In the Southern Celestial Gate project, the most challenging task is undoubtedly the large aerospace carrier platform.
After all, it's over two hundred meters long and more than six hundred meters wide, equivalent to the massive size of four aircraft carriers. Even though it can soar with the help of an antigravity generator, the construction of such a colossal object remains an arduous test of human industrial capability, materials science, and structural engineering.
Building an aircraft carrier is already a significant challenge to a nation's overall industrial strength.
Just like the joke circulating online, it requires the "National Planning Committee, Military Industrial Committee, and nine Defense Industrial Ministries, 600 related professions, 8,000 supporting factories." This is not a job that could be completed by a single shipyard; it requires a powerful nation with formidable national strength.
And the idea of constructing an aerospace carrier platform several times larger than an aircraft carrier borders on the impossible.
This isn't just a technical problem, but more of an issue of industrial production capability.
Not to mention, just producing the tens of thousands of tons of high-performance steel needed would be unachievable for many small countries, even if they boiled their kettles and sold their iron.
Moreover, some of the materials used are far rarer and more expensive than high-performance steel, possibly worth more than the economies of some smaller countries.
However, this project involves all currently existing nations, so materials aren't an issue.
Especially with Chen Xin's previous efforts in Europe, the mining, extraction, and synthesis of high-performance materials won't be a major problem.
The mining sub-bases scattered across Europe provided ample raw materials for the construction of the carrier platform.
But materials alone aren't enough; they still need to be processed into parts.
Keep in mind that the carrier platform is over two hundred meters long and six hundred meters wide; to ensure sufficient structural strength, many parts boast astonishing dimensions.
For instance, the main support structure of the carrier platform has some components longer than a hundred meters!
Such huge components have never been manufactured in human history, as no object has required parts of such size.
Even when components over a hundred meters long were needed in the past, they were made through the assembly of multiple parts rather than creating one giant component in its entirety.
If not for 3D printing technology, we might still be studying how to manufacture such large parts.
And even with 3D printing technology, manufacturing parts of this size still necessitates redesigning the printing equipment, as current printers struggle to complete the job.
More critical is how to ensure that these immense parts meet structural strength requirements, a task causing significant headaches for the project team.
And all this requires Chen Xin, as the general manager, to orchestrate and coordinate, which tests his abilities even further.
If it weren't for Xi Yao, the AI assistant, helping him with a multitude of trivial matters, he might truly work himself to exhaustion.
Fortunately, the nation understands the difficulties of this project, deploying numerous experienced administrative and technical personnel.
Although these individuals might not contribute much to the theoretical foundation, their roles are crucial in the practical construction of the carrier platform.
Experienced administrative personnel can facilitate cooperation and communication between departments, smoothing interdepartmental collaboration while resolving minor production issues.
Meanwhile, technical personnel can better complete production tasks, identifying and addressing problems missed or overlooked in design during the manufacturing process.
However, even with these conditions, constructing the large aerospace carrier platform remains a daunting task.
To avoid waste and validate technologies, Chen Xin decided to first build a scaled-down small carrier platform for technology verification, thereby accumulating experience for the design and construction of the large aerospace carrier platform.
This plan quickly garnered approval and support from all parties, who agreed that building a smaller prototype first was more reliable than diving straight into constructing the giant.
Given the difficulty of manufacturing components over a hundred meters long and the lack of related experience, building a smaller version first to verify structural design and explore the possibility of adapting large parts into smaller ones could greatly benefit the construction of the entire aerospace carrier platform.
Thus, after the various project teams had sufficiently refined the theoretical foundation, a small carrier platform scaled down nearly ten-fold was constructed.
Though this carrier platform isn't an exact miniature of the planned large carrier platform, it has been meticulously designed to resemble it structurally.
Additionally, this carrier platform possesses the same performance metrics and can also launch unmanned drones for combat.
However, the unmanned drones equipped on this small carrier platform aren't the space planes nearing the final design stage but are specially designed smaller drones.
Measuring only over twenty meters in length and sixty meters in width, this small carrier platform resembles a jetliner with exceptionally long wings.
The main body houses the crew cabin and control center, as well as a drone maintenance workshop specifically prepared for the carrier platform, with two drone launch tubes on either side.
It's a newly developed technology specifically for the aerospace carrier platform, capable of quickly launching drones at high altitudes, conducting recovery and maintenance, forming the crucial foundation for this combat concept's shaping.
Regarding the huge wingspan exceeding conventional aircraft designs, this is one of the key focal points of technical validation this time.
Due to the operational needs of the large aerospace carrier platform, such a huge wingspan design aligns with its positioning but simultaneously challenges the structure and materials of the wings.
We all know the longer something is, the easier it breaks, and the same applies to wings.
The goal is to achieve sufficient length and strength while also satisfying the operational requirements of aircraft flying, which isn't a simple task.
Fortunately, the entire Southern Celestial Gate project has gathered the world's top scientists and research teams, posing no obstacle for them with a wingspan of over sixty meters.
As for the energy and power of this small carrier platform, they're comparatively simpler.
A small nuclear reactor is installed on this carrier platform, along with an antigravity generator and Shield device, providing ample energy, facilitating convenient altitude gain, and ensuring sufficient safety in protection.
