Chapter 1179 Strategic Deterrence

Air-launched ballistic missiles are actually not special among similar weapons types.

The United States and the Soviet Union developed similar products for various purposes during the Cold War.

But in general, if it is used for general ground attacks, it is not cost-effective no matter how you look at it——

Subject to the physical limitations of ballistic height and the inherent shortcomings of inertial guidance, in those days, the terminal speed (penetration capability) and hit accuracy of medium/short-range ballistic missiles did not become better just because you moved the launcher to the sky. On the contrary, Tactical aircraft can only carry at most one launcher at a time, and are subject to airspace management restrictions. Compared with land-based launch vehicles, the firepower density will be reduced.

The only advantage is that the launch platform itself is more flexible, but in the context of world war, this does not seem to be a particularly important advantage.

Therefore, these models basically did not cause much trouble.

Only a few countries with special tactical needs have some equipment.

Instead, it has been carried forward in the two side fields of anti-satellite and anti-missile system target missiles.

But then again.

If we can really apply new technologies to allow air-launched ballistic missiles to take advantage of their energy, reach hypersonic speeds at the end, and improve their hit accuracy, then the advantages over land-based models will be evident.

Therefore, Zhang Fuzhong's expression turned into joy after only a moment of confusion:

“Academician Chang’s idea can just about avoid China’s current shortcomings in solid rocket motors and propellants… In addition, the requirements for ultra-high-speed wind tunnels are also very low.”

"On the one hand, as long as the problem of heat-resistant coating is solved, even a traditional cold wind tunnel can simulate the flight of a biconical warhead to a certain extent. On the other hand, launching from the air itself has an initial energy advantage. If it can be solved, The nose cone part of the flying body is easier to achieve sufficient terminal speed than land-based launch..."

Until the beginning of this century, he was involved in the development and improvement of Dongfeng 11(A) missiles, so he is quite familiar with domestic technology accumulation in ballistic missiles.

Moreover, although the technical route of this air-launched ballistic missile is a bit mixed and is not exactly the same as any existing model in China, compared with the air-breathing superb, Zhang Fuzhong himself, including the Ninth Academy of Aerospace Science and Industry where he is located, is destined to be able to play a greater role.

Huang Ruisong originally wanted to struggle with his plan, but he was not a reckless person after all, so he looked around before speaking.

It turned out that many people had already shown expressions of approval.

In fact, the rocket power solution is indeed more familiar to most units involved in the project.

The only one who has really done research on air-breathing ramjet engines, apart from his side, is actually the Aerospace Power Group represented by Chang Haonan.

Now the latter himself does not advocate starting with the inhalation style, let alone the attitude of the rest of the people.

Therefore, after carefully considering the balance of power between the two, Comrade Huang immediately decided not to persist and made a mellow 180° turn:

"Our institute has not done much research on liquid rocket engines. However, in order to solve the mass production problem of supersonic missiles, the 306 Institute has developed a co-injection RTM process, which can realize the modified epoxy resin as the carrier layer matrix and The modified phenolic resin as the base of the heat protection layer is molded in one go..."

"This technology has been applied to the new air-to-surface missiles developed by our sister units, and the feedback is very good. It happens that the absolute size of the double-cone warhead of the medium- and short-range missiles is not large, and it is within the allowable range of the new technology... "

"..."

Since even Huang Ruisong has changed his mind, at least for now, there are no differences in the research and development route in the entire venue.

Everyone's attention naturally focused on the plan proposed by Chang Haonan.

Regarding the overall configuration of liquid rocket power and double cone head, the first and sixth institutes of Aerospace Science and Technology should actually have the most say.

The former is my country's oldest and largest overall launch vehicle research unit, while the latter is responsible for the development and production of most of my country's launch vehicle power systems.

Of course, because the lowest technical risk in the entire verification bomb is the power, the representative from the Sixth Academy just made a very brief statement, saying that the specific situation must wait until the performance indicators are determined, but no matter what propellant is chosen in the end , all guaranteeing that they will not delay the entire project.

However, there is much more to say about the hospital next door:

"It is estimated that many comrades know that regarding the bipyramidal configuration, we had a less successful attempt in the early 1990s... Although it was indeed a detour at that time, we have still preserved the relevant technical information. And there has been a small team conducting relevant research. After today’s meeting, I will include this team into the superb project.”

Xing Muchun, the representative sent by the First Academy, was once the deputy chief designer of the Long March 2F and had considerable say in the unit.

The "less successful attempt" he mentioned was during the 921 project demonstration stage. They once chose a double cone as the shape of the rocket head, and even considered integrating the spacecraft and rocket into a somewhat unrestrained design.

That is to say, there is no need for additional fairings and the spacecraft is installed directly on the top of the rocket to save thrust and space as much as possible.

In the end, of course, it was dismissed because it was too radical.

But lessons are also part of experience, and they are better than knowing nothing.

"In addition, if the terminal speed still cannot meet the requirements after using the air-launched liquid engine, then you can consider a head-body separation design, abandon the first-stage boost section at the apex of the ballistic trajectory, and install an additional smaller thrust section inside the warhead. The booster engine is used for additional acceleration during the descent of the warhead. We also have a lot of accumulated technology in this area..."

"And just in case, if conditions permit, we can also let the comrades from the Sixth Academy test it..."

Xing Muchun's voice was normal, but when he said this, it stopped abruptly.

After a slight hesitation, he turned to look at the representative of the Sixth Academy sitting next to him:

"Can your project be here..."

There was originally a hint of curiosity in everyone's eyes, but after hearing the last words, they all understood what was going on. I'm afraid it involves confidentiality issues.

Although everyone who can sit in this conference room must be classified as top secret, after all, they belong to different units and research directions.

A lot of content is still not suitable for spreading too widely.

"This can be revealed."

Fortunately, the latter gave a positive answer:

"The 11th Institute of our institute has a 350-kilogram rocket engine that is already undergoing ground testing. Although the thrust is not large, the volume is also small..."

Chang Haonan raised his hand to stop the other party from continuing, and then asked tentatively:

"It's PBV..."

"That's right."

The representative of the Sixth Academy nodded slightly.

This answer made the former hesitate for a moment.

PBV, which is Payload Booster Vehicle, payload booster.

After the intercontinental missile's multi-stage booster completes its work, it is used to drop multiple sub-guided warheads to different orbits.

It is an essential key technology for top-level strategic nuclear deterrence.

In 2005, China did not have any strategic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads, so this research by the Sixth Academy was obviously extremely important.

"The warhead of our verification missile only has a guidance system and no warhead. The original plan was to add a counterweight."

After some thought, Chang Haonan replied cautiously:

"If it can be installed without affecting the performance of the warhead itself, then I agree to add a verification content to it..."

Whether it is hypersonic weapons or separately guided multiple warheads, they are all part of strategic deterrence capabilities.

That should be considered a family.

We should also help each other...

…

The meeting lasted for several hours.

Even lunch is prepared by the cafeteria and delivered to the conference room for on-site preparation.

The overall design of this air-launched ballistic missile has gradually taken shape among everyone's discussions.

It is somewhat similar to the AGM183A, which is larger in size but does not have a fairing. Instead, the entire nose cone is used as a separate warhead.

Of course, the paper performance, mainly the range and terminal speed, must be somewhat different.

But in 2005, it was definitely a pretty remarkable performance.

It was not until the end that Li Rongwei, the representative of the Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology, who had hardly spoken before, suddenly raised a new topic:

"Academician Chang, I heard the analysis from you and other comrades. The high point of the ballistic trajectory of this type of verification missile is about 150-180km, which means that it flies within the atmosphere throughout the entire journey, especially when the speed is the fastest and the atmosphere is denser at the end. Do we need to avoid additional ablation problems in this area?”

"Our institute has a new thermal insulation coating made of modified polysiloxane as a matrix, compounded with heat-reflective fibers and silicate for the return capsule of the Shenzhou spacecraft. The thermal conductivity is only 0.02W/mK, which is already relatively high. It is a relatively mature product, but the cost is a bit high. However, there are only a few rounds of this verification bomb anyway, so it can definitely add a layer of insurance in terms of thermal insulation..."

It should be said that the entry point of this hypersonic weapon chosen by Chang Haonan is quite subtle.

Even more successful than he expected.

Many key technologies have been accumulated to a certain extent, and there is hope that they can be realized with a little jump.

This is the project team's favorite situation.

And the risks are relatively controllable.

So at the meeting just now, Chang Haonan almost refused to accept any technical application within a reasonable range. Even in the first plenary meeting of the project, the division of labor was almost completed.

But this time, he did not nod:

"This technology is very valuable, Comrade Rongwei...perhaps the new coating materials you provide will be used in the future air-breathing advanced stage."

"But for this verification bullet... I plan to keep only the two parts of the matrix, the load-bearing layer and the heat-proof layer, and then use perspiration-type active cooling technology to control the temperature of the warhead surface!"