Chapter 1508 Return to Hong Kong and the Important Task

The next day, early in the morning.

The early morning of Lushun Port was shrouded in a thin layer of mist, and the sea in the distance was glowing faintly.

Chang Haonan looked down through the porthole and saw that the port facilities were neatly arranged like chess pieces on a chessboard, and dozens of warships of various sizes were quietly moored at their respective docks.

The most eye-catching among them are undoubtedly the two regional air defense ships with a displacement of more than 6000 tons.

When the 052C had not yet entered service in large numbers, these two destroyers, which were temporarily assembled with Russian-made air defense systems, properly assumed the responsibility of defending the capital.

To this day, they remain the largest main combat ships under the North Sea Fleet.

Of course, by now, almost everyone already knows that—

Soon it won't be.

Chang Haonan tightened his seat belt and felt the helicopter begin to slow down and descend.

There was no runway for fixed-wing aircraft to take off and land directly in Lianhai’s naval base, so he had to take an AC34 helicopter, which also belonged to the 139th Air Division, from Xijiao Airport to his destination.

Even though the riding experience was carefully selected by Italy and was many levels better than the Z-9 and Mi-17, it could never be comparable to the fixed-wing aircraft he was used to.

The journey of less than two hours had already made Chang Haonan's eardrums feel a little uncomfortable.

"Academician Chang, we will land in five minutes."

The pilot's voice came from the headset.

Chang Haonan nodded and sorted out the laptop bag he was carrying.

He had dealt with the navy many times in the past, but mostly with the aviation forces. This was his first time at a proper naval port.

The helicopter landed steadily on the tarmac, and the wind created by the propeller stirred up the surrounding fog.

The cabin door opened, Chang Haonan took off his headphones and goggles, bent down and walked out of the cabin, his eyes quickly locked on a group of people waiting at the edge of the apron.

"Academician Chang!" A familiar voice came through the roar of the engine.

Du Lin, director of the Navy Equipment Department, stepped forward quickly, his uniform straight, the star on his shoulder straps twinkling in the morning light: "Thank you for your hard work, welcome."

Chang Haonan held Du Lin's hand and responded half-jokingly: "Minister Du came to pick me up personally, so I can't say it was hard work."

The two had met twice before and had communicated more often during work, so they could be considered acquaintances.

"No way." Du Lin smiled and gestured to the military vehicle not far behind him, "Let's go, the meeting room is ready."

An adjutant trotted forward and opened the door for the two of them. The car was spacious and the air conditioner had been adjusted to a comfortable temperature.

Du Lin signaled the staff behind him to get on other vehicles, leaving only Zhang Tao, the deputy general manager of Lianhai Shipyard, to sit in the passenger seat.

"The Liaosheng just finished its tenth sea trial this morning and is returning to Lianhai Port." Du Lin said as he fastened his seat belt, "This sea trial was very successful, and all the indicators of the ship met expectations."

Chang Haonan nodded: "I read the briefing on the way, and the performance of the power and ship electrical systems are very stable."

"I remember it was a morning like this in the winter of 99." Du Lin's eyes suddenly became deep, and he began to recall his early years. "I was a director of the Project Management Center at that time. Suddenly I received news that the people at the Black Sea Shipyard suddenly agreed to package the drawings and technicians together."

Chang Haonan smiled slightly: "At that time, they couldn't even pay their salaries... For those people who were used to the old state-owned enterprise style, the comprehensive protection we provided was much more practical than the empty checks written by the Americans."

At this time, Zhang Tao, who was sitting on the co-pilot seat, turned around and interrupted, "You may not know, Academician Chang, that almost half of those experts later became our technical backbones... We also set up an annual 'Friendship Award' specifically for these foreign experts working in China, and the effect is very good."

Du Lin continued, "It was only later that I heard that Academician Chang also played a significant role in this."

The two men's barrage of attacks seemed to be in agreement, and Chang Haonan was a little overwhelmed. He waved his hands repeatedly:

"It's just a small effort, just a small effort... The key to Liaosheng's official commissioning before the end of 2010 is the efforts of your naval equipment department and shipbuilding industry department."

Hearing this, Zhang Tao suddenly became serious:

"To be honest with you, Academician Chang, the workload of rebuilding the Varyag's existing hull is much greater than we expected. Fortunately, we have a complete set of design drawings and technicians who have participated in Project 1143, which saved us a lot of time in getting familiar with the original design. Otherwise, the construction schedule would probably be delayed by another year or so..."

"..."

Wu Yifan, who was in charge of the incident, is no longer working on the front line in sensitive areas. However, his company was involved in the earth-shattering "accidental bombing" in 99. Many details of the incident are still secrets, so Chang Haonan is not willing to talk too much about it.

The military vehicle passed several checkpoints and entered the base. Chang Haonan looked out the window and saw several destroyers docked at the pier in the distance, carrying out supply operations.

"By the way, Director Du." He found an opportunity to change the subject. "After the Liaosheng entered service, do you have any more specific plans for the first truly domestically-made aircraft carrier?"

More than a year ago, Du Lin talked about the next aircraft carrier. The general idea would be an enlarged version of 1143.6 with a full flat deck and electromagnetic catapult, but there are still many details that have not been determined.

What Chang Haonan is more concerned about is naturally the part related to power.

However, Du Lin did not seem to understand what he meant, and only replied: "The specific design plan is still under discussion, the specific situation..."

Zhang Tao immediately took over the conversation: "During the Liaoning's transformation, including the in-dock testing, we have discovered that the 1143 aircraft carrier has many unreasonable basic designs, such as hangar layout, elevator arrangement, deck area division, fire safety system..."

There was some distress in his tone:

"During this process, the technicians at the Black Sea Shipyard also informed us of many improvements that were originally planned to be completed on the Ulyanovsk. In addition, we have to wait until the carrier-based aircraft take-off and landing tests begin to observe whether there are other details in the aviation system that need to be improved. In short, a lot of work is currently in a waiting state..."

Chang Haonan wanted to talk about some more details, but with a sharp sound of brakes, the convoy had stopped at the door of the base's office building.

"Academician Chang, breakfast time is not over yet. Although our food is not as good as the flight crew kitchen, it is definitely good enough. What do you think..."

Du Lin asked as he opened the car door.

Chang Haonan shook his head and put the fur hat on his head:

"I had a bite on the plane, but I should focus on some business first. I'll feel sleepy if I eat too much..."

……

A few minutes later, the group walked into the conference room on the top floor.

There were already more than a dozen people sitting inside. When they saw the door was opened, they stood up almost at the same time.

A man in a dark blue cotton coat came forward.

"Academician Chang, this is Director Guo Chunyu of the Aviation Industry Aerodynamics Research Institute, who is in charge of this ship surface airflow measurement project." Du Lin introduced.

Guo Chunyu's eyes lit up: "Academician Chang, I have heard of your name for a long time!" He took the initiative to shake hands with Chang Haonan and said: "I have read your paper "Nonlinear Control of Large-Scale Separation Flow Field" at least ten times."

"Thank you, thank you..." Chang Haonan said politely while finding his name tag and sitting down. "That book was written about six years ago. Many details in it are a bit outdated from today's perspective. It's just that I haven't had the opportunity to revise it since then."

Guo Chunyu mentioned a book just to warm up the discussion, and he didn't really rely on it as a guide, so he got to the point smoothly:

"Originally, there was no need to make a big fuss about this project, but the test plan was suddenly adjusted, and everyone wanted to complete the preparations for carrier-based aircraft takeoff and landing beyond the standard, so we had no choice but to ask you to take action."

Du Lin, who was sitting next to Chang Haonan, added some background information:

"Five days ago, the USS George Washington aircraft carrier battle group left Yokosuka and sailed south, preparing to visit Manila Port. It was obviously to support certain neighboring countries, but the opponent's route is far away from sensitive areas, and we can't send warships to intercept directly. So the higher-ups decided to conduct carrier-based aircraft take-off and landing tests in advance as a response."

"I roughly understand the situation." Chang Haonan nodded slightly, then turned to Guo Chunyu opposite him, "Since the situation is urgent now, let's start processing the data directly."

The latter turned to look at Shi Wenqiang who was sitting next to him: "All the test results are with Comrade Xiao Shi, and they can be analyzed at any time!"