Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 547 Domestic Katyusha Rocket: Disassembly and Supernatural Abilities Analysis
Understanding the internal structure of a rocket is only the first step.

The actual performance of the rocket launcher can only be determined after an actual launch.

Moreover, the Soviets at Yangon Port are still waiting for the final payment.

Immediately, Fang Wen began preparing the launch device for the Soviet-made rockets.

At the Aerodynamics Research Institute, he used his supernatural abilities to deconstruct the opponent's rail-mounted directional launch device, and was able to replicate it one-to-one.

He then went to the No. 2 aircraft manufacturing plant to use the processing equipment there for manufacturing.

Aircraft Manufacturing Plant No. 2, processing workshop.

This place boasts the most complete processing equipment in the northern Myanmar base, as well as the best mechanical engineers.

Fang Wen gathered 20 engineers and explained the situation.

"I'm planning to build a cluster-type weapon launcher. It's a large-scale project that requires everyone's participation. But before we begin, I require everyone to sign a confidentiality agreement."

For engineers at the No. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, confidentiality agreements are quite normal. They have to sign different confidentiality agreements every time a new aircraft is developed and manufactured.

But this time, it was about creating a weapon that greatly piqued the interest of the young engineers.

They all spoke up to ask questions.

"General Manager, what is a cluster weapon launching device?"

"A long-range weapon that can launch 8-16 rockets simultaneously and has a range of 8000 meters," Fang Wen explained simply.

"so smart?!"

The engineers were quite surprised. Although their main job was building airplanes, they often discussed various weapons in their spare time.

The longest range of conventional main battle artillery in the army is no more than this.

It seems that our Taishan Military Industry is finally going to start working on high-powered ground weapons.

The engineers were eager to participate in the project and signed confidentiality agreements one after another.

After signing the confidentiality agreement, Fang Wen unfolded the design drawings and explained them to the engineers.

"It is mounted on a mobile vehicle. I plan to design a heavy-duty truck for it, just like the one in the drawings. Remove the truck body and install a multi-barrel rocket guide launcher. The support point is here, and it uses hydraulic lifting to adjust the launch angle."

(The early Soviet-made BM-13 rocket launcher system, also known as the 'Katyusha')
After Fang Wen finished explaining the blueprints, he immediately began assigning tasks.

Twenty engineering teams worked together on the project, with Fang Wen overseeing it. Problems could be identified and corrected immediately, resulting in rapid progress.

It took them two days to weld a steel frame shell out of steel pipes and make an upper and lower two-layer eight-tube guide launcher. However, since they had not yet manufactured a matching heavy-duty truck, they got a Taishan brand military vehicle, added a tractor body to the back, and placed the launch rail device on it.

The first test launch was on the third day.

Fang Wen and the engineers carefully placed a 132mm rocket into the launch rail.

For the launch, Fang Wen sought out Yan Huaixun, who had previously served as an artillery officer in a warlord's army.

"I'm going to let you launch it."

Yan Huaixun looked at the strange guy in front of him, still not understanding him.

"General Manager, let me take a look first."

He moved closer and examined it carefully. From the launch rail and the 132mm rocket inside, he figured out what was going on.

"Is this an enlarged version of a man-portable rocket?"

"The principle is somewhat similar, but it is more powerful and can reach a range of 8000 meters."

Artillerymen have a natural sensitivity to range. Yan Huaixun looked surprised. To be honest, in his half-life of military service, he had never used a cannon that could fire 8000 meters.

Therefore, he was quite interested in launching this rocket.

Fang Wen then explained it to him.

"This is a hydraulic valve. Turning it clockwise lowers the launcher, and turning it counterclockwise raises it. This adjusts the firing angle. It's similar to an artillery piece. You can use its firing data to perform aiming calculations."

Fang Wen handed Yan Huaixun a piece of paper with the pre-aiming formula for launching 132mm rockets written on it, so that he could familiarize himself with it first.

Yan Huaixun took the paper, looked at it carefully, and kept calculating in his notebook.

After a while, he stopped writing. "I'm not sure if it's correct. It might need to be verified through test firing."

Fang Wen nodded. His formula for the rocket launch angle and impact point was calculated using simulations. Whether it was correct or not, the actual data would have to prove it.

He then set three test points with different ranges: 6000 meters, 4000 meters, and 3000 meters.

Yan Huaixun set the launch angle and direction according to the calculation formula and launched the missile at the first target area 3000 meters away.

As the rocket ignited, a large amount of flames and smoke spewed from the rear of the rail launcher, and then a 132mm rocket was launched and shot into the distance.

After a while, a burst of fire erupted on the hillside ahead; it was a rocket that had landed and exploded.

Two engineers drove over to investigate and reported the situation via walkie-talkie.

"General Manager, the deviation from the actual target is 37 meters."

This deviation is acceptable. The Katyusha rocket is not known for its accuracy, but rather for its large-scale cluster rocket attacks, which use area strikes to deal with cluster targets.

Fang Wen then instructed Yan Huaixun to continue test firing.

However, the subsequent launches encountered even greater errors.

With a range of 4000 meters, the deviation is 100 meters.

With a range of 6000 meters, the deviation was more than 200 meters.

Fang Wen couldn't help but speculate.

It seems that the Katyusha rocket, which is not yet finalized, has technical defects.

No wonder the Soviet Union was so generous as to sell its secret weapon to Taishan Airlines.

Instead of becoming agitated, he sought out the root of the problem.

The following day, Fang Wen and Yan Huaixun kept test-firing rockets. At $800 per 132mm rocket, they spent over $10,000 in a single day.

However, Fang Wen also found problems with doing so.

The parameters provided by the Soviets for the rockets were the original parameters, but in reality, these rockets were adjusted to reduce the range from the original 8000 meters to 5000 meters.

Using his supernatural abilities, Fang Wen also discovered the modifications made by the Soviets.

The amount of explosives has been reduced.

The tail wing has also been adjusted.

Therefore, the actual data for this batch of rockets is an effective range of 5000 meters.

But in other respects, nothing has changed.

In other words, this was a precautionary measure by the Soviet Union, so that if these rockets were used against the Soviet Union itself, they could retaliate with the same type of rockets with a longer range.

Cluster strikes with a range of 5000 meters are not necessarily a bad thing.

At least the accuracy is higher within this range. Subsequently, Fang Wen began to deduce the firing formula based on the new data in order to form a set of firing parameters for the Taishan rocket launch system.

He then created a simulated aircraft-mounted rocket launcher rail to test 82mm air-to-ground rockets.

This rocket has a range of 1000 meters and is mainly used to engage aerial targets, as well as ground bunkers and tanks during dive-firing attacks.

He didn't have any data discrepancies.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. Fang Wen returned to Yangon.

It's time to settle the final payment.

He and Gong Xiuneng arrived at the Seamen's Hotel in the port area.

In the basement bar on the hotel's lower level, a group of Soviet sailors were drinking and having fun together.

Fang Wen walked up to them, but they didn't notice him. They were still holding up their foamy beer glasses and making loud noises.

A moment later, the Soviet escort officer saw Fang Wen and stood up warmly, saying, "Fang, let's go to the room to talk."

Fang Wen and the officer left the bar, followed by Gong Xiuneng and a sailor.

The four went upstairs to the guest room. Fang Wen sat opposite the officer, while Gong Xiuneng and the sailor stood guard next to their respective men.

"How have you been these past few days?" Fang Wen began.

"Very good, thank you for your hospitality. By the way, is today the day to pay the final payment?"

"Yes, rockets. I've tested them. You've tampered with them; the actual effectiveness of the rockets is much worse," Fang Wen deliberately questioned in a cold voice.

The officer clearly knew this; he took out a letter and handed it to Fang Wen.

Fang Wen took it, tore open the seal, and took out the letter inside.

The letter, written in Chinese, reads: "Dear Fang, you will surely be furious when you read this letter. Indeed, we have made some adjustments to the specifications of our rockets, mainly the 132mm rockets; we have not changed the 82mm air-to-ground rockets. But I assure you, the rockets will still be very effective even with the shorter range. Moreover, as far as I know, your enemies do not require an 8000-meter range to strike. This range is sufficient."

Following the letter were adjusted, accurate data, identical to Fang Wen's calculations.

Furthermore, the letter also promised to reduce the final payment by one-third as compensation.

After putting down the letter, Fang Wen coldly looked at the officer: "This is a breach of contract, and I have the right to refuse to pay the remaining balance."

The officer shrugged: "I'm sorry, Mr. Fang, I'm just the person escorting the goods; everything else is none of my business."

Fang Wen pretended to be unwilling and asked Gong Xiuneng to bring the suitcase. He took out one-third of the cash and bearer bonds from the suitcase and handed them over to the other party, thus completing the final payment transaction for the rockets.

The Soviets then hurriedly left the hotel, boarded the ship, and set sail, as if afraid that Fang Wen would change his mind.

Fang Wen smiled as he watched the Soviet cargo ship sail away.

The Soviets changed the range, but they also improved the accuracy.

A range of 5000 meters is actually sufficient. Besides, the rocket cluster launcher is mounted on a vehicle, which has wheels and can move. With high mobility, the 5-kilometer range can be extended to 10 kilometers.

He then began the finalization and development of the Taishan vehicle-mounted rocket.

An eight-shot burst is still too few; what rockets need is cluster power, and the more they can be launched at once, the better.

Therefore, Fang Wen fired at the 16th Company's firing device.

Below the launch rail, there is an ammunition compartment containing another 16 rockets, which can be used for two rounds of fire suppression.

Military vehicles equipped with rocket launch rail devices were also modified.

After completing these tasks, it was time to reverse engineer the ammunition. Fang Wen didn't want to rely on Soviet rockets; Taishan Military Industry also needed its own medium-range rockets.

The analysis of the projectile structure has now been completed, and the live-fire data has been obtained.

All that's missing is the propellant for the rocket.

Understanding this will also improve the individual rocket launcher for Taishan.

Fang Wen then returned to the laboratory to prepare to disassemble the rocket.

Taishan Research Institute, Underground Cement Explosion-proof Laboratory.

Two rockets, one 82mm and the other 132mm, were placed on the workbench.

Disassembling them was no easy task. To ensure there were no problems, Fang Wen wore a helmet that allowed him to activate mechanical perception and used his supernatural abilities to disassemble them.

He chose to start with 82mm rockets, since smaller ones are easier to handle.

There were some Russian characters written in paint on the missile body.

【Специальноизготовлено，Воронежскийзавод，гр.А5】

The translation is: Specially customized. Voronezh factory. Production of the fifth group.

After wiping the rocket casing with a dry cloth, Fang Wen began disassembling it.

He first loosened the three brass clips securing the warhead. Surprisingly, the threads on the clips hadn't been treated to prevent rust, so he had to stop after turning them half a turn and smear the gaps with a cloth soaked in animal fat.

With a soft "click," the first locking mechanism finally released. Fang Wen held his breath, pressed his left hand against the projectile, and pinched the curved tip of the warhead with his right hand, slowly rotating it as if turning a precise clock gear.

The front warhead was disassembled, and the orange-yellow explosive block was wrapped in thick paper soaked in wax, with a firing device in the middle.

This thing could explode if your hand slips even slightly.

Fang Wen concentrated his mind and entered a state of unity between body and mind.

His thumb pressed down on the groove of the safety pin, and his fingertip could feel the slight elasticity of the spring plate. The fuse had double safety measures, and the exposed firing pin gleamed coldly.

After careful operation, Fang Wen removed the fuse and took out the warhead charge.

Next, the propulsion section needs to have the four bolts securing the tail fin removed.

After disassembly, the tail fins are removed, the propellant cartridges are unloaded, and the spiral propellant column is exposed.

At this point, all the explosive charges for the 82mm rockets had been removed.

Next, we will analyze its components.

The main charge is TNT, a high explosive widely used in munitions worldwide, characterized by good stability, moderate power, and ease of storage and processing.

The warhead has a charge of 4.9 kg and can produce about 1000-1200 fragments upon detonation, with an effective kill radius of 15-20 meters. It is very effective in demolishing and killing targets such as clustered infantry, light vehicles, and simple fortifications.

The auxiliary charge includes detonators and detonating charge (passivated RDX), which are used to detonate the main charge.

The sensitivity of the detonator charge is higher than that of the main charge, which can ensure the effective transfer of the detonator's initiation energy and reliably detonate TNT.

The key point that Fang Wen needs to understand is the drug that promotes the development of the drug.

The ingredients here are the real secret of the Soviet aerodynamics research laboratory.

What exactly is its recipe?

Fang Wen tried to analyze it using his special abilities, but it had no effect.

His abilities include X-ray vision and a mechanical perspective, but he cannot observe the microscopic world.

However, Taishan Military Industry had its own gunpowder talent, so Fang Wen took samples of the propellant to the ammunition factory.

The ammunition factory was divided into bullet factories, artillery shell factories, individual rocket factories, and aerial bomb factories.

However, it belongs to a management system as a whole.

After Fang Wen arrived, he directly invited the factory's rocket propellant experts to conduct research on it.

The result won't be available anytime soon.

But in a few days, the air force training class will be graduating, and Fang Wen plans to invite representatives from the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army to the graduation ceremony.

Firstly, I wanted to witness the ceremony, and secondly, I wanted them to see the power of the cluster rockets that Mount Tai had just produced.

(End of this chapter)