Chapter 342

In later generations, Americans on the battlefield most like to use depleted uranium shells.

Depleted uranium is actually the byproduct left after purifying the raw material for atomic bombs; keeping it is wasteful, so it's better to process it and develop it into weaponry.

Compared to tungsten alloy, depleted uranium also has many advantages, such as self-sharpening.

A kitchen knife gets duller with use, and the tip of an armor-piercing round dulls as it bores into tank armor, affecting penetration depth, but depleted uranium does not!

After depleted uranium penetrates armor, it encounters a grindstone; the more it is ground, the sharper it becomes—this is the self-sharpening of depleted uranium! The tip gets ever sharper, making penetration easier.

The second advantage is that during the penetration process, friction generates heat, raising the temperature; at that point, depleted uranium burns faster, thus penetrating tank armor more effectively.

With the same design, the penetration depth of depleted uranium shells is at least twenty percent higher than that of tungsten alloy.

But because it burns, countless depleted uranium particles drift into the air, contaminating the battlefield; they do not dissipate for ten or twenty years after the war ends, causing illness in many children.

There is also a claim that it can affect veterans' health, even causing battlefield syndrome, but that's a bit far-fetched—American soldiers leave after fighting, and besides, after the tank gun fires, the smoke is sucked out, and there's nothing inside the turret.

It's just that Americans lack faith; on the battlefield, many rely on things like morphine, injecting it frequently, so of course various symptoms appear.

Americans don't use tungsten alloy for another reason: worldwide, the East and the Soviet Union together account for ninety percent of tungsten production capacity; other countries wanting to use it lack this convenient condition.

As for our East...

Tungsten alloy is the proper way, but when needed, depleted uranium must also be employed! After all, victory or defeat on the battlefield decides a nation's fate; at such times, who worries about what happens after the war ends? Those are concerns only for literary youths.

Of course, so far we have no depleted uranium armor-piercing shells; this needs research. As for tungsten alloy... although our production capacity is high, our smelting technology is not up to par; currently we only have tungsten carbide, which is hard but brittle.

The most advanced technology is liquid-phase sintering: at high temperature, some components of the alloy melt to form a liquid phase that fills the spaces between powder particles, thereby enhancing the material's physical properties.

These are world-leading scientific standards; now, are we to entrust them to Ha Gong Da to handle?

Qin Miao nodded: "No problem, as long as superiors assign the task, our Ha Gong Da can take it on, but..."

"We will try to secure R&D funding for Ha Gong Da," Zhu Lao said: "We will try not to let Ha Gong Da suffer a loss..."

"R&D funding doesn't matter; even if they don't give it, we'll raise our own funds to do it, to help military industry develop—our Ha Gong Da has no objections. But depleted uranium… it's under the charge of the Nuclear Industry Department; can you get some for us?"

"No problem; if Ha Gong Da needs it, they'll have to give the green light!" Zhu Lao said: "In the name of Institute 201, we can coordinate for Ha Gong Da—of course we can!"

Qin Miao nodded, continuing to think; actually, depleted uranium has another use: depleted uranium armor!

In later generations, the Americans' M1 tank uses depleted uranium armor; on the Gulf battlefield, there was once an M1 tank that fell into a pit and couldn't move; they intended to destroy it, but their own depleted uranium shells couldn't even penetrate their own depleted uranium armor!

This is indeed a good thing, but… forget it; using it on our own equipment, it's better to have less depleted uranium.

Tank technology has been thoroughly discussed; Qin Miao's work in the Capital is also basically finished. As a sophomore at Ha Gong Da, this semester he hasn't really gone to school; once he goes back, he'll arrange a task, and this semester will pass again!

The summer in Ha Cheng is the most comfortable; without air conditioning it's very cool. Walking the streets of Ha Cheng, watching the passersby, Qin Miao feels a sense of being out of time—is this the illusion produced by not having come for a long time?

Inside the campus, brand-new buildings rise from the ground; after half a year away, even he feels unfamiliar.

Materials Department.

Qin Miao had just stepped inside when he heard cheers coming from within.

"Good, that's great!"

This is…

Qin Miao curiously walked in and saw the old professor Ding Fantao, face full of excitement; beside him was Shi Lao, likewise full of excitement, and… a Frenchman?

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is…"

"Qin Miao, you're back? That's wonderful! Our Materials Department has developed a new generation of high-temperature alloy turbine blades; these blades, when used in our turboshaft engines, can boost power by another twenty percent!"

"Really? That's truly great!" Qin Miao was very excited: "This way, our helicopter's power will be even more ample!"

"That's natural; the armed helicopter project is progressing rapidly. Now, with a more advanced engine, the reserve power is even greater, and even armor protection can be added. By the way, have you visited the helicopter factory?"

"Not yet." Qin Miao shook his head and then said: "Come to think of it, I should go take a look."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Why did I come back? Qin Miao had forgotten; he was simply full of enthusiasm, following Professor Ding and others, carrying the brand-new turbine blades, to Ha Cheng Aircraft Factory.

In Factory 122, there was a bustling scene; hearing that Qin Miao had arrived, Factory Director Zhang Zhiqiang ran over, eagerly shaking his hand: "Comrade Qin Miao, your timing is perfect—our armed helicopter has completed final assembly and will soon be test-flown!"

"Hmm, let me take a look!"

Inside the workshop, a beautiful Wuzhi-9 appeared before his eyes, hardly different from the later-generation Wuzhi-19!

The fuselage had been redesigned, narrower, with two crew compartments up front, low‑then‑high seats giving good visibility, short wings on either side of the fuselage; although no weapons were mounted yet, one could imagine how it would look with weapons; most exciting of all, however, was the pumpkin‑shaped object above the rotor—that's the millimeter‑wave radar!

Only with this can one say it is the most advanced armed helicopter!

"All the technology on this helicopter is ours!" Factory Director Zhang exclaimed excitedly: "The millimeter‑wave radar atop the rotor was designed by our designers! The fuselage modifications were designed by our designers! The engine was modified by our designers! The weapons system, even more so, was designed by us!"

The imported Dolphin Helicopter's technology is far behind our own!

"Right, the relevant technology has also been applied to the Zhi-9; its performance has also seen a big boost!" Factory Director Zhang continued: "For example, the maximum take‑off weight has been raised to five tons—this way, with two tons empty weight, one ton of fuel, there can still be two tons of external load…"