Chapter 649 Other Suggestions
Before they could finish their joy, Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "That's about all I have in stock. I still have some suggestions that are related to the Defense Work Committee and the Land Equipment Bureau. It would only make sense if they were also present to talk about it. Let's stop here for now."

Hearing this, Mr. Fu suddenly remembered that he had a question and maybe he could find the answer from Chief Engineer Gao.

After all, this person seems to be knowledgeable in a wide range of fields, whether it be pyrotechnics, materials, fluid mechanics or something else, he all seems very capable, but there is indeed no definite pattern.

But one thing is certain: he definitely understands the materials, and not just in an ordinary way!
He quickly said, "Wait a minute, there is another problem that we are facing now, and I would like to consult you."

"Please tell me if I can help you?" Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

"The barrel is ablated and worn! After adding the gunpowder, this problem became prominent. After all, the amount of gunpowder is large, and the initial velocity of the shell is also high. The original barrel technology can't withstand it, and the barrel life is greatly reduced."

This is why research is difficult. Many parameters and designs are cross-related and one move can affect the entire system.

Gao Zhendong didn't even think about it and blurted out: "After using electroslag remelting and barrel self-tightening, this problem can be alleviated to a certain extent. If it is still not enough, you can plate a layer of chrome inside the barrel. It has high hardness, corrosion resistance, is not expensive, and has good adhesion performance. In fact, with these processes, you can consider lengthening the barrel appropriately, and you can also improve the range and accuracy a little bit, combining the howitzer with the cannon."

The length of the gun barrel cannot be increased at will. If you don't believe it, just pick up an iron bar with a length-to-diameter ratio of more than 30, fix one end, and measure how thick and hard it is so that it will not bend naturally. You will know.

Huh? It's that simple?
Um! It's that simple!
Seeing that Gao Zhendong solved the problem without even thinking about it, the two artillery chiefs' admiration for him was truly endless like a surging river.

Add a howitzer? Yes, the Russians said so too. That's a good idea!

With this feeling, a group of people followed Gao Zhendong back to the main venue.

The comrades who were discussing other issues stopped and looked at them.

The army leader smiled and said, "How is it? Comrades, do you have confidence?"

President Fu smiled and said confidently, "I have confidence! Dear leaders, 18 kilometers! I won't say more, 18 kilometers!"

邵总也笑：“20公里！我包20公里。”看来他是不想让122榴专美于前，反正提一点点，就是不能让你的122比我的152还远！

The army leader looked at Gao Zhendong and said, "No, I was just joking, are you serious?"

11.8到18，50%以上！比152榴的17.4还夸张。有些事情到了一定的极限，提升一点点都是很难的。

As for the 152 dungeon, it also joined in the fun. It seems that Gao Zhendong really took out a lot of good things this time. Even the 152 dungeon, whose original design cannot be modified significantly, can be improved by more than 10%.

I'm setting an ambush, Mr. Shao thought.

"Okay, that's settled then! You all have confidence, so we won't be polite! The self-propelled howitzer will use the PT-76 modified universal chassis, with a 122mm howitzer mounted on top. The howitzer's range will be no less than 18 kilometers, and the burst rate of fire will be no less than 8 rounds per minute. Are there any problems?" The leaders and chief engineers of the Army and the Defense Work Committee exchanged views and put forward the final indicators. As for the chassis indicators, they could be put on hold. The most important thing now is the gun.

The burst rate of fire must be clearly defined. Since we learned from the discussion just now that the artillery reconnaissance radar has integrated a new computing device developed by Gao Zhendong, its reaction speed will be further improved, so this indicator has become even more important.

Be lenient in anticipation of the enemy; what we have, the enemy will also have.

"No problem!" Mr. Fu is now full of confidence.

After the matter was settled, Gao Zhendong didn't know what they were discussing just now, but he still had something to say.

"Dear leaders and comrades, I have some suggestions and ideas about artillery. While everyone is here, I will talk about them all. They may not be useful now, but I think they are still meaningful as a reserve or a possibility." Gao Zhendong asked to speak.

Both the Defense Work Committee and the Land Equipment Bureau were very interested in his suggestions and ideas, and it turned out that his ideas were quite useful.

"Just speak freely," the leader of the Defense Work Committee said with a smile.

"Well, I have a lot of ideas, so it may be a bit confusing to talk about them. Please bear with me." Gao Zhendong gave a preventive speech first.

The army leader looked pleased: "It's alright, just tell me, they will sort it out."

He has been in this mood ever since he decided on this 18km122 self-propelled howitzer.

Gao Zhendong looked at his notebook and sorted out his thoughts.

Everyone looked at his notebook, curious about what was written on it.

Not even a fiber of Gao Zhendong's notebook can leak out! The leader of the Defense Work Committee was secretly angry.

"Let's start with this self-propelled 122mm howitzer. Although the range of the 122mm howitzer has now caught up with the 152mm howitzer, this is only temporary. With the development of technology, the range of the 122mm howitzer will eventually be inferior to that of the 152mm howitzer..." Mr. Shao nodded vigorously. Yes, yes, yes, this makes sense.

"So I proposed to develop the 122 first, from the perspective of temporary sufficiency, technical pilot, and cost saving. After the self-propelled 122 is completed, the self-propelled 152 will eventually be put on the agenda. This is a point that must be developed in the long term."

He just mentioned this to express his attitude. He believed that even if he didn't say it, the troops would be anxious to deal with this matter.

"But at the same time, I suggest that we should not leave behind another thing, large and medium-caliber rocket launchers! Medium and long-range ones."

Our 107 firearm is indeed a classic. To be honest, if we had not fought guerrilla warfare for ten or twenty years, we would not have been able to come up with such a magical thing. It is very suitable for guerrilla warfare.

However, when large-scale regular army operations are taking place, the 107mm round is clearly not enough. The same is true for its enlarged version, the 130mm round. The range is too short, so there is nothing else to say.

A comrade from the Land Equipment Bureau said: "In addition to the 107mm rocket launcher, we are also working on the 130mm rocket launcher."

Theoretically, Gao Zhendong didn't know about this thing, so he thought Gao Zhendong didn't know about it, so he made the suggestion.

Gao Zhendong pretended not to know: "Great! What's the range? The advantage of rocket launchers is that they can increase the range at a relatively low cost."

If you don't consider the accuracy of a rocket launcher, it is relatively easy to increase the range. Just pile up the propellant! It is much easier to pile up the propellant than to pile up the propellant for a tube artillery.

This sentence made the comrade from the Army Equipment Bureau look embarrassed, and he glanced at the army leader.

The army leader smiled and said, "Tell me! Tell me what Comrade Zhendong wants to know."

However, the embarrassment of the comrade from the Land Equipment Bureau was not about confidentiality, but about what he was going to say.

"Uh... 130 kilometers for 10... 107 kilometers for 8." It's still being worked on, and there may be some discrepancies in the final design, but they won't be too big.

The other comrades then realized what he was embarrassed about. This was even worse than a barreled artillery, the old 122 howitzer had a caliber of 11.8. Moreover, the overlap between the two guns was ridiculously high.

Gao Zhendong continued to pretend: "Oh, it seems that the two are very similar..."

"Haha, a little bit." There is really no qualitative difference between 8 kilometers and 10 kilometers.

Gao Zhendong directly put forward his own suggestions: "If this is the case, I suggest keeping the 107. We do need a rocket launcher with excellent mobility, even if the range is a little lower. But for the 130, I suggest starting over, keeping the caliber the same, lengthening the length, and increasing the range to 40 kilometers! Since it has to be put on the vehicle anyway, it's better to make it bigger."

Nothing can happen to this big baby 107, we must keep it, but instead of a 10 with a 130-kilometer range, it’s better to get a bigger one.

As for 130, the original design was a bit like a big truck carrying a small cannon, and Gao Zhendong was very clear about this.

Damn, the satellite was magnified and the whole audience was in an uproar.

Gao Zhendong explained: "In fact, this improvement is easier than increasing the range of the 122 howitzer from 11.8 to 18, because the rocket can be extended, and I can also help improve the propellant. Let's not talk about the 130, under the premise that other indicators remain unchanged, it is not difficult to increase the range of the 107 to 10km. No matter what level the current 130 is placed in the organization, it cannot change the fact that it can only hit 10 kilometers. This range is too limited in tactical application."

130 can fire at a range of 40km, which is not a problem as long as the length is enough. The 122mm round will also have a range of 40km.

For Gao Zhendong, if you can only hit 10 kilometers, where can I put my terminal-sensitive bombs? After all, the barreled gun can only hold 1 to 2 submunitions, and its efficiency in hitting group targets is much lower than that of rocket launchers. Rocket launchers at a range of 10 kilometers directly lose the ability to hit the enemy's deep mechanized group.

I did deploy a long-range dispenser in the air, but it is better to have it yourself than to have it from your parents. I can't wait for the plane to drop it, and the flexibility is not as good as this.

After listening to Gao Zhendong's suggestions and explanations, the Defense Work Committee and the Land Equipment Bureau fell into deep thought. Yes, what can 10 kilometers be used for? Using rocket launchers to suppress enemy artillery, it is undoubtedly a joke to want to complete this task with this range. It is even difficult to suppress large-caliber mortars.

Gao Zhendong's reasons were sufficient, and he really would change the propellant. The Defense Work Committee knew about this.

In fact, for the 10km 130mm fire, is the army willing? Of course not, but there is no other way.

Since Gao Zhendong has the ability to increase the range of 107 to 10km, the current 130 has basically completely lost its meaning. Even if it can be improved a little, such as to more than 12 kilometers, what's the use?

The Army, the Land Equipment Bureau, and the Defense Work Committee discussed the matter and agreed that Gao Zhendong's suggestion was indeed worthy of consideration.

"We have noted this matter and will push forward related work. What are your other suggestions?" The leader of the Defense Work Committee said with a smile. Although he felt that Gao Zhendong's words made a lot of sense, this problem certainly could not be solved here.

(End of this chapter)