Chapter 1425 No roar, no fire

The discussion between the two did not last long.

Because all the tests before the equipment was started soon came to an end.

The technicians who had just been busy around the test station left one after another and then gathered again in the control room.

Wang Zhenguo, who was in charge of the on-site command, arrived last and saluted Chang Haonan and the others:

"Report, all subsystems have been confirmed to be normal under maintenance, and we can proceed to the next stage at any time!"

Chang Haonan nodded, then turned to look at an army major who had been waiting nearby:

"Captain Fan, from now on, the matters at the artillery position will be handed over to you."

Although the electromagnetic gun is completely different from traditional artillery in principle, it still has basic structures such as the breech block and barrel, as well as basic theories such as internal and external ballistics.

Han Chenfeng and Wang Zhenguo and their colleagues either specialized in high-energy physics or electrical engineering, and none of them had ever actually tinkered with a cannon.

Therefore, when it comes to the specific firing operation, it will still be completed by a professional artillery crew.

Fan Shenghui, who had been waiting for a long time, was already eager to try. After hearing this, he almost raised his hand to salute and then took a step forward, quickly walking to the operating table to take over Han Chenfeng's position.

Judging from the violent rise and fall of his chest, he had obviously taken several deep breaths in succession.

Even before the battle officially started, he did not forget to look back at the spectacular cannon outside the window.

As an army artilleryman, the biggest thing he had ever operated was a 155mm howitzer.

In fact, because China completely missed the era of large ships and large guns, even if they become naval artillerymen, the most they will have is the chance to get their hands on twin-mounted 130mm naval guns.

Don't tell me that it will exit the stage of history, or that it will be able to shrink further in size when it matures.

Just ask which man can pass the test of the big pipe?

Although the caliber of the thing in front of him was only an ordinary 100mm, Fan Shenghui had specifically checked and found that the muzzle energy actually exceeded that of the MK16 8-inch gun on the last heavy cruiser Des Moines class.

The rate of fire can reach nearly 1.5 times that of the latter.

In order to withstand the corresponding recoil, and because the verification equipment did not take the issue of compactness into consideration, the entire facility was nearly the size of a locomotive.

So since he was transferred here to participate in the testing program a month ago, Fan Shenghui has been constantly hinting at himself, pretending to be operating a railway cannon.

Chang Haonan saw this move and thought that the young man was a little nervous because it was his first time participating in a project of this level, so he also came to the operating table and put his hand on the other person's shoulder:

"Don't be nervous, just think of it as operating an ordinary howitzer, it's no big deal..."

In one sentence, the psychological suggestion that Fan Shenghui had built up with great difficulty was shattered, making him smile uglier than crying.

But now that things have come to this, it is impossible to continue procrastinating.

Fan Shenghui reluctantly gathered his thoughts, turned his attention back to the screen in front of him, and began to recall the key points of the operation he had learned:

"The grounding switch is open, the isolating switch is closed, and the circuit breaker is closed..."

Following his series of operations, the electrical system of the electromagnetic gun switched from cold standby state to operating state.

The moment the circuit breaker switch is connected, the motor status indicator light turns from red to green, indicating that the motor has officially started working.

Of course, since there is no energy input at this time, everything still looks normal.

"Ready to reload!"

This is the only task that needs to be completed at the gun position during the entire operation.

The other three members of the artillery crew were already ready, and they cooperated tacitly to open the input mechanism, ready to push two full five-round magazines into it.

Compared with ordinary artillery shells, electromagnetic guns do not need propellant as acceleration power, so they do not have the traditional cartridge structure. Instead, they are closer to a separately packaged armor-piercing shell.

In order to allow the overall conical warhead to fit tightly into the magazine and launch rail, the shell is wrapped with a layer of metal material on the outside with a sliding belt, and the tail is an armature that can be embedded in the bottom of the breech block to limit and push the shell forward.

Thanks to the relatively simple structure, a complete projectile-launching module weighs only about 15kg, which is half the weight of a Type 59 100mm anti-aircraft artillery shell of the same caliber.

The volume is less than one-third of the latter.

From a technical perspective alone, this is certainly a huge improvement.

Not only can you carry several times more ammunition, but you can also save a lot of trouble during transportation and loading.

But for the artillerymen who are used to exerting great strength, this light feeling in their arms always makes them feel uneasy.

A fourth-class sergeant closed the cover of the No. 1 rammstein on the left side and knocked it hard out of habit to ensure that it was fixed in place.

Then he hesitated for a moment and repeated the operation again.

Seems a little worried.

"I say, Deputy Captain, this is such a big thing, but it can only fire such light little shells?"

He wiped the sweat that was running down his temples and looked at the deputy battalion commander Chen Liyun who was not far behind him.

The latter nodded as a matter of course:

"Isn't it the same thing during the previous training?"

The sergeant curled his lips:

"I always thought that the training was just a model, but today I found out that it was real ammunition..."

Chen Liyun smiled:

"Don't underestimate such a small shell. I heard from the battalion commander that its maximum initial velocity can reach nearly 3 kilometers per second, and its power is greater than the 203mm gun on the cruiser..."

The other sergeant who was serving the No. 2 munitions feeder raised his head in shock:

"this one?"

As he spoke, he reached out and knocked on the tungsten alloy core of the top shell.

Strictly speaking, the 12kg projectile with a maximum initial velocity of 3km/s should have a muzzle energy that is about 16% higher than that of the MK40.

But because it is a high-speed light bullet, the energy retention at the end of the trajectory is not optimistic.

It's just that something went wrong during the multiple rounds of retelling. I don't know which step directly simplified the muzzle energy into power.

"Oh, don't show this attitude in front of the battalion commander. He always thinks he is commanding a super cannon..."

At this time, Chen Liyun didn't know that Fan Shenghui's fantasy had been ruthlessly shattered by Chang Haonan, so he gave a kind reminder.

Then he pulled the intercom pinned to his shoulder strap:

"Report to the battalion commander, the ammunition has been loaded!"

Fan Shenghui's voice soon came from the other side:

"Okay, let's withdraw, and keep a safe distance."

"receive."

Even for conventional artillery, the first shot in the cold gun state requires leaving the gun position and using the traditional rope-pulling method to fire.

So everyone is already familiar with this process.

However, perhaps because of Chen Liyun's reminder just now, several people considered that even a 155mm gun requires more than ten meters to ensure safety, so a gun with more power than 203mm obviously needs to be farther away.

So after leaving the warning area, he still did not stop, but hid further next to the control room.

One could even hear Chang Haonan's voice giving the next instruction:

"Inflate the detonation tube..."

"Approving the circuit status, preparing to generate the control magnetic field..."

"Inject ionized seeds and confirm the distribution of magnetic field morphology..."

"..."

"Ammunition loaded, single shot mode..."

For the artillery comrades, perhaps they don’t quite understand the first part.

But this sentence is all too familiar.

No matter what firing principle is used, loading the shell into the chamber is basically the second to last step in the firing process.

All that's left is to fire.

Sure enough, after a series of creaking sounds from the hydraulic linkage mechanism, Chang Haonan's voice sounded again:

"Ready, 3...2...1..."

"ignition!"

The ignition here certainly does not refer to the primer of the shell.

Instead, the hydrogen-oxygen mixture in the detonation tube begins to burn.

"boom--"

As Chang Haonan finished speaking, a low explosion was heard from the bottom of the gun.

In fact, the power generated by the hydrogen explosion is not small, but it is limited by the outer wall of the detonation tube, and the sound effect transmitted to the outside is not very obvious.

The members of the artillery crew, who had been prepared for this, stared intently at the "gun barrel" in the air that was leaking air on all sides, and almost subconsciously opened their mouths as wide as possible.

This is a skill that is taught from the first day of joining the artillery.

When facing an upcoming loud noise or shock wave, opening your mouth can open the space in the tympanic cavity, thereby balancing the air pressure on both sides of the eardrum and reducing damage to the hearing system.

In fact, covering your ears would have the same effect, but no one wanted to miss the moment when the last command was issued.

however……

The expected deafening roar did not appear, but was replaced by a sharp sound of metal friction.

Accompanied by the less obvious howling caused by large currents passing through certain components.

Just when they were still not able to react, they heard the sound of something heavy falling to the ground from the far side of the gun muzzle.

Following the sound, we could vaguely see three plumes of dust rising from the sand about a few hundred meters away.

It was not until a few seconds later that the sergeant closed his mouth first.

But it opened again immediately:

"what?"

He looked at the deputy captain beside him with a doubtful look, and then looked at the electromagnetic cannon in the distance that seemed to have not changed at all:

"Is this...done?"