Nizhny Tagil is located on the eastern slope of the Central Urals on the banks of the Tagil River, near and 106 kilometers north of the Kachkanal Mountains, which is rich in iron, copper, gold, platinum group metals and other minerals and forest resources, and is one of the main heavy industry centers of the Soviet Union.

And the tank design bureau here, as well as the subordinate tank factories, have been providing a steady stream of boiling armor for the Red Empire, and the Soviet Union made the Western world tremble the most, it was the armored forces!

On the battlefield of Europe, in the event of a conflict, the Soviet Union's rolling armored lions will cross the border line at any time and set foot on a large area of Western Europe, and no force can stop them.

The Soviet Union was attacked by German tanks in World War II, and the advance of this large armored corps has always been very appreciated.

Although it is not yet November, the Kachcan Mountains in the north are already covered with snow, thousands of miles of ice, and thousands of miles of snow drifting.

The Ural Tank Building Plant in Nizhny Tagil welcomed a special group of guests on this day.

Narrated by Kartsev, Zhang Feng and his entourage visited the tank factory.

Much like the automobile production lines of later generations, workers are working intensely on huge production lines.

What they visited was the final assembly line.

In a long factory building, a tank chassis that had already seen its prototype was transported to the production line, and first of all, it was installed from the side with load-bearing wheels, and the workers held the wheels hanging in the air, and easily installed them.

Then, there is the upper track, which has been deployed on the sides, and in the process of advancing the tank chassis, the track is properly stuffed inside, and the worker installs the last track pin, and the work can be done.

Although the degree of automation is not high, it is much more backward than the F-20 production line imported from the United States, but it also makes people who watch sigh.

Here, it is more reflected in the crystallization of strength and wisdom, and there is a sense of industrial beauty.

"Your Excellency Cusay, this is our state-of-the-art T-72 production line, and here, the engine is being hoisted." Kartsev returned here, although he was already old, but he was not slow to move at all, and he was still like a man in the prime of life.

In front of the hull, the unique V-shaped structure represents the identity of this tank, which is the T-72!

Now, what Zhang Feng saw was that the crane entered the engine from above and stuffed it into the engine compartment at the rear, and then several workers came up to tighten the screws of those connecting parts and connect the various joints.

"Actually, our B-46 engine can drive the T-72 tank, and there is no need to use the 6TD engine." Kartsev said.

"Comrade Kartsev," Zhang Feng said, "as an old engineer who has dedicated his life to the cause of tanks, you must know very well what the mobile surname of tanks means in war, right?" ”

Soviet tanks, has always emphasized firepower, followed by armor protection, and finally mobile surname, in fact, this is also the weakness of the Soviet Union's industrial finishing capabilities, that kind of high-precision engine, the Soviet Union needs to lag behind Europe for several years.

"The stronger the tank's mobility, the easier it is to not be hit by the opponent in battle, and the chances of survival will increase." Kartsev said.

"yes, so, we need a more powerful mobile surname, it shouldn't be a mistake, right?" Zhang Feng asked.

Not a bug? Kartsev looked at the young man in front of him, it was because of his insistence that now, in the upper echelons of the USSR, whether such an engine could be exported has been studied several times, Ligachev and others are against it, and Gorbachev agreed, having already reported to General Secretary Andropov.

This is because the weapons exported by the Soviet Union to foreign countries have always been shrinking products, and even if they provided Iraq with relatively advanced MiG-25 fighters, they have reduced certain functions and sent many Soviet personnel to maintain them.

This kind of tank engine in the Soviet Union can be said to be almost the most advanced model except for the gas turbine, if it is supplied to Iraq, it is still completely imported into the production line for independent production, which is the first time that the Soviet Union has sold foreign arms.

You know, it is the most advanced T-64BM, and now it has just begun to replace it with a 6TD engine.

"It's not just the engine, in fact, it's the transmission, I also want to improve it, but there is no such product in your country at present." Zhang Feng sighed.

As soon as Kartsev heard this, he immediately said: "The transmission has a margin when it is designed, and it can be matched with an engine within 700 to 1000 horsepower." Even if it is really exported to your country's 6TD engine, you don't need to improve the transmission. ”

It seems that this little guy from the Middle East is really knowledgeable, Kartsev thought.

The engine and transmission must be matched, for example, if a high-power engine is used, and the original gearbox is still used, then the gearbox will not be able to withstand the violence of the engine and frequently fail.

It's just that he didn't expect it, and he guessed wrong, this guy actually said another design that he hadn't even thought about.

"The gearbox of the T-72 is a mechanical gearbox, although there are 7 forward gears, but, no matter how skilled you are, if you want to accelerate the tank quickly, you still have to waste more than ten seconds of time, if it is an automatic transmission, it is the best, and this kind of gearbox has only one reverse gear, which is definitely not enough when fighting, if there are as many reverse gears as there are forward gears, and the reverse speed is as fast as the forward speed, it will be better." Zhang Feng spoke more professionally, and Ajelina, who was in charge of translation, had a hard time translating.

Automatic transmission? Still reverse as fast as forward? If Kartsev hadn't seen that the other party was a very talented Iraqi person, he would have wanted to scold, what is the use of those flashy things? Are tankmen so lazy? Can changing gears exhaust him to death? What do you want to reverse so fast? To facilitate escape from the battlefield?

Looking at the other party's expression, Zhang Feng knew that these concepts, at this time, would not be accepted by Soviet tank designers, it seems that if he really wants to, he has to start from the West, the Soviet engine and the Western gearbox, is this combination okay?

"Comrade Qusay, our tank crews don't need that kind of gearbox, our tanks are for combat, not for enjoyment." Kartsev said.

I know that you don't pay attention to ergonomics, let the soldiers fight in enjoyment, that is the most perfect, the weather in the Middle East, adding a high-power air conditioner to the tank is a good way. However, Zhang Feng swallowed this sentence in his stomach, if he said it, this old-fashioned Soviet man might really blow his beard and stare at him.

"That's right, the T-72 tank is able to dominate the Middle East soil, and the credit of your design bureau is the greatest." Zhang Feng said.

Now this Soviet man can't be offended, although he has retired, his influence here is still very large, so Zhang Feng naturally slapped a few sycophants.

Sure enough, Kartsev's mood immediately improved, and the T-72 was the last project of his tank design career, and it was also the most proud, although it did not completely defeat the Morozov Design Bureau, but also turned the Nizhny Tagil Design Bureau upside down.

"The training of your country's armored troops is also the best." Kartsev said.

Training? Zhang Feng thought to himself, if he hadn't asked Ali from his father, where would this kind of tank, which was regarded as a treasure by his father, go to the battlefield?

Going forward, the chassis began to install the turret, the tank is composed of these two parts, the huge crane will weigh more than ten tons of all the installed turret, accurately buckle the chassis below, unless it is a major repair, otherwise, these two things, will never be separated.

The turret of the T-72 is cast, the shape is relatively sleek, although it obtains a good bullet avoidance effect, however, this kind of cast turret is relatively narrow, and the personnel stay in it very aggrieved, compared with the welded turret in the West, each has its own advantages and disadvantages, Zhang Feng is already imagining, if on this tank chassis, replace with a welded turret, what kind of situation it should be.

After touring the production line, they came to the Nizhny Tagil Design Bureau.

At this time, the chief designer of the Nizhny Tagil Design Bureau was Kartsev's old partner for decades, a classmate and friend of the Academy of Armored Forces, Venedikotov.

In the conference room of the design bureau, Zhang Feng was once again welcomed by the personnel in the design bureau.

"It's a little gift for you, thank you for developing a tank that punches Khomeini's ass." Zhang Feng said and waved his hand to the secretary behind him.

The secretary has been carrying a small box in his hand, and when he opened it this time, it was actually a piece of Swiss famous watch!

Kartsev and Venedikotov looked at each other, this is the first time this kind of thing.

If the two of them don't stretch out their hands, the designers below won't dare to do it.

"Comrade Qusay, this is better to be exempted." "We are disciplined, we can't take this kind of thing," Kartsev said. ”

Zhang Feng smiled and said: "I just said something wrong, these are not for you, but for your family, when you designed the T-72 tank for the great Soviet in the design bureau, you didn't take care of your family, this spirit makes people sigh, and your family members are so supportive of your work, I am even more moved, this is a little care for your family, it shouldn't be considered a violation of discipline, right?" ”

As soon as Zhang Feng said this, the other party was immediately relieved, and the discipline said that they would not be allowed to collect things by themselves, but this was a little bit of the other party's heart for his family, and it had nothing to do with his bribery, besides, it was just a watch.

Kartsev took the lead and each picked up a watch, and when Kartsev saw it, the other party was really generous, and this watch was worth at least a few hundred dollars.

"After the production line is installed, I would like to hire a designer from your design bureau to maintain the operation of the entire production line." Zhang Feng continued.

(To be continued)