Chapter 1083: Shooting Satellites

No matter how hard we tried, we still arrived late. The key is that the procedures are complicated.

It is of course no problem for Wu Shengli to come and observe, but it is not easy for Qin Tao to come. We have to go through the procedures and get the approval of various leaders. Even if Qin Tao proposed this project and helped a lot in the development of the project, it would not work.

Because the confidentiality of this project is really high. If we compare it, it is similar to the two bombs and one satellite in the past.

Anti-ballistic missiles are very difficult. The terminal interception has a fast flight speed, the mid-stage interception has a high flight altitude, and the initial interception... unless it is a weapon in space, if the ground weapon can get close to the initial interception place, the enemy's missile would have been launched long ago.

This first interception experiment is even more important. After the Americans developed the relevant system, they thought they had established a protective umbrella. They can threaten others, but others cannot threaten them, thus forming unilateral absolute security.

To break this situation, on the one hand, we need to develop missiles with stronger penetration capabilities, such as warheads with a water-skipping trajectory, and at the same time, we also need to develop corresponding defense systems. We must have what others have, so that we can return to the same starting line.

Research and development in attack is not difficult, and only a small amount of resources are needed to be effective, but research and development in defense is much more complicated, after all, the technical content required is more than one level higher.

It is not easy for Dongfang to complete the research and development of this weapon system in such a short time, and Qin Tao is very emotional.

At this time, hearing Qin Tao's words, the people inside stood up with a smile: "Boss Qin, our missiles weighing one or two tons can still be blown off by this little wind? If so, our missiles should not be installed on warships, after all, the wind and waves at sea are bigger."

"This launch method is still cold launch, after all, our heavy missiles are like this, and it can also save fuel."

The Hongqi 9 missile is cold launch, and the Hongqi 19 is of course also. In fact, there are not many hot launch missiles in the navy's equipment sequence. The Hongqi 16 has been hot launch from the beginning, and the Eagle Strike 8 series is also hot launch, and the rest are almost all cold launch.

The larger the diameter of the missile, the larger the area of ​​the launch tube it occupies. When a hot-launched missile is stuffed into the launch tube, it must have an inner and outer double-tube structure, so that there is a smoke exhaust duct in the middle. A missile of this size that fits the navy's vertical launch unit can only be cold-launched, otherwise there is no space for smoke exhaust.

Moreover, China is also proficient in cold launch. Not to mention missiles like the Hongqi 19, even ballistic missiles like the Dongfeng 21, which are several times larger in size and weight, are still cold-launched. China has sufficient technical foundation.

"Well, cold launch is cold launch. It's really cold outside, or it's warm inside."

There is no air conditioning inside, but there are electronic equipment. So many electronic equipment are working and they all need to emit heat.

"Yes, it's warm inside, especially the Loongson 4 processor, which is overclocked by us. If the radiator is removed, you can spread egg pancakes on it." Wang Xiangguo continued. As the chief designer of the Hongqi 19 missile, he is already a white-haired old man, but he is still full of energy. At the same time, he is also used to the humorous way of getting along with Qin Tao.

"Loongson 4, overclocked?" Qin Tao was a little curious.

"Yes, if you want to calculate the intercept trajectory, you must have high enough computing power. We used the latest Loongson server on this car, which has 18 Loongson 4 processors, but the computing power is still insufficient, so we overclocked it. The 2.5GHZ processor was overclocked to 3.2GHZ."

It is not so easy to anti-missile. Just the computer of the control system requires quite high computing power.

"Well, the performance of this processor is outdated. When we assembled 055, we already used Loongson 5. The performance of this processor is more advanced and should be able to solve this problem."

If you want to talk about high frequency, then you have to count Loongson 5. The computing speed of this processor is as high as 5GHZ, which is enough to look down on the whole world. Because it is too advanced, it has never been mass-produced, but only for internal use.

Although the development of central processing units has climbed the mountain of frequency, the next development is to move towards multi-core and multi-purpose. Now only two cores are outdated, and there will be four, eight, or even large and small cores in the future. However, high-frequency processors are still useful, such as for calculations. Under this demand, the higher the computing power of the processor, the better.

"Yes, we also got the Loongson 5 processor, but it has not been integrated into the system. When the target missile is replaced with a ballistic missile next time, the Loongson 5 processor must be used to complete the calculation." Wang Xiangguo said.

This time, the target is a satellite in space. The orbital height is known, and the difficulty of interception is not high. The main verification is whether the kinetic warhead can maneuver normally in space and whether it can fly to the predetermined position for precise impact. When it is replaced with a ballistic missile next time, it will test the reaction ability of the entire system even more.

This kind of test cannot be rushed, it has to be done slowly.

Qin Tao nodded: "When that time comes, our Loongson 6 is estimated to be out. In short, in terms of computers, we promise not to drag down domestic scientific research."

"That's for sure. We use world-class chips. I heard that the Americans also want to use this kind of high-performance chip, but unfortunately they don't have the conditions. Their TMD system uses a supercomputer that occupies an entire floor of their base building."

If the chip performance is not good enough, then we can only fight the quantity. There is no problem deploying it in the ground base, but it is difficult to transfer it to the warship.

"In terms of high-performance chips, we will never export them. Let them use their own. Anyway, in their eyes, their technology is the most advanced." Qin Tao said.

Everyone laughed when they heard Qin Tao's words.

"There is still an hour before interception!"

The atmosphere became tense.

The interception of ballistic missiles and near-Earth satellites is similar, and the time is very short. After all, the shortest time to circle the earth is 84 minutes. If it is a ballistic missile, it will fly half a circle around the earth at most. Even if there is an early warning satellite in space, the preparation time left for the party is only half an hour at most.

This will reflect the advantage of mid-course interception. Deploy warships in the ocean, so that the missile can have several opportunities to intercept during the flight. If it is the terminal stage, there is only one chance.

The navy will also play an important role in anti-missile.

The current Hongqi-19 missile has a limited firing height and can only intercept medium- and long-range missiles, but this is just the beginning. In the future, with the more advanced Hongqi-26 missile, it will be easy to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles.

"Let's go out for a walk and don't disturb their work here." Wu Shengli said.

The time before the interception is the most tense, and there is no need to stay here to make trouble for everyone.

"Well, let's go outside to blow the wind and sand and take a look at the scenery on the Gobi Desert." Qin Tao said.

Not only them, but also a large number of leaders from the Air Force came. They did not gather outside the control car to make trouble, but were walking outside. After the two went out, they soon met these people.

"Old Wu, you guys are here too?"

"Yes, let's take a look. This is a moment that will go down in history."

"Yes, it will definitely go down in history, but it cannot be announced for the time being. When the test is mature, we will deploy this weapon system to the southwest."

There is a country in the south that keeps clamoring. This country is developing ballistic missiles, aiming at its own capital. The deployment of this Hongqi 19 to the southwestern plateau is just the right mid-course interception. Anyway, there are vast areas and few people there. Even if it is shot down, it will not pose a threat to civilians on the ground.

"In the past, your air force always said that our navy took advantage of your air force. Now, you finally took advantage of us, right?" Wu Shengli laughed and teased.

For a long time in the past, the air force invested in the research and development of equipment, and the navy placed orders after the research and development was completed, such as the J-15 fighter, such as the KJ-500 developed after the KJ-2000 matured, etc., but now, there are also weapons that the navy invested in research and development and then equipped with the air force.

This Hongqi 19 is one of them. The funds are all paid by the Navy. After all, this project was proposed by the Navy. The Navy's 10,000-ton destroyer is to become a mid-course anti-missile platform.

"What do you mean by our Air Force taking advantage?" The leader on the opposite side corrected dissatisfiedly: "This air defense missile is not developed from the Hongqi 9. The Hongqi 9 is invested and tinkered with by our Air Force."

"What does this have to do with the Hongqi 9? The missile body is brand new, the warhead is brand new, the guidance and control is also brand new, and the radar vehicle is brand new. This is clearly a brand new system. You are really shameless!"

This is the same as the American Standard 3 missile. As a professional interceptor missile, is it developed on the basis of the Standard 2?

At the beginning, it was really like this. The original model of the Standard 3 missile, that is, the block I missile body was developed on the basis of the Standard 2ER block IV. A detachable third-stage rocket engine was added to the original missile body, and the warhead was replaced with a detachable "kinetic interception warhead". This Standard 3 missile formed a four-stage rocket, achieving a maximum firing height of 160 kilometers.

In the later Block II batch of Standard 3 missiles, improvements were made to the missile body, and the front missile body was thickened to the same extent as the rear booster, that is, from 340 mm to 530 mm, and the size of the winglets and tail fins was reduced, thus achieving the 500-kilometer shooting height requirement.

Later, a 680-mm thick version was also developed, but because it was thicker than the launch tube of MK41, it was impossible to test the original vertical launch device, and it needed to be specially developed, so it is unknown whether this project is a PPT project.

Judging from the improved version of Standard 3, our missiles still have a lot of room for improvement. With the existing 850-mm diameter and nine-meter length, after further improving the performance, the shooting height of one thousand kilometers can be achieved, and the problem of intercepting intercontinental ballistic missiles is still not big.

This depends on the progress in materials and other fields, and it is not achieved overnight.

While everyone was chatting, Qin Tao continued to look at the missile launcher. At this time, the two missiles had been erected and pointed to the sky, and the arrows were on the string and were about to be launched!

With twenty minutes left on the countdown, the soldiers at the base began to clean up the scene and drove everyone out.

"It's already 500 meters. We stand 500 meters away and watch. Isn't that OK?"

"Sorry, leaders, please keep going out."

"It's already 1,000 meters. It's already 1,000 meters. Isn't that OK?"

"The distance is enough, but we need to change our position. It's safer to go to the leeward direction."

If it's a vertical launch system at sea, it's not absolutely vertical, but slightly deviates from the outside at an angle. In this way, if there is a launch failure, the missile will fall into the sea and will not pose a threat to the warship.

However, the vertical launch on land does not have this advantage. It can only be placed vertically on the ground. The cold launch pushes the missile out and flies more than ten meters high. If the missile ignites, everyone is happy. If the missile doesn't smoke, it will fall!

In the video on the Internet in later generations, there is a video of the Russian missile not igniting and falling, and a group of soldiers standing guard outside hurriedly running out.

Some people also advocated how good hot launch is and how immature cold launch is based on this defect. In fact, if the hot launch fails to ignite, it will definitely be much more difficult to handle than the cold launch. After all, the cold-launched missile has already come out, and the hot-launched missile is still in the launch tube. There are other missiles around it. How to clean up the mess next?

Send someone to troubleshoot the problem. What if the missile suddenly ignites? What if it suddenly explodes?

Everyone stood upwind, a thousand meters away, watching the launch vehicle from a distance. After such a toss, more than ten minutes passed.

"Two minutes countdown!"

"The radar has captured the target!"

"Prepare to launch the interceptor missile, ten seconds countdown!"

The window for intercepting satellites is very narrow. In the absence of a large-scale long-range early warning radar, it is almost necessary to respond immediately after discovery. At most two minutes, the interceptor missile must be fired!

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Wang Xiangguo clenched his fists. He believed that his research and development results would definitely succeed!

Ten, nine, eight... two, one, zero! Launch!

Bang!

A light sound came from the missile launch tube.

The warhead broke through the fragile sealing cover at the front end of the launch tube, and countless fragments flew. A milky white missile flew out. The missile body was smooth and had no side strips or other structures. It was a real bare rod missile. However, when the lower half came out, it turned black.

The missile with white on top and black on the bottom continued to rise, and the speed became slower and slower. When the missile flew up more than ten meters, a flame suddenly burst out from the bottom. Then, the flame quickly expanded and became longer than the missile. Billowing black smoke came out from the bottom, and the whole missile body also began to accelerate at once, as if it had taken stimulants.

The missile did not turn and flew vertically into the sky. It had to leave the dense atmosphere in the shortest time and the shortest path, so as to save fuel to the maximum extent. As for the problem of changing trajectory, it would be discussed after it flew out of the atmosphere.

A column of smoke rushed straight into space, like a ladder to the sky. The missile could no longer be seen, and the column of smoke was still slowly spreading and growing.

At this time, the atmosphere on the control car was still tense, and commands kept coming.

"The booster falls."

"The lower stage rocket falls."

"The speed has reached 5.5 kilometers per second! The kinetic interceptor missile is separated!"

"Thirty kilometers away from the target!"

In space, a distance of thirty kilometers is already very close, and they will pass by each other almost instantly. After all, the speed of the satellite itself is 7.9 kilometers per second. At this distance, the kinetic warhead only has three or four seconds!

The fairing is detached, and the cylinder at the front of the warhead aims at the target. This is a special optical sensor. If you want to hit it accurately in space, you need to track the target through optical means. The accuracy of radar and the like is not high enough.

The shadow of the target appeared in its field of vision. This shadow was very blurry. Its high-performance computer immediately calculated the operating instructions. Its gas engine began to spray gas, adjusted the trajectory, and rushed towards the target quickly and accurately.

Three seconds, two seconds, one second!

The flight trajectory of the two high-speed targets was displayed on the screen of the control car. The two targets were getting closer and closer, and finally overlapped!

Did a precise collision occur?

No one knows, because the radar is not accurate enough. Even if the targets overlap, it is not certain that the two targets have collided. It will take a few seconds.

"The satellite disappeared."

"The Space Control Center sent a message that the scrapped satellite has completely lost contact!"

"The radar found a lot of debris in the nearby orbit, flying into the atmosphere."

"Success, success!" Wang Xiangguo said loudly: "Immediately report this good news to all leaders. We successfully hit the scrapped satellite in space with the Hongqi 19 missile!"

It's done!

The people who were still stunned outside received the news and immediately cheered.

"We can finally hit the flies in space!" Wu Shengli said happily.

Back then, the Russians built the world's first anti-missile system, and He announced to the world that they hit the flies in space! He seemed to have overlooked two facts: first, there are no flies in space, and second, they used nuclear bombs to hit flies, which was not fair. The Russians' anti-missile system is an act of killing one thousand enemies and injuring eight hundred of themselves. It is not worth mentioning at all. Modern anti-missile systems require precise collisions.

We have finally acquired this ability!

"Yes, this is the beginning of a new era, but unfortunately we cannot publicize it." Qin Tao said.

With the continuous development of technology, the East has many advanced weapons, many of which are too advanced to be publicized, and will only be used when needed.