Development of productivity started in 1981

Chapter 214 Supercomputer Simulation Calculation of Factory 132 Fighter Plan

At this time, the domestic J-8 fighter jets had been equipped to the troops for less than three years, but the world situation developed too rapidly, various new aircraft and new tactics continued to emerge, and the domestic J-3 was a bit behind the times.

The J-8 fighter is a high-altitude, high-speed interceptor modeled after the MiG-21, and is mainly used to deal with high-altitude, high-speed bombers from the north.

Its research and development history can be traced back to 1963. Because the domestic J-6 had limited high-altitude performance at that time, China needed a high-altitude, high-speed fighter. So in July 1963, the technical report meeting of the Sixth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense kicked off the development of the J-7. On May 8, 1965, Chief of the General Staff Luo Ruiqing approved its tactical and technical indicators and development tasks.

At 1969:7 a.m. on July 5, 9, the J-8 fighter jet made its first successful test flight. It is mainly responsible for air control and interception missions. The basic model is equipped with two WP-7A aircraft engines with a maximum Mach number of 2.2, a 23mm twin-barreled cannon, seven external attachment points, and can use a variety of missiles and unguided bombs and rockets.

Although the test flight was successful at that time, the domestic military production during that period was inevitably affected by the movement. Therefore, it was not until December 1979, 12 that the Aviation Product Finalization Committee agreed to finalize the design of the J-31 aircraft. On March 8, 1980, the National Military Product Finalization Committee approved the finalization, and it began to be equipped with the Air Force in 3.

However, the J-8 could no longer keep up with the times. NATO, led by the United States, had developed the third-generation fighter jets and had already put them into service. According to some confidential information, they were still continuing to develop the fourth-generation fighter jets, which were said to have stealth and supersonic cruise capabilities.

Therefore, Director Yin, taking into account the international situation and domestic development, required the researchers at Factory 132 to develop a third-generation fighter jet that could compete with the American F16, and no longer follow the Soviet approach.

Therefore, this new fighter is based on the F16, and its relevant technical and tactical indicators are benchmarked against those of the US military.

They initially designed it based on the F16, but later encountered a roadblock when selecting the power source. At that time, the more mature engine in China was the turbojet-8A engine used on the J-7, which had a thrust of only 7000 kg. A single turbojet was not enough to propel their aircraft to supersonic flight, and its maneuverability would also be very insufficient.

Logically, if a fighter jet wants high thrust and long range, the best choice is a turbofan engine rather than a turbojet engine. However, China has not yet mass-produced a reliable turbofan engine with high thrust.

For example, in 1963, the Shenyang Engine Research Institute developed the WS-5 engine for improving the H-5 bomber. It was successfully developed in 1965, but the experiment was stopped in 1973 because the H-5 improvement plan was cancelled.

In 1964, China began to develop the WS-6, a completely independently designed afterburning high-thrust turbofan engine. However, it was forced to stop in 1982 due to the termination of the supporting projects of the J-9 and Q-6.

Therefore, this new aircraft, which imitates the US F16 fighter, was forced to use turbojets and then hope that the subsequent high-thrust turbofan engine could be successfully developed.

Since the best choice of engine is the WP-7A, if we want to achieve high speed and high maneuverability, we can only find a way to improve the fuselage design.

Therefore, the canard design came into the eyes of the aircraft designers of Factory 132 at that time.

Then, after preliminary demonstration, it was confirmed that the presence of canards can increase the lift of the aircraft and reduce drag, making the aircraft more maneuverable in the air.

In air combat, maneuverability is crucial. The canard layout allows the aircraft to make high-speed turns and rapid climbs more easily, allowing pilots to better respond to enemy attacks.

In addition, it can save engine thrust. Fighter aircraft with canard layout are very suitable for supersonic flight and can save engine thrust to a certain extent. It is an effective way to compensate for the situation where the engine performance is relatively weak.

When the engine performance does not reach the top level, the flight performance is optimized through the canard layout.

"Jiankun, we are so stubborn about having canards because we are forced to do so by the engine. Our domestic high-end manufacturing capabilities are still very lacking. Even if we were given an American F100-PW engine to copy, we would not be able to manufacture it. So the only thing that can be effective right now is to change the fuselage design and use canards that are more difficult to control to make up for the shortcomings of the engine."

Mr. He talked to Wang Jiankun for a long time, explaining why they were so determined to choose the canard and why they would not change this design concept even if they encountered unsolvable problems.

"Mr. He, I roughly understand the reason. The application of the general solution of the NS equation in engineering that I will explain to you today should help you greatly simplify the calculations, and the efficiency should be increased many times.

But Mr. He, you should know that our country has now developed a supercomputer with a capacity of 21 billion times. If we can run it on the supercomputer and perform a few simulations, I believe our design finalization should be much faster."

"I have seen reports about supercomputers in the news, but I heard that a supercomputer costs hundreds of millions. Our 132nd Factory cannot afford such a computer."

"Mr. He, the figure of several hundred million is just a publicity figure. In fact, the actual sales price to domestic research institutes is only over 8 million. Currently, several units such as the Meteorological Bureau and the Water Conservancy Bureau have purchased one. If we can't afford it, we can coordinate with these units to see if we can spare some machine time and computing power. We can put the design on the supercomputer for a simulation test."

"Ah? The internal selling price is only 8 million RMB? That's indeed a lot cheaper, but our factory still can't afford that much money. Besides, it should be difficult to borrow a supercomputer from another unit, right?"

"It shouldn't be that difficult. The military industry should also be equipped with supercomputers. The Xingyao Group has sold a batch of chips and electronic components used in supercomputers to China. The military industry should have bought them to assemble supercomputers. You can ask Director Yin to inquire with the higher authorities."

"Oh? The military industry buys parts and assembles supercomputers by itself? That's impossible. Supercomputers are very complicated. Do they have the ability to assemble them?"

"The relevant design drawings should have been provided to the military industry. After Star Group completed the development of this 21 billion times supercomputer in cooperation with Tsinghua University, it handed over the corresponding drawings and programs to some domestic departments. It should not be a problem for them to assemble it according to the drawings."

"Is that so? Then I'll tell Lao Yin about this. I didn't know this. Jiankun, how did you know this?"

"As for me, I am a student at Tsinghua University. My classmates participated in the development of the supercomputer, and my relatives work in the Starry Group, so I have a clear understanding of these situations."

"That's right! Jiankun, I'll go find Director Yin first and ask him to go and coordinate the resources for the supercomputer."

"Okay, goodbye, Mr. He."

……

"Old Yin, do you know that 21 billion times supercomputer?"

"Mr. He, you're still here to see me so late. Supercomputer, are you talking about the supercomputer that Xingyao Group and Tsinghua University jointly researched and reported in the newspaper a few months ago?"

"That's right. Comrade Wang Jiankun, who gave us a lecture today, said that if our design can be simulated and calculated using a supercomputer, we can complete the design more quickly. Can you coordinate with the higher authorities to let us use this supercomputer?"

"Mr. He, you think too highly of me. This supercomputer is not cheap. The newspaper said it costs hundreds of millions of yuan. How could the company that bought it lend it to us?"

"Wang Jiankun said that the newspaper reports were exaggerated and that the actual price of the product sold to China was only 8 million RMB. I also heard a piece of news from him, but I don't know if it's true."

"what news?"

"Old Yin, I've been sitting here for quite a while, why haven't I seen you make a cup of tea?" "Blame me, blame me. The tea will be here soon. I just boiled the water and will make you tea right away. Hurry up and tell me." Director Yin patted his head and said to Mr. He apologetically, then quickly went to get the thermos and made tea for Mr. He.

Mr. He took the tea brewed by Director Yin, blew it carefully, and took two sips of the boiling hot tea.

"Wang Jiankun said that our military system may have assembled a supercomputer, and there may be more than one. We are also a military factory and are under the management of the military department. Now we need to use a supercomputer to speed up the research progress. We should be able to apply for the use of the supercomputer, right?"

"Our military industry department assembled a supercomputer by ourselves? Why does it sound so unreliable? There doesn't seem to be any supercomputer research project in our military industry system. How can we assemble a supercomputer that can run at 21 billion times per second?"

"This was said by Wang Jiankun himself. He said that his relative worked at the Xingyao Group. After the Xingyao Group successfully developed the device, it gave the blueprints to some departments in our country. In addition, our military industry also bought a lot of chips and electronic components from the Xingyao Group, which can be used to assemble supercomputers. So I think this news should be more reliable."

"Is that so? Well, it's past 8 o'clock now. I'll ask someone to see if there is really such a supercomputer in our system. Mr. He, you go back first. I'll tell you when I have confirmed news."

"Why don't you call and ask now? I won't be able to sleep if I go back. No matter the result is good or bad, just ask first."

"Okay, wait a minute then."

Director Yin had no choice but to call and inquire about the situation immediately because Mr. He was so stubborn.

"Hello, Lao Ding, this is Lao Yin, Yin Kai, is it convenient for us to talk?"

"Hello, Lao Yin, I haven't heard your voice for a long time. I didn't react for a moment. If you want to talk, go ahead."

"It's like this. I heard that you are in charge of logistics at the military headquarters. Do you know the progress of the construction of the supercomputer in our system?"

"Hey, you are so well-informed, Old Yin. Why, you are here to apply for the use of the supercomputer? Let me tell you, you have to queue up."

After hearing what was said on the phone, Director Yin felt relieved. What Old Ding meant was that the military industry had indeed produced a supercomputer with a capacity of 21 billion times. So Old He, who was listening nearby, nodded, indicating that there was indeed a supercomputer.

"Old Ding, what is our relationship? Can you let me cut in line? It won't take us long, 3 to 5 days will be enough."

"Old Yin, you only know how to ask for things when you go to the factory. Don't you know that the use of supercomputers is calculated by the hour or even the minute? It's not like you ask for it by the day.

Now that you know the news, apply now, and then send someone to learn how to use it. I tell you, you can only use it for 10 hours at most. If you use it for more than that, you have to wait for the next round. Many units and research projects are applying now. If you submit late, you will have to wait in line. "

"No, Lao Ding, for the sake of our past friendship, please give us a little more time. Also, can you help us jump the queue and put our application at the front?"

"I can't decide on the time. The supercomputer management committee is responsible for reviewing the urgency and necessity of the project before allocating machine time. But I can help you get ahead of the others as much as possible."

"Thank you very much. I have some good wine. Let's have a drink when we have time."

"Your dimples are hard to come by. We are thousands of kilometers apart, and I don't have a mouth that long to drink from. Well, without further ado, write your application quickly. I'll fax you the format later. Remember to check it. Also fax the application to me, and I'll help you get to the front of the queue."

"Thank you very much. I will wait for your good news."

Director Yin waited until the busy tone came on the phone before hanging up.

"Mr. He, Wang Jiankun was right. We do have a supercomputer in our system. Many units and teams have received the news and are applying for its use. If Wang Jiankun hadn't told us today, we would still be stupidly using pen and paper and those outdated computers to calculate."

"Ah? Then Old Yin, let's apply quickly. If we're late, we'll have to wait a long time again."

"Well, I'm waiting for my former classmate to fax me the application form. Yes, the fax machine is printing the message."

While the two were talking, the fax machine was constantly printing application templates.

Director Yin couldn't wait for all the pages to be printed out, so he walked over and took them one by one, reading them, and then handed the ones he had finished reading to Mr. He.

"Old Yin, this modeling program looks so difficult? I can't even understand it."

"Let me see."

Director Yin looked at the paragraph pointed out by Mr. He. It said that each applicant must write the corresponding program according to the programming rules of the supercomputer in the application form, organize the data to be calculated, and the format must refer to the supercomputer's instructions.

At that time, someone will be responsible for reviewing the rationality of the modeling program and whether the data format meets the requirements. Those that fail to meet the requirements will need to be resubmitted and re-queued.

"This is indeed a problem. We haven't had any college students majoring in computer science assigned to us in recent years. Is there anyone in your team who can quickly master the relevant programming?"

"It's quite difficult. It will take a lot of time for us old guys to re-learn this computer language and apply it. Why don't we ask Comrade Wang Jiankun for help? I think he should have a deeper understanding of supercomputers."

"Let Wang Jiankun come? That's fine. It's getting late now, so we won't disturb him. I'll find him tomorrow and ask him to help write these programs."

"Tomorrow? That's fine too. Old Yin, don't forget that we have to hurry up and not fall too far behind other units, otherwise it will be difficult for you to cut in line."

"Don't worry, I'm more anxious than you are. Please go slowly while I study this fax."

Director Yin sent Mr. He to the door, watched him leave the compound, and then returned to the house to study the faxed document.

(End of this chapter)