Set sail1992

Chapter 1436 I want to fight two!

Although Zhang Qihang did not plan a development route for fixed-wing aircraft for Huateng Group at the beginning, Huateng Group still poached some people from Tupolev Design Bureau and Ilyushin Design Bureau. However, these people were "ordinary" talents in their original units who were disdained by Western aviation manufacturing companies.

Giants like Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier and ATR look down on these people, but Huateng Group does.

As for why Huateng poached people from Tupolev Design Bureau and Ilyushin Design Bureau, the reason is very simple. Both fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft involve aerodynamics. Over the years, these people have also made great contributions to the development of Huateng Group in the field of drones.

After listening to Zhang Qihang's idea of ​​a large fixed-wing UAV, especially seeing its appearance similar to the OV-10 Mustang, Boris Svetlov from the Tupolev Design Bureau said sincerely: "Mr. Zhang, we can do this project, but we have been away from the front line for too long, our knowledge structure is too outdated, and we have a great lack of understanding of the most cutting-edge international aviation knowledge and aviation materials, especially in the field of the latest aviation composite materials. We are far behind. If we were to make this aircraft, with the same performance, our aircraft's deadweight might be much larger."

After a pause, Boris Svetlov simply gave an example: "The 'Reaper' UAV uses a large number of new aviation composite materials and turboprop engines. As a result, the MQ-9 weighs only more than 2600 kilograms, has a cruising speed of more than 300 kilometers per hour, and a maximum speed of more than 450 kilometers per hour.

Although the key technical indicators of the drone we are developing are roughly the same as those of the American MQ-9 Reaper, such as long range and payload, it lags far behind in terms of cruising speed and maximum speed, and its empty weight will definitely exceed 3000 kilograms, and even 3300 kilograms is not surprising. "

Speaking of this, Boris Svetlov looked ashamed.

The reactions of the other Russians in the conference room were similar to Boris Svetlov's. They all felt that they were really embarrassing compared to their American counterparts.

  Looking at the reactions of the crowd, Zhang Qihang smiled: "Everyone, is there something wrong with your thinking? Although our aircraft is a bit heavy, the advantage of using a large number of traditional aviation materials is that we can reduce the cost of our drones to a minimum!

Who are our users?

But it is not the civil aviation department, but the maritime supervision department. In the future, there will be forestry departments, public security management departments and... well, some departments and units that everyone knows.

Compared with civil aviation, these units have completely different requirements for drones.

As long as the aircraft's range and payload can meet the user's requirements, does it matter if the aircraft's weight is a little bigger? An aircraft weighs only four or five tons, or at most five or six tons. How much more fuel can this extra weight burn?

But the purchasing costs we help users save are real. This part of the purchasing cost alone is enough to burn oil for these departments for several years.

As for the familiarity and application of more advanced aviation composite materials, isn't this project a perfect opportunity?"

Zhang Qihang knows very well that the future development trend of drones will be cheap and low-cost.

Is the MQ-9 Reaper good?

OK, but the price is a bit high, at $3200 million per unit. How much does the domestically made Scorpion A, which has similar or even slightly better performance than the MQ-9 Reaper, cost?

Some say it's 200 million RMB, some say 300 million, and some say 500 million. But no matter whether it's 200 million, 300 million or 500 million, it's still far less than a fraction of the MQ-9. One MQ-9 can buy dozens of Scorpions, and by then they'll be so expensive that you'll be killed!

Zhang Qihang's words made everyone suddenly realize: Yes! Are we stupid? Compared with the daily use cost, users represented by maritime supervision must care more about technical indicators such as voyage and load.

And as Mr. Zhang said, we can gradually become familiar with the performance of new aviation composite materials and apply them in this process.

After figuring this out, Boris Svetlov became excited and immediately responded: "If that's the case, then we can do this project!"

"It's settled then, let's do it!"

At this point, Zhang Qihang suddenly had an idea and asked the Russians, "Everyone, if we enlarge this shape to about 10 tons, can we make a drone with a maximum range of 13000 to 15000 kilometers?"

After listening to Zhang Qihang's request and looking at the simple diagram on the projection screen, Boris Svetlov pondered for a moment before saying, "It's possible, but the overall size of the aircraft will be similar to the American Global Hawk. With such a large size, manufacturing the wings will be a big problem..."

"No, no, no, Boris, the wings of this aircraft are not difficult to manufacture," Boris Svetlov was interrupted by Alexander Ivanov from the Ilyushin Design Bureau before he finished speaking: "The wingspan of the American 'Global Hawk' is about 36 meters, and the length of a single wing is about 17 meters, so the manufacturing difficulty is so great.

But if you look at the schematic diagram provided by Mr. Zhang, the wings of our "Double-Tailed Scorpion" drone are actually divided into four sections, and the length of each wing is only about 8 meters. With our existing technology, it is very easy to make it, without any difficulty, and there is no problem with the materials. "

  Ok?

Upon hearing this, Boris Svetlov hurriedly looked at the line graph on the projection screen, then slapped his head hard: Look at my brain!

From left to right, the entire fuselage consists of the left wing, the wing section from the left engine/landing gear bay to the fuselage, the wing section from the fuselage to the right engine/landing gear bay, and the right wing. Isn't that four sections of wing? Compared with the RQ-4 "Global Hawk" with a single fuselage and the engine located at the tail of the fuselage, the design of the "Double-Tail Scorpion" has indeed greatly reduced the overall manufacturing difficulty of the aircraft.

"Alexander is right, it can indeed be done," Boris Svetlov nodded immediately after reacting. "If it is just an enlarged version of the Scorpion with propeller power, it will take about 1000 kilowatts of power to ensure that the aircraft can reach a speed of more than 350 kilometers per hour. However, with such a large weight, it is best to use a turboprop engine, which can greatly reduce the weight of the aircraft."

The power-to-weight ratio of a piston aircraft engine is generally around 1.1:1. To ensure a power output of 1000 kilowatts, the weight of the engine itself must be about 900 kilograms. But if a turboprop engine is used, the weight of the engine itself is much lighter, only about 200 kilograms, which means that the power system alone reduces the weight of more than 600 kilograms. If all of this 600 kilograms of weight is used to store aviation fuel, it can fly very far.