In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 152: Target drone equipped with weapon system? Not only does PL-4 increase speed, but also increases range?
"What the hell? A joint venture between HP and Electron Tube Factory 7?"

Xie Wei was very dissatisfied when Wang Zheng urgently called him out from the electromechanical laboratory.

At present, the research and development of the CNC system has reached a critical period. The final inspection of the control system is being carried out and sample production is being started. Xie Wei has devoted almost all his time to this.

The news Wang Zheng told him made Xie Wei stunned for a long time before he came to his senses.

"Are you sure it's HP?"

"Yes. The other party not only proposed the production of calculators, but also desktop computers, microcomputers and other products. The Shanghai side believes that such cooperation is very good for the technological development of the entire Shanghai..."

Wang Zheng spoke quickly and briefly introduced the situation to Xie Wei.

"They thought that Huafeng Electron Tube Factory had good basic conditions and was most suitable for production, so they directly proposed that Huafeng Factory be used as a joint venture factory, so that some products could be quickly brought to the market..."

"Did the Shanghai Stock Exchange agree?"

"They have no objection, but the relationship with Huafeng Factory has long been transferred to the school-enterprise office."

"In that case, tell them it's impossible! We won't form a joint venture!"

"There's no buts! Everyone knows what the other party is up to. Why didn't you discuss the joint venture before, but proposed it when Huafeng's calculators are being exported and the domestic market is booming? If you can't handle it, let the principal go to the department leaders! We spent millions to buy the factory!"

Xie Wei was a little angry.

It was not just because foreign capital started to take action after seeing the booming calculator business of Huafeng Electron Tube Factory, but also because Wang Zheng always came to him for help with everything.

"Brother Wang, as long as our business competes with international giants, these are unavoidable. If everything comes to me, how can the school-enterprise office develop?"

"..."

Looking at Xie Wei, Wang Zheng was confused.

I don’t know why Xie Wei suddenly got angry.

"If we use the Huafeng joint venture, it will not only speed up the entry of HP products into the domestic market, but also kill local competitors. The higher-ups can't fail to see this. Moreover, Huafeng's business is currently the hottest. In addition to calculators, electronic watches will also be launched soon. If you can't handle it, let the principal do it, instead of coming to me for everything!"

After Xie Wei finished speaking with a bad look on his face, he drove Wang Zheng away.

Huafeng's electronic watches have almost no technical content, and the LCD screen they use is much smaller than that used in calculators, so the technology is actually easier.

In the development plan of the school-enterprise office, Huafeng occupies an even higher position than the Hongguang Factory: it not only produces calculators, electronic watches and other popular products in the market, but will also be the manufacturer of the school's microcomputers, becoming one of the two core factories with Factory 14, driving the development of a series of supporting factories.

Li Rui doesn't know?
The leaders in the department don’t know?
All clear.

Wang Zheng also knew that his superior was aware of this, but he came to him first, which fully demonstrated that Wang Zheng was now highly dependent on Xie Wei on these matters.

This is unacceptable.

"You shouldn't have gone to Xie Wei for something like this."

After listening to Wang Zheng's report, Li Rui asked a few questions. Wang Zheng said that Xie Wei didn't care. Li Rui sighed and said, "Wang Zheng, you can go further than Wu Tao in the business of the school-enterprise partnership..."

"..."

Wang Zheng didn't know how to respond to this.

I quickly turned my head and looked at the office door. There was no one there, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

If this got out, how could Wu Tao not feel uncomfortable?

"As a manager, you are like a commander of a troop. If you don't have your own judgment, how can you fight? Didn't Xie Wei tell you that business is like a battlefield? Competing with international giants is just like when we fought against the coalition forces of 17 countries on the peninsula!"

Principal Li reminded Wang Zheng seriously.

Wang Zheng was so ashamed that he was stunned.

"There's no need to worry about this kind of thing. Shanghai can find Huafeng Factory, but Huafeng Factory has no right to make the decision. The School-Enterprise Office can also tell them that they have no right to make the decision and push it to the school. The school will let them go to the Ministry..."

Li Rui was indeed dissatisfied with Wang Zheng's attitude towards this matter.

Not tough at all.

"Principal, I understand."

Wang Zheng was filled with ashamed at this moment.

It was not until now that I understood why Xie Wei was so angry.

Wu Tao has always shown that he is unwilling to take responsibility. He will not intervene in anything that may affect his future. Whenever there is a risk that requires a decision, Wu Tao will ask Wang Zheng to ask Xie Wei.

Wang Zheng knew that Wu Tao was unwilling to take responsibility, and he was only the deputy director of the school-enterprise office, so he did not dare to make the decision.

In addition, Du Guowang had asked him to consult Xie Wei if he had any questions, which led to the current situation.

······
"Xie Wei, the Air Force specifically asked you to participate in the project and upgrade the improved drones and air-to-air missiles..."

Feng Bingyi found Xie Wei again.

At first, he did not think that Xie Wei played a very important role in improving the performance of the Changkong-1 UAV.

After a long period of contact, Xie Wei proposed to use the HZ80 chip as a basis to upgrade the autopilot system and remote control system of the entire Changkong No. target aircraft.

After research by Feng Bingyi's team, Xie Wei's suggestion can greatly increase the flexibility of Changkong-1 in the air.

Now, the problem of anti-interference of remote control of Changkong-1 UAV has not been solved, and Xie Wei once again proposed the use of digital signal communication system.

This is a huge project.

However, Xie Wei, the proposer, did not participate.

Feng Bingyi looked for Xie Wei several times in succession. "Although CNC systems and PLC programmable controllers are important, they are not problems that can be solved in a short period of time. They require the foundation of the entire system..."

"Professor Feng, you can't say that. The CNC system is also controlled by programs... but it doesn't need remote control. The various high-precision sensors of the CNC system can also be used on the target machine to increase control stability."

Xie Wei shook his head.

Digital communication technology will be the main development direction of wireless communications in the next few decades.

The development of digital technology began in the 1980s. In order to catch up with the international advanced level, Xie Wei directly skipped the analog signal to digital signal within the scope of his influence.

When basic reserves are insufficient, the difficulty increases exponentially.

But Xie Wei remained undeterred: it would take at least 90 years before mobile phones using analog signals became popular in major Chinese cities in the 15s. As long as a certain foundation could be established within these 15 years and the first generation of mobile phones using digital signals could be launched, the entire world communications market would be rewritten.

All kinds of equipment in the future will be inseparable from advanced communication technology.

This is the case with CNC machine tools, which use CNC systems to control the operation of machine tools; this is the case with robots; this is also the case with various drones...

"The problem is that the progress of the project has reached a bottleneck."

Feng Bingyi reminded Xie Wei.

"If the Air Force doesn't increase funding, there's nothing we can do, right?"

Xie Wei shrugged, spread his hands, and looked helpless.

Poor air force.

"What the Air Force wants is not as complicated as you think..."

At this point, dissatisfaction emerged on Feng Bingyi's face, "As for the current improvements, they have actually met the needs of the Air Force." Feng Bingyi knew very well that only when the results were recognized by the Air Force would the Air Force continue to allocate part of its limited funds to further improve the Changkong-1 UAV.

As a result, Xie Wei disagreed.

"That's not what I want. Our target drone project is also aware of Professor Lai and Professor Shi's improvements on air-to-air missiles. The current target drone performance is still not enough to test the performance of air-to-air missiles..."

Xie Wei had a helpless smile on his face.

This immediately made Feng Bingyi helpless.

The team of Professor Lai Changgui and Associate Professor Shi Hongwei, who are responsible for the further improvement of the PL-4 air-to-air missile, have maintained close contact with Feng Bingyi's team since they arrived at the school.

There was no conflict because the purpose of the air-to-air missile project was to shoot down the target aircraft and the purpose of the target aircraft team was to avoid the air-to-air missile, and the two sides kept secrets from each other.

All for national defense.

Through close communication, both parties are very clear about the performance of each other's research, and after improving the design, they are still making continuous improvements.

"At present, the maneuverability of the PL-4 in the air has been improved by at least 2 times, and Professor Lai's team is also preparing to increase the maximum speed of the missile to more than Mach 2.7... Now the target drone is handed over to the Air Force for another target shooting. The target drone still cannot test the true performance of the missile. What will the Air Force leaders think?"

Xie Wei looked serious.

In his opinion, even though the performance has been improved a lot, it is still too backward.

Not only is he unwilling to hand over such drones to the Air Force, he also hopes that by making the air defense forces and the Air Force desperate target drones, he can promote the further development of various related technologies.

"You are changing the subject! Xie Wei, you said that the target drone needs to be more flexible, we agree; you said that the target drone needs to increase its range and hovering time, we also agree; you said that the remote control distance of the target drone should be extended to more than 60 kilometers, we still have no objection!"

Feng Bingyi became angrier as he spoke.

After saying these words, he paused for a moment. Seeing that Xie Wei was still calm, he gritted his teeth and said, "But what do you mean by asking that Changkong No. 1 be equipped with a weapon system? Is this still a target drone?"

"Why isn't it a target drone?"

Xie Wei was unhappy.

"Even if it's used as a target, no one stipulates that it can't carry counterattack weapons, right? Besides, they are just some decoy bombs to increase the survivability of the target aircraft. This also puts forward further requirements on the performance of the missile..."

Xie Wei retorted calmly.

"Besides, our air force is used to maintain the safety of our country's airspace. If we can't even deal with a target drone, how can we deal with advanced fighter jets that invade our country's airspace?"

"..."

Feng Bingyi was immediately speechless by what Xie Wei said.

He always felt that there was something wrong with Xie Wei's words and his reasons were not sufficient, but he couldn't find where to refute them.

This is indeed the truth.

As for target aircraft, the closer its performance is to that of a real fighter jet, the more combat ideas it can provide to the Air Force.

Can’t handle it?
Then improve the performance of fighter jets and air defense missiles.

"So, Xie Wei dismissed you with just a few words again. After going to see him, nothing changed?"

Feng Bingyi returned to the technical room and was asked by another person in charge, Li Wei, about the results. Feng Bingyi told Li Wei about his conversation with Xie Wei, who asked him with a strange look on his face.

"You can't say that nothing has changed... At least, he convinced me to change my mind. The improvements to our current drone are indeed not enough."

"..."

Li Wei was stunned and looked at Feng Bingyi in disbelief. "Didn't you always want to make a prototype according to the current improvements?"

"Not quite suitable. Professor Lai's PL-4 has not yet demonstrated its performance. The target drone in the air is almost like a person standing there and being shot..."

Feng Bingyi's words made Li Wei really at a loss as to how to start.

"What about the funding?"

Funding is the biggest problem.

As long as there is sufficient funding, it is not a problem to continue research without making prototypes.

"It's a matter of funding. Besides, we only need a small amount of technical verification for theoretical research. We should find a way to save money. I will also try to get some from the Air Force. The school has made a lot of money now, so we can try to get some subsidies from the school..."

Professor Feng feels differently about funding now.

My biggest concern in the past was funding.

It’s different now. The school has a source of income, and can also request funding from the Air Force if it achieves technological results.

All you need is technology.

"How about asking Xie Wei to help get the funds? His status in the school..."

Li Wei frowned, funding was the biggest problem.

Now that the country is reforming and opening up, it is focusing on economic infrastructure construction. The country has no money, so it must concentrate its limited resources and funds on economic infrastructure construction.

This led to a cut in military spending.

In such an environment, funding for most military technology projects has been cut, and many have even had funding stopped.

"Don't bother Xie Wei yet, let's talk about it later."

Professor Feng shook his head.

Xie Wei is busy every day. After being in school for a long time, he knows that many teams ask Xie Wei for help in getting funding. At present, the unmanned target drone project team does not have a big funding gap, so there is no need to bother Xie Wei.

······
"The Changkong-1 project team is not working on a prototype?"

Professor Lai Guichang looked at Xie Wei in surprise. "Didn't they always want to make a prototype before? Didn't they want us to produce a sample bullet to try?"

"Let's not do it for now."

Xie Wei nodded.

Shi Hongwei frowned and looked at Xie Wei, trying to see something from his expression. However, Xie Wei's expression did not change at all, so he could not help but ask, "Should we stop the sample production work first?"

"Yes. The new Changkong-1 target drone will have more powerful infrared decoys. Our missiles need to improve their target recognition capabilities. If we produce them now and attack ordinary Changkong-1, the results will be no different from before."

Xie Wei nodded again to confirm.

He had not originally planned to come.

After Feng Bingyi changed his mind and came to him, he felt it necessary to tell Professor Lai and the others. In this way, the funds for producing and improving the Changkong-4 target drone could be saved, and not producing the PL- prototype missile could save another sum of money.

"Xie Wei, I heard that the Changkong No. 1 team has already started to improve the aerodynamic layout and is preparing to increase the speed?"

Shi Hongwei hoped that the news he received was false.

However, Xie Wei's nod dashed his hopes.

"Increasing the speed is inevitable. Now mainstream fighters are all supersonic. Just because a missile can shoot down a target aircraft that is faster than a fighter, it doesn't mean it can shoot down a fighter... Besides, the speed of the PL-4 is still a bit slow, the range is not far, and the turning radius is large. It may not be able to hit the fighter in the first approach, and after turning, the propellant may be used up before it catches up..."

Xie Wei's words made the two men's faces suddenly turn grim.

(End of this chapter)