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

Chapter 316 The first air defense ship is the Type 052D!
Snapped!
Castelli slammed his hand on the table.

"These damned bastards are threatening us with mushroom bombs! These damned colonists..."

“Yes, General, they are indeed despicable, but…” De Cuéllar’s ​​expression was complicated.

If the British are angered, they really will threaten with mushroom bombs. After all, Britain's face has been torn off by the crying country, and now they are desperate and might do anything.

"Now that the United States has transferred second-hand warships to Britain, they clearly want to launch a second wave. Their biggest shortage is manpower. If we return these prisoners to Britain, they can send a second wave of fleets within three months."

Garcia's expression was very serious: "We can deal with a second-hand fleet with the Invincible-class as its flagship, but we have no chance against an American supercarrier battle group. At that time..."

As the captain of the aircraft carrier, he was acutely aware of the vast gap between the two sides.

The previous victory was achieved by using an ultra-low-altitude sea-skimming attack. This tactic was successful mainly because the British did not have carrier-based early warning aircraft. If they had supercarriers and used E-2 early warning aircraft, the ultra-low-altitude tactic would have been ineffective!
Moreover, with a supercarrier, one can operate the F-4 fighter jets in the hands of the British. Although it is also a second-generation aircraft, its performance is no worse than that of the Super-7. It can intercept aircraft from hundreds of kilometers away, which is far superior to the Sea Harrier, which is a useless aircraft.

If the country agreed to Britain's demands, it would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains; if it did not agree, it would be threatened with mushroom bombs!

Castelli could see this too, which was why he was angry, and now, hearing Garcia's explanation, he was even angrier.

"Hmph, those damned colonists, they're like ghosts that just won't leave!"

“General, our only option now is to go to the East for help again,” De Cuéllar said. “On the one hand, we can haggle with the British here and try to get more ransom. On the other hand, we can use the money to go to the East to purchase weapons, more advanced weapons that can strike American carrier strike groups! As long as we send the American carriers to the bottom of the sea, the British will have to give up on the Falklands completely.”

"Don't they know how to use mushroom bombs?" Castelli gritted his teeth.

"By then, it will be pointless for them to use mushroom bombs. Right now, they are just threatening us with mushroom bombs to force us to hand over our people. Even so, they haven't directly coerced us and are still willing to pay. Next time, when we completely shatter their hopes, they should know when to stop. Do they really want to wipe our Weeping Country off the face of the earth?"

Castelli frowned: "Can those Eastern weapons take down an American supercarrier?"

"I don't know, but... I trust the East. Right now, only the East can help us."

“Alright.” Castelli looked at the person beside him: “Garcia, then you can go to the East again!”

Eastward, Princess Tomb, Yellow Tower.

"Gentlemen, after several years of preparation, our Navy's next-generation destroyer is finally on the agenda. Today's meeting is the formal bidding meeting for the design scheme of our Type 052 destroyer!" Navy Leader Ye personally presided over the meeting, his face full of anticipation: "I hope to hear a design scheme that will truly impress the Navy! Who would like to go first?"

"Let Northwestern Polytechnical University go first. Let's listen to their design proposal and learn from them," Professor Pan suggested.

Without the rise of Northwestern Polytechnical University, the design of this warship would definitely have been handed over to the 701 Institute. But now... Professor Pan's expression was complicated. Northwestern Polytechnical University's design is the strongest!
Fortunately, it's just a design drawing. If Northwestern Polytechnical University had a shipyard, I wonder how many people would worry about losing their orders.

"Director Huang, you are the head of the Navigation Department, so why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Liangzi, you've been driving this whole project, you know it best, so you should take over."

"Hey, who's coming up here? Don't waste our time."

"Sigh, alright." Qin Liang stood up helplessly: "Leaders, I'll do it."

He knew that Director Huang wasn't stage-frightened, but rather wanted to give him the opportunity to shine. In fact, he no longer needed to use this method to elevate his status.

"Alright, leaders, please look at the slides. The first one is the three-view drawing of our warship design. Let me briefly introduce the data. This warship is 159 meters long and 18 meters wide, so the length-to-width ratio is about 8.8, and the displacement is more than 7,000 tons. This gives the ship ample internal space, making it more suitable for ocean voyages."

This is the first domestically built warship with a length-to-width ratio of less than 9. The excellent space offered by this size is immediately apparent to experts, however…

“President Qin, this design requires even more power,” Engineer Pan frowned.

"That's right. If it were still the previous 15 megawatts of power, we really wouldn't dare to design it like this. However, the good news from the Spey ship modification project is that the power of this engine can now work stably at 18 megawatts. So, with this design, two engines can drive the warship to a cruising speed of more than 20 knots, and with all four running together, it is enough to allow the warship to reach a maximum speed of 30 knots."

18 megawatts!

This is almost the same power output as the initial model of the LM2500 gas turbine! Everyone was in high spirits; the Navy would no longer have to worry about heart problems!

“Since everyone is very interested in the power system, let’s start with that.” Qin Liang pulled out a slide and put it on: “We use a combined gas turbine and diesel engine, and the most crucial part is the parallel gearbox. Our Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern Polytechnical University has already started relevant research, and we guarantee that we will be able to manufacture qualified parallel gearboxes when the warship is officially started.”

One machine for low speed and two for high speed. So how do you connect the second machine at high speed? This requires a paralleling gear. The machining of this gear is crucial. If the machining precision is insufficient, it will produce noise; if the strength is insufficient, the gear may break during paralleling…

No domestic company has experience in processing these gears, but now, it can be completely handed over to Northwestern Polytechnical University!
Although Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) does not build warships, it will provide supporting equipment for warships!
"After gearing and deceleration, the power is output to the propeller at the tail through the drive shaft. In order to simplify the design of the gearbox and optimize the driving force, we designed a variable pitch propeller at the rear."

Everyone's eyes widened again.

Variable pitch propellers can adjust the pitch according to the power output for a better match. They can also completely reverse the direction of the propeller blades when reversing, making them the best drive device. Unfortunately, they require very high machining precision, and the East simply does not have similar technology.

"Will it be Northwestern Polytechnical University that does the processing?"

"Yes, we already have a nine-axis, five-linkage gantry milling machine, which can fully process such a large machine. Moreover, our Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern Polytechnical University is also developing more advanced propeller materials, striving to make our warships' power systems reach world-class levels."

Professor Pan remarked from the side that this was the advantage of Northwestern Polytechnical University: they could design any part that was needed, while Institute 701 could only design based on the existing domestic technology or what could be purchased. It was not even in the same league!

"Okay, that concludes the introduction to the propulsion system. Next, we will continue with the other parts of the warship, starting from the bow. We have reserved space for a 130mm naval gun. Northwestern Polytechnical University is not an expert in naval gun design, so we can only leave it to the relevant departments. However, we believe that 130mm caliber is the most suitable choice."

In terms of naval gun caliber, the West has already made progress. Warships under 4,000 tons are mainly equipped with 76mm naval guns, which have a high rate of fire and can intercept anti-ship missiles when needed. Large warships are uniformly equipped with 127mm naval guns, which are powerful and have a long range.

Only the French took a unique path, developing a 100mm caliber naval gun. Their original idea was to attack land targets and fire at air targets with a high rate of fire, trying to do everything, but in the end, they were mediocre at everything.

It's unclear whether the Eastern Navy has adopted the French 100mm naval gun technology. In any case, the design plan from the Northwestern Polytechnical University's Department of Naval Architecture is a 130mm caliber naval gun, mainly used for land and sea attacks. Later, when it is deployed to the other side of the river, it can also fire on the land to cover its own landing forces.

However, Northwestern Polytechnical University has not specifically studied this topic, so it is just a suggestion. In short, the space has been reserved, and the Navy can install whatever it wants.

"Behind the naval guns is a 32-cell vertical launch system. Currently, the 850mm universal vertical launch system is under design and should be ready to be deployed alongside the warship's construction schedule. There's another 32-cell vertical launch system at the rear of the warship, giving the entire warship 64 launch cells. This allows for the loading of various missiles, especially with the adoption of two, three, or even four missiles per cell, bringing the total capacity to over one hundred." The Eastern Navy had never seen a warship with such power! This firepower left everyone in awe!

"This firepower is really impressive! But... where should the anti-ship missiles be installed?" Engineer Pan asked.

Generally speaking, the rear is where anti-ship missiles are installed.

"Of course, it'll be installed in the vertical launch unit. I already said it's a mixed-use system; both anti-ship and land-attack missiles can be mixed in," Qin Liang said. "This will make mission execution very flexible; we can mix and match them as needed. By the way, the subsonic/supersonic combined anti-ship missile developed by Northwestern Polytechnical University will also be test-fired soon, and it will be able to be installed then..."

Asian Super League combined!

The anti-ship missile developed by Northwestern Polytechnical University is finally bearing fruit after years of research!

Everyone was shocked.

"Of course, considering the current state of the navy, the biggest problem is still the lack of air defense capabilities. Our Type 052 is designed to address this deficiency. During the last meeting, we proposed using four passive phased array radars to form an Aegis-like air defense system, which can handle attacks from multiple targets. However..."

Qin Liang paused for a moment and looked at everyone present.

"The technological development at Northwestern Polytechnical University is too fast. We have already successfully developed gallium nitride material and are now developing advanced T/R modules based on this material. We will then use these modules to assemble radar. Of course, this will take a long time, possibly three to five years. Therefore, the early models of the Type 052 radar may still need to be equipped with passive phased array radar, but later models will definitely be equipped with our active phased array radar."

Everyone present stared wide-eyed.

What did Qin Liang say?
Northwestern Polytechnical University has overcome the technical difficulties of active phased array radar, and it's even using gallium nitride?

It's important to understand that being able to use gallium arsenide now is already world-class, considering that many universities are still researching bipolar silicon. Northwestern Polytechnical University has practically achieved a leap forward!

"Gallium nitride, active phased array? Am I dreaming? Old Wang, come here, pinch me."

"This technology is absolutely the best in the world!"

Countless people sighed with emotion, but Qin Liang just smiled. When he heard the news, he was also taken aback. With ample research and development funds, Northwestern Polytechnical University was bursting with project results.

"That concludes the introduction to the main radar. At the top of the mast, we also need a sea-search radar, primarily used to prevent low-altitude sea-skimming anti-ship missiles. It has a detection range of about 40 kilometers. At the same time, considering the danger of this type of missile, we also need to deploy a new interception line in addition to the general vertical launch system. This mainly includes 24-cell HQ-10 short-range air defense missiles and a rapid-fire cannon, distributed fore and aft, serving as the last line of defense for the warship."

The Falklands War served as a wake-up call for navies worldwide: ultra-low-altitude sea-skimming anti-ship missiles have become the biggest threat to fleets without early warning capabilities!
We don't need to carry a ball overhead like the British Navy, but we still need to have these countermeasures.

"Among them, the HQ-10 is under our responsibility, which is an improvement on the air-to-air missile. This rapid-fire cannon needs to be developed by the relevant departments of the Navy."

In later generations, the navy had two types of rapid-fire guns: one was the AK-630 naval gun copied from the Russians, and the other was the 730 naval gun developed domestically. The copied version was equipped on many early warships due to its rapid progress, while the later version, due to its great potential, became the best close-in weapon system for the Type 052 destroyer. It was later even upgraded to the 1130 close-in weapon system, with a firing rate of up to 11,000 rounds per minute.

Northwestern Polytechnical University doesn't have the relevant technology, so they only provided data.

"The entire warship uses a large number of advanced equipment, so a brand-new combat command system is also needed. Our computer science department is currently developing a destroyer combat command system based on the Loongson-2 chip. The entire warship's command system will be digitized and information-based..."

If you watch old movies, you can see the captain shouting orders on warships, issuing combat commands one after another. He might even shout from the mast from time to time. In the early days, warships didn't have much of a command system, making command very cumbersome.

With the advent of missile destroyers, a command system was finally introduced, but it was still very primitive and analog.

Modern destroyers don't need various announcements; all you need to hear is the sound of keyboards being typed, and all sorts of commands will be issued.

The modernization of the East's combat command system began with the Type 052 destroyer, which adopted the ZKJ-4 combat command system. This system has functions such as displaying enemy and friendly situation, target designation, and fire control, and can also exchange intelligence with other warships via data link.

Now, Northwestern Polytechnical University has sufficient technical expertise to develop a warship combat command system. Moreover, since this destroyer is an air defense type, the main focus is on expanding upon the existing air defense system.

Pan Lao sighed inwardly, realizing that almost all the key technologies on this warship came from Northwestern Polytechnical University!
"Finally, let's talk about anti-submarine warfare. Currently, the space we've reserved at the stern is for the Z-9 helicopter. Once our 10-ton class utility helicopter comes out, we can lengthen the hull and increase the deck area to meet the carrying requirements..."

Actually, while the warship design sounds impressive, it's really just a copy of the Type 052D destroyer. Don't overthink it; just follow the Type 052's design. If it weren't for the lack of power, we could have gone straight for the Type 055.
This extended hull is, of course, the Type 052DL.

"Distinguished leaders, that concludes the overall design of the warship. As this is our first time designing one, there may still be various problems and oversights. We welcome criticism and corrections from our colleagues."

The applause was warm.

"Mr. Pan, what are your thoughts?"

"Leader Ye, I feel that our 701 Institute's design proposal doesn't need to be presented. Our proposal simply cannot compare to Northwestern Polytechnical University's design proposal. Their warships are designed to meet the needs of the next twenty years, while ours..."

That's so outdated.

Leaving aside features like four-sided phased array radar and universal vertical launch systems, the very shape of the ship still resembles the layout of an old-fashioned warship, with passageways on both sides of the bridge. In contrast, the design by Northwestern Polytechnical University is truly simple and aesthetically pleasing.

"Alright, since everyone agrees, let's go with Northwestern Polytechnical University's design. Next, Institute 701 will be responsible for a comprehensive review of Northwestern Polytechnical University's design proposal..."

The people from Northwestern Polytechnical University immediately changed their expressions. "Leader Ye, in the end, you still don't trust Northwestern Polytechnical University!"
If we let Institute 701 conduct the review, wouldn't they think they're superior to us? Northwestern Polytechnical University will not stand for that!
Old Pan quickly interjected, "Leader Ye, let's skip the review. We can participate in the design process at Northwestern Polytechnical University and learn from them. I heard they didn't use a single piece of drawing paper; the entire design was done on a computer."

That's more like it! The people from Northwestern Polytechnical University were finally satisfied.

"Everyone, it's about time, and my stomach is rumbling. Let's head to the cafeteria for lunch!" Leader Ye said.

Inside the cafeteria, everyone ate while discussing the design plan they had just come up with, and they all praised it highly.

Professor Pan even came over with a wine glass to drink with the people from Northwestern Polytechnical University. They really were there to learn from them; there's nothing shameful about learning from Northwestern Polytechnical University!
"Come on, Qin Liang, let's have a drink!" Leader Ye raised his glass: "The development of the navy depends on you!"

“Where, where…”

Thump, thump, thump... Just then, someone walked over and whispered a few words in Leader Ye's ear. Leader Ye was instantly stunned: "What?"

(End of this chapter)