Chapter 960 How to change 5DL?
"Including those that have already been cut, the number will be approximately 2000 by the time production is completely stopped." The army leader asked his communicator to go out and ask, and the officer came back with a number.

Gao Zhendong was a little stunned when he heard this number. He knew that our annual production peak of 5DL was 1200 units, but he never expected that we could produce 60 units in the three years from 62 to 2000.

Even if this number includes the parts that have been cut but not yet produced, the fact that there are at least 1500 vehicles in three years still surprised him.

500 per year was once the normal production capacity of 5DL, but that should have been in the 70s.

"So many?" Gao Zhendong couldn't help but express his surprise.

The army leader laughed and said, "Although the 5DL may seem backward in your eyes, it is a very useful main battle medium tank if you make a comprehensive assessment. Why is it so awkward to say this? Let me put it this way. Basically, it is a very good main battle tank at present."

The leader simply came up with the term "main battle tank" himself, which felt much smoother.

"So as soon as the armored steel problem was solved, our factory began to rapidly increase its production capacity. That's just how many vehicles there are, not many. And this 2000 is not the final number. We have to wait for the production of Type 62 tanks to be rolled out and the production capacity to be increased. It is estimated that at least 500 to 1000 vehicles will have to be produced. We can't just stop and wait for the Type 62 tanks to increase its production capacity. The troops are short of tanks." Chief Engineer Luo added.

It is probably because during S2, the Hans and the Russians' generous use of tanks is still influencing everyone, so 2 or 3000 tanks are nothing, and they may be gone after a few major battles. Although it is a peaceful era for the time being, this number is not out of the ordinary.

2, 3000? That's easy, this number is almost enough.

"Then we will use these 2000-plus vehicles, improve them a bit, and use them as low-end equipment in the high-low combination. What do you think, leaders?"

"Well... with these 2000-plus vehicles as a supplement, it should be enough in the short term. If it really doesn't work, we can send this improved model to the Northeast to continue production. In this way, our newly prepared 5DL production line will not be wasted."

You have to know that it has only been a few years since our 5DL was successfully copied, and the production line is still brand new. After 5DL obtained Gao Zhendong's 592 and 593 armor steels, even without explosive counterattack equipment, its basic protection performance will exceed that of the original T-54. It would be a pity to just throw it away.

The army leaders' idea is very practical. If the performance is up to standard, then continuing production will not be a big problem. The Type 62 can maintain quality, and the 5DL can be modified to maintain quantity.

The leader of the Defense Work Committee smiled and said, "So the key issue now is how you want to modify this 5DL! It must be convenient for modification and new production."

Gao Zhendong smiled and expressed his thoughts.

"Equip explosive countermeasures, replace guns, increase fire extinguishing and explosion suppression, install simple fire control, and install simple night combat." As for things like smoke bombs and thermal smoke generators, there is no need to mention them.

Anyway, Gao Zhendong didn't want to replace the engine. That was probably enough. The weight increased by installing the explosive countermeasures was actually offset by the weight reduced by replacing the gun, so it didn't have much impact on the weight.

It is easy to understand that adding explosive counterattack is almost a must. If you want to improve the protection ability of 5DL, this is the simplest but very effective way.

"Well, it is indeed a good suggestion to equip the 5DL with explosive countermeasures. This way, the protection capability of the 5DL will be greatly improved on the original basis. We were originally planning to make modifications to the DL in this regard. But if we replace the gun, will the weight increase too much, resulting in insufficient engine power?" asked the chief engineer of the Defense Work Committee.

He was very clear about the general technical status of tanks, but not so clear about the details. Mr. Luo from the Grassland Tractor Factory smiled and said, "Boss, our 105-speed is several hundred kilograms lighter than the 5-speed of the 100DL."

"Ah? Is that so?" The boss was a little surprised. The power of this cannon increased so much, but it could still be several hundred kilograms lighter? Even if you scale it up proportionally, this would not happen.

"Yes, the ESR and barrel self-tightening technology make the PTH-62 61mm smoothbore gun barrel used by the Type 105 thinner and the weight is greatly reduced." In fact, the situation is similar when comparing the second-generation tanks of the Russians with the T-54/55.

PTH, Cannon-Tank-Slide, is our unique equipment naming system.

"That's good, change it! We must change it!" The comrades in the army were delighted, this meant that the 5DL could get similar protection and the same firepower as the Type 62 tank. So what was there to hesitate about? As long as the soldiers were well trained, this improved tank would be able to fight against any tank currently in service in the world or even new tanks. The first thing to consider about a tank is the ability to penetrate and withstand defense, this is the core of the tank.

And the added cost is not much. The price of ERA is mainly the price of explosives, and the rest is the cost of stamping and assembling the steel plate. If it is newly produced, there is a price difference between 5DL's 100 wire and PTH-61, but it is not very large.

There is no need to say much about fire extinguishing and explosion suppression, this is a life-saving tool.

"Comrade Zhendong, aren't you going to participate in the collective three-defense?"

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "It is not easy to add collective three-defense to the already formed body of 5DL. As long as the personal three-defense can achieve the desired effect, we will not bother with it."

Automatic fire extinguishing and explosion suppression gas cylinders can be placed everywhere, but a collective three-protection air filtration host is not so easy to install, especially in an already formed car body. It is very troublesome to do so. It is better to use a personal three-protection device that can basically achieve a similar effect.

And Gao Zhendong knew that the three defenses... would not be very useful in the foreseeable future, especially for us. "Well, we should adapt to local conditions and do what we can and what we cannot. Your consideration is correct." The army leader nodded. He knew that Gao Zhendong would never ignore defense from the bottom of his heart. This choice was the most appropriate one.

Then the chief engineer of the Defense Work Committee asked the question that concerned him the most, which was actually a question that everyone was concerned about.

"What do you mean by simple fire control and simple night combat?"

It's clear from the moment you hear it that Gao Zhendong is dissatisfied with the existing fire control system of the 5DL. In fact, after seeing the Type 62, everyone is dissatisfied with it. Strictly speaking, it doesn't have that thing, it's just a sight, and it still uses an infrared headlight for night combat. Not to mention how effective this thing is, just the flashlight mode at night is enough to make people feel uncomfortable.

However, the current equipment of the 5DL means that it cannot be equipped with the same fire control as the Type 62. This thing is very valuable, so now the problem arises.

How simple is the "simple" that Comrade Zhendong mentioned?
Although everyone knows that Gao Zhendong has very high requirements for equipment, they also know that as long as he thinks it is sufficient, he will make do with it when necessary.

Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "We use a light spot injection non-disturbance fire control system."

Early optoelectronic injection fire control systems were perturbed or micro-perturbed, but the transformation from disturbance to non-perturbation actually means that the fire control computer outputs multiple automatic control signals of the gun's horizontal and elevation and couples them into the gun control signal, roughly offsetting the disturbance of the aiming line. However, the shooter still needs to make the final precise adjustment of the gun's position before firing.

Gao Zhendong knew very well that the second-generation light spot injection fire control system used in the 5DL-D tanks that we used in large quantities in our previous life was actually such a thing.

However, his statement was obviously too professional. Not to mention other comrades, even Mr. Luo, who was also the chief tank designer, found it a bit difficult to understand.

"Zhendong, just tell me, what effect can this fire control system achieve?"

“反应时间12~18秒，静对动命中率在1000米距离上不低于85%，2000米距离上不低于55%。且能实现行进中的短停射击。”

5DL does not have dual stabilization, so it takes longer to adjust the gun. Gao Zhendong gave a relatively low indicator.

The most famous world-famous short-stop shooting is a tank race organized by the Russians. Our tanks were running and shooting, while the improved T-72 they used had an emergency stop, fired a shot, and then continued running. Later, they probably thought that our behavior was a bit disruptive, so they simply changed the rules to short-stop shooting.

If they can't solve the problem, they will solve the rules. That's all the Russians can do. The Russians brag about their tanks, but in terms of electronics, it's just for fun.

Compared with ours, when the engine has problems, we modify the engine, and when the track breaks, we modify the walking device. It's a lot worse than before.

But it can also be seen here that being able to achieve reliable short-stop shooting is actually quite impressive. The Russians were still in the same situation until the 21st century.

The army leader was overjoyed. He didn't understand the technical details, but he knew what the data represented, so to speak.

——Although I am simple, I am still invincible.

Although we don't know where Gao Zhendong got this data with both zeros and integers, comrades may have doubts in their minds when others say so. Since Gao Zhendong dares to say so, he must have the confidence and it is very reliable.

"So, what's the price?" Such awesome fire control can't be without a price.

"Leaving aside night combat, compared to the down-reflection stabilized image, it does not have a scope stabilization system, nor does it have a gun dual stabilization system, and everything else is basically the same."

The combined price of these stabilization systems is not low. Roughly speaking, they can directly reduce the price of the fire control system by at least one third.

"So cheap?" The leaders of the army were stunned. How could this thing be so good, but it didn't even need those expensive stabilization systems?
"Yes, but all the indicators of this system, except for the better price, are lower than the downward-reflecting image stabilization system of the Type 62, and the difference is very large, at least twice as much."

The difference of twice or twice as much is often a confusing matter, but everyone can understand what Gao Zhendong means.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, hahaha, cheap stuff is good stuff." The leaders of the army and the Defense Work Committee smiled from ear to ear. You have high standards and think this is not very good, but we don't care. We think this is pretty good. Considering the price, if we can't hit the target, it is our own training problem.

Junkman's famous saying: There is no junk equipment, only junk prices.

(End of this chapter)