Chapter 1046 Anti-Stealth Capability

Originally, as the plane landed safely, cheers naturally broke out in the tower.

Except for some command posts that had to stay at their posts, most people were ready to go downstairs to welcome the test flight team back.

But with Wang Xiaomo's resounding words, the originally noisy hall was almost instantly quieted down-

The strongest in the world, no one else!

It can be summed up in such a simple eight words, but it is enough for everyone to savor it for a long time...

Even for half a lifetime.

In recent years, China has indeed made significant improvements in many fields.

But after all, the starting point is too low, and it takes a relatively long process to implement technology in projects.

Therefore, although some achievements have reached the world's leading level, when it comes to products, even the top models such as the WS-10, or the J-10 and J-11 can only be regarded as "reaching the world's leading level".

That is, they are on par with others.

Indeed, for China, which only finalized the mass production of the J-7E ten years ago, it is already a huge leap to share the title of "world leading" with others.

But it is not as simple and straightforward as today.

The words "It is meaningless to compare with others. If you want to surpass others, surpass the United States!" are still ringing in our ears, and now they have been realized in advance in the aviation system.

Not only that, the data link and air command system developed by Chang Haonan have completely made up for the original shortcomings of the KJ-2000 model...

If there is a pity, it is only because of the time limit that the optical phased array system currently being tested in full swing cannot be used...

For this, we can only wait for the next generation of early warning aircraft.

Opposite Wang Xiaomo, Qiao Chenqing, who came to inspect the first flight, was also shocked by the former's determination for a moment:

"The most comprehensive early warning aircraft..."

He whispered it in his mouth, then turned his head again and looked at the 2000-01 aircraft that had completed deceleration and was slowly driving towards the entrance of the taxiway on the runway.

It can be said that Qiao Chenqing's generation of soldiers has spent most of their lives thinking about how to defeat the strong with the weak.

In the most difficult years, we even considered how to use the J-6 with only machine guns to fight against the third-generation aircraft.

Once upon a time, even "missileization" seemed an unattainable dream.

Now we suddenly get a piece of equipment that is stronger than all the imaginary enemies...

For a while, we even felt a little overwhelmed.

"I remember when the project was established, the effective detection range was written as 450km?"

With Qiao Chenqing's position, it is not suitable to be too pretentious at this time.

So we had to shift the topic to the technical level.

"That number...is not that important."

Wang Xiaomo explained as he walked out the door:

"You know, in actual combat, the relative height, azimuth, RCS, movement trend of the target...all these will affect the detection effect of the radar, and our KJ-2000 uses a phased array system, plus a double-sided array of C-band and L-band, which can basically deal with all kinds of targets to the maximum extent."

"Even if it is a stealth aircraft, because the key optimization direction is also the X-band, it will be easier to be detected when facing a relatively low-frequency radar such as the L-band."

This point can be said to hit the key point that Qiao Chenqing is most concerned about.

At this time in 2003, the test flight of YF22 has entered the final stage.

As a model developed at the end of the Cold War, ATF has not been tainted with too many procrastination habits of US military projects since the 1990s.

A discerning person can see that in two or three years at most, F22 will be officially mass-produced.

By that time, the Chinese Air Force, which had just obtained the third-generation fighter jets a few years ago, would fall behind its opponents again.

Although the purchase volume of F22 has been cut again and again, it has dropped from the initial estimated four-digit to about 200 today.

But stealth aircraft are still qualitatively different after all.

The B2 shot down in the Balkans a few years ago may symbolize the end of stealth aircraft in the eyes of outsiders.

But those who know the inside story will know how many extreme coincidences and new technologies are behind that victory.

Instead, it proves the value of stealth aircraft.

So, when listening to Wang Xiaomo talking about anti-stealth, Qiao Chenqing almost couldn't walk immediately:

"That means, even if the American F22 is officially in service, we have a way to deal with it?"

This question is not easy to answer.

So much so that the former hesitated for a moment:

"Well... If we only rely on a single method, there will still be hidden dangers when facing stealth aircraft. At least the detection accuracy of the L band is not enough, and due to the limitation of the physical size of the antenna, it is also difficult to install it on a fighter. It is better to achieve multi-platform, multi-detection source composite reconnaissance, which happens to be the field where data links can play a role..."

At this time, Chang Haonan, who was walking next to him but had not spoken, also added:

"And taking a step back, even if we can detect stealth aircraft with existing technology, stealth is only one of the many advantages of the fourth-generation fighter... You should have seen that the third-generation fighter has all-round advantages when facing the second-generation fighter. The same principle applies."

"Anti-stealth technology can only reduce the advantage, but if we want to really fight against the fourth-generation fighter, we can only equip ourselves with fourth-generation aircraft."

"We are also equipped with fourth-generation aircraft..."

Qiao Chenqing put his hands behind his back and looked deeply to the horizon with his eyes, as if he was imagining that a fourth-generation fighter jet with the August 1st military emblem was flying there.

As a political worker, the reason why he was able to act as commander of the Air Force was largely due to the sudden deterioration of his predecessor Liu Yaoshun's physical condition.

Taking into account the age factor, it is likely that he will take a back seat in a few years.

Therefore, Qiao Chenqing felt that there was a high probability that he would not be able to see the day when China's fourth-generation aircraft entered service...

…

The successful first flight is just the beginning of a long testing phase.

As the saying goes, the first flight is difficult, and finalization is even more difficult.

Since the gap between the Air Police 2000 and the Air Police 200 is too large in terms of aerodynamic structure and airborne equipment, it is difficult to refer to the relevant experience in the development process of the latter.

A lot of things need to be started over.

The most special one is naturally the command system that Chang Haonan is responsible for developing.

This is also the most essential difference between Air Police 200 and Air Police 2000——

The former only moves a radar to the sky. Specific combat command and decision-making still need to be completed by ground command posts or front-line fighter jets.

The latter is a true Air Force combat center that integrates multiple functions such as reconnaissance, command, control, and communications.

There is also a huge difference in levels between the two.

In actual combat, the Air Police 200 only needs one officer at the level of major or lieutenant colonel to be responsible for uploading and distributing information.

However, Air Police 2000 may require a division-level commander to ensure that he has the highest authority in the entire airspace.

Therefore, while the Haofei Group carried out high-density test flights of the aircraft itself, the team led by Chang Haonan also completed the software design of the airborne command system as quickly as possible.

In terms of steps, there is not much difference between software projects and hardware projects.

It should also be divided into principle verification, technical verification, engineering verification... and other processes.

The only difference may be that due to the reproducible nature of the code, there is no need for an additional production finalization.

The current command system is in the process of transition from principle verification to technical verification.

In order to realize this process as quickly as possible, Chang Haonan reduced the number of available nodes in the system from the maximum 200 in the finished software plan to 20 without changing the underlying logic of the software to speed up the development progress——

Anyway, this round is just a technical verification and does not require a complete restoration of the actual situation.

20 goals are enough.

Thanks to this simplification, the Air Police 2000 command system was installed on the prototype in the form of an Alpha test version only twenty days after the first flight.

This also means that this model is truly functionally complete.

So the next step is naturally to conduct airborne equipment level testing with combat aircraft...