Warship of Great Power

The second design department of Mingzhou Group is a national and world-renowned aircraft carrier design unit. They never design other warships, they only specialize in aircraft carriers. Over the years, they have designed a series of aircraft carriers and accumulated a lot of experience.

However, they have never dabbled in a 100,000-ton aircraft carrier, so this design is a challenge for them, but also an opportunity. Everyone has been waiting for this opportunity, and now, the opportunity has finally come!

They have various innovative ideas that they hope to realize on this aircraft carrier.

"I think our aircraft carrier should use four catapults and add one more to achieve the same dispatch efficiency as the American aircraft carrier." At this moment, a technician spoke.

Only the United States and France have the experience of catapult takeoff in the world. Since France is a medium-sized aircraft carrier, it has always used two catapults, while the United States has always been a large aircraft carrier and has always used four catapults.

Our own 002 with a displacement of 80,000 tons only uses three catapults. So, should we add one more catapults to four catapults on a 100,000-ton aircraft carrier?

This is a key factor affecting the take-off and landing of aircraft carrier-based aircraft, which means that the dispatch efficiency of the aircraft carrier and the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier are a key indicator.

So when we talk about this, everyone becomes serious.

Three or four?

"We are still groping forward in the development of aircraft carriers, and the United States has decades of operational experience. Since they have been using four, we have to use four." The technician continued.

It is not shameful to directly copy other people's successful experience when one's own experience is insufficient. The East has always done this. Take the carrier-based aircraft as an example. The vertical take-off and landing fighter of the East is a replica of the American aircraft. Others have already found a path to success, all you have to do is follow suit.

So, should we add one to the aircraft carrier's catapult?

"With regard to the dispatch efficiency of aircraft carriers, we already have more than a dozen algorithms. After analyzing these algorithms, our three catapults are enough. We believe that the dispatch efficiency of three catapults is not lower than that of four catapults. The Americans maintain four catapults. catapults, mainly because their catapults are unreliable and are often in a state of maintenance, and they need to increase the redundancy of the system to ensure that at least one is available."

The debate begins.

Qin Tao was in high spirits.

The American aircraft carrier has always had four catapults. It was the first time that our side built a catapult-type aircraft carrier and used three catapults, so as not to hinder the operation of the landing area. The take-off and landing positions of the inclined deck catapults are staggered. However, the American The aircraft carrier has four catapults, and one of them must have invaded the landing area. So, is this catapult useless?

"The combat standard of an American aircraft carrier is that a maximum of 80% of the aircraft can be parked on the deck. In this case, a maximum of 50 or more aircraft can be parked on the deck. For them, the deck is the real activity place for the aircraft. The depot is the parking place for maintenance and backup aircraft. However, we can see that after they have parked fifty aircraft, the bow is basically full of aircraft, and they can only use the two catapults on the angled deck. , if we also use this method, then the bow is full, and only one catapult on the angled deck can be used, and the dispatch efficiency is obviously not as good as two catapults."

In fact, there are about 20 aircraft normally parked on the deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. At this time, all four catapults can be used, but when the number of parked aircraft reaches 30, one catapult must be blocked. Said that what I like to block most is the No. 1 catapult on the right side of the bow, so that it can be consistent with other parked carrier-based aircraft and will not affect the operation of the aircraft carrier. However, when 50 aircraft are parked, the No. 2 catapult It must also be blocked. The entire space in the bow of the ship is used to park the aircraft. At this time, the catapults on the angled deck must be used. The dispatch efficiency of two catapults must be higher than that of one.

Now, if we want to build an aircraft carrier with a displacement of 100,000 tons, we should learn from the United States and directly use four catapults.

"That's right, the U.S. Navy occasionally uses this sortie method. If more than 50 carrier-based aircraft are used to carry out a full-deck attack, the two catapults on the angled deck seem to be very high. Efficiency, but this mode is not easy to use. All the carrier-based aircraft are parked at the bow of the ship. When dispatching, it needs to be dragged for a long distance, which affects the efficiency of the deck. We can also have our own attack methods. And, don’t forget, fighter jets As long as you attack, you have to consider the landing situation. What if you find something wrong after take-off and you need to make an emergency landing? The No. 3 catapult is in the landing zone on the angled deck. It cannot continue to take off here. After each ejection , it is necessary to ensure that there is no problem with the ejected aircraft before the take-off operation can be carried out. The priority of the take-off operation is lower than that of the landing operation. In this case, the take-off efficiency of these two catapults is equivalent to 1.5 at most! We Here, there is a special GA algorithm, using only one catapult on the angled deck and one catapult on the bow deck, the dispatch efficiency will not be worse than two catapults on the angled deck!"

An aircraft carrier deck plan appeared on the projection screen, with placement diagrams of various carrier-based aircraft drawn on it, and then the animation simulation began.

These technicians are indeed the best and can do anything! Qin Tao's eyes lit up.

The picture of the US aircraft carrier filling the bow deck with planes is indeed very good, but this is mainly used for replenishment. The stern of the ship is completely empty to receive the dry goods transported by the supply ship. At that time, the back deck will be full of boxes. , various forklifts are busy going back and forth, which is not a common attack state at all.

"Taking 20 planes as a total wave, it takes a total of 831 seconds, and the average ejection time for each plane is less than 42 seconds. Overall, it is no worse than that of the inclined deck."

"No, you only considered deck take-off and did not consider deck scheduling. There is something wrong with your algorithm."

Everyone was quarreling and had a heated debate.

"Midway aircraft carrier combined with F18 fighter jets played a very high dispatch efficiency in the Gulf War. This is the advantage of four catapults. We must learn from the United States!"

"Really? Regarding the continuous wave attack method of the Nimitz aircraft carrier, we need to use the demonstration method of closed queuing network. Let's take a look at this paper."

It's theory again. This kind of theory is no longer a deck model diagram, but a graph. The horizontal axis is the total number of available aircraft, and the vertical axis is the sortie rate. This graph is really incomprehensible to non-professionals.

"We can see that if the take-off time is between six and twelve minutes, the dispatch efficiency of three catapults and four catapults is exactly the same. When the time is within six minutes, the utilization rate of the catapults is as high as Ninety-six percent, indicating that the ejection link is a short board, but if the time is longer than eight minutes, the utilization rate of the catapult is only 80%, indicating that the catapult still has spare capacity, and the key to restricting sorties is not the catapult, but the catapult. It is deck dispatching. Needless to say four, two catapults are enough, as long as it meets the target of 500 catapults before a failure occurs, and our catapults will not fail once 5,000 times, so there will be no question."

One side is a theoretical school, and the other is a practical school. Both sides are arguing and quarreling, and no one can convince the other.

Finally, someone suggested: "Since our argument has no conclusion, let's report it to President Qin and let him make a decision."

"Yes, Mr. Qin's advice must be the best."

"Call now."

"No need to call, Mr. Qin is right here." Babic, who had been silent until now, spoke.

At this time, everyone looked behind, and they were all surprised when they saw Qin Tao.

"Mr. Qin!"

"Mr. Qin!"

"Mr. Qin, do you support three catapults or four catapults?"

Qin Tao was a little helpless.

He is also confused about this. He has experience in aircraft carrier construction, but before he came to this world, he just built 003, which is a version with three catapults. The later aircraft carrier is still in planning, whether to use three bombs or four bombs It was not decided at all, so he had no way to decide.

He can only speak from experience.

After the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in France, there have been various aircraft carrier design plans. Although the construction has not been started, there are many PPTs. The latest version of the PANG aircraft carrier is a giant ship with a full load displacement of 80,000 tons. Here On the aircraft carrier, the French still used two catapults and two elevators. The French publicize that these two are enough.

However, considering that the French do not have catapult R\u0026D and production technology themselves, this is probably to save money. After all, the price of buying it from the United States, whether it is electromagnetic ejection or steam ejection, is horribly high. You can just buy two for makeshift use. If you buy four, the price may be able to keep up with the cost of the aircraft carrier.

At the same time, the U.S. Navy also conducted a demonstration in 2017. At that time, when the Ford class was in trouble, they were demonstrating future aircraft carriers, including a three-catapult version of the Ford, numbered CVN8X, and a displacement similar to that of the Kitty Hawk. The single-reactor CVN LX was demonstrated by the U.S. Navy at the time. The four-catapult version had an average of 160 sorties per day, while the three-catapult version had an average of 140 to 160 sorties per day. It seems that the difference is not much, but the U.S. Navy has become accustomed to it. Four catapults are used, so at the end of the demonstration, four catapults are still used, and there is no plan to use one fuselage. Anyway, it is a matter of 160 million US dollars.

What about your own side? Our own electromagnetic catapults are cheaper, and it doesn’t cost much to install four catapults.

"Mr. Qin, what do you think?"

"Everyone, I don't think this is a problem." Qin Tao suddenly had an idea: "Whether we use three or four is not up to us. It depends on the needs of the navy. We can just leave this choice directly to the navy. We will follow the four Regarding the design of the pod, if the Navy wants three catapults, then we will remove one catapult, which shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Everyone was stunned for a while. Mr. Qin actually became the boss and handed over the blame to the Navy. But after thinking about it carefully, this choice is not bad. When we were arguing, we gave the choice to the Navy.

"Then the choice between the center-mounted ship island and the rear-mounted ship island should also be left to the navy?" Babbage asked.

There are many topics of debate, not only catapults, but also ship islands.

We will not choose the useless option of dual ship islands. We will definitely use a single ship island, and if it uses nuclear power, this ship island will be smaller and occupy a smaller deck area.

"There is no need for the ship island. Our ship island can be as far back as possible, but it cannot be too far back, otherwise it will interfere with the airflow at the stern of the ship." Qin Tao said: "After we complete the initial design, we need to make one Wind tunnel test to see how the turbulence is near the ship island."

The nuclear-powered ship island does not need to consider the chimney problem, so the layout is more flexible. It depends on the location you need to choose. This point can be referred to the United States. The Americans' Ford-class aircraft carriers put the ship island at the back, so that The front deck is freed to facilitate the dispatch of carrier-based aircraft, which can significantly improve the efficiency of deck operations.

Our own 100,000-ton aircraft carrier can also move the island back, thus freeing up a large space in front. The efficiency is definitely different between walking around the island and walking directly.

Hearing Qin Tao's answer, Babbage nodded: "Okay, then we will design the ship island at the rear."

In this way, the layout of the deck is almost the same, with the island at the rear, three elevators, and three or four bombs to be determined. These confirmations mean that the design work here on the deck can be fully launched.

"Mr. Qin, the next step is the power system. Has the Navy confirmed whether it will use all-electric propulsion?" Babbage continued to ask.

"This is not yet available. In terms of the power system, we also have to prepare both hands. Of course, for us, we still hope that the Navy can be more radical and choose an all-electric propulsion solution." Qin Tao said.

The first aircraft carrier still has a jump deck, and the second one has a flat deck, and is also equipped with electromagnetic ejection. It can be said that this plan is quite radical. Since the 002 aircraft carrier is so radical, the 003 aircraft carrier can certainly go up to another level. Building, engage in all-electric propulsion.

Of course, the advantage of all-electric propulsion is that electricity can be comprehensively deployed. For example, if the energy accumulated in electromagnetic interception cannot be used in time for electromagnetic ejection, it can also be given to the power system to make the power system run faster. The entire ship relies on the power grid to distribute power. There are many benefits. Even if you want to deploy electromagnetic guns and laser cannons in the future, you will still have enough energy.

Of course, the Navy's worries are also justified. If the lock falls, the aircraft carrier will be completely unable to move.

What Mingzhou Group has to do is to let the Navy put down its psychological burden and build confidence in the all-electric propulsion solution. However, this thing cannot yet be built in a laboratory on land and can only be tested directly on the aircraft carrier.

"Well, then we will make two plans for the power system." Babbage said: "Mr. Qin, thank you for coming. Our overall design can be finalized, and then we can move on to the detailed design."

If they hold the meeting by themselves, it will take a long time, especially when the data may not be finalized. Then they will have to report to Qin Tao, which wastes a long time. Qin Tao came here this time to make all these decisions. They can get to work quickly.

"This is what I should do. Everyone, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is our big project. We must crack this hard nut and submit a satisfactory answer to the motherland and the people!"

"yes!"

Everyone has the same solemn look, whether they have an oriental face or an old Maozi face, their beliefs are the same.

The next one, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier!

As he spoke, Qin Tao felt his stomach growl. Before he knew it, the meeting had been held for half a day, and the sun was already setting outside.

"It seems that we can only have one meal at our second design office today." Qin Tao said: "Is it free to eat here or do we need to pay by card?"

"Do you still need to swipe your card to eat?" Babic opened his eyes wide. The meaning was obvious: do you still need to spend money to eat?

Well, it seems that eating here is also free.

"Mr. Qin, we need to move to detailed design, so I won't eat with you."

"Yes, Mr. Qin, goodbye!"

Everyone said goodbye one by one, and soon, only a few people were left in the conference room.

Babbage stood there, moving his lips, wanting to say goodbye, but felt that it was not polite: "Mr. Qin, let me accompany you to dinner. During the meal, we can continue to chat about the details. .”

"Don't they all eat?" Qin Tao was very curious.

"The aircraft carrier plan has been finalized. They can't wait to design the aircraft carrier now. I will send someone to deliver the meals to the office soon. If the canteen is too big, it is a waste, and there is a shortage of lunch boxes."

Qin Tao nodded, feeling ashamed of his suspicion when he first arrived. How could he doubt these people? They are the most passionate and energetic people about their work.

The cafeteria was indeed empty, with no one around. The food in the cafeteria was quite good. Moreover, the cafeteria was divided into two parts, one was the Chinese food area and the other was the Western food area.

"Babich, what do you like to eat?" Qin Tao asked curiously.

After coming here for so long, have these people been assimilated in their diet?

"We like to eat fast. We like to eat whatever rice can be stuffed into our mouths and into our stomachs as quickly as possible." Babic said, "So some harder foods, such as cakes and so on. , are not popular here, some porridge, porridge and the like are very popular here."

Qin Tao was touched again. These people spent so much time sleeping and forgetting to eat, they even had to save time for meals.

"When the design of the 004 aircraft carrier is completed, our second design office will take a one-month vacation, and I will take you on a trip." Qin Tao said, these lovely people cannot be busy with work all the time, they must have time to rest.

"President Qin, we still have to wait for the 004 aircraft carrier to be built. After we finish the design, we have to negotiate with the shipyard. We won't feel at ease until it's built."

"Then we have to wait until when to combine work and rest. After the design is completed, let's go to Shuangsha Island!" Qin Tao made a decision.