A lot of things can be changed into small things and small things. This is human instinct. No matter which country, it is too common to do so. The U.S. Navy will not make trouble for itself, and it will really kill the Tomcat. How did the U.S. Navy raise its head in front of the Air Force!
The so-called grounding is just to scare oneself!
In the aircraft carrier’s hangar, Nathan was idle, watching the crew repair the damaged Tomcat’s nose radome.
From the outside, the nose and the fuselage seem to be the same, but in the eyes of insiders, the difference is big. The fuselage is made of aluminum alloy skin, which is light in weight and strong. There is a radar inside the head. If it is still a metal radome, then according to the principle of electrostatic shielding, this radome cannot transmit electromagnetic waves, just like being blindfolded, and can't see anything.
Therefore, the radome of the nose is made of special materials. In the early years, after the Soviet fighters changed the air intake from the nose to the air intake on both sides, they originally planned to install radar in the nose, but found that the radar The cover is not closed, resulting in serious electromagnetic wave losses. It took several years to overcome this problem.
The current nose radome is a glass fiber sandwich structure. In simple terms, it is like a strip of paper tape, wound up in circles, like a person's head is wrapped in gauze, wrapped in many layers. As a result, the gauze came out on its own, forming a hood, just like this.
Now, the nose radome that was cut off by that out-of-control fighter is like this, like a knife slashing through, cutting these glass fibers, the cut is very neat, and at the same time, the next one is also being pulled down. Deformed.
The crew removed the damaged nose radome, revealing the radar antenna inside.
Flat slot radar antenna!
Nathan from later generations, of course, knows the advanced nature of this antenna, and also knows the arduous efforts made by Huaxia military personnel to develop this kind of radar.
Most of the radar antennas in this era are equipped with pot lids. In order to facilitate the rotation, the pot lid is also turned upside down, which is called inverted card. Even if it is developed to Su-27, it is also an inverted card antenna.
In the United States, relying on advanced technology, in the 1970s, a flat-panel slot radar antenna was realized. A slot is opened on the radar antenna board in front of us, and electromagnetic waves are radiated to the outer space through the slot.
It has many advantages, light weight, good planar structure, easy to conform to the installation object, easy control of the aperture surface amplitude distribution, high aperture surface utilization, and can achieve low side lobes or extremely low side lobes. At the same time, it also has the advantages of firm structure, simple and compact, easy processing, convenient power feeding, and simple erection.
If there are shortcomings, it is that the required processing accuracy is too high, and the shape of the slits it opens is a long strip with a length of about half a wavelength.
The Soviet Union was stuck in the machining accuracy and could not get the flat-panel gap radar, and finally went directly to the phased array.
"Major Nathan, your actions that day were really cool." These crew members removed the radome and said to Nathan: "I was on the front deck at the time, and I happened to be able to see it. When the fuel was thrown on top of the Soviet warship, everyone applauded! If it wasn't for a new situation later, everyone was going to go up to the deck to lift you up."
This is almost also a tradition of the U.S. Navy. To welcome the return of heroes, of course, you have to rush over, lift up, throw it high, then fall to catch it, and then throw it up again, even in Nathan’s lofty ambitions. Such a lens.
It was a black man who was talking, and he looked at Nathan, showing his white teeth, in sharp contrast with his skin.
Looking at the crew's gaze, Nathan smiled: "I have a problem with the plane. There is no way. If I don't put the fuel in the air, I can't come back.
This paragraph about mechanical failures has almost become popular on aircraft carriers. If it weren’t for mechanical failures that happened later, it would definitely become a classic.
Even so, the crew members made promises with their chests patted. Since Major Nathan said it was a mechanical failure, we would accept it.
In a short period of time, Nathan has been recognized on the Kitty Hawk. Even if it would discredit the crew, they were all willing to look at Major Nathan's actions. That was so cool.
It was not difficult to change the radome on the nose. The crew quickly replaced one, and then the second one.
The black flight attendant continued: "It's a pity that one of our fighter planes crashed into the sea. I don't know what I think about it. I don't want to salvage or make any noise. What a great plane!"
Hearing this, Nathan couldn't help but frown. Yeah, he reported his worries, but the top didn't take it seriously. It seems that they were going to hide their ears and steal the bell. It was really stupid. The Soviets would definitely go by taking advantage of this opportunity. Salvaged it!
However, it is certain that even if the Soviets salvaged it, they could not imitate it. The processing of the flat-slit radar antenna would be difficult for the Soviets.
Well, the Soviets are trying every means to build American aircraft, and the United States is also trying every means to build Soviet fighters. For the US, the biggest threat is the MiG-25. I don’t know if the Belenko defect will happen as expected. Occurring, this time and space that I traveled through is always a little chaotic!
…
Soviet, Far Eastern Military Region.
"032, skydiving, 032 skydiving!"
An anxious voice came from the radio, a beautiful twin-engine fighter with two vertical tails. The huge air inlet is so dazzling. This is the Soviet star fighter, the MiG-25.
At this time, it was spiraling downward from high altitude, which was a terrible stall spin!
I saw the tail of the aircraft suddenly released a white deceleration parachute, and at the same time, the rudder surface moved, and this fighter successfully recovered from the stall spin!
In the cockpit, the young pilot Andrei firmly said: "Sokolovka, 032 has been leveled. Request to continue training."
"031, 032, return home immediately."
Following the sound in the headset, another MiG-25 almost dived and chased it, flying level with the 031 in front, and heading back.
In the cabin, the leader Belenko could see clearly that he was able to recover from the MiG-25's speed spin. Andrei was the first one. Although he had only recently arrived, his skills were really impressive. Amazing!
The two planes began to return to Sokolovka, but when they saw the land, a new order came again: "031, 032, heading 270, there is an unknown target in the sea area on the 14th, go to intercept immediately! 2.4 Mach speed cruise."
Following the order, the two fighters turned quickly. After aiming at 270, a fiery flame emerged from the tail, and the engine that turned on the afterburner was roaring. The huge fighter quickly broke through the sound barrier and continued to accelerate. At the terrible Mach 2.4, this is the flying fox, the Soviet's most powerful triple speed fighter! (End of this chapter)