Chapter 86: Flying Fire Push Link

"If the MiG-25 fighter jets we are flying now are equipped with a fly-by-wire system, their maneuverability can be further improved. They can not only be used as interceptors, but also as fighters to fight against enemy aircraft," Andre continued.

Although Andrei really wanted to discuss the Su-27, he knew that what should not be said should never be said. Now, the T-10 project within the Sukhoi Design Bureau is a top-secret project, and even Andropov may not know about it. If he told it out, he would definitely be caught as a spy, and even Andropov could not save himself.

Therefore, Andre could only talk about the MiG-25 he was flying. In fact, if the digital fly-by-wire was installed, the flight performance would be greatly improved, and the pilots would be more confident when flying.

"This digital telex is really great. Unfortunately, our current technological level is limited, and we can't even produce an analog telex," Simonov said.

Analog circuits are continuous signals, while digital circuits are signals that can be encoded and processed by computers. There is an essential difference between the two.

For analog circuits, once the circuit is designed, everything is fixed. If you want to upgrade it in the future, you must improve the circuit again. Moreover, its ability to process information is very poor. In fact, this thing is just an operational amplifier. Digital circuits are programmable and their performance can be improved at any time by improving the software.

For example, every time the Americans upgrade their missiles, they don’t need to change the hardware at all. They just improve the new programs and have new optimization algorithms to improve the missile’s hit rate.

"If we consider the future, digital fly-by-wire is a challenge that must be overcome," Andre said, "especially in the future, flight control, fire control, and power control can be integrated together, and flight, fire control, and propulsion can be linked together. Such a fighter will be like a human brain."

Fly-fire cross-linking is an integrated flight/fire control technology proposed by the United States a few years ago. After obtaining the target's motion information through radar and other equipment, the target's motion trend is accurately predicted in combination with the fighter's own status, and the weapon release point and the flight trajectory before reaching that point are calculated in real time. This greatly facilitates the pilot's weapon release. On the one hand, the HUD provides the pilot with intuitive control and status display, allowing the pilot to control the aircraft to fly according to the prompts and accurately fire weapons. On the other hand, this flight trajectory signal can be used through the flight/fire coupler to issue control instructions to the fly-by-wire flight control system, and the aircraft can be controlled to track the target for automatic attack.

It can be said that it is with this system that the combat performance of American fighters has changed by leaps and bounds, and even in the combat of machine guns, it has achieved a huge improvement. The computer controls everything, relying on precise flight trajectory, attitude and firing control, the aiming and shooting speed of machine guns has been further greatly improved, and the carrier aircraft can even attack the target head-on during head-on staggered flight!

The flight control, fire control and thrust control are linked together, which gives the aircraft more powerful performance. The flight control and fire control are linked together to control the various control surfaces of the aircraft, while the thrust control directly controls the engine! Especially with the vector nozzle, the three are linked together, and the fighter can be as powerful as the characters in martial arts novels, and can even release weapons in various actions such as rolling, pitching, climbing, and somersaults.

Originally, Simonov, as the deputy chief designer of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, was already a great expert in the field of fighter aircraft design. However, after hearing Andre's description, he suddenly felt that Andre was the one with the foresight in aviation weapons! When Andre finished describing these performances and finally concluded, Simonov nodded: "Yes, you said it very well! If future aircraft can really have the intersection of these systems, the combat effectiveness will be greatly increased!"

"At least for now, the fly-by-wire system is a challenge that must be overcome." Simonov continued, "Unfortunately, our current electronic technology is still too poor, and our radar research and development department is still clinging to the electron tube."

Simonov was very disappointed with these supporting production departments. He had contacted the Tikhmilov Instrument Manufacturing Institute several times to coordinate the radar issues of the new fighter, but the other party still had a lot of technical problems that could not be solved, especially, they still insisted on using electron tubes! It would be difficult to achieve a level that surpassed the American F-15 airborne radar.

"Electron tubes are a misunderstanding." Andre continued, "We only know how to increase the transmission power blindly, which increases the heat and the difficulty of heat dissipation. In the end, the radar we built is quite bulky, with low reliability and poor performance. Moreover, it will affect the performance of the carrier aircraft."

Historically, the Su-27's fuselage was originally well designed, but due to defects in its radar, it had to reduce its weight, and even had holes drilled in the beams, which eventually led to rickets and severely restricted its use of overload. Over the next decade, the Su-27 has been repeating the cycle of gaining and losing weight.

Hearing Andrei's words, Simonov nodded. This was almost a worry for him. Although the T-10 had not yet started its test flight, the nose of the aircraft was planned to be loaded with lead blocks for counterweight. However, if the final radar was overweight, it would be a disaster for the T-10.

"It would be great if we could get a radar system from the Americans!" said Andre.

EP-3 has opened the eyes of domestic technical personnel. Some of them have opened up their minds and no longer cling to vacuum tubes. If they can get advanced radars from the United States, they will be able to convince the remaining stubborn ones. If the stubborn ones don't listen, the most they can do is to set up a new design bureau!

Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to influence the Soviet Union's decision now! Andre continued to think, and if they want to get the radar system from the Americans, they can only rebel. Who would come from the free world of the West to the evil Soviet Union they claimed? Andre thought about the countries on the world map and suddenly remembered a country.

Iran! Iran has the most powerful military force in the Persian Gulf, especially the advanced Tomcat fighter jets purchased from the United States! The AWG-9 radar above is quite powerful, and in a few years, Iran will have a major change, and at that time, it will be an opportunity!

"What are you two talking about? You look so happy?" Just then, a voice came to my ears.

Andre looked up and was first attracted by the shining medal hanging on the other person's chest. Almost everyone here had medals all over their chest, but Andre only had two.

Then, he looked at the wine glass raised by the other person, and then looked up and saw the other person's face. He immediately recognized him. I had seen him some time ago. It was Marshal Ustinov!