Chapter 34: The Simulated Fish Submersible
1301 Words
Chapter 34: The Simulated Fish Submersible
Jiang Yuesheng ordered the research institute team to drag the submersible ashore for further analysis and immediately instructed the unmanned reconnaissance drones to expand their search range. He wanted to identify exactly who was monitoring them.
When the drones extended their search range to 500 nautical miles, they discovered twenty-four floating islands within that radius. What made Jiang Yuesheng shudder, however, was that on one of the floating islands’ docks, they spotted the very old warship that had previously been used to intimidate them.
Jiang Yuesheng suspected that the submersible might have been sent by the same group.
It seemed that President Cao was absolutely right—this area was far from peaceful!
"Since they're using submersibles to monitor us, shouldn't we have one too?" Jiang Yuesheng thought to himself.
This reminded him of a project he had worked on at the northern Tibet base: the simulated fish submersible.
He realized that if he had a simulated fish submersible at his disposal, not only could it be used for reconnaissance, but if an emergency occurred, he could use it to sink an enemy warship in self-defense.
However, the simulated fish submersibles he had worked on at the Tibet base were state-of-the-art, highly classified, and impossible to buy on the open market.
"Can't buy it? Then we'll build it ourselves!"
With this in mind, Jiang Yuesheng gathered several key researchers at the institute to discuss the matter.
Given the terrifying threat they had just faced from the warship, most of them supported the idea right away.
After some back-and-forth discussion, Jiang Yuesheng made the final decision to start researching a simplified version of the simulated fish submersible immediately.
Since the research institute was newly established with limited facilities and personnel, Jiang Yuesheng worked with the team to create a streamlined version of the project proposal for the simulated fish submersible.
Depth Limitation: The submersible’s deep-sea diving capabilities were removed. Instead, it would operate just below the water’s surface, with its tail fin exposed above the water. The tail fin would be equipped with an antenna to receive Beidou positioning signals and instructions from the drones.
Communication and Detection: The sonar communication and detection features were removed. Instead, navigation would be based on Beidou positioning, and once a drone locked onto a target, it would relay the target's coordinates to the submersible for tracking.
Speed: The requirement for high-speed cruising was eliminated, and the maximum speed was set to 50 nautical miles per hour.
This simplified version of the submersible was a far cry from the advanced models Jiang Yuesheng had worked on in Tibet—at least three generations behind. However, it should be more than sufficient to deal with potential threats, given that the warship they were facing was already outdated and had been retired by the military.
One day, Jiang Yuesheng was working with the team in the new simulated fish submersible lab to install equipment when Liu Songlin, the lab director, approached him. Liu explained that the budget for the water tunnel project was insufficient and that they needed an additional 50 million yuan.
When Jiang Yuesheng heard that the budget needed to be increased by such a large amount, he asked, "Why do we need such a large additional amount?"
Liu Songlin responded, "Originally, we budgeted based on a 1:10 scale model for the water tunnel, but after consulting a few experts, they all said that using a 1:10 scale model would not be accurate and could introduce significant errors. This would extend the development cycle. The best option is to use a 1:1 scale model for the water tunnel tests. If we go with a 1:1 scale model, the original budget is no longer sufficient. I take full responsibility for the inaccurate budget; I should have done a more thorough analysis during the initial planning."
"I see… I understand. I share some responsibility too," Jiang Yuesheng said, acknowledging that hasty projects often lead to issues, and it wasn’t entirely Liu’s fault.
"Let me think about this… What water flow speed did you require for the water tunnel?" Jiang Yuesheng asked Liu.
"Up to 30 meters per second," Liu Songlin answered.
"Ah, that’s not too high. I’ve seen water tunnels with speeds up to 60 meters per second before," Jiang Yuesheng recalled from his time at the Tibet base.
"How about this… Liu, could you set up a few water tanks on supports like water towers, with the water flowing from a high point? Could that reach 30 meters per second?" Jiang Yuesheng suddenly had an idea.
"No, that won’t work, Jiang. To reach a flow rate of 30 meters per second, height alone won’t be enough. We would need large, ultra-high-pressure pumps," Liu explained.
"Well… actually, we don’t need pumps," Jiang Yuesheng responded. "You could add high-pressure air to a pressure tank. Just use a spherical pressure vessel, then inject air with a high-pressure pump to create a brief, high-speed water flow."
"Oh…" Liu Songlin suddenly understood.
Because the water tunnel tests wouldn’t require long durations—just a few seconds—using high-pressure tanks instead of pumps could save a lot of money.
Injecting high-pressure air into the tank doesn’t require a large flow rate of air, so a small high-pressure air pump could do the job. It’s a cost-effective solution. Once the pressure inside the tank reaches the desired level, the valve can be opened, producing a brief burst of high-speed water flow.
On the other hand, using a high-pressure pump to provide continuous high-speed water flow would require large and expensive pumps, significantly increasing costs.
Liu Songlin was in awe of Jiang Yuesheng’s wisdom and gave him a thumbs-up as a sign of respect.
Initially, Liu had thought that Jiang Yuesheng’s high position was due to family connections, but now he realized that Jiang was truly capable.
Later that day, Liu Songlin came to find Jiang Yuesheng again, saying that the team was in the middle of a heated debate over a technical issue and couldn’t come to an agreement. They asked Jiang to mediate.
When Jiang Yuesheng entered the meeting room for the simulated fish submersible team, he could already hear raised voices from within.
The argument was between two groups of engineers. One group wanted to use short-fiber electrostatic muscles to drive the submersible’s tail movement, while the other group favored using long-fiber electrostatic muscles.
Jiang Yuesheng had previously worked with short-fiber electrostatic muscles in the combat robots he assembled. These muscles had great explosive power but consumed a lot of energy and had a high failure rate.
In contrast, long-fiber electrostatic muscles had slower contraction speeds but consumed less power and were cheaper.
The engineers in favor of short-fiber muscles emphasized the submersible’s mobility, arguing that in an emergency underwater, rapid maneuverability would be crucial.
Meanwhile, those who supported long-fiber muscles were more concerned about endurance. They argued that long range was more important, and mobility was secondary.
The simulated fish submersible Jiang Yuesheng had worked on in Tibet had both long range and high mobility, but it was prohibitively expensive.
The simplified version of the submersible they were developing didn’t require high mobility, as it was mainly intended to deal with outdated warships. However, given the vast expanse of the waters, range was still an important factor.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yuesheng decided to support the use of long-fiber electrostatic muscles.
He explained his reasoning to the team, and most of them understood. After all, the goal was simply to deal with the old, outdated warships. As long as the submersible was free of propeller noise and could cover several hundred nautical miles, it would suffice.
Many engineers were deeply impressed by Jiang Yuesheng’s broad knowledge and calm judgment.
- Writer
