Chapter 308 Flying into the sky with asbestos tiles
Chemezov and Mishin were completely disappointed. Originally, they planned to make money through the helicopter project. Who would have thought that they had already been prepared.
If they act as agents and negotiate with customers, they can still make more money. However, Mr. Qin in front of him is quite smart and will definitely not let them act as agents. He will bypass them and negotiate directly with Kamov Design Bureau!
They have no other choice but to leave the choice to Kamov Design Bureau. However, with Qin Tao's shrewd operation, Kamov Design Bureau should not make much money.
After the modern-level project was thoroughly negotiated, Zheng Ming followed Qin Tao and embarked on the road to the Kamov Design Bureau.
“At present, our navy really needs helicopters of the Ka-28 level.” Zheng Ming said excitedly: “If we can introduce this kind of helicopter, we can quickly make up for the shortcomings of our navy.”
After hearing Zheng Ming's words, Qin Tao also sighed with emotion: "Yes, now, the tonnage of the Zhi-9 we have is too small, and the Z-8 is too large and inconvenient to operate. If the price is right, our navy will purchase a batch The Ka-27 will not only be used on these two modern-class ships, but also on the destroyers and frigates we will produce in the future to solve our urgent needs."
At that time, the Navy had no carrier-based helicopters at all. In the 1970s, it began to launch Project 718, which is a test of launching long-range launch vehicles into the Pacific Ocean. Helicopters were needed to measure the low-altitude trajectory of the return capsule, measure the landing point, and search for the return capsule. with salvage. Projects related to ship-based helicopters have just begun to be launched.
At that time, there was nothing but import. Hornet helicopters were imported from France to temporarily meet the needs of the navy. After that, I thought the aircraft was good, so I introduced technology to produce it and named it Zhiba.
At present, the localization of Zhiba is still in progress, which is probably the level where more than 50% of the parts can be produced by ourselves.
However, because this aircraft is a thirteen-ton aircraft, it is very large and can only be used on large warships, such as supply ships and other large decks, flight decks modified from 051, or 052 The deck is simply not big enough.
Therefore, with the introduction of Dolphin helicopters into the country, the domestically produced Z-9 has become the most important ship-based helicopter in the navy. Currently, almost all newly produced warships are designed with the Z-9 as the helicopter on board.
This four-ton helicopter is small enough that even a two-thousand-ton frigate can have a landing platform for it to carry. However, the shortcoming is also obvious: the load capacity is too low.
A four-ton helicopter has an empty weight of two tons. Including fuel, crew, etc., it can carry up to one ton of equipment. Therefore, in actual combat, one is equipped with a sonobuoy and the other is equipped with an anti-submarine torpedo. The two planes can fight together.
Helicopters like the Ka-27 have many benefits.
For example, its maximum take-off weight is 12.6 tons. When performing anti-submarine missions, it often takes off with a weight of more than ten tons, which is on the same level as the Zhiba. However, due to its coaxial inversion layout, its It is very small in length and easy to operate. It can fly up even the deck of a two thousand ton frigate.
The only flaw is its height. The coaxial inversion layout makes it very high. If there is no hangar specially tailored for it, it cannot be parked in it.
If we want to talk about the future of carrier-based helicopters, it is definitely not the Ka-27. This kind of coaxially reversing helicopter is not common after all. In later generations, after the motherland has the advanced Z-20, it will be used as the main helicopter. .
However, that will take time after all. Now this window period can be filled by the export model of the Ka-27, the Ka-28.
“Mr. Qin, have you been to Kamov Design Bureau?” Zheng Ming couldn’t help but ask Qin Tao.
"No, I have been to Mili Design Bureau and Kamov Design Bureau. This is the first time. So, I don't know the people inside." Qin Tao smiled: "However, after going there this time, acknoledged."
Zheng Ming has already seen Qin Tao's communication skills. No matter what kind of old man he is, he can obey Qin Tao's deception, and Kamov Design Bureau is no exception.
“Kamov Design Bureau is also Lao Maozi’s old helicopter design bureau!” Zheng Ming sighed again.
“Yes, there is a way to the black design bureau.” Qin Tao added.
In the whole world, the only company in the world that continues to engage in coaxial inversion is the Kamov Design Bureau.
Nikolai Ilyich Kamov, the famous helicopter designer, was born in Irkutsk, Russia in 1902, the same hometown as another helicopter giant Mili. After Kamov graduated from the Tomsk Polytechnic Institute in 1923, he has been engaged in research on autogyroplanes.
In the era when he was just developed, helicopters were just getting started and a hundred flowers were blooming. However, after the end of World War II, the world generally believed that single-rotor helicopters with tail rotors had matured and were the most suitable layout. Coaxial twin-rotor helicopters Helicopters wouldn't have a future.
Even Sikorsky, an American helicopter master of Russian descent, thought so, but Kamov did not give up. After he established the Kamov Design Bureau in 1948, he has been working on coaxial twin-rotor helicopters.
When the propeller on the top of the helicopter rotates, it will give the helicopter a reaction force. To offset this torque, the helicopter needs to place a propeller on the side of the tail to maintain balance. Therefore, when the helicopter is hit by the tail rotor, it will hover. come down.
In order to provide a large enough moment, the tail needs to be a certain distance from the helicopter body. Therefore, the helicopter body is very long. Coaxial inversion can avoid this problem.
Since the propeller has a reaction force, then simply add another propeller and rotate in the opposite direction, so that they cancel each other out. There is no need for a tail fin, so the length of the helicopter can be shortened a lot.
For specific comparison, they are both 13-ton helicopters. The length of the Ka-27 is about 11 meters, and the length of the Zhiba is close to 19 meters! (not counting propeller)
On warships where land is at a premium, there are great benefits to using a coaxial reversing helicopter. At the same time, when two large plates are rotated together, the diameter can be reduced a lot with the same output power.
Of course, although the length has been shortened, the height is very high because of the two large plates on the head. However, ordinary warships only have a single-story hangar, so the height does not seem to be a big problem.
“Kamov can be regarded as a wizard in the helicopter world.” Zheng Ming sighed: “By the way, who is the current designer?”
“Now? Sergey Viktorovich Mikhailov, Kamov’s student and assistant, heir to Kamov’s career.”
Mikhailov stood in front of his helicopter, silently lost in thought.
After integrating with the West, they also changed their dressing styles. Mikhailev wore a suit and looked just like a Westerner. He was tall and also very wide. His suit was specially made to be fat and the buttons could barely be buttoned. On the top, a huge belly sticks out in front, and it looks like there are at least quintuplets.
“Mr. Chief Engineer, the guests have arrived.” At this moment, an assistant said to him.
“Bring the guests over.”
"bring it here?"
“That’s right, bring them here and let them see the most advanced products of our Kamov Design Bureau.” Mikhailov said: “The helicopters we produce are the most advanced in the world!”
"OK."
Soon, a group of people came over. When they came to the front, the young man immediately became excited: "Ka-50? This is much better-looking than Ka-29! It's powerful and domineering, not bad, if you let me Choice, I will definitely choose this armed helicopter!"
“Are you Mr. Qin?” Mikhailov looked at Qin Tao.
Qin Tao stretched out his hand: "Yes, it's me. This is the representative from our navy. Zheng, we planned to take a look at your ship-based helicopter, but we didn't expect that we would see this advanced weapon first." Helicopter.”
In the days of Lao Maozi, this kind of aircraft must have been kept secret, but now, in order to get orders, they have to build momentum and make their aircraft more popular.
Zheng Ming also looked at this special-shaped helicopter, which looked extremely unusual.
The two large plates on the top are weird enough. The shape below is even more special. The fuselage is short and thick, with short wing pylons on both sides, and anti-tank missiles and rocket launch nests are hung on them. It looks like an armed helicopter at first glance.
However, a professional armed helicopter has two seats in tandem, but the one in front of you has only one seat. Is this a single-seat armed helicopter?
Ka-50, the trump card of Kamov Design Bureau!
Although they survive by relying on orders for naval carrier-based aircraft, they will not accept that there is only a naval carrier-based aircraft market, and they are constantly seeking new breakthroughs.
When a new generation of armed helicopters appeared in the West, they knew that an opportunity had come.
Although there are Mi-24 helicopters in China, this armed helicopter modified on the basis of a transport aircraft has a large body and backward design, which has shown many shortcomings on the Afghan battlefield. The development of a new generation of armed helicopters is imperative.
Miri Design Bureau came up with the Mi-28, and they came up with the Ka-50.
The overall design of the aircraft still uses their best-known coaxial inversion layout. The body is short and stubby and looks more murderous. At the same time, they also use a single-seat layout for the first time!
Traditional armed helicopters have a two-person piloting system, with one person flying the aircraft and the other operating the weapons system. However, the helicopter in front of you has only one person!
“Yes, there have been too many changes in the past few years.” Qin Tao said: “You not only need to have advanced helicopters, but you also need to enter the international market!”
Why did the other party take out the good things so generously for Qin Tao and the others to see? Of course it’s because the other party wants to sell, and since the customer is here, you have to show it! What if one is cheated?
“Yes, we have taken it to an air show, hoping to get more attention from users. Are you interested?”
This guy is simply hungry. We are the Navy. Why do we need the armed helicopters of the Army Aviation Corps? Zheng Ming thought secretly in his heart.
“From a user’s perspective, it’s imperfect.”
Hearing Qin Tao's words, the faces of the people present changed immediately, and Mikhailov also frowned: "You said it is imperfect?"
"Yes." Qin Tao said generously: "We have made a lot of innovations, especially this single-person driving system, which can save customers the cost of one crew member, but will customers recognize it? In a market economy, Everything must be customer-oriented, and in order to adapt to the needs of different customers, you should diversify your development.”
What does this mean? The guys don’t seem to understand.
“Qin, can you be more specific?”
"You can make several more models. In addition to the single-person driving system, you also have a two-person plan. Moreover, according to the size of your aircraft, it can not only be a tandem two-seater, but also a side-by-side one. Two-seater. In this way, there are a variety of options for customers to choose from." Qin Tao said: "This can better meet the needs of customers. Of course, personally, I still like the side-by-side two-seater option. I think, This solution has the greatest potential.”
“But the single-person driving method is the biggest innovation of our aircraft!” a technician said.
"Yes, it is your biggest innovation, and you are proud of it, but are customers at ease? You do design not to immerse yourself in it and find it enjoyable, but to gain recognition from users. Many times, products that succeed in bidding are definitely not because of innovation, but because of reliability.”
Zheng Ming on the side was a little anxious. What happened to Mr. Qin today? This card is -50, we won’t buy it, you can just say a few compliments casually, why are you finding fault with them? Since ancient times, loyal advice has been **** the ears.
We are here to buy Ka-27. If you offend these people, then it will be difficult to negotiate!
Everyone present became serious, especially Mikhailev, whose face was even more gloomy and terrifying.
Qin Tao didn't care at all. He walked aside and continued to come up with ideas: "Besides, you can't forget your old profession. You are engaged in naval carrier-based aircraft. Although armed helicopters are a breakthrough, they must also have the capabilities of the navy. For example, the propeller on the top can be made foldable, and the weapons rack on the side can also be used to mount naval weapons, anti-ship missiles, etc. The navy will definitely like it."
"Qin, you are right." Mikhailov spoke in silence: "We can't always be immersed in our own inventions and creations. Our designs must be accepted by more customers! In fact, we participated in the competition last year During the air show, some customers asked us if we could make a two-seater layout, but we refused outright at the time. Now that I think about it, we were wrong.”
Generally speaking, the top leaders of the design bureau are very stubborn. Mikhailev, who has a big belly, seems to be a serious person. Unexpectedly, he was actually moved by Qin Tao's words!
Only Qin Tao knows clearly in his heart that what he says is the truth and is the development direction of the Ka-50. Therefore, these people in front of him will definitely listen.
The single-seater Ka-50 was not sold. Later, it was changed to the side-by-side two-seater Ka-52, and the order was obtained. The big hair is really enough to make a bowl of water even, both the Ka-52 and Mi-28 , no one is partial, but in actual combat, the Ka-52 is indeed more brilliant than the Mi-28.
They have already been questioned by others at last year's air show, and have already done a lot of groundwork. Now, Qin Tao is just the last step.
As for the ship-based armed helicopters used by the navy, there are not many. The Ka-29 has them, not to mention the professional ones. When the Ka-52 flies into the sky with Neptune anti-ship missiles, that is called real domineering side leakage. .
Now, what Qin Tao says is what Kamov Design Bureau will do, that is, it can speak to their hearts!
"By the way, are you here to see the anti-submarine helicopter? I'll take you to see it." Mikhailev already has ideas for improving the Ka-50 in his mind. There is no other use in staying here, so he might as well take you with him. Let's take the customer to see the anti-submarine helicopter.
In the workshop of the design bureau, several helicopters were lined up.
From the appearance point of view, they all seem to be the same. The short and thick fuselage looks a bit bloated. The tail has several vertical vertical tails, which are also bulging. They look very unique.
It is difficult for laymen to distinguish the models of these aircraft, but Qin Tao can see the difference at a glance.
Ka-27, Ka-29, Ka-31?
That's right, the aircraft on the side is being improved. The glass on the nose is straight and there is no arc transition. It should be the Ka-29 version. However, its fuselage is placed directly on a platform. There are several people below who are studying how to fix the flat-panel radar antenna. The one with a long flat-panel antenna is the Ka-31 carrier-based early warning aircraft, isn't it?
Although Lao Maozi has developed two fixed-wing carrier-based early warning aircraft, with the dismantling of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, there is no possibility of these existing. If the existing Kuznetsov wants to have a carrier-based early warning aircraft, As for early warning aircraft, they can only follow the path of early warning helicopters like the British.
The British learned lessons from the Falklands War and hung a large ball on the side of their Sea King anti-submarine helicopter. Although it is not comparable to the E-2, it is still better than nothing.
Da Mao is an improvement on his own Ka-29, except that instead of a big ball, it is a fly swatter that hangs directly under his belly and can be stretched out when needed. This early warning helicopter is named Ka-31.
Although the Ka-31 has been around since the beginning of the library ship test, the helicopter is easy to modify, but the matching radar is not so easy to get. Therefore, it has been done one after another until now, and it seems that it is still a toss-up.
In later generations, domestically produced aircraft carriers had two types of early warning aircraft, the Ka-31, which was imported at a huge cost, and the early warning aircraft developed by itself based on the Z-18. The latter used an active phased array radar with more advanced performance. Therefore, After the Ka-31 was imported, it was idle and almost useless. It was criticized by many people for spending 300 million US dollars, but it was never deployed on an aircraft carrier. What a waste!
However, things are different now. If Varyag is built within a few years, the Z-18 early warning aircraft may not be that fast. In other words, it is still necessary to get a few of these early warning helicopters back. .
If you want it to have the same performance as the E-2, it is impossible. After all, its body is limited. Take the Ka-31 early warning helicopter in front of you as an example. It is equipped with an air and sea code-named E801M "Eye". Surveillance radar mainly detects altitudes below five thousand meters, especially sea-skimming flying targets. For targets such as anti-ship missiles, the detection distance will not exceed 120 kilometers.
In the final analysis, it is used to make up for the blindness, so that other people's missiles will not know when they are flying in front of them.
However, since it is modified from the Ka-29, and the Ka-29 is modified from the Ka-27, the sizes of the three are almost the same, which means that this early warning helicopter can not only board the aircraft carrier, but also can fly on the aircraft carrier. Mounted on ordinary destroyers, it can provide the fleet with the ability to cover blind spots at low altitudes at any time.
Even if the aircraft carrier does not need it, warships such as the Sovremenny class can still carry it.
So, it is still necessary to introduce this kind of aircraft, and now, the Ka-31 is right in front of us!
“What is this plane doing? Is the asbestos tile-like thing installed below a phased array radar antenna?” Qin Tao began to ask questions about the plane.
Asbestos tiles?
Hearing the name Qin Tao, Zheng Ming almost laughed.
Asbestos tiles? The shape of that flat-panel radar antenna really looks like an asbestos tile!
"Of course it's a phased array radar antenna." After hearing Qin Tao's words, a technician who was researching looked up and said: "This radar was developed by our Nizhnygorod Radio Scientific Research Institute, and its performance is better than that of the British. The Neptune radar is much better."
This guy is a radar guy! This sentence is so justified. In fact, even the phased array is the most backward passive phased array radar.
Its antenna is nearly six meters long and one meter wide. It is divided into four rows. Each row has 24 phase shifters, a total of ninety-six. It is quite primitive and backward. In the 1980s, it may be still advanced. But now...
(Various data have different opinions, some say pulse Doppler, some say phased array, I personally feel that passive phased array is more likely.)
“Alexander, I think the shaking during flight is caused by the rotation of the flat-panel antenna and has nothing to do with our aircraft.” At this moment, the test pilot and the technician in flight suits continued to analyze the cause of the failure.
"No, there won't be any problems with our antenna. Its weight has been reduced to a minimum, only two hundred kilograms. It cannot be modified in any way. It can only be improved by your aircraft!" Alexander shook his head.
Although the Ka-31 weighs more than ten tons, flying with a 200 kilogram flatbed will still cause big problems, especially since the flatbed has to rotate.
So now, they are still struggling with this issue.
Each time during a test flight, once the antenna is deployed, the aircraft will rock back and forth, and there is a danger of crashing at any time!
Two hundred kilograms is indeed not heavy, but what will a six-square-meter sign look like in a strong wind?
This problem has been bothering them for many days and they have not been able to solve it.
Hearing this, Qin Tao felt happy, this opportunity has come!
(End of this chapter)