Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Believe it?

Back then, when we imported the L7 tank gun from Britain, its penetration depth was only over two hundred millimeters. Later, Qin Yang developed advanced liquid-phase sintering technology, which boosted the penetration depth to three hundred millimeters in one fell swoop. Even the British were willing to pay a high price to purchase this technology.

Now, Qin Yang's newly developed armor-piercing projectile has further increased the penetration depth to four hundred millimeters. He says it has the potential to reach five hundred millimeters. Is he lying?

Everyone, of course, has to believe it.

Since the penetration depth of a 105mm gun can be increased from over two hundred millimeters to five hundred millimeters, what difficulty is there in increasing the penetration depth of a newly developed 125mm tank gun from the current four or five hundred millimeters to one meter?

"Chief Engineer Qin, you used the design drawings of the 140mm gun to fool the Pakistanis. It turns out it was to lead them down the wrong path," a leader from the armored forces said.

Zhang Quan's eyes widened, full of disbelief: No wonder Director Qin dared to do those things without worrying about any punishment upon his return. This is a meritorious deed! Pan Xibao thought he could use this method to bring down Director Qin, but that was just wishful thinking!

Director Qin is guiding others onto the wrong path, letting them go further and further astray, holding back their progress, which just allows our own military industry to develop. How can this be considered leaking state secrets or treason?

Don't underestimate Director Qin just because he's young. His intelligence rivals that of the old leaders! Moreover, the facts are right before our eyes.

At this time, the penetrator had completely cooled down. Wang Shan touched the tip of the penetrator with his hand and said incredulously, "Director Qin, I don't understand, how can tungsten alloy penetrators become so sharp?"

"Well…" Qin Yang looked embarrassed.

"Is this your unique skill? I know it's not appropriate for me to ask like this, but I've been working with materials for half my life, and I've never thought that tungsten alloys could also be self-sharpening. If you can enlighten me, I would be very grateful."

"Elder Wang, you are an authority in our materials industry. Of course, I am willing to grant your request, but it's a trade secret. Unless you are an internal employee of our factory, responsible for this project, I can tell you the secret."

Zhang Quan's face changed again: Is this a move to poach someone? Not only did we fail to get research funding this time, but we're also going to lose a capable general? We tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice!

Wang Shan also frowned and did not answer immediately.

Elder Huang changed the subject: "Chief Engineer Qin, why is the penetrator of this armor-piercing projectile so long? According to our information, the penetrator length of the latest American M774 armor-piercing projectile is only over three hundred millimeters. Yours is almost twice as long as the American armor-piercing projectile."

You can't tell how long the penetrator of a fixed round is from the outside. Only the warhead and the sabot are exposed. The remaining penetrator goes directly into the cartridge case. If you want to make it longer, you can push it down, all the way to the bottom.

The outside remains the same, but the inner core becomes longer and longer, pushing downwards.

"Yeah, it's so long, yet it doesn't break," Wang Shan continued. "This is really too rare!"

The longer the penetrator, the stronger the armor-piercing ability. However, a slender penetrator is also prone to breakage.

The Russians like to produce two-piece projectiles. This is of course because they know that the strength of their tungsten carbide core is not enough, and it is only safe to make it into two pieces with a steel sleeve in the middle.

"This armor-piercing projectile can achieve a penetration depth of four hundred millimeters entirely due to the change in the penetrator. Its length is more than six hundred millimeters, its length-to-diameter ratio exceeds 20, and the warhead has also achieved self-sharpening. However, the principle of this penetrator is top secret and only our internal personnel are qualified to understand it," Qin Yang said.

The expression on Wang Shan's face became even more complicated.

"Did you increase the chamber pressure?"

"Of course not. There is no future in relying on increasing chamber pressure. After all, the chamber pressure that the barrel can withstand is so high. Rashly increasing the chamber pressure would be like India, with a boom," Qin Yang said. "We wouldn't be so stupid. We rely on our own unique skills."

After speaking, Qin Yang looked at Wang Shan again: "Elder Wang, as long as you go to our Factory 960, I will hand over the entire processing technology to you, and you can continue to do research and development."

"Continue to do research and development? Isn't it already done?"

"That's right, it's already done. However, our current armor-piercing projectile has not yet achieved industrialized production, and the cost is very high, more than 500,000 yuan per piece," Qin Yang said. "The troops definitely can't afford to use it like this. Now, you need to help us reduce this cost to one-tenth of the original."

How much does a 59 tank cost? One shell costs as much as a 59 tank, which is definitely not acceptable! The troops definitely can't afford it!

The surrounding Elder Huang and others were also stunned: "So expensive?"

"Yes, very special materials are used inside, and many special processing techniques are also used," Qin Yang said. "What I'm talking about is the cost price."

Wang Shan swallowed: "Director Qin, does your company really need me?"

"Yes, Elder Wang, you are a very famous material expert in our country. You have successively developed many advanced materials, and you have especially successfully transferred some materials from the laboratory to industrial production," Qin Yang said. "Our Factory 960 needs you! Moreover, we have more research and development projects waiting for you."

"What projects?"

"300M steel."

300M steel is a low-alloy, ultra-high-strength steel developed by the International Nickel Company of the United States in 1952. The tensile strength of the steel can reach 1860 MPa, the highest in the world. With its advantages of high strength, high transverse plasticity, high fracture toughness, excellent fatigue performance, and good corrosion resistance, it has quickly become the best steel, especially for aircraft landing gear.

There is of course a gap in this type of steel in China. The service life of domestic landing gear is only a few hundred hours. If this type of steel can be developed, it would definitely be a major breakthrough!

"Okay, I am willing to go to your Factory 960."

"No, I object!" Zhang Quan could no longer hold back.