Great warships

Chapter 1145 I have tried all three helicopter landing systems

The length is nine and a half meters, which sounds like a lot, but the problem is that this is a helicopter. The six or seven meters behind it is the tail boom. The fuselage and the tail form a streamline. From the side, it looks like a big shark, with a view below the head. The aiming device reveals a big ball, and it seems to refer to the stealth design. Below it is the skid landing gear. On helicopters, this method is generally used for light ones. After all, the structure is simple.

The four top rotors folded up, which is also a must-have function for carrier-based helicopters. At this time, several maintenance staff were preparing to drag the WZ-6 drone out.

Qin Tao watched with interest. Most of Dongfang's helicopters use wheels, which are convenient for maneuvering on the ground. How can this kind of skid landing gear move on the ground?

Of course, a special ground tug is used!

One in the front and one in the back. As long as the wheels are installed, it can be used on the ground!

This kind of wheel is a double-wheel structure like the front wheel of an airplane, and the distance between the two wheels is relatively large, just like a door frame, so that it can be pushed above the skid and then fixed.

The next step was to lift. I saw four maintenance staff working together to press a crowbar inside, and the jack began to work. With a creaking sound, the helicopter's skid left the hangar floor.

"This is too complicated. Why didn't it be made into wheels?" Qin Tao frowned and said. He really didn't understand helicopters, but he just felt that such a design was a bit cumbersome.

"Wheeled landing gear and skid landing gear each have their own advantages and disadvantages." Li Pingfan said: "The wheeled landing gear is more practical, convenient for maneuvering on the ground, and can even take off in high-altitude airports. However, the structure It is complex and heavy, so it is only used on medium and heavy helicopters. Skid landing gear is just the opposite, with a simple structure and light weight, but it is troublesome to move on the ground, so it is generally used on light helicopters."

The skid landing gear is just two skis. The structure is quite simple. It can also provide a buffer when the helicopter crashes. The wheel landing gear has a complex structure and a heavy weight. The two are exactly opposite. The specific situation will be analyzed in detail. , the light helicopter in front of me must have a skid landing gear.

Of course, there are exceptions to everything. The Yankees' special armed helicopter, the AH-1Z, weighs seven or eight tons and still uses a skid, but there is only one exception.

During Li Pingfan's introduction, the helicopter had been pushed out and reached the take-off deck.

In the 055s, the Navy imported the harpoon landing recovery system from France, which is still in use today. There is a special circular metal grille on the take-off deck. On ordinary warships, this set of grilles is at the center of the landing deck. , inside the circle, but on the spacious deck of , this system is on the outside circle!

In the center of the deck, there are two more grooves. This is the navy's new generation ship landing system.

"Currently, we have operated all three helicopter landing systems in the world." Li Pingfan looked at Qin Tao looking at the harpoon landing system and said with a smile: "This latest system is ours. favorite."

The most rudimentary system is the landing system of Lao Maozi's Ka-27 carrier-based helicopter. This landing system is a large-area anti-skid net. After the Ka-27 lands, it relies on the wheel to land on the anti-skid net. , simple and crude, with strong characteristics of an old man. Only the Ka-27 with four-wheel landing gear can guarantee safety. If other helicopters are not careful, they will probably roll over.

After landing, it still needs to be manually tethered. If you want to enter the hangar, you have to remove the net, which is very complicated and cumbersome.

Therefore, except for those modern-class ships, the Eastern Navy will hardly use this system. The main force is the harpoon landing system imported from France.

The key to this landing system is the metal grille on the deck. When the helicopter lands, a fork-shaped structure will protrude from the belly. As long as it is inserted into the grille, it will lock with a click. The mechanism will also be locked, so that the helicopter and the deck form a rigid connection.

This harpoon system can be used when the ship rolls plus or minus eight degrees and pitches plus or minus two degrees.

What if the sea conditions get worse?

Lao Maozi dares to fly. Although there is a broken net below, Lao Maozi dares to fly. However, it is not necessarily the case with the legal system. If the swing is too big, he may be thrown into the sea. At this time, Only the PAST system of American helicopters can be used.

This system relies on pulling to solve the problem. There is a special landing system on the deck with a full set of functions such as helicopter pulling down, mooring locking and towing into storage.

This set of functions requires a groove on the deck. This device can move back and forth in the groove. When using it, first find a suitable position to fix it. The helicopter extends a special guide cable and hangs it down, and then the The operator needs to hang the guide cable to the fixed device on the deck. Then, the helicopter retracts the guide cable, and the helicopter is slowly pulled toward the warship deck.

This kind of landing is passive, so the helicopter pilot only needs to ensure that the helicopter flies smoothly, and then it is pulled to the deck for landing, even if the ship rolls left and right, plus or minus 30 degrees, pitches 10 degrees, and the deck settles six meters, the helicopter can successfully land under such extremely harsh sea conditions!

what's next?

After the helicopter lands, a device similar to a harpoon will be stretched out, inserted into the mechanism below, and then locked!

At this time, the helicopter will be fixed on the deck. What next? In strong winds and waves, the helicopter cannot remain on the deck and needs to be pushed to the hangar.

After landing, the harpoon landing system can only be fixed on the deck and moved to the hangar. It must be unlocked. If the wind and waves are strong, the helicopter may still be shaken into the sea.

This system perfectly solves this problem, and there are two tracks below!

As long as the helicopter's rotor and tail boom are folded, modern helicopters are all electric, which is very convenient. Then, the system will move along the track and enter the hangar in a flash, and you're done!

It can be said that this system is the most perfect. However, the Eastern Navy did not have it before and could only rely on the harpoon system. It could not go to sea in bad weather.

After getting the Z-20, the Eastern Navy began to study this system and installed it on the 055 destroyer. This system greatly improved the helicopter's operating capabilities under high sea conditions, which is necessary for ocean warfare.

After all, once the sea is rough and the waves are too rough, you will be unable to take off the helicopter, and you will be blind when you need to perform air defense or anti-submarine missions.

Now, unmanned helicopters use the old Harpoon system.

Nothing was needed for takeoff. After pushing out, they reached the center of the circular sign. Qin Tao and Li Pingfan stood at the door of the hangar, watching the deck crew operate. If they went out again, they would interfere with the operation.

The propellers unfolded and everyone got out of the way. After receiving the command, the plane started on its own and flew lightly off the deck.

After the helicopter flew away, Qin Tao and Li Pingfan walked out of the hangar. Under the bright moonlight, they could see an extra piece of equipment on the left side of the helicopter hangar.

It was a flat panel antenna, round and not very big.

"In order to allow helicopters to land on warships more accurately, we installed this precision landing guidance radar. This radar uses the Unmanned helicopters and manned helicopters can also use this system," Li Pingfan introduced.

"I know." Qin Tao was a little helpless. Are you the designer or am I the designer? Although I am no longer on the front line of design, I am still in charge of the overall design of 055. Do I know about this system?

Not only destroyers, but also aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships have this kind of precision landing guidance radar. Manned fighter jets can land with the superb skills of the pilots, but what about the unmanned ones? How to fall down? This equipment is a must.

Although pilots are also training landing skills, with Fresnel lenses and ship guidance officers, technology is developing. In order to better allow carrier-based aircraft to land, aircraft carriers have long had advanced precision landing control equipment. The radar needs to be specialized in the X-band, specifically, the I/J band in the X-band. Because the wavelength is extremely short, the accuracy is extremely high.

The drones on the aircraft carrier all rely on this kind of radar to land. Now, the drones on the destroyer must also rely on this system.

"Mr. Qin, you must also know that although the body of the drone was developed by relevant domestic departments, the flight control of the drone is the technology of your Goose Factory, especially the automatic flight control. Only your Goose Factory The factory is the best at it.”

This Qin Tao doesn't know, but at this time, he can't say that he doesn't know!

So, Qin Tao nodded: "That's natural."

The helicopter has flown away, and there is nothing to see. The guys return to the bridge, where drone tracking has begun.

"Our large shield and small shield can't find the target at all if we don't search for it deliberately. The stealth of this kind of drone is really good!"

Listening to the radar officer's words, Qin Tao was a little curious. Unexpectedly, this was really a stealth machine! Moreover, the stealth ability is particularly strong!

"You guys are asking, are there drones from other countries that have such strong stealth properties?"

Mentioning this, everyone became worried again.

"What are you afraid of? We have a meter-wave radar, and..." The person who spoke was a technician wearing shipyard work clothes. His words reached his lips, but he did not continue.

"And what?"

"nothing."

Under the same starry sky, north of Asan, there is an air force base.

A special-shaped aircraft appeared on the runway. This aircraft has a nose like a big fly's head and long straight wings. It looks like the Global Hawk UAV. However, its two wings There is a propeller engine installed on each side. It looks very weird, like an airplane from World War II, but it is too small.

The tail is still a T-shaped tail. In this era when stealth aircraft are popular, the tails of drones are all V-shaped. The appearance of a T-shaped tail here is simply a technological regression. Of course, for those who cannot figure out the V-shaped tail For flight control companies, a T-shaped or normal tail layout can reduce their workload.

At this time, next to the plane, someone was still introducing it nonstop.

"This is the latest Samurai-2 UAV developed by Stan Aviation. This UAV is a long-endurance UAV. It can fly continuously in the sky for 24 hours!"

"Lahar, let's not talk about how many hours it flies, has its weight been reduced?" Imran, the official in charge of the Air Force, said: "You originally claimed that this aircraft has an empty weight of 1.8 tons and a payload of 0.35 tons, but , this kind of aircraft does not have any load, it is already as high as 2.4 tons!"

Hearing his words, Lahar's face blushed slightly: "Yes, it was overweight at the beginning. We have reduced some weight, and we also used a more powerful engine! The engines on both sides used to be It only has 100 horsepower, but now it has been increased to 180 horsepower. There is absolutely no problem with the power. In the future, we will also replace it with a purely domestic 220-horsepower engine. The performance of this drone will be the strongest in the world! Now, even if it has Even with these reconnaissance equipment installed, it can still fly normally."

"Okay, as long as it meets the requirements, I hope you won't disappoint us."

"Definitely not, we have already written the program." Lahar said: "According to the requirements of this test flight, we will fly to the northern plateau, circle around it, and then fly back!"

"Okay, let's get started."

The engines on both sides started. Although this kind of propeller engine has long been outdated, the emergence of drones has given it new room to play. Many drones do not use expensive jet engines and will choose this primitive one. Propeller engines, however, are generally piston engines. This kind of turboprop engine is not fuel-efficient. The so-called 24-hour flight time is purely empty talk. When using a 100-horsepower engine, it cannot even fly for 10 hours. .

However, Lahar and the others are still confident.

"take off!"

As the order was given, the drone automatically taxied on the runway and then took off. Lahar's face was full of excitement: "Did you see it? Our plane flew by itself without a remote control." !This is the real drone!”

The biggest advantage of drones is autonomous flight! Even if no one is controlling it, it can fly autonomously.

"Come on, let's go to the equipment truck and take a look at the footage!"

Just beside the runway, there is a large truck. Behind the truck is an equipment cabin with a pot-lid-shaped antenna on the top, which is full of ancient atmosphere.

Although it is nighttime, when the drone is designed, it needs to have dual search capabilities during the day and at night. This capability is achieved through an optoelectronic pod, which includes not only TV cameras, but also infrared cameras. Even if Even at night, you can see the situation below clearly.

An infrared image appeared on the screen of the equipment truck. Ordinary people may not be able to see it, but for flying troops who are familiar with the local landforms, they can recognize it at a glance.

"Just flew over our radar site."

"Now it's time to fly to the northern outpost."

"The image is quite clear."

"Of course, we are using photoelectric pods imported from the Kingdom of David." Lahar said proudly: "The technology of the Davidians is the most advanced in the world."

"Can I look at this kind of image forever?" Imran asked.

"Currently, if we use our equipment truck, the transmission distance of the video link is only two hundred and fifty kilometers, but don't worry, when satellite communication becomes available in the future, we will be able to transmit in real time, no matter how far away it is."

Although Ah San shouts that he is very powerful, in fact, Ah San does not even have a military communication satellite so far. Without satellite communication, they cannot get in touch with drones that fly too far. However, this This kind of drone can fly autonomously anyway, as long as you follow the procedures.

"Now, in order to fly over the snow-capped mountains over there, we need to increase the altitude. The maximum height designed for this drone is 10,000 meters." Rahal said, "Of course, we don't need to operate the drone. You can operate it yourself.”

Sure enough, the images captured by the drone became blurry, and the plane began to gain altitude!

The screen displayed some data from the drone.

Four thousand meters, five thousand meters... eight thousand meters, eight thousand one hundred meters, eight thousand two hundred meters... Lahar's face darkened.

The climb rate is too low, indicating that the aircraft can no longer fly!

Piston propeller engines are more fuel-efficient, but they cannot fly to high altitudes. After all, the higher the altitude, the thinner the air, and the harder it is for the piston engine. Therefore, they chose a turboprop engine. Unexpectedly, this kind of engine would not be able to fly high. awesome!

In the end, the data was fixed at an altitude of 8,500 meters and did not rise any higher.

It doesn't matter. Although the highest mountain in the north is 8,884 meters, the drone does not have to fly over it. It can fly over from other places.

"Our drone is very smart. Since it cannot climb too high, it will choose a route. This is smart. Our drone has a smart brain." Rahal continued.

Sure enough, as if to confirm his statement, the drone turned a corner.

"Did you see it? It is choosing its flight path independently."

"Really? It seems to have turned 180 degrees and is returning."

Return?

Laharl's eyes widened: "Impossible, absolutely impossible, it's just..."

At this moment, the status sent back by the drone appeared on the screen: Return! Did this plane know that it couldn't fly and wanted to return?

"No, send the command immediately and let it go through the middle valley!" After Lahar said, he grabbed the keyboard and started operating it.

(End of this chapter)