Chapter 45: Completely Mastering the 956E!

At the North Sea Fleet Headquarters, Xu Dongguo had yet to make up his mind.

He truly regarded Su Dingping as an irreplaceable treasure and did not want anything to happen to him.

At that exact moment, his guard rushed in to report.

"Chief, a classified telegram has just arrived from the 408 Research Institute."

The 408 Research Institute? Lü Guangjun?

That reminded him—Lü Guangjun had returned to the research institute more than half a month ago.

Taking the encrypted telegram and waving the guard away, Xu Dongguo sat back in his chair and quickly tore open the seal.

After pulling out the document and glancing at it, a visible wave of joy washed over his face.

[Chief, thanks to Comrade Su Dingping’s instruction and invaluable assistance, all researchers in our institute participating in the Type 051B upgrade have been immensely inspired and have successfully completed a preliminary secondary upgrade of the Type 051B! We are proceeding with combat-readiness testing immediately! Please rest assured, Chief, we will not let you down.]

Stowing the telegram away, Xu Dongguo was in high spirits.

He still remembered Su Dingping stating that he would train Sun Yongguo and the others within a month or two. Only a little over a month and a half had passed, and the 956E was already entering the assembly stage.

Moreover, Lü Guangjun and the other two, who had joined midway, were also inspired by this, accelerating the secondary upgrade of the Type 051B.

In the past, starting such a project would have been measured in years!

Yet now, it took less than two months!

Compared to this success, the seven-month arduous battle over the 956E and the 1.5 billion spent paled into insignificance.

The crucial point was that under Su Dingping's leadership, the military expenditure consumed was only a fraction of a percent by comparison, while yielding dozens, if not hundreds, of times the returns.

He became increasingly convinced that an extraordinary genius could indeed drive a group of professors to leap forward by bounds.

Lü Guangjun and the 408 Research Institute served as the best testament to this.

And this was merely the result of half a month of learning. It was hard to imagine what monumental breakthroughs Sun Yongguo and the others would bring to the navy when they later undertook independent scientific research.

The strength of a single individual is ultimately limited, whereas the power of a collective is infinite, and Su Dingping was the fountainhead driving that collective forward!

Under these circumstances, curbing Su Dingping's research would deal a heavy blow to the convictions the team had managed to kindle with such great difficulty.

With this thought in mind, Xu Dongguo took a deep breath and made up his mind.

Without delay, he called out to the outside, "Guard, contact Sun Yongguo immediately and have him submit a risk assessment report in the shortest possible time!"

"Understood, Chief!"

...

Within the Northern Waters Military Base.

Upon receiving the news, Sun Yongguo was overjoyed.

The request for a risk assessment report implicitly meant that the Chief had agreed.

He hurriedly sought out Su Dingping and said, "Dingping, the Chief has agreed, but there is a small complication."

"Director, what complication?"

"The Chief requires us to submit a risk assessment report."

A risk assessment report?

Su Dingping was momentarily stunned before realizing that the real world differed from the forging space of the Military Industry Illustrated Handbook.

In the forging space of the Military Industry Illustrated Handbook, even if he were blown up a thousand times, a single thought would restore him, but in the real world, once you die, you are gone.

Thinking of this, he also understood Xu Dongguo's misgivings.

"Very well."

Before long, the two of them drafted the risk assessment report.

In less than half an hour, Xu Dongguo's official approval was faxed over.

Armed with this approval, Su Dingping was authorized to deploy various missiles aboard the 956E for instructional purposes.

"Director, I will leave the subsequent matters in your capable hands."

"Don't worry, leave it to me!"

Seeing Sun Yongguo off, Su Dingping manifested within the forging space of the Military Industry Illustrated Handbook.

In the two major northern zones of the shipyard, the production line for the SS-N-22 Sunburn anti-ship missiles had ceased operations, while the production line for the 9M38 ship-borne air defense missiles was humming with activity.

The testing and adjustment phases of the 9M38 ship-borne air defense missiles had passed, and it had now entered mass production.

As long as this newly manufactured batch of 9M38 ship-borne air defense missiles proved flawless, it meant that two full-fledged missile production lines could be established.

Subsequently, their own warships could also modify their missile launchers to accommodate the SS-N-22 Sunburn and the 9M38! This would vastly enhance the overall combat capability of the warships.

Of course, both the SS-N-22 Sunburn and the 9M38 were merely transitional measures.

What Su Dingping truly aimed to upgrade were the "Yingji Anti-Ship Missile System" and the "Haihongqi Air Defense Missile System" aboard the Type 052D!

After all, these two missile systems and their compatible munitions surpassed Western counterparts in the generations to come. Especially the Yingji-21, reputed to be capable of striking aircraft carriers, demonstrated its formidable deterrence.

Yet, the core technologies of the Type 052D were currently far too advanced; parsing them out all at once would require a considerable amount of time.

Only after dissecting the core technologies of the Type 052D could he begin parsing the "Yingji Anti-Ship Missile System" and the "Haihongqi Air Defense Missile System." As for the even more advanced Yingji-21, it would likely have to wait until the dissection of the Type 055.

During this vacuum period, the SS-N-22 Sunburn and the 9M38 would be needed to bridge the gap.

Glancing at the technical analysis panel of the [Type 052D Guided-Missile Destroyer], Su Dingping shook his head helplessly.

"Twenty-four hours a day is simply not enough."

At that very moment, the first batch of 9M38 air defense missiles rolled off the production line.

Without a moment's hesitation, Su Dingping directly materialized this batch of missiles aboard the 956E warship.

Once all the missiles were loaded, he appeared in the main control room.

"Deploy the triple-leaf targets!"

Soon, several target coordinates rose from the direction of the shipyard.

The speed of the triple-leaf targets was extremely high, rapidly accelerating to 400–450 kilometers per hour, with their altitude climbing to 5,000 meters.

Gazing at the radar equipment on the main console, several small red dots flickered continuously.

Su Dingping immediately pressed the launch command.

Instantly, the data on the main console flickered wildly.

[Target locked!]

[Combat command issued: SA-N-7 Hurricane! Dual-salvo launch!]

[Countdown: 8 seconds!]

[Ignition successful!]

The next second, twin tongues of fire erupted from the missile launchers on the deck, shooting straight into the firmament.

A moment later, two violent explosions echoed through the sky.

Immediately following, Su Dingping watched as the triple-leaf targets plummeted into the distance.

Witnessing this, he let out a long breath.

"Taking six and a half months in total, the core technologies of the 956E main warship and its missile system have finally been completely mastered."

Early in the morning, two days later, at a naval base port in northern Tianjin.

Lü Guangjun was leading a group of researchers from the 408 Research Institute as they rapidly traversed the interior of the Type 051B, recording data.

The secondary upgrade and assembly of the Type 051B had now been completed; once the relevant data was recorded, live testing could commence!

As long as the live tests proceeded without a hitch, the Type 051B would only require minor subsequent adjustments before officially entering the shipyard for mass production.

Not far from the Type 051B warship, all the naval officers and soldiers previously dispatched to test the Type 051B had been gathered once again by Lü Guangjun.

"Captain, do you think Director Lü and his team will succeed this time?"

The middle-aged man in the lead, wearing a full military uniform, wore a solemn expression and remained silent for a long time.

The previous upgrade of the Type 051B had failed to meet the standards of a modern warship. Now, barely over a month later, a second round of testing was underway.

To be frank, his heart was filled with a sense of apprehension.

Breaking through Western technological blockades and propelling naval warships into modernization was by no means an easy path.

"Let's wait and see! We'll have the results soon enough."

Hardly had the words left his mouth when he saw Lü Guangjun and the researchers walking down the warship in high spirits.

"Captain Song, are you all ready!"