Chapter 602: Of course high technology is expensive

The J-31A has appeared in front of the public more than once, and many people are very familiar with it.

 The prototype of this aircraft was manufactured at Factory 132, and the initial test flights were also conducted at Factory 132. However, later test flights were transferred to a specialized flight test institute. After all, the flight test institute is more professional.

Toyota Coaster drove in the direction of the test flight yard, with a police car clearing the way in front, and the specifications were very high.

"Everyone, we are testing a large number of new fighter jets in our flight test institute. The level of confidentiality is very high. Therefore, everyone must pay attention to the confidentiality discipline. You can't look at things you shouldn't see, and you can't inquire about things you shouldn't inquire about, especially Mr. Neymar. .”

Being named by Qin Tao like this, Neymar felt a little unhappy, but he didn't dare to show it. After all, the other party was right. There is only one test flight institute in the East, and all domestic aircraft are tested here. Confidentiality is indeed very high.

 “So, are we going to wear blindfolds?” Neymar decided to make an irony.

“Here, if you strongly request it, we can send you one.” Qin Tao’s answer was impeccable, and everyone present suppressed laughter.

The roar of the plane came from the sky. Neymar was not wearing a blindfold, but he could still guess something: "I guess it is a big plane. I don't look at it, I just listen with my ears."

“Yes, this is the H-6K bomber we are testing.” Qin Tao said.

"H-6K? Is it the Tu-16 of the Red Empire? You have been using this kind of aircraft for half a century, right?"

 “That’s right, after we improve it, it will last another half century.”

During the conversation, the car drove into the flight test yard and parked directly next to an apron.

“Everyone, the weather is good today. Our J-31A is preparing to take off. Next, you can see a wonderful flight performance.” Qin Tao was the first to come down and said after taking a look at the aircraft.

 “Can we see this plane?” Neymar continued to ask.

“Of course.” Qin Tao nodded: “This plane was originally meant to be shown to you.”

This is the first time Neymar has seen the J-31A. This aircraft is said to be magical and has even received a large order. It does look very special.

 It’s like a smaller F-22!

 The nose, wings, and tail, except for the bulging air intake and the single engine, almost all seem to be made from the same mold. As expected, the Orientals can only copy and have no ability to innovate!

The canopy is flipped forward, the maintenance staff are performing maintenance, and some aircraft designers are inspecting it, creating a busy scene.

“Mr. Qin, are you here?” After seeing Qin Tao, Zhao Dangsheng was very excited and immediately greeted him.

“Well, let’s bring the customer over to see what the subjects of today’s test flight are?”

“Low altitude and high speed, test the body’s ability to withstand pressure.” Zhao Dangsheng said.

“In other words, can we enjoy the performance of this aircraft?”

“After the test flight is completed, if there is still some fuel left, the pilot can be arranged to perform several flight maneuvers.”

“Okay, then we’ll wait.” Qin Tao nodded.

Neymar was still looking around. At this time, the nose of the plane was opened, and the maintenance staff began to check the radar equipment. He leaned over and began to give directions.

“This aircraft still uses a flat-panel slot radar. As a fourth-generation aircraft, it is too outdated to still use this kind of radar.”

"You are right. This aircraft is only used to test the airframe. Therefore, the avionics equipment is temporarily made up of other domestic models." Zhao Dangsheng introduced at the side: "According to the plan we announced to the outside world, This fighter has two radars, the low-end version uses an ordinary flat-panel slot radar, and the high-end version will use a specialized active phased array radar."

 Of course we have the relevant technology!

"Our current self-developed early warning aircraft is using this kind of radar, and the Navy's Aegis warships are also using this kind of radar. The relevant technical reserves have long been sufficient and can be developed at any time, but the cost is very high. The Navy's Aegis warships are also using this kind of radar. A phased array antenna array is worth more than 100 million yuan per side, and even if we use relatively few transceiver units, it still costs more than 50 million yuan."

 In the international market, this is the number for a heavy fighter, such as the Su-27 and F-15 fighters. But now, the radar in front of us only costs so much money, and it is just an antenna!

This has to make people sigh, the fourth generation machine is made with money!

 “Why is it so expensive?” asked Sagastrese.

"High technology is expensive. In fact, this kind of radar is no longer a simple radar. It is more appropriately called a multi-functional radio frequency management system. You should know the working system of active phased array radar. It is an independent T /R unit to work, so the phased array radar antenna can not only be used to search for targets and lock on attacks, but can also do other tasks, such as dividing one part for electronic countermeasures, one part for communication, and one part for ground scanning. .”

 Can you still do this?

 Sure enough, these bumpkins were surprised again.

“Actually, this is just a small function of the advanced active phased array radar. Its more powerful functions are electromagnetic camouflage and electromagnetic deception.”

 Speaking of these, Zhao Dangsheng talked endlessly.

"For example, each unit of our radar emits electromagnetic pulses irregularly. Even if it is received by the other party, it is just a bunch of garbled codes and has no practical significance at all." Zhao Dangsheng continued: "Frequency hopping and spread spectrum are of course the special skills of our radar. Needless to say frequency hopping, the technology is very common now, but it is not easy to do it well. As for spread spectrum, we There are a lot of junk signals in the electromagnetic signal, and after the other party receives it, it will be drowned in the sea of ​​junk signals."

　Since when did the technology of Easterners become so powerful? Neymar was shocked in his heart, but he was even more shocked later.

"However, these are all passive. Our multi-functional radio frequency management system also has the ability to engage in active combat. When illuminated by the enemy, we can locate the opponent immediately and then conduct precise electronic jamming to the opponent. Unable to track and lock itself normally, future air combat will belong to electronic warfare. If it cannot seize information rights and electronic rights, it will be impossible to succeed."

In fact, these are all conceptual. The 14th Institute is currently developing early warning aircraft and Aegis battleships. It simply cannot spare the time and energy to develop a fire control radar of this level. Moreover, it must reach the level mentioned by Zhao Dangsheng. , it is even more difficult.

 However, it’s absolutely okay to brag, and it’s still very impressive when you brag!

 At this time, Neymar was extremely shocked.

“Everyone, our plane is about to take off. If you stay a little further away, you will be in trouble if you are sucked into the air intake.”

This is no joke. A similar thing once happened. The ground crew started the engine while maintaining the aircraft. As a result, the person standing in front of the aircraft was sucked into the pulp and even roasted directly.

 Everyone moved a large distance away, and the ground crew began to prepare for takeoff. The pilot also came to the scene wearing a helmet.

 “Leizi, behave well!” Qin Tao shouted.

That's right, the chief test pilot of this aircraft is Lei Qiang. He is also one of the few test pilots in the flight test institute who directly flies two different aircraft.

Lei Qiang made an OK gesture and walked onto the plane.

Neymar's eyes began to look left and right. Although Qin Tao had told him not to look around, since he was here, of course he had to collect more information.

 “What’s that?” When he saw a small fighter plane, he couldn’t help it anymore.

 The body is smaller than the F-16, with two ribs for air intake, a single engine and a single vertical tail. This is the first time he has seen such a small aircraft.

“That’s Xiaolong, a light fighter developed by Chengdu Aircraft Co., Ltd. It focuses on cost-effectiveness and is the first choice for small and medium-sized countries.” Qin Tao said.

 Actually, the things that were not allowed to be seen by these people had long been placed in the hangar. What these people saw now was, of course, something Qin Tao deliberately let everyone see.

"Xiaolong?"

"It was the former Super Seven, the product of Lao Ba's Saber 2 plan." Qin Tao introduced: "It can achieve 80% of the performance of the F-16, but the price is only more than 10 million US dollars, which is definitely the third The world’s first choice.”

 The Chaoqi project has also experienced ups and downs.

In the 1980s, Lao Ba was very enthusiastic and wanted to develop a light fighter based on the J-7. At that time, he had many ideas, including Western avionics and engines. But later, as the West cut off supply, the project was Yellow.

  But Factory 132 is not discouraged. If Lao Ba doesn’t invest, then he will do it himself. Anyway, Factory 132 has the funds and confidence!

Tu Lao had also contacted Qin Tao many times and gained Qin Tao's support. Although the Mingzhou Group was developing the J-31A, it could not compete with Xiaolong. The former was a medium-sized fighter and the latter was a light fighter. The latter is even cheaper!

As the J-10 project progressed smoothly, the superiors finally merged the 132 Factory and the 611 Research Institute together to form the Chengdu Aircraft Group. The research and development of Xiaolong was also placed here at the 611 Research Institute. If the J-10 can be developed, the Xiaolong Naturally, it’s no problem.

This project is progressing smoothly. It just completed its first flight a few days ago. After receiving Qin Tao's suggestions, it flew to the flight test center yesterday just to show it to customers.

This is also what Qin Tao said. The key to Xiaolong's success lies in time. The sooner it is built, the better. If it takes a few more years, there will be more second-hand F-16s and MiG-29s on the international market. If you can take a fancy to Xiaolong There are fewer customers.

Now that the people from the football country are here, in addition to visiting the J-31A, they will also put the Xiaolong in front of them. What if they take a fancy to it?

  There is no choice for carrier-based aircraft, the only choice is the J-31A, but there are too many land-based fighters to choose from, and football countries are potential customers of the Xiaolong!

Hearing the price of more than 10 million US dollars, Sagastrese was tempted: "Can we go over and have a look?"

“Then we have to ask the leader for instructions.” Qin Tao said, taking out his mobile phone and making a call on the spot to negotiate.

“Everyone, Lao Ba welcomes us to inspect.”

 “Lao Ba?”

“Yes, this fighter jet was jointly developed by our domestic Chengdu Aircraft Corporation and Laoba. Laoba provided half of the research and development funds and will be produced in their country in the future.” Qin Tao said.

“In other words, this aircraft already has a customer?”

"Yes."

 Everyone was very excited. Even Neymar felt very strange and walked to the plane with others.

“Except for the different air intakes, this aircraft is simply a replica of the F-16.” Neymar expressed his first impression.

The F-16 uses belly air intake and pursues efficiency at a large angle of attack. However, this method is not friendly to the third world. When taking off and landing on some runways with poor conditions, it is easy to inhale debris on the runway, so , this compact fighter aircraft was changed to a two-rib air intake. Of course, this design has been slowly taking shape as early as the Super Seven.

At this time, upon hearing Neymar’s words, Qin Tao smiled: “It is designed to compete with the F-16 in terms of performance.”

 “What engine does it use?” Sagastrese asked with interest.

“This is a modified version of the MiG-29 engine, code-named RD93. However, we are also developing a similar engine domestically and will replace it with our engine in the future.”

Everyone was talking and walking, and they had already arrived in front of the plane.

"Welcome to visit." Sure enough, a bearded technician came to greet him with a smile.

“I didn’t expect that there are so many fighter aircraft research and development projects in the East. Why did you purchase the Su-27 from Damao in the first place?” Sagastrese asked curiously.

"Yeah, if it had been a few years later, we wouldn't have had to outsource fighter jets. We bought them at that time only for emergencies." Qin Tao explained.

“This plane is good, and the cockpit is pretty good.” Irges climbed up the gangway, took a look inside, and sighed.

"The biggest feature of this aircraft is the balance between performance and price. We know that the more advanced the performance of a fighter aircraft, the higher the price. However, the third world has demand for third-generation aircraft, but cannot afford expensive procurement funds. Therefore, we This fighter aircraft was developed specifically to meet the needs of third world countries. This aircraft is also the best choice for football countries."

 “How did you reduce the cost of this aircraft?” asked Neymar.

"In key areas, we use advanced technology, such as cockpit layout, etc. In some unimportant areas, we will also reduce the configuration, such as the operating system, which uses fly-by-wire operation in the longitudinal direction, but in other directions It is still hydraulically controlled, which reduces the cost, but the actual performance does not change much." Qin Tao introduced.

"This aircraft is good. We will recommend it to the Air Force after we return, hoping they will come and take a look. Our Navy has no funds for the time being." Sagastres said.

 While everyone was watching and discussing, time passed slowly, and a whistling sound came from the sky.

“Everyone, our plane is back! Please raise your head, this plane will perform a three-minute maneuvering show for you!”

Everyone looked up and watched the special-shaped fighter plane making dazzling moves over the airport, and applauded.

Even Neymar had to sigh that the maneuverability of this aircraft is really good.

As a medium-sized aircraft, it uses a large thrust engine, so its performance is certainly good, not to mention that it has no missiles and very little fuel.

 After visiting the fighter jet performance, the next step is to visit the flight simulator.

 Looking at the modern flight simulator and listening to the introduction by Zhao Dangsheng next to him, Sagastrese's concerns were dispelled. There was no big problem in training pilots in this way.

“Coming here today gives us more confidence. We will firmly purchase the J-31A as our carrier-based aircraft.” Sagastres said.

"We are also honored. Of course, if you want to choose fighters from other countries, you can. However, fighters from other countries have problems. Most of them are third-generation aircraft and have no stealth capabilities. The only one with stealth capabilities is the American JSF. , but I heard that this project is not going well and they copied our plan... Mr. Neymar, what do you think?"

The expression on Neymar's face is very embarrassing. This Qin is always deliberately disgusting!

"What, do you think what I said is wrong?" Qin Tao continued to tease.

“Mr. Qin is right. The JSF project in the United States has indeed encountered many problems. In this regard, Mingzhou Group is at the forefront.”

"In the future, we will surpass the United States in all aspects. In the future, you can purchase advanced equipment from us. By the way, do you want to know more about the Xiaolong fighter? We can arrange professional personnel to explain it to you. .”

 “Of course.” Sagastrese nodded.

Just when Sagastres and others went to listen to Xiaolong's introduction, Qin Tao came to another room.

“Mr. Husseini, I’m very sorry to keep you waiting for so long.” Qin Tao said, looking at the bearded man in front of him.

Husseini is a representative from Parthia and has been involved in the J-31A project. After all, they are the largest shareholders of this project, even if Salman later invested a large amount of money and surpassed Parthia to become the largest shareholder. As the largest shareholder, the people of Parthia still received special treatment.

This time Qin Tao came over and took the time to meet Husseini.

"Mr. Qin, we are very happy. The development of this fighter is going very smoothly. It may be finalized in one or two years. We are about to obtain an advanced fighter." Husseini said.

Qin Tao nodded: "Yes, our aviation factory is also expanding. Once the prototype is finalized, we will be able to mass-produce it. We will provide you with a batch at that time. However, you should make preparations in advance."

 “What preparations?”

“Announce your self-developed fighter jet.” Qin Tao said: “We did not sell this fighter jet to you, it was developed by you yourself.”

Hosseini nodded: "We have been waiting for your instructions. We will officially announce it to the public. We are developing our own stealth fighter and it is progressing smoothly."

“You announce it to the outside world first and test the reaction of the outside world. After these fighters are delivered to you, you will have to train at night for a long time to avoid being discovered by the outside world.”

Without the funds from Parthia, this project would have been impossible to establish. Now, Qin Tao has to provide fighter jets to Parthia as promised.

However, you still need to prepare, for example, this is a self-research project, for example, try to delay the time of being discovered by the outside world, etc.

Hosseini nodded, then thought of something, and continued: "But, will the outside world believe that we are developing our own fighter jets?"

To be fair, Parthia’s military industry’s self-research capabilities are not weak. After all, they are restricted by the outside world and cannot easily obtain weapons from the outside world. They can only conduct self-research. They put Hawker anti-aircraft missiles onto Tomcat fighter jets. Make every effort to maintain the operation of the Tomcat fleet. However, developing a brand new fighter aircraft is not extremely difficult.

 Looking around the world, there are no more than ten countries that can develop their own fighter jets, and even fewer have developed their own fourth-generation aircraft.

"Yes, this is a problem, so you might as well develop a light fighter first." Qin Tao said: "With your strength, there should be no problem in improving the F-5 fighter. You can publicly display it. Based on this fighter On the basis of this, you have developed a brand new fighter aircraft by yourself, and you can even win over the Mikoyan Design Bureau.”

Hosseini’s eyes lit up.

The meeting ended quickly. That night, after everyone had a meal at the flight test center, Sagastrese's trip came to an end. After they took the plane back to the other side of the ocean, Neymar also hurried back to the country and gave a report to a group of senior military officers.

“The Orientals have very strong technological capabilities. They have developed technologies such as electromagnetic ejection and electromagnetic interception. We are in urgent need of similar technologies, especially electromagnetic interception, which is even more important for brand-new aircraft carriers.”

After Neymar explained these technologies, everyone nodded repeatedly. Yes, this technical route is very good, and we must continue to follow it firmly!

"Our Nimitz-class aircraft carrier has a history of more than 20 years. Now, we should really hurry up and develop a new generation of aircraft carrier. In terms of aircraft carrier technology, we cannot be surpassed by the Easterners." Cheney said. Said: "Our American technology is the most powerful!"

"It's a pity that our joint fighter plan has just begun. Looking at this trend, it is impossible to catch up with our new aircraft carrier." Swift shook his head and said: "Damn Congress, it shouldn't block our budget and let our navy be independent. The development of carrier-based aircraft will also be much faster than now."

"Yes, this is a problem. Our navy cannot live without advanced carrier-based aircraft." Cheney nodded: "Under the current circumstances, it is impossible for us to give up the joint fighter plan. We need an aircraft as a transition."

“How about improving our bumblebee?” someone suggested.

 “Bumblebee? How to improve it?”

"Currently, General Electric's F414 engine is progressing smoothly. This engine is a combination of the F-412 engine of the A-12 project and the Hornet's original F404 engine, as well as the F120 engine technology of the fourth-generation aircraft bidding. Compared with F404, its thrust is increased by 35% and fuel consumption is reduced by 10%. According to the requirements of our navy, the overall dimensions of this engine are exactly the same as F404 and can be replaced. After replacing this engine , no one will laugh at our planes as slow bugs anymore."

 For any fighter jet, the biggest difficulty is the engine. Now, with this advanced F414 engine, the Hornet can completely transform into a Super Hornet!

“We will make some modifications to the appearance to give this aircraft a certain degree of stealth capabilities, and replace the avionics with current technology. The modified Hornet will allow our navy to persist until the arrival of the joint fighter jet.”

 (End of this chapter)