Can You Make A Nuclear Weapons Too?

Chapter 46

“It’s already July 1st.”

The sweltering heat made it feel like summer was approaching in earnest.

It has been over a month since I went to the Blue House.

As preparations were made to accompany the president on a trip to the United States scheduled for next month, he could not even open his eyes.

“Executive Director, I just got a call from Dr. Kim Hee-won of the Institute, and I hope you will visit us today as the final assembly of the HVP-controlled radar prototype is going to be completed.”

I wasn’t the only one busy.

The final assembly of the artillery AESA radar, which was originally scheduled for November, has been advanced by more than three months.

On every phone call, the researchers said they were grinding their souls, and it seems that wasn’t a joke at all.

“Shibure… it’s hard to see your face once. No matter how busy you are, isn’t it too much?”

Heewon was almost turned into a zombie.

The dark circles that came down to her knees were second to none, and she almost felt like she had lost more than 10 kilograms.

I wonder when it was wrapped, and a hoarse smell came up from the rice caked hair.

“Good work…wook! many.”

“Shut up! Now, I will refrain from saying things like that… Huh? What is this?”

He handed an envelope to the complaining Hee-won.

You should be able to guess what the contents are.

A flagship burst out from the man’s mouth, who was quickly pausing and examining the envelope.

“crazy! What kind of bonus is so much?”

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s money to pass to all the researchers.”

“Even so, with this amount of money, at least 200 million won per person, right?”

“You should be rewarded for your efforts. If the owner becomes stingy at this point, there will always be a traitor. By the way, if the HVP deployment starts in earnest, you will receive an additional bonus of that much money, so tell me that. Somehow, other thoughts are not allowed.”

“I can’t even dream of anything else. Don’t you know the thorough division of labor? Besides, what about technology leaks in a situation where you can’t even take a ballpoint pen at will? Well, by the way, know that this friend also contributed a lot.”

“……”

“I mean Choi In-bae, you have a friend who had tweaked the algorithm before when testing millimeter-wave radar. This time, I improved the judo system a little more by analyzing the sources that my friend gave me, but my skills aren’t really a joke. I wanted to focus on the task for about 20 days, and then the precision of the guidance system was improved by 15% more than before.”

“You are a wonderful friend. Okay, do you know that the test site is Ganghwado?”

“I got a call a while ago. That’s where the last smart cannon test was conducted.”

“If nothing happens, the military will come to transport in about a week, so we should finish preparing for transport by then.”

“Damn, you’re pushing your back to really die in a country where you’re going to die anyway.”

Seeing the complaining guy made me feel a bit sorry for him.

In fact, if it wasn’t for him, who could have supported me to this extent?

No matter how urgent it was, I thought I would have to do some physical fitness, so I canceled the next schedule.

“Let’s go, eat your favorite beef.”

“Really? Hey! If possible, let’s go eat blue crab. There’s a new crab shop nearby.”

eating.

Laughing at the boy’s childlike appearance.

In the end, we headed to a restaurant specializing in blue crab, a bit far from the institute.

A large picture of Yeonpyeong Island was hung on the banner installed in front of the door as if to brag about handling only blue crabs from Yeonpyeong Island.

stop!

At that moment, a bitter feeling passed through my back, and a historical event suddenly came to my mind.

1999. and Yeonpyeong Island.

Obviously, what happened then?

Yes, the 1st Battle of Yeonpyeong!

“Is today the 1st of July?”

“Okay, but why are you so surprised all of a sudden?”

Historically, the first battle of Yeonpyeong took place on June 15th.

But now it’s July 1.

How the hell did this happen?

The event that should have happened…

‘I can’t get the date wrong…’

I’ve been thinking about that for a while.

But what I remembered afterwards was the fact that that day was the day I succeeded in my first research project.

However, due to the Battle of Yeonpyeong, the ball faded, and I still vividly remember watching the news with resentment at the time.

“Hey. Why are you like that?”

“Ah, no, it looks like you’re a little tired.”

“It’s funny. Are you getting wrinkled in front of a ponytail?”

He gave an awkward smile to the man who frowned.

I quickly pushed his back and entered the restaurant, but my mind was busy searching for the cause of the twisted history.

“By the way, what did you decide to do with the tool?”

Heewon, who was eating crab meat, asked as if passing by.

After delaying his thoughts for a moment, he pulled out a picture and showed it in front of him.

“What is this?”

“It is a two-valve vehicle developed by Thales. By the way, this time, it is being produced with an unmanned automation system.”

“Going to an unmanned system? why not?”

“The border distance is too short. If the North fires a multiple rocket launcher, it only takes a few minutes for it to reach the point of impact, but if a person tries to respond to it, it may be delayed. So, this time, we built a system that fires a counter shot immediately upon detection.”

“Ah······.”

Heewon nodded his head as if he understood it too late.

He looks at the picture for a while and then tilts his head.

“By the way, isn’t that a self-propelled gun?”

“After all, there is no reason to use that expensive self-propelled artillery in a yard that is only for defense. So it’s a form of remodeling a military truck and adding only the delivery system.”

“Oh oh! is this ok? It would be nice to develop mortars in this way in the future.”

I was a little sulky at the guy’s response.

Actually, this is the result of that motif.

A self-propelled mortar system developed by the Korean military around 2020.

Wasn’t this guy a genius?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, nothing.”

“Sweet guy.”

Again, he concentrated his whole mind on the blue crab.

Thanks to you, the table is quiet.

In my mind, I was thinking about the twisted history again.

‘Why didn’t the Battle of Yeonpyeong not happen? Has it been pushed back by the twists and turns of history? Or did it become a non-event at all?’

******

Boo Woong!

A few days later, some military officials and I returned to Ganghwa Island to test the prototype of the completed HVP system.

An artillery radar that started operating at the same time as deployment.

Soon the screen was activated and the built-in computer started preparing for navigation.

“The target will come from a distance of about 40 kilometers. The search radar will catch it right away, and the interlocked automation system will launch the counter projectile in mere seconds.”

“What is the speed of the high-speed projectile that will be used to intercept?”

It was the Marine Corps commander who spit out the question.

The Marine Corps is in charge of the defense mission of Yeonpyeong Island, the first to be deployed, so it is natural to be interested.

Perhaps he is the person who wants success more than anyone in this position.

“Recently, through the improvement of the charge, we have secured up to four times the maximum speed of sound. That is practically a level that can intercept anything except for ballistic missiles.”

“Then what projectiles did you use for testing?”

“It is a reproduction of the North’s 240mm multiple rocket launcher.”

In fact, it was beyond the capabilities of the platform I had previously provided.

The diameter of the interceptable projectile that I initially expected was up to 300 millimeters.

However, the guidance system improved by Inbae Choi, the software developer in charge, is theoretically capable of catching objects with a diameter of 130 millimeters.

In fact, that’s enough to catch bullets.

[The preparations for firing the rocket launcher are complete.]

Nevertheless, the reason why the 240mm multiple rocket launcher was targeted is just in case.

Even if it’s theoretically possible, that’s just a theory. Wouldn’t it be a shame to try it in front of VIPs and fail on the day when you’re not sure right now?

[Let the countdown begin.]

After a while, the countdown started through an announcement.

As soon as the number becomes 0, the gun receives a signal from the radar that detected the fire and immediately turns.

pop!

Immediately, a high-speed projectile soared into the air with a loud bang.

“What kind of reaction rate….”

The military officials who saw the counter shot being fired in just a few seconds lowered their jaws at once.

Bump!

Shortly thereafter, as the rockets flying from the distant air shattered fragments along with an explosion, moans were spit out here and there.

“The second test assumes the situation of responding to multiple rocket launchers. According to specifications, a cannon installed on a cold vehicle is capable of firing high-speed projectiles up to 24 rounds per minute.”

Wheeing!

At the same time as the explanation, the gun turned again.

It means that the missile was fired again from the other side.

At the same time as people’s eyes were on the vehicle preparing to respond, the cannon installed on it began to fire continuously.

Boom boom boom boom!

The total number of high-speed projectiles fired was five.

The number of projectiles fired from the other side was also exactly five.

Now all that’s left is to check if it’s really possible to counter multiple targets.

Knock Kung Kung Kung!

In an instant, a total of five explosions were heard in the air.

It means not missing a single step.

Surprised military officials looked at me with their eyes wide open, and some of the Ministry of Defense military officials who were present with them rushed to me.

“How can the barrel survive such a rate of fire?”

“The coating on the barrel has been replaced with tantalum instead of conventional chrome plating.”

The tantalum coating was the first thing I developed after I founded the lab.

The original purpose was to improve the performance of the self-propelled gun barrel, but I did not expect it to be used in this way.

“Isn’t tantalum coating only available in Germany?”

“It was originally. But now we can.”

“Then put that into self-propelled artillery…….”

The military officer implicitly showed his greed.

Had I not thought of that?

In fact, I plan to discuss the issue with Chairman Lee Yong-moon, the main body of the K-9 business, in the near future.

“It was a lot of work. Once the deployment begins, the tension in the forward area will be greatly reduced.”

The defense minister, who watched the entire testing process, held my hand with a very remorseful expression on his face.

Now all that remains is to determine the actual deployment time.

The moment he was about to discuss it because he thought it was an opportunity, he made an unexpected suggestion.

“How about temporarily placing that prototype on Yeonpyeong Island?”

“Temporary placement?”

“Actually, the recent trend of North Korean rocket launchers near Yeonpyeong Island is unusual. It’s just a concern, but it’s an unknown problem, so there’s nothing wrong with dealing with it in advance, right?”(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

“Are you saying that the movement of the army, not the navy, is strange?”

“The North Korean navy is surprisingly quiet. There are often troubles with the crab catching problem, but that has been an issue every year, and right now, the movement of the multiple rocket launchers is more questionable.”

“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, it would be better for us to have an on-site deployment rather than withdrew like this. Then, will the military take over the transportation?”

“Yeah, of course. But are the projectiles secured?”

“The projectile has enough experimental production for testing, so I’ll send it in. Ah! And we have two more prototype cars, so we’ll send them together.”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I was relieved.”

Rather, it was me who should be grateful.

Anyway, for radar prototypes, it is essential to accumulate data through continuous performance testing.

Wouldn’t it be advantageous if it could be quickly deployed on site?

‘Anyway, I can’t understand. Is North Korea’s naval provocation really erased from history?’

******

“Hmmm…”

I slept late for a while.

It has been over a year and a half since the days I had been running without a break.

No matter how young the body, it seems that the fatigue accumulated enough that it could not stand it any longer.

‘Can I sleep better…’

After all, today was Sunday.

Just because you wake up early doesn’t mean you have nothing to do.

However, putting the already awake body back to sleep seems like a waste of time, and in the end, I woke up with the need to go to exercise.

“Huh?”

Just as I was about to leave the house, the phone rang.

Strangely enough, the sender is the Minister of Defense.

When he pressed the call button in his puzzled mind, an urgent voice was heard from the other side.

– Managing Director Jin. Did you not receive a call from the Director of the National Intelligence Service?

“Why in the NIS?”

-this! Then you probably haven’t heard the news yet.

“What news?”

– North Korea fired a massive bombardment on Yeonpyeong Island a while ago.

For a moment, I almost dropped the phone I was holding.

I want to know what the situation is now.

No, the Battle of Yeonpyeong, which should have taken place, did not happen, and the shelling.

Historically, the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island was not an event that would happen until 2010.

“Have you ever failed to intercept? Isn’t HVP for testing already established in Yeonpyeong Island?”

– You didn’t fail, you didn’t miss a single step. Even the shells fired by the coastal artillery. So now, not only the US Navy but also the US Department of Defense are calling for fact-checking to the Joint Chiefs of Staff… Anyway, there is no such thing as a riot. Damn, we’re in a state of mind discussing countermeasures right now. I’ll send a vehicle there right now, so please come to the Joint Chiefs of Staff immediately.

The defense minister hurriedly spoke and hung up the phone.

I turned on the TV just in case, but there was no news on the air yet.

It seems to have happened just a few minutes ago, or a few dozen minutes ago.

“Did you really catch all the shells?”

Can you make nuclear weapons too?