Walking on Two Legs, Combining Long and Short Term Strategies

Chapter 110 Walking on Two Legs, Combining Long and Short Term Strategies

After reviewing the complete set of technical routes, Lin Chuan had a relatively clear direction for development.

Without a doubt, this technology is destined for the ultimate goal of space networking.

Once a global network is established in space, a range of applications, both military and civilian, will experience unprecedented growth.

Only by achieving space deployment and global coverage can its value be maximized.

This is why this technology can become a disruptive, strategic energy infrastructure technology.

However, achieving space-based networking is not something that can be done overnight.

Currently, DeepBlue Technology's space capabilities are almost non-existent, while space networking requires far more than just launch capabilities.

On-orbit assembly, space energy management, laser aiming and tracking, and satellite platform attitude control—each step is a massive systems engineering project.

Lin Chuan roughly estimated that building a global network of dual-use military and civilian rail energy stations from scratch would take at least 10 to 20 years, even if everything went smoothly, and the investment would be in the trillions.

For purely military applications, full coverage is not required; regional coverage is sufficient to achieve the capability.

As long as there is continuous coverage of the target ground combat area by wireless energy delivery satellites, it is sufficient. Low-orbit satellites orbit the Earth in about one or two hours. Deploying dozens of such energy satellites can ensure the energy support needed for regional operations.

However, such an investment is not insignificant.

However, global, all-weather coverage, and dual military and civilian applications, are not directions that can generate returns in the short term.

Clearly, the focus in the short term should remain on the ground.

Over the next two days, Lin Chuan did not schedule any external meetings, locking himself in his office to work on developing a complete development plan for quantum battery technology.

Let's start by analyzing the civilian sector.

The most imaginative application scenario for quantum batteries in the civilian sector is undoubtedly new energy vehicles.

Femtosecond-level charging speeds combined with remote wireless charging technology can completely free electric vehicles from the constraints of charging stations.

As long as the vehicle is within the coverage area of ​​the wireless charging base station, it can be recharged in real time while driving. The owner may even drive the car until it is scrapped without knowing that the car needs to be "charged".

Once this scenario is realized, the last remaining advantage of gasoline vehicles in terms of refueling convenience will be completely crushed.

However, Lin Chuan quickly realized a problem: if DeepBlue Technology were to enter the market and manufacture new energy vehicle terminals, all traditional car companies and new energy vehicle companies would regard DeepBlue Technology as a competitor.

At that time, BYD, Geely, and even emerging car manufacturers like Xiaomi that enter the market later, will not dare to entrust their lifeline to a competitor.

If DeepBlue Technology were to manufacture its own terminals, it would have to do almost everything itself, and would also face various competitions and numerous obstacles.

Lin Chuan wasn't afraid of competition, but he didn't want to do it because it was too time-consuming.

If it takes five or even ten years to develop a single technological application, then even if Lu An had a lifespan of 500 years, he wouldn't be able to implement many of the many cutting-edge technologies in the Hyperdimensional Technology Library.

The answer is obvious: Lin Chuan is still following the same path as the "Aurora" project in the photovoltaic new energy sector.

Let DeepBlue Technology focus solely on providing wireless power transmission infrastructure, while outsourcing the terminal applications to other companies. This way, they can maintain control over the technological landscape while saving significant time and costs.

Specifically, DeepBlue Technology keeps the technology in its own hands. For example, the standardized production of quantum battery modules can be licensed to battery manufacturers, while DeepBlue Technology provides the transmitter and receiver modules for remote wireless charging.

The terrestrial base station network is primarily constructed and operated by DeepBlue Technology, and this could even be outsourced to other companies for operation.

As for the final application scenarios, such as how electric vehicles are manufactured, what chassis they use, and what interior they are equipped with, DeepBlue does not touch upon any of them.

In this way, all new energy vehicle companies can confidently become DeepBlue Technology's partners.

They don't need to worry about DeepBlue cutting off their core technology supply one day, because DeepBlue Technology doesn't compete with them in the end-user market at all.

Downstream automakers only need to purchase standardized quantum battery modules and receiver equipment to give their products an overwhelming advantage in range.

Moreover, DeepBlue Technology does not sign exclusive cooperation agreements with any manufacturer, thus depriving the other party of bargaining power.

If you don't cooperate, plenty of manufacturers will be willing to cooperate.

Ultimately, all manufacturers will have no choice but to cooperate with you, because if you don't, your product will be much weaker than your competitors from the start, so how can you compete?

More importantly, this positioning will garner full national support.

Lin Chuan was well aware of why the government was providing such strong support for new energy vehicles.

On the one hand, it promotes the upgrading of domestic industrial manufacturing to high-end manufacturing; on the other hand, it reduces external dependence on imported fossil energy.

Both of these are long-term national strategies.

Currently, China's dependence on foreign oil has remained above 70% for many years, with a large portion of its oil consumption going to the transportation sector.

The Strait of Malacca, the main channel for imported oil, is highly vulnerable to being cut off in the event of a potential military conflict in the future, which has always been a huge hidden danger to national energy security.

With the combination of quantum batteries and wireless charging technology, once deployed on a large scale, the replacement of gasoline-powered vehicles will accelerate even further.

This is more important for national energy security than any economic calculation.

Moreover, even from an economic perspective, it holds great promise.

The government will definitely push this technology hard, and DeepBlue Technology, as the developer of the core technology, will surely receive strong support from the national and local governments, as well as from policies and funding.

Lin Chuan also outlined the military applications of quantum batteries.

Unlike civilian applications, military applications have much higher requirements for coverage area.

Unlike cities and highways, the battlefield environment does not have a fixed network of base stations, and the range of troop movement can cover any terrain from desert to ocean.

To truly enable quantum batteries to play a decisive role in the military, global coverage must be achieved through space-based networking.

Without space-based networking, ground-based base stations can only cover fixed military bases, border outposts, and some pre-designated battlefields at most.

For special operations missions that require deep behind enemy lines and long-range raids, energy coverage remains an issue.

However, not all military applications require global coverage; small-scale tactical deployments can be replaced by other methods.

For example, high-altitude drones can provide wireless power support to tactical teams on the ground from hundreds of kilometers away.

It's worth mentioning that there's a military application scenario that Lin Chuan started thinking about after he first read the information about quantum batteries: individual powered armor equipment.

The femtosecond-level charging and high energy density of quantum batteries mean that the energy problem of exoskeleton powered armor is no longer a bottleneck, allowing this powerful individual combat equipment to shine.

As a reborn individual, Lin Chuan clearly recognized an important trend in the future modern battlefield: the large-scale application of inexpensive drones in combined arms operations.

Small attack drones costing a few thousand yuan each carry improvised explosive devices and are operated by operators from several kilometers away using remote control or simply by using preset coordinates to carry out suicide attacks.

This weapon is ridiculously cheap, yet incredibly lethal.

The fear felt by human soldiers upon hearing the howling of these drones was no less than the piercing scream of the Stuka bombers during World War II.

Most importantly, the losses outweighed the gains by an astonishing amount.

A well-trained and well-equipped soldier is extremely expensive in terms of overall cost, but a drone costing only a few thousand dollars can kill him.

Such an exchange ratio would be unsustainable for any country's army.

Moreover, every human soldier killed is one less to be eliminated. In a brutal war of attrition, an entire generation could be wiped out.

However, as long as the production line is not interrupted, drones can be produced continuously and quickly deployed to the battlefield.

Faced with a saturation attack by drone swarms, even if the defender intercepts 90% of the incoming drones, just a few that slip through the net can cause serious casualties.

Using expensive air defense systems to intercept these cheap drones would be a huge loss, even if the interception were successful.

Under traditional protective equipment systems, infantrymen are almost powerless against such cheap drone swarms.

But if soldiers wear individual power armor, the situation is completely different.

Lin Chuan drew a simple diagram on the paper. The power armor's outer shell uses a composite armor structure, with an outer layer of lightweight ceramic protective plate, a middle layer of high-strength fiber woven layer, and an inner layer of cushioning padding.

This level of protection is sufficient to withstand the explosive fragments and shockwaves from a small drone.

Even if a drone explodes two or three meters away from a soldier, the soldier will most likely only be knocked over by the shockwave and will be able to get up and continue fighting.

More importantly, the power armor itself has excellent mobility. The abundant energy provided by the quantum battery can drive high-powered electric joints, allowing soldiers to carry heavier armor and weapons, run faster, and jump higher.

When facing a drone dive attack, the explosive power granted by the power armor is enough for soldiers to make quick dodge maneuvers, instead of having to lie down and wait to die like ordinary infantry.

Furthermore, any attempt to achieve battlefield occupation must involve the deployment of ground troops.

Once ground troops step onto the battlefield, they will inevitably face the threat of inexpensive drones.

In this context, individual power armor not only significantly enhances combat effectiveness but also greatly ensures soldiers' survivability.

Moreover, the cost of individual power armor is far lower than that of stealth combat suits.

DeepBlue Technology's Shadow Combat Suit costs over ten million yuan per set, and its maintenance costs are extremely high.

This means that stealth combat suits can only be the exclusive equipment of a few elite special forces units, and cannot be deployed on a large scale.

However, the individual powered armor is different; its core technologies are high-performance servo motors, lightweight composite armor, and quantum battery energy packs.

Servo motors and composite armor are relatively mature industrial products. As long as the power energy problem is solved, the unit price of power armor can be controlled at the level of hundreds of thousands, or even lower.

A set of power armor costs hundreds of thousands of dollars; the military can afford to equip an entire corps with it.

Lin Chuan established a more detailed technical roadmap for this part: quantum batteries are responsible for energy supply, servo motors are responsible for driving the joints, and composite materials are mainly used for protection.

Once the power system is resolved, Lin Chuan can solve all the other technical problems related to the individual soldier's powered armor on his own.

He has a thorough understanding of the core technologies of the exoskeleton powered armor system, such as the control algorithm, force feedback sensing, and human-machine interface.

Even without the technological support of the hyperdimensional library, he could still create a usable prototype of a power armor based on his knowledge from his previous life.

At this moment, Lin Chuan leaned back in his chair, going over the entire chess game in his mind.

In the civilian market, DeepBlue Technology develops core technology modules and licenses the technology to downstream manufacturers for terminal production.

In the military sector, in the short term, ground base stations will be used to cover military bases and fixed defense lines to ensure the energy advantage of homeland defense; at the same time, the research and development of individual powered armor will be launched to create a new generation of individual combat platforms by utilizing the energy advantage of quantum batteries.

With a long-term goal of establishing a space network, once global coverage is achieved, all military applications, including directed energy weapons, high-altitude long-endurance drones, and pure electric fighter jets, will experience explosive growth.

Walking on two legs, combining long and short legs, with clear distinctions between levels.

He compiled his thoughts from the past two days into a strategic planning document, encrypted it, and stored it on his private server.

This document does not need to be released to the public for the time being, but all subsequent technological advancements will be carried out within this framework.

Late February.

Lin Chuan secretly established a "quantum energy storage" project within the company, quietly operating it in an isolated experimental area at Deep Blue Technology's new headquarters.

This three-story laboratory building, numbered "Z-7", is located in the northeast corner of the new headquarters campus. It is in a relatively remote location, separated from other R&D departments by an artificial lake.

The core team of the project was initially small, consisting of only 22 people.

Some members are core members of the "Aurora" project team, and each of them has signed the highest level of confidentiality agreement.

The leader is Luo Xiangdong, one of the 15 members of Lin Chuan's initial founding team.

Another person, Chen Zhiyi, was transferred from the "Aurora" project. Her advantage lies in her ability to transform theoretical models into repeatable processes, which is especially important in the prototype verification stage.

The experimental setup for quantum batteries is extremely precise; even the slightest deviation in any step of the process can lead to unreproducible experimental results.

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The third is Lu Jing, a newly recruited expert in quantum optics, who has in-depth research on quantum coherent states and ultrafast spectroscopy.

The remaining 19 project team members cover fields such as organic synthetic chemistry, ultrafast laser engineering, precision optical processing, and cryogenic vacuum systems.

Lin Chuan made rapid progress, and the project was officially launched at the end of February.

He distributed a summary of some of the technical information on quantum batteries to the three responsible persons, giving them a week to digest it.

A week later, Luo Xiangdong knocked on Lin Chuan's office door.

He was clutching a stack of printed papers covered with numerous annotations and formulas.

"Boss, are these things—are they really an obstacle?"

The physical picture presented in this technical document was clearly beyond his cognitive framework.

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