Chapter 55: Converting a surface-to-air missile into a surface-to-surface missile?

Capital, train station.

This round trip is really somewhat agonizing; when will I ever be qualified to take a plane?

Nowadays, you can't just buy a ticket and fly; you also need an introduction letter from your unit and proof it's official business. To avoid trouble, Qin Miao can only keep taking the train—two people coming, three going back…

Wait!

Arriving at the station, Qin Miao saw a girl waving her arms at the entrance: "San Shui bro, San Shui bro!"

"Miaomiao? How…"

"I've been held up by some things at home and took two days off school. Are you guys heading back to Ha Cheng today? What a coincidence! Hello, Uncle Zhou, hello, senior sister!"

"Yeah, perfect to go together, also lively! By the way, we bought a sleeper berth—what about you?"

"Also a sleeper berth! Let's see… hey, we just happen to be together!"

This isn't just a coincidence; in this world, any coincidence is deliberately arranged! Qin Miao knows this in his heart, but he still has to put on a smile—there's no way around it, he can't afford to offend Chu Miaomiao's father!

Chu Miaomiao and Yang Can, laughing, entered the station and boarded the train; Qin Miao followed behind, lugging big and small bags… Meanwhile, Zhou Ding only carried a briefcase containing important documents.

"San Shui, is that your nickname?"

"Yeah. Everyone at the factory calls me that."

"How does Miaomiao know? Oh right, she's also been to your factory and met your father?"

"Professor Zhou, keep an eye on your briefcase, don't lose it again!"

"Oh oh, won't happen—even if it did, with you as a detective, you'd crack it in half a day. By the way, since the start of term till now, you haven't really stayed in our Space Department, have you? This time going back, you really need to work on a project in the Space Department! Only you could think of turning an air-to-air missile into a surface-to-surface missile! Do you know how many technical problems need solving in there?"

"Sigh, it's not just for profit from the Northern Dipper Navigation Project; in a market economy, you have to use market methods to solve problems."

Zhou Ding shook his head helplessly, still picturing the astonishment in the eyes of those old aerospace folks at the dinner table when Qin Miao would propose his plan.

"The Red Flag-2 missile is our current mainstay anti-aircraft missile; back then it was designed to hit high-altitude, high-speed targets. The missile is large and uses liquid fuel. Against today's advanced fighter jets, it hardly has any interception chance left, and the early-produced missiles are likely nearing the end of their lifespan—so we might as well refit them into surface-to-surface missiles!"

Clang!

Old Huang's water cup slipped from his hand and fell onto the table, spilling tea everywhere.

Old Tu's chopsticks were holding a piece of braised pork when his hand shook, dropping it onto the table.

Old Chen also stopped talking to Yang Can, eyes wide open, staring at Qin Miao.

"An air-to-air missile—how could it possibly be turned into a surface-to-surface missile?"

"Once it's in the sky, it's an air-to-air missile; once it lands, it's a surface-to-surface missile—what's the problem?"

"That's impossible—the guidance system is different, the warhead is different, the fuse is different…"

"Just modify it! Keep the missile body and launch rack; just swap out the warhead. Folks, surface-to-surface missiles are hot commodities on the international market. If we spend thirty to fifty thousand to refit them, we can sell each for at least five hundred thousand dollars abroad!"

"No way—other parts might be easy to change, but the guidance system…"

"He who hesitates achieves nothing. Fine, let's do it—this project goes to you, Ha Gong Da! Old Zhou, the drag-reduction rod project is also done; you should head back and get this project rolling! As for sample missiles and such, we'll coordinate them to you soon!"

Beside him, Zhou Ding was already stunned, subconsciously wanting to refuse… but… Old Huang's gaze left no room for doubt!

"Old Zhou, Ha Gong Da has a diligent student like Qin Miao; you'll surely complete this project!"

Just like that, Zhou Ding received yet another new project, its priority even higher than developing a missile launch vehicle—after all, the Shore-Launching Giant Wave project still needs application and procedures; this refitting of scrap to sell for money… the Space Institute can decide on its own!

"Shh, Professor Zhou, don't blab—this is classified!"

Zhou Ding nodded: "All right, we'll talk once we're inside the car!"

"Folks, this is your soft sleeper compartment; just let me know if you need anything. Leader Zhou instructed that you be well taken care of on this trip." The attendant warmly escorted the four to their corresponding soft sleeper, attentive and thorough.

Chu Miaomiao's face showed some embarrassment—what coincidence, what happenstance; it was clearly arranged beforehand…

"Let's go, let's go in—we've never ridden in a soft sleeper car before!" Qin Miao said with a chuckle, being the first to step inside.

A confined space with sliding doors, comprising upper and lower bunks for four people—much better than the hard sleeper's three-tier stacked bunks.

The bunks are spacious, clean and tidy, and at mealtime you can even enjoy free meal service…

Although we didn't get to fly, this soft sleeper is pretty good! No worries—you can't even buy such a ticket!

"You two girls, upper or lower bunk?"

"Of course the upper!"

Chu Miaomiao climbed onto an upper bunk, Yang Can took the other side.

The two lower bunks were left for Qin Miao and Zhou Ding, which suited them perfectly—after all, facing the lower bunks is a small table; opening the briefcase and spreading out the documents, Zhou Ding slipped into work mode.

"For this warhead part, we remove the entire guidance system and install a gyroscope…"

"It won't fit!" Zhou Ding shook his head: "Our existing gyroscope is bigger than the missile's warhead!"

The Red Flag-2 air-to-air missile uses radio-command guidance: after launch, the missile and the target each produce a radar echo; the fire-control system calculates the needed missile maneuver from those two echoes, forms a command, and transmits it to the missile.

What about surface-to-surface missiles?

Before launch, all firing parameters are set; once fired, it's up to the missile itself!

The missile needs to know how far it's flown and its attitude; that's measured by an inertial navigation device.

Its core is a high-speed spinning gyroscope fixed on a three-axis rotating platform; thus, no matter how the missile moves, the gyroscope stays stable. By measuring the direction and angle of that external three-axis rotating platform's motion, we can tell how the missile is flying; integrating those motions yields the missile's position.

Without it, it's not a missile—just a rocket! And even if we tried to fit one… the domestically available units simply won't fit!

Back at the dinner table, Zhou Ding had wanted to raise this problem, but Old Huang obviously wouldn't give him a chance to speak!

Now, lay out the difficulty and see what Qin Miao has to say!

"Yeah, if it's a platform-type gyroscope, it definitely won't fit." Qin Miao nodded: "Professor Zhou, I've seen in foreign technical literature that there are strapdown inertial navigation units that can be as small as a lunchbox."

That's still too big—these days you can integrate an inertial navigation module into a phone, as small as the tip of a cotton swab!

"Strapdown? What does that mean?"

"Remove the inertial platform and mount it directly on the missile body!"

"How could that be possible?"

"I've seen in foreign technical literature that they now do it this way—small size, light weight, high reliability; the only challenge is needing lots of computation, and Ha Gong Da excels at that!"