Chapter 565 The Sky of the Future (End of this volume, today’s 7.7k)
“Let’s talk about speed first, why Mach 2?” The Air Force was very interested.
Gao Zhendong smiled and said: "The reason was actually mentioned two days ago. The speed range distribution in which air combat occurs is the most important symptom. Of course, the essence of this phenomenon is Mach 2 or above. It’s a huge price to pay.”
It’s all because of the sharp increase in air resistance as the speed increases, and there are two hurdles for the fighter to fly in the air.
Sound barrier, heat barrier.
Needless to say, there is no need to talk about the sound barrier. When approaching the speed of sound, the emergence of local shock waves causes a sharp increase in aerodynamic resistance and turbulent airflow on the surface of the aircraft, making it difficult to accelerate the aircraft and causing a sudden drop in maneuverability.
When modern fighter jets express parameters such as maximum speed and cruising speed, they do not use speed per hour like the fighters of the S2 period, but use Mach number, which is why the Mach number can better reflect the span of the aircraft. Sonic and supersonic capabilities.
As for why the Mach number is not directly converted into speed per hour to express the speed capability, that is because the speed of sound is different at different altitudes in the atmosphere, and the actual speed of the aircraft over the ground during a certain flight is also different. You have to take wind speed into consideration.
The sound barrier has now been solved, and what remains is the thermal barrier. When the aircraft flies at high speeds, the aerodynamic heating caused by the severe friction between the aircraft body and the air will cause the temperature of the aircraft to rise sharply.
Thermal barrier is not like sound barrier. It has a specific range of occurrence. It depends on the material of the body and other conditions. In short, it is flying too fast and the heat is unbearable.
At this time, aircraft were generally made of aluminum alloy skins. The melting point of aluminum alloys determined that when the aircraft was above Mach 2, the skin materials began to be tested. By Mach 2.5, no matter how good the aluminum alloy was, it could not withstand it.
MiG-25 became Feitian Stainless Steel because although stainless steel is heavy, it has a high melting point! It’s crazy enough to think that Lao Maozi uses stainless steel with almost three times the density of aluminum alloy to fly in the sky.
One thing to mention is that although the density of stainless steel is almost three times that of aluminum, it does not mean that the aircraft produced is three times as heavy as the aluminum aircraft, because stainless steel is stronger than aluminum, and in geometric dimensions such as thickness On, it can be smaller.
Another problem is that the air resistance increases exponentially with speed. The faster you want to fly, the higher the requirements for engine thrust.
At this point, the stocky-looking MiG-25 and F-15 are both typical. One of these two products can fly Mach 3, and the other can fly 2.5. They are both the result of flying bricks due to their great strength. .
Having said so much, Gao Zhendong made a concluding speech: "...This is undoubtedly beyond the capabilities of our existing engines. In summary, combined with the existing technical conditions, the possibility of a supersonic air combat is very small. Comprehensive Consider, Mach 2.0~Mach 2.2, this is the limit speed requirement of an air superiority fighter.”
Everyone can guess the requirements for engine thrust, but the emergence of thermal barriers makes some comrades not sure. I understand, and the reason is very simple. I have never flown to that speed before, so I have no experience.
Many people simply cannot imagine that air, which is usually gentler than water, can be so violent. The degree of aerodynamic heating does not increase linearly with speed, but increases exponentially. Mach 3, 300°C, Mach 6 It’s 1500℃!
Having only flown less than Mach 1.5 and temporarily lacking a wind tunnel above Mach 2, our knowledge of this phenomenon is extremely limited.
As for how Gao Zhendong knew, everyone guessed that he had done a lot of research on aerodynamics and figured it out.
"Well, that's it. As for the height, it goes without saying. You mentioned the relevant content before, and our actual experience is also very deep. Above 20,000 meters, the requirements for aircraft are very high."
This It's not even something that can be completely solved by flying bricks. Although the F-15A can fly Mach 2.5, its practical ceiling is less than 20,000 meters. These are extremely excellent data.
As for height, the Air Force has no more ideas for the time being. Firstly, it knows that it is really difficult to do, and secondly, it has heavy air-to-air bombs as a foundation, which buffers a lot of urgency.
"This technical analysis does have some truth. The natural environment, aerodynamic principles, and engine technology within a certain period of time in the future do not support it." This is a true understanding of the overall situation.
"Well, the idea seems radical, but these indicators are down-to-earth, and it seems possible to achieve them." It suddenly seemed that Gao Zhendong was relatively conservative.
"General Engineer Gao's research on aerodynamics seems to be very deep. What does he do?" This person is not familiar with Gao Zhendong. Although he admires him, his identity becomes more and more vague.
"In addition to this "Double 2" requirement, what are the other specific indicators? How to determine them?"
The National Defense Work Committee and the Air Force looked at each other, and this thing is down to the details.
The comrades of the Air Force said: "This is the plan, just set the general direction. 'Double 2' has excellent maneuverability in the subsonic to high subsonic range, and has a larger load capacity than the MiG-21. That’s it for the time being. The details will have to be discussed later.”
These are just Gao Zhendong’s ideas and suggestions. As for whether they can be finally launched, it does sound reasonable and very tempting. , but in addition to sub-items such as the search and rescue system and heavy air-to-air bombs, other materials must be produced, and special meetings must be held for further demonstration before the final decision can be made.
The leader of the National Defense Work Committee also smiled and said: "Comrades, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. Comrade Gao Zhendong has put forward systematic and scientific ideas, but whether these ideas are appropriate, whether they are implemented, to what extent they are implemented, and what the details are. This cannot all be decided today.”
Although it seems very scientific and the situation is very optimistic, the pressure on the Air Force’s equipment system in the next ten years cannot be placed on Gao Zhendong alone. The pressure may be on Gao Zhendong alone. In that case, no matter the outcome is good or bad, it will not be good for everyone, and the process must be followed.
Gao Zhendong is also very satisfied with this result. It can be seen that both the National Defense Work Committee and the Air Force are very interested in his idea of "one attack, one explosion, three levels and three types". The general direction is , I was actually convinced.
If someone else had done it, the effect would not have been as good as it was, because several key points were solved by Gao Zhendong by drawing a pie, or in other words, drawing a pie for the relevant people to see. After seeing this cake, I felt that his suggestion made sense.
For example, attack aircraft's anti-sea missiles, heavy air-to-air missiles, radars for fighter jets, the processing of the installation location of the MiG-21 radar, the secret aerodynamic shape design of medium-sized air superiority fighters, etc.
Fortunately, Gao Zhendong has made great achievements and has a very high reputation with the National Defense Work Committee and the Air Force. Otherwise, if it were an ordinary person who drew these big cakes, he would probably be kicked out.
This system is extremely simple except for fighter jets, which are the active force occupying the sky. The attack aircraft and bombers are extremely simple.
This is very beneficial to the work of the National Defense Work Committee and the formation of the Air Force's equipment, and some of the detailed improvements Gao Zhendong repeatedly used have even made the Air Force draw inferences.
Looking at Gao Zhendong's planning proposal of "one attack, one bomb, three levels and three types", the Air Force always felt that something was wrong. It was not bad, but... it could not meet the needs of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
After looking at the key points I had written down for a long time, I remembered them.
"Chief Engineer Gao, why doesn't your Tu-16 replica remove the bomb bay and refit the fuel tank like the G-5 combat version and the Z-5 attack version? Wouldn't that have a longer range?"
Gao Zhendong was dumbfounded when he heard this. It was not that he didn’t want to do this. In fact, Mr. Liu did not have a bomb bay after the modification. With the addition of engines and other improvements, the range and combat radius were indeed greatly improved, and he understood the strategy. Bombers are at their lowest limit.
But he didn't dare to speak out this suggestion, fearing that things would turn against him if they went to extremes.
These days, as the largest bomber in the system, it does not have a bomb bay. This property is much more sensitive than the Z-5 without the bomb bay.
After all, the bomb bay removal of the Z-5 was done in the name of modifying the attack aircraft, but the Tu-16 replica model is still an out-and-out bomber.
Gao Zhendong thought for a while and did not hide his thoughts: "For a relatively low-speed aircraft such as a bomber, it is not so sensitive to change the internal plug-in to the external plug-in. The increase in fuel has more benefits than the resistance of the external plug-in."< br>
“So I did have this idea originally, and for ammunition that may appear in the future, the small bomb bay of the Tu-16 is indeed of no use. As for why I didn’t bring it up, it is mainly because it is inconsistent with the mainstream. It’s too consistent, but it’s a little too advanced. I’m afraid you won’t be able to accept it.”
Hey, do you know you’re radical?
The leader of the Air Force frowned: "Comrade Zhendong, you are wrong. As for good things, as long as they are well-reasoned and scientifically demonstrated, we can still accept correct improvements."< br>
Gao Zhendong looked modest: "Yes, yes, the leader is right to criticize. This is my problem, so let's add this thing to the list." Air Force leaders responded to Gao Zhendong's "correct when you know your mistakes" , with a look of satisfaction on his face: "Well, that's pretty much it. Old X, don't forget this matter when you proceed to the next step. You must help us demonstrate the argument."
He knew very well in his mind that when the bomb load reached the passing mark, sometimes the range was more important than the bomb load.
The leader of the National Defense Working Committee smiled and nodded while looking at the Air Force people with strange eyes. You jumped into the trap very neatly.
The Air Force leader looked satisfied and turned his head to look at Gao Zhendong.
"Comrade Zhendong, I remember when we first started the meeting a few days ago, you said that your suggestion was to ignore the auxiliary aircraft and only talk about the main combat aircraft. It seems that you have no idea about the auxiliary aircraft. Do you have any ideas?”
A leader is a leader, super sharp!
But these auxiliary models are actually quite difficult to obtain. We lack the ability to modify basic models.
And even Lao Maozi himself lacks these basic models.
But since others have mentioned it, I can also talk about it in advance.
“Commanders and leaders, we have indeed given some thought to this aspect, but our foundation is a bit weak and we will have difficulties in the short term, so we have only proposed the most urgently needed early warning aircraft.”
Originally, I was worried that I would bite off more than I could chew, which would affect the promotion of the main goal. But now it seems that the main goal is relatively optimistic, and the Air Force has actively requested it, so I might as well mention it as a way to plant the seeds in advance.
"As expected, there was an ambush, Comrade Zhendong, this is unacceptable. Say it quickly."
Now the Air Force is interested in all Gao Zhendong's ideas. .
“I think if the system is complete, at least a few types of aircraft are needed. The auxiliary aircraft I will talk about later are the ones that are more urgent in my opinion.”
The young man really has a lot of ideas.
"Aerial tankers, which provide aerial refueling for other aircraft, can greatly extend our power projection range. This is what is most needed. With this, it can solve the problem of short legs of fighter aircraft to a certain extent, which is difficult. The biggest part is Without a suitable modified model, transport aircraft of large or larger size are possible, and if they are smaller, they will not make much sense.” It can only be said that it solves existing problems, let alone others.
All the comrades were stunned by Gao Zhendong's somewhat "whimsical" idea. Can this thing be realized?
The world's first aerial refueling was actually implemented quite early. In 1923, Citigroup did it. It was still the era of biplanes, and the process was extremely exaggerated. The plane above dropped the oil pipe, and the plane below carefully avoided the propeller and caught it with its hands.
However, as the speed of the aircraft increased, the propellers of most fighter jets were on the nose. This juggling method was obviously not practical. In addition, the combat needs were not very urgent at that time, and it gradually became silent.
"Aerial refueling? How to refuel this?"
"It's unimaginable."
"A bit whimsical, right?"
But the Air Force is different. Aerial refueling? This idea was extremely bold, but it gave comrades in the Air Force a sense of enlightenment.
We do not need too many long-range operations, but this also means that the few are very necessary. Originally there was nothing they could do about it, but Gao Zhendong's suggestion gave them hope of solving the problem.
Regardless of whether it can be achieved, at least it is better than being helpless.
The National Defense Working Committee and the Air Force are extremely satisfied. Sure enough, if you squeeze hard, Comrade Gao Zhendong can still squeeze out good things.
"Well, the tanker... I understand. What else is there?"
"The electronic reconnaissance aircraft, like the electric reconnaissance ship, detects the enemy's electromagnetic equipment and also takes into account electronic warfare. "
To be honest, when our electronic technology is not very advanced, this aircraft is not the most urgent, but in the long run, it is very important.
Under the conditions at this time, Gao Zhendong cannot be as exaggerated as what he saw in his previous life from Gaoxin No. 1 to Gaoxin No. XX. He proposes to build a lot of special aircraft and only pick the most important ones, and also improve the integration of functions. suggestions.
The most important thing is to let everyone have an understanding of this aspect. As for whether these functions are combined into one aircraft or separated into several aircraft, it is not a big problem. When necessary, they will naturally be split according to conditions. combination.
"Electric warfare, well, it's a bit interesting." The navy and air force have benefited from electronic equipment in recent battles. Naturally, they know that where there is a spear, there is a shield. This thing may not be clear now, but In the long run, it must be an important force.
“Maritime patrol aircraft provide maritime patrol and anti-submarine capabilities. If possible, it is best for this aircraft to take off and land on the water, so that it can carry out combat missions on islands and reefs without airports.”
< br>Maritime patrol, anti-submarine? Want to go to the islands?
Comrades from the National Defense Working Committee and the Air Force took a deep look at Gao Zhendong, aren't you from the Army? It looks like this hand is quite long, um, we like it.
"Well, it's good, it's interesting, you have ideas, is there anything else?"
Gao Zhendong shook his head: "If it takes ten years, these will be enough. If there are more, I'm afraid we It can’t be supported. These are the foundation and there can be more improvements and changes in the future.”
It seems radical, but it is not ambitious. It is pragmatic and feasible based on the existing conditions. What does the Air Force think of Gao Zhendong? How do you like it.
Well, it’s you who think you are radical, and you who think you are pragmatic.
The leaders of the National Defense Work Committee and the Air Force looked at each other and felt that it was almost done. Planning things, to this point, can be said to be extremely fruitful.
The leader of the National Defense Working Committee said: "Well, this meeting is almost done here. We will implement the relevant intentions and resolutions at the meeting one by one as soon as possible."
Things are too big There are too many, and this is actually not fast enough. Fortunately, the most urgent things have a foundation.
"Well, Comrade Zhendong, there will be a lot of trouble for you later, so you should try to stay in the capital. Thank you here in advance." The comrade of the Air Force smiled.
Gao Zhendong responded, smiling in his heart, even if you drive me away from this place, I won’t leave.
This is roughly the description of this multi-day experience summary seminar on combating U-2, known as the "613 Meeting" in equipment history.
“This meeting, which originated from the fight against U-2, turned into a big discussion on the Air Force equipment system in the next ten years in the next few days. The Air Force’s main battle equipment is ‘one attack, one bomb, three-level combat’ , the system of auxiliary equipment 'pre-oil and electricity sea' has taken shape in this discussion, and the scope of its results extends far beyond the past ten years, and may even hold up the sky for the next twenty or even thirty years."
(End of this chapter)