GBP Chapter 483: Modularity? Don’t step into the Zumwalt pit
Chapter 483: Modularity? Don’t step into the Zumwalt pit
On the return voyage, the Jingyuan, like a victorious king, steadily cut through the blue waves and headed towards the port of Yangon.
The sea breeze is refreshing and the sun is shining brightly.
Zhang Chi, You Hongxuan, the captain, and the core personnel invited to join them, including the shipyard's Li Zhenbang and designer Yi Dai, gathered in the captain's room and continued to discuss the "Seawolf" class escort ship.
The topic naturally turned to the modification redundancy mentioned by Zhang Chi.
Federico once again emphasized the advantages of his design:
"General, please look here, gun emplacements A and Y. The 76mm gun base we designed is by no means a simple weld. It is a standardized 'socket' system with strong load-bearing capacity and precise interfaces."
He pointed his finger firmly at the complex schematic diagram of the turret and the ammunition depot below it:
"In the future, as long as we achieve technological breakthroughs, or... uh... obtain new weapons through certain 'special channels'."
"Whether it's a single 127mm dual-purpose anti-aircraft gun, a multiple rocket launcher, or even... that 'missile' cantilever launcher you mentioned earlier (pictured)..."
Although the warship designer Federico was still vague about what the "missile" was, Zhang Chi's occasional words made him feel that it must be a subversive weapon.
"In theory, they can all be installed into this 'socket' relatively easily, just like replacing a gun barrel. The potential of this 'Sea Wolf' is by no means limited to anti-submarine warfare and close combat. It is the foundation of a versatile weapon."
Federico became more and more excited as he spoke, gesticulating with joy, as if he had already seen the majestic appearance of the "Sea Wolf" in various forms in the future.
Several young engineers also nodded frequently, with admiration for their mentor's ideas and pride in their own designs on their faces.
Zhang Chi listened quietly, and when Federico finished speaking, he slowly spoke and made the final decision:
"Mr. Rossi and all the designers, your ideas are very advanced and the modularization direction is correct."
He first affirmed the other party's idea, which made Federico and others smile.
Thinking of the great setback that the world's largest country, the White Eagle, had suffered in the Littoral Combat Ship program, Zhang Chi changed the subject and decided to emphasize this to everyone:
"However, I want to emphasize that the core goal of the 'modularity' we pursue is not to turn a ship into an omnipotent 'Swiss Army Knife'!"
He looked around at everyone and saw that everyone, including Federico, was a little confused, and even had some arrogance in their eyes, and a hint of indifference towards him, the commander-in-chief who came from the army.
Zhang Chi didn't care. He knew that these Italian experts would be convinced in a moment:
"Having a ship with multiple capabilities sounds great, but in actual combat it often means 'one ship with multiple capabilities' - a jack of all trades, but weak in none. This is a lesson learned the hard way."
"The 'modularity' I'm looking for," Zhang Chi said, standing up and walking to the blueprint, pointing his finger at the middle of the Seawolf's hull. "It's platform-based! Standardized! It's for easy production, easy maintenance, and easy upgrades!"
His fingers traced the outlines of the bridge, power compartment, and rear hull on the blueprint:
"For example, we now have a mature 'Sea Wolf' basic platform - this power system, this bridge layout, this rear hull structure, these internal pipeline channels. They should be like a solid, reliable, and proven 'chassis'."
Then, his finger focused on the weapon platform area at the bow and stern of the ship:
"Then, based on different combat requirements, we can 'plug in' different 'weapon modules' on the same 'chassis'.
Those focused on anti-submarine warfare are equipped with depth charge rails, hedgehog bombs, sonar and more anti-submarine rockets.
Those who focus on near-shore fire support will be equipped with large-caliber rocket launchers or dedicated shore artillery.
Those focused on patrol and surveillance can even simplify their armament, increase their endurance, or carry speedboats.
These weapon modules have a unified interface and are relatively easy to install.”
He looked at Li Zhenbang who was listening intently:
"Director Li, think about this. Once this basic platform is mature, if the shipyard wants to build a new 'fire support Sea Wolf', will it only need to focus on producing the new bow module equipped with the rocket launcher?
"Can the 'chassis' parts, such as the bridge, engine compartment, and rear hull, completely use the same proven designs and production lines? How much can the construction speed be increased?"
Li Zhenbang's eyes lit up instantly, and he slapped his thigh:
"Yes, Commander-in-Chief. This... this is simply the idea of manufacturing cars on an assembly line.
The chassis is the same, but with different shells on top. It's amazing, it doubles the efficiency."
Zhang Chi looked at You Hongxuan and Ye Jiashi again:
“Colonel You, Captain Ye, think again about maintenance.
If a submarine chaser has a problem with its power compartment, there happens to be a landing support ship of the same series but with a different mission being repaired in the same port.
Their engines are of the same model and have unified interfaces. Is it possible to directly remove the good engine of the support ship and replace it with the anti-submarine ship to restore its combat effectiveness?
Instead of waiting for the parts to be shipped from thousands of miles away?"
"Brilliant!" Ye Jiashi couldn't help but praise. "This idea is a revolutionary improvement in fleet logistics support, greatly improving resource utilization."
Zhang Chi finally looked at Federico Rossi and his team, who were completely lost in thought, their expressions changing from excitement to shock, and then to enlightenment.
"So, Mr. Rossi, fellow engineers. I emphasized the 'socket' design of the weapon pedestal. Its ultimate purpose is not only to facilitate the replacement of different weapons, but also to achieve the rapid production and efficient maintenance of ships with different mission configurations based on the same platform.
This is the core value of modularity for emerging naval forces like ours in Southeast Asia during wartime. Using limited resources, we can build more ships that are faster, easier to maintain, and ultimately achieve economies of scale.
The captain's cabin was completely silent, with only the sound of waves crashing against the hull.
Everyone was deeply shocked by Zhang Chi's explanation, which came from later generations and was profound and to the point.
Federico Rossi, the senior designer from the old naval country, has completely lost all the arrogance and superiority on his face.
He slowly stood up, his eyes filled with unprecedented respect and excitement as if he had discovered a new world.
He no longer crossed his legs, but leaned forward slightly, like a student who was humbly seeking advice.
"General," Federico said, his voice dry and filled with emotion that was difficult to conceal, "I am ashamed of my previous narrow understanding.
Your interpretation of "modularity" goes beyond the simple replacement of weapons and rises to the level of industrial systems, logistical support and strategy.
This is simply the art of industrial design and the pinnacle of war aesthetics.
If the mustache had you, his armored army..."
Realizing that there was something wrong with the last sentence, Federico quickly shut up.
Soon, the designer realized that not only 600-ton frigates could be designed this way, but also subsequent destroyers of thousands of tons could be designed this way.
Create a series of destroyers, some focusing on anti-submarine, some focusing on air defense, and some focusing on anti-ship?
After all, designing a "balanced" warship that can do everything on a hull of several thousand tons is quite a test of the design team's ability.
But if we use a modular approach and split it up, it will be much simpler for the emerging naval designers in Nanyang.
Everyone felt their minds were broadened at once.
Federico took a deep breath and bowed solemnly to Zhang Chi:
“It is the greatest honor of my career to come to Nanyang and participate in such a forward-looking and revolutionary project.
You have opened a door to the future for us. On behalf of my team, please allow me to express my highest respect for your foresight and vision!"
The young engineers behind him also stood up, their eyes burning with admiration for Zhang Chi and infinite longing for their future work.
At this moment, the remaining sense of superiority in their hearts was completely crushed, replaced by awe of the young commander's unfathomable wisdom and a desire to follow him.
Zhang Chi turned around and calmly accepted their respect. The "platformization" concept that was popular in later generations had the effect of a dimensionality reduction attack in 44, which directly convinced these Italian experts.
He waved his hand and concluded:
"I want to emphasize this point again, which is also the core concept of our design of 'Sea Wolf' and even more similar ships in the future.
The geographical environment of the South China Sea determines our core need for offshore defense."
He walked over to the chart table and ran his finger over the scattered islands and long coastline on the map:
"Look at our territory. From the Bay of Bengal to the Andaman Sea, to the Strait of Malacca. From Chittagong to Palembang, to the future Zheng He Islands (Natuna Islands)...
We have countless islands, reefs, straits and a rugged coastline.
In these places, the water depth is limited and there are many reefs. Large destroyers, cruisers and even aircraft carriers are the kings of the deep blue.
However, they have a deep draft, are expensive to build, and are complex to maintain. In shallow waters near the coast or in narrow waterways between islands, they may not be able to operate effectively and may even be prone to running aground or being mined.
Zhang Chi's fingers pointed heavily at the offshore area:
"To maintain the security, order and sovereignty of this vast offshore territory, we need quantity, flexibility, adaptability and cost-effectiveness.
This is where escort ships like the Seawolf come in.”
After thinking about it, he simply predicted:
"This world war will soon be over. Large-scale fleet decisive battles will be difficult to occur in the short term.
Our Nanyang Navy's greater mission in the future will be to suppress pirates, smuggling vessels, or speedboats and small warships infiltrating from hostile forces. Or to deliver a head-on blow to small enemy landing forces that attempt to seize our small islands and reefs at sea!
In Zhang Chi's view, the future South Seas Republic will have Sindhu to the west, the East Sindhu Islands to the east which is difficult to swallow in one bite, and the Kangaroo Country to the south. Various minor frictions at sea are inevitable.
At the beginning, it may just be for the fishing rights of each fisherman, but it will soon evolve into a geopolitical conflict over demarcation and competition for exclusive economic zones at sea and seabed oil, natural gas and other resources.
He paused and continued:
"This requires a group of small boats with moderate tonnage, shallow draft, flexible maneuverability, simple maintenance, and fewer personnel requirements, which can penetrate shallow waters and islands and reefs where large ships cannot reach."
Zhang Chi said as he looked at Li Zhenbang and You Hongxuan:
"I plan to build at least 100 of these 'Sea Wolf' series frigates. For the first few, you'll likely need to import engines and other equipment from abroad. I can accept the higher cost.
But later, when you have mastered the production process and are able to completely produce all subsystems by yourself, I need its cost to be reduced to a fraction or even one tenth of that of a destroyer.
The construction cycle must also be shorter. We need to be able to produce them in large quantities, just like making dumplings. We need to deploy them to every key island, port, and strait that needs to be defended. Can you do it?"
Several shipyard engineers and managers, including Director Li, immediately stood at attention, saluted, and shouted, "We will ensure the mission is accomplished!"
"Good, very energetic." Zhang Chi nodded. No matter whether he could do it later, at least he saw the enthusiasm.
"Imagine this." Zhang Chi then described a blueprint to the other naval officers, "In the future, along our long coastline, beside every important island and reef base, there will be one, two, or even several 'Sea Wolves' stationed year-round! They are like loyal 'sea police dogs,' patrolling daily, deterring rogues, and responding quickly.
Once something happens, they can arrive at the first time and use fierce firepower to cooperate with the naval aviation to control the situation.
When encountering a strong enemy, they can also use their speed and geographical advantages to maneuver and call for support.
Their very existence is a powerful assertion of sovereignty and a daily deterrent. They are our 'light cavalry of the sea', grounded in reality and guarding our maritime borders in the South China Sea.
There was a solemn atmosphere in the captain's room, and everyone was impressed by Zhang Chi's clear and pragmatic strategic concept.