Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

"President Qin, didn't you initially refuse to let me see it?"

"You were brought here by me. We're on the same side, understand? That airborne early warning aircraft is a top military secret of the Eastern Air Force. How could I let you rashly go and see it? My firm refusal was entirely for your own good," Qin Yang said. "Now, seeing how interested you are, I've specially thought of a way for you."

"Then how can I get access to that early warning aircraft?"

"I heard yesterday that they're short of engines for large passenger planes," Qin Yang said. "As long as you send them a batch of engines, you should be able to see it."

"What?" Natalie was stunned. I just wanted to take a look. If the technology of this early warning aircraft is advanced, then we can cooperate in the future. You're actually asking me to send a batch of engines? And they're for large passenger planes! Do you know how expensive those engines are?

Her voice was a little loud, and others around her looked over with questioning gazes. Natalie realized her reaction was a bit much and looked around awkwardly.

"Ms. Natalie, if you don't like eating vinegar, you don't have to dip. There's no need to react so strongly. Here, dipping dumplings in vinegar is a tradition," Qin Yang said quickly.

Natalie nodded quickly. "Okay, then I'll try it."

"Regular vinegar or the vinegar from the Laba garlic? The Laba garlic vinegar is a bit spicy, but the taste is better."

"Regular," Natalie said, already afraid of the spiciness.

After that, Natalie ate the dumplings absentmindedly. After finishing, she continued to make dumplings with everyone, still absentmindedly, thinking to herself: Is this President Qin too ruthless? He's actually asking me to use a batch of engines to exchange for a chance to see the Eastern early warning aircraft?

Are you kidding me! We're just taking a look! Besides, we have them too!

"We have E-2C early warning aircraft in our country, which played a significant role in the Bekaa Valley air battle," Natalie couldn't help but say. "If your side is interested, you're welcome to see our early warning aircraft."

E-2C, the disc is flat because there's a Yagi antenna inside.

"Okay," Old Lin nodded. Of course, it's fine to go see it for free. But, you want to see ours? Sorry, ours can't be shown publicly.

"Actually, it doesn't matter if we see it or not. Ms. Natalie, to be honest, your E-2C early warning aircraft is already outdated," Qin Yang said from the side.

"Outdated?"

"Yes, the E-2C early warning aircraft has a small airframe, can accommodate very few operators, and has a short loiter time. I won't mention these. The key is that the radar of this early warning aircraft has problems."

"What problems?"

"Back then, the U.S. Navy chose the longer wavelength UHF band in order to reduce the impact of sea clutter, which resulted in long-range visibility but insufficient accuracy. Even if the other side flies in a formation with a fifty-meter spacing, it would only appear as one point to you. Also, it uses a simple dual-delay line fixed target cancellation technology, which has limited land-looking capabilities, but it still doesn't work when encountering complex terrain."

The longer the wavelength, the farther the search distance, but the worse the accuracy. Therefore, except for the U.S. Navy using the UHF band, all other early warning aircraft use the S band.

Early warning aircraft look down from a high position, shining radar waves in all directions. When aiming at the ground, problems also arise. Various protrusions on the ground, hills, houses, bridges, and even large trees, can reflect radar waves, eventually appearing as a flurry of snowflakes on the screen.

Modern airborne radars rely on the principle of pulse Doppler to filter clutter. In the past, the technology was backward, and delay lines were used. When you open the radar antenna of an early warning aircraft, you can see thousands of delay lines of varying lengths welded inside, as if you've entered a lava cave.

Qin Yang's mouth was full of professional terms. After saying all this, he continued to summarize: "Of course, the E-2C has no problems when used on your side, after all, your side is all desert. However, when entering the Bekaa Valley, can you accurately find targets flying at ultra-low altitude hiding in the valley?"

The poor Syrian pilots took off and climbed, causing themselves to be exposed to Israeli early warning aircraft. If they had secretly flown at ultra-low altitude to the mountainous area after taking off, Israel might not have been able to detect them. Then, if they had launched a sneak attack, the myth of 82 to 0 would definitely not have occurred.

"How do you know?" Natalie put down the dough in her hand.

Qin Yang smiled and didn't answer, continuing to make dumplings.

"Then what system does your early warning aircraft radar use?" Natalie continued to ask.

"Let's talk about something else," Qin Yang said. "We know that the American early warning aircraft uses a flat slotted antenna, which is like a carrying pole stuck on top. The old Maozi don't have this processing technology, so they used a waveguide, the same as on warships, welded on, and it can be used barely."

"How do you know the old Maozi used a waveguide?"

A flat slotted antenna has openings on a flat surface, and electromagnetic waves radiate out from these openings. This requires high-precision processing technology. The old Maozi's precision is not high, so they changed to another method, opening a slot in a tube and letting the electromagnetic waves radiate out from the opening of the tube. This is a waveguide, and then the waveguides are welded together to become a flat radar.

Qin Yang smiled and didn't answer, continuing to make dumplings.

"President Qin, which one do you think is better?" Natalie asked relentlessly, continuing to pursue the question.

"The two have their own merits, but both are outdated," Qin Yang said. "To say which is advanced, it's still the active phased array radar. This kind of radar is definitely the future development trend."

"President Qin!" Old Lin on the opposite side cast a dissatisfied glance.

Qin Yang smiled and didn't continue speaking, but Natalie was surprised: Could it be that the Eastern early warning aircraft uses active phased array radar?

Impossible, this kind of radar requires high-precision electronic processing technology. Even our side hasn't mastered it. How could the Easterners have this technology?

This needs to be seen to be confirmed. However, President Qin has set a condition. If you want to see it, you have to donate a batch of engines for large passenger planes to the East. That's a considerable expense! Is it worth it to send such valuable things just to take a look?

Natalie finished making dumplings while thinking. The sound of gongs and drums rang outside.

"There's excitement outside. Let's go, Natalie, I'll take you to see. Our Eastern New Year is very lively, with lion dances, stilt walking, and Yangko dances. It will definitely open your eyes."

Watching Natalie leave, Old Lin immediately said in a hurried tone: "President Qin, has this woman taken the bait?"

"Old Lin, this can't be rushed. It's not easy to get a Jew to take the bait," Qin Yang said. "Now it's just laying the groundwork. Next, we'll go to Factory 112 and continue..."

Outside, the sound of gongs and drums continued, and the lively Spring Festival began. In this era, the New Year atmosphere was very strong.

Natalie also experienced it once, watching the lion dance performance and cheering happily, watching the people walking on stilts, worried that they would fall down at any time, watching the fireworks at night, with a childlike smile on her face.

These all became her most beautiful memories in the East.