Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Boom!

With the second shot, the shell accurately hit the moving target made of white cloth again.

"Was that a range of a thousand meters? To accurately hit a moving target from a thousand meters away while also moving, that's amazing!"

Boom!

Boom!

Inside the tank, Chen Cheng experienced the thrill of long-range precision strikes. Every shot hit the target, even while moving. In the past, this was simply unimaginable.

Fifth shot, fire!

Boom!

When the smoke cleared, the white target was still in the distance, fluttering in the wind.

"Huh, what's going on? Why didn't the fifth shot hit?"

"One miss out of five shots, that reduces the hit rate to eighty percent!"

Doubt began to appear in the eyes of the crowd as they looked at the target in the distance, puzzled.

The roar of the engine sounded, and the tank, having completed its shooting practice, drove back and stopped steadily in front of the crowd.

The hatch opened, and Qin Yang was the first to jump down, followed by Chen Cheng. As soon as he came down, a large group of people surrounded him.

"Old Chen, how did it feel?"

"Great, it was really great! It completely overturned my imagination! Our tank crews really need new training. Those old methods from the past just don't work anymore."

"Old Chen, why did the last shot miss?"

"Ah, that's what I was talking about. When I fired the fifth shot, I unconsciously used the old method for secondary aiming correction, and as a result, I don't even know where the shell flew!" Chen Cheng said, "Now I know that the old almanacs I used to rely on are outdated. We have to use this completely new method!"

This is what it looks like when disassembled.

"Old Chen, this was the first time we test-fired and calibrated the cannon according to my method. Next, let's adjust the sight according to your method and try again, how about it?" Qin Yang asked.

The initial conflict was here: when calibrating the cannon, should you touch the barrel or not? Would touching it really bend the barrel?

"No need, no need, Old Chen is completely convinced," Chen Cheng said, "The old almanacs from the past should be turned over. Whatever you tank manufacturers say, that's what we'll do!"

"Not going to try it?"

"No, I'm not going to try it. A shell costs tens of thousands of yuan, can't waste it."

Looking at Chen Cheng's expression, Old Zhu was very satisfied. It's no use convincing people with words; you have to let them truly experience it and let them know how advanced this equipment is. Only then will they approve.

"General Manager Qin, what's the principle behind this? Can touching it really bend the barrel?" Someone still didn't understand.

"If we were still firing within five hundred meters like before, then using a flashlight to calibrate the cannon would be no problem. But if we want to hit long-range targets, then many factors have to be taken into account. Our cannon barrel has a thermal sleeve, which is designed to consider the thermal expansion and contraction caused by sunlight, and even the thermal expansion and contraction caused by a cold wind blowing from one side will have an impact. The slight deformation caused by touching it with your hand may not be visible, but it will have a great impact on long-range shooting. During the calibration process, not only should your hand not touch the muzzle, but even your eyes should not be close to the calibration scope, otherwise it may affect the first-round hit rate."

"Leader Huang, there's no need to rush now. It's still early before it's finalized and put into service," Qin Yang said, "Currently, only the turret has been modified and a fire control system has been installed. The chassis below hasn't changed, it's still the original Type 80 chassis. The performance is too poor. Factory 616 is increasing the power to 800 horsepower and also adding a hydraulic power assist system. This will still take some time."

The performance of the turret has been verified, but the vehicle body still has shortcomings. This still needs to wait.

"Well, good food is not afraid of being late. We are already very satisfied with the progress we have seen today. The combination of the 125mm cannon and the fire control system is very good," Old Huang nodded. "Let's go back and continue to wait. We'll come back next week."

"Next week?"

"Yes, with General Manager Qin's involvement in the project, one week is enough. Now, let's go take a look at the production of the third-generation tank," Old Huang said.

Inside the workshop, the third-generation tanks were being prepared for cutting and welding. After looking at it for a while, everyone lost interest, after all, there was nothing interesting about just looking at these steel plates.

Unknowingly, it was evening, and everyone was eating in the cafeteria of Factory 617. Looking at the black night sky outside, Chen Cheng suddenly thought of something: "General Manager Qin, can we test the tank's night combat capabilities next?"

Chen Cheng was still wandering around the Type 85 tank, looking at the lens of the sight on top of the turret with great excitement, and suddenly thought of something: "General Manager Qin, can this fire control system work at night?"

"Night?" Qin Yang casually said, "At night, it's just an infrared spotlight, just add a filter. We haven't had time to install it yet. As for advanced night vision devices, we don't have them in China yet, we'll talk about it later."

Old Zhu frowned.

After dinner, the people from the capital boarded the returning train. Watching the train leave, Old Zhu finally spoke: "General Manager Qin, our indirect fire control system doesn't seem to be able to connect to a low-light night vision device, right?"

Future warfare will definitely require night combat capabilities. If this indirect fire control system can't operate at night, wouldn't it be crippled?

Currently, infrared imaging night vision devices are not yet widely used. Infrared spotlights easily expose one's own target, so low-light night vision devices have become the mainstream. They amplify the weak light from the outside and then display it on the screen.

An upper fire control system can integrate low-light night vision devices, and even infrared imaging night vision devices, together for stabilization. But what about a lower fire control system?

"That's right, our lower fire control system is very simple. A 120-degree prism can only pass white light, and cannot meet the channel requirements of night vision devices."

"Then the troops won't be able to fight at night?"

"Of course there's a way," Qin Yang said, "During the day, we use stabilization, and at night, we use a stabilized line."

If domestically produced tanks widely use lower fire control systems and can't fight at night, then that won't do! This still requires admiration for the ingenuity of the military industry personnel. They successfully solved the problem with a simple method: stabilized line.

The night channel is connected to the turret through a four-bar linkage mechanism, using the turret's stabilizer. The stabilization accuracy is insufficient, which will cause the field of view in the eyepiece to shake, interfering with shooting and aiming. How to solve this?

Shake if it shakes. An electronic reticle is generated in real time in the field of view of the eyepiece, so even if the field of view shakes, the aiming reticle can shake with the field of view. There is no relative motion between them, so visually the reticle is stationary relative to the field of view, so you can continue to aim and shoot. It's definitely not as good as during the day, but it can still be used.

Hearing Qin Yang say this, Old Zhu thought for a moment, then nodded: "General Manager Qin, you are so smart. In theory, it can completely solve the night aiming problem!"

Qin Yang smiled, and was just about to explain a few words when Nie Xiaoqian hurried over: "Brother Yang, I just received news that in the South Atlantic, the Argentine Navy successfully sank the British Navy's most advanced Sheffield destroyer using Exocet anti-ship missiles!"