Chapter 566: Miniaturized Nuclear Power Plant
Compared with ordinary fighter jets, aerospace fighters have more stringent performance requirements.
Not only can it fly and fight in the atmosphere, it can also jump back and forth between inside and outside the atmosphere.
Such a powerful machine is likely to become a mainstream weapon in the future.
"It looks... like a weapon that only appears in science fiction novels." Xu You exclaimed.
However, compared to some concepts in science fiction, fantasy is more important than technology.
Wu Jing's design drawings are obviously much more rigorous.
Every design detail complies with various theories, and there is no flashy design.
However, judging from the design concept embodied by Wu Jing , it is not an easy task to make an aerospace fighter that meets these requirements.
"If we want to meet the various requirements of the aerospace fighter design, we must meet these technologies. For example, according to the design concept of this aerospace fighter, we need to overcome multiple technologies such as materials, launch, and power."
The aerospace fighter that Wu Jing was referring to is the aerospace fighter that Wu Jing temporarily named the "Xuan Que" series.
The entire fuselage uses a foldable main wing, the three wing surfaces are not coplanar, and the length reaches 25 meters.
Its maximum take-off weight is about 60 tons, its maximum speed in the atmosphere reaches Mach 5, and its maximum speed outside the atmosphere exceeds Mach 20.
If such a design can really be realized, then relying on the "Xuanque" series of aerospace fighters will be enough to ensure the safety of our lunar scientific research base.
Xu You did not design a complete aerospace fighter like Wu Jing, but he already had many ideas about the design of the aerospace fighter.
Many of Wu Jing's design concepts coincide with those of Xu You.
"Indeed, aerospace fighters are a completely new field, and they are somewhat different from all previous technologies. Compared with normal spacecraft, aerospace fighters are more flexible and more maneuverable. Compared with airplanes, aerospace fighters are faster, and they truly expand their application areas into space."
The maximum speed of aerospace fighters is even faster than many of the world's most advanced missiles, but they need to perform longer mission cycles than missiles, and they need to be reused and have a longer service life.
Because there were so many issues that needed to be discussed, the two of them sorted the issues according to certain conditions and explored them one by one.
"First, there is the issue of the takeoff of the aerospace fighter. If it is only performing a mission within the atmosphere, it can take off normally from the airport. If it is performing a mission outside the atmosphere, I am afraid it will require a carrier rocket to launch it."
This method of launching via rocket is a bit like a technology that has appeared in the past - the space shuttle.
However, due to its high cost, non-reusability, and difficulty for pilots to escape, the space shuttle has been eliminated by the times.
Today's aerospace fighters are more like improved and enhanced versions of the space shuttle.
"With the current carrying capacity of the ZT series, it is enough to allow the aerospace fighter to reach a speed of Mach 20. However, it is far from enough to simply allow the aerospace fighter to enter the predetermined orbit. It also needs to be more flexible than ordinary spacecraft and satellites."
If it had just been running on track step by step, it would not be worthy of the name of .
"But if it can move freely in space, then the power and energy required will be completely different. Any existing power and energy will not be enough to support such movement."
In layman's terms, it is not impossible to make an aerospace fighter reach a speed of 20 Mach, but it is not so easy to make it fly freely in space at such a speed.
"In fact, with the existing capabilities, such a requirement is not necessarily impossible to achieve."
Hearing Xu You's words, Wu Jing frowned.
"Xu You, do you mean to install a nuclear power plant in an aerospace fighter? But considering the size of an aerospace fighter, even the smallest nuclear power plant cannot be installed in the fuselage of an aerospace fighter."
Whether it is a nuclear submarine or a nuclear aircraft carrier, the nuclear power plant used occupies a very large volume.
If an aerospace fighter wants to have an extremely fast flight speed, it needs a relatively small mass and volume, which makes it difficult to carry a nuclear power plant on the fuselage.
"Normal nuclear power plants are indeed not suitable, but after all, we have just made a breakthrough in the research of controlled nuclear fusion. For example, the Dongri No. 1 is a miniaturized nuclear power plant, which is very suitable for small equipment such as aerospace fighters."
When talking about Dongri No. 1, Wu Jing's eyes suddenly lit up.
Although the original Dongri No. 1 controlled nuclear fusion device was not so outstanding in terms of power generation capacity, it was unique in terms of plasma confinement. It adopted a method of internal plasma self-confinement, allowing the device to have a smaller size.
Although this magnetic confinement method cannot be applied to extra-large equipment, it can indeed provide strong power for some small and medium-sized equipment.
If it can be improved, it is not impossible to apply similar devices to aerospace fighters.
In addition to following the idea of Dongri No. 1, Xu You had another idea.
That is, to study the more controversial, cold nuclear fusion technology.
According to the technical requirements of cold nuclear fusion, the nuclear fusion process can be completed without going through high temperatures.
This type of nuclear fusion is suitable for smaller equipment such as aerospace fighters.
However, the theory of cold nuclear fusion has not been confirmed to this day, and many people even believe that it is a technology that is impossible to achieve.
Xu You was not completely confident whether this technology could really be achieved, so he did not discuss this direction with Wu Jing.
"Xu You, you are the general person in charge of this project, and I am also one of the main persons in charge. When you are ready, we can officially start this project."
"Okay, Mom, I got it. I'll focus more on this during this period of time. I'll contact you if I have any new ideas."
After seeing Wu Jing off, Xu You sat on a chair and began to think about the next direction.
"Cold nuclear fusion... no matter how you think about it, it's not something that's so easy to accomplish."
According to normal nuclear physics theory, extremely high temperatures are required for nuclear fusion to occur.
Cold nuclear fusion is like using a thin layer of ice to seal a large bucket of boiling water, which is not a reasonable thing.
