Chapter 385: Chapter 383: Airplane Sound
In the military camp, Chen Xin was tinkering with a disassembled piece of equipment at a workbench.
Although he relied entirely on the system’s upgrade capabilities for upgrading the prototype provided by the country, it doesn’t mean he was completely clueless about equipment modifications.
At least with the assistance of a mechanical arm, Chen Xin could disassemble a prototype to see its internal structure.
This was one of his childhood habits, always wanting to take things apart to see what’s inside, and as a result, more than half of his toys from childhood ended up broken this way.
During those times, due to his limited skills, once he took something apart, he could never put it back together, similar to the airplane mechanic across the street from his neighbor Ali, who always had extra screws leftover from an airplane repair, enough to build a new aircraft after several repairs.
Of course, Chen Xin no longer had this problem. Besides the improvement in his own abilities giving him the confidence to disassemble and reassemble things, with the aid of mechanical arms and a microcomputer, he wouldn’t end up with leftover screws after reassembly.
The equipment in front of Chen Xin was one of the add-on devices for the military exoskeleton, a laser guidance module.
Laser guidance involves providing guidance from the ground for air-to-ground missiles to mark targets.
If you often watch movies, you’ll have the impression of that laser targeting device, similar to a large telescope, that Federation Grade Four Marines hold when calling for air support.
The device works by continuously shining a laser on the target, reflecting the light onto the guidance head of the missile in the air, guiding the missile to precisely hit the target.
Normally, considering the efficiency of laser targeting, these devices are usually made quite large, resembling a big telescope, which is quite typical.
However, the laser guidance module on the exoskeleton in front of Chen Xin wasn’t too big, possibly because it could interface with the exoskeleton’s aiming module, some unnecessary optical components were omitted, thus reducing its size.
Chen Xin couldn’t fully grasp this thing, but he understood its basic principle.
Simply put, it’s a laser emitter that shoots a laser at the target, using the reflected laser to guide the missile, overall a rather straightforward principle.
However, ensuring the accuracy of this laser guide, ensuring the laser beam effectively guides the missile to the target, is not simple at all.
Moreover, since the laser guide must continuously target the missile to hit the target, the challenge is in maintaining a stable, continuous laser beam, which is one of the major challenges in developing such equipment.
Apart from a few major powers, no small country on Blue Planet can manage such laser-guided missiles. Even the neighbor across the sea from the Flame Country, despite their decent economic and technological strength, needs to import related equipment from their master, the Federation, lacking the ability to manufacture it themselves.
The laser guidance module in front of Chen Xin was specifically developed for exoskeletons, but Chen Xin could tell it had been modified from the original laser guidance device, with some slots for optical components still visible on some parts.
This is a common problem with prototype machines, as they’re often made as technical verification samples, sometimes even just roughly wrapped with black tape without any intention of making them elaborate or optimizing the internal structure.
Regarding optimizing wiring, adjusting component sizes, reducing volume, and decreasing weight, those are matters for post-technical specification work.
However, for Chen Xin, it was different, as with system upgrades, he could streamline all these steps at once.
Upgrading such a laser guidance module didn’t consume much survival points. After fiddling with the disassembled parts, Chen Xin reassembled them and initiated the system upgrade.
For the laser guidance module upgrade, Chen Xin didn’t make significant changes, merely optimized the structure and slightly enhanced the device’s performance.
Chen Xin had thought about adding some other functions to the laser guidance module, such as laser cutting.
But doing so would significantly alter the equipment and greatly increase its energy consumption, so after some consideration, Chen Xin abandoned the idea, given that the laser cutting function isn’t truly practical.
Laser cutting is mainly used for precision machining, providing unique advantages in mechanical processing due to its ability to make tricky angle cuts without physical tools.
However, on the battlefield, this capability is unnecessary; anything laser cutting can handle can equally be broken with a kick, a grenade, or a door breacher.
Thus, Chen Xin didn’t bother with laser cutting functions. If a laser cutter were to be made, it should be for industrial use, not as a military weapon.
High-precision laser cutting instruments can be applied in many fields, making their use on the battlefield a massive waste, unless Chen Xin was creating a sci-fi novel’s laser weapon.
But if Chen Xin wanted to make a laser weapon, he could just create a laser gun, so why bother modifying a laser guidance device?
Thinking about whether to make a laser gun for fun, Chen Xin placed the upgraded laser guidance module back on the table and went over to pour himself a hot drink, planning to take a break.
Currently, he was in an office specially prepared for him in the military camp, with an indoor temperature of fifteen degrees and equipped with hot water, television, and computer. Although the television lacked signal for watching shows, it could still be used to watch pre-downloaded movies or programs, and the military computer, incapable of gaming, was at least internet-enabled for browsing internal network information.
Moreover, the office had a bathroom and bedroom, allowing Chen Xin to take a comfortable hot shower and then lie down for a good sleep anytime he wanted a rest.
That’s why Chen Xin didn’t mind staying in the military camp, otherwise, he could enjoy even better treatment.
However, while Chen Xin was resting, he heard a loud rotor sound from outside, causing him to raise an eyebrow. A helicopter?
Chen Xin couldn’t help but feel curious. After the disaster, due to the air filled with a lot of dust and particles, no aircraft could take off unless they wanted to ruin their engines; no plane dared to fly in such adverse air conditions.
But now, to hear a helicopter sound within the military camp, Chen Xin was curious about what urgency required the risk of flying a plane, or perhaps current weather conditions had improved enough to allow it?