Chapter 562 Search and Rescue System
Gao Zhendong did not follow his leader's instructions, but instead talked about the things he remembered the first moment he heard our pilot parachuting.

"Leaders, let's put that aside for now. I want to talk about something else. It's about how our comrades risked their lives today and shot down enemy planes one for one."

The phrase "one for one" made the leaders concentrate their minds, and it was quite stimulating.

One for one, it's just the equipment that's fine, but if something happens to the pilot, it would be a big loss.

There is no problem in exchanging equipment for enemies, but exchanging people is hard to accept.

"Comrade Zhendong, please speak."

Gao Zhendong originally wanted to talk about Mr. 7's extremely lame ejection seat, but then he thought it was inappropriate. According to the theory, he had never seen this thing, and it would be problematic to bring it up now.

Anyway, judging from the current trajectory, Mr. 7's imitation cannot bypass me, and I will definitely attend the relevant meetings. It won't be too late to talk about it then.

Moreover, Mr. 7's questions were too targeted, and it would be a waste of the meeting opportunity to bring them up in such a multi-system comprehensive meeting.

After thinking it over, he turned to talk about another systemic problem.

"When I heard the news that our pilots had parachuted today, I was worried. I believe that the leaders and comrades felt the same way as I did."

Everyone nodded. Indeed, this news was heartbreaking.

"I was just wondering if we could organize a mechanism to maximize the chances of our pilots' survival, so that the comrades who care about them can feel more at ease."

Gao Zhendong suddenly thought of this idea just now.

His elder told him a story. Probably in the 20s, a fighter jet that was training near his elder's home crashed and the pilot successfully parachuted.

However, since the plane crashed in a mountainous area and a deserted primeval forest area, it took 24 hours before this comrade was found.

And it was the local comrades who found the pilot comrade.

Fortunately, the pilot parachuted in time, and the ejection seat used by Mr. 6 at that time was an improved model with relatively high safety. It was not serious when it was found, but you are not always so lucky.

At the same time, this also shows one thing, that is, until the 90s, even on our own ground, the search and rescue system for pilots was imperfect, and there was not even a relatively complete plan and corresponding equipment.

Gao Zhendong wanted to try his best to change this situation.

At this time, all the comrades were waiting attentively for him to continue speaking.

"Should we choose a piece of equipment that can ignore the differences in terrain as much as possible and rush to the pilot's parachute area in any situation to search and rescue as quickly as possible? After all, we have all kinds of terrain, and we are not always so lucky to have a village nearby."

Gobi, desert, mountain, primeval forest...

The vast territory and abundant resources also put forward higher requirements for our equipment and systems. Why do guerrillas and government forces in small countries prefer to buy second-hand light weapons from the three permanent members rather than the so-called "fine products" from small countries? The problem lies here. The equipment of the three permanent members may not be the best in some indicators, but it must be the most adaptable.

The more you have, the more you may have to pay for it.

For every possibility, we hope to give 100% effort, instead of being like the Citigroup man, who did nothing in the face of the collapsed building, but only lit candles, placed flowers, folded paper cranes, and finally celebrated the funeral and cheered just because he saved a cat.

Gao Zhendong, who was thinking too far ahead, shook his head and collected his thoughts.

"I suggest that from now on, we should establish a complete search and rescue system for plane crashes, and provide corresponding equipment. Pilots are different from the army and navy. They are the first to go out, which means they are often isolated and helpless. After all, we have to fight back in the end."

"The limited space on the aircraft cannot carry too much rescue-related equipment. The special nature of the combat zone also means that they will be fine if nothing unexpected happens. Once an accident happens, the environment and their own conditions will be extremely complicated, and they need to be rescued as quickly as possible."

Seeing that everyone was lost in thought, he added one last sentence: "Especially the naval aviation, they can't even keep their feet on the ground."

At this moment, he thought of eighty-one-nine taels.

The comrades in the Air Force especially felt the same way. "Well, what you said makes sense. So tell me, in your opinion, what does the whole system need?"

Gao Zhendong counted on his fingers: "Three major blocks, to ensure survival for a period of time, to ensure being found by the search and rescue team, to ensure that the search and rescue team can set off and arrive quickly and have the best terrain adaptability." The leaders of the Defense Work Committee appreciated Gao Zhendong's style of explaining things in detail. His logic was clear and well-organized, and he was able to pick out the priorities and the difficulty of implementation and implement them step by step, instead of mixing them up and losing sight of the key points.

"Well, it's basically complete. How did you consider each part in detail?"

What they wanted was Gao Zhendong's new ideas. In this area, especially in the personal life-saving of pilots, he had made some achievements.

Gao Zhendong also knew this: "As for the personal survival of pilots, there are already some things that have been formed. I believe they are more comprehensive than my ideas, so I won't say more."

He did not suggest something meaningless like a "survival rifle". It would be safer to carry a pistol, or to be more wild and carry a short rifle like the Russians.

"My main consideration is search and rescue. The pilot's survival kit originally had a communication radio, so I won't say much about it. What I want is to add a radio beacon transmitter to the survival kit that can work continuously for 8 to 24 hours and automatically start signal transmission from the moment of ejection."

"The life-saving bag doesn't have much space to begin with. Even if there is this thing, it won't last long. And it needs to be launched automatically. Shouldn't the pilot be allowed to turn it on and off according to the situation?"

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "The intermittent launch method is more energy-efficient. The automatic launch can be made into a switch for the pilot to decide on his own, but the ejection must be turned on automatically. What I am afraid of is that sometimes the pilot will not have the ability to turn on the switch after ejecting."

His words shocked the comrades in the Air Force. Comrade Zhendong was very thoughtful and even took such details into consideration.

"Well, you have a point, but the radio beacon can't be made big and has low power, so its range may be limited, especially in mountainous areas."

Gao Zhendong nodded: "This involves the last important equipment, the helicopter!"

Gao Zhendong knew that we had imported the Mi-4 from the Russians, and that the imitation had been completed and mass production was in progress.

"Helicopter?"

"Yes, I suggest that we improve the Mi-4 replica model into a professional rescue helicopter. The helicopter should be equipped with optical search equipment with good enough performance, a radio beacon search and positioning system, a professional external lifting device, and be able to accommodate a combat rescue team of about 7-10 people."

Although the Mi-4 looks old and ugly in later generations, its performance was good at that time. It had a standard range of 520 kilometers, a hanging weight of more than 1 ton, and a passenger capacity of 11-15 people, all of which were very suitable.

"Search and rescue type? That's a good idea."

As a piece of equipment with both prominent advantages and disadvantages, the helicopter has a relatively special purpose. It was originally a rescue type that could carry 8 stretchers and a medical staff.

But the search and rescue type has not been considered. This is a new idea.

All the comrades present thought about what Gao Zhendong said and realized that this thing was really suitable for doing this.

Apart from fixed-wing aircraft, this thing has a speed of 210 kilometers per hour, making it the fastest one and can reach the search and rescue site quickly.

It has a large belly that can carry both people and equipment, can take off and land vertically, and has the strongest terrain adaptability. The suspension system allows the aircraft to retract and release personnel when it is unable to land.

A comrade also added: "If possible, it is recommended that the number of personnel should not be too large, a 5-person combat team + a 2-person medical team is enough. The saved space can be used to carry some necessary first aid equipment to deal with some common emergency situations on the plane."

Seeing this, the comrades attending the meeting started from their own expertise, used their imaginations to offer suggestions for this search and rescue helicopter.

It's no wonder that more people means easier work. For a search and rescue helicopter, there is no change to the main structure and equipment of the helicopter itself. The main change is the mission payload, which is very easy to change.

Thanks to everyone's efforts, at this meeting, the Defense Working Committee and the Air Force made a decision on the spot. After the meeting, the modification requirements for the search and rescue helicopter agreed upon by everyone were sent to the Northeast Helicopter Factory, asking them to modify it based on the Mi-4 copy model.

Seeing that the issue of the Mi-4 search and rescue helicopter had been settled, Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "For a search and rescue team, I suggest that there should be more than just one search and rescue helicopter. One or two armed Mi-4 helicopters should also be equipped."

Armed type? This is completely beyond the knowledge of the comrades present, but the good thing is that this term is so easy to understand that the comrades in the Air Force can understand it as soon as they hear it.

"You mean, external weapons on the Mi-4?"

"Yes, we can add external weapons to the Mi-4. The standard load capacity of the Mi-4 is 1.2 tons. We can carry fewer people and save a few hundred kilograms. We can also add external machine gun pods and rocket pods to suppress the enemy that is hindering the rescue. As I said, after all, we have to fight."

Since it is mainly used for suppression missions, Gao Zhendong did not suggest hanging anti-tank missiles on it. Moreover, if anti-tank missiles are to be hung on it, the modification will be relatively large, which is a bit unnecessary compared to completing the search and rescue mission.

(End of this chapter)