kingnovel Chapter 445: Developing Our Own Active Radar-Guided Air-to-Ship Missile
Chapter 445: Developing Our Own Active Radar-Guided Air-to-Ship Missile
Zhang Chi’s idea is to remove the dross and retain the essence.
In the War Thunder system, in the White Eagle technology tree, the rank VI vehicle [A-4B Skyhawk carrier-based attack aircraft] (pictured) can mount the AGM-12B 'Bullpup' air-to-surface (ship) guided missile.
However, although this Bullpup air-to-ground (ship) guided missile (pictured) is a guided weapon that White Eagle only began to equip in the 60s, its guidance method is not much different from that of the HS-293A. It still uses visual tracking and radio command guidance, and the weapon operator needs to operate the joystick throughout the process to control the missile's flight direction.
Compared with the HS-293A, the biggest improvement of the AGM-12B "Bulldog" is its aerodynamic layout. It adopts a canard layout, with smaller canard rudders in front of the missile body to control direction, and a cross-shaped tail at the rear to maintain stability.
Due to the replacement of pre-packaged liquid rocket engine, its maximum speed can reach 2.4 Mach, but the range is still only about 12KM.
During the Annan War of the 60s, the biggest problem remained the guidance method. Visual guidance meant combat could only be carried out on sunny days; on rainy, cloudy, or other inclement weather, the carrier aircraft would not be able to see the missiles they launched.
In Annan or the Nanyang geographical unit, subtropical storms, typhoons, and continuous heavy rains are commonplace, which means that the practical capability of this missile is greatly reduced.
The carrier aircraft, the A-4 Skyhawk, is a single-seat subsonic jet. If a pilot wants to use the AGM-12B Bullpup, he must maintain a shallow dive and level flight towards the target. During this period, his energy can only be used to guide and control the AGM-12B missile, and he has no time to worry about operating the aircraft.
During this period, even the 37mm and 57mm anti-aircraft guns on the ground, which were provided by a major power in the north, could easily shoot down the stupidly straight-flying, unmaneuverable carrier aircraft using visual shooting.
Not to mention the SAM-2 surface-to-air missiles provided by another major country to the north of Annan.
As for why the United States, the world's number one country, only came up with an air-to-ground (ship) guided missile with visual tracking and radio command guidance similar to the Nazis' in the late period, nearly 20 years after the end of World War II?
Then we have to mention the "atomic bomb omnipotence theory" that was prevalent in the military circles of the White Eagle Army after the war.
Historically, after the White Eagle captured the Hs-293, the Navy took the lead in developing an air-launched missile of the same specifications, code-named "Gargoyle", which has a 1000-pound armor-piercing warhead, a solid rocket engine, and a range of 8km.
Originally, the Gargoyle had a bright future, and the White Eagle might have been equipped with a usable radio-guided air-to-ship missile more than ten years ahead of schedule.
As a result, with the separation of the three armed forces after the war, the Air Force, which had the ability to launch nuclear weapons, desperately advocated that as long as military funds were used to develop B-52 super bombers and purchase nuclear bombs, the Air Force could "nuclear-pacify" all wars.
This led to a sharp reduction in the funding available to the Navy. Even the budget of the super aircraft carrier CVA-58 "United States" was cut, which eventually led to the "Admiral Rebellion Incident". Naturally, the development of the small air-launched anti-ship missile "Gargoyle" was also terminated.
However, this is good news for Zhang Chi. After all, it means that the White Eagle has cut off its own hands and feet. As long as the White Eagle Air Force continues to advocate the "atomic bomb omnipotence theory" and the "Admiral Rebellion Incident" continues to occur, the White Eagle will have no available air-launched guided anti-ship weapons in the early stages of the Cold War.
As for the shortcomings of HS-293A and AGM-12B visual tracking radio command guided weapons, Zhang Chi was naturally very clear about them.
Therefore, he did not plan to copy it one-to-one, but to build on the HS-293A model and rely on transistor production and design capabilities that surpass the current era. The ultimate goal was to develop an active radar-guided air-to-ship missile similar to the Upstream-1 model that could be mounted by large bombers such as the B-17, B-29, and Yak-28, with inertial guidance and active radar locking onto targets at the terminal.
As he said in a secret internal meeting:
"If the United States puts all its efforts into developing television guidance, radio remote control, radar guidance, infrared guidance, and laser guidance, it will only take a few years to catch up with the Hans. If we don't seize the opportunity to advance and deploy ahead of time, it will be difficult to make a comeback in the future.
Our only goal is to gain a brief technological advantage over the United States in the next 50 years!"
A good blacksmith must have strong tools. In addition to the atomic bomb, which is his "ultimate means", his other preparation is to develop guided weapons in advance.
-----
Soon, an unconventional technical meeting was held at Zhang Chi's request.
Including the First Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, which was responsible for the research and development of the aerodynamic shape of the missile body and the power unit, the Sixth Radio Research Institute, which was responsible for the research and development of automatic control systems, gyroscopes and guided radars, and the Nanhua Iron and Steel Group, which was responsible for basic materials, all scientific research and production institutions sent reliable personnel to attend this confidential meeting.
However, the protagonist of this meeting was Lao Gao, the project chief engineer.
Without any unnecessary nonsense, Lao Gao nodded to Zhang Chi who was present at the meeting. Then he stood up, walked to the blackboard in the conference room, and said directly:
"In general, if we want to develop anti-ship missiles, we must solve the difficulties in four major subsystems."
"First, the guidance system. The Sixth Radio Research Institute has already produced a miniaturized radio signal transceiver. If we were simply replicating the HS-293, that would be sufficient. But our goal is higher. We want a 'fire and forget' approach!"
"On that note..." the engineer from the Sixth Radio Research Institute raised his hand and spoke directly, "Our transistor monopulse radar can easily lock onto the signal of a destroyer or larger ship over 100 meters long from the air, unaffected by surface clutter."
"The problem is, if it's to be packed into an air-launched missile, the entire radar structure and antenna must be miniaturized. 100cm is easy, but smaller diameters are more difficult."
Unlike visual manual guidance, radar, television, and infrared guidance all require the seeker to be placed on the head of the missile, which is undoubtedly a challenge to the antenna miniaturization design capabilities of the Sixth Institute of Line Electronics.
Lao Gao glanced at Zhang Chi and nodded, saying, "Our meeting today is to preliminarily determine the parameters of the new weapon. For air-launched operation, the missile's diameter should not be larger than that of an air-launched torpedo. It's initially set at less than 600mm. Your antenna must be reduced to 400mm."
After saying this, Lao Gao looked at the engineers from the Sixth Radio Research Institute and asked, "How well have you mastered the Nazi's gyroscope technology?"
The engineer shook his head. "It's not difficult at all. With the V-2 missile's gyroscope and our newly designed integrated circuits, we should be able to create an inertial guidance system capable of automatically correcting the trajectory."
Lao Gao nodded in satisfaction: "The second difficulty is the power system and aerodynamic shape."
After saying this, he looked at Zhao Dehai, who was sitting next to his empty seat. Zhao Dehai had specialized in mechanical engineering and gas turbines while studying abroad in White Eagle, and had in-depth theoretical research on fluid mechanics.