When I first saw Liu Yongcai, I felt that he was no different from an old man next door- his hair was gray, his face was thin, and he spoke softly and kindly; his dress was also exceptionally simple, an ordinary jacket, which he could wash and put on for many years. In fact, the old man who looks like Sven in front of him is a famous missile expert in China, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the chief designer of China's land-based cruise missiles.
For more than 20 years, Liu Yongcai and his team have developed China's land-based cruise missiles, making them one of the "weapons of great powers" for defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and also enabling China's flight technology to reach the international advanced level. Liu Yongcai also won the Special Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, and he used his enthusiasm to fulfill his silent oath to the motherland. Recently, Liu Yongcai accepted an exclusive interview with all-media reporters of this newspaper and talked about his scientific research life.
Liu Yongcai
Text/Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Xiao Huanhuan
Photo/ From China Aerospace Science and Industry Group
Liu Yongcai was born in Changchun, Jilin Province, and unfortunately lost his father at the age of 6, and the family had to rely on his mother to work in the factory or set up street stalls to survive. "When I was a child, I was most afraid of the teacher's urging to pay the tuition, and then the school saw that my family was too poor, so it waived my tuition." Liu Yongcai said that he could only be worthy of the care of the state if he studied hard. Later, because of his excellent grades, he was sent to the Harbin Military Engineering College. "I wouldn't have been able to finish my books without state funding, so I'm proud to have the opportunity to do something for the country now."
<h1>Nibble on "hard bones" from scratch</h1>
The Third Academy of Aerospace Science and Industry of China is one of the main bases for missile research and development in China. More than 20 years ago, Liu Yongcai was appointed chief designer of China's land-based cruise missiles, and the burden of China's development of cruise missiles fell on his shoulders.
Liu Yongcai recalled that at that time, although he participated in the development of various types of missiles, he was still in contact with cruise missiles for the first time. "The range of the flying missile was up to hundreds of kilometers, while the cruise missile was more than a thousand kilometers. This is a completely different level of technological improvement. Liu Yongcai said that compared with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles have unique advantages - smaller, lighter, can fly at ultra-low altitude, because it does not have a fixed trajectory, it is difficult to find and intercept; at the same time, cruise missiles are also suitable for a variety of launch platforms, ground, water, air, underwater can be launched.
The task is arduous, but Liu Yongcai, a missile expert, knows the importance of developing cruise missiles. The initial mission was set to be developed within four or five years, while it took the United States 12 years to develop the first cruise missile. Liu Yongcai frankly said that whether he can succeed in development is actually bottomless, but he has no way to retreat.
In missile development, every technical breakthrough is a "hard bone, because there are no samples developed by predecessors for reference, and there are no academic materials to study. During that time, Liu Yongcai held meetings with the young people of the team during the day to discuss the plan, and at night he saw the materials and saw that late at night, if he encountered a problem and needed to go to the laboratory to verify the parameters, he would immediately put on his clothes and rush back to the laboratory overnight to verify his ideas. Later, Liu Yongcai felt that he was in trouble rushing from his residence to the laboratory, and he simply took the laboratory as his home.
In his work unit, there is a folding bed that is only 50 centimeters wide all year round, and two quilts are set up on it. Every time he worked until two or three o'clock in the morning, Liu Yongcai's eyes were really sleepy and couldn't open them, so he lay on the folding bed and squinted for a while, and then continued to look at the materials after waking up. Often, when colleagues come back to work the next day, they can see a thick stack of densely written sketches on his desk.
"The two largest mountains in the early stages of cruise missile development, one is the engine, the other is the guidance technology, these key technologies you expect to import from foreign countries is impossible, you can only rely on yourself." The power system was the first problem that Liu Yongcai had to solve, at that time, many of the team were young people in their twenties and thirties, so the overall research room for this type of engine was specially set up at that time. At that time, only one or two foreign reference materials could be found, and Liu Yongcai had to hold the dictionary with the young people in the team, start with the language, and then translate it into Chinese.
Subsequently, Liu Yongcai led the team to overcome more than ten technical indicators such as guidance, however, there is a law in the development of aerospace models, and the development of new technologies generally does not exceed 30%, otherwise the risk of development will increase significantly. However, in the development of cruise missiles, Liu Yongcai broke this law. After this model was finalized, 70% of them were new technologies.
Academician Liu Yongcai
<h1>He was more desperate than the lads</h1>
Over the years, Liu Yongcai has developed the habit of carrying a small book with him, and once any good ideas and ideas flash in his mind, he will record them at any time. Even if he slept until late at night, he would reflexively jump out of bed because of the flash of inspiration in his mind, take a pen to record it, and talk to himself from time to time. "I can't stay idle, even if I am physically idle, my brain can't be idle, and I always want to take advantage of the fact that my brain is still more sensitive and think more about some problems." On average, he slept only four or five hours a day.
Liu Yong is a national model worker, and his performance is indeed worthy of this title. At work, he is a "desperate samurai" who never accepts defeat, like a high-speed machine, working tirelessly. Although he is 77 years old this year, he is more desperate than young men in work, and it is common for him to stay up for days and nights.
Many of his colleagues do not know that this chief teacher who has been fighting in the front line for many years, because of irregular diet, can not eat on time, coupled with overwork, has undergone gastric resection surgery as early as 30 years ago. On July 3, 1981, Liu Yongcai's upper gastrointestinal bleeding led to hemorrhagic shock, and after laparotomy, he finally removed 2/3 of his stomach, and until now, Liu Yongcai's stomach is often faintly painful.
Perennial overload work has caused great damage to Liu Yongcai's body. Once, when he was on the spot, he suffered a recurrence of stomach disease and caused heavy bleeding, and his life was in danger. By the time he was rushed back to his operating room in Beijing, his blood pressure had dropped to zero.
Countless times to pick the lights night battle, countless "5 plus 2" "white plus black", Liu Yongcai always laughed. "I've long been used to this kind of work rhythm, maybe I sleep less when I'm older." Liu Yongcai said humorously. But the young people in the team saw it in their eyes: in 20 years, Liu Yongcai's black hair was half white.
Liu Yongcai told reporters that the education he received from childhood was to love the motherland, work hard, and strive for the rise of China. In the 1960s and 1970s, the "two bombs and one star" founder like Qian Xuesen greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese people and became a model among scientists. Since then, he has made up his mind to use what he has learned to serve the motherland.
<h1>The salary will eventually be fulfilled</h1>
January 13, 2001, was an unforgettable day for Liu Yongcai. For that range test, Liu Yongcai prepared for a full decade. But to his sadness, the aerodynamic test bomb crashed and exploded shortly after it was fired. Suddenly there was a thunderous noise in the distance, and black smoke clouds rose in the air. We all know that the launch failed. Xu Guoxing, who was 60 years old at the time and was the chief designer of the cruise missile's electrical system, held the wreckage of the missile and cried silently. To this day, he still remembers the scene of that time vividly. As the chief engineer of the model, Liu Yongcai is facing pressure that ordinary people cannot imagine. "Some people even said they were going to dismiss me. I couldn't sleep at night, I didn't close my eyes for several days in a row, and the moment the missile fell repeatedly appeared in front of my eyes. ”
Liu Yongcai told reporters: "At that time, there was a lot of gossip. We bow our heads, bend over, and do things with our tails between our legs, and no one can pat our butts and leave, because it's a national thing. In the two years after the launch failure, Liu Yongcai has been looking for the reason for the launch failure.
"Sometimes it's only once a few months, half a year, and the family is all supported by her wife, and she is not easy." I personally owe a lot to my family and to my children. Liu Yongcai said that his wife understands her work very well and never asks much, but he feels from the bottom of his heart that there is too little time to spend with his family.
After two years of debugging, Liu Yong found the reason for the failure of the test flight. In the spring of 2003, SARS struck, but the pace of missile research and development did not stop. "At that time, when doing outdoor experiments, everyone was wearing masks, and no one was afraid of danger, so they wanted to push this matter back, but many people took the initiative to ask Miao to come, which made me very moved."
In 2003, the range test was conducted again. Launched at 8 o'clock on time, the missile dragged an orange-red flame and flew into the sky with a roar. Liu Yongcai recalled that he had been in the command hall monitoring the flight data, and he was not even willing to go to the toilet. With the telemetry tracking data normal, the cruise missile flew normally, and two hours later, an excited voice came from the command hall: "Launch successful!" ”
In 2003, Liu Yongcai (the one wearing camouflage uniform on the right) watched the missile launches in the command hall.
Back at the station, fireworks were set off to celebrate. Although Liu Yongcai had been dripping wine many years ago because his stomach had been cut off 2/3, he still raised his glass at the celebration feast that day. "It's a day to remember, it's the result of a whole decade of hard work for our team." Looking at his comrades who had been working with him for years, his lips trembled, and tears of excitement swirled behind the thick lenses. "Our hard work in recent years has not been in vain!"
"At that moment, I remembered a lot." The past began to appear before his eyes like a projector. One of his most impressive ones was that in order to verify the performance of the missile in the low temperature state, he led the team to "find guilt" and conducted experiments at the lowest winter temperature in a northern city. At that time, the lowest temperature reached minus 40 degrees Celsius at night, and the daytime temperature was also minus 30 degrees. In order to prevent the aircraft parts from being frozen, at the end of the evening test, in the absence of aircraft tractors, the test aircraft weighing more than ten tons relied on more than 30 of them to propel the hangar with their bare hands. At that time, the team, young and old, including the 60-year-old chief division, was on the battlefield together, shouting trumpets and gasping for breath, and after a few hours, their cotton coats were soaked and washed as if they had been washed.
The successful launch in 2003 marked a number of milestones in the history of China's missile weapon development and marked a major breakthrough in the development of China's cruise missiles. In the two years after the successful test launch, Liu Yongcai led the team to complete the finalization and equipment of cruise missiles one after another, making China a country that can independently develop, produce and equip cruise missiles after the United States and Russia. In 2008, land-based cruise missiles won the Special Prize for National Science and Technology Progress.
However, Liu Yongcai repeatedly stressed to reporters that honor does not belong to him personally, because the research and development of flying missiles is the cause of "one gun for ten thousand people", and the scientific researchers at every link shoulder their own responsibilities, and behind the successful development of each model there are a group of "unsung heroes", doing earth-shattering things and doing anonymous people.
"As long as the country needs it, we will do it with all our lives, so what is the point of suffering?" Liu Yongcai said.
Liu Yongcai returned with honors after the successful launch of the test bomb.
<h1>77-year-old "old naughty boy"</h1>
On October 1, 2009, at the military parade marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, China's first generation of land-based cruise missiles, clad in camouflage, made their debut and sailed majestically through Tiananmen Square. On January 18, 2013, the cruise missile penetration defense technology team won the first batch of innovation team awards of the National Science and Technology Progress.
The research and development of land-based cruise missiles has also led to the overall improvement of the technical and management level of the three hospitals. After the successful development of land-based cruise missiles, the three academies experienced a "phoenix nirvana": in technological innovation, management improvement and overall construction to achieve a substantial leap forward development, explored a set of effective national large-scale model development model, and became the cradle of China's cruise missiles.
Although Liu Yongcai is 77 years old, he has always maintained a strong enthusiasm for new things. As long as it is something that young people like, he will join in and see what is new. He will use the software of the smart phone to make courseware, every time he gives a class to the students or goes to the field to make a report and give a speech, the PPT courseware is made by himself, and a lot of vivid and lively video materials are inserted, which are very popular every time.
And no matter where he travels, Liu Yongcai's favorite shopping is the electronic market. Colleagues joke that his psychological age is only in his 20s. When he was young, Liu Yongcai was also an athlete, table tennis, swimming, skating, football, volleyball, he dabbled in everything; after starting a family, the household appliances at home were repaired by himself.
Liu Yongcai is also a photography enthusiast, and the cameras he has used have been upgraded from film machines and card machines to SLR cameras, and he will take pictures of his family as soon as he has kung fu. When my wife had any problems using her mobile phone, she asked him at the first time. He also changed the tv at home to a "home theater" that can broadcast high-definition blockbusters online, and his wife praised his "craft".
"Although I am in my 70s, I feel that I am still very young, I feel that I still have a lot of energy in my body that has not been exerted, and I have not said that I can't move or think slowly, because I think every day to keep up with this era."
For young people, Liu Yongcai is always extra generous. He put forward the results of his decades of work for them to study. Today, Liu Yongcai has trained nearly 20 doctoral and master students. At that time, those inexperienced young people around him have become independent, becoming the chief division and deputy chief division of various models, and becoming the backbone of China's aerospace field. "Before I can rest, I can still contribute to the development of the country." Liu Yongcai said firmly in tone.
Biography
Liu Yongcai is a technical expert in missile weapon systems and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He has been engaged in the overall design, development, and technical management of a number of missile models, presided over the development and production technology of a certain national key weapon model, and won one special prize and one first prize for national scientific and technological progress, one special prize for national defense scientific and technological progress, and one first prize at the ministerial level of the Ministry of Aerospace. In 1991, he was awarded a special government allowance, in 1997 he was rated as a young and middle-aged expert with outstanding contributions at the national level, in 2000 he was named a national model worker, in 2003 he was awarded the First Class Meritorious Service of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense for the Development of Weapons and Equipment Models and the China Aerospace Fund Award, in 2006 he was awarded the 50 Years Outstanding Contribution Award of China's Aerospace Industry, the Special Contribution Award of the China Space Fund Award, and in 2007 he was awarded the "Major Contribution Award for the Development and Construction of High-Tech Weapons and Equipment" and the Gold Medal issued by the Party Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission. In 2009, he was rated as the national outstanding professional and technical personnel. Comrade Liu Yongcai has made outstanding contributions to the development of China's missile industry and aerospace industry, as well as to China's national defense cause.
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