Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 187 In-flight refueling, done in one go!

Aerial refueling is a high-risk technology. In the sky, two aircraft flying at speeds of over 500 kilometers per hour approach each other to within a few meters. The aircraft in front, being larger, can maintain stable flight, while the aircraft behind will be affected by the wake of the refueling aircraft, the vortex of the refueling sleeve, and the vortex between the wings. It's like moving forward in a Force 7 gale and having to accurately align with the conical sleeve. The difficulty is unimaginable.

Back then, the aerial refueling of J-8 and H-6 aircraft, maintaining close formation, was tested more than 200 times. Then, docking was conducted many more times. There was even a near-collision between the two aircraft. In this way, relying on their fearless spirit, the Eastern Air Force finally broke through the aerial refueling technology by working together in the clouds.

Now that we've switched to the combination of the Y-10 and the Super-7, will aerial refueling technology still be difficult to master?
“The longer the hose is extended, the more frequently it will sway in the air. In order to reduce the swaying of the hose, we can shorten its length. I think the distance between the receiver aircraft and the tanker aircraft should be kept within two meters…” said Lao Wang, the test pilot of the receiver aircraft.

"No, absolutely not. The refueling hose can be up to eighteen meters long. We need to extend it as much as possible to prevent them from colliding. This is like performing acrobatics in the sky. Getting too close... could easily lead to danger." Refueling aircraft pilot Shen Zhengguo shook his head.

In-flight refueling requires coordination between both parties, as there is no precedent and everyone has various concerns.

"Liangzi, what do you think?" Old Tu asked Qin Liang.

Qin Liang smiled wryly. "I'm not Yuanfang, what opinion can I possibly have?"
In later times, the distance between the H-6 tanker and the J-8 in the East was very close. The nose of the J-8 was even inserted into the tail of the H-6 tanker. Because the distance was too close, the risk was greatly increased. In contrast, in the West, the tails of the receiving aircraft and the tanker were at least several meters apart.

Why is that? Qin Liang didn't know. He only remembered that in the accounts from later generations, there were many different values ​​for this distance, such as 1.9 meters between the wings of the two aircraft, or even negative 20 centimeters. In short, it was very, very close.

"Well, we'll have to try to find out. For safety's sake, let's approach slowly from the maximum distance," Qin Liang said.

"Ah."

Three aircraft took off in sequence, with the Y-10 flying in front as an aerial refueling tanker, followed by the Super-7 as the receiving aircraft, slowly approaching. A JJ-5 trainer from the Flight Test Institute flew to the side, and Tu Lao personally sat in the back seat to watch the docking process on site.

The hose began to be released from the left wing of the Y-10, slowly growing longer and longer, past the tail fin, and continuing to extend backward, one meter, two meters... Finally, the eighteen-meter aerial refueling probe was placed at the front.

At this moment, the refueling hose floated behind the tail of the aircraft, like a long whip, with the cone-shaped sleeve at the end floating in the sky, looking... very stable!
The Y-10 has a wingspan of over 40 meters. This aerial refueling pod is mounted at the wingtip, far from the fuselage, so it has avoided the tail turbulence!
Looking at the cone-shaped kite flying steadily in the sky, Old Tu suddenly felt a surge of confidence.

Old Wang operated the Super 7, slowly approaching and getting closer. When his nose was more than a meter away from the cone-shaped sleeve, the sleeve was affected by the turbulence from the nose and began to sway from side to side. At this moment, Old Wang reacted quickly and thrust forward, hitting the target!

The refueling probe of the Super-7 was accurately inserted into the conical sleeve. On its first test flight, the docking was successfully completed!
When the news reached the ground, there was an instant burst of jubilation!
"It seems that our Y-10 and Super-7 are a perfect combination!" Qin Liang couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

The Y-10 has a large fuselage and a large wingspan, which allows the refueling probe to avoid the turbulence area at the tail! The H-6's wingspan is 10 meters shorter than the Y-10's, meaning the refueling probe has to be at least 5 meters closer to the fuselage! This is the turbulence area!

At the same time, the receiving aircraft is also very good. The J-8, a high-altitude and high-speed fighter jet, is not suitable for fine adjustments, while the Super-7 improves maneuverability, which makes it very flexible to operate. The combination of the two is perfect!

Beside him, Old Lin sighed, "Not bad, it's a perfect combination. It seems the Air Force needs to purchase at least five Y-10s, one to be converted into an airborne early warning aircraft, four to be converted into aerial refueling aircraft, and another batch of Super-7s... It's a pity that our Air Force's Super-7s don't have advanced turbofan engines..."

The airframe is fine, and the avionics have been resolved. The only thing left is the engine, and... we really can't rush that.

"Liangzi, the progress of your Northwestern Polytechnical University's reverse engineering of the WP-15 turbojet is going smoothly. Once this project is completed, will you... reverse engineer the RB199?"

Seeing that Qin Liang wasn't responding, Old Lin got anxious and took the initiative to remind him.

"No."

"why?"

“A three-rotor system is too complex! Our current manufacturing technology can't handle it,” Qin Liang explained. “If we really want to reverse engineer it…”

In terms of manufacturing process, the MiG-29's RD33 engine was rougher and easier for China to replicate. This engine was also the power source for the JF-17 Thunder. In terms of performance, the F404 was more advanced. In Qin Liang's memory, in the mid-1980s, the East had obtained the F404 and used it as a basis for preliminary research on medium-thrust engines.

But neither of them is something we can get our hands on right now, so we'll have to wait!

"Speak up, kid! Why aren't you saying anything?" Old Lin said anxiously, "Looking at how hesitant you are, the Air Force is not going to get involved in your affairs!"

"My business? What is it?"

"Your marriage to Yang Duo'er!" Old Lin said, "This is an international marriage, and you are a key player in our military research and development. Your wife must be both politically sound and professionally competent. Let me tell you, if the Air Force hadn't intervened, your marriage application definitely wouldn't have been approved!"

What? A marriage certificate? I haven't even filled it out yet! Besides, I'm only a freshman in college. Although the country doesn't advocate for late marriage and childbirth, I don't want to get married so early. You guys don't think that sleeping in the same bed means you have to get married, do you?

Wait, you guys even know about that? Wow!
Qin Liang knew that someone had been secretly watching him during his trip abroad, but he had no idea who it was or where they were hiding. Could they be hiding somewhere in his room? Would he still be able to have a pleasant sex life after that?
Seeing Qin Liang's face turn red and white in turns, Old Lin was very pleased: "You're scared, kid, aren't you? Let me tell you, hurry up and tell me, don't hide anything!"

"Old Lin, which unit did the Air Force hand over the materials I brought back?"

"Your Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern Polytechnical University!" Professor Lin said, "Our Air Force will definitely not treat you unfairly."

In fact, when these things were brought back, the relevant domestic institutions did not believe in their supposed invisibility capabilities, and the quantity was so small—how many could fit in a fingernail? There was simply no way to conduct research! Since no one wanted them, they could only be placed at Northwestern Polytechnical University.

"Our Northwestern Polytechnical University? Looks like I'll have to go back!"

Northwestern Polytechnical University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

“This should be a ferrite material.” Professor Zhang looked up at Qin Liang: “This material… what, do I have writing on my face?”

Seeing the surprised look Qin Liang gave him, Professor Zhang became somewhat curious.

Qin Liang shook his head: "No, you've worked so hard, sir." At this moment, Professor Zhang was unshaven and his eyes were bloodshot. It was clear that he hadn't rested since he got the material! Such dedication was truly moving. The spirit of the older generation of scientific researchers, who did not seek fame or fortune and made selfless contributions, is admirable.

“Let’s continue. We’ve already started the imitation work, and if all goes well, we should be able to solve the imitation process within a year. However…” Professor Zhang regained his serious tone: “This coating alone is definitely not enough to give a fighter jet stealth capabilities; it might be more suitable for missiles.”

Qin Liang smiled and said, "Yes, it's more like a missile!"
The Black Silk 1 that was shown to the Americans last time had a very cool appearance, but in reality, it was not designed with stealth in mind. Its stealth capability mainly relies on the coating on it. It is already small in size, so its radar cross-section is small. With this coating, even early warning aircraft, which are not specifically optimized for this type of target, cannot detect it!

This way, we won't leak any secrets, and we'll still get the technology!
The world's first stealth fighter, the F-117, didn't rely entirely on this coating. When later generations used excavators and hydraulic shears to dismantle the F-117, they discovered that its outer shell was similar to plywood. The aircraft skin wasn't made of aluminum alloy; instead, it used composite materials and conductive plastics, coated with this ferrite material. This is what created the legend of the F-117.

With this coating alone, we definitely can't build stealth aircraft, but building stealth missiles is no problem! If the Crying Country needs it, we can even upgrade their equipment!
"Okay, one year it is, we can wait!" Qin Liang was very satisfied.

"Also, we have completed the development of the dual-pulse solid rocket engine technology from last time. The isolation effect is very good. Our electronics department has also completed the development of the seeker. Next, we will make it into a specific missile and test it."

So fast!
Qin Liang stood up in a flash.

"where are you going?"

"Electrical Engineering Department."

"Wait, don't rush. Our materials science department still has a lot of things to do! The orders for those bicycles are increasing, and we can no longer meet the demand by producing them by hand. So, we plan to set up a bicycle factory."

"Sure, your materials science department has sold so many products and has some money to spare. Setting up a bicycle factory is no problem! Our carbon fiber bicycles are exclusively for export, earning you foreign exchange! You'll definitely be counting money until your hands are sore..."

"Wait, don't go!" Professor Zhang called out to Qin Liang again: "Currently, we only produce carbon fiber frames. Tires, gearboxes, etc., are still outsourced. We feel that the cost of these things is too high, so..."

"Sure, the gearbox isn't too difficult, leave it to the mechanical engineering department..."

"What I mean is, this would require a large investment from our materials science department. We are currently planning a new building for the materials science department. If we build this complete bicycle factory, we might not have the money to build the building."

Those with the ability all want to build their own department's building! Anyway, the campus is big enough that they can build anywhere they want, and they'll crammed one building over another. The Materials Science building has to be one floor taller than their Aeronautics building!
"If you don't have money, take out a loan!" Qin Liang finally realized Professor Zhang's true intention: he wanted him to coordinate funding? No way!

"The materials science department has so many international supply partnerships. Just by installing winglets on passenger planes and providing fan blades for engines, we can earn tens of millions of dollars every year. We can get loans based on these contracts, and the banks won't worry about us not being able to repay them."

loan?

Having grown accustomed to scrimping and saving, who would dare to take out a loan? In the 1970s and 80s, loans didn't require any collateral, and bank staff had to go door-to-door, doing ideological work and lending to people who wanted to develop their businesses!

If a materials science student wants to get a loan, the bank will absolutely treat them like royalty!

Qin Liang went outside and headed straight for the Department of Electronic Engineering.

"Hey, Liangzi, you've finally arrived!" Zhu Qiu said with a big smile. "We were just wondering why you were coming back. Come on, take a look at our guide head!"

On the workbench, there was... a row of them!
Qin Liang's eyes widened: "What are all these?"

"Starting with the smaller one, this is the infrared seeker."

Infrared? Qin Liang was a little confused: "Where did we get an infrared seeker?"

"Monster-3, you tricked the Davidians into coordinating weapon interfaces, and they sent us this thing. We took it apart and saw... it wasn't too difficult, so we just copied it."

Qin Liang was surprised. Our knock-off technology is that amazing? This indium antimonide is no ordinary stuff!
"Here, this is the guidance head of the British Skyflash missile. We have also completed the reverse engineering. However, because it uses some foreign chips, mass production will have to wait for the chip department to reverse engineer it."

"Here, this is the guidance head developed for anti-ship missiles. The one used on the No. 8 missile is too outdated. Let's upgrade it for them. Look at this radar antenna. We're also using a planar slotted antenna, which is definitely among the world's best!"

Qin Liang looked at the last thing: "What is this thing that has both radar and infrared?"

"We believe that radar seekers have a long range but not high accuracy, while infrared seekers are the opposite. We can combine the two together... Unfortunately, they are too big to be installed in medium-range air-to-air missiles."

The main warhead contains a radar, and a small spherical surface protrudes from the outer shell behind the warhead tip to house an infrared seeker, thus forming a dual-mode system.

Dual-mode! Are we really going to go this far?
"Liangzi, what do you think of our idea?"

"Okay, that's great!"

Qin Liang turned his head in surprise and looked towards the door. Who was this?
A kind-looking old man appeared at the door, wearing a green military uniform and red collar tabs. The moment Qin Liang saw his figure, he seemed to see the old man with his hands hanging down, leaning forward, carefully visiting the American aircraft carrier.

"Old Liu?"

Old Liu smiled and said, "You must be Qin Liang? I came from the Flight Test Institute to hear about the progress of aerial refueling. Young man, you've done a great service to our Navy! That's why I had to come and see!"

navy!

The old man in front of me, Mr. Liu, has experienced ups and downs, entered the navy several times, was in charge of various tasks, and was transferred several times. Now he should be in the General Staff Department, but his heart is still concerned about the development of the navy!
This aerial refueling technology is the most urgent need for the Navy. After all, a large area of ​​the southern sea cannot be patrolled due to the short range of the fighter jets available. Now, this problem is finally going to be solved!
　PS: The top image shows a European Rafale fighter jet, and the bottom image shows our J-8 and H-6 tanker. You can see that due to their small size, the distance between them is very close. As for updates, it will still be 10,000 words per day, but it will be divided into two large chapters, possibly 4,000 or 6,000 words, or possibly 5,000 words per chapter, updated at midnight. This chapter is the 4,000-word large chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)