Xiao Weiguo's self-propelled rocket artillery design idea was highly recognized by the designers of the Bofors Defense Company, and they soon dispatched elite soldiers to form a design team and began to design the 130 mm tracked self-propelled rocket launcher. Of course, the chassis of the 15-ton light tank is not yet available, so the first thing to do is the design and trial production of 130-mm rocket artillery.

According to the design scheme proposed by Xiao Weiguo, this 130mm rocket launcher adopts a box-fired method. Because compared to the rail launch method, the box launch method is very convenient, it is also convenient to reload, and the most important thing is that the box launch device simplifies maintenance, and the shooting accuracy will be greatly improved.

For example, the RS132 rocket artillery system that the Soviet Union later engaged in, because the launch mechanism is quite primitive design, although in order to increase the density of firepower, a double-layer staggered 24 interlocking launch guides are installed on the truck chassis, and there are 12 launch guides in each of the upper and lower rows, which looks like two layers of dense fences, which is quite impressive. However, this kind of double-layer staggered 24 combined launch rails are placed on the chassis in a semi-fixed way, and the direction of the launch guide and the direction of the front of the vehicle are fixed at 90 degrees vertically, and only the high and low firing boundaries can be adjusted, so that its firepower mobility and tactical flexibility are greatly restricted.

Moreover, such a high-density launch guide seems to increase the fire strike effect of self-propelled rocket artillery and improve the value of battlefield use, but the problem is also very serious. When conducting a salvo, due to the excessive density of the launch guides, it will inevitably lead to serious interference from the launch air flow of the rockets launched in front of the rocket to the rockets launched behind, which further reduces the firing accuracy of the entire self-propelled rocket artillery system. So, the design of this rail launch is definitely an original and unsuccessful one. Xiao Weiguo directly proposed to engage in a box-type launch device, thus avoiding a detour.

Moreover, the prototype of this 132-mm rocket launcher for the Soviets used the ZIS-6 truck chassis. It is to install a rocket launcher on an ordinary truck, and there is no adaptive modification, which also brings a relatively big problem. What affects the accuracy of rocket launching, in addition to the design of the guide rail, is also the instability of the launch device generated during the salvo or continuous firing of the rocket.

Despite firing one or more rockets, theoretically only a small recoil is produced. And the recoil is mainly due to the rocket tail flame sprayed onto the launch rail. These recoil forces are sufficient to cause a small amount of movement of the entire motorized artillery rocket system using a truck or other type of vehicle chassis when the rocket is fired, especially the vibration generated by the vehicle suspension will exacerbate the problem of rocket dispersion.

So later the Soviets made improvements to the launch rails on the improved model. But again, this does not solve the root cause. To fundamentally solve the problem, it is necessary to adopt a box-type launch device, and the length-to-diameter ratio of the rocket should be increased, and the short and thick bullet should not be used, but the slender projectile should be used, so that the rocket launched from the launch box can hit the target more accurately.

A seminar on the 130-mm self-propelled rocket artillery program was soon held at the headquarters of the Dragon Soul Ordnance Complex. Naturally, the participants were Xiao Weiguo, Carl, and members of the rocket artillery design team, a total of eighteen people.

Xiao Weiguo spoke first: "I am very pleased to hold this meeting here today, rocket artillery is an important weapon system of artillery in the future, and its role will be no less than that of large-caliber howitzers. To develop a set of rocket artillery weapon systems, it is first necessary to preliminarily determine the main tactical and technical indicators of the rocket in accordance with its operational mission and other requirements, and then the design group will conduct systematic demonstration and preliminary program design, and through theoretical and preliminary experimental research and analysis, determine the possibility of technically fulfilling the requirements of technical and tactical indicators. These are the main tactical and technical indicators: Indicators such as range, power, density, bullet diameter, total ammunition length, total ammunition quality and reliability. Of course, this is only for the rocket artillery itself. In addition, we have to choose the right vehicle. It's our 15-ton light tank chassis. ”

Xiao Weiguo looked at everyone, and saw that everyone was listening carefully and recording with a pen, he continued: "Next, I will talk about the main indicators of our 130mm rocket artillery. The first is range, which is one of the most important performance indicators of rocket artillery. Why? Because it embodies the effective range of use of the rocket artillery weapon system, it includes two indicators: the maximum range and the minimum range. Purely from the perspective of the scope of the attack and its own security. Of course, the maximum range of the rocket is as large as possible, but increasing the maximum range is also related to parameters such as the mass of the whole bomb, the mass of the warhead, the diameter of the projectile, the length of the whole projectile, and the performance of the rocket engine. As a result, the number of tubes in the rocket artillery weapon system is correspondingly reduced, the mobility is reduced, and the intensity of firepower becomes worse. ”

"The minimum firing range is the lower limit of the firing range of the rocket artillery weapon system. The factors to be considered in determining the minimum range are the minimum angle of fire that can be given by the launching device, the minimum angle of impact that the fuse can reliably work on, the minimum angle of impact that does not produce ricochet, the distance at which the fuse is released from the insurance, and the power of the warhead. The minimum firing range should ensure the safe and reliable destructive effect of the warhead without affecting the safety of the launch vehicle and launch position. ”

Fred, the leader of the design team, asked: "Mr. Philip, what is the reasonable way to set the maximum range and minimum range of our 130 mm rocket launcher?" ”

Xiao Weiguo said with a smile: "Our goal is that the minimum range is 5 kilometers, and the maximum range is 10 to 15 kilometers, so that it can surpass many howitzers." A self-propelled rocket launcher can fire 19 rockets in a dozen seconds, which is equivalent to the power of 10 light howitzers. And after the launch, it can quickly move its position, and then reload the rocket for a second launch. ”

Fred was surprised: "So powerful? Then the mass of the warhead of this rocket must not be small! ”

Xiao Weiguo nodded and said, "Yes, this is the second indicator." The power index of the rocket is an indicator that reflects the ability of the warhead to destroy the target. Of course, in order to systematize our rockets, in the future, in addition to anti-personnel warheads, there will also be anti-explosive warheads, son-mother warheads, and armor-piercing warheads. For different warheads, the parameters for expressing their power are different. Take ordinary lethal warheads as an example, they are mainly measured by dense killing radius. The power of the warhead is measured by the power of the bullet, the number of bullets, and the range of the bullet dispersion, of course, the armor-piercing warhead is measured by the depth of the armor-piercing. (To be continued.) )