Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

"Let's go, let's take the elevator and take a look below." Qin Yang realized he had misspoke as soon as he said it. How could a broken ship like this have a working elevator? They must all be broken.

"Let's just take the gangway."

"President Qin, does the elevator technology on this aircraft carrier have any reference value for us?" Zhao Guodong said as he walked alongside Qin Yang.

Qin Yang shook his head: "The only reference value of this World War II-era internal elevator for us is the ammunition elevator. Modern aircraft carriers must use side elevators. We still have to research the technology ourselves."

It's impossible for all the aircraft on an aircraft carrier to be parked on the deck. Some of them always need to go into the hangar below, not just to carry more aircraft, but also for easier maintenance.

This creates a need to move aircraft up and down, which requires elevators to solve.

This method already existed in the age of battleships. In the aircraft carrier era, elevators are even more of a necessity. Before the Cold War, aircraft carriers used propeller planes, which were small, and the deck was a straight-through deck. The elevators were also in the center of the deck.

Depending on the size of the aircraft carrier, there were two or three elevators. When the elevator went down, a large hole would be exposed on the deck. If someone were to pass by here, they could accidentally fall down with a 'plop'.

If a person falls, it would be dangerous. If an airplane falls, it might bring terrible consequences to the entire warship. For example, if an airplane is about to land, and just as the landing gear touches the deck, damn it, where's the deck? Why did the deck go down?

The plane crashes into the elevator, flies straight out, and then smashes into other planes nearby. That would be a big fire.

Therefore, internal elevators have many shortcomings. By the time of the Cold War, as aircraft carriers became larger and larger, elevators also evolved into side elevators, which were directly opened on the side of the ship to create the elevator structure, which would not interfere with the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft, and crew members would not approach, greatly reducing the risk of falling.

However, there are exceptions. For example, the Russian aircraft carriers, which they call heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers, have half of the ship as a flight deck and half as various weapons and equipment. These aircraft carriers also use internal elevators.

So, when India purchased a Kiev-class aircraft carrier and modified it into the INS Vikramaditya, it had to continue to use internal elevators, and the size of the elevator was very strange, only suitable for MiG-29Ks. Rafales and Super Hornets couldn't use it.

Another example is the amphibious assault ship. To compromise, the elevator is placed at the stern of the ship, which is also unique.

The current Melbourne has two elevators, both of which are internal elevators. If we want to build an aircraft carrier, we must not use this kind of useless method. Therefore, in terms of reference, the value is really not great. At most, it is for ammunition elevators.

Speaking of aircraft carrier elevators, the most familiar to the general public is the carrier-based aircraft elevator, after all, this is the largest, especially on American aircraft carriers, where two aircraft can be placed on the elevator and lifted together, which is very impressive.

However, aircraft carriers not only need to lift fighter jets, but also need to transport ammunition. After all, ammunition cannot all be placed on the deck, so aircraft carriers also have this need.

If it is a small aircraft carrier, they can barely use the aircraft elevator. The ammunition depot locations of large aircraft carriers are different and need to be categorized, requiring several ammunition elevators.

Ammunition elevators are all internal, and the technology of this aircraft carrier can be used as a reference.

Zhao Guodong nodded: "President Qin, you are right. We need to develop side elevators. This kind of internal elevator will be used as a reference for our ammunition elevators."

As they spoke, the group walked down.

It was dark inside.

After all, it was night, and this was a scrapped ship with no power supply, so it was naturally dark inside. Fortunately, everyone had prepared flashlights, and the light from the flashlights illuminated the entire hangar.

The area below the deck of an aircraft carrier is the hangar, the larger the area, the better. Therefore, aircraft carriers try to maximize the area of the hangar during design. Now everyone's flashlight beams can reach very far, making it look very empty inside.

"Let's go, there's nothing to see in the front, let's go to the back and take a look at the arresting gear equipment."

The arresting gear equipment is located directly below the arresting cables on the deck. You can see the arresting cables on both sides coming down through fixed pulleys, and then winding between several pulleys, and finally hanging on the oil cylinder.

This oil cylinder is the key. The energy of the aircraft coming down is absorbed by this oil cylinder. By adjusting the flow of hydraulic oil in the oil cylinder, the needs of different levels of aircraft arresting can be achieved. Light aircraft and heavy aircraft require different forces. If the pulling force on a light aircraft is too great, it may break the aircraft apart.

If the pulling force on a heavy aircraft is insufficient, it will not be able to stop and may rush off the deck and fall into the sea.

There is still a lot of technology involved here.

"President Qin, do you want to dismantle this set of equipment and send it to you?"

"Us?" Qin Yang was taken aback: "We only promised to help develop the arresting cables, we didn't say we would help develop the entire arresting gear!"

The arresting cable is just a rope, the arresting system includes the entire device including pulleys and oil cylinders. The complexity of this technology is not on the same level.

"President Qin, if you can help, it will greatly improve our research and development efficiency. When it is developed in the future, it can be placed in Wasteland Village to train pilots."

Qin Yang shook his head: "There's no rush, you can take your time."

The aircraft carrier is still far from being realized, and there is no rush to slowly figure out the various technologies. Even if you squat landing gear in Wasteland Village every day, it's useless. If the country doesn't allocate funds to build an aircraft carrier, the navy will not be able to obtain a sea-based fixed-wing carrier aviation force.

The navy is anxious, but the key is that there is no use in being anxious about this matter. The country now wants to develop the economy, where will the funds come from to build an aircraft carrier.

"Of course we are anxious." Zhao Guodong said: "One more technological breakthrough means one more foundation. Now, there is always a group of people who sneer at our navy's aircraft carrier project, and even think that we are daydreaming. We must firmly develop and slap the faces of those who question us!"

"Yes, there are a lot of rumors. Some people despise us, thinking that we can't develop it, and some people say that our policy is defensive and we don't need an aircraft carrier. There are many different opinions. Our navy has a lot of pressure to develop an aircraft carrier." Someone next to him said.

The resistance to aircraft carriers is not only technical, but also ideological, and there is still a large group of people who do not support aircraft carriers!

Qin Yang frowned: "Those who say we don't need aircraft carriers are short-sighted fools!"