Container Rocket Launcher

Chapter 98 Container Rocket Launcher

Upon hearing that the People's Republic of China was about to be founded, everyone in the meeting room held their breath.

Zhao Mengshan frowned and muttered under his breath, "October—that's only a little over two months at most."

"Yes! Time is tight, so we hope Comrade Jiang Fan can make use of your expertise and complete this task as soon as possible."

Jiang Fan immediately stood up, nodded solemnly, and took the document from Li Wanshu's hand: "Please rest assured, superior, I, Jiang Fan, will do my utmost."

"Although two months is a tight timeframe, as long as we make good use of our existing manpower and equipment and come up with a product to celebrate the founding of the People's Republic of China, we will have no problem winning this battle."

Jiang Fan wasn't just talking nonsense.

The founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China has been repeatedly mentioned in documentaries and written materials of later generations.

The weapons and equipment of the troops participating in the parade were varied, including Japanese Type 38 rifles, American Thompson submachine guns, Republic of China Type 24 rifles, and various captured artillery pieces. There were only a few types of aircraft, but none of them had live ammunition.

In other words, apart from the large number of people, it was nothing special.

Although the words were harsh, they also pointed out the embarrassing reality that the new China had a weak industrial foundation and almost zero self-sufficiency in military industry at that time.

But now that I'm at this point, I must do something.

Even if it's just a little bit, even if it's just showing off one or two presentable pieces of equipment at the founding ceremony, silencing those foreign journalists who were waiting to see us fail, and making hundreds of millions of Chinese people feel more proud, then our trip won't have been in vain.

Seeing Jiang Fan's confidence, Li Wanshu smiled with satisfaction: "Good, Comrade Jiang Fan, I've been waiting for you to say that. So, where do you plan to start with your first product?"

Zhao Mengshan also stood up, propped his hands on the table, and said in a gruff voice, "Director Jiang, we old guys have been itching to get back to work. Now that the battle is over, it's time for us to do something too."

"You tell us what to do, and we'll do it."

Jiang Fan felt a surge of warmth in his heart as he looked at these veteran military workers.

If the founding ceremony is to be impressive, then there must be everything: flying objects, ground vehicles, artillery shells that can fire, and cars that can be driven.

However, it's impossible to manufacture everything ourselves, so modification is the best solution.

At the same time, Jiang Fan couldn't help but think of a product from later generations: the container rocket launcher.

"Director Zhao, Minister Li, comrades, since everyone is so enthusiastic, please see what we are about to do."

Jiang Fan pointed to the Dodge truck outside.

Everyone in the conference room looked over, saw an ordinary-looking truck, then turned back, looking puzzled.

"Director Jiang, what's wrong with that truck? Is there a problem?"

Shen Chun scratched his head and hissed, clearly also extremely puzzled.

Jiang Fan smiled slightly and asked Zhao Mengshan if he had a blackboard for drawing.

Zhao Mengshan nodded and quickly had someone fetch it, which was then placed on the wall.

Then, Jiang Fan walked to the blackboard and drew a seven-step diagram.

He first drew the side profile of a Dodge truck, with simple lines, but the positions of the bed, cab, and axles were clear at a glance.

Next, he drew a square cuboid on the truck chassis, like a cargo box, but slightly taller than a regular cargo box, with the front end close to the cab and the rear end flush with the rear of the truck.

Then he put down his pen, turned to face the crowd, and asked, "Can anyone see anything different?"

Zhao Mengshan craned his neck to look for a long time, then compared it with the original truck outside, and finally blurted out, "Hiss, isn't this just a truck with a metal box added? We've had similar covers welded on to the supply trucks we've captured before, to protect them from the wind and rain."

Several veteran military industry workers nodded in agreement, completely baffled by the young factory director's ingenious idea.

Shen Chun didn't take Jiang Fan's words as nonsense. She stared at the cuboid for a long time before raising her hand and pointing to the blackboard.

"Director Jiang, isn't the thickness of this box wrong? The proportions you drew are a bit beyond the realm of physics."

"If you measure from the floor to the top of the cargo box, the height of this container clearly exceeds the railing height of a typical cargo box, and—"

Shen Chun stepped forward and drew a line on the bottom of the box: "You drew the support point of the hydraulic jack on the chassis beam. Is it for overall lifting?"

Jiang Fan's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself, "This is an expert."

However, one should still maintain the facade to the very end.

He didn't answer immediately, but picked up the chalk again and added a few more strokes to the back of the box, including a square vent.

Two rows of inconspicuous hinge lines, and a seam on the side of the box.

"Engineer Shen is right."

"This box looks like a standard cargo container on the surface, but its interior is something else entirely."

After speaking, Jiang Fan immediately broke down the structure on the blackboard.

First, an overhead cross-section was drawn: the interior of the container is divided into several rectangular units, and in each unit lies a slender cylinder with its tail facing backward and its head facing forward.

The cylinders are arranged like a honeycomb, dense and orderly.

Four small winglets were drawn at the tail of the cylinder, and an arc-shaped fairing was drawn at the head.

"Each of these cylinders is a 107mm caliber rocket, and a total of 18 can be integrated into this container."

pieces. "

As soon as he finished speaking, the retired cadres who had been folding their arms stopped swaying from side to side, and Li Wanshu even stopped packing documents. They fell silent instantly.

Zhao Mengshan was the first to react, staring wide-eyed as he asked, "Director Jiang, are you saying this metal box is a launch pad, not for carrying cargo?"

"To be precise, it's a multiple rocket launcher system disguised as a shipping container," Jiang Fan said confidently, standing with his hands behind his back.

"The vehicle looks exactly like a regular military truck. When it's on the road, it looks like a civilian vehicle carrying cargo from any angle."

"But as long as the driver presses a switch in the cab, the hydraulic system at the bottom of the truck bed will be activated, lifting the entire container upwards to form a certain angle with the chassis, which is the launch elevation angle of the rocket."

"Then the driver or the launcher outside the vehicle turns on the ignition circuit, and all eighteen rockets can be launched within ten seconds, covering a target area the size of a position."

At this point, he glanced at Li Wanshu and said, "On the day of the founding ceremony, if a convoy of ordinary trucks could pass through Tiananmen Square and lift up the rocket launch boxes on their backs, filled with colored paint to form a rainbow, the signal sent to the world would be completely different."

"We can not only make guns and cannons, but we have also built our own rocket weapon systems."

The beautiful vision described by Jiang Fan immediately made the group of people start to imagine it, and their breathing became rapid, and they swallowed their saliva frantically.

Li Wanshu, having a more comprehensive view, immediately asked the question that had been on his mind: "Director Jiang, you just said that the caliber of this rocket is 107 millimeters. Is there any significance to this size?"

Shen Chun was also very curious about how Jiang Fan knew this data.

Jiang Fan felt a little pleased as he looked at the two people's curious gazes.

This was exactly the question he had been waiting for. He immediately turned around and quickly wrote a few numbers on the blackboard: "Of course, 107 millimeters is a calculated optimal balance point."

"If the caliber is too small, the warhead will not have enough explosive and the lethality will be insufficient. If it is too large, the weight of a single rocket will exceed the limit of a single soldier's ability to carry it."

"Each rocket I designed weighs about 18 kilograms, so a soldier can carry one and move quickly through the mountains."

"This weight and size also have a greater advantage: it can be launched as a standalone rocket launcher."

These words were like a bolt from the blue.

You should know that no one has ever heard of a shell being able to be separated from the launcher.

Jiang Fan immediately provided an answer.

He immediately drew a simple cylinder on the blackboard and added two electrode contacts at the tail: "Conventional rocket launchers need launch tubes or rails to ensure the stability of the missile, but the 107 rocket, due to its spin stabilization and tail fin design, can be launched from any flat ground even without a launch tube. It only needs two dry cell batteries, two wires, or even two iron wires to be placed on the tail electrodes for ignition."

"A hillside, a thicket, ruins—wherever it can be placed, it becomes a cannon."

Zhao Mengshan's pupils widened as he listened, and he couldn't help but interject, "Director Jiang, according to you, if this thing were distributed to the troops on a large scale, wouldn't that mean even artillerymen wouldn't need training?"

"You could say that," Jiang Fan nodded.

"In the future form of warfare, this kind of low-cost, low-barrier, and highly mobile rocket weapon will be very suitable for a country like ours with a vast territory, diverse terrain, and long logistics supply lines. Soldiers can learn to operate this cannon in a day at most."

"So we need to complete three rounds of trial production within two months."

"The first round is the modification of the prototype vehicle, which requires disassembling the entire Dodge truck, leaving only the chassis and its drive system, welding the cargo box frame, and testing a launch unit."

"The second round involves fixing the rocket body and solid fuel propellant, which requires repeated testing to ensure that the range and accuracy meet the standards."

"The third round is the vehicle integration test, including the linkage of the hydraulic lifting system, ignition system, and ballistic calculation aiming device. All of these must be completed before the National Day holiday."

"Is everyone confident?"

Without a second thought, these veteran military engineers immediately stood up straight and roared, "Yes!"

However, amidst this exhilarating atmosphere, Shen Chun casually asked, "Director Jiang, regarding aiming tools, it seems we don't have the technology for that, do we?"

The development of sights has a long history, from early mechanical sights to later optical sights and electronic sights. China does not currently have a mature manufacturing process.

However, Jiang Fan was not worried and patiently explained to Shen Chun: "We will use mechanical sights with a simple dial. The Soviet Katyusha rockets also used simple sights in the early stages of the Great Patriotic War and adjusted the angle based on combat experience."

"We can't make optical sights and gyro stabilizers with our current capabilities, so we'll use the most reliable and simplest method: calibrating the firing angle with a dial and calculating the range using empirical formulas."

"The salvo of eighteen missiles, with its wide dispersion, already compensated for some of the lack of accuracy."

Shen Chun nodded and did not press further, but her gaze remained thoughtful.

After listening to the exchange between these professionals, Li Wanshu remained silent for a while before asking, "Comrade Jiang Fan, the technical solution you proposed sounds feasible to me."

"But there are two questions I need to confirm first."

"First, are you sure you can manufacture the propulsion formula for the rockets?"

"Secondly, if this system is publicly unveiled at the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, it will be tantamount to announcing to the outside world that we have mastered rocket weapon technology. Wouldn't this attract unnecessary international attention?"

Jiang Fan didn't think too much about the two questions and answered the second one directly: "Pay attention is inevitable, but the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st was itself a declaration to the world."

"The reason we chose that day to reveal this weapon is precisely to tell everyone that this country is no longer a weak nation like old China, which can be slaughtered at will. We have our own rockets."

"As for certain countries, there's no need to worry, since they've never relaxed, and they will never relax."

"On the contrary, once this rocket system is mass-produced, it may become our bargaining chip to break the deadlock."

He then turned to the first question: "Regarding gunpowder propellants, I have studied a formulation that is mainly composed of a double-base propellant of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, with a small amount of stabilizer and plasticizer."

"The raw materials can all be found domestically. Nitrocellulose can be extracted from gunpowder raw materials, and our own chemical plant has the capability to synthesize nitroglycerin in small batches."

"During the trial production stage, you can mix them by hand using an enamel basin and a glass rod. The quantity doesn't need to be too large, and the risk is within a controllable range."

"However, this requires coordination from our comrades in the Northeast Bureau."

Hearing Jiang Fan's confident answer, Li Wanshu nodded silently: "Of course, as long as you have confidence, just go for it, we will support you throughout the process."

With this leader's affirmation, Zhao Mengshan smiled even more: "Director Jiang, Cadre Li, how do you plan to divide the work? I, Old Zhao, have fought all my life, but I've never personally seen a rocket launcher that we made ourselves."

Jiang Fan smiled, then his smile faded, and he said seriously, "Alright, since everyone is so enthusiastic, let's start dividing the work."

"Director Zhao, you are in charge of coordinating truck dispatch with the Northeast Bureau, and you will also be responsible for allocating the factory's best fitters and welders."

"yes!"

"Comrade Shen Chun, you and I are responsible for the structure of the rocket body, the trial production formula of the propellant, and the modification of the first prototype vehicle."

"yes!"

"The technical team is responsible for the design of the integrated system and ignition circuit. In addition, I will provide a detailed ballistics table for everyone's reference."

"yes!"

After making the arrangements, he looked around the conference room and, seeing everyone's high spirits, couldn't help but add a few more words: "Everyone, two months, seventy-four days, I have only two requirements: 1. Safety first, especially during the propellant mixing stage. Open flames are prohibited, and the operating room must be well-ventilated. 2. Report progress daily, and stop work immediately if any problems arise. We will solve them together, and we will never sacrifice quality to meet the deadline."

His heartfelt words drew applause and cheers from the crowd.

Li Wanshu stood up and extended his hand: "Comrade Jiang Fan, the Northeast Bureau awaits your good news. If you need any help, please feel free to call."

Jiang Fan immediately clasped his hands and nodded vigorously.

After the meeting, Zhao Mengshan immediately led his men to the workshop to finalize the chassis modification.

Shen Chun also took the few pages of sketches drawn by Jiang Fan back to the technical department.

Jiang Fan stood alone in the conference room, feeling an indescribable sense of joy.

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