Chapter 1378: Years Before and After

The old-fashioned ceiling fan on the cafeteria stirred the sticky air. Chang Haonan stood in the shadow diagonally behind the entrance, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the embroidery on his cuffs.

There was a faint sound of cicadas chirping outside the window, and the smoke from the launch pad in the distance was blue-gray in the moonlight.

Below the stage, twelve round tables were covered with army green tablecloths that had been washed to a pale color. Steam was rising from the stainless steel basins that had just been brought by the kitchen staff. The stirring of the ceiling fan distorted the slogan on the wall: "Serious, Thoughtful, Reliable, and Infallible."

Originally, a major event like the successful first flight of a gliding hypersonic platform should have been celebrated after returning to Beijing.

However, many participants still have important tasks to do later and it is impossible for them to leave the Dingxin Base for a long time. Therefore, Chang Haonan temporarily decided to arrange a meeting in the cafeteria of the base first.

As for large-scale celebrations, we will wait until conditions permit.

"Academician Chang, I'm really sorry, conditions are limited, this is all I can do for now."

After a brief opening speech, base director Lai Qingfu brought Chang Haonan to the main seat.

As a key support unit of the entire army, the Dingxin Base is absolutely impeccable in terms of material supply.

However, it is far away from large metropolitan areas, and it was only an air force tactical training center in the past. It has only been expanded for less than two years, and all aspects lack experience in providing support for such large-scale activities.

As a result, the celebration banquet looked a bit like the banquets held in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the words of Chang Hao, a talented and intelligent person from the south, it is called "reflecting the heroic spirit of the Northwest region."

"Director Lai, I think you should prepare a place... It doesn't have to be a big place, but there must be enough space."

Liang Yangang, who had just led the team back to the base, was cutting the meat with a knife. Seeing this, he joined the conversation and said half-jokingly:

"At this rate, there will probably be a lot of projects that you guys will complete technical verification on in the future. You can't hide in a place like this to celebrate every time, right?"

As he said this, he raised his head and glanced above his head.

The blades of the ventilator broke up the morning light, leaving mottled shadows on the ceiling.

Dingxin used to be a relatively pure military camp. Like most organizations, each company or battalion had a kitchen team and each unit solved its own food problem.

Normally it could accommodate about a hundred people, but by the standards of a celebration banquet, it was still a bit too crowded.

“In fact, planning is already underway.”

After arranging their respective seats, Lai Qingfu, who was already sweating profusely, unbuttoned a button on his collar and sat down opposite:

"There used to be a guesthouse to the west of the base. It's a big place but the conditions are not very good. We were planning to expand it into an auditorium this month, but now all the engineering troops are on missions and we can't let local people in here, so we can only leave it there for now."

"Eh……"

Chang Haonan happened to be not busy at the moment, so he also joked after hearing this:

"The occasion is secondary. What the comrades need more is probably a group of good chefs..."

Everyone at the table burst into laughter.

Due to the frequent personnel turnover in the army, the cooking skills of the kitchen team are very random. In addition, the business volume has increased exponentially in recent times, so the quality is inevitably declining.

Many soldiers have experienced the classic scenes such as the stew with no saltiness or tastelessness and the noodles that are cooked on the outside but raw on the inside.

Lai Qingfu also knew that the situation was true, and quickly pointed to the pot of mutton in the middle of the table and said:

"We will definitely improve this aspect... But please rest assured today, the hand-pulled mutton made by our base logistics is absolutely unique. You must try it. Even if you return to the capital, you may not be able to eat such authentic food..."

In fact, as a frontline troop commander who lives in the open air every day, Liang Yangang doesn't care about these things. He just picked a topic to warm up the atmosphere.

Seeing that the atmosphere was right, they stopped harping on the issue of daily meals.

Since there were so many people gathered together, and they didn't have much daily contact with each other, the topic quickly returned to the task at hand.

"Academician Chang, during the test, the radar screen was interfered by the plasma and the ultra-high speed. All I could see was a mess of light spots, and the data was completely distorted..."

Guo Lin asked while peeling the shells of salted peanuts:

"So I was just about to ask, what is the exact speed that the 'Xuanniao' reached during its flight?"

Guo Lin just flew to Dingxin this morning after resolving some technical issues at the radar station, and has not had time to read the technical report.

"In theory, it should be fastest when the end is about to hit, but because of the antenna angle, the data refresh frequency during the dive is relatively low and there is a lag, so it is generally not used as a typical reference."

Chang Haonan put down his chopsticks and replied:

"And if we calculate based on the midpoint of the first gliding cycle, it would be 4080m/s, which is roughly equivalent to 12 times the speed of sound under normal conditions..."

When Guo Lin heard this number, he suddenly started coughing, probably because he was choked by the broken peanut shells.

Chang Haonan reached out to pat him on the back, and the dial of his watch glowed a cold blue light under the light.

After finally recovering from his stress, Guo Lin spoke again:

"So the jumping trajectory can really form a long-term and stable black barrier effect..."

Guo Lin's fingertips unconsciously drew a sine curve on the tablecloth.

“The aerodynamic properties of the waverider configuration are key.”

This is not the first time that Chang Haonan has answered a similar question.

He used chopsticks dipped in tea to draw the rough outline of the compressed surface on the table:

"The shock layer forms periodic pressure oscillations at an altitude of 80-100 kilometers, just like a dragonfly touching the water... At this altitude, controlling the airflow and controlling the distribution of the plasma layer are essentially the same thing."

Although he already knew the basic principles, when Guo Lin actually confirmed the news from Chang Haonan, his expression was still somewhat complicated.

As a radar engineer, it was difficult for him to accept such a simple and crude low-detectability method that had no aesthetic appeal.

Of course, the more important thing is——

It seems completely impossible to resist.

Plasma stealth is certainly not a new concept, but it has generally been considered a fantasy.

However, in this simple offensive and defensive confrontation, Guo Lin and his radar were fortunate enough to become the first target to be crushed by this technology.

"In fact, although speed is a key indicator of hypersonic weapons, it is not the only important indicator."

Chang Haonan put a cleaned lamb rib aside:

"Like what Lao Guo said just now, variable ballistics are also an important part of penetration and stealth, so our subsequent optimization focus is also here. On the one hand, we must ensure a certain degree of flexibility, and on the other hand, we must reduce the difficulty of operation at the launch end... We cannot treat other units of the Second Artillery Corps with the standards of the participating troops..."

What he meant was that the 810th Brigade was guided by a Party A expert group including Xing Muchun, and had a preparation period ranging from a few weeks to several months before each launch, so their level of acceptance of new knowledge was naturally completely different.

But when Liang Yangang, who was standing next to him, heard this sentence, it had a completely different meaning.

This is a recognition of their level!

I wish I could stretch my mouth up to the sky.

"He is the chief architect after all. He has good vision."

Although he thought so, he still waved his hand modestly:

"It's all thanks to Mr. Xing and his team for their guidance. We are just responsible for inputting a few parameters and pressing a button..."

This answer seemed a bit abrupt to Chang Haonan, but before he could fully understand it, Liang Yangang, who was greatly encouraged, asked in return:

"Academician Chang, I wonder if the detailed schedule for the next few tests has been finalized? I would like to lead my comrades to make targeted preparations..."

Considering that everyone present was also an informed person, the former picked up another lamb chop and said without thinking:

"The second and third prototypes are already being assembled and debugged. We plan to fire one round each in August and September, and then three more before the end of the year. The last round will be fired at the beginning of next year. If nothing unexpected happens, the design can be finalized..."

"it is good……"

As soon as the first word came out, Liang Yangang held back the rest:

"So fast?"

He had originally prepared to work in both places for a long time, but it seems that only a year will be enough.

Chang Haonan nodded:

"Well...but after the test is over next year, your brigade should be carrying out new missions right away."

Liang Yangang didn't fully understand what the other party meant at this time:

"As for changing uniforms, Academician Chang, don't worry. I promise to pass on all my experience to other comrades in the brigade without reservation..."

However, before he could finish expressing his opinion, he was interrupted.

"Changing clothes is a routine..."

Chang Haonan, with a half-smile on his face, was ready to give the other party a surprise:

"If nothing unexpected happens, your brigade will most likely go directly to Beijing to prepare for the 60th anniversary parade next year!"

Sure enough, the braised bamboo shoots in Liang Yangang's chopsticks shook a few times and then fell directly onto the tablecloth.

"Next year...the military parade..."

As an early model, the Dongfeng 3 only participated in one military parade in 1984. He was still in middle school at the time, so of course it was impossible for him to participate.

Originally, it was thought that even if the equipment was replaced, this kind of high-tech model would have to wait for a few more years before it could be made public, and by then he might not even be serving in the brigade.

As a result, the opportunity came like a black bird falling from the sky, hitting him in front of him at lightning speed.

Similar to past situations, the 60th National Day military parade also has a special support project called the "0910" project.

Only this time, Project 0910 truly returned to its original function.

That is to provide logistical and equipment technical support for the entire mission, rather than specifically incorporating the research and development project of a certain model into it.

After all, 10 years ago, the troops couldn't even produce a decent third-generation main battle tank and could only use prototype vehicles.

And in 10 years, even hypersonic missiles will be finalized.

It is indeed getting better.