Chapter 151 Extreme Test
Time flies and it is already mid-September.

The samples that Xu Qiang sent to the Provincial Defense Science and Technology Office were sent to the Second Research Institute of the First Ministry of Machine Building Industry in Nanchang the next day for comprehensive testing.

Military product testing is a very complex and rigorous process. There are about thirty steps in the whole process. The first is the test of electrical performance, which includes breakdown voltage, insulation resistance, surface resistance, volume resistance, dielectric constant, temperature rise, dielectric loss tangent, etc.

In fact, this part has little to do with Xu Qiang, because the electrical part was designed by Liu Siying, and it had passed the acceptance before. However, since the newly designed battery by Xu Qiang changed part of the internal space setting, the electrical performance part still needs to be retested.

At this time, it is the test of the environmental reliability of the sample, which is also very cumbersome, including high and low temperature experiments, alternating humidity and heat experiments, constant temperature and humidity experiments, hot and cold shock experiments, low pressure experiments, ozone experiments, salt spray experiments, rapid temperature change experiments, gas corrosion experiments, and many other experiments. This shows how strict the requirements for military product testing are.

Finally, there are the mechanical reliability tests of parts, including vibration test, collision test, drop test, three comprehensive tests, knife insertion and extraction test, stress test...

Fortunately, there were enough samples, and the National Defense Science and Technology Commission was very urgent, so half a month later, Xu Qiang's samples finally passed these laboratory tests and entered the final live-fire testing stage.

In fact, Xu Qiang's sample this time was based on the design ideas of mature parts of the original product that had already been mass-produced. Moreover, with the help of Liu Siying, he mastered all the core technical data, so it was natural that it could pass the tests in these laboratories.

But even so, passing the final live-fire test is still full of unknowns.

After all, during actual artillery firing, the shells are subjected to very high temperatures and pressures at the moment they leave the barrel. This kind of environment cannot be simulated in a laboratory. At least, the Nanchang Institute does not have such extreme testing equipment now. Moreover, during the flight, the shells will also be subjected to very large accelerations and high temperatures generated by friction with the air. These can only be determined through live ammunition firing to obtain the final data of the sample.

On September 1980, 9, at the 17st Military Base in the suburbs of NC City, a project review expert group organized by the Provincial Defense Science and Technology Office, as well as the Office's Director Luo Tao, Deputy Director Gao Zhiguo, and several other leaders all arrived at the scene by bus.

On the Shengli Machinery Factory side, only Deputy Director Xie Changjiang participated in the live-fire test.

Although Xie Changjiang did not have much real power in the factory, after all, he was just a cadre parachuted into the factory to manage military representatives, but the Provincial Defense Science and Technology Office was his "home" after all. Therefore, when the Shengli Machinery Factory communicated with the province, Xie Changjiang always played a central role as a "messenger". Compared with the factory director Liu Biao, the provincial leaders had a better personal relationship with Director Xie and were closer to him.

As for Xie Changjiang's participation in this live-fire test, it was actually an accident, because he came to the province the day before yesterday to help a military representative in the factory deal with the settlement of his family members, and he needed to go through some procedures, but he was dragged to participate in this test.

"Mr. Xie, I heard that your new product project was sent here without being tested by the factory?" Director Luo Tao asked Xie Changjiang on the observation deck on the other side of the shooting range.

"Yes." Xie Changjiang nodded.

"Is your factory doing this now? The products leaving the factory are not tested and accepted, but sent directly to the province. What kind of attitude is this? Does this comply with regulations?" Luo Tao's tone became serious when he heard this.

Luo Tao had just learned that this batch of samples was sent to the province without factory acceptance. Before that, he went to the military logistics departments in Guangzhou and Fujian to attend meetings. He returned to Nanchang last night. When he learned that there would be a live-fire test of new products today, he immediately rushed over in his special car.

Luo Tao has always been very interested in new military products projects. During his meetings in Guangzhou and Fujian, the military district leaders also mentioned many times the long-cherished wish of realizing the modernization of the army, and expressed that they would increase the purchase of new domestic equipment to enhance the overall combat effectiveness of the troops.

In fact, by 1980, the country's defense development strategy had begun to undergo a major transformation.

In the southern Xinjiang self-defense counterattack that took place last year, the PLA soldiers fought bravely and achieved a considerable victory. At the same time, the troops also exposed a number of problems in their equipment.

As a scene in the movie "The Garland Under the Mountain" later showed: Commander Lei's son "Little BJ" was shot and killed when firing a recoilless gun because all the shells he fired were duds. Most of the soldiers died because of the poor quality of ammunition. Among the batch of grenades randomly checked before the war, one-third were unqualified. The low qualification rate of weapons seriously hit the soldiers' self-confidence.

The same is true for artillery shells. During the Battle of Laoshan, the PLA artillery often encountered misfires, failure to fire, and even explosions during combat, resulting in the deaths of many soldiers in vain.

Due to the special era, too many weapons and ammunition were produced and there was a lack of effective protection measures. Especially for those ammunition hidden deep in caves, it was easy to deteriorate due to moisture. So later our army concentrated on destroying a large number of inferior weapons.

Therefore, how to solve the problems of poor ammunition accuracy and storage characteristics has become a focus of discussion in Luo Tao's two meetings. However, due to the backwardness of the overall level of the current national defense industry, domestic military products will still not be able to break through these technical bottlenecks in the short term.

Because of this, when he heard that the new fuse battery of Shengli Machinery Factory was going to undergo live-fire testing today, he immediately got on his 212 and arrived at the shooting range ahead of time.

It was only during a conversation with several leaders that he learned that the samples of Shengli Machinery Factory were not tested at the factory at all, but were directly handed over to the provincial government. This made him somewhat angry. After all, developing military products is a very serious matter, and Shengli Machinery Factory's practice is obviously extremely irresponsible. "Director Luo, the situation is like this..." Even when facing Luo Tao, Xie Changjiang still looked calm and composed. He continued, "The person in charge of this project is Comrade Xu Qiang from our factory. He has successfully completed the technical transformation project of our factory's chemical workshop..." "Wait! You said this project is the one that Xu Qiang came to us before?" Luo Tao asked immediately after hearing this.

"Yes, it's him." Luo Tao nodded, and then said, "He is the only person in our factory who understands chemical engineering. He also strongly requested this project and even signed a military order. This military order is still on public display in the factory... This matter caused a big fuss in the factory. As a result, after Xu Qiang made the sample, the factory did not have the relevant equipment to test his new product battery, so..."

"Xu Qiang is a good young man. He doesn't have a high degree of education, but he is indeed a talent. However, the research and development of civilian products and military products are very different. The technical threshold is not something that ordinary civilian product technicians can overcome. In addition to the accumulation of technology, there is also the issue of military product design thinking, which requires a long period of learning and accumulation!" Luo Tao is obviously very knowledgeable about military product research and development. He used to be from the Military Technology Research Institute of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, and was later transferred to his current position. He continued:

"Good talents must be put to good use, but if they are used in the wrong place, it will cause big problems. Artillery is known as the god of war, but if there is a problem with the shells, it will affect the war situation! If you let Xu Qiang develop civilian technology, I believe he can bring surprises to your factory, but asking him to develop batteries for shells is seriously irresponsible!"

"In fact, our factory leaders have advised him about this matter, but he even dared to sign the military order..."

"It's good for young people to be motivated, but we must not let them act impulsively! This military order is simply a child's play. He is ignorant. Don't you factory leaders know the seriousness of the matter?!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Just as Luo Tao was scolding Xie Changjiang for Xu Qiang's matter, rumbling sounds of artillery came from the shooting range in the distance.

For a moment, everyone at the observation point turned their eyes to the shelling point in the distance.

Fifteen shells were fired in quick succession, and the other side of the range was already ablaze with flames.

The shells used in this test had been strictly stored at -40°C and +50°C for about a hundred hours, and were not taken out of the constant temperature equipment until the last moment of launch.

Afterwards, a salvo of fifteen rounds will be fired, for a total of two rounds of live ammunition firing.

It was evidently the first batch of samples that had just been fired.

"Report to the commander. All five shots hit target number one, all five shots hit target number two, and all five shots hit target number three. Report completed!"

At this time, the voice of the target reporter was heard from the radio intercom of the observation platform.

"Clap clap clap!"

The next moment, applause broke out from the audience.

"This is..." Luo Tao obviously didn't understand the situation yet.

"Just now, the extreme low-temperature live-fire test of the new fuze battery developed by Xu Qiang was successful." Xie Changjiang still had a smile on his face. He continued, "There should be another group of extreme high-temperature sample tests..."

As soon as Xie Changjiang finished speaking, the other side of the shooting range started firing immediately after loading was completed.

"Boom boom boom!"

The roar of the artillery instantly resounded throughout the valley. As the flames rose again, the target reporter's voice came:

"All five shots hit target number four, all five shots hit target number five, all five shots hit target number six..."

　I wish you all a Happy New Year!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)