In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 192: Weapons with “sufficient” power, superiors have no objection to export “in principle”?

Vietnam and Thailand do not share a border, but they are separated by the sea.

Considering that Vietnam has already invaded Cambodia, theoretically, it can compete with the Thai army on land through Cambodia.

"It seems that the Thai army is equipped with Guardian rocket launchers and SR-4 rocket launchers?"

Xie Wei did not have a clear memory of what was purchased specifically, but he only knew that except for the Air Force, which was not equipped with Chinese fighter jets, the main equipment of the Army and Navy were all Chinese machines.

After all, when there are high-quality customers like big spenders, few people pay attention to these small customers.

"What rocket launcher are you talking about?"

Li Rui asked Xie Wei.

"No. Principal, since there are customers who are interested in purchasing, we can demonstrate it at the test site. We can even provide them with sample guns for trial..."

"Trial? Do you think the customer is stupid, or do we have more money?"

Li Rui was unhappy.

Without performance data, foreign customers will not be foolish enough to pay for an order even if the product is described as amazing.

If people don’t order, should we just offer them a free trial?
If the effect is not satisfactory, millions of dollars will be wasted...

"Is the purchasing delegation from Thailand coming?"

Xie Wei asked Li Rui.

Li Rui shook his head. "Because they didn't come, we need to prepare in advance. The troops are not prepared to equip rocket launchers with a range of 120 kilometers... The distance from the mainland to the island, the narrowest part of the strait is 130 kilometers!"

"..."

Li Rui's reason was something Xie Wei had not expected.

Strong military strength is the cornerstone of national unity and stable national defense.

Seeing Xie Wei lost in thought, Li Rui did not disturb him. He took out a cigarette and matches from his pocket, and couldn't help but miss the Zippo lighter that he had used for many years.

A lighter is still useful.

Unfortunately, it was given to Xie Wei.

"Don't think too much. If the troops don't need the equipment, we can find orders ourselves. As long as it doesn't threaten national security and doesn't involve the leakage of advanced military technology, in principle, our superiors will not object. What is in principle, do you understand?"

"Ultra-long-range rocket launchers, does it not involve the leakage of advanced military technology?"

Xie Wei sneered.

There are currently few long-range rocket launchers in the world with a range of 120 kilometers.

The United States' most advanced M270 rocket launcher system has a maximum range of 45 kilometers for rockets, and a range of 50 kilometers for mine-laying bombs. Even if the rocket launch box is replaced with a missile launch box, the range can reach 500 kilometers.

Is the one that launches missiles still called a rocket launcher?

The Soviet Union's most powerful BM-30 Tornado was not designed until 83 and was not put into service until 87. Its initial range was only 70 kilometers. After later improvements, its range was only 90 kilometers.

The range of rocket launchers is actually linked to industrial base and military strength.

Both the United States and the Soviet Union have advanced and large fleets of fighter jets to provide front-line support, and do not need long-range rocket launchers with a very long range.

The PLA does not have advanced fighter jets nor a large fleet of aircraft.

Missiles are too expensive.

Against this background, the world's rocket launchers are divided into Chinese rocket launchers and foreign rocket launchers.

At present, superiors are reluctant to export slightly advanced equipment for fear that the international community will obtain it and use this to infer the PLA’s true equipment level.

Li Rui must have pestered his superior to the point of no return, so his superior said this.

"You are such a smart kid. The leader said that he does not object in principle, but in fact he does not give any clear support. However, he does not object to us doing it privately. If there is any problem, we will take the responsibility ourselves... It's just selling a rocket launcher, what's the big deal?"

Li Rui raised his eyebrows and told Xie Wei what "no objection in principle" meant.

Although he knew what it meant, Xie Wei could only pretend not to know.

"How was the bazooka last time?"

Xie Wei didn't want to discuss the export of rocket launchers with Li Rui as nothing had been decided yet.

"The troops are very satisfied with the portability of our rocket launchers, but their power is still a little insufficient and needs to be improved..."

As soon as he said this, a sad look appeared on Li Rui's face.

He immediately told Xie Wei the feedback from the troops and even took out a performance test report.

"The killing radius is insufficient, the attack capability is insufficient, and the anti-armor capability is too poor..."

Xie Wei was not surprised at all when he saw the summary at the end of the report.

"Didn't you tell Professor Zhai Xinguo?"

"Isn't it too late? The matter of the long-range fire exit is more important!"

"..."

Hearing this, Xie Wei turned and left.

Li Rui hurriedly caught up with Xie Wei with the report that he didn't know who had issued it, "Don't leave, let's reach a consensus first, and then proceed with the follow-up operations."

"How the school is run is none of my business."

Xie Wei didn't want to pay attention to the old man, so he broke free from his sleeve and walked forward quickly.

"Young man, you are so impatient! Isn't the school-enterprise office not suitable for exporting weapons and equipment? The ministry is planning to set up a precision machinery import and export company, which will be mainly responsible for importing the precision machinery needed by the ministry and exporting the things produced by subordinate units..."

Li Rui pulled Xie Wei back and quietly explained the situation to him.

In 80, many arms export agencies were established. Almost every machinery industry ministry had its own export agency. However, Poly, which played the most important role in the export of arms and equipment, was not established until 84.

"Isn't this a good thing?"

"What a bullshit! We designed and developed the weapons and equipment, but the department didn't give us a penny for the technical development. They helped us export them, but they want to charge us an agency fee!"

Li Rui complained with an unhappy look on his face.

In his opinion, the precision machinery import and export company established by the ministry could not do much and still had to share the profits. How could he be happy about it?
"so what?"

Xie Wei asked.

"I want our school to do it ourselves!"

Li Rui licked his lips. "Just like the school-enterprise partnership, setting up a school company can not only sell the equipment we have already developed, but also seek weapons and equipment design and development business from the international market..."

Xie Wei's eyes suddenly widened.

The old guy's ability to draw inferences from one instance is really strong.

"Isn't my idea good? We can use foreign customers' money to develop our technology. It's a win-win cooperation. We can even help foreign customers build their military production capabilities..."

"and many more!"

Seeing that Li Rui was getting more and more excited, Xie Wei interrupted him and said, "Principal, this is a good idea. If you can solve this problem, this business may be easier to do."

"what?"

Li Rui, who was suddenly interrupted by Xie Wei, looked at him in confusion.

"Matching. Any military production is not only difficult in design, but most countries in the world cannot produce it even if they get the design drawings. Let's talk about something simpler. If we are given the design drawings of an advanced fighter that can fly at three times the speed of sound, can we manufacture it domestically? If we are given a missile that can fly at more than Mach 10, can we manufacture it?"

Xie Wei's series of questions made Li Rui's face fall instantly.

Even a country like China, which already has a relatively complete industrial base, cannot produce these advanced weapons.

He understood what Xie Wei meant: the manufacture of weapons and equipment requires a huge system support.

"Principal, there are not many countries in the world that can produce rifles and bullets... Small countries are even less likely to do so... Unless they only need assembly and maintenance capabilities, and we provide the core components..."

Li Rui's idea is not acceptable.

However, it is entirely possible to provide some countries that are pursuing progress and development with some partial independent production capabilities.

As far as Xie Wei knows, countries such as Egypt, Pakistan and Brazil still hope to establish their own military industries.

Li Rui originally wanted to go with Xie Wei to find Fang Pengju, but Xie Wei did not agree.

In desperation, Principal Li could only go with Xie Wei to find Zhai Xinguo first.

When the two arrived, Zhai Xinguo, Fang Pengju and several others were discussing the sniper grenade design on the blackboard.

"Xie Wei, you've come just in time. Take a look at this sniper grenade improvement plan and give us your opinions."

Seeing Xie Wei and Li Rui coming in, Zhai Xinguo greeted Li Rui and then hurriedly greeted Xie Wei.

When the first test result of the 40mm sniper grenade was not ideal, Zhai Xinguo and Tang Daoxian accepted Xie Wei's proposal to suspend the improvement of the 40mm sniper grenade and instead developed a disposable individual rocket launcher based on the ideas and related technologies provided by Xie Wei.

While waiting for feedback from the rocket launcher, the team did not improve the rocket launcher, but instead modified the design of the sniper grenade.

"There's something wrong with your thinking." When Xie Wei saw the long and thin grenade next to him, he immediately remembered the long and thin grenade as thin as a child's arm that he used when testing sniper grenades at the shooting range last year.

"Oh?"

Zhai Xinguo was puzzled.

Wasn’t the idea provided by Xie Wei?
"Grenades and rockets are fundamentally different. Our design combines the grenade's warhead with the rocket's propellant. It can't be considered a grenade, nor a rocket..."

Xie Wei was not polite at all.

"To achieve precision strikes within a range of 200 to 1000 meters, we need to be able to kill people in a wider range. Simply using grenade launchers is not enough!"

Tang Daoxian looked at Xie Wei with a worried look on his face.

He felt that he understood Xie Wei's intention.

Li Rui only cares about the power of weapons and equipment, and has no interest in technical discussions.

He was too bored to interrupt, so he took out a cigarette, threw one directly to Zhai Xinguo, and sat aside, puffing away.

"Squad leader, when launching a grenade, the propellant burns instantly in the barrel to generate a strong airflow, which provides the shell with a strong exit velocity... The artillery achieves precise strikes by calculating and adjusting the firing angle... If it is designed according to the howitzer, the strike accuracy will be affected."

Seeing that Xie Wei had a serious expression on his face and didn't say anything, Tang Daoxian added his explanation.

To be honest, for Tang Daoxian, the pressure from his mentor Zhai Xinguo scolding him was not as great as that from Xie Wei standing by and not saying anything.

“What is the name of this project?”

Xie Wei did not argue with Tang Daoxian.

"40mm sniper howitzer!"

Tang Daoxian didn't understand what Xie Wei meant by asking this.

"How does a howitzer kill?"

Xie Wei asked again.

"Area damage. If you want to say something, just say it directly. Don't waste your time here!"

Li Rui, who was listening in boredom, answered quickly.

As a result, he was given the cold shoulder by Xie Wei.

"Range damage! Old Tang, at a distance of 800 meters, if the grenade explosion can have a damage range of 5 or 6 meters, do you think it is necessary to care about the accuracy? You make the ammunition so heavy. If the troops are really equipped with it, how much can they carry when they carry out the mission?"

"..."

Xie Wei’s words stunned everyone.

It seems, apparently, that there is indeed something wrong with their thinking?
"Uh, squad leader, didn't you say we should achieve the accuracy of a sniper rifle?"

Tang Daoxian asked Xie Wei cautiously.

The other people who were staring at Xie Wei's reaction also nodded subconsciously.

From the very beginning of participating in this project, they have been thinking about increasing the range and shooting accuracy.

"Also, the more powerful the propellant, the greater the recoil. To fire a 40mm grenade to 800 meters or even further and to ensure accuracy, the muzzle velocity cannot be too low..."

Seeing that Xie Wei still didn't speak and the others supported him, Tang Daoxian gradually began to have the courage to question the squad leader.

The faster the muzzle velocity, the more stable the front end of the trajectory.

This is the most basic knowledge of artillery design. It’s impossible that the squad leader doesn’t know it, right?
"Use range to make up for accuracy. On the one hand, the problem of recoil is to use a muzzle brake, which theoretically can eliminate 60% of the recoil."

Xie Wei glanced at Tang Daoxian.

This guy is good. In such a short time, he has already acquired a solid foundation.

I work hard every day.

Who knows, he might become an artillery academician who graduated from the experimental class in the future.

"That's not enough. We calculated that to fire a 40mm grenade at a distance of 800 meters and to ensure a certain accuracy, the muzzle velocity must reach at least 280 meters per second..."

Someone reminded Xie Wei.

"In fact, we don't need such a high initial velocity. We can increase the barrel length to increase the effective range of the propellant and provide more acceleration space for the grenade... For the remaining recoil, we can add a bipod to stabilize the launcher and add a hydraulic device at the end of the launcher to offset the remaining recoil after the muzzle brake is eliminated..."

"Extend the barrel?"

"Add hydraulics?"

Everyone was confused.

They have never considered these aspects at all.

"What is the specific length of the barrel? What is the minimum initial velocity of the ammunition to meet the requirements? At the same time, we have to consider reducing the weight... This requires a lot of calculations and then testing."

Xie Wei did not tell them that the LG5 sniper grenade launcher tube is 1288 mm long and the initial velocity of the ammunition is 240 meters per second. At a distance of 300 meters, two grenades can be accurately fired into a target with a diameter of 10 cm.

The sniper grenade is used to fill the firepower gap between hand grenades and mortars. The PLA, which has already mastered the infantry-artillery coordinated tactics, does not have an urgent need for it.

The only thing is the exit.

For export, why does the precision need to be so high?
"Well, you guys come down and discuss it slowly. Comrade Xinguo and Comrade Xiao Tang stay, and the others can leave first."

After Xie Wei finished speaking, everyone started to think about it. Li Rui, who was getting impatient, directly asked to drive them away.

No one dared to object.

"The troops have tried out disposable rocket launchers and fully affirmed their portability, but they also raised questions..."

After the others left, Li Rui handed the report on the disposable rocket launcher to Zhai Xinguo and began to introduce it.

There is only one meaning: to increase the lethality of the disposable rocket launcher warhead!
"The current warheads all use mature designs, and there are no better explosives and warheads."

Tang Daoxian lowered his head and said nothing.

We need to carry out modular design, reduce costs in all aspects, and develop new warheads?

It will increase costs.

Zhai Xinguo told the truth.

"What kind of explosives are used in the warhead of our bazooka?"

Xie Wei's mind moved. Although he was familiar with the Department of Chemistry, he had never come into contact with chemical explosives and did not understand the production level of domestic explosives.

"The pentaerythritol tetranitrate in the shells is more powerful than TNT."

Tang Daoxian answered hurriedly.

Xie Wei looked confused.

He was not very familiar with explosives and really didn't know what the common name of this thing was.

"It is commonly known in China as Tai'an, also called Taien, and its power is about 1.2 times that of TNT."

Seeing Xie Wei's expression, Zhai Xinguo on the side said.

Xie Wei immediately knew what this thing was.

This stuff is filled in grenades, grenade shells, detonating cords, detonators, etc. It can even be processed into pentylenol tetranitrate powder, a drug that dilates blood vessels and treats angina pectoris.

I didn’t expect that it would be used for artillery shells in this era?

It seems that the power of the artillery shells can be further improved.

"Where's RDX? Where's Octojin?"

Xie Wei asked.

RDX should be the main explosive for artillery shells, and its power is 1.5 times that of TNT.

The power of Octoton is about 1.5 times that of TNT.

Although it is only a few tenths of a second more powerful, its lethality has increased exponentially. Especially Ottokin, which is only 0.2 times more powerful than RDX, but due to its high cost, it is 15 to 20 times more powerful than TNT and is only used in missile warheads or as a detonator for nuclear bombs.

"Didn't Professor Liang Hongbin tell you? Octo doesn't have a stable production formula in China, and can only be synthesized in small quantities in the laboratory. The RDX laboratory can produce it stably, but due to problems with the process and formula, it cannot be supplied stably on a large scale, and the cost is also very high..."

Zhai Xinguo looked at Xie Wei in surprise.

He believed that Xie Wei knew about these explosives through Liang Hongbin, which further confirmed that Liang Hongbin was dealing with high-energy explosives!

This saved Xie Wei the trouble of explaining why he knew these things.

"In other words, it is impossible to increase the power of the warhead in the short term?"

Li Rui frowned and asked.

He didn't care about RDX or Octokin, as long as it was powerful, "As long as the power is increased enough, even if the cost increases a little, the troops can accept it..."

(End of this chapter)