Note: This article was written by the author and was originally published in the column "Lichao Allusions to the Cloud" on the official blog of Chengdu Lichao Aviation Museum
A few days ago, the classic Hollywood sci-fi movie "Avatar" was re-released in mainland China, and its cumulative global box office has approached 2.8 billion US dollars, surpassing "Avengers: Endgame" and once again topped the list of the world's highest-grossing movies.
As a visual effects blockbuster that has been released for nearly 12 years, even today when superhero movies have been "bombed" in turn, "Avatar" still relies on the seriousness and visual impact from director James Cameron. There is still no "film" that can shake the sci-fi mechanical setting of . Among them, the setting of near-future human vehicles and weapons in China is very worth discussing. This issue of #Lichao·Clouds allusion# will analyze the setting of the aircraft in this film.
01 Background
The story of "Avatar" is set to take place in 2154, so most of the aircraft in the film can find the shadow of active and even historical service aircraft. The aircraft featured in the film are part of the Security Operations Unit (SecOPS), which is part of an NGO called the Resource Development Authority (RDA).
The main mission of SecOPS is to provide security services for RDA's civilian staff on Pandora. Contrary to what many viewers guessed [Note 1] , although it is a private army, and most of its members are retired US Marines, in the official setting, the technical and tactical level of this unit is beyond the same period. of the Earth Government Army.
According to the official setting, in the middle of the 22nd century, RDA, which has developed for more than 100 years, has built and operated the maglev train network all over the world, and its capital and strength have surpassed that of most government organizations. Commercial exchanges between Earth and the stars. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of RDA's SecOPS is better than that of the government army.
Due to the construction of the maglev train network, RDA urgently needs superconducting materials, so it will extend its tentacles to the Pandora star containing superconducting minerals. According to the official setting, RDA landed on Pandora as early as 2084. As the UN, the scientific community, and the public call for tighter control of Type 3 contact, the RDA has launched the Avatar Project, a fusion of genetic and neural control technologies, to delve deeper into the Na'vi culture and establish gentle channels of communication, film So the story unfolds.
[Note 1] To this day, there are still many viewers who do not think that a century later, the human army with the ability to travel between stars will be defeated by the Na'vi who are still at the level of primitive tribes even if they are blessed by planetary life forms. Viewers who hold this idea believe that SecOPS is a mercenary, far less powerful than the government forces on Earth at the same time. It is worth mentioning that the main creator of the movie has guessed that there will be a serious audience, so a balance setting was made in advance, that is, the activities of RDA in space need to be supervised by the Interstellar Commerce Authority (ICA), and RDA waits in the stars. Organizations conducting commercial activities between the two countries must abide by treaties issued by the ICA under the direction of the United Nations, prohibiting the use of weapons of mass destruction and restricting the development of military forces in space. In fact, the ICA looks more like a puppet or a fig leaf for the RDA.
02 ISV "Adventure Star" spacecraft
The "Adventure Star" spacecraft that appears at the beginning of the movie is one of the main interstellar vehicles of RDA and even human beings in the 21st-22nd century - the "Capital Star" class spacecraft fleet. According to the official setting, there are 12 spacecraft in this class. , the maiden flight time is before 2080.
The "Capital Star" class spacecraft was developed by RDA to provide RDA with interplanetary manpower, equipment and mineral transportation services. Taking the "Adventure Star" as an example, the spacecraft can fly 0.7 times the speed of light from the earth to the Alpha Centauri galaxy about 4.4 light-years away in less than 7 years.
"Adventure Star" is powered by light sails, antimatter engines and nuclear fusion engines. According to the official settings, in this typical interstellar mission from the earth to the Alpha galaxy, the "Adventure Star" will first use the light sail and the laser irradiated by the earth to perform an accelerated flight for nearly 6 months until it reaches the The highest economic speed - 0.7 times the speed of light, and maintains sub-light speed for more than 5 years; before reaching the Alpha system, the spacecraft will use an antimatter engine to decelerate for nearly 6 months; finally, the spacecraft will use nuclear fusion The engine enters Pandora's Delta-V orbit.
"Adventure Star" is more than 1,600 meters long, 330 meters wide and 218.5 meters high. The spacecraft consists of 7 parts: one is the power area, with antimatter and nuclear fusion engines, all equipped with radiators; the second is the fuel area, with several fuel tanks; the third is the sail area, where large sails are located; four It is the cargo hold area, which can carry up to 6 cargo holds (350 tons in total) and 2 "Valkyrie" space shuttles. The large robotic arm can lift the cargo hold to the airport where the space shuttle is docked; the fifth is the residential area, with a life support system (Atmosphere, water and food circulation), passengers sleep in the low temperature dormancy cabin, the living area is connected to the space shuttle, and the spacecraft crew can also enter the living area for maintenance through the airlock; the sixth is the crew area, with the bridge and crew living cabins (The unit can also be dormant at low temperature); the seventh is the shield, which is used to prevent the laser from irradiating the manned area during the acceleration phase, and is used with the magnetic shield to resist space debris during the constant speed phase. The seven sections are all connected by trusses made of carbon nanotube composites.
The setting of the "Capital Star" class spacecraft integrates the current human's various assumptions about the future spacecraft, and has made a detailed design of the power and structure, and the overall is more realistic. The name "Adventure Star" comes from the actual X-33 single-stage orbital space shuttle verification project implemented by Lockheed Martin in the 1990s (actually corresponding to the TAV-37B introduced next). "Valkyri" single-stage orbiting space shuttle), which will replace the traditional space shuttle at that time, but the project stopped at the scale model verification stage due to technical problems and failed to serve.
03 TAV-37B "Valkyrie" single-stage orbiting space shuttle
As mentioned earlier, the "Capital Star" class/"Adventure Star" spacecraft can only fly in the interstellar and Delta-V orbits, but to deliver supplies and personnel to the surface of Pandora, an additional A vehicle capable of flying in space and atmospheric environments - the TAV-37B "Valkyrie" single-stage orbiting space shuttle.
Valkyrie is a delta-wing, vertical take-off and landing single-stage orbiting space shuttle. The aircraft is 101.73 meters long, 80.03 meters wide and 10 meters high. The aircraft is powered by fusion engines (space) and turbojets (atmosphere). Normally, a "Capital Star"-class spacecraft can start from Earth carrying 2 "Valkyries", and after a long interstellar flight, come to the Pandora star Delta-V orbit, and vice versa. "Valkyrie" will travel back and forth between the "Capital Star" class and Pandora, transporting materials and personnel from the earth to the "Gate of Hell" base, and transporting the personnel and mineral resources that need to be returned to the Earth to the "Capital Star" class.
In atmospheric conditions, the Valkyrie's typical mission range is 2,000 miles; it can carry 60 SecOPS members, or 25 MK-6 mechs (AMUs) [note 2] or 25 tons of supplies/minerals. In a typical re-entry mission, "Valkyrie" will first detach from the "Capital Star" class and descend into the atmosphere of Pandora; thanks to the carbon brazed thermal insulation tile, "Valkyrie" will travel at hypersonic speeds Re-entry; when descending to a flight altitude of 10,000 feet, because it has come to the atmospheric environment, the power source of "Valkyrie" will be converted from a nuclear fusion engine to a jet engine; approaching the mission area (usually mines, Or stay in the air to search for minerals) or to land at the "Gate of Hell" base, the "Valkyry" will gradually transition to the vertical take-off and landing mode to slow down and enhance maneuverability; when landing, the four "Valkyry" The jet engine is in a vertical state, with the nozzle facing down, and the thrust source is changed to the lift source, so that the aircraft can land on the ground stably.
In the reverse orbital mission, the Valkyrie will first take off vertically, begin to fly forward and accelerate as the jet engine deflects; when the speed reaches Mach 3, the hypersonic inlet opens and the speed will increase And stabilized at Mach 7; after exiting the atmosphere, "Valkyrie" will use a nuclear fusion engine to enter the Delta-V orbit and merge with the "Capital Star" class. Under normal circumstances, even a fully loaded "Valkyrie" takes less than 10 minutes to enter orbit, but the process of converging with the "Capital Star" class on the same orbit takes 6 hours.
The cargo compartment of the "Valkyrie" is not much different from the real heavy military transport aircraft, such as ramps, pallets, bulkheads and seats. Because it is equipped with a nuclear fusion engine with its own magnetic field, it can fly in the strong magnetic field (Hallelujah Mountain) of Pandora. "Valkyri" is about four times the volume of a traditional space shuttle, but because of the use of composite materials, it is lighter and stronger.
When necessary, the "Valkyri" can perform low-intensity combat missions, with self-defense machine guns on the top of the fuselage, and can drop bombs through the tailgate. This setting is inspired by the real Vietnam War, the US Air Force's C-130 transport aircraft in order to kill the enemy hiding in buildings and caves, or open up a helicopter landing field for the air assault force, throwing directly from the tailgate BLU-82 vacuum bomb. In addition, "Valkyrie" also needs to perform a special mission, which is to capture antihydrogen and deuterium escaping from the upper atmosphere of the Polyphemus gas giant in the Delta-V orbit as a "capital star" class. fuel.
There are two realistic prototypes of "Valkyrie": one is the aforementioned X-33 single-stage orbital space shuttle verification project; The shape and name of the 37B refer to the XB-70 more or less.
[Note 2] The MK-6 mech (AMU) is also one of the highlights of the film. According to the official setting, the MK-6 was developed by Japan's Mitsubishi in the middle of the 21st century and has been used for nearly a hundred years. combat in an atmosphere-free environment). The power source is a fuel cell or a ceramic turbine. MK-6 can be equipped with various kits according to operational needs and pilot preferences.
04 SA-2 "Samson" utility helicopter
I believe that many viewers who understand the military can see that the story of "Avatar" is actually a replica of the Vietnam War, especially the scene in the movie "Apocalypse Now" in which the aircraft crowd is crushed under the sunset, so director Cameron intentionally or unintentionally It draws on a lot of Vietnam War elements in the setting. One of the big reasons is that director Cameron's younger brother used to be a U.S. Marine Corps soldier, so he liked to use the historical elements of the U.S. military since his early movie "Alien 2" [Note 2 ] . In "Avatar", a typical example is the SA-2 "Samson" utility helicopter. Although Cameron said that the setting of the aircraft was inspired by the Mi-24 helicopter in the movie "First Blood 2", the combat and cultural symbols of "Samson" in the film are similar to the UH- of the US military during the Vietnam War. 1 The Huey utility helicopter is no different.
In the official setting, "Samson" was developed by French Aerospace and has been in use for decades. It has undergone the test of combat in extremely cold and extremely hot environments on the earth, and is reliable, durable and easy to maintain. Of course, in order to adapt to Pandora's environment, "Samson" received a technical upgrade for the electrical system.
To be precise, the "Samson" is a coaxial twin-tilt ducted helicopter. The aircraft is 15.9 meters long, 14.99 meters wide, and has a maximum flight speed of 144 knots. Due to the use of double tilt ducts, the "Samson" has superior maneuverability. The aircraft is usually equipped with a 4-person crew, capable of carrying at least one infantry squad, and the cabin layout is similar to the actual UH-60 "Black Hawk" general-purpose helicopter of the US military. The machine can carry out external hoisting operation, which is shown in the movie. The aircraft can carry a variety of ordnance: first, the door M60 machine gun (both the door gunner and the pilot can operate); the second is the MBS-9M "Hydra" rocket mounted on the short wings (launching nest); three It was a .30 caliber machine gun mounted on a short wing. The cockpit of the "Samson" is airtight and pressurized, but it also has a face shield for emergency use.
[Note 2] In the movie "Alien 2", the Colonial Marines almost copied the US Marines from the Vietnam War.
[Note 3] Cameron admitted that "Avatar" not only implicitly criticized the role of the United States in the Iraq War, but also criticized the ruthlessness of mechanized warfare. Cameron said of the use of the word "shock and awe" in the film: "We know what it's like to launch a missile, but we don't know how people abroad feel, and what it's like to have a missile land in our own country."
05 AT-99 "Scorpion" Gunship/Attack Helicopter
If SA-2 "Samson" is UH-1 "Huey", then AT-99 "Scorpion" is AH-1 "Cobra". However, in the official setting, it is not disclosed that "Scorpio" and "Samson" share platform technology. In the era when the "Scorpion" was born, the offensive tactical aircraft of the RDA and the government army have been completely unmanned. However, due to the increasing number of terrorists mastering electromagnetic pulse weapons (EMP), RDA had to redevelop a manned (single-seat) attack helicopter to perform offensive combat missions at medium and low altitudes. However, in 2154, which is set in the movie, the "Scorpio" on Earth has been fully retired.
The aerodynamic appearance of the "Scorpion" is similar to that of the "Samson". It is also a coaxial double-tilt ducted helicopter, but the "Samson" uses a V-shaped tail, while the "Scorpion" uses a vertical tail. The captain 12.2 meters, 8.73 meters wide and 3.51 meters high. The cruising speed of the aircraft is 100 knots, the maximum (limited) flight speed of Pandora is 140 knots, and it can reach 200 knots on Earth. This is because the density of Pandora's atmosphere is higher, resulting in more resistance. Big. The "Scorpio" has two short wings, large and small, which can be equipped with ordnance, and the addition of the front short wings has the effect of canards, making the aircraft more maneuverable. Similarly, the "Scorpio" cockpit It is sealed and pressurized to adapt to Pandora's unfriendly atmospheric environment for humans. All aircraft including "Scorpio" and "Samson" that need to fly in Pandora's atmospheric environment for a long time have a maintenance cycle compared to Earth is very short because not only are humans not tolerant of Pandora's carbon dioxide, but aircraft are also not resistant to Pandora's hydrogen sulfide.
Although the aircraft has no lateral ordnance, the configuration of directional ordnance is very rich: First, the large short wings are mounted with more "Hydra" rockets than the "Samson" (the launch nest, which can mount up to 10 rockets) 19 launch nests) and 8 (4 mounted) "Hawkeye-Hellfire" air-to-ground missiles; the second is that the small short wings can mount 2 .50 caliber machine guns and 2 20 mm three-barrel machine guns; three The wingtips of the small short wings can be mounted with other guided weapons; the fourth is the four .50 caliber machine guns mounted on the photoelectric/weapon turret of the nose. Similar to the real attack helicopter, the "Scorpion" is also equipped with a nose photoelectric/weapon turret, and the sensors are installed in the turret to provide the pilot with forward-looking infrared imaging (night, low-visibility flight), missile guidance and airborne Navigation Services.
Although "Scorpio" did not appear frequently in the film, some rich details were added in the official setting. Because of the mission attributes of "Scorpio", it is the only aircraft other than "Valkyrie" that has flown the most sorties in a strong magnetic field environment. However, the strong magnetic field still affects the "Scorpion" weapon systems and sensors (especially the weapon aiming and guidance functions), which led to the "Scorpion" pilots operating in areas with strong magnetic fields had to mimic the first and second world wars. fighter pilots, abandoned auxiliary/automatic aiming equipment, and purely manually piloted helicopters to fight with Na'vi-controlled birds, reappearing the most primitive romance in the 22nd century when air combat has become beyond visual range and intelligent. In addition, although the body of the "Scorpion" is armored, it was never designed to take into account that the glass cockpit would be shot by bows and arrows from the Na'vi bird troops, so almost no "Scorpion" pilots can shoot directly at the cockpit with bows and arrows. survive.
06 C-21 "Dragon" Assault Boat
The C-21 is a heavy vertical take-off and landing transport and assault boat, nicknamed "Dragon", which is the largest and most powerful non-nuclear tactical weapon deployed by the RDA on Pandora. The C-21 was developed to perform low-intensity counter-insurgency combat missions on Earth, serving as a tactical transport, tactical command and tactical assault platform when fighting extreme environmental and anti-government terrorists. To Pandora, C-21 still plays a similar role.
To be precise, the C-21 is a 4-tilt ducted air carrier (just can't take off and land aircraft). The boat is 41.5 meters long, 31.7 meters wide and 9.22 meters high. The boat can carry several reloaded SecOPS units, several MK-6 mechs and related amphibious vehicles. The original power source of the boat was only a tilting duct, but a jet engine was added later, and the maximum flight speed in the atmospheric environment of Pandora was 105 knots
The C-21's armament configuration is particularly rich: air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, incendiary bombs, gas bombs and grenades, and because it is equipped with an advanced fire control system and remote control turret, although there are random gunners, they can all automatically aim and fire; several Machine guns form the C-21's omnidirectional self-defense firepower network, which can make up for the shortcomings of slow flight speed and bulk to a certain extent. Overall, the C-21 design is largely based on the heavy bombers of World War II.
According to the official setting, there are more than one C-21 deployed by RDA on Pandora. One of them crashed 2 years ago before the story of the movie started, and the other was due to incomplete parts or to provide parts supply guarantee for the flying C-21. Parked at the "Gate of Hell" base. The official setting also revealed that without treaty constraints, the C-21 could destroy an area the size of Manhattan in 6 seconds.
07 Conclusion
The aircraft settings of "Avatar" can actually find realistic prototypes, and their characteristics are displayed to the greatest extent in the main film of the film, rather than supplemented by setting sets after the fact. In fact, the success or failure of a science fiction movie depends on whether it creates a credible worldview, and many large and small objects, including aircraft, are important tools to support the establishment of this worldview.
references
[M] Maria Wilhelm, Dirk Mathison, Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora, Harper Design, 2009.
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