"Now we have a clear picture of the structure of this aircraft. If we build this kind of fighter ourselves, it shouldn't be difficult." At this moment, a technician said: "This can make up for the Blackbird. Not enough."
Blackbirds, all made of titanium alloy, are expensive to build, and are scarce in quantity. There are only more than 30 in total. If they are made of stainless steel according to the idea of MiG-25, the number can be greatly increased.
Think of planes at three times the speed of sound everywhere, what a spectacular sight!
However, some people immediately sneered at his proposal: "How can we copy such a thing!"
It is shameful to copycats. The United States has the most advanced technology. The Soviets copied the Americans. It is understandable that if the United States is allowed to copy the Soviet planes, where will the faces of the technical experts present
Of course not!
The technical experts present were from various major fighter development companies, and they all had their identities. No one could say to copycats in front of others. The guy who spoke first became the target of public criticism.
"I'm just talking, and I don't really want to go to the cottage." The technician can only explain that.
"Cut!" The other people hissed.
"Nathan, what do you think?" Emily found it interesting looking at the chatter between these technicians, and now she wants to hear Nathan's opinion even more.
"If it were ten years ago, high-altitude and high-speed might be a research direction, but after we experienced the failure of the Vietnam War, we should know that blindly pursuing high-altitude and high-speed is undesirable for fighter jets and has excellent maneuverability. Sufficient energy is the direction of development. Our new generation fighters are all developed under the theory of energy mobility." Nathan said: "If I were to choose, I would definitely not choose a fighter with 3 times the speed of sound. I am very optimistic about aircraft that can cruise at supersonic speeds. For example, fighter jets can cruise at Mach 1.5 without afterburner."
The pursuit of a maximum speed that is too high is of no use to fighter jets. When various large and small missiles are mounted, many airplanes cannot fly at supersonic speed. At the same time, because supersonic speeds have to be turned on afterburner, fuel will be consumed sharply. , Many airplanes can only be used for afterburning a few times, and then they run out of fuel.
If you can cruise at supersonic speed without afterburner, that's fine.
In this era, the aero engine with a thrust-to-weight ratio of 8 is experiencing reliability problems. The engine with a thrust-to-weight ratio of 10 is still in the foreseeable future. Therefore, when Nathan said it, the technicians had a kind of heaven. Feeling like a nightclub.
Flying at supersonic speed without afterburner? How abnormal is the power of the engine
"It doesn't mean we can't reach it now. Thirty years ago, we were still working hard to break through the sound barrier. What about now? We have reached three times the speed of sound." Nathan said: "We still can't Do not use afterburner to reach supersonic speed, what about the future?"
Technology is evolving. As an engineer in the United States, you have to feel proud of your technology.
When Nathan said so, everyone present nodded. Perhaps the next generation of fighter jets will regard supersonic cruise as an important indicator, right
"Perhaps for fighter jets, we don't need too high speed, so what about our reconnaissance aircraft?" Graham said: "If you imitate the MiG-25, maybe we can have more reconnaissance aircraft with three times the speed of sound. Up."
High-altitude and high-speed may not be necessary for fighter jets, but for reconnaissance aircraft, it is a magic weapon for survival. If the SR-71 could not fly like this, it would have been shot down for a long time.
The SR-71 is expensive, while the MiG-25 is quite cheap. If a batch of this type of aircraft is produced, it can greatly ease the pressure of one's own reconnaissance mission.
Fortunately, once there is a war, their 30-odd reconnaissance planes are simply exhausted.
Faced with this question, Nathan shook his head again: "That's not okay. In fact, up to now, aircraft such as SR-71 and MiG-25 that can only fly to Mach 3 are no longer very safe. The enemy's air defense The system is constantly evolving, even if it can't be shot down now, it doesn't mean it can't be in the future."
In fact, in the final stage of the Vietnam War, with the help of the Soviets, the Vietnamese ground air defense forces made necessary corrections to the CA-75M air defense missile system they were equipped with to improve various combat performances, and it has been able to destroy similar "black bird" performances. The high-altitude and high-speed target, but the war has ended, there is no opportunity for actual combat.
A few years later, when the Blackbird reconnaissance plane flew over the Far Eastern Peninsula again, it was ambushed by the ground. Although the three Vega missiles launched from Wushuiduan failed to effectively hit the SR-71, It only damaged part of the SR-71's body, but still forced it to withdraw quickly, and never dared to fly across the border again.
Again, technology is constantly improving. It seems that advanced technology will soon lag behind, just like U-2. Back then, relying on its high altitude, the sky was high and the bird flew, but it was knocked down by missiles, because People also have to find a way to deal with you.
The reconnaissance aircraft with 3 times the speed of sound now seems to have maintained its advanced nature, but it will not be long ahead, because the missiles are almost enough.
When Nathan said this, almost everyone was looking at him. Yes, Nathan's view is quite correct. So, how to solve it
"So, I think that we want to continue to maintain our advantage on the reconnaissance aircraft. Copying the MiG-25 is a repetitive and wasteful labor, and there will be no progress. We must pre-research a new generation of aircraft, this aircraft. , It should have a speed exceeding Mach 6."
The current Blackbird is around Mach 3. In other words, the new aircraft will be twice as fast!
Some people are stunned, six times the speed of sound, what are you kidding about, how many technical problems are there? The head of the aircraft rubs against the air, and the temperature may be thousands of degrees!
What about the engine? At such a high speed, the existing engine definitely cannot be used. It must be a special ramjet engine, but it is not working on the ground. It must be a variable cycle combined engine!
There are many technical problems here.
Only a few people sighed in their hearts after hearing Nathan's words, this Nathan actually guessed it
Yes, now, the Air Force executives have begun to have some rumors, and they want to develop the index design for the next generation of reconnaissance aircraft. On the one hand, the speed is based on the six Mach standard.
Of course, Nathan is not talking about rhetoric, he comes from later generations, and of course he knows the secret project called the Goddess of Dawn! (End of this chapter)