Dominate South Asia

Seeing Mr. Deng about to nod, Hammad finally couldn't help it anymore: "Don't you Shenfei want to develop a variant of the J-8? I think it's most appropriate to hand it over to Xifei. Why don't Xifei give up its own J-8?" The H-7 project involves full-speed surveying and mapping to imitate our Tomcat, and at the same time, we will combine some of Chengdu Aircraft's capabilities to make improvements, such as using fly-by-wire instead of hydraulic operation, to make this fighter's performance even better."

Leave it to Shen Fei? If it were left to Shen Fei, Mhamad would have almost no hope. Later, Shenfei began to modify the Su-27 by itself, boasting that the three-axis four-redundant digital telex operation was much higher than the prototype's three-redundant analog telex. However, the result almost caused a flight accident, which shows that they It simply did not fully grasp the control characteristics of the Su-27. It only measured and controlled the signals of the telex interface without comprehensive reverse analysis, so there were problems in programming.

In contrast, Mhamad still believes in Chengfei and Xifei. Once a bad atmosphere is formed in an enterprise from top to bottom, it will be difficult to improve it.

After hearing Mhamad's suggestion, the Minister of the Third Machinery Department shut his mouth and did not speak anymore. Deng Gong thought about it and said, "This matter cannot be taken lightly. We need to have a solid plan."

After all, the development of military aircraft is of great importance. Mhamad knows that it is not convenient for him to say anything. It depends on what their final decision is. If it is located at Shenyang Aircraft, then Pakistan has no hope for anything.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the third day of Mhamad's visit. On this day, Mhamad came to the 617 Factory in Baotou.

Baotou is one of the heavy industry bases of the Republic. Its main project is tank manufacturing. As the pressure from the north intensified, Factory 617 also continued to improve and successively produced the Type 59. Type 69, Type 79, Type 80 tanks.

In the shooting range in the north of Baotou, a tank was running fast.

Compared with the common Type 59 tank, the biggest difference in the appearance of this tank is that it has changed from 5 large road wheels to 6 small road wheels. Closer to the Western tank form.

"This is the latest product of our military factory, the Type 80 tank." Representative Liu, the military representative of the 617 Factory, said: "Compared with previous tanks, it has a more powerful engine, and it also uses composite armor and suspension devices. It’s also very advanced.”

Hamad watched this tank galloping. Yes, after ten years of turmoil, Baotou's military industry is still developing. This tank will be officially finalized. It will become the Type 88 tank, but it is still under development. It was already lagging behind, so it did not equip the troops, but continued to develop the Type 96 tank.

The Type 96 tank is the real tank that is catching up with the pace of the West. The Army of the Republic is now nearly twenty years behind the West.

Mr. Deng did not follow. Next to Mhamad was the Minister of Defense, General Zhang. This is also a tiger general who came from the Anti-Japanese War.

Hamad remembered agreeing to the German's request in Germany. Now, it was time to find an opportunity to bring this matter up.

"Tanks are the main battle equipment of the army. Pakistan is still facing threats from the Indian Army in the east. India has equipped T-72 tanks and is also developing a new type of tank." Mhamad said: "Now. We The country needs a new tank."

"Our Type 80 tank is still undergoing final testing. After it is officially finalized, it can be exported to your country." General Zhang said.

This leaves little doubt about Army assistance to Pakistan. This is the consistent style of the Republic.

After speaking, General Zhang looked at Hamad. But Mhammad shook his head: "No, the performance of the tank in front of me is still too backward."

"Yes, this is our second-generation tank, and at this moment, the third-generation tanks abroad have been finalized and successfully equipped with troops." While Mhamad denied it, General Zhang said Behind him, an old man with gray hair also sighed and said: "If we want to catch up with the West, we must make big strides forward."

Looking at the old man, Mhammad suddenly felt in a trance, as if he was very familiar. Looking at the old man again, one of his sleeves was empty. Suddenly, Mhamad thought of this person! The one-armed commander of 99 tanks!

This is a respectable senior. At the age of 66, he designed the third generation tank of the Republic from scratch, but he is more innovative and research-intensive than young people. At the age of 80, he still goes to the front line of tank experiments, and when he is successful, he most wants to be called "veteran"!

With a pure heart and a passion for military industry, he joined the revolution when he was 20 years old. As a military industrial worker, he went deep into the front line of combat and created and improved more than 20 kinds of weapons and combat equipment. At the age of 30, he lost his right arm due to a shell explosion, but he remained determined to fight. Explore and operate on the battlefield. When Tank 99 was inspected, he was finally known to the outside world! The future of the Republic is forged by such scientific and technological workers!

It is now 1984. The development of the third-generation tank has just been approved. The one-armed commander followed General Zhang this time to see what kind of performance this president, who has repeatedly performed miracles on the South Asian battlefield, has on tanks. Require.

The Type 80 tank is still gradually improved from the Type 50 tank and the Type 69 tank. When fighting against the third-generation Western tanks, there is no guarantee of victory. A new tank must be developed!

In later generations, the innovation on the Type 99 tank exceeded 80%!

"Old man, you are right." Although Muhammad is the president, he still respects this military worker. The team he leads does not behave like the eldest sons. For example, he handles tens of millions of scientific research funds every year, but he never entertains guests or gives gifts, nor does he receive guests casually. For example, when he was on a business trip, he made it clear in advance that this business trip had nothing to do with the third-generation tanks, and all food, accommodation and transportation were paid by themselves, and no invoices were allowed!

"Among the indicators of tanks, firepower, mobility, and protection level are the three most important aspects." The one-armed chief designer said: "Mr. President, what do you think about the relationship between these three indicators?"

"Balanced." Muhammad said: "Balanced products are the most suitable products. It is not advisable to only highlight one aspect, such as sacrificing armor protection and reducing weight. To achieve excellent mobility performance is not advisable."

The one-armed chief designer nodded. If it can be balanced, it would of course be the best, but...

"If the three cannot be taken into account, which one do you think should be highlighted?"

"Firepower!" Muhammad said firmly: "Tanks are the king of land warfare and offensive forces. The most important thing about them is firepower!"

"Yes, it is firepower!" The one-armed chief designer said excitedly.

During the development of the Type 99 tank, the one-armed chief designer combined various characteristics and finally chose the domestically produced 125mm tank gun. The Republic has always been a continental army, and the development of tank guns has been steadily progressing. When the final design was finalized, the muzzle kinetic energy of the domestically produced 125mm tank gun was nearly 45% higher than that of the Russian 2A46 125mm tank gun. It was nearly 30% higher than the 120mm tank gun of the "Leopard" 2.

Firepower is the first element, which is also unavoidable because of the backwardness of domestic industry. High-power engines have never been built. The domestically produced 1200 horsepower engine equipped with the Type 99 is indeed a lot better than the 730 horsepower engine of the Type 80 that is currently running, but it is seriously behind the 1500 horsepower engine of the West.

Moreover. This 1200 horsepower engine also has performance defects, so when Pakistan's foreign trade tank MBT2000 was finalized, Pakistan chose the Ukrainian 6TD series engine instead of the domestic one.

The backwardness of power has limited the combat weight of the tank, in order to make the tank have good mobility. Therefore, the combat weight of the Type 99 tank is less than 50 tons. In later generations, it was not until the 1,500-horsepower engine was developed. With the 99 modification, the self-weight was increased to 52 tons.

There is no need to talk about the restrictions of domestic bridges. Vehicles over 55 tons cannot pass. Those overloaded trucks, which often have a total weight of more than 100 tons, travel on bridges with a weight limit of more than 20 tons. Except for the unlucky ones who collapsed the bridge, most of them are safe and sound.

The backwardness of engine technology has limited the combat weight. When it is impossible to take into account the performance of the three, the firepower can only be highlighted first.

In fact, the Type 99 tank has indeed achieved the world's first firepower, but the sighting system does not know whether it has kept up with the pace of firepower. It must not only shoot far and penetrate deep, but also shoot accurately.

Now, hearing that Muhammad shared the same view as him, the one-armed chief designer felt like he had met a kindred spirit. He also knew that the domestic engine technology was backward, and the 1200 horsepower engine was already a big leap forward, and the development was full of difficulties. 1500 horsepower was out of the question.

"We in Pakistan are cooperating with Germany to introduce the production line of the Leopard 2's 1500 horsepower engine and produce it in Pakistan," said Muhammad.

Hearing Muhammad say this, the one-armed chief designer immediately understood the meaning of the other party's words, and couldn't help but get excited, his body trembling.

1500 horsepower! 1500 horsepower! What does this mean? The Type 99 tank designed by himself can increase the total weight to more than 52 tons, or even 55 tons! The extra weight can make up for the lack of armor protection! Their current designs are based on existing technology, and they have taken a big step forward, but they have never thought of this 1500 horsepower engine.

Happiness comes so suddenly.

What Pakistan has, the Republic will also have. This is determined by the alliance between the two sides. There is no doubt about this. Moreover, if the power problem is solved, the development of our tanks will be faster. After all, the 125mm gun has almost been successfully developed. After the power is solved, only the body is left, which is our best!

(This article pays tribute to those scientific researchers who are struggling in military research and development! Mr. Zhu passed away last year, but the main battle tanks of the Republic he left behind continue to protect the land of the Republic! His meticulousness, hard work, and spirit of struggling in the front line of scientific research are worthy of our learning and respect! Deeply remember Mr. Zhu!) (To be continued ~^~)