Chapter 1410 All-round strategic opponents (two-in-one)
There was smoke in a secret conference room in the US Embassy.
Looking at the satellite images projected by the projector on the wall, the Pentagon delegation had been talking for a long time, just smoking a cigarette.
Of course, everyone here knows that the Chinese had already established a project to start developing a new generation of main fighter jets a few years ago.
However, according to Lockheed Mart technicians, the fourth-generation fighter has almost essential changes compared to the third generation, and its evolution is much higher than any generation upgrade in the past, almost equivalent to the leap from the last electric fan to the first hair dryer 60 years ago.
Even countries such as Britain and the United States were stronger back then, after more than ten years of research and development and testing, they finally completed the alternating transition between the new and old generations of technologies.
This was when World War II was used as a catalyst during the period.
As for the fourth-generation fighter itself, there are not many examples to refer to.
In the era when the United States had the strongest comprehensive national strength, the ATF project took a long 11 years from its development to its first flight.
Even if the calculation starts with Lockheed Martin's YF22 plan winning, it will take 6 years.
Due to the physical storm on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the MiG 1.44 and I-21 projects at the same time as ATF were permanently stayed in the early verification stage. It was not until 2006 that the T50 project, which barely combined the former two technologies, was re-established, about the same period as the No. 20 project in China.
But after all, there is past accumulation, so the analysis given by the intelligence department has always believed that the former will take the lead in test flights around 2009, and formal service may still have to wait 8-10 years later.
In other words, the combination of F22+F35 can still maintain its advantage for at least 10 years in technology.
As for the latter, there is never a particularly accurate analysis conclusion, and it is generally mentioned by "the progress may be slightly slower than T50".
Although some reports also mentioned that according to the analysis of material procurement and personnel rotation of Rongfei Group, China's R&D progress may be much faster than expected.
However, in fact, it is most taboo to add ambiguous qualifiers such as "possible", "probably", and "maybe". Not to mention that in order to shirk responsibility, some units will use the traversal method to write almost all possible results all the possible results once. In the case of the subsequent split, they can always find the right part of the shirk responsibility.
The result is that the reference value of intelligence has further decreased, which in turn leads to the fact that even if the intelligence itself is correct, the decision-maker does not have the confidence to directly adopt it.
In short, facing the photo in front of me, the entire delegation was at a loss.
Of course, including Gates himself,
Seeing that the afternoon meeting was getting closer, he finally couldn't sit still.
In fact, Americans are not unfamiliar with this kind of operation of "predicting" the negotiating partner.
However, before, they were basically doing it for others, but this time, the feng shui finally changed.
"Everyone, let's talk about your views."
Gates said as he raised his hand and waved it in the air, dispelling the smoke in front of him that was so rich that it almost blocked his sight:
"Although the afternoon is just a preliminary meeting, and the substantive issues will not start until tomorrow, if they are suppressed by the other party in terms of momentum, it will be difficult to carry out the subsequent work..."
With the boss speaking, it is hard for everyone to continue to be a dull gossip.
But because I was unprepared before, and it was impossible to gain others' ambitions and destroy my own majesty at this time, I didn't know what to say for a moment.
Fortunately, someone broke the cold situation soon:
"Although the judgment given in the report is that the aircraft was in the process of takeoff at the time, and the infrared detection results also indicate that there is a significant heat flow at the tail of the engine, the satellite image is almost from the top view directly above, and the projection of the aircraft happens to be above the runway... Is it possible that it is a ground test, or a simple false target?"
Although from a rational point of view, everyone knows that this kind of speculation is unlikely, now is the time to build confidence the most, so after hearing this speech, many people nodded.
However, most people still cannot convince themselves to believe such an outrageous judgment.
Especially Ms. Marina Legolo, who was responsible for contacting the country and was the first to report on this situation before, directly brought up new news:
"I'm sorry, gentlemen."
She clicked the mouse a few times and switched the image projected on the screen to another set of photos.
Or to be precise, it should be a set of web page screenshots, but it includes a lot of photos.
From a perspective, it was obviously taken from the ground, and the content was a plane that had just taken off and was climbing in mid-air.
"At the beginning, we did consider the possibility of fake flight marks for a fake first flight, but public intelligence analysts found a large number of related discussions, pictures and video materials on the Huaxia network almost at the same time, and they came from at least three different angles... Perhaps it is simple to trick satellite reconnaissance, but at least so far, no technical means can directly deceive the human eye from so many angles."
Legolo introduced while switching pages:
"The airport is located in the western suburbs of Rongcheng, but in fact it has been considered an urban area in recent years. The Chinese have no control over the actions around the airport. They even pulled out the two verification aircraft forty minutes before the test flight and placed them on the apron. So by the time of actual takeoff, there were already many onlookers gathered around. Even when the staff of our Rongcheng Consulate went to check the situation later, they saw many security guards and police officers who maintained order around..."
The detailed report given by the intelligence department later was very thoughtful, and even translated all the intercepted Chinese pages into English.
Therefore, everyone can read the above content easily.
Most of them are emotional catharsis and celebrations in various ways.
Of course, there are also some technical analysis based on known conditions, but this judgment based on visual and brain supplement is not very meaningful. Moreover, this aircraft seems to be in technical verification, or at most it is the early prototype stage, and there is still a lot of room for adjustment in the future.
And from a strategic perspective, the slight performance differences between the same generation of equipment are actually less important parts.
"It seems that most people's first reaction is similar to ours..."
Major General Schell, sitting opposite Gates, loosened his tie slightly to make his breathing smoother:
"In the several BBS themes before 11 a.m., even Chinese people generally believe that this is fake news. As for the pictures, they are processed by PS technology. It was not until more and more image data and eyewitness descriptions appeared that people determined the authenticity of the whole thing."
"There is no doubt that this arrangement is intentional."
The first member who spoke before spoke in a muffled voice:
"Although the news of the plane's test flight cannot be completely confidential, it is possible to gather so many onlookers in less than an hour, and the popularity of discussion on the Internet shows no signs of being suppressed. It is obvious that official forces are behind the scenes."
Legolo nodded:
"That's right... In fact, according to our retrospective investigation, there were several blurry photos on the Internet about a week ago, but the relevant discussions were quickly blocked or hidden, and some of them were re-released until today, and similar situations occurred on many websites. It can be basically confirmed that there is a unified command."
Just at this moment, a new picture appeared on the web page on the curtain.
It has nothing to do with the plane that just flew for the first time, but the situation when the Pentagon delegation and his group got off the plane.
This made Gates a little curious.
"Marina, wait..."
He called Legolo, who was about to click the mouse:
"This photo seems to be related to us...What is said above, why is there no translation given like other pages?"
However, this question made the other side feel embarrassed.
But in the end, the corresponding translation was released.
The title content is very straightforward - [I think it was intentional to choose today's first flight. If you don't believe it, go and read the news. Gates' expression when he got off the plane was almost written on his face...]
The following reply also expressed their agreement.
[This is a literal threat, right? 】
[I heard that the opponent came here this time just to threaten us to eat some of his debts. As a result, before we even started talking, I was threatened first, hahaha...]
[In fact, based on the current situation, helping them maintain their debts will also have certain benefits for us, and it may not be feasible, but the premise is that we must never agree to the other party’s request in the form of being threatened...]
【…………】
Originally, Gates wanted to find a slightly relaxed topic to dispel the depressing atmosphere that permeated the conference room.
As a result, after such a complete solution, not only did the depression not ease, but it also added a layer of embarrassment.
Especially Gates' face was even more gloomy and terrible. He was obviously very annoyed by this, but he was helpless-
In fact, he was listening to Legolo's report on the embassy's preparations, and his serious expression was just a requirement for the atmosphere in diplomatic occasions.
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Moreover, from the time point of view, the plane had not yet flown for the first time when this photo was taken, so the delegation was even more unlikely to receive future news in advance.
But this paragraph is too appropriate to take it out of context, and it is deceptive to most people who are not willing to dig into the roots.
What makes people feel even more upset is that after an analysis of the wrong donkey lips, the final conclusion is still correct...
Once this matter spreads outside, Gates's clown image will probably be completely confirmed.
Because at the press conference before taking office, I clearly stated that "our air superiority can be maintained until at least around 2020..."
What's even more terrible is that the content on the web page gave Gates a somewhat hellish association—
About 45 years ago, someone made a bold statement saying that as long as I was still alive for one day, China would not be able to build an atomic bomb.
Everyone knows what happened next...
In 1963, this man died of a big imagination while riding in a convertible.
A year later, Huaxia successfully detonated its first atomic bomb...
Fortunately, a sound of hitting the table interrupted Gates' embarrassment:
"Threat, this is a bright threat!"
The accompanying deputy Michel Fronoy let out an angry growl.
You should know that it has been 20 years since the end of the Cold War, and no country dared to directly slap the US representative in the face in this naked way.
Due to some legal process issues, his appointment was a little while compared to his other colleagues from the Ministry of Defense, and he did not officially receive the appointment approval until yesterday.
It was equivalent to formally working on the first day, and I was slapped in the face.
No one can stand it.
"I think the more this happens, the more we need to show a strong and powerful posture."
Fronoy made a clear statement to Gates:
"Otherwise, once we take the lead in showing a tendency to compromise, the other party will definitely seize this point and pursue the victory. The subsequent talks between the Ministry of Commerce and the Federal Reserve and China will be even more difficult to achieve. Even if the Chinese agree, it may cost us a lot of money..."
Economic affairs have nothing to do with the Ministry of National Defense. The reason why the Pentagon made a splash in it was to create cards for the void.
I will put pressure on you first, and then use the revocation of pressure as a bargaining chip to exchange for actual benefits.
To put it bluntly, they came for nothing.
If the pressure is not enough and you are threatened, then let alone "making money out of nothing", even "can't bear to leave your children but not trap the wolf", it may not be possible, and it is likely to end up in a tiger's mouth.
"But, Michelle...whether it is not entirely up to our attitude to decide whether it is strong or not..."
Although Gates still had a cold face, his mind was still clear:
"Since the other party chose to allow the fourth-generation fighter to make a semi-public first flight at this time, although it is indeed a threat, on the other hand, it is also expressing its opinion to us, saying that they are not afraid of facing extreme pressure...at least at the military level."
He deliberately added accent to the word "fear".
It means that although the Chinese have taken a certain advantage through sudden attacks, they are still in the stage of proving that they are "not afraid".
As we all know, the more emphasis is, the more we need to be.
This shows that in the head-on collision between the two sides, the other party is still at a disadvantage, and he still has the initiative.
What's more, they have cards outside of the military to play.
Regardless of whether this judgment comes from sincerity, it does have the effect of stabilizing the morale of the army.
Scher understood and took over Fronoi's words:
"My Excellency Minister, what do you mean is that our negotiation strategy should be changed to drag-on?"
Gates nodded:
"That's right... the current situation has changed a lot compared to our plan. In any case, it is impossible to achieve the desired result by this visit alone, but the itinerary cannot be temporarily cancelled. Therefore, the best choice is that we will maintain the status quo first, and wait and see if there are any new decisions in China..."
After hearing this, Fronoi curled his lips secretly and thought to himself that what you said was nice, but in fact he was caught off guard by the Chinese and didn't know how to deal with it for a while.
However, firstly, he couldn't come up with any ideas, and secondly, the other party's decision could at least guarantee that he would not take the blame, so he just grunted a few times and finally nodded.
Perhaps seeing the other person's emotions, Gates added in a plain tone:
"I think after this incident, the relationship between our two sides will not continue to remain in a single-level military confrontation, but will begin to regard it as a comprehensive strategic competitor..."
Speaking of this, he paused and his eyes slowly swept over the dozen faces in front of him:
"So everyone, be mentally prepared..."
(This chapter ends)