In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 244 The military is coming to the school to investigate? We must take this opportunity to get money!
"Assault? Assault what? Did the school do something that displeased the military?"

Xie Wei frowned and looked at Zhang Mingqiu.

Could it be that Li Rui has done something again?
"The explosive fragmentation type we provided to the troops for trial use was not the armor-piercing type..."

Looking at Xie Wei, Liu Debao said with a bitter face.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng turned to look at Xie Wei. They had sent 20 rocket launchers to the southwestern border for combat testing, but the results after the front-line troops tried them out were not ideal. This led to the troops having no intention of making further purchases, and even the Jiangbei Machinery Factory, which had reached a cooperation agreement with the school, turned to wait and see.

Has Xie Wei forgotten by now?
"Gudu~"

The expressions on their faces made Xie Wei instantly realize where the problem lay, and he used the opportunity of drinking water to ease his embarrassment.

After taking a few sips of water and holding his cup, Xie Wei said, "This isn't our fault. The military hasn't clearly stated whether they'll purchase it. We need to continue research and development..."

If the military uses this reason to approach the school, it's hard to say what will happen.

Before I could finish speaking, I recalled the scene of the HF-82 rocket launcher being used in live-fire exercises at the firing range. It was only after approval from higher authorities that contracts were signed with Thailand and Pakistan.

The contract has been submitted to the higher authorities for approval.

"That's not right! When we tested at the 617 firing range, there were military leaders present!"

"Back then, even anti-tank models weren't said to be able to destroy a T-72 with a single shot... That was the most advanced tank in the Soviet Union..."

Xie Wei then realized that Zhang Mingqiu and Liu Debao were worried that their superiors would ban the export of rocket launchers.

One shot can destroy a T-72, even blowing off its turret.

Exports are banned, and there's nowhere to cry.

With rocket launchers banned, the fate of the tank project in cooperation with Ba Yang became uncertain.

"There's no use worrying. The military leaders will be here tomorrow, and then we'll know what's going on."

After much analysis and discussion, none of them could figure out the military's intention in sending the personnel.

There's too little information about Xie Wei to analyze the situation.

He figured the military wouldn't send people to prevent exports.

Only through exports can the project recoup its R&D costs and develop a more powerful rocket launcher.

If it's banned, will other units still have the incentive to raise funds for the research and development of advanced weapons and equipment?
The next day, Xie Wei accompanied Zhang Mingqiu and several other school leaders to the train station to pick up the person.

An elderly man who looked to be about the same age as Li Rui was accompanied by two middle-aged men. All three were wearing cadre uniforms with four pockets. In an era without military ranks, it was impossible to tell their identities from their clothing alone.

Upon seeing the person in charge, Liu Debao's previously worried face immediately broke into a smile, and he quickly went to greet him.

"Director You, welcome! Welcome!"

Zhang Mingqiu and Liu Debao shook hands with each of the other parties and exchanged pleasantries.

know?

On the way there, the two of them didn't tell Xie Wei who the people sent by the military were.

"Xie Wei, this is Colonel You Lihua, Director of the General Staff Equipment Bureau."

While Xie Wei was trying to figure out who the newcomer was, Zhang Mingqiu introduced the old man to Xie Wei.

General Staff Equipment Bureau?

It wasn't the General Political Department that came, so it seems exports aren't a problem.

It wasn't a matter of the General Assembly following the General Rear, which made Xie Wei even more uncertain about the intentions of those above.

"You're Xie Wei? You're much younger than I expected!"

Before Xie Wei could speak, You Lihua smiled and shook Xie Wei's outstretched hand, saying with a smile, "Your Principal Li has mentioned you to me quite a few times. Whenever he talks about you, that old guy's eyes are practically closed."

Got~
It turns out he has a pretty good relationship with Principal Li.

Xie Wei didn't know how to answer, so he just smiled.

"Director You, let's go to the school first."

Zhang Mingqiu greeted the group with a smile.

Xie Wei breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that he didn't know how to deal with people above him, but he didn't know their intentions, especially since they had brought up Principal Li first. How could he say that?
Principal Li himself said that his reputation...

"Xie Wei, you're coming with me in this car."

As Xie Wei was about to walk toward the car behind him, Yu Lihua called out to him.

Looking at Liu Debao and Zhang Mingqiu, and seeing them nod, Xie Wei had no choice but to get into the back seat of the car in front.

"Are the samples you provide to your customers for trial the same as those used in live-fire exercises at the firing range?"

As soon as the car started, Yuli Hua's deep and serious voice rang out.

"Director You, the sample is the same as the one used in the target practice..."

Zhang Mingqiu, sitting in the passenger seat, hurriedly said.

Yuli Hua didn't look at him, but turned to look at Xie Wei.

The military doesn't believe that the rocket launchers used for target practice are the same as those provided to customers.

"Sir, the samples we provided have the same design and the same manufacturing process as the target..."

Xie Wei thought for a moment and then spoke.

"What about the materials? Is the armor-piercing thickness the same?"

"They are the same!"

"Principal Zhang, I'd like to ask Xie Wei, but please don't speak yet."

Yu Lihua's displeasure flashed for a moment, and he warned Zhang Mingqiu in a deep voice.

Got it!
Military leaders believe that the rocket launchers provided by Harbin Institute of Technology to foreign clients are of better performance than those previously used for testing!

Are they here to demand an explanation?

"Sir, if we're talking about differences, there are some. The HF-82mm individual rocket launcher project was funded by the school itself... Before that, we integrated the technologies of the Type 69, Type 70, and American M72 rocket launchers, and then did our own design... Due to funding issues, each batch of prototype ammunition was tested and modified simultaneously..."

Xie Wei thought about it and decided not to hide anything from the matter.

The General Staff Equipment Department would not have inquired about the consistency of materials and armor penetration thickness without any evidence.

Li Rui may not understand technology, but the equipment department under the General Staff could not possibly be unaware of it, and Tang Daoxian and Zhai Xinguo could not possibly hide it from him.

How much armor penetration capability does it have?

Upon hearing Xie Wei's answer, You Lihua not only did not get angry, but his face showed an expression of "I knew it."

"Theoretically, it can penetrate 620 mm of homogeneous steel armor, but there has been no specific testing."

Xie Wei shook his head, "To be able to blow up a T-72 and even blow up its turret, it must have caused a secondary explosion in the T-72's internal ammunition compartment; otherwise, it would be impossible."

Even if the warhead of a rocket is entirely made of high explosives, one or two kilograms wouldn't be enough to blow away a turret weighing more than ten tons!

"The armor-piercing thickness has been increased by 40 millimeters compared to the previous version!"

A look of shock flashed across Yulihua's face.

He really couldn't understand why other units found it so difficult to increase the armor penetration thickness of armor-piercing projectiles, even by just 1mm. How come it was so easy at Harbin Institute of Technology, especially at a place with a genius like Xie Wei? Before even obtaining data through experiments, they directly increased the armor penetration thickness by 40mm after improving the design.

"Sir, it won't be so easy to upgrade later. The sample we provided last time used a tandem warhead. The moment the armor-piercing tungsten core made contact with the armor, the high-explosive ammunition behind it would explode, accelerating the armor-piercing tungsten core... and inside the tungsten core, there was a round hole filled with zirconium metal for incendiary and high-temperature killing..."

Xie Wei gave You Lihua a detailed introduction to the technical features of the armor-piercing rocket.

This was not mentioned before.

"A tandem warhead? Using a tungsten-core armor-piercing rod in the middle, plus zirconium? It only costs $1200, how much does it cost?"

"Currently, the cost of the armor-piercing model is 440 yuan, but with large-scale mass production, it is expected to be reduced to below 400 yuan!"

"Bang~"

Upon hearing Xie Wei's quoted costs, You Lihua could no longer remain calm.

He suddenly stood up, his head hitting the roof of the car hard, before he sat back down in his seat.

"How many?"

His voice was trembling at that moment.

He didn't even bother to touch his head, which was throbbing from the impact, and stared intently at Xie Wei.

A 440mm armor-piercing rocket is about the same price as a 122mm artillery shell.

A single 122mm howitzer shell cannot cause much damage to a tank like the T-72, but an 82mm rocket launcher can directly penetrate the T-72's turret and blow the turret, which weighs more than ten tons, away.

"440. The main cost lies in the high technical difficulty of powder metallurgy. If the cost of pure tungsten powder can be reduced, the cost will be further reduced. Of course, in order to increase the strength of the tungsten core for armor penetration, molybdenum and heavy rare earth elements are added..."

Xie Wei knew why Yu Lihua was shocked.

Powder metallurgy has been widely used in high-strength parts and materials, especially in the 60s and 70s. In order to improve the maneuverability of fighter jets, the engine combustion chamber required higher temperatures, and high-performance metal alloy materials placed higher demands on machining tools and other materials.

Nickel only needs to reach a melting point of 1453℃, but tungsten has a melting point of 3410℃, molybdenum has a melting point of 2622℃...

For high-temperature resistant materials, the higher the melting point, the better.

Ordinary metal smelting methods are insufficient to produce these materials.

As a result, the application of powder metallurgy technology, which involves high-temperature sintering under high pressure, is becoming increasingly widespread.

In China, it only started in the 50s, and only a very small number of the 156 key industrial projects involved powder metallurgy.

In this area, China lags far behind other countries in technology.

As the person in charge of equipment at the General Staff, You Lihua often dealt with relevant technical personnel and naturally knew that it was impossible to obtain the material by using high-temperature melting methods.

This is also the root cause of the insufficient armor penetration thickness of domestically produced armor-piercing projectiles.

"Have you made a breakthrough in powder metallurgy?"

Yulihua quickly realized what was happening.

"It's not really a breakthrough. Currently, the school's metallurgical laboratory is facing insufficient funding. In order to reduce production costs and meet material requirements, it needs to pressurize the powder blanks first... The high-frequency furnace used for high-pressure sintering of tungsten-molybdenum alloys mixed with heavy rare earth elements is limited by technology and has a very small capacity..."

"So, there's a problem with the materials production?"

Yu Lihua's lips twitched twice. Was this kid trying to play the poor card?

Their approach is different from Li Rui's.

"Not really. Fortunately, the tungsten core of the rocket is small in diameter and not very long... One batch can produce dozens of them... However, to further reduce costs, or to sinter other large blanks at high temperatures, more investment will definitely be needed..."

"Director You, our school has many projects, we also have to undertake research projects from relevant departments at higher levels, and we also have to build the school... Our funding is really tight."

When Zhang Mingqiu saw that Xie Wei mentioned a lack of funds, he naturally wouldn't let such an opportunity pass.

Liu Debao quickly chimed in, "That's right! The school even took out millions in loans from the bank for this project..."

Seeing their expressions and hearing their words, Xie Wei was somewhat stunned.

These two men were masters at finding every opportunity to extort money, a skill they had truly inherited from Principal Li.

"..."

This left Yulihua speechless.

Thankfully, the car arrived at the school.

"We've arrived. Let's take a look at the various projects at the school. With the increase in your independent projects, it's not just your department that's unclear about which projects and technologies are involved, but also the military..."

Xie Wei's eyes lit up.

That's the real reason the military sent people here.

Under his influence, Li Rui asked the ministry for policies on independent project initiation, self-financing, and independent operation. These policies were not only applied to civilian projects, but also to military technologies under Principal Li's guidance.

As a result, neither the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry nor the military knew what technical foundations or projects the school had.

Without this cooperation with Pakistan on the tank project, or without Harbin Institute of Technology's rocket launchers destroying more than ten advanced T-72 tanks in a short time at the graveyard, the military probably wouldn't have thought of coming to the school to investigate.

Correct!
Yulihua and his men came to investigate!

"This……"

Zhang Mingqiu looked worried. He didn't want the military to know what military technology projects the school had, especially its own projects.

What if the military finds out and thinks it's too advanced, and then prevents us from cooperating with foreign clients or from selling it?
“Principal Zhang, Director You must have been entrusted by higher authorities to come and assess the school and understand its difficulties… Although many of our projects have been established, we not only lack personnel but also funding. The military will certainly not provide funding without knowing the situation.”

Xie Wei hurriedly said, then turned to look at You Lihua, "Director You, right?"

"..."

Yulihua almost swore!

At first, I thought Xie Wei was a good young man, unlike that shameless old man Li Rui, who tried every means to plead poverty.

Now he realized that this kid was even more troublesome than Li Rui.

He simply asked to find out what projects the school had, to prevent them from selling off some high-tech technologies without the knowledge of their superiors and the military.

How did it become that they came to conduct the inspection themselves and provided funding?
"Is that so? Director You, let's go, let's go to the fighter jet project first..."

Zhang Mingqiu didn't give You Lihua a chance to refute at all.

He pulled Yulihua toward the office building where the fighter jet project was located.

"Have we stumbled into a bandit's den?"

The two middle-aged military officers who came with You Lihua were dumbfounded when they saw Director You being escorted away by the school principal and secretary.

"Let's just follow along for now... The higher-ups previously proposed sending military representatives to Harbin Institute of Technology, but so far, they've only arranged guards! We might have to leave one of us here, in case..."

As the other person spoke, his eyebrows twitched repeatedly.

Whoever stays at the school as the military representative to oversee the school's projects, their future work will likely be difficult.

From school leaders to students, they seize every opportunity to ask for money.

Who can bear it?

(End of this chapter)