Chapter 1276
Driving a Tank, New Tank Helmet, Tank Communications Expert Li Aiguo
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
In evaluating Comrade Chen's work performance over the past two days, his performance deserves high praise.
She carried out Teng's instructions to the letter, and even asked the street office for leave to provide round-the-clock logistical support.
When the Zhengyangmen Subdistrict Office heard that it was a note from the Ministry of Railways, they didn't hesitate and let it pass on the spot.
As a result, Comrade Li Aiguo truly experienced the special treatment of being waited on hand and foot.
Of course, this is the literal meaning of implementation.
Monday morning.
After resting, Li Aiguo was in high spirits and mounted his mountain bike to get to work.
Just as I stepped out the door, I ran into Yi Zhonghai. This elderly comrade was using crutches and hopping along as he hurried into the factory.
Upon seeing Li Aiguo, Yi Zhonghai's face darkened, and he turned to leave.
"Hey, isn't this 'Old Man with Two Crutches'? Brother Aiguo helped you a lot, how come you don't even have basic manners?" Xu Damao also came over and made sarcastic remarks.
The news of Yi Zhonghai's broken leg has already spread throughout the nearby compound.
The nickname Xu Damao gave him has quite a wide following.
Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai immediately became furious.
"Xu Damao, stop talking nonsense! Don't you know how I broke my legs?"
"If you had both legs intact, would you have received Director Yang's commendation and been able to join the 10,000-ton rolling mill research group as an assistant researcher?"
Xu Damao is deliberately plotting something bad.
Think about it, he was forced by Director Yang not to pursue the responsibility of the deaf old lady breaking the glass, and he's still furious.
Yi Zhonghai was speechless.
Li Aiguo, however, displayed remarkable leadership qualities. With a wave of his hand, he said nonchalantly, "Alright, alright. For us in this line of work, it's all about perspective. I've always been a helpful person; everyone's well-being is what truly matters. As for gratitude, there's no need to keep saying it."
After saying that, Li Aiguo twisted the accelerator and sped away, leaving Yi Zhonghai standing there, rolling his eyes in anger.
"Just you wait, once I become the leader, I'll see how I deal with you!" Yi Zhonghai took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and jumped towards the steel rolling mill.
Li Aiguo came to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot today to do two things.
The first thing to do is to assign Zong Xianfeng and Zhou Gaoyuan to be in charge of the TV antenna project.
Televisions are now commonplace overseas, so a high-quality outdoor antenna is sure to sell very well.
The Yagi antenna that Li Aiguo took out is the fishbone antenna that is commonly seen in later generations.
Before satellite television broadcasting became widespread, this thing was the king of antennas.
Typical gain is 8–13 dB, and multi-unit gain can reach over 15 dB, with a narrow main lobe.
It can accurately align with the transmission tower, with a front-to-back ratio of up to 20dB+, and can stably receive signals from tens of kilometers away.
This was the first time Zong Xianfeng had undertaken such an important task, and he appeared extremely excited.
"Aiguo, don't worry, we will definitely make it happen."
"Make a sample first, and then start mass production after testing."
Li Aiguo thought for a moment and then added, "Compile the relevant technical patents and send them to Gangcheng later."
"Don't worry." Zong Xianfeng looked at the blueprints, already impatient.
This is not only an opportunity to demonstrate one's ambition, but also a way to repay Li Aiguo's kindness.
Back in Zaporozhye, he thought he was going to be buried far from home.
It was Li Aiguo who turned the tide, not only saving him but also bringing his father-in-law and mother-in-law's family back.
This kindness is as heavy as Mount Tai.
Li Aiguo was very confident in the technical abilities of both of them.
After arranging the tasks, we began working on the second thing: going to the wind tunnel laboratory site.
The project is being overseen by Chief Engineers Qi and Liu from the aerospace industry. The surrounding infrastructure is basically completed, and the core wind tunnel equipment is being installed.
Seeing that everything was going smoothly, Li Aiguo rode his mountain bike toward the Telecommunications Technology Research Institute of the Communications Corps.
Li Aiguo felt like he was a brick, ready to be moved wherever needed.
Deputy Director Qin and the experts from the Telecommunications Technology Research Institute waited at the entrance of the institute to warmly welcome Li Aiguo.
After exchanging pleasantries, Li Aiguo and the others arrived at the institute's laboratory.
Li Aiguo took out a document and discussed it with Deputy Director Qin.
"Director Qin, this is a research plan I've drafted. Take a look and see if it's suitable. If it is, we'll proceed with this plan."
Deputy Director Qin took the plan and asked as he looked at it, "Comrade Aiguo, do you think our hardware preparations are sufficient? Is there anything we need to add?"
Li Aiguo glanced around, his gaze landing on the equipment list not far away. After carefully checking it, he raised a crucial question.
"The equipment is complete, but what about the vehicles? Which type of tank do we plan to modify first?"
"Comrade Aiguo, we've already made contact and will be there soon." Just as Deputy Director Qin finished speaking, a rumbling sound came from outside.
"Listen, here it comes!"
Li Aiguo turned his head and was also stunned by Deputy Director Qin's extravagant gesture.
This was a brand-new medium tank equipped with armor. Just one glance was enough for Li Aiguo to tell it was a Type 59 medium tank.
Why? Because this tank is one of the few that can launch hidden weapons.
The azimuth machine gun was concealed in the middle of the foredeck, below the wave deflector, with only an inconspicuous small hole visible on the outside.
If the enemy blows off the tank's tracks, thinking the tank is a dead tiger, and sneaks up without any precautions, they will definitely suffer a great loss.
As the saying goes, a driver who doesn't want to be a machine gunner isn't a good driver.
There is a button on the head of the control handle on the right side of the driver. Pressing the button will activate the electric firing switch and fire the machine gun.
only.
Since tanks have a crew of four, it is impossible to spare a dedicated machine gunner.
The driver's main job is driving, and he can only roughly aim using the right edge of the field of view of the right periscope.
Once you've got your sights on the target at the edge of your field of vision, you still need to coordinate with the vehicle's turning to fire left and right, essentially twisting the tank into a fan shape.
This is what they call, hitting the target depends entirely on luck, and if you miss, just tell the gunner to blast it to smithereens.
The Type 59 was the last glorious moment for a bow machine gun.
In Li Aiguo's view, this design is actually quite humane, at least giving the driver something to protect himself.
At this point in time, the Type 59 tank was a domestically produced main battle tank, but its production was relatively small, mainly supplied to the South Asian theater, with only a very small number remaining in China.
The fact that they were able to bring in the Type 59 medium tank suggests that a high-ranking leader gave the order.
At that moment, the driver climbed out of the tank, and a young man wearing a tank helmet jumped out.
When Li Aiguo looked at him, he recognized him as an old acquaintance.
I once met him at the No. 1 Machinery Plant in Baotou. I think his name was Zhao Tan. He was a young man from the south and an excellent tank driver.
"Reporting to the leader! Driver Zhao Tan is here to report for duty in the tank!" Zhao Tan also saw Li Aiguo, stood at attention and saluted, full of energy.
"Comrade Zhao Tan, we meet again."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Zhao Tan led Li Aiguo inside the Type 59 tank to inspect its structure and determine a modification plan.
“Boss, you’re wearing my hat; you might bump your head in there.” Zhao Tan took off his hat.
Li Aiguo peeked inside and saw that it was indeed narrow.
The space for passengers to operate independently is only about the size of a palm.
Most importantly, the walls are all made of cold, hard steel, without a single bit of soft padding.
Wearing a tank helmet, Li Aiguo went inside, with Zhao Tan following behind, explaining the various functions of the Type 59 tank and taking out the relevant blueprints.
Li Aiguo looked around and found that there were only three possible locations to install a radio: the rear right side of the turret, the rear left side of the turret, and the driver's side compartment.
After discussing with Deputy Director Qin and the experts, Li Aiguo decided to install it in the small compartment on the right side of the driver.
Some people also asked why it wasn't installed in the original radio location, which is the rear right side of the turret.
Li Aiguo simply stated that the area was easily hit.
There's another reason: in a few years, the redesigned Type 59's round turret will be replaced with a square turret.
Of course, this is something that can't be said.
With the location finalized, the subsequent interior decoration work proceeded naturally.
The holes were re-drilled and enlarged, shock-absorbing pads were added, and a thicker steel plate was wrapped around the chassis for electromagnetic shielding.
As for the internal circuit wiring, it was a piece of cake for these experts.
The most crucial element is still the antenna.
Li Aiguo adopted a tank transistor radio antenna technology that combined a long whip antenna with the entire vehicle antenna. This was unique in that era and would not be outdated even in later generations.
Since it's a killer technology, keeping it secret is naturally of paramount importance.
At the technical discussion meeting, Deputy Director Qin proposed the traditional, old methods.
"Relevant materials must be classified as top secret and numbered individually. In principle, they should be signed off and distributed every morning, and signed off and collected before the end of the workday, with responsibility assigned to specific individuals."
This process is exactly the same as the confidentiality bag system used by Factory 211.
However, this is very troublesome.
Moreover, tank antenna technology is not as extensive and complex as the "mushroom egg" project.
If someone with malicious intent tries to memorize it by rote, the risk of leakage remains significant.
Li Aiguo suggested to Deputy Director Qin that the entire set of materials be broken down.
The antenna body structure, broadband miniaturization, low-resistance grounding technology for the antenna base, and low-loss feed line technology are separated into different groups, and the different groups do not interfere with each other.
The most critical antenna parameters are only known to a very small number of key personnel.
In this way, core secrets were protected, and researchers could work with less burden, quickly mastering the technology they were responsible for and accelerating the modification progress.
Antenna technology is similar to computer technology; the basic information can be found in textbooks.
However, without the key parameters, it is difficult to solve the problem even at a great cost.
Just like those programs without comments, after a while, even the programmers themselves won't understand them.
Upon hearing this, Deputy Director Qin's eyes lit up immediately, and he repeatedly exclaimed how wonderful it was.
On the spot, a special meeting on confidentiality was convened, and comrades from the confidentiality office were invited to implement this new system.
"Comrade Aiguo, how did you develop such a brilliant mind? Not only are you technically superb, but you're also incredibly skilled at management and security work." Deputy Director Qin's gaze towards Li Aiguo now held genuine admiration and respect.
I used to think he was just a genius technician, but this kind of confidentiality regulation has gone beyond the realm of technology.
"Director Qin, please go ahead," Li Aiguo said with a smile.
"There are now more than a thousand Type 59 tanks in China, as well as T-32 and IS-2 tanks, and quite a few captured Japanese and American tanks."
Modifying every single tank would take too much time and effort.
Most of the tanks are still stationed at the front lines and cannot be transferred back for modification.
Deputy Director Qin, a leader who rose through the ranks, knows that no matter how advanced a new technology is, if it cannot be promoted on a large scale and at low cost, it is just empty talk.
Li Aiguo had already thought about this issue and said with a smile, "Director Qin, the Red Star Computer Research Institute once developed a technology called modularization."
"Modular?" "It means integrating all the functional components into one device. The device has a power input interface and relevant function output interfaces. Different modules are assembled together to achieve the final function."
The concept of modularity didn't exist back then, so Li Aiguo thought for a moment and then used computers as an analogy.
"The computer's processor is responsible for processing data, the hard drive is responsible for storing data, and the keyboard is responsible for input. These devices are modules, and all of them are put together to ultimately realize the computer's functions."
Deputy Director Qin's eyes widened as he listened, his mind racing. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Patriotism! Your 'modular' design not only solves the current problems of difficult installation and promotion, but also means that if the technology needs to be upgraded in the future, we won't have to replace the entire vehicle. We can just replace the corresponding modules for the upgrade, right?"
"Yes, it's a one-size-fits-all approach; each upgrade only requires upgrading the corresponding module."
"Great! This modular design is absolutely brilliant!"
Deputy Director Qin was so excited that his face turned red, feeling that he had learned a lot from this young man.
This design philosophy of simplifying complexity and taking a high-level perspective, although based on simple principles, cannot be applied by anyone before it is conceptualized.
Li Aiguo essentially brought his summarized and condensed experience to this era ahead of time, and the results were naturally outstanding.
Deputy Director Qin dared not delay and immediately reported Li Aiguo's "modular antenna design" plan to the top leader.
After listening, the top leader made the decision immediately without saying a word.
"This plan shows a broad perspective! Let's proceed according to Comrade Patriot's idea!"
With this, the preliminary preparations are complete, and the project officially begins.
As is customary, Deputy Director Qin convened a rally, gave a speech, and then invited Li Aiguo to the stage.
Li Aiguo didn't stand on ceremony. After greeting everyone on stage, he went straight to the point and said, "Comrades, there's a lot to learn about designing a dedicated transistor radio for tanks."
Let's take it one step at a time. Those of you involved in antenna manufacturing, please stay behind. The rest of you can go and study other materials first.
Deputy Director Qin didn't expect that Li Aiguo would start working right away without any preamble.
However, this suited the military industry's tastes, and he quickly began to arrange related work.
The researchers were all divided into groups, had spoken with the security specialists in the confidential room, and knew what they were supposed to do.
Soon only the antenna team members remained on site.
Actually, manufacturing antennas isn't complicated, since it's all done according to blueprints.
Li Aiguo had drawn all the blueprints, schematic diagrams, structural diagrams, sectional diagrams, and wiring diagrams.
As for the technology, the Telecommunications Technology Research Institute had already mastered it. The most troublesome part was modular integration, which Li Aiguo had also solved.
In antenna manufacturing, there are actually two seemingly insignificant components that require further attention: the vibrator and the matching transformer.
Therefore, these two tasks were the first things Li Aiguo had to assign.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Li Aiguo began to assign tasks.
"The first step is to re-inspect all existing aluminum-magnesium alloy profiles, checking their thickness, hardness, and conductivity, and select the best ones."
With this step completed, any oscillator that supports a frequency of 400 or 450MHz can be used from now on.
One of the more impatient colleagues couldn't help but ask, "So what happens after we get the first step done?"
Li Aiguo took out the materials he had prepared beforehand and handed them over, then found the design drawings for the oscillator: "After you have selected the materials for the oscillator according to the requirements of the design drawings, you will manufacture the oscillator."
There's only one requirement: Straight! The straighter the better, just like Sun Wukong's golden cudgel in the picture books.
The comrades in the antenna group all burst into laughter.
The antenna team members got busy, and Li Aiguo went to the in-vehicle intercom team.
This department is mainly responsible for manufacturing the helmet headsets for tank commanders, gunners, and drivers.
The real name of this thing should actually be called a tank work hat headset, but everyone likes to call it a tank hat headset.
"Comrades of the Second Unit, you have an even heavier burden on your shoulders. This is the blueprint for my redesigned tank helmet headgear."
Your next task is to thoroughly understand the blueprints as soon as possible.
We need to come up with a practical and feasible solution regarding structural design, material selection, processing, and mass production techniques.
One researcher, puzzled, raised his hand: "Comrade Patriot, weren't the old TSh-2 tank work caps quite useful? They had soft sheepskin, and they were very comfortable."
Li Aiguo picked up a tank helmet, patted it, and laughed, "This won't do. This thing is made of lambskin, it doesn't insulate well, and people will feel stuffy in the summer."
I plan to replace the inner lining with slow-rebound foam and add an outer layer of engineering plastic. I can get these from the Lanzhou chemical plant.
"Moreover, this kind of hat is more practical in both design and structure. It is lightweight, strong, and beneficial to the user's brain health."
Hearing Li Aiguo's words, Deputy Director Qin and the researchers were full of admiration.
did not expect.
The company that makes headphones is now making tank helmets too.
It's important to know that some of the tank helmets currently made in China are imitations of those from their older counterparts, but due to technical issues, the results are not good.
Every year, we also have to import a large number of tank helmets from our big brother, which costs a lot of foreign exchange.
Actually, when Li Aiguo climbed into the tank, his head bumped against the hard hull wall twice.
Even through that old-fashioned leather hat, the shock still made my head ache.
If we're going to do it, we should do it the best, especially since the domestic technology level is now up to par.
Deputy Director Qin interjected, "Is it too late to start making hats now?"
Li Aiguo nodded: "It's not a big problem. Our Qianmen Locomotive Depot has a dedicated helmet factory that manufactures motorcycle helmets."
The molds and injection molding equipment are readily available.
With just a slight adjustment to the manufacturing parameters, integrating the communication headset would be a natural progression.
Upon hearing this, Deputy Director Qin thought it was indeed a good idea.
He also has a motorcycle and a motorcycle helmet, which is really comfortable to wear.
Using this method, the problem is almost completely solved.
What the researchers at the Telecommunications Technology Research Institute did not expect was...
Most of the information provided by Li Aiguo was purchased from the system.
There were no problems with either the design or the selection of materials; everything was very standardized, and the research progressed very quickly.
Regarding this, some people whispered behind his back that Li Aiguo was a bit unfathomable.
“Otherwise, the higher-ups would call him a genius. Well, since they’ve brought out such a good thing, we can’t let it go to waste. Let’s get to work.” Deputy Director Qin said.
Under the supervision of Deputy Director Qin, the preliminary research and development work progressed rapidly.
In just a few days, the first prototype of a dedicated transistor radio for tanks and the first new tank helmet were placed on the experimental table.
The next step is mass production.
The Telecommunications Technology Research Institute has officially submitted a report to the Communications Corps and is now awaiting approval from the Armored Division.
During the waiting period for approval, Li Aiguo did not sit idle; he planned to prepare for mass production.
Fortunately, Factory 312, under the Telecommunications Technology Research Institute, had a group of skilled veteran workers, so Li Aiguo didn't need to get too involved.
Every day at work, I would work with the researchers and experienced workers to solve production problems. In my spare time, I would drive the Type 59 tank with Zhao Tan.
Li Aiguo had also driven tanks at the Baotou No. 1 Machinery Plant, but he was nowhere near as reckless as he was.
The tracks kicked up clouds of dust as the Type 59 tank roared across the ditches and crushed the simulated fortifications.
The sense of conquest brought by that steel behemoth is something you can't experience at all when driving a train.
The Type 59 tank was indeed a good vehicle for its time: it was robust, durable, inexpensive, easy to maintain, and had great potential for modification.
This is also the fundamental reason why it became a legend in later generations, described as having a "terrifying turret from afar and five pairs of road wheels up close".
But the drawbacks are equally infuriating.
The power is too weak.
With a 520-horsepower diesel engine, dragging a 36-ton body, it's sluggish at the start, slow to accelerate, and its off-road performance is only so-so.
The firepower is decent, but the fire control system is practically primitive.
The 100mm rifled gun was powerful enough, but whether it could hit its target accurately depended entirely on the shooter's experience and luck.
Although external depleted uranium armor can solve the problem of protection.
It still lags behind the T62 from the older brother's company and the M60 from the younger sister's company.
Well, it's good enough for defense.
However, if we want to take over Southeast Asia in the future, those two islands are still a little short.
"How about we build a new tank?"
As the tank struggled to climb another steep slope, the thought suddenly popped into Li Aiguo's mind.
However, he also knew that one must eat one bite at a time.
Taking too big a step can easily lead to trouble.
"Brother Patriot, hold on tight! I'll teach you a trick to turn a tank around on the spot!" Zhao Tan's excited voice came through the earpiece.
Since putting on this new tank helmet, Zhao Tan felt that the whole world was peaceful, and he no longer had to worry about his head being knocked around.
He felt genuinely close to Li Aiguo, a comrade who was down-to-earth and could get along well with frontline soldiers.
Yes, they are comrades-in-arms.
"Come on! Let me see!" Li Aiguo snapped out of his reverie and stared intently at the periscope.
Just as Li Aiguo was happily driving the tank, samples of the tank-specific transistor radio and tank helmet were delivered to the Armored Division through the Communications Department.
Several leaders from the armored division looked at the samples with excitement.
"This tank helmet is really comfortable." A leader tried it on and found it very comfortable, even for everyday wear.
A leader in charge of equipment spoke up: "The hat is icing on the cake, the key is still this radio."
If what the material says is true, the communication distance can be doubled and the anti-interference capability is stronger.
That would at least improve the command efficiency of our armored group by one level.
Another leader picked up the materials and looked at them: "There's also the cost. I've taken a look at the construction budget."
It's significantly cheaper than similar products imported from Big Brother.
The money we saved is enough to build several more tanks.
"Modular design, Comrade Li Aiguo's modular design, also allows for the replacement of radios for other models, which is also very important," the senior leader sitting in the main seat spoke.
"I think this Li Aiguo is not only a railway expert, but he's practically a tank communications expert whose talents were wasted on the railway!"
A burst of hearty laughter rang out in the conference room.
The top leader looked around and said, "Then it's settled. The tank helmets will be produced by the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, and the radios will be produced by Factory 312. We'll handle this as a special case and get them into service as soon as possible."
"Boss, aren't we in a bit of a rush?"
Someone cautiously raised an objection: "This is only a prototype. Shouldn't we have the Telecommunications Technology Research Institute conduct more road tests and trials for another six months?"
The top leader waved his hand and said, "Testing only in research institutes will never reveal the true situation! Without practice, how can we draw conclusions?"
We can completely finalize the design, produce, and test simultaneously!
The Ministry of Railways has already begun a large-scale replacement of its existing equipment with the dedicated train radios designed by Li Aiguo.
"Our armored corps can't even compete with the Ministry of Railways? Approve! Approve immediately!"
"Yes!"
(End of this chapter)