Chapter 1333 Variable Thrust Solid Propellant

Compared with the exciting space competition in the vast Pacific Ocean and the brainstorming of high-temperature gas dynamicists at both ends of the earth, the work of some people is relatively unknown.

China, Qingtongxia.

A lean convoy of three vehicles was driving under the scorching sun along a newly built hardened road in the desert into an area marked as "Military Area, No Entry for Unauthorized Persons".

Lin Chenggang was sitting in the passenger seat of the leading Iveco. He looked through the rearview mirror at a squad of sentries that were being dragged further and further away by the convoy, and then he spat out a mouthful of sand to the side.

"I really don't understand why you set up a shooting range in a place like this..."

As a technician who has been engaged in naval missiles for half his life, he has been to many Category III or Category IV areas with harsh environments, but he has never experienced such a natural environment.

Even though the car's doors and windows were closed, fine yellow sand was still able to enter the passenger compartment through the circulation system and penetrate into all exposed places such as the ears, nose, and mouth.

"Is this..."

Cheng Guangwei, who was sitting in the back of the car, smiled helplessly, but did not give a direct answer.

In fact, since the Horqin Desert did not recede naturally but was transformed into arable land and grassland in a planned manner under human influence, the abolition of the Horqin Army Air Defense Weapons Experimental Range was also a rather sudden event.

It was not until the shooting range was closed that the General Armament Department began to look for a suitable replacement area, and finally selected this desert Gobi in the central part of the Northwest Plain to avoid the situation where it was converted into farmland by someone on a whim.

Moreover, the newly built Qingtongxia shooting range will no longer be exclusively for air defense equipment, but will be suitable for all army firepower, from individual rocket launchers to short-range tactical missiles.

However, considering that the "someone" in this case happened to be the boss of the other party's project, Cheng Guangwei decided to quickly switch to other topics:

“Actually, this place is pretty good…”

He tightened the scarf around his face as he spoke:

"For the whole of last year, we were dealing with the basically abandoned Changli shooting range of the Air Force. There wasn't even a decent road there. We had to take an all-terrain vehicle to get in. We didn't even dare to eat the night before we set off..."

Lin Chenggang shook his head and did not continue arguing on this topic.

In fact, as someone who used to go on ships frequently, he found it easier to adapt to the bumps and motion sickness than the dryness and endless yellow sand.

Fortunately, he is not responsible for the testing of any specific model here, he just comes to verify the feasibility of a new technology route.

So you don't need to stay long.

Almost at the same time when Cheng Guangwei finished speaking, Lin Chenggang saw a faint flame trailing white smoke flying out from below the distant horizon and then straight into the sky.

About 1.5 seconds later, a bright light flashed in the air at a farther distance, indicating that the missile had hit something.

This flight time also means that the distance between the target and the launch location is quite short, probably within two kilometers.

"Okay, I got it!"

Lin Chenggang excitedly patted the dashboard in front of the co-pilot.

Although it was impossible for the human eye to directly capture a clear image at such a long distance, even just by looking at the smoke and dust still remaining in the air, he could tell that the missile must have used the latest experimental propellant he had developed.

Because before this, there was no low-smoke or smokeless propellant in the entire China that could be used in air defense missiles or air-to-air missiles...

Although Cheng Guangwei, who was in charge of the entire testing task, did not behave so exaggeratedly, he was aware of the unique technical content involved. He leaned his head out and showed a knowing smile.

As for the other people in the car, on the one hand, they saw similar scenes almost every day and had become somewhat numb to it, and on the other hand, they were not quite sure what this test was about, so they were a little overwhelmed by the two people's sudden surprise.

It seems a bit strange to celebrate together, and it's already too late.

But Cheng Guangwei and Lin Chenggang are both leaders, so it doesn't seem like that's the case if we just watch.

At this delicate moment, a faint plume of white smoke rose again from the same location as before.

That’s right, it’s “rising”.

Compared with the previous missile that soared into the sky after ignition, this time it was neither fast nor slow, slowly accelerating in a posture more like an anti-ship missile than an anti-aircraft missile.

This scene finally saved the others from feeling awkward and they exclaimed from the bottom of their hearts:

"what?"

There are no obvious sonic boom clouds over the dry desert area. Such an outrageous visual effect even makes it difficult for people to judge whether the missile has broken the speed of sound.

For a moment, they thought there was a problem with the launch.

But the tail still extended steadily farther and farther, faster and faster, and it didn't look out of control at all.

It was not until nearly half a minute later that a second brilliant firework exploded in the sky.

This time, Lin Chenggang, who was sitting in the passenger seat, even turned around and clapped his hands with Cheng Guangwei...

……

As the saying goes, a horse will die if it is too far away. Although the location of the missile launch seemed not far away, the convoy still drove for nearly 20 minutes before finally seeing the four missile launch sites deployed on the side of the temporary road.

In fact, at the very beginning, the only system participating in this test was the new combined missile and artillery air defense system that had undergone major modifications and was equipped with new missiles.

However, with the development and production of CT-1 propellant and its improved CTK-2 propellant, several other models belonging to the army and navy were involved.

In particular, the Navy is looking for a terminal defense missile with a small size, simple structure and large ammunition reserve for destroyers and frigates to compete with the US military's RIM116 "Ram", which almost hits the sweet spot of the CT series propellants.

Due to its extremely small diameter (only about 130 mm), the disadvantages of the mixed propellant's poor shaping ability and high process cost are completely offset, while the advantages of fast burning rate and high energy content are extremely suitable for the use of short-range missiles.

However, the reason why Lin Chenggang came here today in the midst of the yellow sand and scorching sun was because of another model.

Or strictly speaking, it is a technology verified by another model.

About 50 meters away from the naval launcher, a tracked anti-aircraft missile vehicle with a chassis similar to the Tor M1 was rotating its launch tower.

Judging from the fact that the cover has been opened and the radar has not been retracted, the two missiles just fired should have been from this launcher.

Seeing the convoy coming in one after another, Cheng Guangwei's assistant Liu Xiyun put down the mouse and jumped out of a command vehicle nearby that was converted from an armored personnel carrier chassis.

There was a folder under his arm.

"Mr. Cheng, Researcher Lin."

He trotted to the front of the Iveco, and after a brief greeting, he handed the document in his hand to Lin Chenggang who had just got off the car:

"Since this morning, we have conducted three rounds of six target tests on the air defense missiles equipped with CTK-2 propellants. Five of them successfully hit targets ranging from 1.5km to 25km, proving that CTK-2 propellants can exhibit different burning rate characteristics under different voltages. There was also a 0.8km target that failed to hit. The missile successfully ignited but lost power in the final stage. The dud has been safely recovered and the cause is being analyzed."

Lin Chenggang nodded, listened to the other party's summary, and opened the folder to briefly browse the contents.

The CTK-2 propellant was a model he developed based on the CT-1 model, inspired by Chang Haonan's ideas.

CTK is the abbreviation of super-high-energy-control.

Due to the unique characteristics of solid-liquid mixing, the matrix of the CT series propellant can be easily mixed with electrically sensitive materials such as hydroxylamine nitrate. When electrodes are installed and the required voltage power is applied, the solid propellant ignites and continues to burn until the power is cut off or the voltage drops below the combustion threshold level. As long as the power is turned on and off, it can be ignited and extinguished many times.

After a few tests, Lin Chenggang upgraded the formula again, changing the CTK-1, which only had two states, ignition and extinction, to the CTK-2, which can flexibly adjust the burning speed by voltage strength.

This is the model currently being tested.

Solid rocket engines using CTK-2 propellant can switch between rapid combustion, high acceleration, short range and slow combustion, low acceleration, long range according to actual conditions, and still have the ability to adjust flight attitude through power at the end of flight.

In Lin Chenggang's opinion, this big job he had done quietly should play an extraordinary role in the subsequent development of air-breathing hypersonic missiles, thus making him a key role in the entire research and development team.

However, at this time, he still didn't know -

Since the power has been changed to a dual-mode scramjet engine, the demand for rocket boosters for the air-breathing hypersonic solution has been reduced to an unimaginable level...