them new instructions and reminders.

Their next task is to develop silicon semiconductor integrated circuits and move forward in the direction of large-scale integrated circuits.

Zhu Jianxuan hopes that before he dies, he can experience the new century level of personal computers in his previous life.

At least you should be able to play games on the computer.

In the history of the past, there was a gap of about forty-one years between the release of the IBM 7090 computer and the release of Diablo 2.

The Ming Dynasty had its own direct guidance, which enabled it to avoid some typical detours, and it could also pool the world's strength to tackle key problems.

The development speed of Ming Dynasty's computer industry should be faster than in previous history, and the forty-one-year journey should be compressed to less than thirty years.

(End of this chapter)