The most glorious carrier-based aircraft of the U.S. Navy is the F-14 Tomcat. It’s a pity that the big guys in Congress don’t like this kind of aircraft and have been trying to kill it. Now, the remaining Tomcat wings of the U.S. Navy are getting more and more Few, and all will be retired in a few years.

The U.S. Navy's next-generation aircraft, the JSF, does not yet know that it will enter service in the year of the monkey, so they can only rely on the Hornet to get through this period. Although no one in the Navy likes it, and they gave it the nickname "Big Bug", After all, this is their main aircraft.

Therefore, the Navy improved the E/F model based on the original C/D model. Compared with the former, the wing area is one-quarter larger, the fuel is one-third more, and the F414 engine used has increased thrust. By one-third, the aircraft's combat capabilities have been greatly improved. After this aircraft was developed, it became the backbone of the US Navy. It not only had to fill the gap between Tomcat and JSF, but also shouldered the responsibility of A-6 and the A-7, two attack aircraft. Therefore, this aircraft is also the only aircraft in the history of the U.S. Navy that starts with F/A.

In addition to those improvements, it has also undergone stealth modifications. For example, the shape of the air intake has been completely changed to reduce the radar reflection area.

Now, the Americans are actually willing to sell this kind of aircraft to Asan. Of course Asan wants it, and they can purchase it for any amount of money, as long as there are no political conditions attached!

Ah San's position is very important, and both the United States and Mao are trying to win over him. However, among the weapons Ah San has on hand, there are very few American-made weapons. This is because American-made weapons are not only exported, but also come with many conditions attached. They do not want to be restricted. So I use very little and instead buy expensive French products.

Thinking of this, Sunil asked: "Excuse me, are there any other conditions for you to provide us with this kind of fighter plane?"

 Swift thought for a moment: "On one condition."

 “What conditions?” Sunil held his breath. If the conditions were too harsh, then their joy would be in vain.

"The Foch aircraft carrier uses a BS-5 catapult, which cannot eject our Super Hornet at all. If you plan to purchase our fighter jets, you need to modify the Foch aircraft carrier and install our C- 13 catapult.”

 Transformation?

 The Ah Sans felt relaxed for a while, and then became nervous again.

 As long as it’s not a political condition, it’s easy to say! However, if this needs to be renovated, it will cost a lot of money! In particular, the transformation will take a long time, which is absolutely unacceptable to them.

"The French said that their Rafale fighter jets had taken off and landed on the USS Foch aircraft carrier, which means that this catapult can eject Rafale. So why can't your Super Hornet eject and do you need to modify the catapult?" Sunil? Open your mouth.

"Yes, it was ejected, but it was only empty. Later, the Rafale fighter jet was ejected with a full load and was tested on our aircraft carrier. Why, don't you know?" Swift asked curiously.

 Empty load?

All the Asans felt a thunderous click in their heads, they were deceived!

When they decided to purchase the Foch aircraft carrier, a very important reason was that everything was ready-made and could be used directly, especially the ability to operate Rafale fighter jets. The French had personally promised it at the time, but the French just didn’t say it was. No load or heavy load.

The empty weight of the Rafale fighter jet is only ten tons. With one or two tons of fuel, it only weighs 11 or 2 tons. The empty weight of the most advanced Super Hornet in the United States exceeds 13 tons! In this way, it would be difficult for the USS Foch to eject an empty Super Hornet, let alone take off with a full load!

The maximum takeoff weight of the Rafale fighter is 22 tons, and the maximum takeoff weight of the Super Hornet is 29 tons. These are not affordable by the Foch aircraft carrier. If the Foch aircraft carrier cannot operate these aircraft, it will only operate the old Super Hornet. Military flag, what’s the point?

Siam has a fourth-generation stealth aircraft!

Sunil felt a tightness in his chest.

The aircraft carrier purchase has been completed, the aircraft carrier has been delivered and is currently in the process of being driven back. It is absolutely impossible for them to get a refund.

What should we do now?

Sunil looked at Swift: "How much does your catapult cost?"

"We will give you the cost price. One set only costs 30 million U.S. dollars, but it still needs to be installed, so you need to pay an installation fee of 20 million U.S. dollars. It only costs 50 million U.S. dollars to operate your aircraft carrier. The most modern carrier-based aircraft.”

 50 million US dollars! The aircraft carrier Foch was purchased for US$1.35 million for scrap metal, and now it costs US$50 million to install a catapult? The French and the Americans have secretly communicated, are they here to deceive themselves?

“Didn’t you sell it to the French for twelve million?” an adjutant couldn’t help but ask.

"That's the price in 1991, and we don't include installation." Swift said: "If someone else comes to buy our catapult now, the price will be at least 80 million. What we give you is only available from allies. preferential price.”

The scene fell into silence.

 Obviously, if they don’t change the catapult, the aircraft carrier will not be usable when it comes back. If they want to change it, they can only go to the Americans, but they can’t go to the Easterners to purchase it, right? Ah San couldn't bear to look like this.

 Swift secured the deal.

Time passed slowly in silence, five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes. When half an hour passed, someone said something in Sunil's ear. Sunil's eyes lit up and he immediately asked Swift. Special: "Is the take-off and landing performance of your Hornet fighter jet quite good?"

"Of course."

“In other words, in addition to being able to eject and take off, this aircraft can also take off from the ski jump deck when necessary?”

What? Swift's eyes widened. Is this duck about to fly?

"Nowadays, ski-jump takeoff is the mainstream. MiG-29K and Su-33 can both ski-jump and take off. Your fighter planes are not behind Lao Maozi's and can definitely take off from the ski-jump deck. We bought the USS Foch aircraft carrier After returning, we will carry out modifications and transform the bow into a jump deck. In this way, the MiG-29K we have on hand can be used. If you want to sell the Super Hornet to us, you also need to have this capability. , and not only the aircraft carrier Foch was bought back, but the Blue Sky Guardian we are building will also operate the same fighter aircraft. This is at least a big business of more than 60 fighter aircraft. You should be interested in it, right? ?”

 50 million dollar catapult? Ah San said he would not be fooled, but the order for 60 carrier-based aircraft was definitely a huge one. This kind of aircraft is not cheap. One of them would cost at least 80 million US dollars, which is nearly 5 billion US dollars. Big order.

Swift swallowed and said, "Yes, our planes can ski-jump and take off. In the 1980s, we did related experiments."

This is not just a lie. In the 1980s, Americans saw the Red Empire begin to ski jump and take off. They were very curious and decided to follow suit, so they put all their carrier-based aircraft, such as A6, A7, Tomcat The Hornet and the like were all tested, and the jump deck was at the Patuxentin Naval Air Station.

 It's just that we were very conservative at the time and the jump decks were only 6 degrees and 9 degrees. Now, almost all the jump decks of aircraft carriers use 12 degrees.

"Since 1982, the F/A-18A/B has conducted 91 ski-jump takeoff tests. When using a 9-degree ramp, the Hornet's takeoff distance can be shortened to one-third of its original value. Under normal circumstances, afterburner is turned on, only a 175-meter runway is needed to take off. Our current F/A-18E/F has a much larger body shape and wingspan than the F/A-18A/B, and will definitely have better ski jumps. Takeoff performance.”

The test at that time was shocking. The Hornet's ski jump was very good. Even the E-2C early warning aircraft could ski jump to take off. However, the Tomcat was inferior. It only performed 28 ski jump tests before giving up. , because ski jump takeoff does not allow it to take off safely at the maximum takeoff weight of 33 tons. Even if the weight is reduced to 21.8 tons, when using a 9-degree ramp, the minimum ground rolling distance of the F-14A is 381 meters!

This is difficult. After all, the latest "Nimitz"-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier only has a 304-meter-long deck, so the Tomcat is destined to be unable to ski-jump on the aircraft carrier.

This is probably an aerodynamic flaw. No matter how powerful the Tomcat is, it is only a variable-sweep wing fighter. It has many disadvantages compared with advanced wing-body fusion and edge-wing aircraft.

At this time, hearing what Swift said, Sunil nodded: "Okay, then please fly a Super Hornet over and conduct take-off and landing experiments at our naval base. As long as it can meet the take-off and landing requirements, we will You can purchase this aircraft!”

Asan's Sea Harrier took off by ski jump, and later the Super Sun King and Blue Sky Guardian also took off by ski jump, so Asan Naval Base already had this kind of ski jump take-off and landing device, and the Americans made it in their own country. The experiment is definitely not as good as doing it here at Ah San, which is more in line with the actual situation.

"Of course, I will contact you for you. However, I still don't recommend you to use this method. Your aircraft carrier Foch only has a displacement of more than 30,000 tons, and the deck area is too small. If a jump deck is used, The bow part of the ship will not be able to accommodate aircraft, which is such a waste."

Although the Americans have tested it, they have not used this method. This is because if they use the jump deck, the bow of the ship will become upturned, making it impossible to dock carrier-based aircraft. This is not suitable for the American aircraft carrier formation that requires a full-deck takeoff. It is intolerable, and ski jump take-off is a compromise option for the navy that does not have catapult technology. If there is a catapult, it is crazy to still use ski jump to take off.

“It only costs a few million dollars to modify it ourselves, but it costs 50 million to purchase your catapult. What kind of waste is it?”

 Swift shook his head: "The waste I am talking about is not in terms of money, but in terms of combat effectiveness!"

 “All we care about is money.”

There is no other way. Ah San is also short of money. Several projects have been scrapped. The Super Sun King is the biggest pitfall. After all their miserable experiences, how can they not save money?

  Fifty million sets of catapults were unacceptable to them.

Now it is their best choice. After all, even if they purchase American-made catapults, they will face the serious defect that the deck area is too small, and it will still be inconvenient to operate.

The flight deck of the USS Foch is only 259 meters long, and the bow deck is only 90 meters long. Installing a 67-meter-long BS-5 catapult is the most suitable choice. If American catapults could be installed, France would have already installed. After all, the C-7 and C-13 catapults at the time were already readily available.

 Because of poverty, Asan finally avoided a pit.

Swift had no choice but to nod in agreement and ask Ah San to contact the catapult. Ah San's navy had begun planning to modify the aircraft carrier before the aircraft carrier arrived.

"We have full experience. The aircraft carrier that has been launched is equipped with a complete jump deck. We can build the jump deck ourselves and then install it. However, we need the original design drawings. After all, adding this jump deck The deck will add one to two thousand tons of weight to the bow of the ship. We must make precise calculations to increase the deck area at the stern and add counterweight to offset this effect. Without design drawings, we cannot modify it." Alex, Asan aircraft carrier expert Kes spoke.

“Take people to find the French now. They deceived us on the aircraft carrier and must give us the drawings!” Sunil said angrily.

 It was agreed that the Rafale could take off and land, but what was the result? It’s just nonsense! Now, they no longer trust the French at all!

 Alex personally led the team to France and met Philip.

"Mr. Philip, you have deceived us. Your aircraft carrier Foch cannot take off a fully loaded Rafale fighter jet! Your catapult is too weak!" After seeing the other party, Alex immediately accused him.

"Really? I don't know. I'll call you and ask." Philip picked up the phone and started talking in front of them.

When he put down the phone, Philip said seriously: "Our Dassault company responded that Rafale fighter jets can take off and land on the Foch aircraft carrier."

"This is impossible!"

"Maybe, as long as the engine thrust is enough. The current M88 engine has a thrust of only 75 kilonewtons, but in the later stage, the thrust of our M88-3 engine will be increased to 90 kilonewtons. This engine will definitely support Rafale in using the existing ejection The aircraft took off and landed on the USS Foch, please trust us."

The Rafale fighter's dead weight is only one ton more than the F-16, but it uses twin engines, so it has full thrust. It can also do supersonic cruise, which only fourth-generation aircraft can do.

 The only problem is that you have to wait!

Over the years, the Rafale fighter jets have been tested with the F404, while the M88 has just matured. It is not known how long it will take for subsequent modifications.

 In short, they did not lie!

 “Later stage? How long is the later stage?”

Philip shook his head: "We don't know."

"We don't trust your catapult. We want to change the bow of the ship to a jump deck. Please provide us with all the drawings and design information of this aircraft carrier. We want to improve it!" Alex said.

"This... aircraft carrier blueprint from decades ago, we still have it there." Philip spread his hands: "We can't do your request."

What?

Alex’s eyes widened: “You actually don’t save the drawings of your previous aircraft carriers?”

"Yes, you also said that they were just the drawings of the former aircraft carrier. With the Foch aircraft carrier being sold, we no longer need those drawings at all. In fact, since the last modification was completed, the drawings of the Foch aircraft carrier It’s gone.”

“Damn it, you’ve lost the blueprints, so how are we going to transform it?” Alex was extremely annoyed.

“Without the drawings, can’t we transform it?” Philip said: “For you, you don’t need any drawings at all, right?”

 Alex was speechless for a while, what a joke! We Ah San can’t do anything without drawings. We are also scientific, okay?

“We need to add a jump deck, which may increase the weight by one or two thousand tons. This will definitely require trimming at the back.” Alex said: “Without drawings, we cannot complete the transformation.”

“It turns out that this is not a big problem. Although we no longer have the drawings, the designers who previously designed the Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier are still there, and we can completely leave this work to them.”

 Alex nodded: "Okay, we can leave it to them. They need to design it for us free of charge. After all, this is your mistake."

"Free?" Philippe shook his head: "Do you think that we French people are all idle and bored people? We still have a lot of work to do. If this is what you have in mind, then please come back."

“Hey! This was your mistake. Now we just ask you to draw a few drawings. Shouldn’t they be given to us for free?”

“No, we didn’t make any mistakes. We sold you an aircraft carrier for scrap metal for just over one million U.S. dollars, and now we are actually asked to draw drawings worth millions of U.S. dollars? What a joke!”

etc! Worth millions of dollars?

 Alex’s eyes widened: “What did you just say?”

"I said that if we want to design a jump deck, it will cost at least eight million US dollars. We need to invite professional designers. They need to carefully recall the original design data, restore the drawings, and then improve it. This is a It's a very complicated and tedious job, and even with this money, we may not be able to hire those designers, after all, some of them have retired and are vacationing at the beach with high pensions."

 Eight million dollars!

 Alex almost vomited blood.

The French are not good people either, and they also want to trick them. They first sold them the aircraft carrier at a low price, and then sold them the blueprints at a high price. However, they still have no choice!

What should we do now?

Either let the French steal 8 million US dollars, or let the Americans steal 50 million US dollars, or abandon this aircraft carrier and really dismantle it as scrap metal.

When the news reached Sunil's ears, he really wanted to give up the aircraft carrier and dismantle it and sell it for scrap metal, but... they needed the aircraft carrier!

The situation is getting more and more complicated. They need strong maritime power. Moreover, the Americans have also decided to provide them with the Super Hornet. Their self-developed aircraft carrier is still far away. If they do not improve the Foch aircraft carrier, they will still have to Rely on the dilapidated aircraft carrier and the old Sea Harrier!

How about gritting your teeth and admitting it?