Chapter 1324 Redefining Success

Just as the Long March 9 nuclear submarine was busy diving and preparing to set sail.

Inside the control center of Edwards Air Force Base, the situation became strangely awkward.

Looking at the data curve that suddenly stopped on the big screen and the red lights that lit up in the flight status assessment area, the audience seats that were just jubilant fell silent almost instantly.

"what's the situation?"

Admiral Mitchell Mosley looked at the big screen, then at Dr. Collinger standing next to him, a look of confusion on his face.

To outsiders who don't know much about the business, the first half of the test process seemed to have gone smoothly, with no signs of any failure. So in that split second, no one thought of the worst-case scenario.

Instead, we considered another possibility.

"Is there a problem with the signal transmission?"

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Peter Pace, also stood up and strode to the control console. He ordered the communications officer who was also in a daze:

"Try and see if you can contact that Orion?"

Since the amount of data that needs to be transmitted during the test flight is too large, the communication support for the X51A is provided by a specially modified relay communication machine rather than a satellite.

If there is a problem in this link, it is normal for all data to be lost at the same time.

Ke Lingjie, who had a bad feeling, shook his head solemnly:

"When we designed it, we took into account the possibility of signal transmission problems, so we also kept satellite communication equipment as a backup. Even if there is a problem on the plane, some basic data should be retained, and not all of it will be lost..."

Just as he finished speaking, the voice of the technician on the relay communication machine sounded over the radio at the right time:

"Reporting to the control center, this is Orion, we have lost the tracking information! I repeat, we have lost the tracking information. Can you tell me the details?"

For a moment, everyone looked at each other, but no one replied.

By this time, everyone had some ominous premonition in their hearts.

Since even Orion has lost the target signal, it means that there is a problem in the first link of data transmission.

In this case, the only possibility is that the aircraft crashed.

But it is inevitable that some people will want to continue struggling.

Especially Boeing CEO James McNerney.

About a year and a half ago, Harry Stonecipher, Boeing's previous head and one of the planners of the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger, was forced to resign on suspicion of bribing confidential staff of the Department of Defense, and even implicated many military personnel.

This scandal has greatly deteriorated Boeing's internal connections in Washington. Therefore, McEnany's key task after taking office, in addition to launching a series of new passenger aircraft research and development projects in his old business to cope with competition from Airbus, is to appease the bigwigs in the Pentagon and Congress through several attractive projects.

Now that the money has been spent, all we have to do is wait until the X51A project is successfully completed, and then we can rationalize all these expenditures and put them away permanently.

But something went wrong at the most critical juncture.

Thinking of this, McEnany couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

His already pale face looked even more pale.

He doesn't care whether the progress of the project itself is delayed, but if the test failure attracts the attention of the Accountability Office... that would be like flattering the horse without a plan.

Things like interest transfer are the elephant in the room. Although it has almost become a common rule, it is still not convenient to put it in the open.

The most urgent task was to find a reasonable reason to explain it, regardless of whether the X51A exploded or not.

With his mind working rapidly, McNerney quickly became very smart and came up with a perfect argument:

"By the way, didn't they just say that the Chinese have a fleet nearby?"

"Could it be that they released electronic jammers, causing us to lose the target's data?"

Of course, the real purpose of this sentence is not the wine.

The point is not to throw away data, but to pave the way for the future.

The same reason can also be used to explain the failure of the experiment...

However, after saying this, McEnany almost immediately received more than one look as if he was looking at an idiot.

Although putting the blame on the Chinese is a useful tactic, we must also consider the actual situation.

The other side only had two destroyers and a reconnaissance ship, which were more than 200 kilometers away from the location where the aircraft last lost its signal, and there were three of their own warships responsible for tracking and monitoring in the middle.

In this kind of situation, you say that they have completely disrupted our testing. Isn't that the same as saying that the US military is trash?

Peter Pace secretly rolled his eyes, but he also knew that now was not the time to argue with this layman, so he turned around and called the commodore who had reported the situation before:

"Let the fleet pass..."

Just started, but hesitated:

"How far is the fleet now from where the signal was lost?"

"About 150 nautical miles..."

The latter quickly responded:

"But according to my experience, if it really disintegrated in the air at a speed of nearly Mach 6, then the area where the debris splashed would be much further ahead, at least more than 200 nautical miles, and it would take about 7 hours to arrive. And this does not take into account the possible interference of the Chinese fleet with our navigation..."

Pace nodded:

"Then let the plane go over first and see if there are any floating objects or traces of fuel on the sea..."

After all, he was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who had seen big scenes. Although he was a little disappointed with the high probability of failure of the test, he quickly regained his composure and began to arrange subsequent handling measures.

"Yes!"

The Brigadier General saluted Pace, then took over from the communications officer next to him and began communicating with Orion.

Edwards Base certainly belongs to the Air Force, but the launch site for this test is located within the jurisdiction of the Naval Air Combat Center at Point Mugu, so although the Navy plays a supporting role, it can naturally take over the necessary work.

It would take more than an hour for the communication relay to arrive, so after giving the order, Pace did not wait, but came to the dark-faced Ke Lingjie:

"Doctor, if the aircraft crashes, can all the test data be preserved?"

Hearing this question, Ke Lingjie's expression finally improved a little, and he nodded and replied:

"The part displayed on the big screen is just the tip of the iceberg. Many parameters will be recorded directly into our test database. Even if the wreckage is not found, there is enough telemetry data to analyze the cause of the problem."

Compared with China and Russia, although the United States also has a vast land area, it lacks a large enough area of unowned land. This is essentially due to the unique natural conditions of the North American continent, but it also brings a lot of unnecessary trouble to weapons testing.

Therefore, starting from several decades ago, major arms companies began to conduct weapons tests over lakes and seas, which also led to the development of many related support technologies.

After hearing what Collinger said, Pace did not continue speaking immediately. Instead, he put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in the control center.

After a few minutes, he regained his balance:

"In other words, this test still shows sufficient value?"

Ke Lingjie was a little confused by this question that had no context. Besides, as the project leader, no matter what he said at this time, it would be considered as self-exculpation.

But McEnany, who was watching the situation from the side, keenly caught the subtle meaning behind this sentence and quickly added:

"Perhaps... it can provide some reference for the four subsequent technical verification tests planned..."

Even though Ke Lingjie was a little slow in these aspects, he had already understood what his CEO meant by this time, and quickly followed his meaning and continued:

"Of course... After all, the scramjet engine worked for nearly three minutes this time, which is more than ten times longer than the previous X43A record of 12 seconds. The richness of the data is also incomparable to that of the past. Just give me some time..."

Pace didn't listen to the rest of the expression of determination and interrupted him with a raised hand.

"In other words, although the aircraft malfunctioned this time, compared to our past performance and that of other competitors, we have made significant progress... and are ahead?"

Faced with this question, Ke Lingjie opened his mouth.

He really wanted to say that the 43-second working time of the X12A met the test requirements, so it was undoubtedly a successful test, but the 51 seconds of the X143A failed to complete the flight plan, making it difficult to make a direct comparison.

But after some hesitation, he nodded, indicating that he agreed with the other party's statement.

Pace's expression suddenly relaxed:

"So, perhaps we can say that this test was...partially successful?"