Chapter 1536 New Strategic Transport Aircraft (Third update, please subscribe)
No one will give up the fat meat in his mouth unless he has to, let alone the cows that can produce milk. This is basic common sense.
For the United Kingdom, if economic conditions permit, and if there is no internal or external pressure, they will not give up their colonies under any circumstances. After all, it has been the family business of the great empire for hundreds of years.
But times have changed now.
After all, after the end of World War II, both the Soviet Union and the United States aimed at disintegrating the British and French colonial empires. Perhaps the two superpowers had conflicts on certain issues, but in terms of their stance on disintegrating the British and French colonial empires, But they are consistent.
It can be said that Britain, which was weak after the war, was like a piece of fat, being stared at eagerly.
This was true for the Soviet Union, and so was the United States.
Not to mention them, even our own people are watching from the side, waiting for the opportunity to eat with their mouths full of oil.
SEA, for example, has been working hard to get a share of the empire's legacy over the years.
No, as a loyal minister of the empire, SEA has always been committed to safeguarding the interests of the British Empire. This is not only the attitude of the official high-level officials, but also the enterprises.
"We need a transport aircraft with a range of no less than 7,000km!"
In the conference room of Nanyang Aviation Industries, representatives of the Air Force made their demands.
"Its load capacity should be more than 70 tons, and it can carry heavy tanks..."
During the introduction by the military representative, Zhang Tingpeng, an aerospace engineer, just smoked silently. He knew why the military would issue this development order when the New Year comes.
Due to economic constraints, the military has always been relatively conservative in the development of weapons and equipment. For example, fighter jets only develop a single-engine F2. As for heavy fighter jets, they reduce costs by introducing modified F4s.
Even the 3X interceptor aircraft jointly developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and the United Kingdom is an "international fighter" and has basically nothing to do with the military. After all, the military did not pay for that aircraft. .
As for transport aircraft, when aircraft such as the "Super Giant" were seriously outdated, the military did not consider developing new transport aircraft to replace them. Instead, it introduced the C130 transport aircraft from the United States.
Not only because of the superior performance of the C130 transport aircraft, but also because it is assistance provided by the United States under the "Joint Defense Plan". The more important reason is that the military hopes to reduce the procurement cost of armed equipment.
When it comes to reducing costs and increasing efficiency, the military has always practiced it. While the military requires the development of heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery, the military's light weapons such as AR15 rifles and M240 machine guns are purchased from patents or licensed production. Greatly save R&D costs.
As for transport aircraft, developing a transport aircraft requires hundreds of millions of yuan in research and development funds. In this case, the military is more inclined to cooperate with foreign countries and also introduce them to reduce military costs.
However, when it comes to the development of transport aircraft, the military is obviously disappointed. Last year, the American C141 was tested while the military was waiting. However, it failed. The C141 was too slender and not suitable for transporting vehicles.
The military, which had originally planned to introduce the C141 to solve its strategic transportation needs, was extremely disappointed because it did not meet their needs.
Therefore, in this case, they can only develop it themselves.
Now Zhang Tingpeng is looking at the development indicators of the new tactical transport aircraft.
Looking at the report in his hand, he said:
"The new transport aircraft must have the same short-field takeoff and landing capabilities as the C-130; the aircraft's landing gear and high-lift device enable it to take off on a 2,438-meter-long runway and land on a 915-meter-long runway when fully loaded; the fully loaded range is at least 4500 kilometers; The interior of the fuselage must be able to accommodate large items, including the VT2 main battle tank under development; the aircraft must be able to enter and exit at will on a crowded apron, and it must be able to fly on a 2% slope with a full load and two-fifths of fuel. Back.…”
Looking at the draft requirements for the C-X strategic transport aircraft proposed by the military, he frowned and said:
“The requirements are very strict!”
The military representative said:
"Yes, these performance indicators require very high power and aerodynamic design, but as in the past, we only want the best!"
Just like that, the military in the conference room was making requests, and the engineers were writing and drawing from time to time as if they were clearing up their ideas.
"...Now, we have a strong demand for new transport aircraft. In 24 months, we hope to see the prototype test flight within 24 months, okay?"
24 months!
Is this a joke?
When there was an uproar in the conference room, Zhang Tingpeng, the chief engineer, was just smoking there silently as before, and then spoke after a while.
"Let's try our best."
Zhang Tingpeng, who was born in the first batch of special forces members, is an aerospace engineer, but he still maintains the style of a soldier.
"Then I'll trouble you all."
By the time the meeting was over, he basically had a plan in mind. In fact, he had already had a plan long ago. Sometimes, people always need to make some preparations in advance.
As early as many years ago, facing the obsolescence of the Super Giant transport aircraft, he had already begun to design a new jet transport aircraft.
The plan proposed by the military now only reactivates his previous ideas.
As soon as the meeting ended, someone came over. As a student of Zhang Tingpeng, Zuo Mingjie showed his true thoughts in front of the teacher and complained to him.
"Teacher, you see the military has finally remembered us. In the past, you have repeatedly asked for the development of new transport aircraft, but they have all been shunned by them for various reasons and excuses."
"Yeah, I know I'm anxious now, but what about back then? What were you doing back then?" Listening to the complaints from colleagues and students, Zhang Tingpeng said in an extremely calm tone:
"There is no way. Military transport aircraft are different from passenger aircraft. Our demand for long-range military transport aircraft like this is not large, and the market is not broad.
I have calculated before that even if we can win some orders through export, the total production will not exceed 200 aircraft, and the average research and development expenditure for each aircraft will exceed 2 million..."
Zhang Tingpeng, who was smoking, looked at everyone and said:
“Then coupled with manufacturing costs and corporate profits, our products are simply not competitive in the international market.
If it cannot be exported, the cost will only be higher. ”
After saying this, Zhang Tingpeng said:
"This is also the reason why the military imports a large number of weapons from abroad, because it is indeed very expensive to develop it yourself."
"Teacher, I know what you are talking about. It is what the protective equipment company advocates. Grasp the big and let go of the small."
The so-called "grasp the big and let go of the small" means developing some core and cutting-edge weapons and equipment by ourselves. The subsystems of the weapons and equipment can be introduced through international cooperation.
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In fact, this is also the biggest advantage of being in the Western world, that is, you can directly introduce a large number of weapons and equipment subsystems from Western countries and integrate them into your own weapons, thereby reducing the overall cost.
At this time, no country realized that such transnational military equipment cooperation was actually the last straw that broke the Soviet Union in the arms race.
Because the Soviet Union wanted to develop everything for the army!
"So, when we develop transport aircraft, we must also implement this principle. How to grasp the big and let go of the small?"
Zhang Tingpeng looked at the colleagues and students present and said.
"Just like when we develop passenger aircraft, we can introduce relatively mature subsystems from the United States and Europe through international cooperation, and then integrate them into our transportation mechanism."
Of course, this method can be ridiculed as an out-and-out assembled product, but by introducing mature subsystems, development costs can indeed be significantly reduced.
Moreover, after the United States established NATO, it promoted unified weapons standards within NATO. These weapon standards range from unified specifications of rifles and ammunition to unified standards for logistics processes and tactics.
This allowed the United States to assemble NATO allies in a short period of time and act as a thug for the US military. It also allowed this set of standards to spread among Western countries and be accepted by most Western countries.
Therefore, under NATO's weapons standards, many subsystems are universal, so there is no need for repeated development.
And this is precisely the biggest advantage in the military equipment system of Western countries headed by the United States. However, not everyone can realize this advantage, let alone now, even in the new century.
On the contrary, there will be many people there who will proudly ridicule the weapons of these countries as nothing more than assembled goods.
In this way, everyone discussed in the conference room for a long time, and soon they finalized some basic parameters.
After the meeting ended, I stood in front of the map, and then drew a circle on the map with a ruler. It seemed that I drew a circle with the homeland as the center. I quickly found the destination and drew a circle in East Africa with a pen. .
Zuo Mingjie looked at the teacher with some confusion and asked.
"Teacher, what are you thinking about?"
"Speculating on the military's destination."
"What?"
"From a range perspective, what the military needs is a transport aircraft that can fly directly to East Africa."
Zhang Tingpeng put away the ruler and said:
"That is to say, the minimum standard for an aircraft is that it can fly from the mainland to airports in Nairobi."
While talking, Zhang Tingpeng nodded, and he basically understood the true thoughts of the military.
"Teacher, you mean that when we design the aircraft, the minimum standard is to follow this requirement."
Zuo Mingjie thought for a while and finally understood the teacher's intention. The teacher drew a circle on the map based on the total itinerary, and then found the corresponding destination to clarify the military's intentions.
From a geographical point of view, what the military needs is not transport aircraft that can fly to North America on the other side of the Pacific, nor does it need to fly to South America. Firstly, it is unrealistic because the range is too far. Secondly, there is no need for this. Even if there is an occasional need, using a tanker to refuel in the air can solve this need.
Since this direction has been ruled out, there are only western routes, one is East Africa and the other is the Middle East, and SEA happens to have certain interests in both regions.
"Yes, as engineers we must figure out what our customers think."
Looking at the map, Zhang Tingpeng continued.
“Only in this way can we create an aircraft that truly satisfies our customers.”
(End of chapter)