Qiu Tianning said it was simple, and Brother Yi responded happily, but how could it be so easy in practice?
Not to mention anything else, the engine is hung under the short wing, which is equivalent to being exposed to the outside of the battleship, instead of being protected by thick armor inside the battleship. In this way, the engine becomes the most obvious and prominent bullet point of the battleship, and its safety
Sex is a very difficult issue.
In order to solve this problem, the design institute came up with several different plans for demonstration, but the results were all unsatisfactory.
One is the wing-body fusion solution, which is to cover the short wings with armor and integrate the engines into the hull. The armor on the engines is opened through the hydraulic device in the wing bodies, and the armor is re-closed after the engine is rotated 180 degrees to change the engine injection.
The purpose of direction.
However, this deformation structure is complex and fragile, and its use on battleships is no safer than the short-wing solution. On the contrary, it will greatly increase the construction and maintenance costs, which is not cost-effective no matter how you look at it.
The second option is to use a large vector nozzle on the battleship. Through reasonable design, the vector nozzle placed at the stern of the ship can be protruded from the outer edge of the stern to achieve the purpose of spraying forward.
Warships using this solution do not need to change the design of the warship. Existing warships can be completely refitted by simply replacing their engines.
But this option is actually even more unreliable than the first option.
Existing warships use electromagnetic engines, which rely on electromagnetic waves to generate thrust. If a vector nozzle is used on the electromagnetic engine, the electromagnetic waves will hit the side walls of the vector nozzle, and that little bit of propulsion will be lost to the structure of the engine itself.
offset directly.
This is no problem for practical jet engines, but even if fuel consumption is not considered, the flames ejected from the combustion chamber must first hit the outer wall of the vector sprayer, and then make a half circle of 180 degrees and eject out of the engine.
outside.
This requires that the material used to make the vector nozzle must have excellent strength under high temperature conditions, otherwise it will inevitably fail under the impact of the flame flow.
On Earth, this problem is easy to solve. After all, the environmental temperature of the Earth is there. Designers only need to consider the room temperature and high temperature strength of the material.
However, space battleships have been sailing in the universe for a long time. The materials used on the battleships must consider the effects of extreme low temperatures, and the engines are no exception. This greatly reduces the choice of engine materials and leaves designers scratching their heads.
It is not impossible to use high-temperature materials to make battleship engines, but the ambient temperature in the universe is too low. If the nozzle material becomes brittle and hard due to the low temperature after the engine is cooled, it may break with a little external force. Who can not worry about such an engine?
Finally, there is the dual-engine solution, which is to install a set of propulsion equipment at the front and end of the battleship. The rear one is used for forward movement and the front one is used for braking. This is also called a balanced solution by designers.
The balanced plan can only be regarded as a compromise. It seems to take into account both defense and maneuverability. However, the forward engine will occupy a large amount of space on the bow of the ship, occupy the installation position of weapons and equipment, and greatly weaken the firepower of the warship. Isn't this a life-threatening situation?
Just when the design institute was racking its brains but could not come up with a practical plan, the military actually issued a new design task, requiring the design institute to design an aerospace carrier as soon as possible, and it must come up with three displacements: large, medium and small.
design plan.
The dean of the design institute almost went to Beidu to discuss the table with Qiu Tianning.
Are you kidding? With the existing engine propulsion, a space battleship with a displacement of 5,000 tons is already the limit. It is not that larger and heavier battleships cannot be designed, but that once designed, they cannot fly at all. Even if such a battleship is built
What's the use of coming out?
However, the design institute soon learned that the military was not joking, but was serious about it, because the military sent all the "Orion Project" information obtained from the Americans to the design institute, requiring the design institute to thoroughly understand the information as quickly as possible.
Design a practical nuclear powered engine.
The design institute dropped all the eyes again and directly launched the nuclear power engine. Does his grandma think this is the Great Leap Forward?
However, after thoroughly studying the information about the Orion project, it was discovered that a nuclear power engine was not impossible to achieve, and the relevant design work immediately began in full swing.
Although the imaginative Orion project died midway, there was no problem with its design principles. It was only a matter of time before a practical nuclear power engine was designed. As a result, the design plan for the nuclear power engine had not yet been released, and the design drawings of the space carrier were instead
We left the design institute first.
According to the requirements of the military, the design institute provided three design drawings of the space carrier, large, medium and small.
The small aerospace carrier has a displacement of about 30,000 tons, can carry about 30 aerospace fighters, and is equipped with naval guns, missiles and other naval weapons. It is flexible and can perform various low-intensity combat missions. It is suitable for use with other types of warships.
Form a mixed fleet to provide fire cover for the fleet.
However, due to its size, this type of aerospace carrier has weak self-sufficiency capabilities, is relatively dependent on logistics, and lacks long-distance navigation capabilities. During operations, it must be followed by supply ships or backed by a base, and its cost-effectiveness is not very high.
By reducing the number of carrier aircraft, other aspects of capabilities can be improved, but the aerospace carrier originally relies on carrier-based aircraft for combat. Reducing the number of fighter aircraft will only make this warship less cost-effective.
The medium-sized aerospace carrier has a displacement of about 70,000 tons. It is also equipped with a large number of naval guns and missiles. It can carry about 70 carrier-based aircraft. It has the highest overall performance and is suitable for serving as a powerful combat unit in the fleet.
The large aerospace carrier has a displacement of 120,000 tons, carries 120 aircraft, and is equipped with laser cannons, close-in defense guns, missiles and many other powerful weapons. It is a combination of an aerospace carrier and a large battleship.
Although this kind of warship has the shortcomings of a long construction period and high cost per ship, it has the highest cost-to-cost ratio and has extremely strong offensive capabilities. It is the core force of the space fleet.
Although the design plan has been come up, the specific design to be adopted will not be revealed until the nuclear power engine is designed. During this period, the design institute made a series of optimization and modifications to the drawings.
For example, based on the experience of the expedition fleet, lifeboats were canceled and replaced with life capsules.
The rescue cabin has a built-in plutonium battery, which provides both heat and electricity. After the crew enters the rescue capsule, the rescue capsule will automatically inject hibernation into the crew. The reserve of oxygen and water can ensure the survival of the crew for five to seven years, striving for rescue.
precious time.
Moreover, this kind of hibernating capsule comes with a navigation system, which is launched like a missile when leaving the ship, and automatically flies to the earth or a designated location under the control of the navigation system, ensuring the safety of the crew to the maximum extent.
All in all, while improving combat effectiveness, we should also improve survivability and optimize warship performance as much as possible.
