Chapter 964: The Indian Designer Who Questions Life
If he could turn back time, he would definitely go back ten minutes ago and stop himself from blindly drawing cakes.
What MK1A?
What upgrade plan?
Does not exist.
Just this thing, love or not.
Mainly, Dr. Kota Naraya never expected it.
People can be so shameless——
Transfer the canceled orders to the improved version.
It sounds like there is no problem.
But that’s only ok if this “improved model” already exists.
Currently, the basic MK1 has not yet been fully built, so the order has been cut by three-quarters. This is like a bolt from the blue for the development of the project.
It is true that Stan Airlines is a state-owned enterprise. Now that the Air Force wants a more advanced MK1A upgrade, it will definitely need to allocate additional funds, and it will not require them to raise funds themselves.
But many problems in the equipment research and development process cannot be solved immediately with money.
The overall design of LCA draws on the Mirage 2000 to a considerable extent, and even a considerable part of the work was completed by the French.
Therefore, in this nominally "self-research" project, the problem faced by the technicians is not only to accumulate experience, but also to make repairs while repairing the French in the Grand Triangle. Some details on the wing design need to be thoroughly understood.
Only through the development and production of the MK1, and after all these processes have been completed, will it be possible to improve the new machine.
Otherwise, if something goes wrong in the process, it will be difficult to even investigate the cause, let alone solve the problem.
This is just a technical issue.
The more troublesome part is that LCA is a project that has been delayed for nearly 20 years before it completed its first flight. Although the intensity of self-research is not enough, it is still the hard work of tens of thousands of people in the Indian aviation industry.
And judging from the test results of the demonstrator, even the MK1 model can achieve the original design goal of "mainly focusing on air control tasks and replacing the MiG-21 and MiG-23MF".
But at this time when success was just a step away, the orders promised by the Ministry of National Defense not only did not expand, but also shrunk.
This is an extremely serious blow to the morale of the R&D team.
It’s like you spent a lot of effort to finally complete your superior’s KPI, but not only did you not see the bonus, but you were scolded by your stupid boss, and the salary was set higher next month. KPI.
No one can survive it.
Thinking of this, Naraya calmed down and decided to try to persuade the other party.
"General Tipnis, I wonder what combat goals the Air Force hopes the new model of MK1A can achieve?"
At this time, there must be no conflict with Party A's boss.
So the doctor chose a relatively roundabout strategy.
“Our new aircraft cannot be used only as a defensive model, but should have sufficient offensive capabilities, such as launching active mid-range bombs and the ability to use precision-guided weapons...”< br>
Tipnis danced in front of the TD2 demonstration aircraft and said:
“Of course, there is a longer range and a larger bomb load, which can support the aircraft to fight in the air for a longer time, rather than after taking off. It will land in half an hour..."
Now, Naraya understood a little bit -
Isn't this exactly the J-10A that wants to compete with its northern neighbor...
While secretly cursing the other party's completely unreasonable desire to compare, he began to organize words quickly in his mind.
"But Your Excellency General, the original development goal of LCA is just to replace old aircraft like the MiG-21."
Naraya argued rationally:
"As far as I know, these fighter jets In the past, its main mission was only to fight for air supremacy, or to cover attack aircraft for low-altitude and short-range raids, which are the parts that LCA is good at. "
"If it is to carry rockets and ordinary bombs for emergency response, then. LCA in the MK1 technical state can also do it, and because it has a bomb delivery computer, the accuracy is higher than that of the old model."
"Moreover, even if it requires multi-purpose capability and sufficient range, we have already equipped it. Mirage 2000C and Su-30MKI leave little room for LCA to carry out such ground strike missions..."
Hearing Naraya's answer, Tipnis's face changed slightly.
"Doctor, what I just said is the opinion of His Excellency Vajpayee."
"If LCA cannot meet these requirements through upgrading, then we can only consider spending funds in the future. Regarding the purchase of foreign aircraft, such as the newer model MiG-29, or the JAS39 that uses the same power system as LCA..."
Naraya's heart couldn't help but sink.
This is also a problem that has been bothering him.
Due to the extensive use of foreign parts and the inefficiency of the entire aviation industry, LCA, as a domestic aircraft, has no cost advantage.
If you look at economic considerations alone, the MiG 29UPG is a more cost-effective choice.
Looking at Naraya who bowed his head and remained silent, Tipnis continued:
“Furthermore, since China can modify the design of the J-10 and turn it into a multi-purpose Fighter, can't we do it? "
The original intention of his words was probably to use a provocation method.
However, it was better not to say it, but once he said it, it made Naraya even more angry——
Do you want to see how big the gap between the actual conditions of our two countries is?
Before LCA, Stan Aviation's only experience in the field of design and development was the unsuccessful HF-24 "Aeolian".
Not only is the equipment quantity small, but the aircraft design also fluctuates back and forth amidst constantly changing requirements.
Just like LCA now.
Before the Chinese developed the J-10, they had successfully made in-depth improvements to the MiG-19 and MiG-21, so much so that even the MiG Design Bureau would not recognize them when they came. They also independently developed a larger aircraft. second-generation interceptor aircraft. Taken together, the total production volume for these models has reached four figures.
Except for the fact that they both bear the title of a "Third World Power", they have nothing in common.
Of course, these things are meant to be complained in the heart, saying that it is impossible to say them out.
“Of course...it can be done.”
Naraya drew the cake himself, and at this time he had no choice but to nod his head:
“Just modifying the plan will inevitably take several more years, and upgrading the aircraft is not only the work of our design team, but also the production line Engineers and workers also need a certain amount of work to maintain proficiency..."
"So."
Before the doctor finished speaking, Tipnis replied:
“Don’t we still have orders for 18-24 aircraft?”
"But the quantity is too small, and the production line cannot be maintained for a few years..."
"But the early version of the Chinese J-10 first flew in 1997. It has only been 4 years since then, and the upgraded model has already been put into service. "
Tipnis has no longer concealed his true thoughts of hoping to compete with China:
"If production is maintained at a low speed, about 20 aircraft should be enough to produce 5-6 aircraft. Years old?”
“?”
Naraya felt that her blood pressure was about to explode.
He could even clearly feel that the blood vessels in his forehead were beating loudly.
It must be admitted that there is definitely a reason why this kind of saying "what other people's children are like" can be passed down from generation to generation.
If nothing else, it is definitely useful for gagging.
At this time, Naraya was in such a state of unspeakable suffering...
...
In the end, Dr. Naraya failed to convince Tipnis to change his mind.
Of course, perhaps, as the latter said, this is actually the opinion of Prime Minister Vajpayee.
If this is the case, then the Chief of Staff of the Air Force is indeed helpless.
"Boss, what shall we... do next?"
Standing at the gate of the factory, Naraya's assistant Sara Gupte asked him.
There was a bit of confusion in his eyes.
“Let’s keep the original plan unchanged and continue to prepare for the first flight of TD2 and the final assembly of TD3.”
Nalaya forced himself to calm down:
“If now If we interrupt the testing of the MK1 type and start the upgrade project directly, we will face great difficulties.”
Gupt sighed helplessly, then nodded.
For a while, the two looked at each other in silence.
After a moment of silence, Gupt spoke again:
“But speaking of it, why is it that China...”
His question opened. He was interrupted by Naraya with a wave of his hand:
"We don't need to worry about the situation in China."
"It does no good to ourselves to keep an eye on others..."
Having said that.
But in fact, Naraya has really been puzzled in recent years as to what kind of miraculous medicine the Chinese people have taken, and they have taken out all kinds of strange and advanced technologies from their pockets like magic tricks.
In the past, although there was a gap between the two parties, they could barely sit at the same table to eat.
But in just five or six years, others are already on an equal footing with those established aviation powers.
Especially before, he tried to use Snecma's M88 engine as a bargaining chip to put pressure on General Electric in order to lower the purchase price of the F404.
As a result, the response given by the former shocked Naraya.
Stated that due to relevant regulations on cooperative research and development, it is unable to sell M88 engines or related technologies to Stan Aeronautics.
Originally, many people still held a half-belief and half-disbelief attitude towards the statement that "France and China jointly developed the M88".
In particular, China's level of participation is generally considered not too deep.
However, this is obviously not the case...
Nalaya shook his head, forcing himself to stop thinking and focus on the trouble in front of him.
The solution he can think of now is to let his local technical staff continue to be responsible for improving and thoroughly understanding the design of LCAMK1, and at the same time go to Dassault to let the French On this basis, a major modification will be made to the model to meet the new requirements of the Air Force for this model.
Although the participation of foreign designers is bound to mean increased costs, at least it is technically less risky.
LCA has already reached the edge of the cliff. If there is an accident such as a machine crash and fatalities at this juncture, it will most likely be completely destroyed.
Furthermore, after all, it was Party A who took the initiative to modify the product requirements, so the funds will naturally have to be passed on to them...
(End of this chapter)
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