Chapter 517 Operation Skynet

Chapter 517 Operation Skynet

Chapter 517 Operation Skynet

"Take the lightning generator we developed earlier as an example. Its core component is a high-energy battery, plus a converter and an excitation device. The minimum cost of one unit is more than 300,000 yuan.

Now we need 30 of them, which is enough to equip a squadron of Su-s."

In the meeting room of the "Morning Light" project, Lin Yun's words instantly plunged the entire room into silence.

Three hundred thousand for one unit, one thousand units, that’s a full three hundred million.

In the 1990s, for their small project team, such a huge funding demand was like a towering mountain standing in front of them. It was daunting and there was no possibility of shaking it.

"But if it succeeds, what will a squadron of Su-30s be compared to it? This will be a major new discovery in physics, and it is very likely to open up a new field of microscopic physics!"

Ding Yi was very emotional, her cheeks flushed, her eyes were shining with a fiery light, and she tried to persuade Lin Yun, which made her feel a little embarrassed.

Fortunately, Chen Ang interrupted at the right time to help her share the pressure.

"We must continue to push forward the project. We have spent so much effort and invested so much energy. Now that we have finally achieved some phased results, how can we give up so easily? But the key problem at the moment is the funding issue, which we cannot solve either. We can only trust Chief Lin."

Lin Yun's eyes slowly swept over everyone present, Ding Yi, Chen Ang, and other project team members, their eyes sparkled with anticipation and persistence for the project.

"This amount of funding is far beyond my authority. Of course, I will report this achievement to my superiors, but I cannot guarantee whether they will approve such a huge amount of funding."

She paused slightly, struggled internally for a moment, and decided to give her companions a dose of "vaccination".

"Perhaps our project can be continued and will not be cancelled, but I am afraid it will be difficult to get financial support of 3 million yuan."

When Ding Yi heard this, a trace of annoyance flashed across his face, and he couldn't help but complain in a low voice: "This is the same as not saying anything. Without money, how can this project be carried out?"

"The main reason is that we are still only at the speculation stage. We have neither more detailed and specific theoretical support nor effective verification of the theory. If we go to the leaders without any evidence, how can they easily agree?"

Lin Yun explained patiently, trying to calm Ding Yi's emotions. She wanted the project to succeed more than anyone else. That is why, as the helmsman of the project, she had to be more cautious.

After all, wasting huge amounts of money is serious enough. If the project is halted or cancelled as a result, that would be a real disaster.

At this moment, a young researcher in the team suddenly raised his hand and said, "Sister Lin, aren't our lightning weapon samples still there? Can they be used as experimental equipment?"

"That one is still there," Lin Yun nodded slightly, but also a little helpless, "But there are only two of them, which is not enough to build a large-scale lightning array."

"Why do we have to build a large-scale lightning array?" Another researcher also spoke up and gave his own suggestion: "If the mountain doesn't come to me, then I can go to the mountain, right?"

Lin Yun was a little slow to react, but Chen Ang clapped his hands suddenly, with a surprised smile on his face:
"I understand what you mean!" He helped the researcher explain to Lin Yun, "When we came back from the island, we saw fishermen fishing, right? They don't set up nets everywhere in the sea when they fish."

Lin Yun is also a very smart person. He reacts very quickly and a hint of sudden enlightenment immediately flashes in his eyes.

"You mean... to make lightning move? That makes sense, but how do we do it specifically?"

She immediately raised a new question. Ding Yi pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and said slowly:
"The target of the lightning weapon's discharge can be transferred from the ground to another helicopter, thus forming a discharge arc across the air.

If two helicopters fly at the same speed, they can sweep a large area with this arc, and the effect should be the same as that of a lightning array. "

"It's like a big net dragged in the sky," Chen Ang added.

Lin Yun suddenly became excited, and his voice unconsciously rose a few degrees: "In this case, only one lightning excitation device is enough!"

"However, in order to realize this plan, there are still many difficult problems that need to be solved." Ding Yi reminded at the right time, his expression still serious.

Lin Yunshen nodded in agreement. Among everyone present, she was the most familiar with lightning-generating devices as weapons.

"Lightning is indeed very dangerous to aircraft, but no matter what, there is still a glimmer of hope for the 'Morning Light' plan, isn't there?" Chen Ang looked determined as he encouraged everyone.

With the basic plan finalized, they immediately launched several attempts.

At first, they installed lightning generators on cars, hoping that the cars could drive electric arcs across plains so that the arcs could scan a large area. However, reality dealt them a heavy blow. The earth is a conductor, and the induction effect produced prevented the arcs from being stretched too long, so the plan failed.

Next, they turned their attention to fixed-wing aircraft. After all, parachuting from a fixed-wing aircraft after a crash is undoubtedly easier and safer than parachuting from a helicopter.

But after some attempts, it still didn't work because the fixed-wing aircraft was going too fast and the strong airflow would instantly blow out the arc.

After going around in circles, they finally had no choice but to resort to the method of using helicopters to pull the "power grid".

In order to ensure the safety of the pilots' lives, they tried their best to take a series of preventive measures, such as studying an emergency power-off device for the equipment, or arranging for the pilots to repeatedly practice parachuting operations in abnormal flight conditions of the helicopter before the formal test.

Finally, everything was ready, and the protagonist team moved to the Gobi Desert, where they prepared to launch the "Skynet" operation to capture ball lightning.

The person responsible for cooperating with them was a military colonel named Xu.

After hearing everyone's plan, he couldn't help but sigh: "You are simply fighting a real battle with real swords and guns."

Lin Yun nodded solemnly in response. The rigorously trained helicopter pilots and equipment operators beside him all had determination written all over their faces.

"That's right. However, judging from the current situation, the entire army is already in a second-level combat readiness state. Compared to this, our small local 'war' is really not worth mentioning."

Colonel Xu agreed with Lin Yun's statement.

Being in the military, Colonel Xu naturally understands the severity of the situation better than ordinary people. At this critical moment, it is time for soldiers to stand up and take risks.

Because of this, the "Skynet" plan of the "Morning Light" project has more or less received some support from the superiors. Two domestically-made Z-9 helicopters were installed with lightning excitation and receiving devices and parked steadily in front of them. On the day of the first test, the weather was exceptionally clear, and there was almost no wind on the ground. The whole world seemed to be creating a perfect environment for this test.

All members of the project team, including Lin Yun, Chen Ang and Ding Yi, gathered at the scene, with a total of more than 20 people.

Not far from the helicopter take-off point, an ambulance was parked quietly, on standby at all times, ready for possible unexpected situations.

The two pilot soldiers in charge of flying the helicopter were wearing yellow one-piece shielding suits used by the power supply bureau for live-line operations. This special clothing may provide them with an additional layer of safety.

Lin Yun stepped forward and explained the experimental steps to them seriously, not missing any detail.
Soon, everything was ready. With an order, the helicopter's propeller spun rapidly, making a deafening roar.

A strong gale blew in their faces, making it almost impossible for Chen Ang and others to stand steadily. They had to raise their hands to cover their faces. After a long while, the wind subsided a little, and they slowly took their hands away, staring at the helicopter.

The helicopter rose straight up and soon reached the predetermined altitude of 5000 meters. It then began to carefully adjust the distance between the two aircraft, slowly approaching and starting the lightning generator.

In an instant, a bright arc of electricity suddenly appeared between the two helicopters, accompanied by a crisp crackling sound. The sound was like a sharp arrow, piercing through the air and faintly reaching the ground.

Then the two helicopters began to slowly distance themselves from each other, and the electric arc also lengthened, gradually turning into a thin blue straight line. As the distance continued to increase, the fluctuation of the arc became more and more obvious, like a nimble yet dangerous blue ribbon swaying in the sky.

Chen Ang and others on the ground held up binoculars, looked up and watched intently the every move of the two helicopters in the sky, their hearts in their throats.

Especially when the helicopter was increasing the distance, everyone couldn't help but worry for the pilot.

They are well aware of the danger of this process and must always closely observe the stability of the arc and be ready to decide whether to let the helicopter hover based on the situation.

It is particularly important to note that if the arc goes out midway, the two helicopters must separate from each other as quickly as possible and quickly turn off the lightning generator. Do not try to re-ignite the arc on the chance of a catastrophe.

Because the machine is started at a long distance, there is a high possibility that lightning will hit the fuselage, and the consequences will be disastrous.

Fortunately, everything went very smoothly. Through the telescope, Chen Ang and his team clearly saw that the two helicopters had reached the maximum discharge distance and began to fly slowly forward along the wind with the nearly 100-meter-long, constantly jumping electric arc.

They were not flying very fast in case the electric arc was extinguished by the wind in the sky, and they would have to try again.

At noon, the sun was high in the Gobi Desert, and the helicopter body was just two black dots in the sky. The brightness of the electric arc was obviously not as bright as the sunlight. Even if you stared at it closely with a telescope, it looked like a faint blue thread.

The helicopter ignites the arc again and again, flies a distance with the wind, then extinguishes the arc, returns, and repeats the above process.

In the next few days, Chen Ang and his team's experiments went unexpectedly smoothly.

Since the crew of "Ball Flash" was shooting in Dunhuang, the audience in the cinema was fortunate enough to see through the big screen two military green helicopters flying leisurely over the colorful and diverse magnificent land of the northwest of the motherland under the afterglow of the setting sun.

The emerald-green Qarhan Salt Lake has a sparkling surface, reflecting the sky and the surrounding mountains, like a dreamland; the Heidu Mountain seems to be a mysterious territory from an alien planet, and its unique landform is most like the surface of the moon, cold and lonely, exuding a desolate and primitive atmosphere; the bright and colorful Danxia is like a giant painting created by nature with the most intense colors, and every texture tells the vicissitudes and magic of time...

The stunning scenery of the northwest of our motherland is thus displayed to everyone without reservation.

This beautiful scenery blends with the sense of mission shouldered by Chen Ang and his colleagues in the movie, allowing people to deeply realize that this thick and slightly barren northwestern land and those silently dedicated Chinese soldiers may be the most important and solid foundation of the Chinese land.

However, even though the days of the mission passed by, Chen Ang and his team still found nothing, not even a trace of ball lightning.

There was even an accident during this process.

It was a seemingly ordinary test period, but the elongated blue arc suddenly reached out and touched the slender tail like a naughty child.

This is just a very ordinary and short-lived incident, but danger often lurks beneath the seemingly calm surface.

At the moment the electric arc went out, a dazzling flame suddenly burst out from the small propeller at the tail of the helicopter, followed by wisps of white smoke rising up.

The helicopter then began to spin wildly and uncontrollably, the speed getting faster and faster. The fuselage was like a candle in the wind, gradually losing lift and starting to shake violently as it fell toward the ground.

Fortunately, most of the helicopter's functions were not completely lost, and the falling speed was relatively slow.

Everyone on the ground, including Chen Ang, Lin Yun and other members of the project team, held their breath nervously, staring at the crumbling helicopter. Colonel Xu also quickly gave the order to parachute, but surprisingly, the pilot did not execute it immediately.

Afterwards, Chen Ang, still frightened, couldn't help but ask Lin Yun: "It was so dangerous at the time, and Colonel Xu also gave the order to parachute, why didn't the pilot jump?"

Lin Yun's voice remained calm, but revealed an unquestionable firmness: "There is a great chance that the pilot could have saved the helicopter."

"Even if there's only a 50% chance?" Chen Ang asked in surprise.

"Even if there is only a 50% chance!" Lin Yun repeated firmly.

Perhaps she realized that her answer was a bit too cold, so she patiently explained a few more sentences: "The military has its own unique code of conduct, which may be different from the way of thinking of ordinary people. And this is what Chinese soldiers are like. We are afraid of sacrifice, but we are more afraid of sacrificing in vain."

At this moment, Chen Ang still couldn't fully understand the weight of the other party's words, but since the experiment had not succeeded, he had to continue.

However, safety is ultimately a big issue, and this accident also served as a reminder to them.

Fortunately, Chen Ang quickly remembered that his master's supervisor Zhang Bin had developed a lightning protection coating for use on high-voltage lines.

He quickly contacted his supervisor and explained the difficulties they were facing in detail over the phone. Professor Zhang, who was suffering from cancer, did not hesitate to tell Chen Ang the detailed data of the coating and expressed his willingness to come to support them.

Thanks to these coatings, the selfless dedication of Chinese soldiers and the dedication of the older generation of scientists, there were no more accidents in the "Skynet" experiment in the days that followed.

And their project, just as its name suggests, finally saw the first ray of light.

(End of this chapter)