Great warships

Chapter 1201 Conformal Antenna Technology

Conformal antenna technology is important, but it is not so easy to make a breakthrough. Among other things, vibrations during flight may affect the antenna. If the skin resonance causes the T/R component to change position, even a slight change may cause detection errors.

Therefore, technical inspection is very important and it has to be inspected on the plane. Qin Tao just didn't expect that a drone was modified here for inspection!
"Where is the drone? Take me there."

Seeing Qin Tao's anxious look, Chief Engineer Ouyang did not dare to delay and immediately said, "After the drone was modified, it was tested at a base in China for three months. It was just brought back recently for a test flight summary. It is in our laboratory."

If it were a manned aircraft, except for the one in front of them that could take off and land vertically, it would not be possible to fly it to their 38th institute. But it was different with drones. After removing the wings, they could be directly towed over by a truck.

Therefore, the drones are also modified here, then transported to an airport and flown to a base for testing. After the test is completed, the whole process is reversed and the drones can be transported back for inspection by their technicians.

"Taozi, why are you in such a hurry? Let's take a look at this early warning aircraft first." Wu Shengli said with a smile.

"No, Dad, that drone is more important."

Which is more important without a human? What a joke! UAVs have long endurance and can stay in the air for a long time, but their take-off weight is limited and they can carry less payload. They cannot be compared with manned early warning aircraft at all.

The modified drone has an early warning capability of just over 100 kilometers, and can be used to fill in blind spots at low altitudes at most. It is simply incomparable to the one in front of us.

However, Wu Shengli did not insist. Since Qin Tao said he wanted to see the drone, he let him go and see it. He stayed here to continue watching this one.

"Manned aircraft are still too expensive. With unmanned AWACS, we can sell more. Especially in places threatened by cruise missiles, they need such unmanned AWACS. If the price is right, we can sell 500 of them!"

Can there be 500 AWACS in the world? Of course not. The total number of AWACS in the world is less than 100. Except for the US Navy, the number of AWACS in other countries or armies is generally in the single digit. However, unmanned AWACS will rewrite this history. It is conservatively estimated that there are 500 such unmanned AWACS!
What does this mean? If a country kicks someone else's door with a Tomahawk missile again, it will not be so easy. As long as a drone is released in the sky, it can detect the Tomahawk missile in advance. Once it is discovered, it will be easy to deal with it. An ambush can be set on the path that the Tomahawk missile must pass, and a Stinger can shoot down the Tomahawk missile.

However, it is too difficult to move radar into the sky and early warning aircraft are too expensive, so some weak countries are unable to find Tomahawk missiles in time. Even if there are fighter jets that can take off to search, it is impossible to take off continuously, and it is too wasteful.

With drones, everything will change!
Drones are cheap to purchase and easy to operate. You just need to set up the program and let it monitor overhead. In the past, they used infrared and optical reconnaissance devices, but now radar has been added, making them easier to use.

Qin Tao is confident that he can sell it in large quantities!

Even if it is used domestically, it is meaningful. After all, early warning aircraft are too valuable and it is impossible to take off at any time. Using drones to undertake routine search tasks or to fill in blind spots is a very good solution.

"Let's go and take a look now. Chief Engineer Ouyang, you continue with your work. I can go by myself."

Seeing Qin Tao was so persistent, Wu Shengli said nothing and followed Qin Tao.

The laboratory is very large, like a small factory. If the tilt-rotor aircraft wasn't so tall, it would probably be able to fit in.

A black drone was parked in the center, connected to the computer next to it via a data cable. Several technicians in white coats were busy in front of the computer.

Qin Tao ran directly towards the drone.

This is a land-based drone that uses a jet engine at the back, but this is not a big deal. If necessary, the jet engine can be replaced with a propeller engine at any time. The fuselage is the same anyway.

On the black fuselage, the left and right sides look different from other places. This should be the skin covered with this conformal antenna.

"Hey, who are you? Outsiders are not allowed..." A man in a white coat was unhappy when he saw someone he didn't know coming in, and wanted to stop him. But when he saw Qin Tao's face clearly, he was immediately delighted: "Boss Qin, are you Boss Qin? Welcome, welcome, you're finally here!"

Don't you only know Mr. Qin and not me? Wu Shengli was a little embarrassed.

"Well, you are Mr. Wang's student Wu Hao, right? I have seen you in the team that developed the KJ-2000." Qin Tao said, "Let me take a look at this unmanned early warning aircraft. How is its performance?"

"We have laid X-band ultra-thin phased array radar antennas on it, with a total of more than 0.1 components. For targets with a radar reflection area of ​​ square meters, it has a detection distance of more than kilometers. Even if the target is hidden in the echo of the ground radar, it cannot escape the eyes of our radar." Wu Hao was even more excited when he heard Qin Tao calling out his name, and continued to introduce Qin Tao.

If it is a large early warning aircraft or a navy's Aegis warship, they prefer to use the S-band, after all, it can see far and has sufficient power. However, for this drone, the S-band antenna is too large, so the X-band is more appropriate.

In military applications, the X-band is a very popular radar band. It is light and highly accurate. Many fighter jets' airborne radars deliberately choose this band as long as there are no particularly high requirements for the search distance.

Now, the detection distance of a target of 0.1 square meters is kilometers, which is enough for this kind of radar. Moreover, radars of this band can be made thinner and lighter, which meets the needs of drones.

Qin Tao nodded repeatedly: "Not bad, not bad, this kind of radar is very suitable for us to use. However, is the power supply of the drone sufficient? And how about the data processing capacity?"

An early warning aircraft not only needs a radar, but also a post-processing system. If it cannot handle the massive amount of signals, it is not an early warning aircraft, but just an early warning radar.

"We increased the power of the generator," Wu Hao said. "This reduced the drone's flight time by two hours and reduced its maximum cruising speed by 20 kilometers per hour. However, we think these reductions are acceptable. As for the subsequent data processing, after using the latest processor, data processing is no problem, thanks to Moore's Law."

The Hunter early warning aircraft developed by the British at that time, weighing more than 3 tons, still could not handle huge amounts of data and had to be scrapped. In the E-1 era, the core of the data processing system was IBM's CC-74 central computer, which was claimed to have large storage capacity and fast computing speed. How fast was it? operations per second!

Now, the high-frequency Loongson processor has a computing power of 4 GHZ, which translates to 30 billion operations per second. If it is a quad-core processor, it can perform 120 billion operations per second.

Therefore, in front of modern processors, processing massive amounts of radar data is nothing, it is a piece of cake. This is really thanks to Moore's Law, which doubles performance every 18 months.

"No, Moore didn't come to upgrade our computers in person. If we want to thank someone, we should thank our chip R&D technicians." Qin Tao said, "It is their efforts that allow us to use the world's best chips."

"That's right, thank them." Wu Hao nodded. Whatever President Qin said was the truth, and he definitely couldn't go against President Qin.

Compared to the boxy shell of the Z-30, the shell of this drone is much smoother. Qin Tao stroked the shell and continued, "Each of these antennas has a different position and curvature. How do you adjust the electromagnetic waves radiated by the antenna?"

This is the most difficult part of conformal antennas. In fact, not to mention conformal antennas, the same is true for flat antennas. Thousands of T/R components are stuffed onto a flat plate, and all the components must be coordinated. It takes a lot of time to debug, and it is even more complicated than assembly.

"We invented a software that was initially used to debug flat-panel antennas. Later, we upgraded the software to turn the flat panels into complex shapes. We only need to input the surface shape of the aircraft into the computer, and it will automatically adjust without us having to do anything. It is a completely adaptive adjustment."

As computers become more advanced, work will become easier!
Listening to these operations, Qin Tao nodded repeatedly: "Not bad, not bad, you are very good!"

"It's because our computers have strong computing power, otherwise it wouldn't be so convenient. Back then, our computers were not powerful enough, so we had to use the most primitive and stupid way to debug."

Thinking back to the debugging back then, Wu Hao was filled with emotion. He really used all his strength at that time, but now, everything is so easy!
However, there is no comparison. Even the largest computer in the institute back then did not have as much computing power as a desktop computer today. Times are changing and technology is advancing.

"With these technologies, it would be easy to transplant the system, right?" Qin Tao continued to ask.

"Of course. The vertical take-off and landing early warning aircraft we developed outside was directly transplanted from these technologies. Of course, in order to improve the detection capability, the X-band was replaced by the S-band, and the size of the components became slightly larger. But it's just a matter of modifying a few parameters in the program. It's very simple."

Fleet-level early warning aircraft must use the S band and have an early warning capability of at least three to four hundred kilometers to be sufficient.

It was not until this time that Qin Tao remembered the early warning aircraft outside again.

"Okay, then you guys continue to be busy here, I'll go take a look outside."

"Yes, Mr. Qin, you are welcome to come here to inspect again in the future."

Wu Shengli said nothing, turned around and walked out. "Okay, so you welcome him? But not me?"
Wu Hao sat down, and the person next to him said, "Mr. Wu, why do you see that Leader Wu looks a little unhappy?"

"No, a big boss has to show some style, unlike CEO Qin who is approachable."

Wu Shengli, who was walking in front, paused for a moment, then quickened his pace.

Qin Tao did not notice his father-in-law's mood changes. At this moment, he was always thinking about this unmanned early warning aircraft. The jet type can be placed on land or on an aircraft carrier, and the propeller type can be placed on an amphibious assault ship. In the future, even unmanned tilt-rotor aircraft can be built and carried on destroyers. Having it as an early warning aircraft would be much better than the current improved Z-18 early warning aircraft.

It does not require human operation, which reduces operating costs, allows for a long time in the air, and allows the pilot to go up for a whole day without having to come down. Moreover, even if danger is encountered or the pilot is shot down, there is no need to worry about the loss of the pilot. It has many advantages!

Qin Tao had considered this kind of unmanned early warning aircraft before, but he had always thought about it and had never put it into action. Unexpectedly, these units had already done it without waiting for him to make any arrangements!

Moreover, drones have long been played to their heart's content. No matter how many they sell, they can prevent these drones from posing a threat to them, and they can definitely make money by selling them!

This is not just about selling equipment. Arms sales have always been linked to many other things. Anyone who holds one's own weapons must also lean towards one's own side. Slowly, the whole world changes.

Thinking about this, Qin Tao was in a good mood.

"You kid, you seem to be in a good mood."

"Yes, Dad. Our equipment is constantly improving. Our technology has reached the top in the world. There are more and more people who share the same ideals with us. Our future... Dad, you don't look right. Are you sick?"

"You are sick. You had to come and see the unmanned early warning aircraft. After taking a few glances, you found it boring and want to go back. What's the point of all the trouble?" Wu Shengli rolled his eyes at him.

"No, Dad, the prospects of unmanned early warning aircraft..." Qin Tao hadn't finished speaking when he saw his father-in-law glaring at him. He could only swallow back what he was about to say.

Okay, you are the father and I am the son-in-law, so it’s okay for me to stop saying anything.

Back in the hangar, Chief Engineer Ouyang and others were still busy, so Qin Tao just continued to look around.

Compared with other aircraft types, the power demand of early warning aircraft has increased significantly. This type of aircraft uses the independently developed AEP5000 turboprop engine with a maximum power of only kilowatts. Can it meet the power demand of the early warning aircraft during the flight?

Thinking of this, Qin Tao asked, "Does our AWACS have sufficient power supply?"

"Of course." When Chief Engineer Ouyang saw them come back, he immediately started introducing them.

"We have an additional generator with a power of 90 kilovolt-amperes on this aircraft, which is enough for our internal power supply."

"Is the engine powerful enough?"

If it is a Haipan, then don't worry, it uses an engine of more than 500 horsepower, the power is excessive, and adding a generator will not bring any burden. However, this vertical take-off and landing tilt-rotor aircraft uses the self-developed -kilowatt AEP turboprop engine, the power should be just enough. If it is to bear the power output of vertical take-off and landing, it may not be enough.

"Of course the engine power is sufficient." Chief Engineer Ouyang suddenly thought of something: "Boss Qin, our early warning radar will not be turned on during takeoff and landing. It will only be turned on when we reach the cruising altitude."

This type of aircraft consumes the most engine power during the vertical take-off and landing phase. When taking off and landing at the maximum take-off weight, the power is indeed just enough and not abundant. But at this time, there is no need to activate the early warning radar. The early warning aircraft only starts working when it reaches the cruising altitude. At that time, it has been transformed into an ordinary fixed-wing aircraft. During normal cruising, the engine does not need to output at full power and a part of the power can be allocated to generate electricity. Why worry about insufficient engine power?

Qin Tao finally realized that he was overthinking. He smiled and said, "So that's how it is. It seems that I am really an amateur."

"No, Mr. Qin, you are not an outsider. Take this aircraft for example. The advice you provided is the most correct. Look at the American V-22. It has always been immature, while our aircraft, which only rotates the propeller, is much more mature."

The unreliability of V-22 does not mean that the tilt-rotor aircraft is unreliable. It’s just a difference in the technical route. The Americans chose to rotate the engine as a whole, while we only rotate the propeller. The technical difficulty is very different. What the Americans have not matured, we can easily mature!
By the time the Americans realized that our plan was correct and started to catch up, they had already fallen behind.

Qin Tao smiled and said, "I was just giving some pointers casually."

"Boss Qin, your casual guidance is equivalent to a professional level. Can you give us some more guidance? Can our technology be transplanted to other equipment?"

"Ahem, let me briefly explain. I believe that the emergence of conformal antennas is a revolution and a storm in the field of electronics. This technology can be used in many fields in the future."

Everyone was working and Qin Tao couldn't help, so he just spoke freely here.

"For example, cars also need a lot of sensors on their bodies. Our Golden Sun electric cars need a lot of radar probes. In the past, no matter how many we installed, it was not enough. Now, by covering the surface of the car body with a layer of this conformal antenna, we can monitor it in all directions."

If it is just to provide assistance when reversing, then two probes at the rear of the car are enough. However, if you want to detect objects on both sides, at least four are needed to be safe. In the era of smart cars, four are definitely not enough. If you want to change lanes, you have to monitor whether there are cars on the side. Therefore, six at the back and six at the front can provide sufficient insurance.

But that's not enough.

In the future, we will put up a circle of conformal antennas to provide coverage without blind spots.

“It can not only detect the surrounding situation, but also transmit radio frequency signals to achieve the rapid development of automotive networking technology.”

(End of this chapter)