CHAPTER 341: CHAPTER 156: HIGH-ALTITUDE BALLOONS

At first, Wang Lizhi thought he hadn’t found any clues in Chang’an, but in fact, he had brought crucial information.

If, as he said, the remains of monsters found in the "Ancient Battlefield" ruins of Chang’an truly don’t contain any Brain Machine devices, then it suggests the Beast Tide is likely just a simple attack method. Behind this tactic, there is a complex system maintaining its operation.

This includes the early deployment of Brain Machines, the command and control during the attack, and the equipment recovery and battlefield cleanup afterward.

To achieve this, the forces controlling the Beast Tide must need a larger logistical and support team to maintain it.

So, does this team still exist?

If so, where could it be?

Chen Jian faintly sensed that a larger, more terrifying shadow was looming over him and the Huaxia Army.

But right now, he had no way to deal with this shadow.

"We need more advanced, wider-ranging reconnaissance methods."

Inside the command room, Chen Jian spoke:

"The current reconnaissance and early warning system built on drones is truly inefficient and unstable."

"Long-endurance drones consume aviation fuel which is not a small number. Based on the current usage, our fuel reserves can support us for only less than half a year."

"We urgently need a low-cost reconnaissance method."

"Its effectiveness doesn’t need to be too good, nor does the precision need to be very high, but it must allow us to see."

"So..... is there any way?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lei Jie immediately replied:

"In fact, restoring communication with the satellites is the best way."

"According to Fu Xi’s data, there should be at least 100 satellites in orbit that can barely continue operating."

"However, their communication with the ground has been interrupted, and they have gone into hibernation mode after receiving no instructions for a long time."

"Perhaps we can try to restore ground communication with the satellites and restart the satellite system?"

"Chief, it’s not that simple."

Fu Xi’s voice echoed in the command room.

"The satellites I mentioned that can barely maintain operation are mostly communication satellites without reconnaissance functions."

"Among them, there are 4 satellites in the Beidou system that are still usable; we can easily restore their functionality later."

"But if we specifically talk about reconnaissance satellites, there currently aren’t any fully functional satellites available for use."

"...Then there’s only one way left."

Lei Jie shrugged and said:

"High-altitude balloons."

"By the way, can we produce high-altitude balloons with performance that meets usage requirements with our current production capacity?"

"What we need are not regular balloons; we need long-endurance, long-distance balloons with certain self-sustaining capabilities, which can be effectively recovered for reconnaissance."

"These things don’t look complicated at first glance, but truly making one... The technical threshold is quite high, isn’t it?"

After he finished speaking, Fu Xi’s voice sounded again:

"The main difficulty of long-endurance balloons lies in high-pressure polyethylene materials. We currently don’t have stock of such materials, and establishing a new production line would have a relatively low cost-benefit ratio."

"I believe our optimal choice should be to use relatively more traditional tropospheric reconnaissance balloons."

"We can use rubber or plastic to make the balloon skin, and without considering the usage limit, we can achieve mass production quickly."

"Regarding reconnaissance equipment, although we don’t have the capability to produce imaging equipment, we can completely use the existing infrared and white light imaging equipment inside the 011 facility for emergencies."

"Most monsters generate noticeable heat signals that can be detected from 5 to 10 kilometers away."

"If further intelligence is needed, we can lower the balloons via the control system to conduct closer reconnaissance and compensate for equipment shortcomings."

"Good idea."

Chen Jian nodded and then continued to ask:

"As for the control system design, how should we go about it?"

"Use omnidirectional propellers to control direction and unidirectional exhaust valves to control altitude."

"In other words, after lowering the altitude, the balloon no longer has the ability to re-fly or ascend?"

"Yes."

Fu Xi replied:

"But considering special circumstances, we can also design one-time high-pressure gas storage devices for some balloons conducting key directional reconnaissance for single reuse flights."

One-shot deal indeed...

Chen Jian understood Fu Xi’s approach.

Actually, its reasoning is similar to He Shuo’s approach to making guns, emphasizing low cost and simplicity, and not distressing even if it fails.

But to be honest, this idea proves incredibly useful in the wasteland.

After all, the current Huaxia Army has no opponents, and everything they produce can be considered uniquely theirs.

If releasing a balloon doesn’t need to consider political factors, concealment, or the threat of anti-aircraft fire, is it necessary to add fancy designs to it?

Honestly, if not for considering recovery needs, attaching a camera to a helium-filled plastic bag to fly into the sky is also feasible...

"Then let’s proceed with this idea."

"Inform the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce to include rubber materials in the procurement list."

"Lei Jie, let Fu Xi work with you to get the control system sorted out in the next couple of days, and we’ll strive to launch the first balloon within two or three days."