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

Chapter 318 The British Early Warning Helicopter: Designed by the East!
John North stood on the runway at Stanley Airport, watching the prisoners gradually approach.

Leading the way were SAS special forces, whose mission was to destroy the planes here, but now they were passing through here on their way home.

Their feelings were complicated, and their eyes were slowly becoming blurry.

More people followed behind.

On HMS Invincible, HMS Hermes, HMS Sheffield... many of them were high-ranking officers. Their expressions were complex, their faces were pale, and their legs seemed to tremble slightly as they walked.

“Children, I’ve come to take you home,” John North said.

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried throughout the entire room. There was complete silence. At some point, the first sob sounded, followed by a second, a third... The crying gradually grew louder, and finally it turned into a wail.

They didn't cry when they were defeated, they didn't cry when they fell into the sea and struggled with the icy water, they didn't cry when they were locked in dark and gloomy prisons, but now, when they were rescued, they cried.

They were not overjoyed at their own rescue; they were feeling the decline of the empire. They could not win through war and could only ransom people with money. It was a complete and utter defeat!

The surrounding Chinese sentries, weeping, looked on with disdain. This was the mighty and arrogant British Navy? That's it? It's practically kindergarten level!
The camera recorded all of this, and when it's broadcast on the Crying Country's television station tonight, it'll surely make the whole nation burst into laughter!

However... John North neither stopped nor objected. In fact, he felt that there was nothing wrong with venting like this. Although it looked shameful now, they would become invincible once they returned to the warship!
The current sorrow is only for the victory in the next war. He believed that when these people came again with their warships, it would be time for the Weeping Kingdom to weep bitterly. Yes, that must be it!
The roar of airplanes filled the sky as British Airways charter planes began to land one after another. Although a passenger plane can usually only carry one or two hundred people, soldiers are not civilians. If squeezed in, a plane can carry five or six hundred people. Back when some guys were rescuing people, a plane carried over a thousand people!

One plane lands, loads people, flies away, and then the next one arrives. At this moment, they are unwilling to stay even for a second longer.

When the passenger plane takes off, they will look at the row of Q-5 fighter jets near the airport. These fighter jets will definitely be blown to smithereens in the future!

On the open ocean, the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier cut through the waves at full speed, thick black smoke billowing from its smokestacks, like a demon unleashed from hell.

"This warship is really impressive. After all these years, it can still reach 30 knots!" the newly appointed aircraft carrier captain, Augustus Cameron, remarked with admiration.

It's really rare to see a boiler that's been running for decades still operating at full power!
“That’s natural. There are no catapult-launched aircraft yet. After the catapults are launched, steam will still be needed, so the boiler power must be high enough,” Mike Crap said.

Unlike the Invincible, this aircraft carrier has steam catapults!
Consider the steam catapult, which was originally invented by the British, as was the Fresnel light box. It's a pity that British aircraft carriers no longer have these things. It's really... speechless.

The once-powerful navy was destroyed by certain politicians!
If the Royal Ark were still around, it definitely wouldn't have failed last time!
Just then, a voice came through the radio.

"HawkEye One, requesting landing!"

"Hawkeye 2, requesting landing!"

"Queen's Aircraft received. We will turn into headwinds and recover the aircraft. Welcome home!"

On the deck of the aircraft carrier, the sea breeze was blowing. As the wind turned against the carrier, the 10-knot sea breeze combined with the 30-knot speed resulted in a deck wind of 40 knots. This meant that the relative speed between the carrier-based aircraft and the aircraft carrier could be reduced!

With a roar, an E-2 early warning aircraft aimed at the landing area and crashed into it. The moment the landing gear made contact with the deck, the entire shock absorption system rapidly descended. The high sink rate landing method on the aircraft carrier is completely different from the previous steady landing of land-based carrier-based aircraft.

It hooked onto the second arresting cable perfectly!
"Our naval carrier-based pilots are among the most experienced," remarked Carrier Air Wing Commander Arthur Clarke. "Even though they've only recently received their equipment, they're already on par with veteran American pilots!"

“Yes, that’s thanks to our frequent joint training with the U.S. Navy, and our regular visits to their aircraft carriers to experience carrier-based aircraft takeoffs and landings. It’s a pity… we only have two E-2s, which is still too few.” Augustus Cameron said with some helplessness.

They initially said they wanted three, but in the end they only received two. One reason was that the aircraft was too expensive, and the other was that the aircraft carrier deck was too small. To carry enough F-4 fighters, they had to reduce the number of E-2s they could carry.

“In the intervals when our early warning aircraft are not deployed, we will keep two F-4 fighter jets airborne at all times, which is enough to monitor the sea surface. This aircraft is much more powerful than our Sea Harriers and can detect aircraft flying at very low altitudes over the sea in a timely manner. The development of our shipborne early warning helicopter has also begun,” Mike Crap said.

"Yes, our Sea King early warning helicopter needs to be developed as soon as possible to fill the gap in our fleet."

Having learned their lesson, they truly understood how weak their carrier strike group was after this war, and that this early warning aircraft must be taken seriously.

"However, I'm afraid our domestic technology can't catch up."

"Yes, so we choose to cooperate with the Easterners."

what?
The captain and the wing commander both looked at Mike Crap with puzzled expressions. "What are you talking about? Aren't our partners the Americans?"

"The United States has already received the first two Super-7 fighter jets. Research has revealed that the technology from the East is very advanced, especially in airborne radar. It can be said that the United States is number one in the world in terms of airborne radar, and the East is number two."

Third, it's Europe's turn!

Europe has fallen behind in this field! Although they are unwilling to admit it, that's the truth!

"Then why don't we choose to cooperate with the United States?"

Abandon the first and go for the second?
“Because…the price is lower in the East.” Mike Cramp said with a complicated expression.

Britain is currently tightening its belt to fight this war! For them, all industries are about to face tough times, and cost reduction is the most important thing!
Just a few years ago, the East was importing avionics equipment from the UK, and now they have to ask the East for help! If they didn't need rapid deployment and sufficiently high performance, they wouldn't have turned to the East for development!
Eastward, Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Qin Liang had just finished bidding in the capital with others and hadn't even caught his breath when his father came looking for him.

"What? The British asked us to help design an early warning helicopter?" Qin Liang felt like the sun had risen in the west!
“Yes, I couldn’t make up my mind, so I could only tell them that this project required your decision,” Qin Baomin said. “The British are definitely up to no good. Should we help them?”

"Of course." Qin Liang nodded. "This is also a good opportunity for us to get in touch with British equipment. If the British equipment is filled with our Eastern electronic equipment, do you think the British will be able to fight us in the future?"

Qin Baomin nodded: "Then I'll go and reply to them?"

"No need, I'll see them myself."

Half an hour later, at Datang Company, in the office.

Harold Brown, an engineer from Westland Corporation, walked into the office with a few people accompanying him, his expression complicated. Then... he saw Qin Liang warmly greeting him.

"Everyone, I'm very sorry. I was on a business trip to the capital and just got back. I heard you had a cooperative plan, so I came back immediately! Come, everyone, sit down and let's talk. I heard you want to develop a shipborne early warning helicopter. That's a good idea. However, helicopter platforms have limited size, and it's not easy to mount a suitable radar on them."

“Yes,” Harold Brown nodded. “We are also struggling with the deployment plan.”

The biggest drawback of helicopters is their low payload capacity!

Take the Sea King, a common aircraft in the British Navy, for example. Its empty weight is 5.5 tons and its maximum takeoff weight is 9.7 tons. After deducting two tons of fuel, the payload it can carry is less than three tons. What kind of radar can it carry with three tons of weight?
If it's too small, the search distance is too short and the search accuracy is insufficient; if it's too big, it can't fly.

This is the dilemma they are currently facing!

“Your Sea King helicopter is too small. If it were designed like the new EH101 helicopter, it would be much more convenient.”

Westland is the most famous helicopter company in Europe. Although many of their helicopters are imitations, such as the Sea King, which is actually a copy of the American SH-3 helicopter, they also have their own innovations.

The E and 101 were their latest models, with full-scale development beginning in 1980. They successfully completed their maiden flight in 1987 and officially entered service in 1999. Compared to the previous Sea King, its maximum takeoff weight increased to 14 tons, even larger than the Z-8 helicopter from the East. Therefore, it could carry a larger payload and had better flight performance. Even the President of the United States took notice and used it as his personal aircraft.

However... the service of this thing is still a long way off, and the British can't afford to wait.

They even thought they could enter service within a few months and be sent to the Queen Elizabeth to participate in the next naval battle, taking on the task of searching the sea when the E-2 early warning aircraft could not be deployed. It's really a case of being bitten by a snake once and being afraid of a well rope for ten years.

"I'm sorry, we only have the Sea King helicopter available right now, and it would be best if we could complete the research and development within six months, or even better if we could modify it within three months."

"Well..."

Qin Liang frowned and thought for a moment: "It's not impossible, but... the research and development costs... are not cheap."

"How much?"

"It will cost at least 50 million US dollars, and after the research and development is completed, the procurement cost for each set will be at least 10 million US dollars."

"it is good."

The other party actually agreed just like that?

It seems they're really in a hurry!

I was too hasty, too hasty. It seems that if I had asked for more, the other party would have agreed.

"However, these technical specifications must be met. For example, in low sea states, we need to be able to detect small targets in the air and on the sea within 200 nautical miles, and in high sea states, we need to be able to detect targets within 150 nautical miles. If we fail to meet these specifications, we will not only have to recoup our R&D funding, but you will also have to compensate us for our lost time!"

"These guys are really ruthless!" Qin Liang thought to himself. If he remembered correctly, their Sea King early warning helicopters, equipped with the search radar from the French Thales Group, only had a search range of 100 nautical miles. But here, it's doubled?

Do they really think we Easterners are omnipotent? Or are they just trying to rip us off?

"The targets can still be met, but don't even think about taking them back or getting compensation. If you want us to do the research and development, then you'd better sign a formal contract and pay us in full before we start. If you don't want us to do the research and development, then forget it. We have a lot of tasks on our hands, and your business is dispensable to us."

This is no exaggeration. With Britain's naval defeat, there are now many orders for products from the East, and business is not a problem at all!

The British looked at each other, usually so arrogant, but now…

A few minutes later, the radar engineer who had followed spoke up: "I'd like to know, how do you plan to achieve this performance?"

"This involves trade secrets. If you find out, you can go back and study it yourselves, leaving us out in the cold. We're not stupid." Qin Liang rolled his eyes at the other person: "If you want to know our technical route, then pay to buy it!"

"how much is it?"

"Seeing how sincere you are, we'll waive the high price and offer one million US dollars."

Asking for a million just to hear an idea? You guys are really ripping people off.

Everyone was a bit annoyed, but Harold Brown gritted his teeth and took out his checkbook.

"Alright, here's a million!"

After taking the check, Qin Liang glanced at it a few times, then picked up the phone: "Hello, is this the finance department? Send someone to Datang Company."

"Qin, what are you doing?"

"It's nothing, just... I need to find someone to verify it. These days, there are too many empty promises."

This shows they doubt Britain's strength!

This really needs to be verified. After all, after the last war, Britain was on the verge of bankruptcy. Now it is gritting its teeth and holding on, and it even wants to fight a second round!

What is the basis of modern warfare? It's not one or two advanced weapons, nor is it morale; it's comprehensive national strength. Even a country like Britain, on the verge of bankruptcy, is going to wage a second round of war? Just for something as insignificant as the Falklands?

We need to check it beforehand, just in case the British issue a bad check. The same idea applies to ensuring R&D funding is paid upfront; we're afraid the British might renege!

The British people at the scene turned pale.

Three minutes later, the head of the finance department of Northwestern Polytechnical University came over in person, glanced at the check, then picked up the phone and made a series of calls to HSBC to confirm that the money could be withdrawn. After confirming with HSBC that the money could be withdrawn, he hurriedly left with the check, obviously to get the money as soon as possible, as it was safest to have it in his own account.

"Ahem, sorry to have kept you all waiting. Now, I'll tell you the plan. It's actually not difficult. Early warning helicopters are different from other early warning aircraft. Their carrying capacity is limited, so we only need to keep the radar on the helicopter. The rest of the data processing system will be transmitted to the warship, where a special compartment will be set up to receive and process the signals..."

At that time, there were no early warning helicopters. The British Sea King was the first, and the Russian Ka-31 was the second.

During the development process, engineers encountered a contradiction between small payload and large requirements. After several years of research, they decided to separate the integrated radar and data processing system used in the early warning aircraft. Instead, they placed the data processing system on the warship and the helicopter carried only the radar. This solved the problem perfectly!

The British haven't figured it out yet, but Qin Liang has already brought up this project, which is groundbreaking. This idea is definitely worth a million dollars!
"No, that won't work. If we use radio transmission, it will be easily interfered with."

"Data link."

"Is the data link really that big?"

"Of course, the data link developed by our Northwestern Polytechnical University can handle the transmission." Qin Liang looked at everyone: "Of course, if you think ours is unreliable, you can also use cable transmission."

Anyway, it doesn't need to fly too far, just fly near the fleet, or even fly over the warships and drag cables along! It can even drag a refueling probe, so the helicopter can have unlimited range!

"Our airborne early warning system already has many vehicles, including helicopters and balloons, which can be tethered to warships, thus meeting the low-cost needs for monitoring targets at extremely low altitudes..."

All the British people stared in disbelief; what a brilliant idea!

Back in the day, before airplanes became commonplace, balloons, or rather airships, were the most important means for humans to take to the skies. Later, even with the advent of airplanes, balloons were not phased out. To counter enemy bombing raids, many important targets used balloons as cover, some even tethered with steel cables. When enemy planes dared to fly in, they would even cut the propellers or wings of the aircraft…

In recent years, balloons have gradually lost their usefulness. Unexpectedly, people from the East came up with this solution.

Raising radar into the sky with balloons and then tethering it with cables would allow the entire fleet to have constant airborne early warning capabilities, and at a very low cost—it's an absolutely brilliant idea!

“We want both options!” Harold Brown said.

“That’ll cost extra!”

Want money again?
(End of this chapter)