Chapter 935: Too Big is Not Good (Today and Tomorrow are Three Chapters)

It can even be said that having an air force and not having an air force are two different results.

The air force comrades have finally gotten a taste of foreign culture, seen the world, and fought new battles with the new equipment and the new tactics that Gao Zhendong intentionally or unintentionally revealed in "Research and Suggestions on the Use of Various New Weapons in High-Altitude and Cold Conditions". Now their confidence is overflowing.

Even the Air Force itself had never thought that they could fight in this way. Before this battle, the comrades in the Air Force were like children who had a bunch of new toys but could not find the instructions for the new toys.

All I know is that this thing is new and good and definitely fun!
But how to play it specifically? I don’t know.

But now after a complete battle, their thoughts have changed.

Hey, this thing is good, this is how we should fight the war!

However, during the combat, they also found some areas that needed improvement, and naturally they had something to say.

They have no objection to strikes on area targets, cluster targets, and important node targets. Whether it is TV-guided glide bombs, laser-guided bombs or long-range dispensers, they are all very useful and can be used in a variety of different situations. However, they have something to say about small and solid targets.

"...The biggest problem now is that our guided weapons have an overkill phenomenon against the enemy's small fortifications and temporary firepower points. In other words, the power is too great. The strike effect is indeed very good, but it always feels like a sledgehammer is used to kill a chicken..."

"…At the same time, this situation brings another problem, which is the insufficient quantity. A 250-kilogram bomb is still a bit too big for an attack aircraft. An aircraft can't carry more than a few bombs. In fact, within the combat radius, it is a bit of a waste of aircraft sorties."

A new Gong-5 has one heavy-load pylon and two light-load pylons on the belly, four heavy-load pylons and two light-load pylons on the wings.

The two light-load pylons on the belly are almost completely occupied by guidance pods and electronic jamming pods, while the two light-load pylons on the wings can only carry self-defense weapons such as Thunder-3 or 57/90mm rocket pods at this stage. In fact, when the new attack-5 performs front-line support attack missions, the most typical mount is 4*250kg laser-guided bombs + 2*Thunder-3. If the distance is very close, a 250kg bomb can be added.

As for replacing the rocket nest of the Thunder-3, no one has given much thought to this issue. Rockets and free-fall bombs are used every year. They are basic skills, but when it comes to actually using them, the Air Force really doesn't like these two things.

"I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the light", this is what they are feeling in their hearts now.

The comrades from the Air Force are still speaking.

"...A simple calculation shows that one plane can only launch four strikes. If each strike is against a large and solid fortification, it's fine. But if it's a small target, it's a bit of a waste, and you have to go home after just a few strikes. So we hope to solve this problem..."

For comrades in the army, it is better to save as much as possible.

In response to their demands, everyone turned their attention to Gao Zhendong without saying a word, because they all knew that these things were caused by him.

Gao Zhendong stopped writing and drawing on his notebook, "Well, this is easy. The guidance and flight control system of the laser-guided bomb was originally developed in the form of a kit. There is no problem with loading it on a larger 500kg or even more than 1 ton bomb. There is no problem with lowering it to a 125kg bomb. This will increase the number of bombs that an aircraft can carry."

“How much higher can it go?”

"It can carry 8 to 16 missiles. At this time, the main problem is not the racks, but the bomb load of the carrier aircraft. After replacing the LYP-6 engine, the conventional load of the Gong-5 is 1.5 tons, and the maximum can reach 2.5 tons. After deducting other expenses such as the 0.5-ton pod, it is roughly this amount."

"That's enough, that's enough. Can it be smaller? Can we bring more?" The comrades in the Air Force were very happy. Compared with 8 missiles, the significance of 4 missiles has been raised to a higher level.

Gao Zhendong laughed and said, "I don't recommend any smaller bombs. Not only will the bombs be too small and ineffective, but if you carry so many, you won't have enough time to fire them. A plane might run out of fuel before it has finished dropping all its bombs."

The comrades all laughed, this is the truth.

The 125kg bomb is a devastating blow to all small fortifications, and is also capable of fighting against medium-sized ones.

“But there shouldn’t be that many hanging points, right?” A comrade did the math and found that there were only nine light and heavy hanging racks in total. Minus at least one guidance pod, the remaining eight were only enough to hang eight missiles.

"This is not a problem. It's just a composite hanger, which is not troublesome." Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

"Composite rack?"

"Yes, for the heavy-load hanging point, a composite hanging rack is hung on the heavy-load hanging point, and then multiple bombs are hung on this hanging rack. A 1-ton hanging point can hang at least 4 to 6 125kg bombs."

Taking anti-ship weapon mounting into consideration, the Gong-5 has five heavy-load attachment points, all of which can hold 5 ton of weapons. However, in that situation, only two pieces can be attached at most. Therefore, when fighting against the Zang-1, the heavy-load weapons were basically carried by the Tu-16. After all, this weapon can carry a lot of weight and can fly far.

“Isn’t this only 500kg~750kg?”

"The composite hanger itself has weight, hahaha. Considering the shape and volume, a composite hanger with two in front and two in the back horizontally, or three in front and three in the back in an inverted T-shape, is the limit." "Is this thing difficult to make?"

"It's very simple. If you are sure, please ask the comrades in charge of the relevant work to come to me. I have some ideas that you can discuss with them." Gao Zhendong said. He was very sure that there was definitely a GJB in his system database, which was specifically for this thing. He downloaded it when he was arguing with others about the mounting ability of the 10th Master. If needed, he could search it out at any time.

"I want this, I want this. Not to mention 6, at least 4, hehe."

The comrades in the Air Force are very happy with this as it can greatly improve the strike efficiency of a single sortie. Taking into account combat needs, 250kg and 125kg are mixed mounted, which provides extremely high combat flexibility.

"In fact, you can communicate with the manufacturer directly. The TV guidance is also a kit, and it can actually be reduced to a smaller caliber. For the Gong-5, it can further improve the flexibility of the attack."

Forget about missiles. The current range requirements and guidance capability limitations are not yet to the point where missiles are needed.

"Speaking of strike flexibility, we hope to be able to target extremely solid targets to further enhance our strike power. According to our understanding, some of the air force base bunkers and defense facilities on the other side have incredibly thick concrete or are located deep underground."

There is nothing wrong to say here, since we all know what the ultimate goal is.

"That's easy. You can talk to the manufacturer about it. For example, the rent-reducing cap of the TV-guided bomb can be replaced with a thick and heavy one. The same can be done for the base of the laser-guided bomb guidance kit. The speed plus the weight and hardness will not make the effect any worse. We don't even need tungsten alloy, just hard enough steel will do."

The comrades from the Air Force quickly wrote it down and the meeting continued.

There is a lot they want to say. Experiences are being summarized, and lessons and needs are being addressed one by one.

Problems like the automatic setting of attack parameters have been solved by comrades working on communications and airborne tactical terminals.

This further reduces the preparation work for launching an attack. There is no need for manual interpretation and manual input into the weapon control system. According to the idea of ​​the Air Force comrades, it is only necessary to make a correct interpretation and press the confirmation button, and the third-party coordinates sent from the communication system can be automatically installed in the weapon, further improving the strike speed.

This incident made Gao Zhendong have something in his mind, but he couldn't remember it for a while.

If you can’t remember, don’t think about it. Many needs will naturally emerge when they arise, and it’s never too late to talk about it then.

"...Comrade Zhendong, we have an idea but we don't know whether we should raise it." At some point, the comrades from the Air Force turned to Gao Zhendong.

Gao Zhendong, who was thinking about what happened just now, came back to his senses: "Ah, just go ahead."

"Is there any cheaper technology that can be used for TV-guided bombs at night? Currently, our only precision strike method at night is laser-guided bombs, but this type of bomb still has certain limitations in actual use..."

The comrades in the Air Force felt a little embarrassed. They had already done enough and their request was really a bit too much.

The night combat capability of laser-guided bombs comes from the thermal imager in the guidance pod. In theory, it is also possible to install the thermal imager on TV-guided bombs.

However, the use of laser-guided bombs is greatly restricted by weather, and the actual reliable strike distance is much smaller than that of TV-guided bombs.

But the comrades in the Air Force know that this is not feasible in actual operation. The price of a thermal imager is fine if it is used on reusable equipment, but it is a pity to use it on disposable bombs!

This is not the case decades later when civilian uncooled thermal imagers are everywhere and are incredibly cheap.

Gao Zhendong thought about it and did not give a clear answer.

"I have thought about this issue. Theoretically, there are cheaper technologies, but I am not sure whether we can support it now. I need to do research based on the theory, so I cannot guarantee the time."

The other comrades were all shocked, you really have it?

There was no clear answer, but the comrades in the Air Force were very happy because at least there was hope.

Moreover, when Comrade Gao Zhendong said that there is technology, it really exists, it is just a question of whether it can be manufactured. There is no need to equate cheapness with technical difficulty. Some things cannot be manufactured by those who cannot manufacture them, but the price is not too expensive for those who can manufacture them.

"Comrade Zhendong, just tell me what research you need to conduct. The committee will definitely support you." The chief engineer of the Defense Work Committee spoke. If this matter is done well, it will be another new equipment.

(End of this chapter)