"What now, aren't we going to do it with a helicopter?" Zheng Yucheng asked the crowd who were also silent.

Several technicians from the Z-7 team were even more worried.

In the past two years, they have felt that the helicopter project is not as valued as other projects in the 404, and now they finally heard that they have got the world's most famous armed helicopter Mi-24, but it turned out that Xie Kai said that it was a flying tractor, and the base management did not treat this thing very well.

There is little hope, and the future is worrying.

Where should the entire helicopter team go from here?

"Yes, that's what it has to do. Since we want to do it, we must have a clear position, and we can't continue to study it like we did before. It's just a matter of reducing the weight of the Z-7 structure, adding some technology and replacing it with more advanced materials, so as to increase the strength......," Xie Kai said firmly.

This is something that cannot be abandoned.

Now he is also very entangled, whether to engage in this kind of armed helicopter that can carry infantry, or professional armed helicopter.

"Why don't you just cancel the crew compartment behind the Mi-24 and make it a helicopter gunship that specializes in providing fire support?" Feng Zhibiao, chief designer of the helicopter team, tentatively proposed.

Inside the entire office, no one spoke.

They are now on the ship of 404, and if it continues like this, it is not a good thing not to have a clear goal.

"Special gunship?" asked Zheng Yucheng suspiciously.

Not to mention him, even Xie Kai was a little puzzled.

Is the country capable of developing a special armed helicopter?

"Yes. At present, the research on weapons and equipment in various countries in the world is becoming more and more specialized. Of course, some aspects are also developing from specialization to integration, such as the fighter of the Air Force, the mission mode of the new generation fighter is changeable, and the war situation is complex, so the third-generation fighter is required to have more combat capabilities, and the multi-mission mode of air combat, ground attack, and sea attack is concentrated...... If you are engaged in loading weapon systems, you can have a helicopter with a certain transport capacity, which does look more promising, but it is somewhat in conflict with the project on the 602 side. Feng Zhibiao introduced.

602 is the most powerful helicopter design and research unit in China.

They all came out of 602, and now 602 has two helicopters imported from France, Super Hornet and Dolphin, which are being localized.

It's a bit repetitive for them to do this again.

"The gunship helicopter is more technically difficult than this helicopter, right?" Xie Kai asked with a frown.

The domestic Wuzhi-10 will not be carried out for more than ten years, and it is unknown whether the pre-research work has begun now.

"Not really. The most difficult lies in the control system, missiles, launch control system, etc. Mainly in terms of electronics, if you engage in professional armed helicopters, the requirements for the body are as small as possible......," Zeng Guangping, deputy chief designer, also explained.

Originally, they wanted to do this, but as outsiders, the helicopter project was not very important, and they never dared to put it forward.

"What do you think?" Zheng Yucheng mainly asked Xie Kai.

Xie Kai actually has no bottom in his heart about engaging in armed helicopters.

The Wuzhi-10 was also engaged in domestic work for many years, and it was not until more than 10 years after entering the 21 st century that it began to be equipped in large quantities.

This is definitely not an easy thing to do.

"We can build on the Mi-24 and remove the crew compartment at the back. In the past, large military transport planes had a lot of weapon systems, but now, many military transport planes have begun to cancel their weapon stations......" Feng Zhibiao said their thoughts.

The guns on military transport planes have almost all become ornaments, and they are of little use.

The same is true of transport helicopters, which do not have any weapons on them, and at most the personnel carrying them are at the hatch.

Hearing this plan, Xie Kai's eyes lit up.

The original Wuzhi-19 was not a lightweight-armed reconnaissance helicopter made by the Z-9 after removing the member cabin?

Although it cannot be compared with the Wuzhi-10, the Wuzhi-19 weighs 4.5 tons of empty weight and is equipped with a 23 mm gun, plus the bomb load of 1 ton, which has made the performance of this light armed helicopter no less than the AH-1S Cobra light armed helicopter; the cruising speed reaches 245 km / h, and the maximum range is 700 kilometers, although it cannot be compared with the comprehensive performance of the Wuzhi-10, but it has been greatly improved compared with the Zhi-9 helicopter.

This may also be a very good solution.

For a while, Xie Kai became a little expectant.

Slimming down the Mi-24, and then removing the crew compartment at the back, creating a light armed helicopter, and then using this as a basis, developing a special armed helicopter, it should be considered a relatively easy road.

"That's a good idea. However, we need to make the gunship have stronger overall performance, at least, it must have a certain amount of aerial combat ability...... Xie Kai said.

The aerial combat ability of the Wuzhi-19 is not too strong, and it is positioned as an armed reconnaissance helicopter.

That thing is equipped with anti-armor missiles and special air-to-air missiles, and it also has certain combat capabilities, but its combat performance cannot be compared with that of a professional armed helicopter like the Wuzhi-10.

The appearance of the Wuzhi-19 allowed the PLA Army Aviation Regiment to have a professional helicopter gunship at least ten years ahead of schedule.

And now, this project has not yet been launched.

"Yes, Xie Kai, do you know this thing?" Wang Guilin didn't know where Xie Kai's excitement came from.

He really didn't understand that.

Zheng Yucheng was also puzzled, "If it is really easy to use, why didn't the Soviets remove the crew compartment at the back and directly create a special armed helicopter?"

"The operational thinking is different from the direction of the development of army building. Xie Kai said. "Soviet helicopter gunships were used to serve their armored clusters, and were designed to quickly transport infantry to a designated area of operations. ”

The development ideas of the Soviet Union were somewhat biased.

In fact, it is not necessarily biased, but when the Gulf War broke out, the new combat methods displayed by the Americans made the whole world follow the US military for decades to come.

What happened later, Xie Kai didn't know.

Specialized helicopter gunships, especially the army aviation regiments of various countries, become independent combat units, and this is even more a matter of the future.

The torrent of steel in the USSR still makes the whole world tremble at the thought of it.

However, the new combat methods displayed by the US military in the Gulf War have told the world that with the support of powerful information and the support of strong air power, a ground war will not even take much time.

In the Gulf War, the United States and NATO coalition forces bombed Iraq for 43 days, and only after almost destroying Iraq's ability to resist did they begin to deploy ground troops.

And the ground forces, in the entire war, took only 100 hours.

The role of high-tech weapons and equipment in future wars begins with this war.

This is also a war that has changed the traditional mode of warfare since World War II, and the development and construction of the entire world's armed forces have been based on the characteristics of the Gulf War.

Helicopter gunships, no less important.

At present, the PLA has not yet created a professional army aviation regiment.

There is not even a clear orientation of the helicopter.

"At the beginning, we can build a light armed helicopter, which will make it much more difficult, and first make a professional armed helicopter to support the ground armored forces. The more Xie Kai thought about it, the more he felt that this matter was reliable.

The Z-9 has not been solved, let alone the Wuzhi-19 that was slimmed down from the Z-9 after removing the crew compartment.

"Yes, air-to-air missiles, isn't the base revising the design of the Qianwei-1 anti-aircraft missile and transforming it into an air-to-air missile? Feng Zhibiao also said excitedly.

Xie Kai can support it, and they are more excited than anyone else.

Originally, I didn't know who Xie Kai was, but I stayed in the base for two years, and there were almost no projects in the base that had nothing to do with Xie Kai.

"Do you really want to do it?" Zheng Yucheng was a little unsure.

Originally, he just wanted to get a helicopter gunship that could be exported.

Domestic equipment for this, the number will not be much, after all, there is no money.

And I don't pay much attention to this either.

At present, there is no domestic unit engaged in professional armed helicopters, and there is no need for us to compete with 602 and other units for projects, and professional armed helicopters can also fill the gap in the development of domestic weapons and equipment, and at the same time, we can also obtain technical support from other helicopter research units. After all, everyone complements each other, and there is no competition. Xie Kai said firmly.

The helicopter gunship project will definitely not require as much money as an advanced third-generation fighter.

"Export or domestic sales? If it is exported, will the superiors agree? If the above does not look down on it, won't the investment have to be wasted?" Zheng Yucheng was a little worried.

He now likes to think about cost more often than not.

If the cost of investment cannot be recovered, not only will the project not be able to continue, but other projects will also be seriously affected.

"Uncle Zheng, you have become a brother who fights geese, and you haven't even beaten the geese yet, so you will discuss how to eat them first. If the superiors are not allowed to export, at least we have to give some orders, right?" Xie Kai said.

Zheng Yucheng was speechless by his words.

Even everyone else laughed.

"Actually, we have to worry about whether the Soviets will trouble us if they know that our helicopter gunships are based on their Mi-24 and have removed the crew compartment at the back. Zeng Guangping said with a smile.

Xie Kai and the others all shook their heads.

Everyone is socialist, and there is no intellectual property rights, which is a capitalist thing.

"Actually, I'm looking forward to what the Mi-24 will look like after removing the crew compartment and what kind of technical strength it can show. Xie Kai looked expectant.

He really didn't think about what kind of surprise the Mi-24 could bring after removing the rear crew compartment and slimming down a part of the helicopter, which was originally a helicopter gunship.