Withdrawing experts and stopping aid, ＂Dongfeng＂ opens a new chapter in China’s missile research.

In 1960, China was in a difficult period for three years, and hunger threatened everyone. At that time, the Fifth Hospital of the Ministry of National Defense had just been established. Due to lack of materials and malnutrition, the physical fitness of scientific and technological personnel declined, and 70% of people suffered from edema, and some people also suffered from night blindness.

At this time, Sino-Soviet relations have already seen a huge rift. Soviet leader Khrushchev, who was invited to China to attend the National Day ceremony, told Mao Zedong: "The Soviet Union cannot provide atomic energy technology to China." On July 16, 1960, the Soviet Union suspended its aid project to China and withdrew all its experts in China.

Liu Zhanyi, who just graduated from the Physics Department of Peking University that year (later served as 25 senior engineers in the Second Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology), recalled the scene at that time: all the scientific and technical personnel involved in the development of the model were holding their breath.

On September 18th, 1962, the Fifth Academy of the Ministry of National Defense appointed Sara (who was originally the director of the Dongfeng II model design committee) as the chief designer of Dongfeng II missile, and Qian Wen was the chief designer of the code-named "543" missile (Hongqi I missile).

On October 11th, Vice Premier Nie Rongzhen made it clear again after listening to the report from the leaders of the Fifth Hospital of the Ministry of National Defense: Dongfeng II is the key point, and it should be built during the third five-year plan period, with ground test first and then flight test; We should attach importance to the imitation of "543" and pay close attention to the data collation of this model.

The cohesion and creativity of the Chinese nation once again shine the most brilliant brilliance at the most critical moment.

The scenes of researchers working hard day and night are like movie clips, and every frame is precious. Scientists continue to struggle and innovate independently, constantly pushing the space industry to a new peak.

"Black Cat" Attacks

Since March, 1958, the high-altitude reconnaissance flying team in Taiwan Province area, code-named "Black Cat Squadron", has frequently flown to the mainland for high-altitude reconnaissance. They used the U-2 reconnaissance plane made in the United States, which was specially equipped with a B-type camera for high-altitude reconnaissance to capture information and take photos.

Anti-aircraft guns and fighters can do nothing to combat the arrogance of the "Black Cat Squadron", and anti-aircraft missiles must be used.

In 1960, the research on China’s surface-to-air missile weapon system was just in its infancy. At that time, only more than 50 surface-to-air missiles with code name "543" (C-75) were introduced from the Soviet Union.

After the Soviet Union withdrew its experts and stopped providing aid, Nie Rongzhen pointed out that it was necessary to give full play to the enthusiasm of China experts and rely on China’s own technical strength to copy "543".

According to Nie Rongzhen’s instructions, relying on and giving full play to the role of China’s own experts, the astronauts put forward the slogan of "learning C-75, thoroughly understanding C-75 and imitating’ 543’" to speed up the pace of imitation.

In September 1961, the Second Branch concentrated a scientific and technological team including experts from Qian Wen, Cai Jintao, Wu Shuoping, Huang Weilu, Liang Sili, Zhang Lvqian, Chen Huaijin, etc., and strengthened the imitation power of the C-75 surface-to-air missile.

With the progress of imitation work, "543" gradually entered the outfield for flight shooting test. In 1963, the flight test of two model bombs was successfully carried out for the first time, and in 1964, the target test of combat bombs was carried out in the whole weapon system. As a result, the fuze did not lead the warhead when hitting the entity drone.

Through a large number of experiments and analysis, the designer successfully shot down the drone in the second test after taking corresponding technical measures for the fuze and the drone, and realized the finalization of the imitation missile. Since then, the missile named "Red Flag No.1" has been produced and equipped with troops.

Hongqi-1 missile

There has been a new breakthrough in imitation

The imitation process is very hard, just like crossing the river by feeling the stones. When copying the "543" missile, the astronauts overcame a series of technical difficulties and made many new achievements on their own.

Liu Zhanyi was working on a group of ground-based radars. With the help of Soviet experts, Liu Zhanyi, who majored in radio physics, quickly completed the reverse design of the command antenna.

Then, Liu Zhanyi’s group successfully completed the reverse design of the electrical size and parameters of the tracking and guidance antenna, but suddenly encountered a problem when calculating one of the numbers of the scanner.

The purpose of reverse design is to find out the design structure of the missile, the performance of materials and parts, and prepare for the next imitation. "Calculus and geometry learned at school are far from enough." Liu Zhanyi and his colleagues gritted their teeth, worked overtime and studied hard every day. After self-learning a book of more than 800 pages of Intrinsic Geometry of Convex Surfaces, they finally got the calculation results.

At the moment, everyone has a common belief: master missile technology as soon as possible and complete the tasks assigned by the state quickly and well.

The imitation work is going on at full speed. At the same time, in 1960, Tang Jingzhi (later 23 senior engineers in the Second Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology) undertook the imitation design of the display of the "543" missile display command vehicle.

He recalled: "Once the U-2 reconnaissance plane appeared again, the’ black cat’ turned around and flew away before our missile radar was turned on and powered on. After discussion at that time, it was agreed that the U-2 reconnaissance plane must have installed a new electronic reconnaissance system, so it could receive the signal that the ground missile radar was turned on. "

In order to cover up the frequency of electrical scanning, 23 technical teams decided to install an irradiation antenna on Hongqi-1 to search for the target and initially track and lock the target, then turn on the scanning antenna at an appropriate time, and then immediately launch missiles to shoot the target.

Two octogenarians, who are now over 80 years old, recalled those years and said, "In that era of hard struggle, we believed that the Chinese nation had the ability to overcome scientific difficulties, and we had to work it out despite all difficulties."

Beat the antelope to build missiles

At that time, faced with heavy and tense scientific research tasks, scientific and technological personnel often worked overtime spontaneously and made painstaking research. Until the dead of night, in the early hours of the morning, everyone was still busy in the office.

Researchers use simple equipment to design.

At that time, Nie Rongzhen, who was in charge of the national defense science, technology and industry, made a special provision for this: all research institutes must turn off their lights at 0: 00 and ask everyone to rest on time. However, in the Fifth Hospital and the Institute of Atomic Energy, after zero, some people hide in the toilet to read books, and some people study with flashlights under the covers.

Researchers actively learn new knowledge, master new technologies and strive to overcome scientific difficulties.

In order to ensure that the front-line researchers have enough nutrition, the state mobilizes all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions to support the Fifth Hospital as much as possible. Not long after, several major military regions and naval forces urgently allocated a batch of non-staple foods such as pork, soybeans, fish and eggs to the national defense scientific research front, which were extremely precious at that time. This batch of materials has greatly eased the shortage of food supply in the Fifth Hospital.

While allocating materials from all over the country, the Fifth Hospital organized troops to fight antelope in Inner Mongolia to solve the problem of eating meat in the whole hospital. In the early winter of 1961, Zhai Dajun (later deputy director of the Second Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology) set out with the hunting team of the Second Branch.

The winter weather is cold, and the grassland temperature in Inner Mongolia drops to MINUS 30-40 degrees Celsius. The cloth tent of the hunting team is not only not cold-resistant, but also can’t stop the wind.

Zhai Dajun, now 93 years old, recalled the scene at that time and said, "I dare not take off my clothes when I sleep at night. When I get into bed, I feel like I have entered icehouse." Later, the tent was too cold to live in, so they had to borrow two earth houses nearby to stay temporarily, which solved the accommodation problem.

After a heavy snow, it became more and more difficult to beat the antelope. The team members stayed up all night looking for the trail of the antelope and were very tired. What moved Zhai Dajun was that the comrades proudly said that the scientific and technical personnel were developing our country’s missiles at home, and they were willing to work hard and tired to let them eat a bowl of yellow mutton noodles.

It was under such difficult conditions that Dongfeng II missile was born.

"Dongfeng II" was born

In 1960, China mastered the missile manufacturing technology by imitating the Soviet surface-to-surface missiles. At the same time, the Dongfeng-2 missile with a longer range began to be developed.

At that time, the successful imitation of the "1059" missile greatly encouraged the morale of astronauts. Mr. Nie proposed that we should break through the barrier from imitation to independent design and design our own missiles with our own hands.

The missile in Nie Rongzhen’s mouth is the Dongfeng-2 short-range surface-to-surface missile designed by itself on the basis of the "1059" missile.

After discovering that the thrust and range of the "1059" missile still have potential to be tapped, the technicians of the First Branch of the Fifth Academy conducted an in-depth analysis of the overall scheme and the structure of the missile, and decided to independently develop the medium and short-range missile "Dongfeng II" with a range of 1,200 kilometers.

According to Mao Zedong’s famous saying, "East Wind Overwhelms West Wind", "East Wind" became the code name of China’s surface-to-surface missile series.

Although Dongfeng-2 missile "climbs high" on the basis of "1059" missile, it has great technical inheritance, but it still encounters many thorny problems in the design process. At that time, the vast majority of engineers and technicians who participated in the design were young people who had just left school. It was the first time to engage in missile design, but many technical problems were creatively solved.

In order to increase the range and reduce the weight of the rocket itself, Lu You, who was a designer of the missile tail shell in a branch at that time, put the missile rudder bracket originally placed outside into the rudder ring in one design, so that the rudder was within the jet range of the engine and the missile could be "controlled" smoothly. It is precisely because of this ingenious design that Lu You’s post division of labor has become a rudder unit designer.

In this way, Lu friends and colleagues began to develop intensively. "I missed dinner after working overtime, and I can still eat a bowl of yellow mutton after rushing to the cafeteria." So far, Lu You is still crying. He said with emotion that in the difficult period when the country’s materials are very poor, he can do everything possible to care for scientific and technological personnel from life, and the care and warmth of the party have all become the working motivation of scientific and technological personnel. Although the conditions are poor and there are many difficulties, people are all in high spirits and full of emotions.

Lijian Dongfeng

Determination of parameters, preparation of components, modification of equipment … The front and rear fought day and night, and after more than a year of hard work, Dongfeng II missile was finally developed.

In March 1962, the first Dongfeng-2 missile arrived at the launch site for various tests before launch.

Everything seems to be going very well. On March 21st, Dongfeng-2 missile made its first flight test.

69 seconds after launch, Dongfeng-2 missile crashed on the launch site, and the explosion point was only 680 meters away from the launch pad. Pain and disappointment hang over the hearts of every scientific and technological person.

After the first test failure of Dongfeng-2 missile, technicians analyzed the reasons for the failure.

Technicians inspected Dongfeng-2 missile.

After the launch failed, Qian Xuesen immediately took technicians to the scene to investigate the cause of the accident. Under the leadership of Qian Xuesen, after careful analysis, the crux of the defeat was finally found out. Experts also analyzed that the "Dongfeng II" test was not sufficient, and there was no ground facility for full missile test, so it was impossible to expose defects in the ground test, which was also an important reason for the missile crash.

In 1962, Qian Xuesen rushed to the base to guide the work after the first test failure of Dongfeng II missile.

Lessons learned from failures are often more valuable than successful experiences. Since then, on the one hand, developers have revised the design to improve the reliability of the engine system; On the other hand, accelerate the construction of large-scale ground test facilities such as all-missile test bench, and eliminate faults on the ground as much as possible.

At that time, Zhang Zuocheng (later Secretary-General of the Science and Technology Committee of the Third Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology of China) participated in the engine test of each test platform of the test station and the all-missile test of Platform 4 as a technical assistant.

In order to simulate the flight state and test the reliability of the missile system on the ground, in 1963, the most important large-scale ground test facility, the all-missile test bench, was completed.

On May 20th, the Fifth Hospital established the acceptance committee of all-missile test bench. Zhang Zuocheng remembers that after the completion of the all-missile test bench, three cold tests and two hot tests were carried out on the newly-built platform 4 using the "1059" missile. After that, more than 20 technical measures were taken and more than 80 ground tests were carried out to test the safety and reliability of the all-missile test bench.

On December 26th, the improved Dongfeng-2 missile carried out five all-missile tests in short range, medium range, full range, rated thrust and large thrust on the newly-built all-missile test bench, which stood the most rigorous and comprehensive test before the flight test.

The experiment went very smoothly. The redesigned Dongfeng-2 missile has passed 17 large-scale ground tests and 105 engine test runs.

On June 29th, 1964, Dongfeng-2 missile, which was developed by our country, ignited and lifted off at Jiuquan launch site, accurately hitting the intended target 1,000 kilometers away, turning a new page in the history of missile development in China.

On June 29th, 1964, China’s self-developed Dongfeng II turned a new page in China’s missile history.

August 27, 2019 "China Aerospace News" 3 rd edition

The pictures are from China Aerospace Publishing House, this newspaper and other materials.

Text/China Aerospace News reporter Miao Shanshan

Editor/Liu Zhe Zhang Xiaofan Hao Chenxi (intern)

Producer/Xu Bin