Chapter 1223 Europeans Who Love and Hate Each Other

Launching the Y-9 into the international market simultaneously after completing part of its test flight missions was indeed something that was considered when the project was established.

After all, at this point in time, twin-engine turbofan tactical transport aircraft that are faster, more comfortable to ride, and have lower operating costs have begun to attract the attention of some countries.

As for the serious competing products, apart from the An72 with an unconventional design, the only remaining one is the C2 produced by Kawasaki Heavy Industries next door.

Relying on its larger size (equivalent to A400M), the latter could indeed have a considerable advantage.

And Japan also obviously wants to use such a military model without any weapons to play a side game, paving the way for a formal breakthrough in arms export restrictions in the future.

However, the body of the first C2 prototype was found to be unqualified for strength after completion of production.

Building an airplane is not like building a car. Even if the structure is not up to standard, you can get away with it.

So we had to go back and rebuild it, and the original schedule of first flight in 2007 was completely scrapped.

As for the actual delivery, it is still far away.

Therefore, if Y9 is publicly exhibited in 2006, it will have a window period of 4-5 years.

Even if we do not consider the economic issue of how many aircraft can be sold, the reputation and perception that this model can bring to China in the international aviation market is already worth the price.

However, taking out the No. 02 prototype, which has a heavy test flight mission and takes two new aviation-developed aircraft, is still somewhat inconsistent with the cautious habits accumulated by the aviation industry system over the years.

Therefore, even Liang Shaoxiu, who had always been convinced by Chang Haonan, had some doubts on his face:

"Will the structure of the Turbofan 20 be disclosed so early and have some adverse impact on subsequent market competition?"

After finishing speaking, perhaps because he was worried that Chang Haonan would misunderstand, he hurriedly continued to explain:

"What I mean is... the international intellectual property rights of such products are often difficult to define. If competitors learn from the design of intercoolers and your condensation control module, and combine them with other basic technologies that they already have advantages in, , is it possible to create a strong opponent for us in a short period of time?”

In fact, his question can be regarded as a microcosm of the mentality of China's military industry at the turn of the century.

At this stage, Huaxia weapons and equipment have begun to break away from the past state of relying entirely on ultra-low prices to obtain customers, and have a certain performance foundation.

But most of these foundations come from ingenuity at the software and hardware design level, rather than the real threshold of hard power.

And the final results are still focused on catching up on performance and finding and filling gaps.

As a result, the entire military industry tends to specialize in customizing export models to avoid allowing foreign troops to have direct access to the People's Liberation Army's own weapons and equipment (even if these equipment are no longer the most advanced), in order to prevent others from seeing through the clues and leading to the loss of information. Asymmetric advantages.

Although later, with the development of science and technology, China has more and more unique skills that others cannot imitate, but once the style of doing things is finalized, it cannot be changed in three to five months.

In the original timeline, this habit lasted until around the 2020s, and was relieved with the emergence of export versions of Zhi 10ME, Hongqi 9BE, and J-10CE.

Although the current situation is slightly different, taking the J-10 as an example, the J-10E eventually used for export is still a version that is significantly different from the J-10A.

Chang Haonan also intends to take advantage of this opportunity to promote the overall military industry to a more open state.

Then he explained patiently:

“Several core technologies of the turbofan 20, whether it is the integrated design of the stator blades and intercooler, or the specific execution logic of the condensation control module, have high technical thresholds... Just like in the past, European and American countries were not afraid to put them Just like the aircraft engines sold to us, let alone take a second look at these things, even if others get their hands on them, they are not so easy to learn from. "

“On the contrary, the established Western aerospace companies will soon realize that our overall structure is unique at least in the short term. If we add some of their technological accumulation on this basis, we can create something powerful enough to crush A new generation product that overwhelms all peers..."

“Only in this way can the airworthiness certification barriers they have established be further broken down, and we can also get the opportunity to enter the international mainstream aviation market...”

This is also Chang Haonan's ambition.

It starts with the aviation engines used in mainline passenger aircraft, then gradually develops into complete mainline aircraft, and finally completes the comprehensive mutual recognition of the entire airworthiness standard.

The entire process will probably last 10-15 years.

But if you follow the steps step by step, you can basically guarantee that you can get through it.

"So... the expected partner is still the French?"

After all, Liang Shaoxiu was not from the Aviation Power Group, and the cooperation between Haofa and Luo Luo was actually quite low-key, so he obviously couldn't keep up with the pace.

Chang Haonan and Zhang Zhenhua looked at each other and smiled in unison:

"You will know when the Singapore Airshow opens..."

In fact, Chang Haonan and others have been plotting against Rolls-Royce for a long time.

Including letting the full-size model of the Turbofan 20 be publicly exhibited is also the culmination of the entire process——

First let Luo Luo have an idea of ​​our next move through the previous operations, and then take a picture of the product that has been more than half implemented on the other person's face.

It’s no wonder that the British don’t believe it.

But Chang Haonan can't really see the future after all.

There are some situations that no one can predict...

…

Almost at the same time.

Friedrichshafen, Germany.

After returning to the UK from China, Tim Purdy learned a more complete situation from Panos Watson.

Although Dr. Partridge had previously stated very firmly that using intercooled heat recovery systems in aero-engines was definitely not a wise choice, Watson, who had learned to be cautious, was still prepared to work with MTU, which had implemented the CLEAN program that year. Get in touch.

Therefore, as the person in charge of the NGME project, Bodi was sent to Germany without stopping, preparing to have a purely tentative but insincere contact with the other party.

MTU, which has always hoped to enter the aviation power market, attaches great importance to this performance and directly sent Ilze Winkler, who had participated in this project, to take charge of the docking.

The two are not familiar with each other, but they have attended some technical and policy meetings in the industry before, so they have a close relationship.

"I heard Director Marcus Zeiss say that you now need a partner with sufficient engineering experience in the field of gas turbines to complete a new project?"

After an emotionless opening that was all routine, it was Dr. Winkler who took the lead in getting to the point.

Even Bodi almost didn't react.

Even as a traditional German, this approach is a bit too blunt.

And although this is not a formal business negotiation, it is also an intentional contact between the two groups.

Acting too anxious will inevitably lead to disadvantages.

But fortunately, he had typed the draft so many times that it almost became instinctive to tell the following content.

"That's right."

Bodi nodded, and then released some internal information about NGME on the computer:

"Based on the analysis of the current international air transport market and considering that the ten-year exclusive supply agreement that Boeing was forced to sign after acquiring McDonnell Douglas is about to expire, we believe that Boeing and Airbus should start to Develop a new generation of mainline civil aviation aircraft to further consolidate their leadership position in the industry.”

“During the development of the Trent 900, we have realized that the current generation of aero engines, which are currently the main products, have basically exhausted their upgrade potential. Therefore, we need to develop a new generation of aerospace power from scratch to meet the power requirements of these new generation aircraft. need……"

In fact, this information was revealed privately to Bodi by Airbus, but Rolls-Royce had no intention of actually cooperating with MTU. This trip was just to find out, so it is naturally impossible for the information source to tell the truth. .

So I just made up an excuse that "the ten-year period has arrived."

But it does sound like that’s what happened——

The package of unequal treaties in 1997 had a very obvious impact on Boeing.

In particular, the sales ratio of new aircraft in the mainline aircraft market has been directly hit to about 47%, which is basically the same as Airbus.

Something must be done to save it.

After finishing the explanation, Bodi paused for a moment, and then began to express his emotions again:

“Previously, many companies, including ours, collaborated to establish International Aero Engines (IAE). This was generally a successful experience, but there were too many participants, which also dispersed the group’s strength to a great extent. , resulting in the fact that there is still only one model of product, V2500, after more than 20 years of establishment, making it difficult to develop new models from scratch..."

"In addition, IAE's shareholding structure is no longer very reasonable... Japan Aerospace Engine Company no longer has the ability to supply core turbine components, but it still holds 23% of the shares, while you only rank last with 12% …”

"..."

There is indeed a lot of true feelings in this paragraph.

Especially the part about dissing Japanese people.

Back then, a poorly processed lubricating oil pipe almost destroyed the entire Trent 900 model. Bodi is still a little scared when he thinks about it.

As for redressing the injustice against MTU, that is just a joke.

But Dr. Winkler seemed to like this idea, and he became interested immediately after listening:

"So, if the two parties cooperate to implement this NGME project, what specific parts do we need to complete on the MTU side?"

"The goal we plan to achieve with the new engine is to reduce fuel consumption by 20% and pollutant emissions by more than 30% compared to the V2500."

Bodi felt that today's pace was so fast that it was a bit unreasonable, but at this point, he had no choice but to think about it:

"To achieve this goal, it is difficult to achieve it by just upgrading the fan and combustion chamber, so we hope to combine the results of the past CLEAN project and apply intercooling heat recovery technology to aeroengines."

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but after hearing these words, Winkler on the opposite side actually showed a slightly relaxed look.

But it was gone in a flash.

Soon he changed into a solemn expression:

"Although we are very willing to respond to your proposal, the CLEAN plan that year did not actually produce particularly valuable results."

"According to our research, in aircraft engines, since the specific heat capacity of air as a coolant is far less than that of water, the core role is actually played by the regenerator, and the intercooler is only an auxiliary device to cooperate with the regenerator, allowing the engine to obtain lower energy consumption..."

"But the regenerator of the aircraft engine can only be integrated in the tail nozzle, directly in contact with the high-temperature combustion gas discharged by the turbine, and the working environment is far worse than that of the gas turbine. We have tried every means, but we can only keep the regenerator module working normally for less than 200 hours. The cost and reliability are completely unacceptable..."

"..."

Bodi patiently talked about some irrelevant content again, and only "reluctantly" led the team away until the meeting time was dragged on for three hours.

After seeing off the Rolls-Royce delegation, Winkler changed his previous honest performance, quickly returned to the office, and made a phone call.

"I'm Ilse Winkler. We've already contacted the people sent by Rolls-Royce..."

"They also plan to cooperate with us to promote the development of a new generation of 12-15 ton aircraft engines..."

"Don't worry about this. I've already tried it. The British don't know about our cooperation with Pratt & Whitney. It's just a coincidence that they happened to catch up with this time point..."

"Yes, there is no risk of leakage in the CLAIRE2020 plan, and it can be carried out as planned..."

"..."

After hanging up the phone, Winkler relaxed and leaned back in his chair, breathing a long sigh of relief.

Then he turned around and looked at the sea-air boundary outside the floor-to-ceiling window:

"British..."

"It's a pity that you're a step slower..."