Warship of Great Power

Looking at the beautiful fighter, Qin Tao's eyes were also full of anticipation. When he first went to sea, he discussed this electronic fighter with the big guys, but he didn't expect to see it now!

All the pods are just cylinders, with pointed front and back, and there is no turbo generator like the American electronic warfare pod. It seems that the power supply of J-15 is still sufficient, or it has been replaced with one with a greater power generation capacity. dynamo.

If we talk about the difference in other parts, this electronic fighter does not install an ISRT in front of the cockpit windshield, and the bulge there is invisible. This kind of fighter will not carry out air combat missions, so it should not be necessary to install it, and it may also be installed. It is this position that is replaced by other electronic warfare equipment.

In the eyes of everyone, the electronic warfare plane landed steadily on the aircraft carrier, hooked the arresting wire, slid forward and then stopped, the movement was skillful, and it was a success.

"Did you see it? I said no problem." Delano said something on the radio at the position of the landing guide officer, and then strode over.

The electronic warfare plane was also dragged to the parking area next to the ship island, and the big guys came down from the ship island to watch together.

"It looks like this electronic warfare plane can also carry air-to-air missiles." Someone saw the pylons under the wings and couldn't help but say.

"Of course, the mission of the electronic warfare plane is to attack the enemy's radar. After discovering it, you can use the anti-radiation missiles you carry. Our electronic warfare plane is not only a soft kill, it can become a hard kill at any time."

"Yeah, I found out what's the use of not being able to fight, and I will shoot when it's time to shoot."

Amidst the discussion among the crowd, the two pilots came down.

"Report, we are ordered to come and test!"

Wang Wei returned a gift: "Welcome to the 002 aircraft carrier. In the next time, we will train together. I hope this electronic warfare aircraft will allow us to perform combat missions more securely."

"yes!"

"You have been flying for several hours, you must be very tired? Go eat something first, and then go to rest."

"Report, when the aircraft was tested halfway, there were some minor problems. The nose radome needs to be removed. Let's make a simple adjustment." The electronic warfare officer in the rear cabin said.

"Okay, this kind of small operation, we can do it on the deck."

The blue vests got busy.

The nose of the Su-27 series aircraft is very large. During maintenance, it is necessary to use professional tools to fix it on both sides. Turn the screw to slowly support the radome and turn it up about 60 degrees. Drill inside to fix it.

The ground crews were familiar with it, and put up the radome with ease, but when the radar equipment inside was exposed, they were all surprised.

"Not a flat panel slot antenna!"

"These small modules are similar to our shipboard phased array radar!"

"This plane has been replaced with an active phased array radar!"

Everyone is very surprised. You know, this kind of active phased array radar technology is quite advanced. At present, it is only available on early warning aircraft in China. Now it has transitioned to fighter jets?

Xiang Jing also came over to join in the fun. When she saw the radar antenna inside, she was also curious: "It's actually a liquid-cooled radar? How do you arrange the cooling method?"

"There is a slight problem with the cooling." The electronic warfare officer said: "There are air bubbles inside the coolant, which reduces the cooling efficiency, so it needs to be exhausted."

Xiang Jing opened her eyes wide, watching the electronic warfare officer reach into the radar equipment compartment, and was even more surprised: "The cooling system is integrated into the radar? How is this done?"

For phased array radars, liquid cooling is the best choice, allowing the radar to obtain the best cooling effect at all times for full power output, but for fighter jets, this means adding additional radiators.

The noses of the Su-27 series are very large, and the aperture of the radar antenna can reach about 1 meter. In this way, there will be more T/R components that can be deployed, and the heat dissipation requirements will be greater. Otherwise, the radar will not be able to work normally. .

Radar of this level can only be cooled with liquid, but this type of fighter jet did not have an additional cooling system before. If this problem is not solved, it will not work.

When the Yankees improved the existing F-16 fighters, they encountered this kind of problem: the power generation and cooling capabilities of the F-16 could not support the advanced AESA, so they had to settle for the next best thing and use BAR. Dongfang has developed an air-cooled airborne phased array radar to replace light fighters, but heavy fighters still have to use liquid cooling. How to solve this?

"That's right, the antenna components are liquid-cooled, but the liquid cooling system has been integrated into the radar. During the internal circulation of the radar, the external air cooling will dissipate heat from the liquid cooling system."

This is equivalent to a double cycle. The liquid cooling is only responsible for the heat dissipation of the radar antenna, which is small in size and compact in structure. Then the heat brought out by the liquid cooling is then dissipated by the air cooling. Anyway, at high altitudes, cold air is everywhere, and the heat dissipation power is still Very sufficient.

This method can be regarded as the first in the East.

"The performance of this radar must be very powerful." The big guy was very envious.

"Of course, our previous radar could have a search range of more than 200 kilometers. Now that we change to this radar, we have to double it. The search distance of 400 kilometers is worthy of this kind of phase control. Array radar."

"Wouldn't this be able to replace our AWACS?"

After the big guy finished speaking, he remembered that Xiang Jing was still by his side, so he shut up quickly.

"Thanks to the relatively large antenna area, we have about 2,000 X-band T/R components on this array, each with a power of 10 watts. The peak power is 20 kilowatts. However, due to power limitations, it is generally not possible to output this way, and the normal average The power is about six kilowatts. As for the search distance, it depends on what kind of target it is. A large target like a bomber does have a detection distance of 400 kilometers, but it is still incomparable with the early warning aircraft. After all, our digital processing and other systems are all It’s not as good as an early warning aircraft, and it doesn’t have omnidirectional capabilities.” The electronic warfare officer is very modest: “Our fighters first use this kind of radar, or for the needs of electronic warfare.”

Electronic warplanes require advanced phased array radars, which can be more flexible during combat, so they became the first users to try them out.

"Of course, this kind of radar can be installed on our fighter planes, thanks to Mingzhou Group. Our radar is an upgraded product of their foreign trade high-end aircraft radar."

The big guy looked at Qin Tao again.

"It should be, our Mingzhou Group's technology development is for the development of the motherland." Qin Tao is very humble.

The arrival of electronic warplanes has made the big guys more confident, and almost all types of aircraft are complete.

Four planes were placed on the deck, which looked very spectacular.

Even from outer space, it can be seen clearly.

"Orientals not only have a catapult-type aircraft carrier, but also a full range of carrier-based aircraft." Swift looked at the satellite photos with a serious face: "Two carrier-based fighter jets, a carrier-based early warning aircraft, and a carrier-based aircraft." Carrying electronic warfare aircraft, the original 001 aircraft carrier, we can still laugh at their semi-finished products, but this 002 aircraft carrier is already exactly the same as our aircraft carrier."

"Yeah, their military power is developing very fast, far beyond our imagination. This electronic warfare plane has also appeared. It seems that the next EP-3 will not be able to get closer. When this aircraft carrier enters service, cooperate with Get on their Aegis battleships, and their aircraft carrier formations will be the same as ours."

"No, it's stronger than ours. They use electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic interception. We have observed that the J-15 fighter once landed with four anti-ship missiles, four medium-range bombs and two combat bombs. This kind of fighter plane has a heavy weight, and the landing weight must have exceeded 25 tons!"

"What about our electromagnetic ejection device? When will it be developed? Our Nimitz-class aircraft carrier has long been outdated. We should also have a modern aircraft carrier. When will our CVN-21 be started?"

The Yankee's new generation of aircraft carriers also belonged to getting up early and catching up late.

In 1975, the first three Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, that is, from CVN-68 to CVN-70, the US Navy began to study the next generation of aircraft carriers. At that time, they studied many options, including small , medium and large aircraft carriers, including traditional CTOL using catapult/intercepting cable, STOL using ski jump short takeoff/intercepting cable landing, and S/VTOL using ski jump takeoff/vertical landing, each of which has There are many layouts, and there are more than fifty designs in total.

In these plans, they have a feeling that the flowers are becoming more and more charming. It was not until 1996 that they finally decided: the new generation aircraft carrier is still a large-deck catapult aircraft carrier with nuclear power as the propulsion system, with a full load displacement of 10 The 10,000-ton class, the carrier aircraft wing has expanded to 75 aircraft, and has a more powerful dispatch capability.

This program was eventually named the CVN-21 Future Aircraft Carrier Program, where the "21" of course refers to the 21st century.

It was originally planned to be able to serve in the 21st century, but who would have thought that the work has not started yet, and the service is nowhere in sight! They just allocated more than three or four billion U.S. dollars for preliminary research and development.

During the research and development, they found that the electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic blocking technology required by this aircraft carrier has become the biggest obstacle.

"Both Northrop Grumman and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems are developing prototypes of electromagnetic catapults. Among them, the prototype of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems has been developed faster and has begun construction in Lakehurst."

"Really? Then let's go and have a look." Swift said: "If Northrop Grumman doesn't work hard, then we will directly place the order to General Atomics. We can't wait too long!"

The United States has strong scientific research capabilities. When the East needs to concentrate its national efforts to develop a weapon, the United States can find several suppliers to do it together, and then choose the lowest quotation from them. This is the biggest gap between the two sides. The United States is very interested in this method Satisfied, I feel that bidding is the only way to choose the best one, but now, their model has caused serious internal friction, they can't gather all the funds to support one, and have to spend a lot of money and time in comparison.

The Yankees are not late in the research and development of electromagnetic catapults. As early as 45 years ago, they built an electromagnetic catapult in the lower computer, which accelerated the four-ton fighter to 180 kilometers per hour, but However, it used a length of 178 meters and required a lot of electricity, which was far behind the hydraulic catapults at the time, let alone the later steam catapults.

It was not until the 1980s that they started to restart the electromagnetic catapult project. At that time, they commissioned Kaman Electromagnetic Company to build a set of experimental principle prototypes. At that time, Kaman Company was already manufacturing electromagnetic-driven electromagnetic roller coasters and electromagnetic-driven super high-speed Elevators, etc. The company's technical solutions are mature and reliable, and they focus on practicality. For example, when conducting research and development for the US Navy, they never used any high-end superconductors, but only used conventional permanent magnets and copper windings.

In 1992, they manufactured a set of scale prototypes to verify various technologies.

But in 1999, the U.S. Naval Warfare Center gave up the little-known Kaman company, and signed research and development contracts with the two major military industry giants at the time: Northrop Grumman and General Atomics, entrusting them The development of the prototype of the electromagnetic catapult also allocated 61.77 million US dollars each.

If they continue to use Kaman, maybe the electromagnetic device has come out. However, over the past few decades, the US military industry giants have already developed into deformed monsters. Their meat belongs to them, and other companies do not want to eat it. What's more, in order to eat more meat, they will also encourage wars, so that it is convenient to buy arms.

General Atomics has specially formed an electromagnetic system company to do this kind of design, and spent 61.77 million US dollars, and there must be some results.

Now, it's time to test their results.

New Jersey, McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Base.

It is located in the forest and is very hidden. Although it is not Area 51, it is also the most important test base for the US Navy.

This base has three main runways and complete facilities. It has now become the US Navy's land catapult experiment center. When Swift came here, the prototype of General Atomics had already been installed in place.

Looking at the fine seams in the stainless steel prototype, Swift was very happy: "Our American technology is the most advanced, and our next aircraft carrier needs to be an electromagnetic catapult aircraft carrier! What the Orientals can do, we It can be done too!"

"Yes, we have confidence in this electromagnetic catapult." Project leader George Suliqi said: "The full-scale electromagnetic catapult system we built will be a thousand tons lighter than a steam catapult, and it will also fit the original Where the C-13 catapult is installed, our system has an efficiency of up to 70 percent, while the previous steam catapult was only 6 percent!"

Swift nodded again and again: "Can you eject the fighter jet now for us to see?"

"Not yet, let me introduce our electromagnetic catapult to you. It is divided into six major systems, the most important of which is the launching device. Below this is our most advanced linear induction motor. Its peak power exceeds one Hundreds of megawatts!"

Listening to his babbling introduction, Swift is very impatient: "I want to know, does it work now?"

"Sorry, we just installed it. I'll continue to introduce it to you. The structure of this system is very simple. Below is a simple mobile shuttle pod that can drive the fighter forward..."

"Then it's just a sample now?" Swift said dissatisfiedly: "If you can show it in front of me, this thing can move, even with a catapult car, I can give you the order directly , our navy has no time to wait, we must complete the project research and development as soon as possible!"

Hearing what he said, Suliqi gritted his teeth: "Okay, we can have a try, how about we test it with no load first?"

The technicians on the side were anxious and wanted to say something, but Suliqi stopped him: "Tello, go and prepare, we will perform a no-load test for the leaders."

The catapult is only more than a hundred meters long, and it only occupies a small space in the base. Next to the catapult is the operation room, and there is a transformer outside the operation room, and the surging power can be directly transmitted to it.

"Attention, prepare to store energy!"

The transformer suddenly buzzed and began to work, and there was a vibration under my feet.

"We have a special flywheel energy storage device under our feet. It will be released quickly when it is ejected." Su Liqi introduced: "The development of this device is very difficult, but we still overcome it."

"Energy storage is over!"

"let's start!"

Whoosh!

With a soft sound, the catapult shuttle flew out at once.

"This is the power of electromagnetism." Suliqi said: "It is equivalent to a maglev train..."

"Okay, can I eject a car next?"

Just no load, what's the point? The performance of this kind of catapult can only be demonstrated by attaching a trolley. Even if it is not tens of tons like a fighter jet, at least it must have a load.

Su Liqi rolled his eyes: "Sorry, we don't have a test car here yet."

"Then hang up that Humvee we're driving."

Suliqi rolled his eyes: "The Humvee is a low-speed vehicle, and I'm afraid it can't adapt to the speed of the catapult."

"Then my Ford sedan."

Now Suliqi has nothing to say. The weight of the Ford car is only half of that of the Hummer, so it should be able to handle it. He gritted his teeth: "Okay."

The Ford sedan was hung on the catapult. Swift was very happy, lit a cigar, smoked, and waited. However, after waiting for more than an hour, the sweaty Sullich finally ran over: " Report, we can try to eject."

"Okay, catapult, if my Ford car can fly out, then I will appoint your company as a contractor!"

"Ejection begins!"

Whoosh!

The Ford sedan flew out, and just as the big guy was about to cheer, the transformer behind him suddenly hummed and then snapped. The "tentacles" on the transformer fell off.

It's off!