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

Chapter 275 Project 8163: A Matter to the Future of the Navy!

This was a crucial meeting concerning the future development of the Navy! It determined the future development path of the Navy and pointed out the direction for its future. It was a milestone meeting, and as is customary, this meeting was named the 8163 Meeting. The series of projects to be carried out next were also named Project 8163!

At this time, the British were completely unaware of this new development path for the Eastern Navy. They were eating Eastern cuisine in the mess hall while looking down on Eastern technology.

"Easterners simply lack advanced technology. Their naval development can only rely on us!"

"Yes, the best anti-aircraft missile they can buy is our Sea Dart. They are still relying on anti-aircraft guns for air defense, which are outdated. Therefore, they will definitely choose our air defense system! This will become another major cooperative project after the Spey engine!"

"Hmph, the Easterners' performance today still disappointed me, so after they call us back, we must raise the price! That'll be the only way to vent our anger!" Johnson said, taking a spoonful of Kung Pao Chicken and chewing it vigorously.

Just then, an Eastern military officer walked over.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after careful consideration, the naval leadership has determined that the Sea Dart missile does not meet the navy's needs. Therefore... our 051S project is terminated. You may now visit the major tourist attractions in our capital, or..."

Snapped!
Johnson slammed his spoon on the table: "What do you mean? We've been negotiating this project for years, we even designed the 051S, and now you're just going to back out?"

"That's right, this is an insult to us!"

"Let's go find the Easterners and get to the bottom of this!"

In the conference room.

"Alright, now I announce that Project 8163 is officially established..." Before Leader Ye could finish speaking, a commotion broke out outside.

"I'm sorry, there's a meeting going on inside, you can't go in."

"We want to get in! We want to see your naval leaders!"

"You must give us an explanation for this, otherwise..."

Old Liu turned his head and glanced outside: "Let them in."

After all this fuss, it's normal for the British to be upset about being dumped so suddenly. Old Liu knows that too, and now it's time to comfort them.

beep, beep...

A group of furious Britons strode in, with Johnson at the head: "Gentlemen, are you playing us for fools? We've done so much work, and now you want us to back out halfway? This is an insult to us! We deserve an explanation for what happened today!"

Old Liu glanced at the other party: "No, no, after evaluation, we believe that your Sea Dart missiles are no longer suitable for future warfare, so we want to have more advanced equipment."

"Could there be anything more advanced than our Sea Dart?"

"Of course, for example, vertical launch, four-sided phased array radar..."

The Englishman was taken aback: "Those equipment, the US is still developing them, you..."

“We also need to develop a similar system. We believe that only such a system can meet our needs,” said Mr. Liu. “Our navy hopes to acquire world-class advanced equipment, and we hope that you can understand.”

"Our British equipment is already world-class! You... have your eyes grown to the heavens?"

“Mr. Johnson, your naval equipment has serious defects, and as good friends, I feel obligated to remind you.”

Upon hearing this voice, the Englishmen all glared angrily at the young man who had spoken, now looking like a demon.

"You Eastern Navy are still using anti-aircraft guns for air defense, and you dare to say that our equipment is defective? What a joke!"

Qin Liang shook his head helplessly: "Since you don't want to hear it, then forget it."

"Hmph, then tell us! Tell us what kind of joke it is!"

"The biggest flaw of the Royal Navy is that it abandoned the path of large aircraft carriers. The Invincible-class carriers are too small, and the Sea Harrier carrier-based aircraft they use are too weak to undertake the fleet's air defense mission. Most importantly, they lack carrier-based early warning aircraft..."

"You Easterners don't even have aircraft carriers, yet you dare to look down on our British Navy's Invincible-class aircraft carriers?" Johnson glared angrily: "You are not worthy!"

"Sigh, since you won't admit it, then forget it. I was even thinking of introducing you to the design scheme of the shipborne early warning helicopter. We can provide you with technical support..."

"unnecessary!"

The British stormed off in a rage. They came here to sell their Sea Dart missiles and make money, but the Easterners wanted to profit from them too. What's worse, the Easterners offered to provide technical support, which was simply... an insult!

Watching the British leave, one of the leaders present said, "Liangzi, haven't we gone a bit too far in humiliating them like this?"

"What humiliation? I'm reminding them that when their navy gets taught a lesson by our Super-7 fighters in the future, they shouldn't come to protest to us!"

These words today are laying the groundwork for next year's war!
The Sea Dart's disastrous performance on the battlefield proves that the Eastern Navy made the right decision to abandon this type of anti-aircraft missile! The biggest weakness of the British Navy is its lack of airborne early warning capabilities, making it unable to detect anti-ship missiles flying at extremely low altitudes over the sea in time!

When that time comes, our YJ-8 will be able to send the British naval fleet to the bottom of the sea. The British will definitely be anxious and come to protest. We can also speak with confidence and say that we have clearly said that your navy has defects, but you do not listen!
"Liangzi, what's your idea behind this shipborne early warning helicopter?"

"We all know that the biggest threat to warships right now is anti-ship missiles that fly at extremely low altitudes skimming the sea. These missiles fly on the crests of waves and are very difficult for warships to detect from a distance by their own air defense radar. By the time they are detected, the missiles have already flown close, and the interception window is very narrow... For ordinary naval formations, it is difficult to have an aircraft carrier accompanying them, so we have to find a solution using helicopters..."

Upon hearing Qin Liang's introduction, the expressions of the naval leaders became serious once again.

Today's meeting focused on air defense, but now that the meeting is almost over, we've realized that there are still huge gaps in our air defense system!

"Liangzi, can we launch this kind of project?"

The test flights of the KJ-2000 are proceeding smoothly, and the Air Force's shortcomings in early warning aircraft are about to be addressed. What about the Navy?
The navy needs carrier-based early warning aircraft!

"Well... esteemed leaders, this will cost money!"

The navy's most frequent complaint is that they are short of money!

"This is a major event to ensure the safety of our naval vessels; we must do it even if it means selling everything we own!"

"Well, there aren't any good options for now. Let's install a maritime search radar on the Z-9 helicopter as a temporary solution."

In later years, after the Liaoning was built, the East began to address the issue of shipborne early warning helicopters. To this end, they even purchased Ka-31 early warning helicopters from Russia. However, after using them for a period of time, they found them to be completely useless and had to abandon them. Instead, they improved upon their own Z-18 helicopter to develop an early warning helicopter.

This helicopter, with a maximum takeoff weight of 13.8 tons, was an improvement on the Z-8. It had ample space to carry modern airborne early warning radar and other equipment, and later, mature phased array radar was also developed. However, this helicopter was too large to be carried by warships under 10,000 tons.

Needless to say, the 3,000-ton Type 051 and the 6,000-ton Type 052 both carry conventional Z-9 helicopters, which have a maximum takeoff weight of 4 tons and can only carry a limited amount of avionics, so they can only carry a simple maritime search radar.

"A temporary emergency measure? That's such a shoddy job!"

"It's because our navy doesn't have a suitable shipborne helicopter. The four-ton Z-9 is too small, and the thirteen-ton Z-8 is too big. If only we had a ten-ton class helicopter..."

The most suitable helicopter for the navy is the 10-ton class! This type of helicopter is of moderate size, easy to operate on destroyers and frigates, weighs five tons, carries two tons of crew and fuel, and still has a three-ton payload. Torpedoes and sonar can be mounted together. Now look at the Z-9: it weighs two tons, carries one ton of crew and fuel, leaving only one ton of payload. For anti-submarine warfare, two helicopters are needed, one carrying torpedoes and the other sonar. For special operations missions, one helicopter can only carry a maximum of eight special operations personnel, while special operations teams typically have more than ten members, requiring two helicopters – a very inconvenient arrangement!

"Our navy is severely lacking in every aspect!" The naval leader couldn't help but sigh, "The reason we chose the Dolphin helicopter was simply because it was cheap."

The cooperation with the French, involving fifty Dolphin helicopters and the complete production technology, especially the engine production technology, cost only a little over 70 million US dollars. In contrast, the civilian version of the Black Hawk imported in the 1980s cost six million US dollars each!

The Black Hawk is advanced, but expensive! The Z-20, which has the same technology as the Black Hawk, was developed by the East after the new millennium.

"Comrade Qin Liang, would your Northwestern Polytechnical University be interested in helping the Navy...?"

"Director Ye, Northwestern Polytechnical University doesn't have rotorcraft technology!"

The tiltrotor aircraft project in cooperation with the Americans was nothing but a deceptive project. Before his rebirth, the Osprey was notorious for crashing, so much so that American soldiers preferred to fly Black Hawks rather than Ospreys. If his side were to seriously engage in research and development, they would definitely be developing helicopters of the Black Hawk level, not the high-end tiltrotor aircraft.

Advanced technology is far inferior to maturity and reliability.

Northwestern Polytechnical University isn't omnipotent either. Now that there's a research and development project for the Navy, many departments will be busy again. Where will they find the time to mess around with helicopters? Besides, this kind of thing requires professionals to handle it, and Qin Liang doesn't think his side has that capability.

Turboshaft engines, gearboxes, rotor systems... these are all specialized fields!

"Let's go eat first, and talk while we eat!"

Inside the cafeteria, Qin Liang was about to find a seat anywhere when Old Liu called out to him, "Come on, Liangzi, sit here with me. Didn't we just say we'd chat while we eat? Why are you sitting so far away?"

Qin Liang could only obediently sit down, and as for the gazes of others... he didn't need to care so much.

“If you hadn’t mentioned it, we wouldn’t have realized that the issue of shipborne helicopters is actually a big problem!” Old Liu said. “Even if Northwestern Polytechnical University doesn’t have rotorcraft technology, it can still offer some suggestions to our navy.”

To be fair, the Dolphin helicopter is a decent four-ton class helicopter, and many countries have ordered it, including the U.S. Coast Guard, which has also ordered a batch for maritime search and rescue. However, most of these aircraft are for civilian use, and only the East has used them on a large scale in the military.

The Navy isn't unaware that the Dolphin is impractical; the problem is, they don't have any other suitable helicopters! They have no choice but to make do, and now...

"When it comes to helicopters, the best choice is definitely the Black Hawk, but... these helicopters are expensive and not suitable for us to purchase in large quantities, and we can't import the technology to produce them..."

"Do you think it's possible to buy a few of these from the United States through your wife, and then have Northwestern Polytechnical University disassemble and study them?"

Sure enough, Old Liu was still up to the same idea, and he even had designs on his own wife!
Qin Liang could only nod: "Buying a few civilian S-70s is no problem, but finding a suitable method is not easy. Take the engine, for example. We spent several years working on a medium-thrust turbofan engine, and in the end, we still chose the Russian RD33 core engine plus the F404 bypass duct to assemble a model for our own use. The US has advanced manufacturing technology, and if even one part is substandard, then..."

"So, it's more appropriate to follow the Russian path?"

Qin Liang's expression was complicated: "Well, the Russians' processing techniques are suitable for us, but..."

In later years, the Eastern Army Aviation Corps purchased a large number of Mi-171 helicopters, which were improved from the Mi-8 and were a ten-ton class helicopter. Another variant of the Mi-171 was the Mi-24 attack helicopter.

However, after acquiring the Mi-171, Dongfang did not begin reverse engineering it. After all, with the Black Hawk already in hand, they didn't care about anything else.

“Since both sides have their advantages and disadvantages, why don’t we combine them?” Old Liu said. “For example, if the Russians’ engines are advanced, then we’ll use the Russians’ engines. If the Western overall design is advanced, then we’ll use the Western overall design. By combining them, we can both produce and have sufficient advanced features.”

This……

This means we still need to get helicopters from the Russians. It will be easier in a few years, but right now...

Knock knock knock... A secretary ran in: "Comrade Qin Liang, the Air Force requests your presence; there's an emergency."

Qin Liang was taken aback: "What's going on?"

The secretary glanced around; everyone present was a high-ranking leader and had the authority to know. So he continued, "In the Imperial Graveyard, a government pilot, flying a Mi-24 attack helicopter, defected to Pakistan. Pakistan is willing to hand over this helicopter to our Eastern Research Institute!"

Teng!
Everyone stood up: "Let's go to the airport terminal!"

The helicopter terminal and the yellow building are just across the street. You don't even need to take a car; you can walk there. Old Liu walked briskly, as if the helicopter problem was about to be solved!
Qin Liang found it somewhat amusing. Regardless of whether it was the Air Force or the Navy, the biggest beneficiary of the helicopter would eventually be the Army. By 84, the helicopter would have been allocated to the Army!

Should I remind the Air Force not to invest too much, lest they end up benefiting others?

Forget it, I'm not going to be the bad guy.

Rewind a few hours, when the Yellow Tower Conference had just begun, the eastern part of the Imperial Graveyard was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

"Our mission today is to continue eliminating those damned guerrillas." The Russian instructor, Viktor, looked at the Afghan pilot before him. "Those damned guys, hiding in the mountains, are going against us. We're going to wipe them all out!"

"Yes!"

"Now assigning tasks: Hit One, carrying the first combat team, Hit Two..."

He kept talking about the Hind IV, then glanced at the two pilots: "You don't need to carry a combat team. You're responsible for fire support, especially those damn guys carrying Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. Take them out before they fire!"

"Yes!"

Hamidullah and Momanchi exchanged a glance and a look.

“Get on the plane!”

The Mi-24 attack helicopter is a modified version of the Mi-8 transport helicopter. Early models didn't even have a modified nose, and the two pilots sat side by side, resulting in very poor visibility. Therefore, in later models, the nose was changed to a tandem two-seat configuration with a lower front and higher rear, which solved the visibility problem.

However, the rear fuselage was retained. Compared with professional Western attack helicopters, its huge fuselage looked particularly special, like a pregnant doe. So the West gave it the nickname "Doe". The Russians didn't think the nickname was bad, so they simply used "Doe" as the nickname for the helicopter sent to the Graveyard of Empires.

The spacious rear fuselage can fit eight soldiers. Although it is only 1.2 meters high, which makes the tall Russians feel uncomfortable, it is nothing to the local soldiers.

Western special forces typically operate with a combination of armed helicopters and transport helicopters. The former provides fire support, while the latter provides ground combat personnel. The Russians, on the other hand, can take care of everything with just one helicopter!
Fly over, drop off the people, and then take off again to provide fire support. This might miss the opportunity to fight, so we need to leave a few unloaded troops to provide fire suppression as soon as they arrive.

In fact, this was a dangerous mission because the guerrillas on the ground had Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. Once a plume of white smoke rose from the ground, it almost certainly meant that a Hind had crashed.

Today, it's Hamidullah and Momanchi's turn.

"What, do you two have a problem with this?"

"No, we're willing to give everything to fight the guerrillas!" the two quickly declared, having already seen Viktor's hand reach for his sidearm at his waist.

"That's more like it. Oh, and you can throw away the flight suits you're issued and put on your own clothes. Those damn guys in Moscow actually made our flight suits out of synthetic fibers!"

　PS: You can see the huge difference between the Mi-24 and our Z-19 helicopter just by looking at them from the side. The bottom picture shows the scene of us inspecting the doe we brought back from Afghanistan.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)