Courtyard House: A Major Power's Heavy Industry, Hand-Crafted Nuclear Fusion

In the spring of 1987, an abandoned hangar at Nanyuan Airport in the suburbs of Beijing.

Sunlight streamed through the broken window, illuminating a large, forlorn airplane.

This is a Tu-4 bomber. It has a huge, mushroom-shaped, disc-shaped radar dome on its back.

It has a resounding name – "KJ-1" (Airborne Early Warning and Control System).

But it is also a source of pain for the Chinese Air Force.

As early as 1969, the older generation of scientists began developing an early warning aircraft. They overcame countless difficulties and put radar into the sky. But ultimately, the project was cancelled in 1979.

The reason is harsh: radar can see the target, but it can't distinguish it.

When an early warning aircraft looks down from high altitude, mountains, rivers, and cities on the ground reflect radar waves, forming a huge "ground clutter". Filtering out low-flying enemy aircraft from this clutter requires an incredibly powerful computing capability.

In the era of vacuum tubes, researchers crammed several tons of heavy analog computers onto airplanes to calculate these data, but they still couldn't keep up. Moreover, because of the excessive weight, the flight range was reduced to a paltry few hours.

In the end, it could only lie here quietly, becoming a historical artifact.

"What a pity."

An elderly air force general stroked the dusty landing gear, his eyes slightly red. "If we had been able to solve the clutter problem back then, our airspace wouldn't be in this state..."

He recalled the painful lesson learned a few years ago during a border conflict, where the enemy's low-altitude penetration was exploited due to radar blind spots.

"Sir, it's not dead yet."

Su Zheng stood under the wing and patted the thick aluminum alloy skin. "It's just sleeping. Waiting for a... heart."

"The heart?" The old general looked at him in confusion.

Su Zheng snapped his fingers.

Ye Xinyi stepped forward from behind and opened a silver briefcase.

Inside the box lay a palm-sized green circuit board. In the center of the board was a black chip with a gold code printed on it:

SkyEye-1 (Chang Kong Yi Hao)

DSP (Digital Signal Processor)

"This is its heart."

Su Zheng pointed to the chip, "To solve ground clutter, we need to perform hundreds of millions of Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) per second. Previously, this required a whole truckload of vacuum tubes. Now…"

He picked up the circuit board and shook it gently:

"All we need is this one board."

Weight: 200 grams. Power consumption: 5 watts.

……

One month later, at a flight test center in Northwest China.

The Tu-4 "KJ-1" aircraft, which had been dormant for eight years, was towed out again and painted with a brand-new livery.

Its four massive piston engines roared deafeningly. Although the fuselage was old, its internal structure had been completely transformed.

The original several-ton electron tube cabinets were all removed and replaced by two neat rows of Red Star workstations and the core "Chang Kong No. 1" signal processing box.

"take off!"

With a command from the control tower.

This colossal machine, carrying the dreams of generations, glides along the track, heads held high, soaring towards the blue sky.

"Radar activated!"

Inside the cabin, Su was wearing headphones and sitting at the radar control station.

"High voltage is on! Antenna rotation is normal!"

"Start scanning!"

hum-

The enormous radar dome began to rotate. Countless invisible electromagnetic waves, like countless tentacles, swept across the vast land below.

"Test subject: Low-altitude penetration detection."

The voice from ground command came through the headset: "Four J-7 fighters of the Blue Army, at an altitude of 100 meters, using the terrain for cover, are approaching your position. Distance: 300 kilometers."

100 meters high.

For ground-based radar, this is an absolute blind spot. Due to the curvature of the Earth, ground-based radar cannot see targets below the horizon.

For the former "KJ-1" airborne early warning and control aircraft, this was also a nightmare. The Qinling Mountains below would generate huge echoes that would completely engulf the four small planes.

"Clutter suppression enabled."

Su Zheng pressed the red button.

In that instant, the Changkong-1 DSP chip began to operate at full speed.

It slices and analyzes the massive amounts of radar echoes it receives. Using the Doppler effect, it filters out all the mountains and houses that are stationary relative to the aircraft (with a speed of 0), retaining only the signals that are moving.

On the screen, there was originally a snow-like noise.

Sudden.

It's like smog being blown away by a strong wind.

The snowflakes disappeared.

Instead, four crystal-clear red dots were arranged in a neat formation and moved in the lower left corner of the screen.

"We caught them."

Su Zheng's lips curled up. "Distance 280 kilometers, altitude 120 meters, speed 800 kilometers per hour. Confirmed to be a J-7 formation."

"What?!"

In the ground command post, the old general suddenly stood up, knocking over his teacup. "280 kilometers? You saw it from that far away? And over the Qinling Mountains?"

"Not only did I see it."

Su Zheng's fingers tapped on the keyboard, "Data link established. Distributing target data to the Red Army intercept formation."

……

Three thousand meters above the ground.

Two J-8II fighter jets of the Red Army are on patrol.

Pilot "Falcon" was frantically searching the radar screen. His onboard radar had limited power and couldn't see any low-flying targets.

Just then.

His cockpit display screen suddenly lit up.

Drip!

Four red dots appeared out of thin air on the screen. Next to them were detailed headings, speeds, and an interception countdown.

"This is……"

Falcon paused for a moment, "Is this a God's-eye view?"

It doesn't need to search for itself, and it doesn't need to turn on the radar to expose itself.

The early warning aircraft is like a command tower standing in the clouds, with a clear view of the entire battlefield, and then it sends the "cheat code" directly to its eyes.

"Falcon received! Target locked!"

He slammed on the stick, and the fighter jet swooped down like an eagle hunting a rabbit.

……

"We lost."

The Blue Team pilots were still completely bewildered when they were awakened by the fire control radar lock-on warning.

They were still using the valley as cover, thinking they were getting away with it.

Suddenly, two J-8 fighters appeared overhead and launched simulated missiles.

"This war is unwinnable!"

The Blue Team's lead pilot complained on the radio, "We're like we're running naked! No matter which ravine we hide in, it feels like there's a pair of eyes watching us!"

These eyes are the Eyes of the Sky.

As the Tu-4 slowly descended and taxied back to the parking apron.

The generals, who had been waiting for a long time, swarmed forward.

Despite his advanced age, the old general personally climbed onto the plane, stroked the small DSP chip box, and burst into tears.

"I saw it... I really saw it..."

"Our air force can finally stop being blind!"

Su Zheng helped the old general off the plane.

"Sir, this Tu-4 is just a demonstrator aircraft."

Su Zheng looked at the old fuselage and said, "Its foundation is too outdated. It can't fly fast or far. We need a better platform."

"Yun-8?" the old general asked.

"The Y-8 can serve as a tactical early warning aircraft. But if we want to cover the entire South China Sea and the entire Pacific Ocean..."

Su Zheng gazed into the distance. "We need large aircraft. Real large aircraft."

"But that's a story for another time."

Su Zheng then changed the subject, "Right now, this system has an even more important use."

"What?"

"Sell it for money."

Su Zheng smiled, a smile that resembled that of a shrewd businessman.

"The camels across the Gulf may not have a decent air force, but they have money. And they desperately need something that allows them to sit in an air-conditioned room and see the enemy's movements hundreds of kilometers away."

"You mean...?"

"We want to sell them a simplified version of this 'Command and Control System' (C4I)."

A glint of light flashed in Su Zheng's eyes. "Of course, we're not selling early warning aircraft (those are strategic weapons, we can't sell them). We're selling... ground command centers. Plus our drones, plus our Type 59 tanks."

"I want to put on a show for the whole world in the Gulf Desert."

"A horror movie called 'Information Warfare'."

……

That spring of 1987.

With the takeoff of that old-fashioned bomber, the tactical thinking of the Chinese Air Force underwent a qualitative leap.

"One-way transparency".

This term began to appear in the General Staff's operations manual.

Meanwhile, in Red Star Electronics' top-secret laboratory, Ye Xinyi is designing the next generation of chips.

Code name: Beidou.

"Having eyes alone is not enough."

Ye Xinyi said to Su Zheng, "We also need... a ruler. We need our own satellite navigation system."

"yes."

Su Zheng looked at the starry sky. "Without navigation, missiles are blind. But we have to take things one step at a time. Once we secure that big deal in the Gulf, we'll have the money to launch satellites."

In the next chapter, a Middle Eastern tycoon will appear.

The most luxurious "foreign trade combined camp" in history is about to debut.

Su Zheng will transform into the "King of War," using steel and chips made in China to teach those desert princes who still blindly believe in Western weapons a lesson.

……