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

Chapter 217 As long as Northwestern Polytechnical University gets involved, it will definitely become the strongest in the world!
Yan Province, Bashang, a small village.

Outside, the cold wind howled, and the paper windows rustled. On the heated kang, when Yang Duo'er opened her eyes, she saw Qin Liang busying himself.

"Brother Liangzi, why don't you sleep a little longer?"

"I'll go boil some water for you. It's so cold. Lie down first, wipe your face in bed, and get up when you're more awake."

I'll cherish my own wife. The environment in the village is really terrible. Once the brick factory in the village is built, I'll renovate the old house, install well-sealed windows, and turn on the heating. That way, my dad can be more comfortable when he wants to come back for the New Year in winter.

The new rural areas of later generations are quite nice to live in, with each household having a large courtyard, much better than living in a pigeon coop in the city.

"No need." Yang Duo'er stretched out her arm, intending to get her clothes, but then... she pulled it back. It was cold, really cold!

"Don't rush, these clothes need to be warmed up in the blankets too." Qin Liang said, wringing a towel out of the basin and wiping his wife's face.

After wiping it off, apply some face cream, warm your clothes in the blankets, and put them on inside before coming out.

In the dead of winter, one could easily stay in bed all day without having to get up. Unfortunately, farmers are used to being busy, and neighbors might come to visit soon, so they have no choice but to stay in bed.

Just then, a rumbling sound came from outside.

Qin Liang's brows furrowed immediately. Could that voice be...?

Wow, a huge airplane!

Excited voices came from next door.

Finished!

By the time Yang Duo'er had quickly dressed and gotten out of bed, several figures in military overcoats had already appeared at the gate of the courtyard.

"Is Comrade Qin Liang here? Elder Lin sent us to pick you up!"

Sigh, even going back to my hometown isn't easy! If I were in Chang'an, which is far from the capital, it wouldn't be difficult for Old Lin to find me. But now that I'm back in my hometown, it's less than 200 kilometers from the capital. It's just that the heavy snow makes it inconvenient to travel by car, so Old Lin actually sent a helicopter to pick me up!
Could there be another meaning behind using a helicopter?
A dozen minutes later, a crowd of people gathered three or four deep in the threshing ground at the village entrance, watching with envy as Qin Liang and Yang Duo'er boarded the helicopter and took off.

Is the treatment at university really this good? Taking the 212 bus home is already impressive enough, but now, they're taking a helicopter!

The capital city, the airport terminal.

Qin Liang's wife had already been taken to the guesthouse. When Qin Liang arrived at the conference room, he saw a group of people inside.

"Liangzi, you've come at the right time! Come, sit here! Honestly, you didn't even say goodbye before going back to your hometown. We'll send you back by helicopter!"

Qin Liang smiled wryly: "Old Lin, if I give the order, will I still be able to go back?"

"Why can't we? If you don't want to come, we can all go to your house for a meeting!"

"Ahem, Mr. Lin, let's get down to business."

"Alright, let's begin the meeting. First of all, on behalf of the Air Force, I would like to thank Northwestern Polytechnical University for introducing the Python-3 missile to us, which has solved our Air Force's short-range air-to-air missile problem. In this way, all the shortcomings of our Air Force have finally been made up!"

Applause erupted in the conference room.

Qin Liang said helplessly, "Professor Lin, I can't represent Northwestern Polytechnical University."

"How can it not represent you? You practically single-handedly pushed through the entire process!" Old Lin said with a smile. "I heard that Northwestern Polytechnical University encountered some difficulties in production. If you can't produce it yourself, you can hand it over to other brother units."

"Mr. Lin, as long as our brother unit gives us 50 million US dollars, we will hand over the entire technology!"

We need to make this clear: we paid for it!

"No need for that. We will directly allocate the relevant factories to Northwestern Polytechnical University. Although they are not in Chang'an, the entire factory will be under the management of Northwestern Polytechnical University."

"Isn't this not good?"

"It's nothing. We're just trying to get the missiles into production as soon as possible to solve our urgent problem," Old Lin said. "Our air force has been frustrated for decades, and finally we can upgrade our equipment!"

"Well, you should talk to the Northwestern Polytechnical University administration about this. Professor Lin, is there anything else?"

"What's the rush? Since you're here, stay here. We still have many projects to discuss. Let's talk about the Monster-3 first. Knowing the nature of Northwestern Polytechnical University, we'll definitely make further improvements and upgrades to it, right?"

Having world-class missiles is not enough; they must be improved to surpass world-class standards!
Qin Liang nodded: "There is indeed an improvement plan, but we have to proceed step by step. Currently, the main focus is on increasing the off-axis launch angle of the seeker, installing a vector propulsion baffle at the rear, and further optimizing the fire control system."

Old Lin nodded: "Hmm, not bad. What about the later improvement plan?"

"After we have fully mastered the production of indium antimonide (IST) seekers, we will study the miniaturization of these seekers."

Miniaturization?

"That's right, by significantly reducing its size, we can integrate multiple units on the same seeker head. The initial goal is 32x32, and we hope to reach 128x128 in the future."

"What does this mean?" The people present were somewhat confused.

"In this way, we can not only track the infrared source, but also identify its shape. This will render infrared flares ineffective against our missiles. Once they are targeted by us, they will be doomed!"

This is the infrared imaging seeker that came into being!

Early infrared missiles had poor performance and could only fly towards the rear of the target, where the engine nozzle was located and the heat was the greatest. In fact, once a fighter jet was locked onto by a missile, it could simply fly towards the sun, thus attracting the missile to the sun, a major heat source.

Currently, all infrared missiles in the East can only attack from behind. The PL-8, produced using Python-3 technology, is the first short-range air-to-air missile in the East with head-on attack capability. Pilots no longer need to engage in dogfights; they can take down opponents head-on!
However, the targets being attacked still have countermeasures, and that's where infrared flares come in!
Once targeted, the aircraft will launch flares and use hotter infrared decoys to attract incoming air-to-air missiles in an attempt to evade the attack.

There's really no solution to this. Whether it's a head-on attack or a tail-chase attack, infrared missiles only target the one with the highest heat!

The solution is infrared imaging! In the missile's field of view, there will no longer be just a single bright spot, but the outline of a target!

In this way, the infrared chaff will be completely ineffective, and the enemy will have nowhere to hide!

Having understood what Qin Liang meant, many people present took a deep breath.

"Old Lin, our 612 Institute is completely convinced!" An engineer in military uniform said, "The technology of the Python-3 missile should indeed be handed over to them. Even if our institute is merged into Northwestern Polytechnical University, we will accept it. We also developed from Chang'an back then."

In 1958, during the September 24th air battle, the fighter jet of an Eastern combat hero was hit by a Sidewinder missile, and the hero died in the sky, which was heartbreaking. At that time, we found an unexploded Sidewinder missile, so the task of mapping and imitation began and was named the PL-1 missile.

The department in charge of the research at that time was the Fifth Research Institute of the Sixth Academy of the Ministry of National Defense. Their workplace was a three-story dormitory building in Chang'an Factory 844. They slept in their beds at night and worked during the day.

Thanks to their efforts, the PL-1 missile from the East was officially finalized in 1964, marking the beginning of the missile era for the Eastern Air Force.

The Sixth Academy and the Fifth Institute were also developing continuously, with several factories and institutes being merged into them, expanding their strength. After several separate separations and integrations of their subordinate institutions, the remaining forces that were originally responsible for air-to-air missile design were reorganized into Institute 612, and their work location was also moved to Luoyang.

This institution is now the most professional air-to-air missile research and development institution in China. Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) copied the medium-range air-to-air missile, but the short-range air-to-air missile project fell to NPU again. The 612 Institute, specializing in air-to-air missiles, felt greatly insulted, so they came to the aircraft building to complain!
The Air Force leadership is also having a headache. It's not that they don't want to give you these projects, but Qin Liang brought them in. The Air Force didn't even spend any money; they raised their own funds and negotiated the cooperation themselves. The Air Force just reaped the benefits. And you still want the Air Force to coordinate the projects for you? That's going too far!

Just then, they heard that Qin Liang had returned to his hometown for the Chinese New Year, so they arranged for a helicopter to bring Qin Liang over!
Sure enough, the dispute was resolved as soon as Qin Liang arrived, and the experts from Institute 612 were ashamed of their own inferiority!
For medium-range missiles, Northwestern Polytechnical University has developed dual-pulse technology, doubling the range. For short-range air-to-air missiles, they are now developing infrared imaging seekers. This technology is something the 612 Institute wouldn't even dare to dream of! Their goal is to catch up with world-class standards, while Northwestern Polytechnical University's goal is to surpass them!
"Ahem, Elder Lin, and who is this gentleman?"

"I'm from Institute 612, you can just call me Lao Dong! We're currently working on the PL-5A missile, but it seems like we don't need to anymore! It would be a waste to develop it!"

He looked to be in his forties, working at Institute 612, and working on the PL-5A missile. There was no other than him, the chief designer of the later PL-9 missile!
Mr. Dong was born in 1939. He graduated from the Flight Mechanics major of Capital Aviation Institute in 1963 and then went on to study air-to-air missiles. He is now the deputy director of Institute 612, in charge of the PL-5A missile. After the Python-3 was introduced, he led the team to develop the PL-9 missile, which enabled the air-to-air missile technology in the East to achieve a leap forward!
Sadly, due to exhaustion from his work, he suffered a sudden heart attack and passed away in 2000. At that time, he traveled to four different places over nine consecutive days, drawing a circle across the land of his motherland… Qin Liang, having read about Elder Dong's story, felt immense respect for this senior researcher. It is precisely because of such a group of scientific researchers that our military industry has become number one in the world!

Now, seeing this technical expert, Qin Liang's eyes lit up: "Mr. Dong, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"No way, I'm only forty years old. You can call me Old Dong, but please don't call me Elder Dong!"

"Then I'll call you Engineer Dong. Engineer Dong, Northwestern Polytechnical University isn't particularly skilled in air-to-air missile technology. We'll need the strong support of your 612 Institute in the later stages of missile improvement. Let's work together and strive for success..."

Is Old Dong really that influential? Old Lin rolled his eyes at Qin Liang. You little brat, you've made our Air Force the villain!

"Okay!" Engineer Dong nodded. He was already satisfied to be able to participate in the research.

"Professor Dong, you'll be visiting Northwestern Polytechnical University more often in the future. Could you give a few lectures to our students? Like, how about talking about the design of air-to-air missiles?"

If Qin Liang remembered correctly, this Professor Dong was a visiting professor and doctoral supervisor at Northwestern Polytechnical University. Now that he had run into him, he certainly couldn't let him go.

"it is good!"

That’s it!

Old Lin looked at Qin Liang with a complicated expression, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke: "Our Air Force has a 202 Military Factory in Chang'an. This factory will be allocated to your Northwestern Polytechnical University, which will save you the trouble of finding a factory. Complete the cooperation with David Country as soon as possible and build this missile!"

"Okay!" Qin Liang nodded, and was about to thank him when suddenly... he felt something was wrong.

If you want to allocate funds, then just tell Northwestern Polytechnical University directly. Tell me what you mean? Do you expect me to express my gratitude? I haven't received a single benefit from it!

"Let's go, it's almost time. Let's call it a day and head to the cafeteria for lunch. We have another meeting this afternoon."

and also!

Qin Liang was truly helpless. "Teacher Lin, I'm just a sophomore, and it's my winter break right now!"
"Come on, Xiao Wang, go to the guesthouse and call Comrade Qin Liang's wife over. Our Air Force is inviting them to dinner together!"

Qin Liang rolled his eyes at Old Lin. Old Lin, should I thank you?

In the afternoon, in the conference room.

After Mr. Dong and the others finished their meal, they left. Now, a few more people have come to sit in the conference room.

With a satisfied burp, Old Lin continued chairing the meeting: "Thanks to the efforts of Northwestern Polytechnical University, our air force no longer lacks main aircraft. However, our air force's helicopters are still too weak. Last time, Comrade Qin Liang brought back a complete Sea Stallion helicopter. This afternoon's meeting will discuss whether it is possible to reverse engineer it..."

"No."

"What?"

"First, our infrastructure isn't that strong. Second, our troops don't have much need for it." Qin Liang shook his head repeatedly: "What the troops need is a ten-ton class general-purpose helicopter; that's the real all-rounder."

In an era when even the main fighter jets were outdated, helicopters would naturally be further marginalized.

When the People's Republic of China was founded, the helicopter industry was nonexistent. It wasn't until 1958 that Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG) copied the Russian Mi-4 helicopter and produced the Z-5, which had a maximum takeoff weight of 7.6 tons. It still used a piston engine and a wooden rotor, and its technology was very backward.

Then... in the late 1970s, the French Super Frelon helicopter was copied, and after more than ten years it was finalized and named Z-8. Later, the French Dauphin helicopter was copied, codenamed Z-9, which formed the main helicopter of the East.

The former is too big, with a takeoff weight of thirteen tons, while the latter is too small, with a takeoff weight of only four tons. Two aircraft are needed for anti-submarine operations, and only four anti-tank missiles can be carried for ground attacks.

International experience has shown that ten-ton class general-purpose helicopters are the most versatile, with the Black Hawk and Mi-171 being typical examples.

The East only began developing this type of helicopter after the new millennium.

"So what's the point of that helicopter you brought back for us?"

"I just took it on a whim!" Qin Liang said helplessly. "I can't refuse something given to me for free."

"Sigh, we got the helicopter and were very excited, wanting to replicate it. But after some research, we found that the aircraft's technical performance is indeed far superior to ours." Wu Ming, an engineer from Changhe Aircraft Factory, said, "Now, even replicating the Super Frelon is fraught with difficulties, let alone replicating the Super Stallion helicopter."

These two are not in the same league. Take the engine for example. The Super Hornet uses three engines, which together don't even reach 7,000 horsepower, while the Super Stallion's engine alone has more than 4,000 horsepower, and later models even reached 7,500 horsepower!

"We can't replicate it because Northwestern Polytechnical University isn't involved. If Northwestern Polytechnical University were involved, Super Hornet and Super Stallion would be a piece of cake. Liangzi, am I right?"

"Ahem, Professor Lin, you overestimate Northwestern Polytechnical University. It's like comparing apples and oranges! Northwestern Polytechnical University doesn't have a major that studies helicopters."

"What about the tiltrotor aircraft you collaborated on with the Americans?"

Qin Liang smiled wryly: "Professor Lin, this project is just to fool the Americans. At Northwestern Polytechnical University, there are no more than ten people researching this project. It's being treated as a research topic, and there are many mechanical problems that can't be overcome. Success is a long way off. I personally support the imitation of Super Hornet! If there's nothing else, how about we call it a day this afternoon?"

"That won't do!" Old Lin shook his head. "Since you mentioned a ten-ton helicopter, let's discuss that next!"

"Well... I suggest we buy a batch of Black Hawks from the United States first to solve the troops' immediate needs."

In 1984, Dongfang purchased 24 civilian S-70 Black Hawk helicopters. These helicopters were the only ones in the Air Force at the time capable of operating on plateaus and carried out numerous disaster relief operations, earning high praise from the troops.

"Alright, we'll do as you say. Our Air Force will grit our teeth and buy a batch! But we have to make it clear in advance that once we have these helicopters, Northwestern Polytechnical University has to be able to copy them for us!"

Based on the industrial foundation of the 1980s...

Thump thump thump! Just then, someone ran in.

"Report! News from the Flight Test Center indicates a serious problem has arisen in the compatibility testing of the Python-3 missile and the Super-7 fighter jet!"

The Davidians provided the weapon interface, and the matching work began. However, formal target practice has not yet started; it can only be linked with the helmet sight. Recently, with the formal implementation of the Python-3 missile import project, target practice has been carried out in full swing.

Unexpectedly, a problem arose!

"what is the problem?"

"Every time a missile is launched, the Super-7's engine shuts down!"

Old Lin immediately stood up: "This is a major issue! We have to go and take a look. Qin Liang, you're here too, let's go together. Don't worry, we'll take an Air Force plane, it'll be quick. You can also bring your wife..."

Qin Liang's eyes darted around, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

(End of this chapter)