Chapter 1042
The Rod of God!
"James," the chief finally spoke after listening for so long.
His voice was somewhat hoarse, but carried an unquestionable authority.
The Grand Chief looked at the Space Command Commander: "If... I mean, if we concentrate our resources and launch a batch of... more 'showcase' satellites within a year..."
"For example, more advanced satellites with clear 'defense' or 'surveillance' labels, not necessarily in number as numerous as Longxia's, but the technology must appear to be more advanced..."
As for other performance aspects sacrificed for the sake of appearing more advanced, such as lifespan, those are not things that outsiders should know.
The chieftain paused, looked around, observed the expressions on everyone's faces, and then slowly spoke.
“We need to make it 'visible' and 'understandable' to the public and our allies. Do you understand what I mean?”
"At the same time, in our propaganda... we must emphasize that this is to 'protect freedom of navigation in space,' 'prevent the militarization of space,' and 'ensure the security of our allies'..."
To put it bluntly, what the Eagle Tribe wants right now is not to actually surpass the Dragon Summer Tribe in terms of technology.
All we need to do is make those voters feel that the Longxia tribe's technology is not as strong as their own country's.
As for how long this false prosperity can last, that's not something they, as political creatures controlled by electoral politics, need to consider.
Field paused for a moment, then quickly exchanged glances with the NASA administrator and the defense industry representative.
They fully understood the Great Chief's meaning.
To put it bluntly, the Eagle Tribe doesn't need to completely match the number of Dragon Xia tribe members, nor does it need to establish a system that can compete with the Dragon Xia tribe.
They only need to pursue quality and symbolic advantages.
As for the quality and symbolic meaning, that will probably depend on how much of the funding is actually used in the end.
Finally, all they need to do is use a carefully crafted narrative to garner domestic and international support.
Politics is nothing more than this: deceiving superiors and subordinates, fooling people for as long as possible.
As for what to do if you get caught... well, just find another reason or excuse and do it again.
What if it becomes impossible to hide it any longer in the end...?
Just kidding, that's many years from now.
By then, these people might have already stepped down from their posts.
The problems all stem from their opposing parties.
Do you think opposing parties would be bothered by this? No, they wouldn't be bothered by this either.
It's very simple. How long have they been in power? They just need to shift all the problems and blame onto the previous leader, and that's it.
By then, these people will no longer be part of the ruling party. Should they still be held responsible for the decisions they made before?
Western electoral politics is that abstract.
Throughout the entire decision-making process, no one should be held responsible for the failure of the decision.
Anyone can shift the blame for a failed decision.
"Technically speaking... it is feasible to some extent."
The technical advisor answered cautiously.
"We can accelerate the development of several near-mature prototype satellites, such as an upgraded version of the 'Silent Barker' electronic reconnaissance satellite..."
"Or it could be a verification satellite for the 'Rod of God' kinetic weapon platform."
The Rod of God sounds impressive, but frankly, it's just a purely conceptual weapon.
This weapon is extremely expensive to produce and limited in quantity, but its performance is theoretically outstanding and it's also incredibly hype-worthy.
If launched in a concentrated manner, it can naturally create a technological demonstration effect.
But... in the end, this is just a weapon of demonstration.
This cannot fundamentally reverse the trend of orbital and frequency band resources being eroded, nor can it build a fully functional system like Longxia.
"It doesn't matter."
The chieftain waved his hand.
“But the momentum must be built now. Field is right, voters need a story, and allies need confidence.”
He looked at Secretary of State Olson: "Robert, work with our partners, including Europe, to develop a 'Code of Conduct for Responsible Space' initiative."
"Include clauses such as 'avoiding orbital collisions,' 'preventing space debris,' and 'prohibiting anti-satellite tests,' focusing on discussing the potential risks of large-scale constellation deployment and condemning the suppression of the Longxia tribe from a public opinion perspective."
"We need to make the international community feel that we abide by the rules, while Longxia breaks the rules."
When Westerners are powerful, they will use force and other means to force you to submit.
But when the situation is reversed, they turn around and demand peace, accusing others of being the rule-breakers.
Distorting the truth and ignoring right and wrong is their usual tactic.
The chieftain then looked at Field and Thurston: "Militarily, we need to keep up with the Longsha tribe's pace, budget..."
"Some of it can be allocated from other non-urgent projects."
"But in public communications, we must emphasize its defensive and surveillance capabilities in order to counter the growing space threats."
"As for more specific and detailed plans... we can leave that for next year."
The so-called "next year" naturally refers to the period after he is re-elected.
Finally, the Great Chief's gaze fell upon the Director of Intelligence and several military advisors.
“I need stronger evidence to support our narrative.”
The chieftain paused, and thought carefully for a moment.
"Is it possible that Longxia's satellite network could be used to spy on other countries and violate the privacy of its citizens?"
"Anyway, public opinion is being guided in this direction, understand?"
They are distorting the truth and smearing the image of the Longxia tribe.
This is not the first time the Eagle Tribe has done this.
It was simply a matter of repeating the same method as before, and everyone was very familiar with it.
The meeting room was completely silent.
Everyone understood the president's subtext.
The reality may not be good for them, but in terms of public relations, they must win even more.
The technological gap can be ignored for the time being, but the political needs must be met first.
They use existing "technology demonstrations" to save face, and then use carefully guided public opinion to create a "righteous" image.
Ultimately, economic and technological pressure is transformed into diplomatic and moral pressure, thus serving the purpose of the election.
Whether the facts are true or not, and whether the Eagle Tribe will actually fall behind in the competition, is not important. All national interests must give way to private interests.
"Then it's settled."
The chief stood up and made the decision.
"The publicity plan is done. Meeting adjourned."
In fact, everything else can be ignored, but there must be no mistakes in the propaganda message.
Everyone silently got up and left.
One director had already confidently begun devising how to package the "Space Dominance Initiative" as a political slogan to attract centrist voters and boost the confidence of allies.
……
Soon, the Eagle Tribe's propaganda machine was fully operational.
It must be said that, after all, it is an old empire, and with years of continuous brainwashing of the world, the propaganda machine of such an old empire is truly impressive when it is fully operational.
In just a few days, news of the Eagle Tribe's new plans for space exploration spread throughout the world.
This plan has become a major political bargaining chip for the Great Chief to garner votes.
The most famous part of this project is, of course, the Rod of God.
Just then, a science fiction movie was released, which also features the Rod of God.
This science fiction movie called G.I. Joe portrays the Rod of God as something incredibly powerful, with its destructive force comparable to a high-yield nuclear bomb!
In addition, it has various advantages such as global precision guidance and 3-minute deployment.
In short, this satellite weapon has been hyped up to the skies, with all sorts of incredible and outrageous claims emerging.
When the news reached China, even a group of researchers there were very nervous.
Although the Longxia tribe is currently accelerating the launch of satellites into space, in terms of the absolute number of satellites, the Longxia tribe still lags far behind the Eagle tribe.
Furthermore, the Eagle Tribe's announcement that the satellite weapon, the Rod of God, is ready for large-scale deployment has naturally raised concerns among many.
Some people even went to Su Dingping to ask for his opinion on the matter.
The entire Nantianmen project was time-sensitive and demanding, so Su Dingping hadn't really been paying much attention to the outside news during this period.
It wasn't until someone asked him directly that he belatedly looked into the major events that had recently occurred.
After reading the news released by the Eagle Tribe, Su Dingping couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Even though the Longxia tribe has risen to prominence at this point in time, the Eagle tribe's propaganda over the years has still deeply resonated with the public.
At least in terms of creating momentum, the Longxia tribe is far inferior to the Xiongying tribe.
These so-called celestial weapons are touted as having incredible power, but their actual effectiveness is quite laughable.
As mentioned before, the history of human scientific development is essentially about studying how to boil water and throw stones better.
Theoretically speaking, there is no fundamental difference between modern gunpowder weapons and ancient humans picking up a pebble from the ground and throwing it.
The only difference is that modern weapons fire stones that are more powerful and faster.
This so-called Rod of God, this so-called space-based weapon, is simply taking the act of throwing stones to its extreme.
Simply put, the Rod of God is a tungsten rod weighing about 100 kg that is transported into space and then launched by a satellite.
It strikes ground targets at extremely high speeds, using kinetic energy to cause damage.
This science fiction concept has left many ordinary people completely bewildered.
Not to mention ordinary people, even many researchers were shocked when they first heard about this kind of conceptual weapon.
"It's best to just listen to them talk about this weapon; there's no need to take it seriously."
Su Dingping smiled and explained to the old man in front of him.
After hearing the news, the top leader was very worried and came to ask Su Dingping in person.
There was nothing they could do. In that war decades ago, the Longxia tribe didn't have nuclear weapons, and they were constantly being blackmailed by the Xiong Ying tribe with nuclear weapons.
He even developed a severe fear of insufficient firepower as a result.
Now that they've heard about the existence of a secret weapon with power comparable to a nuclear bomb, and theoretically impossible to defend against, how could the top leader possibly sleep soundly?
The Eagle Tribe's propaganda weapons are truly formidable. Even in the previous life, it wasn't until the 2020s that the Dragon Summer Tribe gradually broke through the filter halo surrounding the Eagle Tribe.
Just like in this day and age, who would have thought that the Eagle Tribe's scientific research data in various aspects are seriously falsified?
It's like when our country's scientists were researching submarine-related materials, they found that the data provided by the Eagle Tribe was truly terrifying.
No matter how hard our scientists try, the material properties they ultimately develop are only 80% of what the Eagle Tribe has announced.
At the time, scientists in our country were still marveling at how amazing the technology of the Eagle Tribe was.
It wasn't until later that they were exposed for falsifying data, and that the actual performance was only 50% of what they had published.
So, by this calculation, it turns out that our material properties have already surpassed theirs.
Similar fraudulent practices are prevalent in countries around the world.
Only the Longxia tribe honestly conducts scientific research, honestly publishes real data, and even holds back some information.
This space-based weapon follows the same concept.
"Currently, the world's largest rocket in terms of payload capacity is only a few tons, and the cost of a single launch is even more difficult to estimate."
"So let's set aside the tungsten rods that are measured in tons for now, and even disregard the technical issues of whether such heavy tungsten rods can be successfully deployed. Just considering the cost alone, it's estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars."
"Not to mention the costs of subsequent maintenance and long-term operation."
"With that much money, we could launch dozens of nuclear warheads, and their power would be much greater than that of tungsten rods."
Su Dingping smiled easily.
"Let's start by discussing the tungsten rods that are currently the hottest topic among the Eagle Tribes, which are 100kg units of weaponry."
"Actually, a little calculation will show that there is a theoretical upper limit to the kinetic energy that this thing can generate!"
Su Dingping got so into the conversation that he pulled up a blackboard from beside him and started writing and talking at the same time.
"Unlike at low speeds, the impact of a tungsten rod on the ground at ultra-high speeds can no longer be uniformly regarded as a rigid body collision."
"Metals are not as hard as many people imagine."
"Therefore, depending on the actual speed, it can be divided into three modes: rigid body penetration, semi-fluid penetration, and fluid penetration."
"When the projectile velocity exceeds Mach 3, fluid penetration will occur. A fluid dynamics model is needed to calculate the penetration process. The Bernoulli equation and continuity equation are..."
"When the projectile speed is between Mach 1.5 and Mach 3, it will undergo semi-fluid penetration, and the projectile medium will be in the transition zone from internal friction to fluid state. Therefore, a modified hydrodynamic model should be used for simulation..."
"The equation at this point should be..." (End of Chapter)