Xiao Weiguo continued: "At the same time as the development of self-propelled rocket artillery, I also have an idea, that is, to develop a series of aviation rockets, using rocket launchers for launching, this kind of rocket can not only be used to attack air targets, especially large bombers, but more importantly, it can become a sharp weapon for ground attack, and it is very effective to hit armored targets." Even, we can try to install rocket artillery on the gunboat machine to enhance its power, of course, the carrier aircraft must be replaced by the M40 large transport aircraft, the M30 transport aircraft is too small to fit much. ”

Fred and the others were surprised, and so was Karl, who thought that rocket artillery could only be used as a weapon for land warfare, but they didn't expect that they could also move it to the sky! Indeed, if you let an airplane drop rockets, it is more powerful than self-propelled rocket launchers.

Karl was amazed, "Philip, oh, your idea is so strange that it's overwhelming. We thought that rocket artillery was already a very tall weapon, but we didn't expect it to be able to be loaded into an airplane. Although the Soviets were also prepared to install rockets on fighter planes, although this was done because the rocket had a simple structure and was cheap, the ballistic characteristics of the rockets projected on the planes were too poor, the dispersion was too large, and the hit accuracy was even more pitiful. ”

Xiao Weiguo laughed and said, "Didn't I say it? We were going to adopt a design with a rocket launch nest, not a trough slide for the Soviets. Indeed, the Soviets mounted special 76-millimeter short rockets on grooved slides under the wings of the I-15 and I-16 piston propeller fighters, ranging from 2 to 6 at a time. But our aviation rockets are launched differently. You've probably seen a beehive, right? The aviation rocket nest is like a beehive, but it is cylindrical and can be flown on pylons under the fuselage and wings. This launcher has a simple structure, low flight resistance, and is convenient for loading and unloading. It is versatile and can be used on all kinds of aircraft. Aviation rockets, together with aviation artillery and ordinary bombs, will become the three major airborne weapons of combat aircraft, among which aviation rockets have the advantages of intensive firepower, strong surprise attack performance, and large killing range, and will be the main weapon for large-scale suppression of combat aircraft in the future, so we must vigorously develop this kind of weapon with low price and high combat efficiency! ”

Karl said suspiciously, "Hive." Isn't that dense? The diameter of such a rocket should be very small, will this small rocket be a little less powerful? ”

Xiao Weiguo laughed and said, "Of course not." This nested launcher is used to launch medium- and small-caliber folding tail rockets, which are divided into two types: dropable and non-dropable. The former is cylindrical, also known as a rocket launcher, and is hung on pylons under the fuselage and wings. This kind of launcher has a simple structure, low flight resistance, convenient loading and unloading, good versatility, and can be used very widely. ”

Xiao Weiguo continued: "The trajectory of the aviation rocket is divided into three sections: the slide rail section, the active section and the passive section. Aviation rockets fly faster than bombs. Long range and strong armor-piercing ability. Compared with aviation shells, it has the advantages of small deorbital speed, small recoil, and a lighter launcher. Second, the caliber is large and the warhead is powerful. The third is that it can continue to accelerate in the active stage, so the range is long. Moreover, it has a simple structure, is inexpensive, and is suitable for mass use. ”

In fact, Xiao Weiguo developed aviation rockets. It is also purposeful, if air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface missiles are developed in the future. It is necessary to accumulate the basis of rockets. Through the development of rockets, guided weapons such as air-to-air missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and air-to-surface missiles can be developed on the basis of rockets in the future.

Fred nodded, "But how do we get started?" Now we're starting from scratch. ”

Xiao Weiguo said: "I suggest that the design team can first test a very simple rocket, using a steel water pipe with a diameter of 100 millimeters, loaded with dozens of kilograms of propellant and high-explosive warhead, and welding four iron plates at the tail. Finally, it is placed on a track welded with angle iron, and an electric fuse or timing device is ignited. This most primitive rocket may provide you with some design inspiration. ”

True, such improvised rockets were manufactured and used until decades later. In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians can build improvised Hassan rockets for tens to hundreds of dollars, with materials costing as much as $800. It can be seen that rockets are a low-cost weapon.

In this way, the development plan of the aviation rocket was also determined, and Fred took full charge of the development of a series of rocket artillery weapons, and within six months developed a rocket launched by the aviation rocket nest, which was divided into three series according to the size of the projectile diameter, namely 70 mm, 100 mm, and 130 mm rockets, with a maximum range of 5,000 to 10,000 meters.

Among them, the 70-mm aviation rocket uses 19-tube launch nests, and the total weight of each launch nest is controlled at 120 kg, which is used by small combat aircraft. In the future, the 100-mm rocket will be mainly equipped with a new type of jet fighter, which uses a nine-barrel rocket nest, and the weight of each rocket is controlled within 20 kilograms, and the weight of the entire rocket nest does not exceed 200 kilograms, and the firing range reaches more than 6,000 meters. The 130-mm rocket will also be mainly equipped with a new jet fighter in the future, which uses a four-barrel rocket nest, and the weight of each rocket is controlled within 50 kilograms, and the weight of the entire rocket nest does not exceed 250 kilograms, and the firing range reaches about 10,000 meters.

Thus a series of aviation rockets was formed.

The research and development of rocket artillery has first entered the stage of substantive development from the stage of discussing the overall design of the program. The first work was proposed by Xiao Weiguo, to make a simple rocket and conduct launch experiments.

The first work was to create a solid rocket engine. Under Xiao Weiguo's teaching, the design team also learned about real solid rocket engines. Solid rocket engines belong to chemical rocket engines that use a solid substance as a propellant. The solid propellant is ignited and burned in the combustion chamber to produce high-temperature and high-pressure gas, that is, the chemical energy is converted into heat energy; The gas expands and accelerates through the nozzle, and the heat energy is converted into kinetic energy, which is discharged from the nozzle at an extremely high speed, creating thrust to propel the missile forward.

The solid rocket engine is mainly composed of four parts: shell, solid propellant, nozzle assembly, and ignition device, among which the solid propellant formula and molding process, nozzle design and materials and manufacturing process, shell material and manufacturing process are the most critical links, which directly affect the performance of the solid engine. Mixtures of various components of solid propellant formulations can be prefabricated into columns and filled into housings using the stretch molding process, or they can be cast directly in the housing. The casing is used directly as a combustion chamber. The nozzle is used to vent the gas at supersonic speeds, creating thrust. The ignition device is controlled by the ignition command to release the safety and ignite the explosive powder to produce a high-temperature and high-pressure flame that is used to ignite the propellant in the shell.

The entire solid rocket engine was designed and manufactured, and all the people in the design team learned it. (To be continued.) )