Chapter 445 Microwave Weapons

"Get down! Everyone get down!"

As Sun Maocai's voice blasted from the loudspeaker, He Yuzhu was pressing his binoculars against the bulletproof glass of the observation window. The glass buzzed from the electromagnetic pulse, and his temples tingled along with it.

In the center of the test site stood the modified military truck. A disc-shaped antenna, three meters in diameter, was mounted on its roof; the metal mesh was blindingly white under the Gobi Desert sun.

"Three, two, one, launch."

There was no fire, no loud noise.

He Yuzhu only saw the air directly in front of the antenna tremble, like a heat wave on a summer asphalt road. Two hundred meters away, a row of mannequins simultaneously emitted a puff of blue smoke from their chests. The smoke was thin and straight, shooting directly into the sky, as if someone had lit an incense stick in the hearts of the mannequins.

A smell wafted from the smoke.

BBQ.

He Yuzhu's stomach churned. He knew it was the smell of microwaved biological tissue inside the dummy. A real person in that position would smell the same.

He put down his binoculars and stepped out of the observation room. The wind and sand stung his face; he squinted as he walked slowly towards the row of mannequins. His military boots crunched on the gravel of the Gobi Desert. The mannequins' heads were still smoking; a hole had melted in the plastic shell, revealing carbonized circuit boards inside. He poked the hole with his finger; carbon powder stuck to his fingertip, leaving a small black mark.

"What is the effective range?"

Sun Maocai crawled out from under the truck, a safety helmet on his head, the brim covered in dust. "Two kilometers. At that distance, the microwave beam paralyzes any unshielded electronic equipment and biological nerves."

He Yuzhu looked up at the three-meter-tall disc. The metal mesh reflected the sun overhead, making it hard for him to open his eyes. He lowered his head and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Can you make it smaller? Within one meter?"

Sun Maocai didn't speak. He took off his helmet, revealing his graying head. He tucked the helmet under his armpits, his hands outstretched, hanging down like weights.

"Dean He, the wavelength is ten centimeters, and the antenna diameter is three meters, which is the theoretical lower limit."

He Yuzhu didn't reply. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took two puffs. The grayish-white smoke was instantly torn apart by the wind of the Gobi Desert, leaving no shape behind.

Sun Maocai stood still, not daring to move or urge anyone on.

He Yuzhu burned his finger on the cigarette filter, then threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stubbed it out with the sole of his shoe.

"Then let's find a way to bypass the theory."

Ma Yuejin squatted under the antenna, tapping the metal mesh with his hand. He stood up and brushed the dust off his knees. "Dean He, using carbon nanotubes for the reflector can reduce the thickness by two-thirds and the weight by half. But the diameter is still three meters; it can't be reduced in size."

He Yuzhu looked at the large disc. The wind made the antenna sway slightly, and the metal mesh emitted a very faint humming sound.

"This thing can only be mounted on a truck. It can't be mounted at border posts, patrol boats, or helicopters. We spent three months building one cannon, and it can only be used to guard the highway."

Lin Jianguo stood behind the truck, flipping through his notebook. He closed the notebook, walked under the antenna, and gestured with his hand.

"Dean He, could we use a phased array? We could break down a large antenna into dozens of smaller antennas, distribute them widely, and use phase control to focus their microwave beams onto the same target. The diameter of each small antenna could be reduced to thirty centimeters."

He Yuzhu turned around and looked at him. "Phase-array microwave weapons, nobody in the world has ever developed them before."

"Just because no one has done it before doesn't mean it can't be done. Galaxy 6 can perform 30 quadrillion calculations per second, and calculating phase differences only takes tens of microseconds. What we lack is not computing power, but whether we dare to take this step."

Upon hearing the words "phased array," Sun Maocai's face contorted as if he had swallowed a bitter pill. "Director Lin, the phase control precision requirement is one-thousandth of a degree. Galaxy-6 has enough computing power, but the engineering implementation..." He glanced at He Yuzhu's expression and swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Chief Engineer Liu emerged from behind the truck, a measuring tape in his hand. "Dozens of small antennas, each requiring an independent transmission channel and phase controller. That more than triples the cost."

He Yuzhu walked to the truck and touched the edge of the antenna. The metal mesh frame was very hot; the residual heat from the microwave transmission hadn't dissipated yet.

"I'll handle the cost. Lin Jianguo will lead the planning and produce a detailed design within a month. Ma Yuejin will coordinate the antenna, and Qian Zhiyuan will provide the carbon nanotube material. Sun Maocai and Chief Engineer Liu will be in charge of the engineering."

Lin Jianguo opened his notebook. "Dean He, I'll first build a small verification array with four antennas to verify the phase control technology. Once it passes verification, I'll scale it up to thirty-two."

"how long?"

"One month for the verification array. Three months for the prototype."

"You only have one month. In one month, I need to see four antennas capable of projecting focused beams two kilometers away. If they can't hit the target, change the plan."

Lin Jianguo closed his notebook and remained silent.

Qian Zhiyuan squatted under the antenna, constantly measuring the dimensions of the metal mesh. He stood up, took off his glasses, and wiped the lenses. "Dean He, heat dissipation is a major problem when using carbon nanotubes as antennas. The antenna surface heats up during microwave transmission, and carbon nanotubes have lower thermal conductivity than metals."

"How do we solve this?"

"Copper doping. Adding 5% copper nanoparticles increases thermal conductivity tenfold without affecting electrical conductivity. The antenna reflector is made of alternating layers of carbon nanotubes and copper foil, which is both lightweight and heat-dissipating."

He Yuzhu looked at Qian Zhiyuan. "I need to see the samples next week."

Qian Zhiyuan nodded, squatted down, and continued drawing.

He Yuzhu glanced at the mannequin again. The smoke from its head had dissipated, leaving a palm-sized scorch mark on the plastic casing. He touched the scorch mark with his finger; the surface was rough and slightly warm.

"Chief Engineer Sun, was the neural simulation system for the dummy developed by the Academy of Military Medical Sciences?"

"Yes. It was designed with reference to the neural conduction speed of American bio-warriors."

"Make more dummies and distribute them to various testing units. In the next test, I want to see data on the paralysis effects from different distances and angles."

Sun Maocai wrote it down in his notebook.

He Yuzhu turned around and walked out of the test site. Ma Yuejin followed behind, sketching the antenna array in his notebook as they walked.

"Mr. Ma, you need to get in touch with Qian Zhiyuan as soon as possible regarding the carbon nanotube antenna. We need to make the materials for the verification array first, and then start mass production after it passes the tests."

"clear."

He Yuzhu walked back to the observation room, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed the number of the Baotou Arsenal.

"Chief Engineer Sun, at the phased array scheme demonstration meeting, you need to keep the size and weight to a minimum. The Kunlun will be equipped with this in the future."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. "Dean He, what's the purpose of installing microwave weapons on the Kunlun?"

"There are no biological warriors in space, but there are meteorites, orbital debris, and satellites from hostile countries. Microwave weapons do not lose range in a vacuum. With microwave weapons installed, the Kunlun will be the first armed research vessel in space."

Sun Maocai sighed on the other end of the phone. "Dean He, you're thinking too far ahead."

"Not far off. The Kunlun's maiden flight was in 1985, so there are still six years. Six years from now, the US military's biological and chemical warriors may already be in space, and we can't afford to be naked."

After hanging up the phone, He Yuzhu walked out of the observation room. The wind on the test site had picked up, and the sand stung his face. The truck carrying the microwave antenna was parked in the center of the site, the antenna slowly rotating back to zero, emitting a low motor hum. He remembered the circular bulge in the Antarctic photos, the electromagnetic shielding net under the ice sheet, and the large tank on that flatbed truck. What was the US military researching in the underground bunker? Was it something even more terrifying than microwave weapons?

He got into the old jeep, started the engine, and drove out of the test track.

He hadn't driven far when he stopped again. He pulled out the phased array sketch Lin Jianguo had drawn from his pocket and studied it for a long time. A small 30-centimeter antenna, positioned on the side of the vehicle, would synthesize a beam through phase control. If this design succeeded, microwave weapons could be mounted on any platform.

He folded the blueprint and put it in his pocket.

In the distance, the lights of the final assembly plant flickered in the night. He stepped on the gas and drove in that direction.

The radio in the car was on, broadcasting the day's news. He couldn't concentrate on it.

The steering wheel was digging into his thumb; he looked down at his hands. They were covered in calluses.

He suddenly remembered what Wang Tiezhu had said: "What a person should fear most in life is not death, but not having lived at all."

The Kunlun spacecraft hasn't even taken to the skies yet, the microwave weapons haven't been installed on the vehicle, and the 100-meter superconducting ring is still just on paper. He wants to live to see that day.

He drove the car into the base, turned off the engine, and sat in the driver's seat for a while. The wind and sand lashed against the windshield, making a rustling sound.

He opened the car door and walked into the office building.

The motion-activated lights in the corridor turned on.

He pushed open the office door; the water in his thermos had gone cold. Instead of pouring hot water, he picked it up and took a sip. The tea tasted bitter, and the cold water made him shrink back as it went down his throat.

He picked up the phone and dialed Lin Jianguo's number.

"Jianguo, start writing the phased array plan tonight. I can't wait until tomorrow."

Lin Jianguo responded on the other end of the phone, "It's already being written."

He Yuzhu hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. The Gobi Desert outside the window was pitch black, except for the lights in the final assembly plant, which shone like an eye that hadn't slept.

He closed his eyes. The sound of smoke rising from the dummy's chest still echoed in his ears—there was no sound, but he heard it.