Chapter 576: Hidden Dangers Emerge Suddenly, All-Night Push to Overcome the Crucial Point

Internationally, everyone knows that the most advanced stealth fighter currently in the United States' hands is only that F-117. So-called stealth relies mostly on shape reflecting radar waves; the coating is delicate, speed slow, payload small, and it basically cannot be called a true stealth bomber.

Everyone in the world thought that the next-generation stealth bomber would still need another ten or so years to appear, and that it would have to be developed by Americans first.

No one expected that, far in the east, Daxia Guo had already secretly built the world's first truly meaningful stealth strategic bomber.

Inside the Research Workshop, the lights were blazing.

That bomber, all silver-gray with sharp lines, stood still in the center; its fuselage was smooth, with not a single extra angle, and just sitting there it exuded an oppressive presence far beyond this era.

Lin Zhengcheng stood before the control console, his gaze sweeping the venue, his expression calm and steady.

These past few days the team had already completed Full System Integration; originally everything went smoothly, but no one expected that, during today's afternoon high-intensity continuous test, two hidden problems would surface at once.

"Brother Cheng, look at this." Xiao Zhang pointed at the navigation monitoring screen, his face grave, "When the avionics system runs at full load, the navigation signal shows a weak fluctuation; although it doesn't affect normal use, once at high altitude encountering a complex electromagnetic environment, the error could be magnified."

Lin Zhengcheng leaned in for a look; the curve on the screen representing positioning accuracy did indeed show extremely fine jumps at a few moments.

On an ordinary fighter jet, this issue could be completely ignored.

But theirs is meant to be a stealth bomber that leads the world and crushes all future models.

Even the slightest shortfall is unacceptable.

"Chen Mo, how's your side?" Lin Zhengcheng asked.

Chen Mo rubbed his swollen forehead and rose from the avionics control station: "I've found the problem—the avionics high-frequency signal is too close to the navigation band; prolonged operation causes slight resonance. The F-117 has a similar flaw, but they chose to turn a blind eye; if we also glossed over it, what's there to talk about leading the world?"

As soon as he said that, the several people around nodded.

What they aimed to do was never merely catch up with the United States, but to leave the United States far behind from the very start.

Just then, from the other side of the fuselage, Lin Qinhua's voice came again, tinged with urgency.

"Brother Lin, come over for a moment—there's a problem with the coating near the engine bay."

Lin Zhengcheng immediately walked over briskly.

Lin Qinhua squatted on the ground, holding a detector; the stealth-reflectivity curve on the screen showed an extremely slight upward drift in the high-temperature zone.

"We just did three consecutive high-temperature endurance tests; as the temperature around the engine rises, internal stress in the coating changes, causing the reflectivity to drift upward slightly." Lin Qinhua pointed at the screen, her tone serious, "To the naked eye it's invisible, but before radar, even the slightest fluctuation could expose our position."

She paused, then added: "The coating on the US F-117 is even worse; in high-temperature environments it can even peel and flake. But we can't compete by being just as bad—what we must achieve is—high-temperature cruise, long-duration stealth, no attenuation throughout."

Lin Zhengcheng crouched down and lightly touched the fuselage surface.

It was cold and hard, smooth to the touch, with no apparent abnormality.

But he knew deep down that in the aerospace industry, the devil is always hidden in the details.

Navigation signal fluctuations, insufficient high-temperature stability of the coating… these two problems, though seemingly minor, directly block the threshold of being "number one in the world."

If exposed during test flight, not only would the project suffer a setback, but the entire Daxia Guo would also lose the historic opportunity to be the first to equip a stealth bomber.

The surrounding technicians all stopped what they were doing, their eyes turning in unison toward Lin Zhengcheng.

The entire workshop fell silent in an instant.

Everyone was waiting for him to say a word.

Lin Zhengcheng rose to his feet, his gaze sweeping over Chen Mo, Lin Qinhua, and Xiao Zhang, then over every member present whose eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion yet whose gazes remained firm; he spoke slowly, his voice not loud but carrying undeniable authority:

"In 1990, the world had no true stealth bomber." "The United States had none, the Soviet Union had none, Europe had even less." "Now, we have one."

He paused, then his tone suddenly grew heavier:

"Therefore, we cannot tolerate any forgivable flaw." "The navigation signal must not have the slightest fluctuation." "The stealth coating must not have the tiniest abnormality." "Tonight, if the problem isn't solved, nobody is allowed to leave."

"Understood!"

Everyone replied in unison, their voices crisp and decisive, with not a single person hesitating.

At the military order, the workshop instantly shifted back into high-speed operation.

Chen Mo immediately returned to his avionics station, his fingers flying across the keyboard. His task was to rework the entire signal logic, completely separate the avionics and navigation frequency bands, then embed a self-developed shielding algorithm to eliminate signal interference at the source.

"Test again." "Adjust the frequency offset." "Increase the anti-interference threshold."

One instruction after another issued from his mouth; the technicians cooperated seamlessly, and the data on the screen kept refreshing.

At first, the interference persisted. Second try, third try, tenth try… the fluctuation still hadn't been completely eliminated.

Beads of fine sweat appeared on Chen Mo's forehead, and his back was already soaked through.

He knew better than anyone that this wasn't just a simple technical tweak—it was a race for time, for generational advantage, for national standing.

If we delay solving it by a day, the United States might gain an extra day to make a breakthrough.

They must get ahead of the United States and send the world's first true stealth bomber into the sky.

Meanwhile, Lin Qinhua was not idle either.

She spread out all the previous coating formulas on the table, calculating each ratio one by one. Metal powder content, resin proportion, curing agent addition sequence, high-temperature filler proportion… she scrutinized every parameter repeatedly.

The reason the US F-117's coating is so delicate is that it cannot balance stealth with durability.

And the path they must take is a completely new one.

"We need to push the reflectivity even lower and raise the high-temperature tolerance range." "We can't be satisfied with just ground tests; we must directly target high-altitude, high-speed cruise."

Lin Qinhua muttered to herself while remixing a small batch; her movements were practiced, her eyes focused, the sweat-soaked bangs stuck to her forehead, and she didn't even have the chance to brush them aside.

Xiao Zhang became the busiest person in the workshop.

He would dash to the navigation station to record data, then run to the avionics system to check synergistic effects, then again grab a detector and sweep back and forth along the fuselage, comparing each data set with the published specifications of the US F-117.

"Brother Cheng, the navigation fluctuation has gotten a bit smaller, but it's still not fully eliminated!" "Brother Lin, the coating sample's reflectivity meets the standard, but its high-temperature stability is still a little short!"

Messages came one after another, and the atmosphere grew ever more tense.