Chapter 39 WZ-111's Regret
After the door of the warehouse was opened, a ferocious steel monster appeared in front of Fang Xiang.
"this?"
Fang Xiang looked at the ugly big iron box.
You can't tell it's a tank.
But this Iron Turtle was very different from the 59 he remembered.
First of all, the turret is actually a square box without even a gun barrel.
And it does not have the rounded shape of a traditional turret.
Looking at the lower part, there are seven pairs of road wheels, not the five pairs of wheels of 59.
"This is a new heavy tank developed by the country, codenamed WZ-111."
Mr. Hu stepped forward and touched the ugly-looking tank.
“This is a semi-finished product, with the chassis and interior designed.
However, the turret part and the gun barrel were not finalized when the samples were made.
So I just made a box and put the cover on it.”
Lao Liu also explained.
Fang Xiang finally understood it, but he had never come across this part of information in his previous life.
Of course, I didn’t know that this was a project that was just discontinued this year.
“How far along is this project?”
Fang Xiang roughly understood that it seemed that some difficulties had been encountered during the research and development phase and it had come to a standstill.
"It has been stopped."
Mr. Hu looked a little sad.
“Because the engine doesn’t have enough horsepower.
The space reserved inside is not enough to fit an engine that can power it.
And after repeated verification, it is believed that in the future, heavy tanks will be replaced by medium tanks and light tanks.
Of course, the most important reason is that we don’t have a reliable engine to match it.”
Old Liu also sighed.
"That's an abandoned project. What's the point of coming to see it?"
Fang Xiang understood that this guy did not conform to the trend of future development.
Even if it is completed, it is very likely that it will not be built.
Even if it is created, it is likely to be of no use.
“We can do without it, but we can’t live without it.”
At this time, Mr. Hu raised his head with a complicated look in his eyes.
"So...what do you want me to do?"
Fang Xiang was confused. I couldn't do this.
What I am good at are gasoline engines and rocket engines.
He is also familiar with aircraft engines.
But tanks all use diesel engines, and I don’t know much about diesel engines.
"Just make him move!
Let others know we have this guy when we need him.
You don’t have to go to the battlefield, just being able to run and be seen is enough.”
Old Hu's eyes flickered as he stared straight at Fang Xiang.
"Why are you looking for me? I don't even know anything about diesel engines."
Fang Xiang felt a little guilty about being stared at. I dare not take this job, I am not an expert in diesel engines.
"Yesterday and today, the First Ministry of Machine Building came to look for you twice.
I asked, and you helped them solve the big problem with the Hongqi car engine.
They can't handle it themselves, so they're begging you to help.
Since you can solve the problems that so many experts can’t with the engine of the Hongqi car,
I think you can also handle the engine of this tank."
Mr. Hu finally expressed his thoughts.
However, the fact that the Ministry of First Machine Industry came to find him made Fang Xiang even more confused.
"How did they know I was here..."
Fang was almost at a loss for words. How come all these people from the Ministry of Machine Building came to the army?
"It was your teacher Xu. The Ministry of First Machine Industry got the information from him.
Old Xuke is a very busy man, but now he is much more relaxed with you here. "
Mr. Hu smiled and explained the reason.
"Good fellow... I have become a brick of socialism, I can be moved wherever needed."
Fang Xiang felt helpless and just complained.
"That's right, with such awareness, your future will definitely be limitless.
I think Old Xu really has a good apprentice.
Maybe in the future, your achievements will be higher than your teacher's!"
When Mr. Hu heard Fang Xiang's complaints, he thought he was expressing his attitude and determination.
He suddenly burst into laughter and kept patting Fang Xiang's shoulders.
“Well, since you don’t understand, I won’t force you.
However, over the past few days, your performance has made everyone very satisfied.
I'll make the decision. You can take the blueprint and study it.
Just treat it as a dead horse as a living horse. No time or obstacles will be set for you.
Of course, if you can produce results, I will apply for a reward for you, how about that? ! "
Mr. Hu looked at Fang Xiang's aggrieved expression and did not try to harm him.
Anyway, these are all projects that have been discontinued, so just leave it to Fang Xiang and treat it as a lottery.
If it can be done well, this engine does not necessarily have to be installed on WZ111, it can also be used in other places.
"Okay, I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work, don't blame me."
Fang Xiang touched his shoulder which was hurt by Mr. Hu's slap, and looking at this hot potato, he could only take it reluctantly.
But I was thinking in my heart, it’s not up to me whether to do it or not.
Not long after leaving the warehouse, Fang Xiang received the engine drawings.
After returning to the small office and taking a quick look, he knew why it couldn't be done.
Isn't this engine just an enlarged model of the Type 59 engine?
I thought that by expanding the cylinder and increasing the horsepower, it would be able to drive it.
This is bullshit.
Expanding the engine cylinder is not a problem that can be solved simply by enlarging the cylinder.
Expanding the cylinder also brings about corresponding improvements in material strength, heat management, and fuel consumption management.
As well as subsequent power performance, economic performance, reliability, durability and environmental indicators.
Unless there is a margin when designing from the beginning, almost everything will have to be started from scratch.
Even if we ignore indicators such as heat, fuel consumption, economy and environment.
It's performance, materials, reliability and durability, all of which are big issues.
This is not something that can be solved simply by magnifying it.
Moreover, it seems that the engine currently used by the Type 59 has reached the upper limit of its original design.
There is not much potential left to be tapped.
Unless there is a major innovation in the existing materials.
Switch to stronger, lighter, smaller materials.
But our current national strength and technology simply do not allow this.
It's not a gun. The material strength here is not enough, and it can be solved by simply thickening it.
The weight of the WZ-111, a standard heavy tank, reaches 49 tons.
The Type 59 is a medium tank, weighing 36 tons and having 520 horsepower.
WZ-111 is one-third heavier than 59.
The later Type 99 weighs 53 tons, not much different from the 49 tons, but its horsepower is 1500.
Not to mention 1500 horsepower, even if one third was cut off, it would still be 1000 horsepower.
If you cut it down further, you'll only get a castrated engine.
To lift this 49-ton giant, the horsepower must be at least 700, or even more than 750.
Fang Xiang shook his head and finally understood why he gave up this project.
It simply exceeds the limits of national strength in this era.
If it were in the Soviet Union or the United States, it might be possible.
But in China, it is really difficult to cross this threshold now.
“It’s not that I can’t do it, but that our country can’t do it.
There is no matching R&D, materials and production technology.
Even if it is managed, the cost is unacceptably high.
You won't just lay down for something that you can't run for long.
Will you pay for an engine that can only be replaced and not repaired? !
Such a tank, if it were actually built, would be a burden.”
Finally, before leaving, Fang wanted to take the P320 and gun license from Mr. Hu.
Talk about the difficulties again.
"..."
Mr. Hu and Mr. Liu looked at each other.
At that time, many experts and professors spent a long time studying before reaching this conclusion.
Finally, we had to reluctantly cancel this project.
Fang Xiang actually discovered it overnight, and he hit the nail on the head.
Fang Xiang’s talent is surprisingly so strong.
"You mean you can come up with the blueprints?"
But Lao Liu was deeply impressed by the first sentence the other party thought of, so he asked it immediately.
"Uh... I can, it's just drawing a picture.
But I drew it, and you can't build it. What's the difference between that and having no picture at all?"
Fang Xiang was stunned for a moment, but finally admitted it honestly.
"Can you take a look at the plane's engine, too?"
