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

Chapter 484: Missiles modified with Eastern technology are several generations ahead of the Soviet Union!
Currently, the most advanced short-range air-to-air missile developed by the Russians is the R-60.
When it was originally designed, this missile was intended to attack highly maneuverable targets. To achieve this, the missile itself needed to be highly maneuverable. The Russians' solution was to reduce the missile's weight.

The smaller the weight, the smaller the inertia, and the higher the maneuverability.

The Rattlesnake of the same era weighed around 90 kilograms, while the R-60 weighed only 43.5 kilograms.

While mobility has improved, the problem of insufficient lethality has become apparent.

After all, in order to increase the lethality of their missiles, the Russians often use warheads weighing 20 to 30 kilograms.

The R-60 is definitely not that heavy. After all, the warhead accounts for at most one-tenth of the missile's weight, which is less than five kilograms! It weighs only about three kilograms. Look at the opponent's Sidewinder missile, whose warhead weighs 9.4 kilograms, three times that of the R-60.

The R-60 missile has been plagued by insufficient lethality. Many times, even when it hits the opponent, the opponent can escape with damage!

So the Russians began developing a new generation of R-73 missiles!
The overall weight has increased to 105 kg, which is considered to be back to the size of a normal air-to-air missile.

To increase maneuverability, this missile employs a complex aerodynamic layout consisting of close-coupled strakes and canards.

When air flows over the leading-edge extension, it can generate vortices, which improves the efficiency of the canard control surfaces behind it. To further enhance maneuverability, vector propulsion technology is used in the tail nozzle.

Therefore, the R-73's maneuverability of up to 60G was sufficient to deal with targets maneuvering at 12G.

If there is any drawback, it is the backwardness of electronic technology, which results in low performance of the seeker!
Chief Designer Dmontev lamented countless times how backward the Russians' electronics technology was.

Now, seeing how advanced the technology in the East was, Dmontev could no longer contain himself.

"To hell with that damn face! To improve the missile's performance, we must use an Eastern-style seeker! Now, let's remove this seeker and install it onto our R-73 missile body!"

They asked Langtuo to provide missiles, of course, in order to improve their own missile capabilities. Since the guidance head was the worst, they might as well just transplant the entire guidance head onto it!

As for integration... that's what the Russians excel at!
So, the Russian engineers quickly and skillfully disassembled the guidance system of the Lightning-9, and then...

"They're all integrated circuits!"

"Digital control system!"

"This missile gyroscope is incredibly small!"

"We...we're afraid we won't be able to integrate them!"

They lacked technical documentation, and most of them came from an analog circuit background. Asking them to work with digital circuits? That's really asking too much of them!

The Russian engineers were all staring at each other in disbelief.

If we want to transplant the guidance head, we can only find an Asian to cooperate with!
"Eastern technology is several generations ahead of ours!" Dmontev exclaimed, then... looked at the medium-range air-to-air missile.

"Let's take apart a Lightning-10 missile and see if the technology is advanced enough. Perhaps... it can be used on our R-40 missiles!"

So, the team got to work again and disassembled the missile's guidance system.

"The inverse pulse receiver is ingeniously designed!"

"The control circuit actually uses a Loongson processor! The East is truly extravagant!"

The Loongson processor is more than capable of being used as a computer host, yet the Easterners used it on missiles. Every missile launched is equivalent to destroying a computer.

That's outrageously extravagant!
Everyone was quite moved, and at the same time... the integration work was also progressing rapidly.

The Pentagon, United States.

The pizza shops outside noticed a surge in takeout orders that day.

This means there's another big operation or event going on!
Inside the Pentagon.

"The number of Tomahawk missiles launched this time was still not enough. If we could launch several hundred at once, they still wouldn't be able to defend against it!"

"Several hundred? How much would that cost? The bigwigs in Congress will definitely not be satisfied."

"How can we be afraid of spending money when fighting a war?"

"What if these hundreds of battle axes still don't work?"

"I think it's time to use stealth cruise missiles. Unfortunately, our military research and development units are still too weak. They haven't been able to develop a stealth version of the Tomahawk missile for us yet!"

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, but not a single word was truly useful.

What's next?
The F-117 failed, and the Tomahawk missile failed too!

If Lang Tuo releases the wreckage of the F-117, it will be an even bigger slap in their face!
Thinking of this, Weinberg's face was filled with even more anger. How could he not even be able to deal with a hamster?
Back in 79, Lang Tuo should have been taught a lesson!
"Swift, what are your thoughts?"

Of all the people present, Swift was probably the calmest.

Swift shook her head: "I don't have any ideas."

In this situation, there's not much to say. It all depends on whether they dare to go all out and stop thinking about zero casualties. Send a few aircraft carriers and deploy hundreds of fighter jets in the air force. Just charge in and fight them head-on, wipe out Lang Tuo's fighter jets, and completely seize air superiority over Lang Tuo. Wouldn't that solve the problem?

No one dared to do it; they were all worried about a repeat of the tragedy of the Vietnam War, which led to the current awkward situation.

What else could he say?
If Weinberger doesn't have the courage to take such a gamble, then whatever Swift says will be in vain!
"How about we use mushroom bombs?" a voice rang out.

Weinberg's eyes lit up. Now, he really wanted to teach Lang Tuo a lesson in this way!

When conventional weapons fail to solve the problem, then special means must be used! The Americans have always liked to show their most violent side.

Swift said helplessly, "Gentlemen, the Russian air force is there too. If they use mushroom bombs... you can imagine the consequences!"

That one sentence shut down that idea.

If they really bombed the Russian pilots, the consequences would be beyond their control.

Their goal is to cripple Russia through economic warfare, not to directly confront it and turn the Cold War into a hot war.

"Speaking of which, Sha is planning to build an oil pipeline. We can do the same and build an oil pipeline from Atuo to Mantuo to sail out to sea, thus bypassing the Strait of Hormuz!"

To the north of the Strait of Hormuz lies Langtuo, and to the south are Atuo and Mantuo. If these two countries can establish a land transport route, the energy transportation problem can be solved!

Everyone's eyes lit up.

To date, Mantuo only has one inland oil pipeline leading to the sea, which is used to transport oil from the internal oil fields. No one has ever thought of building a north-south oil pipeline here.
The distance to the oil pipeline is much shorter than that of Sha's, so construction can be completed much faster. If it's expedited, six months would be enough!
For the next six months... let's just have some patience with the oil-exporting countries along the Persian Gulf coast.

East.

"So, the Americans have backed down again?" Qin Liang was quite curious after receiving the news.

"Yes, Langtuo didn't announce it to the public, which was a way of saving face for them. After this failure, the Americans decided to give up. They plan to build an oil pipeline from Atuo to Mantuo to bypass the Strait of Hormuz," said Old Lin.

"Hmm, that's indeed a solution. However, at the pace the Americans take, it won't be completed in less than two or three years. The countries in the Persian Gulf are in real trouble!"

"Do you think this will affect Sha's oil pipeline?" Old Lin asked Qin Liang again.

"Of course not. Even if this pipeline is built and bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, it still won't bypass the Gulf of Aden!"

Qin Liang's original suggestion to the Russians was to cause trouble in Yetuo or Somalia on the other side. I wonder how the Russians are doing with their plans.
"Comrade Qin Liang! The Russians are here, heading straight for Northwestern Polytechnical University. They want to purchase your missile guidance heads!"

Qin Liang smiled and said, "Great! We've finally waited for this! Mr. Lin, from now on, we'll supply the advanced air-to-air missile guidance heads for the Russians. Does the Air Force have any objections?"

"I don't have any opinions, but you need to make things clear first!"

"This isn't too difficult. The infrared seeker we provided is particularly sensitive to a certain wavelength of light. As long as we add this wavelength of light to our flares, the infrared missile will directly chase this light source."

Qin Liang began to explain: "As for the radar seeker, it is even easier to control. We can improve the radar warning receiver. When it detects that it is being illuminated by radar and launches this kind of missile, our radar warning receiver will emit an electromagnetic wave, or rather, a command, and the missile will self-destruct."

We provide the guidance system, so whether the missile hits the target is entirely up to us!

Old Lin nodded: "Okay, that's fine, but... won't these be discovered?" The Russians aren't stupid.

"With their level of expertise, it's impossible for them to discover it within ten years. As for what happens in ten years... we'll deal with that later. Why worry about it now?"

Old Lin nodded: "Alright, if that's the case, then we have no problem."

Northwestern Polytechnical University, new campus.

When Qin Liang returned, the Russians had already come running upon hearing the commotion.

"Principal Qin, your frequency hopping radio technology is very advanced. Could you transfer this technology to us so that we can produce them independently?"

"That's impossible." Qin Liang looked at the Russian man opposite him with utmost seriousness.

"It's not that I don't want to give it to you, but... the technology is too difficult, you simply can't produce it!"

“Principal Qin, we are very interested in your guidance head, and we hope that you can…” Dmontev originally wanted to say, “Please let us produce this guidance head,” but seeing that his companion had just been rebuffed, he changed his mind.

"Could you provide us with the technical data for this guidance system so we can integrate it into our missiles?"

"No."

This doesn’t work either?

Dermontev was greatly disappointed. Wasn't he told that his Eastern friends were very hospitable?

"You'd better send the missiles over and let us match them. That would be perfect. Our seekers are too advanced. You... don't have the capability to match them."

This is actually a complaint that the Russians are not good enough?
The Russians were quite angry, some even wanting to turn around and leave, but Dmontev held back.

"Alright, we'll send over ten first, and ask for your help in matching them. How much...would that cost?"

"A guidance head costs $50,000, and the accessory fee is $50,000. If you need to make large-scale purchases in the future, you can just pay the purchase fee, and the accessory fee is a one-time payment."

$50,000...that's not really expensive!

"Okay! Our engineers... could they learn along with us?"

"Of course you can, but... you might not be able to understand it."

Northwestern Polytechnical University, Department of Electronic Engineering.

When the Russian engineers stood behind the students at Northwestern Polytechnical University, watching them pound away on their keyboards, they genuinely couldn't understand what they were doing.

After all, their missiles still use analog circuits; they've never seen digital circuits before. These programs are written in code, and not just ordinary C language code, but a specialized language!

They stared wide-eyed, looking somewhat innocently at the dancing characters.

Three days later, the program was modified and injected into the missile.

The only thing that reassured the Russians was that the Easterners hadn't copied their missiles. In the past few days, they had been keeping a close eye on their missiles, preventing the Easterners from having any chance to make contact.

The modified missiles were rushed to the Gromov Flight Test Site in Moscow.

On this clear day, a large number of Russian aviation industry personnel and military personnel arrived at the flight test institute.

On the tarmac, a Su-27 is preparing for takeoff.

"Why aren't we using our MiG-29s at such a crucial moment? Our aircraft are the frontline fighters!" Ivan Mikoyan said with some dissatisfaction.

“Ivan, your MiG-29 weapon interfaces are incompatible with these missiles from the East. If you want them to be compatible in the future, you either need to upgrade to Eastern avionics or hand over your weapon interfaces to the East,” Dmontev said.

"Alright, if we're going to import these guidance heads in large quantities, then we can consider opening up the weapon interfaces..."

The military personnel had various expressions. Opening up weapon interfaces to others meant losing their secrets, but... the Su-27 already uses Eastern avionics, so it didn't seem to be a big problem!
Perspectives change little by little.

"Hmph, shameful! Your Lightning Design Bureau is truly shameless! Are you planning to develop the Blizzard in collaboration with the East?"

“It’s not shameful to use other people’s things, it’s shameful to fall behind. The Blizzard… we could really consider cooperating with the Easterners, Victor. Thanks for the reminder.”

Viktor Groshin's sarcastic remarks did not embarrass Demontev; in fact, he was quite looking forward to seeing what Viktor Groshin would do next.

Test pilot Pugachev, carrying his flight helmet, strode towards the aircraft.

"Pugachev, fly well later and demonstrate the missile's capabilities."

"Yes."

With a roar, the Su-27 took to the sky. Its beautiful shape and domineering posture made Ivan Mikoyan somewhat envious.

Hmph, just wait until our MiG-1.44 is built...

"Attention, target drone taking off!"

In a corner of the airport, a canard-configured target drone, mounted on the trailer behind a MAZ 543, spewed intense flames and climbed into the sky.

Overall, it is a slender missile with small canards at the warhead, a triangular tail fin, and a jet engine on its back. This is the Tu-143 UAV, which is currently the mainstay of the Russian military.

Once equipped with reconnaissance equipment, it can be used for battlefield reconnaissance and can be reused more than ten times. On the last use, it is usually used as a target drone.

To better simulate the needs of actual combat, this drone is equipped with a large number of flares in its reconnaissance camera compartment. The first thing to be tested is the performance of the close-range air-to-air missile with the Eastern guidance head!

The Su-27 was circling over the airport when the unmanned target drone, after taking off and climbing, was spotted head-on by the Su-27.

Countless flares were released from the Tu-143 drone, filling the sky with vibrant colors.

Although modern short-range air-to-air missiles are quite advanced and do not chase the sun, their ability to counter flares is still weak, as they are easily attracted by high heat.

The original R-73 was no exception. Moreover, this was a head-on interception, not a tail-chase attack; the infrared radiation from the target drone was far less than that of these flares!

Now... a flash of fire could be seen under the wing of the Su-27, and an R-73 missile roared out.

Below, countless people held up binoculars to observe the target practice.

Only the thick-skinned Russians would dare to do something like this. They don't seem worried about debris falling and hitting them on the head; they just want to see things more clearly.

The missile flew past, trailing flames, unaffected by the flares, and flew directly toward the target drone!
boom!
Amidst the explosion, the target drone was hit and exploded in mid-air!

"Great, that's fantastic! This Eastern-style guidance system can perfectly distinguish between drones and flares, we..."

"Why don't we have something similar? Four infrared sensors combined together, that's amazing!"

Viktor Groshen's facial muscles twitched.

They also wanted to acquire the R-73 missile as an important product for their design bureau. After all, the Lightning Design Bureau was busy developing the Buran rocket and didn't have time to develop missiles. Now... the R-73 missile's anti-jamming capabilities are so excellent that it fully meets the military's requirements and can be finalized and put into production!
"Hmph, even if it's powerful, it's useless. If we outsource the guidance system, we'll be restricted! Although our own is a bit inferior, at least we're not restricted..."

Ignoring his stubbornness, Demontev continued to address the soldiers present: "Gentlemen, we have also modified several medium-range air-to-air missiles. Next, please watch our medium-range air-to-air missiles fire at the target."

"What? Medium-range missiles? Where did your Lightning Design Bureau get medium-range missiles? The R-27s are ours!"

"Of course, it's an improvement on our R-40."

"There's no need to upgrade those outdated missiles!"

"By changing the propellant, the range can be increased. By changing the seeker, the infrared seeker can be removed, and only the radar guidance system can be retained. Since you are unwilling to modify your R-27, we can only modify the R-40."

Damn it! Viktor Groshin's face darkened. This guy was trying to steal business from their Pennant Design Bureau!

(End of this chapter)