Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Well, another job landed, and a big one at that.

Qin Yang couldn't refuse. After all, currently, the only successful domestically developed model available to the Navy and Air Force is the Hongqi-16 missile, which was developed by their Factory 960. Therefore, the Navy and Air Force have high expectations for Factory 960, hoping they can develop an advanced regional air defense missile.

This is really not easy.

Before this, there wasn't any domestically developed missile that was successful. The only model for domestic use was the Hongqi-2 missile, which was modified from the old Russian Sam-2. This missile used a solid rocket engine, but the missile body still used liquid fuel, so it needed to be fueled before takeoff. It was inconvenient to use on land, let alone on naval warships. Moreover, this type of air defense missile was used to hit high-altitude, high-speed aircraft and couldn't hit low-altitude, sea-skimming targets at all.

Over the decades, the Hongqi-2 missile had long become outdated, and the country needed a replacement solution.

Therefore, in the late 1970s, the country launched a second-generation long-range air defense missile program, developed separately by Guizhou and Shanghai, with both sides' development codes being Hongqi-5 missiles.

Guizhou originally produced the Hongqi-2 air defense missile, so their plan was also based on the Hongqi-2 as a template, still suitable for dealing with high-altitude, high-speed targets, but the missile body was large and not very maneuverable. Shanghai's focus was on intercepting medium and low-altitude targets, not only intercepting aircraft but also intercepting missiles. However, in order to pursue maneuverability, it was small in size and had insufficient range.

Both plans had their own advantages and disadvantages, and the country couldn't support both projects at the same time. After all, the country had to focus on economic construction, and investment in military research and development had to be reduced.

Therefore, after entering the 1980s, these two Hongqi-5 projects were merged, and the higher-ups also hoped that the originally different indicators could be integrated: it should be able to hit far, intercept high-altitude and high-speed targets, and also be able to see clearly and intercept low-altitude targets. This new Hongqi-5 project was also handed over to the Second Academy to be responsible for.

According to historical trends, by 1985, this plan was renamed Project 9, one of the three major key projects in China. The other two were the Pilili-8 project, code-named Project 8, which introduced the Python-3 missile, and the well-known J-10 fighter jet, also known as Project 10.

Therefore, people in later generations always bring up the S300 to make a point, saying that the Hongqi-9 is a copy of the S300 missile. In fact, the Hongqi-9 project was established earlier, and its performance is much higher.

Now, this project has a new change. Old Liu actually wants Factory 960 to take over!

"Old Liu, you said last time that you wanted us to help, we are just participants, not the leaders," Qin Yang frowned.

"Yes, I did say that, but you haven't taken any action since then. We thought, maybe you weren't willing at the time. When has your Factory 960 ever worked for others?" Old Liu said, "So, you might as well just do it."

Qin Yang was helpless. We didn't take action because we have too much work on hand.

"President Qin, the capable should do more work. Our country needs advanced regional air defense missiles, and this important task can only be taken over by you!"

"Yes, President Qin, if you take action, you will definitely be able to develop this missile quickly. When our 052 is finalized and construction begins, you will probably have already developed it, and we can design more advanced destroyers based on this missile and radar."

Everyone was full of expectations, as if they saw the scene of the new air defense missile flying into the sky.

"President Qin, is the guidance mechanism still active radar guidance?"

Now that President Qin is in charge, he must use the most advanced technology. Who told him to be so confident just now?

"Ahem, let's not talk too much about that, let's talk about the 052 first," Qin Yang said, "The 052's matter hasn't been finished yet, Old Pan, please continue."

Old Pan nodded: "Actually, the overall situation has been said almost completely. The next issue to be discussed is steel. We hope to use new high-strength steel."

To build warships, you must have qualified steel. This is not easy. Back when the 051 destroyer was being built, everything was originally agreed upon with the old Russians, but the old Russians withdrew halfway, and everything could only be done by ourselves.

Nothing can stump the hardworking, brave, wise, and intelligent Orientals. If the old Russians don't give it to us, we'll make it ourselves! After years of experimentation, high-quality steel with the code name 903 was finally created and became the suitable steel for the 051 destroyer.

So, can electroslag remelting steel meet the requirements: can the steel for making炮管be used? At this time, another indicator is involved: cheap.

If the steel is too expensive, it simply cannot be used!

Of course, the strongest of the warship steels is the steel for aircraft carrier decks, with a yield strength of up to one thousand megapascals. The number of manufacturers in the world that can produce this type of steel will not exceed one hand.

Ordinary warship steel is not simple either.

Take the 945 steel used in the 052 destroyer program as an example. The static yield strength is 450 MPa. Because the strength is too high, the weldability is very poor, which led to multiple cracking phenomena during the construction of the 052. Not to mention that because the steel requirements were too high, only half of it was qualified when it arrived at the shipyard. Of course, the steel mill's factory inspection was qualified, but it is hard to say where the problem lies.

As soon as Qin Yang heard this, he meant that he wanted his side to help produce steel. This is not possible, we don't understand it either.

"We have a welding king in our factory who can weld various steels. If you encounter problems by then, we can lend you the welding king."

At the critical moment, Qin Yang thought of the technical backbone he had dug up from the Prairie First Machine Factory. Anyway, his wife and children are in his factory, so he is not afraid of him running away.