Chapter 1318 The Chinese Warships Are Coming!

"This mission may be technically complex, but in terms of what the submarine itself is responsible for, there is nothing too special... except for breaking through the first island chain."

Fan Zhaohui took out a file bag with the word "confidential" printed on it from the briefcase he carried with him and said to Han Xiangjie:

"So I focused on the improvements that need to be made to the boat...some of which may affect sailing performance."

Hearing this business-like tone, the latter couldn't help but curl his lips.

Why do you feel like you're being looked down upon?

But he also had to admit that the entire submarine force, and even the entire People's Navy, relatively lacked ocean-going experience, and the underwater situation was far more complicated than on the surface. Even for a senior captain like him, most of the abilities in his career They were all trained in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

Reality is not a computer game. Boating skills in complex shallow water terrain and deep ocean waters are two relatively independent skill lines. It is normal for superiors and brother units to consider this.

"It seems that we need to record some additional navigation data this time to lay the foundation for similar operations in the future..."

Han Xiangjie had a hunch that this mission would not be an isolated case like the 0990 test (a record of 90 days of continuous submergence of a nuclear submarine) or the 580 mission, but would become the prologue of the Chinese Navy's ocean-going era.

And he was fortunate enough to be an important note in this prologue.

While thinking about it in his mind, Fan Zhaohui had already taken out the information from the portfolio and spread it out on a table.

Han Xiangjie and Wang Kang took two steps forward and discovered that it was a... or a series of design drawings.

"The current plan is to install a set of foldable antenna components in the No. 8 launch tube at the rear of the boat, and to set up a background processing and information recording terminal under the No. 7-10 tubes. Of course, it is also relatively lightweight and does not It requires too extensive modifications to the hull structure..."

This also explains the doubts that Han Xiangjie had just now, that is, why a ballistic missile nuclear submarine like the Long March 9 was specially sent to carry out this mission, instead of the relatively quieter Long March 7/8.

Fan Zhaohui continued to introduce:

"The only problem is that a total of 20-25 operators are needed, so the number of submariners needs to be reduced to about 90 people..."

Wang Kang frowned when he heard this and glanced at Han Xiangjie next to him with a questioning look.

09IV is not known for its degree of automation. The full crew number has reached more than 120 people, which is slightly too much for a submarine with a displacement of about 9,000 tons.

Although it included some redundant manpower, cutting off a quarter at a time, especially during a relatively unfamiliar ocean voyage, still made him sweat as a base commander.

However, Han Xiangjie himself looked confident and focused on another point:

"Why can't it be placed further forward?"

Looking at the other two people who looked puzzled, he continued to explain:

"Behind the missile cabin is the nuclear reactor. Although the special shielding design can ensure that the radiation value near the power cabin is maintained below the human safety threshold, your equipment looks a bit...simple. Will it be affected?"

He originally meant shabby, but ended up using a milder adjective instead.

Fan Zhaohui also showed a somewhat helpless expression and turned the design drawing to the second page.

Above is what the antenna looks like when fully deployed:

"In order to ensure the probability of interception, the antenna designed by Dianke Group has a relatively large span size. We must ensure that the installation position is as close to the middle part of the submarine as possible."

"In addition, a multifunctional unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) will be installed from the front of the No. 1 and No. 2 launch tubes to the back of the enclosure, which requires some extra space..."

"Unmanned underwater vehicle?"

Han Xiangjie finally couldn't hold it back and interrupted the other party:

"Isn't it an air surveillance mission?"

"And when did our army equip this kind of thing? How come I don't know at all?"

This question was finally asked to Fan Zhaohui’s hometown:

"Perhaps you have heard that many years ago, a conventional submarine of our army captured a self-defense force... or a UUV of the US military in the East China Sea. Since then, our Naval Engineering University has used scientific research equipment to We started to develop similar equipment in name, and now this is even the second generation.”

"As for the purpose..."

Fan Zhaohui lowered his head, looked at the UUV on the drawing and was silent for a moment:

"The mission area planned for us by our superiors happens to be near the landing point of the X51A booster. Although the booster itself will sink immediately, we may be able to collect some debris or contaminated water samples... Anyway, your The launcher is empty even if it is empty, I don’t care if I bring an extra piece of equipment..."

If Han Xiangjie thinks calmly, he can analyze that it is probably Fan Zhaohui's intention to bring the UUV to participate in the test, because whether it is collecting water samples or debris, the submarine itself can actually complete it.

But the key to the answer just now is obviously not here.

"The superiors...even know where the X51A booster is located?"

Han Xiangjie felt that the questions he had asked in the past year were not as long as the half hour just now.

As an officer, it seems that he shouldn't have so many questions, but on the one hand, it doesn't violate discipline anyway, and on the other hand, he really can't restrain his curiosity.

Americans have always been overbearing in their behavior. For example, the warning area drawn for this test was not a few risk points where falling objects may be present, but an entire strip of several hundred kilometers. There was no way to directly judge it. Separation point and drop point location.

This time, Fan Zhaohui just shook his head:

"I don't know very well...maybe there is some special source of information?"

In fact, Wang Kang, who was silent on the side, had some guesses about this issue.

Of course, it is unlikely that special intelligence sources exist. If the superiors have such channels, then why bother asking the navy to travel thousands of miles to conduct surveillance.

On the contrary, China itself also has a corresponding hypersonic weapon development plan. If there happens to be an air-breathing model similar to the X51A, then it may be possible to deduce some useful data from public information based on its own development experience.

And if this is the case, then the development progress of domestically produced hypersonic weapons may not lag far behind that of the Americans...

It's just that the other two's military ranks are not high enough, so they can't say this directly.

It was not until the briefing was over that he cleared his throat and began to make concluding remarks:

"In short, the Americans have given us a lot of time this time. There are still almost two months before the mission begins. We must seize this opportunity to prove the capabilities and value of our navy's submarine force..."

"Comrade Han Xiangjie, you are responsible for drawing up a list of personnel to board the boat. During this period, all personnel participating in the mission will hand in all personal communication equipment and are not allowed to leave the base. They will maintain combat readiness throughout the entire process and conduct targeted training!"

…

In fact, the reason why Americans put the X51A test date on April 10 was entirely due to an accident.

Please...you...collect 6...books...!

According to Shapur Collinger's original plan, since LENS-2 did not have sufficient total temperature reduction capability and single operation time, the X51A should be put into test flight as soon as possible after the two rounds of wind tunnel testing.

However, during the second flight test at the end of January 2007, the B52H bomber specially modified for use as a carrier suffered a power failure.

Since many of the equipment on the test aircraft are unique, in order to ensure safety, the Pentagon and Boeing were forced to decide to postpone the first flight mission for one month to conduct a thorough overhaul of the aircraft platform.

It is precisely because of this that China was given sufficient preparation time.

Two months later, Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Colonel Victor Manning, commander of the 412th Test Wing, walked into the combat command room and saluted Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace and Air Force Chief of Staff Mitchell Mosley who were sitting at the head of the conference table:

"Report, the B52H bomber participating in the test has been overhauled. According to the parameters obtained by the weather aircraft, the weather conditions in the northwest waters of Santa Cruz Island will remain good in the next 24 hours, and it can take off at any time to carry out launch test missions..."

General Pace nodded, and then spoke to a commodore wearing a navy uniform next to him:

"Confirm again, the sea and airspace around the flight path have been cleared, right?"

In the early years when other projects were being tested, an oil tanker inexplicably broke into the closed waters, resulting in the postponement of the entire plan.

The latter opened the folder in front of him, turned around and handed it to Pace:

"The clearance has been confirmed. Only a Chinese naval fleet that set sail last month has been lingering around. However, the Mastin, Shop and Prebel are being closely tracked and monitored, and the other party does not seem to be continuing to penetrate deeper. Meaning, it has been hovering within a range of about 120-150 nautical miles from the test area.”

Pace frowned.

To some extent, the western part of Santa Cruz Island is already considered close to the west coast of the United States.

For more than half a century, only the U.S. fleet has unilaterally gone to the first island chain to show off its power. Now, a Chinese fleet has appeared so close to his homeland, which he finds quite unacceptable. .

But no matter how hard it is to accept, that place is also high seas, so we can only try to force the other party to stay away from the testing area.

"What about fleet size?"

he asked again.

"A Nanchang-class supply ship, identified as Qinghai Lake, two Luyang II-class destroyers, identified as Jincheng and Yecheng, and an electronic reconnaissance ship, Polar Star..."

It was obvious that even if the fleet with this configuration was not specifically designed to collect intelligence, it was at least brought here with the idea of ​​​​taking advantage of others.

So, Pace looked at Dr. Collinger, who had been silent next to him.

"If the other party does not get closer, but maintains a distance of 120-150 nautical miles, then it is impossible to effectively detect the flight process of the X51A..."

The latter answered straight to the point:

"For hypersonic aircraft below an altitude of 30,000 meters, it is difficult for radars that have not been specially optimized to accurately capture signals. As for electronic reconnaissance ships... our sensor signals are sent through directional relays and will not be monitored for any useful purpose. information."

"So."

Pace raised his wrist and looked at his watch:

“Four hours later, at 9 a.m. Western Time, the test officially begins!”