Chapter 1084 Prototype to be produced in China

After introducing the design features of the "Gaoming" early warning system at the structural and aerodynamic levels, the next content is naturally the real core of the early warning aircraft, that is, the performance of the mission payload.

Liu Yongquan considered himself unprofessional in this regard, so he completely left it to Fan Jimin, who had just answered the question.

Although Dassault did not have any experts in radar systems, Casore himself had gone through several rounds of negotiations with Ericsson in Sweden, and even though he had never eaten pork, he had at least seen pigs run.

Therefore, he didn't care much about the data such as the maximum detection distance and the number of detected targets in the introduction.

It’s not that these indicators are not important.

But because it is too important.

When it comes to actually signing the agreement, there will be hundreds of pages of attachments to confirm the details.

There is no way to describe it with just one or two numbers.

Now it's just a formality.

What's more, the numbers given by Fan Jimin themselves are not particularly shocking.

It can detect large aerial targets at a distance of 350 kilometers and fighter jets at a distance of 250 kilometers. It can also detect ordinary medium-sized surface ships at roughly the same distance, acting as a maritime warning aircraft, and can detect low-flying cruise missiles at a distance of 80-100 kilometers...

The data is slightly more advanced than the PS890 system from nearly a decade ago, but it is almost the same as the improved PS890M that the Swedes had promised him.

It looks like a standard early 21st century light early warning aircraft.

The most obvious advantage is that the airborne system is a fully functional version that does not rely on ground stations for command. It can search for up to 300 targets and track 100 of them simultaneously, and has open access to data links and information command systems in hardware.

But when it comes to the software level, users need to figure it out themselves.

The Chinese side, at least in name, does not offer a complete solution.

However, for Casore who was listening to the plan, this was actually a good thing.

Although France is not connected to NATO's common command system, this is entirely a policy issue and there are no technical obstacles.

Even many French military equipment are equipped with link16 data link hardware.

Therefore, Huaxia's non-interference in this regard will be more conducive to the performance of its products in the international market.

If nothing else, its appeal in the Middle East will soar.

For a moment, Casore had already begun to consider how to promote and price the product in front of him.

It is definitely more expensive than Saab 340 and similar products.

However, judging from the performance on paper alone, there seems to be no particularly obvious advantage compared to the G550AE&W.

The part of the performance that specifically notes the detection of cruise missiles may be due to the demonstration effect of the deterrence operation at the beginning of the year.

But if the overall performance of the radar is similar, others can also conduct a wave of tests and write...

About twenty minutes later, Fan Jimin turned the page of the PPT on the screen.

This time, it is finally no longer a large amount of dazzling data in a table.

Instead, a bird's-eye view model of an early warning aircraft appeared.

A circle is marked around it with angles.

Fan Jimin's voice sounded almost at the same time:

"Our radar system has an effective detection range of 330°, which almost eliminates blind spots compared to similar products..."

As usual, Cassore took a quick look, then lowered his head again, ready to continue recording his current thoughts on product development, as well as some things that needed to be paid attention to during the negotiations with the Chinese.

330°, it sounds amazing at first glance.

Compared with the early warning aircraft with a disc-shaped radar dome, it is almost as good.

But Casore has seen this kind of data too many times.

When it came into contact with the Swedes before, Ericsson even added a front and rear radar to the belly of the aircraft, and then brazenly claimed that its product had a 360° all-directional field of view.

Regardless of the fact that the effective detection distance of 60° front and rear is comparable to the visual distance in clear weather.

Moreover, because it is blocked by the fuselage, it has no ability to detect the upper hemisphere.

"We are all experienced people, why are you trying to play tricks with me..."

He couldn't help but complain in his heart.

However, before he could start writing again, the few remaining images in Casore's mind made him realize that something was wrong.

It seems to be different from the pictures I have seen before.

He raised his head again like a spring.

It was soon discovered that the data in front of me not only included the available detection angles, but also the detection distance at each angle.

In other words, it's like a data graph in a polar coordinate system.

The part with the largest coverage area, which symbolizes a detection range of 350 kilometers, almost occupies the entire side of the aircraft.

Although there are weak areas or blind spots at the nose and tail of the aircraft, even judging by the naked eye, the angles are much smaller than all similar plans he has seen in the past.

Only about 30°.

In other words, the range in which the early warning detection function can be properly exerted is 150° on each side.

Directly a quarter more than its competitors.

If we consider it from the perspective of actual air combat, the extra 60° may not be of any practical use.

Especially for the main users, that is, small and medium-sized countries, the threats they face mostly come from a single direction.

But the arms sales market is also a market, and demand can be created.

That would be a decisive blow.

Of course, the premise of all this is to ensure performance at other levels while expanding the detection range.

Thinking of this, Casore stopped writing:

"For phased array radars without mechanical motion structures, the instantaneous bandwidth is generally limited by the array aperture, subarray size and scanning angle... In the design you provided, the array aperture and subarray size have not increased by an order of magnitude compared with similar products. So, will the setting of a large scanning angle of plus or minus 75 degrees affect the spatial resolution and dynamic range?"

This question was somewhat beyond Fan Jimin's expectations.

An aerospace engineer can fluently speak of such knowledge in the field of signal processing, which obviously means he has done a lot of homework before.

It's not something that can be dealt with in just a few words.

Therefore, he did not answer immediately, but looked down at the notebook in front of him.

As the main technician, Fan Jimin naturally knew the answer to the question.

But first he needed to confirm what could be said now about the principles of radar design.

About half a minute later, Fan Jimin pushed his glasses and said slowly:

"In the Gaoming radar system, we use real time delay technology at the subarray level to replace the phase shifter in the conventional phased array radar, thus avoiding the influence of spatial and temporal dispersion on the instantaneous bandwidth in principle."

"In fact, the reason why our radar is much lighter than similar foreign products and can use a simplified version of the antenna bracket is also due to the same reason... The delay line not only reduces the weight of the antenna array itself, but also reduces the heat dissipation and energy supply load..."

"If you are interested, Dr. Casore, I can explain to you the mathematical model of the time-delay phased array in principle..."

"..."

"No, no, no... I think I understand..."

Seeing that Fan Jimin was getting more and more excited and was even about to go straight to the principles of mathematics, Casore immediately declined:

After all, what the other party can talk about so openly at this stage are probably basic theories that can be found in textbooks.

Now all we need to know is that the Chinese used a new technology to replace the phase shifter.

The key point is whether the application of new technology will bring additional risks to the entire project.

And he asked the question directly.

Fan Jimin looked confident:

"Before proposing this design, we had already conducted sufficient principle and technical verification, so the risks and R&D cycle were definitely within a controllable range."

After hearing the first half of this sentence, Casore felt relieved.

But the following content seems a bit wrong:

"Of course, when it comes to the project, different carrier platforms will affect link noise, directional pattern characteristics, delay error, and pulse compression of linear frequency modulation signals. If you want to obtain the best radar performance, you need to make fine adjustments for the specific carrier-radar combination..."

"So what you mean is..."

Cassore's face turned serious.

Hearing the other party's direct question, Fan Jimin closed the notebook in front of him, and without beating around the bush, he stated his own... or rather, Chang Haonan's request:

"The first prototype needs to be produced in China and undergo complete test flights and equipment testing!"