Chapter 575 Small unmanned bomber?
After arranging this task, Gao Zhendong turned the topic to another matter.

As for the details of the laser-guided bomb, we will talk about it after the project is approved. The approval of the project is inevitable, so there is no need to rush.

Even the Citigroup guys haven't come up with this thing yet, let alone other countries.

"If you want to make this laser-guided bomb, you should first prepare the materials and conduct preliminary research as mentioned above. That's enough for now. I will now tell you about another topic."

The comrades at Chunlei Factory were very happy. Chief Engineer Gao kept his word. He said two and it meant two.

"As for the second one, the guidance system is not that complicated. It can even be said to be simple - a 500kg-class long-range ammunition dispenser."

The ammunition dispenser cannot be too small, it must be at least 500kg.

The guidance system of the ammunition dispenser can also be complicated, but Gao Zhendong does not need something that complicated.

Ammunition dispenser? What the hell is that? Chief Engineer Gao always comes up with something new.

Seeing the bewildered faces of the crowd, Gao Zhendong smiled and said, "This is the name I gave it. You can think of it as a cluster bomb, a cluster bomb that will fly over the enemy's head and spread ammunition."

Ammunition dispensers are also fixed on aircraft. For example, when American businessman John Bull and others were fighting in the Middle East for oil, the JP233 used by John Bull was fixed on a Tornado fighter.

This does have an advantage, in that it can accurately deploy ammunition without the need for power or guidance systems, but it has a big disadvantage - it's easy to get hit!
The Tornado was probably the combat aircraft that suffered the greatest loss in that group fight. Another reason was that the JP233 had to be airborne and deployed at medium and low altitudes.

Gao Zhendong, knowing the disadvantages of this thing, naturally skipped the fixed spreader and jumped directly to the flying spreader.

There are two types of aerial dispensers: unpowered gliding and powered flight. Some even use small turbojets or turbofans and can fly very far.

He introduced the simple concept of the dispenser to his colleagues at the Chunlei Factory, and the chief designer of the ammunition subsystem was a little confused.

"Chief Engineer Gao, isn't this a cluster bomb? Does it need to be specially made?" I understood it, but not everything.

Gao Zhendong smiled. When quite a number of people first came into contact with this thing, they would confuse it with aviation cluster bombs. To some extent, it was true. This thing was indeed a type of cluster bomb, but it was a more special one.

"This thing is indeed a cluster bomb, but it is different from the common cluster bombs you see. The common cluster bombs determine the style of the cluster bomb according to the bullet, and the cluster bombs are not universal."

"Yes, that's right. The mother bomb must be designed specifically according to the appearance of the submunitions." Chief Engineer Gao is relatively knowledgeable about bombs.

"But this dispenser is the opposite. No matter what the submunitions look like, the mother bomb will look the same. This is a universal dispenser that can provide dispensing services for all types of submunitions in the future."

Universal? To be honest, the comrades at the Chunlei Factory have never considered this issue. If there is any sub-munition, they just make a special mother bomb.

"What good is this? If the submunitions are made to fit into the mother bomb, it will inevitably cause a certain amount of waste of space, because not all submunitions can be combined and loaded into the mother bomb."

This is the truth. Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes, it is true, but this little bit of waste is necessary. The advantage of this thing is that it is universal. It has a long range and a certain degree of guidance capability. You can think of it as a small unmanned bomber, can you understand it?"

Gao Zhendong's example made the comrades of Chunlei Factory understand at once: unmanned bomber! Yes, use this thing to bring submunitions to the enemy without our bombers or attack aircraft taking risks!

In this case, universal design becomes necessary.

It is definitely cheaper to design and produce a standard guided dispensing shell than to design and produce one for each type of munition.

In addition to research and production, having a standard dispenser will have great benefits for logistics, aircraft mounting, tactical unification, etc.

If new sub-munitions are developed, as long as their installation in the dispenser is carefully considered during the design, they can definitely be quickly applied. There is no need to rack one's brains to design their appearance, consider their range, and think about how to hit them accurately.

These things have been accomplished by the spreader.

By paying a little bit of space, we can reduce ammunition costs, improve maintenance performance, increase strike efficiency, and speed up the deployment of new weapons, achieving multiple goals at one stroke.

However, Engineer Zhou, who was in charge of the guidance, still had some doubts: "Chief Engineer Gao, this method is good, but under the current conditions, even with guidance, the distribution of submunitions is still not accurate enough, and it is even no different from high-altitude horizontal bombing."

Gao Zhendong smiled: "If you don't consider the capabilities and characteristics of the submunitions themselves, it is true that the simple guidance of the dispenser itself does not bring any benefit to the accuracy of the submunitions. But what if I don't care whether it can improve the accuracy of the submunitions?" Don't care? Then why bother with this thing? High-altitude horizontal bombing is also quite safe.

Seeing that Mr. Zhou still didn't quite understand, Gao Zhendong had to reveal a little bit.

"I have only considered two types of submunitions for this dispenser. Strictly speaking, there is only one type, and the other type is incidental. This type of submunition has its own homing and guidance capabilities. The dispenser only needs to bring it to the appropriate altitude above the target and scatter it, so it's called a dispenser."

Gao Zhendong developed the dispenser with only one purpose - to create a better carrier for the terminal-sensitive munitions he was researching.

For the time being, he has no idea of ​​adding small tactical missiles like the Citigroup's "Hellfire" to the attack aircraft. Putting aside the technical difficulty, that thing is too weak to hit hard targets, too accurate to hit soft targets, and excessively powerful to hit tanks, but the bottom line is that it is too expensive.

With the terminal-sensitive bombs to attack the armored groups, the remaining problems in the battle can be left to the 61 three treasures to solve, which is much more convenient than air support.

Gao Zhendong is not bragging. All the tanks now tremble in fear of the 61 fire and Red Sword-61. As for armored vehicles, the gun grenades hanging under the 61 assault rifles are enough to give them a hard time.

As carriers of terminal-sensitive munitions, rocket launchers and large-caliber howitzers cannot be relied upon in the short term. Large-caliber howitzers are difficult to reinforce at high G, and their firepower density is not high. Rocket launchers have enough firepower density, but their range is average.

Since we have an air force, the most suitable ones to launch terminal-sensitive bombs against the enemy are naturally attack aircraft or tactical light bombers. For both of these tasks, it is estimated that the improved Z-5 will be carried.

It comes quickly, carries a lot of ammunition, and with a dispenser, it has a long range.

Moreover, compared with rockets, the mission payload of aircraft is the most flexible. When rocket launchers go to the battlefield, the total amount of ammunition they can carry is limited. It also involves the capability and convenience of logistics support. Terminal-sensitive munitions, which have special uses, may not be able to be carried or obtained easily.

When the comrades at Chunlei Factory heard this, they were like, "Oh, the ammunition has its own homing function, so there's nothing to worry about."

Only then did they realize that this new type of ammunition was different in its era and usage from all previous ammunition, and that this type of ammunition was a product of the era of guided weapons.

Mr. Zhang smiled and said, "Well, it seems that we need to update our concepts. We can't always use the old ideas to apply to current or even future equipment. Mr. Gao, what is the other kind of submunition?"

Gao Zhendong laughed: "Land mine!"

Speaking of this, the comrades at Chunlei Factory are no longer sleepy, as this is their specialty.

The Air Force's long-range mine-laying is the specialty of cluster bombs or submunitions. No wonder Chief Engineer Gao said it was just a side job.

However, there are some differences in laying mines with a spreader. It can be spread from a distance without the need for aircraft to be present. Although it is far away, it can ensure a relatively high spreading accuracy.

The comrades who were dealing with ammunition had already started thinking about what kind of mines to put in there: "Well, if it's 500kg class, we can deploy anti-infantry and anti-tank mines."

Gao Zhendong said casually: "You can also load some anti-runway ammunition in there, such as small bunker-buster bombs, and mines that explode when moving or randomly detonate when not moving. The former destroys the runway, and the latter delays repairs. They are also very useful. A few dispensers flying towards the enemy airport will definitely be more effective than a few 500kg bombs. The 500kg bombs destroy too concentrated an area, so repairs are more convenient."

This was originally a weapon used in group fights in the Middle East, but Gao Zhendong just brought it up casually.

Eh? The comrades who were working on the ammunition were immediately delighted. It seemed like this thing could actually be made!

Now that Chief Engineer Gao has already said it, why not ask it more clearly?

"Chief Engineer Gao, why do you want to detonate randomly? Wouldn't it be better to just leave it there?"

"First, it puts psychological pressure on the enemy so that they dare not approach, and are afraid to even go around, which will greatly affect their efficiency. Second, we have to ensure that the mines can self-destruct within a certain period of time. What if we want to use this airport after we seize it? In modern warfare, delaying the enemy for 24 to 48 hours can decide many things. At worst, we can send planes over to drop a few more mines, haha."

Where did this Chief Engineer Gao come from? He is so ruthless! His style of wanting both, and wanting more, is exactly the same as that of his comrades in the army!

The comrades at the Chunlei Factory grumbled in their hearts, but did not stop. They wrote down the suggestion for anti-runway ammunition. Even if the army did not approve the project, it would be good to develop it at their own factory.

"So what do you think is the appropriate range for this dispenser? Does it need power?"

Gao Zhendong took out a pen and paper and drew a picture. The picture simply divided the dispenser into three sections. The front was the guidance system, the back was the power system, the middle was the payload compartment, there were folding wings on the back, and a tail fin at the tail.

(End of this chapter)