Free Web NovelChapter 868: Chapter 453: Airplane Model_1
"Academician Zhao isn’t joking, is he?"
"Definitely joking!"
"It must be a joke, it’s impossible! Designing an engine and designing a fighter jet are two completely different concepts..."
"So, Academician Zhao is just complaining about the J-31’s design dragging on. He probably said ’if you can’t design it, I will,’ just to put pressure on the J-31 design team..."
"That explains it!"
After Zhao Yi left the office, Liu Jiankun sat stunned in his chair, mulling over the matter. The more he thought about it, the more abnormal it seemed. Perhaps Zhao Yi meant to pressure the J-31 design team to shorten the wait.
That was understandable.
Any engine design team, once done, would want to produce prototypes right away, rather than be hampered by a plane design group. That’s just how the internal regulations at Aviation Group were for the time being. Adjustments could of course be made, but such a major change would require a large meeting, lots of preparation and discussions. The policy changes couldn’t just be tailored to the Warhawk team; they would need to separate and integrate all the engine-related R&D teams.
Such a change would involve many existing regulations and personnel issues, and couldn’t be resolved overnight. It might even take longer to wait.
Of course, there was another option: to give the Warhawk Special Research Group special consideration. But with the production of engine prototypes involving so many departments, special treatment wasn’t something he could decide on his own.
Either a higher-up leader would have to approve, or a special meeting would need to be convened to make a joint decision with various departments. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Liu Jiankun kept thinking about solutions and finally decided to wait a little longer.
It’s true that the J-31’s design was dragging on, but rushing to confirm a design for a new generation of fighter jets wasn’t necessarily a good thing. It would mean that more work would have to be done later. Better to take time and do things right. A few months, or even a year, was trivial for a fifth-generation fighter jet.
His internal estimate was, "To achieve a J-31 prototype test flight within five years, and to finalize the design and determine production quantities within ten years would already be a huge success!"
This was an ambitious projection.
Domestically developed technology and R&D still lagged behind the international standards.
Internationally, for example, M Country’s famous F-35 fighter jet started advanced research and proposal bidding in the 1990s, with the model research confirmed in 2000. It took five more years for the Air Force’s F-35A to make its maiden flight, and another five years before the Marine Corps and Navy’s F-35B and F-35C underwent their test flights. To this day, all three models of the F-35 are still being tested, with production service expected to begin only after another two to three years.
That’s a span of twenty years.
In comparison, domestically developed fifth-generation fighter jets still have many design and technological challenges to overcome. Even by the most optimistic timelines, ten years would be remarkable. To put it plainly, it simply wasn’t enough time.
So spending a few extra months, or even a year, on the J-31 design wasn’t a big deal.
After some thought and seeing the time, Liu Jiankun promptly went on to attend to other matters, pushing Zhao Yi’s comments about designing fighter jets to the back of his mind.
...
Three days later.
Liu Jiankun stared at a project application handed to him by the staff, his jaw dropping in disbelief. He read it several times to make sure his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him.
Academician Zhao had submitted an application report!
The report proposed the establishment of the ’Warhawk Special Research Group’, dedicated to engine development and design. The applied project was the development of a ’Warhawk-1’ mid-sized fighter jet, a carrier plane?
"He really applied!"
"This..." freewebnσvel.cøm
"What on earth is Academician Zhao thinking!" Liu Jiankun scratched his head as he looked at the application, recalling his promise to agree to Zhao Yi’s request. Besides, there was no way to reject Academician Zhao’s application.
Firstly, the budget was not high!
The proposed budget was only twenty million yuan, which, for the design of a fighter jet, was hardly a large amount. Other fighter jet designs required the adjustment of various equipment and recording parameters, as well as many experiments to complete the design.
Even if it was just a paper design, with no experiments or equipment wear and tear, the design team for a top-of-the-line fighter jet typically consisted of dozens of people and the design phase was measured in years. Even if it was just one year, the salaries and benefits for dozens of people would add up to millions, not to mention significant work expenses; twenty million would be almost drained.
Moreover, there was Academician Zhao’s personal influence.
If it was a designer from the affiliated aircraft design institute submitting an application report without detailed explanations, it would be simply rejected. But rejecting Academician Zhao’s application could lead to senior leaders finding out, and they might inquire about it personally.
That’s the power of influence.
Zhao Yi’s influence was simply too great; he was someone whose words could reach the highest ears. And compared to his contributions, not to mention twenty million yuan, even if it were two hundred million or twenty billion and the funds were completely wasted, nobody would say a word.
So, it couldn’t be rejected.
Of course.
Liu Jiankun didn’t plan to reject it, either. His private relationship with Zhao Yi was quite good, and he himself had promised to agree. Moreover, he had the authority to make a decision on the twenty-million yuan for R&D funding.
Most importantly, he felt the application was quite sloppy.
"Academician Zhao probably didn’t do much research before submitting the application, did he?" Liu Jiankun quickly noted the application’s naming of the fighter jet.
