Chapter 1075: Going Abroad and Into the World

Zhang Zhenhua did not respond directly to Chang Haonan's statement.

However, judging from his expression, he was obviously still a little doubtful.

"What, you don't believe it?"

Chang Haonan asked half-jokingly.

In fact, he also knows.

It's normal not to believe it.

Although the United States in this life has been experiencing fluctuations, it does not seem to be so powerful and invincible.

But no matter what, he still deserves to be called a powerful enemy.

At this point in time in 2003, the general view was that America's world leadership would not begin to be significantly challenged until at least the middle of the 21st century.

Who would have thought that 20 years later it would be on the verge of collapse.

After hearing Chang Haonan's question, Zhang Zhenhua simply expressed his thoughts:

"Normally speaking, the previous ATF plans (that is, YF22 and YF23) were more difficult to develop and were older. Although the F22 has not completed all tests yet, it seems that the timetable for entering service in 2005 should still be achievable. "

"The positioning of the JSF project itself is to focus on multi-purpose ground strikes. The requirements in all aspects, especially in terms of stealth and mobility, are not as demanding as those of ATF. Many specific subsystems can even benefit from latecomer dividends. For example, Pratt & Whitney's F135 engine actually directly uses the core engine of the F119. From any point of view, the development difficulty should be smaller, right? "

"Even if the lift fans from the British side are a little too radical, if you want to do structural pre-deformation design, you must find the optimal shape in advance. The worst-case scenario is to regress the technology to a certain process in the middle. This may affect the progress of the vertical take-off and landing model, but the schedule of the F35B is originally later than the other two models..."

"..."

In fact, logically speaking, this analysis should be correct.

Even taking into account the additional trouble caused by the three-type universal, the overall development difficulty of the F35 is significantly lower than that of the F22.

But there are some things that it doesn't make sense to you.

For example, the amount of program code for the F35 was too large, and the most critical period of development coincided with the bursting of the Internet bubble. As a result, the United States could not find an independent contractor to complete the huge code base of this model. In desperation, most of the code had to be written by The original planned Ada language was converted to C language, and then split and outsourced to multiple different companies for development.

Anyone who has ever done a project can guess how much trouble this kind of operation will bring in the later stage.

It was also during this period that Indian engineers and executives began to enter Silicon Valley in large numbers, and companies run by Indians followed closely behind, occupying the vast majority of the code subcontracting market at extremely low prices.

So, naturally.

A considerable part of the core code of the F35 was actually written by Indians.

And when Lockheed Martin discovered that there were problems between these codes and wanted to go back and make repairs, the companies that took the order had long since disappeared, and they could only find another contractor to make repairs...

To sum it up, this is——

Great, Hayek.

Of course, these details have either not happened yet or have not been made public, so Chang Haonan certainly cannot say them directly.

I had to choose a more roundabout way:

"The JSF project is not just a technical or military issue."

"In addition to meeting the U.S. military's needs for fourth-generation multi-purpose fighter jets, it is also very important to bring Europeans in for joint research and development, completely killing the possibility of European countries independently developing a new generation of fighter jets... This is a plan. That's great, but once there are too many stakeholders involved in a project, technology is often no longer the main factor... You should have experienced this, Lao Zhang, and trouble will inevitably occur in the end. "

"Not to mention anything else, today the British dare to secretly ask us to help complete core subsystems such as lift fans, but tomorrow they will dare to ask the Russians to buy titanium alloy substrates, or even ask Indians to help write flight control programs. ?”

This speculation is inevitably a slippery slope.

After all, "looking for Indians to help develop flight control" is obviously not suitable to be juxtaposed with the previous two.

However, the two of them were just chatting. Zhang Zhenhua thought for a moment and did not continue to refute. Instead, after pondering for a moment, he suddenly returned to the topic:

"Speaking of which, Mr. Chang, since you are sure that the British cannot proceed with this technical route, then the contract they offered...should we agree to it?"

"Agree, of course I agree!"

Chang Haonan even patted the table:

"It's just that a clause must be clearly added to the terms, that is, if the design of the fan changes in the future due to reasons that are not our responsibility, then the contract must be extended by default, and the new plan will need to be paid again."

This is definitely a reasonable request.

Moreover, the British themselves are also Party B of the JSF project. Even if there are losses, they will not bear the majority of the losses in the end.

"Then I'll contact Comrade Bingda right now..."

Zhang Zhenhua immediately prepared to stand up.

But Chang Haonan called him from behind:

"etc……"

The former had half-raised his buttocks and sat back down.

"I remember telling Comrade Bingda that we could consider acquiring a company within the EU specifically to complete this transaction."

This sudden addition made Zhang Zhenhua confused for a moment:

"Acquisition company?"

"Continuing to follow the Trent 900 plan and go through the Ciro Group..."

Chang Haonan waved his hand, lowered his voice slightly and explained:

"On the one hand, although half of the Ciro Group is owned by Rolls-Royce, it is still registered in our country after all. It is basically enough for an enterprise of this nature to deceive the media and Party A users on civilian models, but If we want to get involved in a core US-led NATO project like JSF, I'm afraid it's still not ready. It would be better for us to control a small European company in a more concealed way..."

“On the other hand, after these years of development, our relationship with the European market has become closer and closer, and it is time to consider taking the initiative to go out. Sometimes, it is indeed easier to operate with a layer of EU clothes... "

Hearing this, Zhang Zhenhua's eyes suddenly lit up:

"I heard that the Italian company AvioAero seems to be seeking new investment recently. Is it possible to consider..."

Since 1997, Huaxia has established very deep cooperative relationships with many Italian companies, especially Finmeccanica.

Today, after experiencing cooperation on multiple models such as MA60, AC139, and NH90, both parties have formed some path dependencies——

To some extent, this is not a derogatory term.

When the external environment is stable, having a path to rely on is not necessarily a bad thing.

After all, Italy is a founding member of the European Union and the euro, as well as one of the Schengen countries. Even if it does not live up to expectations economically, it still has a higher status than those Central and Eastern European countries that later joined the EU.

Or rather, it is precisely because he is not very successful economically that he is more likely to become a springboard for China to enter the EU market.

However, when it comes to the specific company AvioAero, it really doesn’t meet the requirements.

Therefore, after hesitating for a moment, Chang Haonan still gave a negative answer:

“Although AvioAero occupies a small share in the aviation industry, it is well-known as a gas turbine giant and is not suitable for us to be our first overseas venture. Moreover, there are rumors that General Electric is seeking to acquire AvioAero’s aviation department. At this juncture, It seems inappropriate to compete with them..."

The F136 engine is a model jointly developed by Rolls-Royce and General Electric.

When GE took a look, it discovered that a company it had failed to acquire had become a supplier of core subsystems.

That is not a problem that can be solved by turning a blind eye...

…

Soon, Ren Bingda, who had been waiting in the UK for more than half a month and was feeling numb, finally received feedback from China.

Of course, because there was a lot of content, his two subordinates took it there personally.

To sum up, it can be agreed, but a few more conditions need to be attached.

He took a brief look and found that these conditions were not excessive.

It’s more of a disclaimer than a requirement.

Therefore, he quickly added new content based on the previous version of the agreement, and then once again found Panos Watson.

This time, Watson and Professor Elinor were the only two people in Watson's office.

Tim Purdy, who had been in contact with China before, disappeared.

Seemingly noticing Ren Bingda's confused eyes, Watson took the initiative to explain:

"Thanks to our... close cooperation, Director Bodi has returned to France to start negotiations with Airbus for the air test of the Trent 900 project. The final result should be announced soon..."

The Trent 900 test accident is an internal problem of Rolls-Royce. Therefore, although the investigation report has not yet been finalized, at least it will not affect the normal development of subsequent work until it is actually installed and tested.

"I see……"

Ren Bingda nodded:

"Then I hope the next work goes well..."

He didn't care about the other party's spring and autumn style of describing the accident investigation as "cooperation".

China has already gained a lot of benefits in this wave, and giving in in terms of face is an acceptable part.

Immediately afterwards, Ren Bingda turned around and signaled to Jin Xu, handing the revised agreement to Watson:

"My superiors agreed in principle to the new cooperation project. Of course, they also approved the accident investigation results we submitted. If there are no problems, then we can choose a time to sign the cooperation agreement and the final Investigation report..."

Of course, Luo Luo is not a grassroots team.

It is impossible for two people to make a decision on the spot as soon as they put it together.

Therefore, Ren Bingda did not stay too long.

After confirming that he had left, Elinor quickly made a phone call.

Less than a minute later, another older middle-aged man hurriedly walked in.

"Director Hartman, these are the conditions given by China. Come and take a look."

Watson gestured towards the agreement on his desk.

"Of course I am relieved if you two can agree with the result..."

That's what Hartman said, but he still opened the agreement smoothly.

Soon, his expression became visibly relaxed, and he obviously had no objection to the content.

There was even a hint of joking in his tone:

"Even the white gloves are ready... It seems that they... or you are very skilled in this operation..."

Watson waved his hand modestly:

"Business... mutual."

For a moment, a happy atmosphere filled the office...